Episode 487: Welcome back to another episode of Traveling with the Mouse! This week, we’re diving into some of the latest Disney news stories, checking in on the progress of Universal’s Epic Universe, and capping things off with some spicy hot takes about Walt Disney World. Let’s get into it!
Epic Universe: The Countdown to Opening
Universal’s Epic Universe is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious theme parks we’ve ever seen, and as we get closer to its grand opening in 2025, we discuss how things are looking. With lands themed to Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon, Dark Universe, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this park is set to bring some serious competition to Disney.
Hot Takes: Do We Agree?
To wrap up the episode, we dive into some of the most controversial opinions about Walt Disney World. Are the Skyliner gondolas really better than the Monorail? Is Hollywood Studios really a half day park? We give our takes on these and more. Some we agree with, some we strongly disagree with, and a few might just surprise you.
Episode 486: Welcome back to another episode of Traveling with the Mouse! We’re diving into the latest Disney news and I’m sharing details about my recent trip to the Grand Canyon. It’s a packed episode full of updates, insights, and, of course, a bit of travel inspiration!
Guardians of the Galaxy is officially off of Virtual Queue
It only took 1005 days but Guardian’s of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is officially off of Virtual Queue. We take a look at the first few days of Standy wait times and ask why did it take so long? What was different about this attraction that kept in on Virtual Queue longer than any other?
Disney’s Ticket Pricing Model Rumors
One of the biggest stories making waves in the Disney community is the rumor that Disney is considering a major shift in how they price park tickets. If this comes to fruition, it would resemble the airline industry’s dynamic pricing model, where ticket prices fluctuate based on demand, time of year, and other factors.
While Disney already uses some level of dynamic pricing for park tickets and Multi-pass, this rumored change could mean even more variability in what guests pay for admission. Could this mean cheaper tickets on slow days? Or will it create even more complexity when planning your trip?
Construction Everywhere
If you’ve visited Walt Disney World recently, you’ve probably noticed—there’s a lot of construction going on. Mostly, small projects right now like sprucing up the train station and plaza restaurant at Magic Kingdom. The Italy Pavillion at Epcot and Woody’s Lunchbox finally getting some shade. The bigger projects are just on the horizon though and we expect an announcement any day about the official closure of Rivers of America now that permits have been approved for construction. In future refurbishment news, The large guitar in front of Rock N’ Rollercoaster is scheduled for some work. It makes us wonder is any of this work in preparation for converting the ride over to the Muppets theme? Otherwise, why do this so close to the ride being re-themed?
A Grand Adventure at the Grand Canyon
Shifting gears from Disney, I recently took a trip to the Grand Canyon, and wow—it was an experience unlike any other. As someone who loves theme park magic, seeing nature’s version of awe-inspiring landscapes was a refreshing change of pace. We took the Grand Canyon Railway, a nostalgic and fun way to approach the park, and it added a whole extra layer to the trip. If you’re considering a visit, this is a must-do! The small route 66 town did give off a radiator springs vibe. As a Disney fan I couldn’t help but notice and I will always find a Disney connection!
Welcome back, Mouseketeers! This week’s episode of “Traveling with the Mouse” promises to be an insightful Disney experience as we welcome our special guest, Raul.
Raul recently embarked on a magical journey to Walt Disney World with his Mom and Nephew, and what makes this trip truly unique is how we, the “Traveling with the Mouse” team, contributed to his adventure!
As Raul shares his enchanting experiences, laughter, and unforgettable moments from his trip, he delves into how our guidance, tips, and Disney insights shaped his adventure. His reflections on how different the experience would have been if he was on his own are both enlightening and heartwarming. Whether it’s navigating the theme parks, choosing the right attractions, or simply soaking in the Disney magic, Raul’s perspective adds a fresh and personal touch to the Disney vacation story.
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Episode 382: This week’s episode got cut short by some technical issues. We did manage to discuss some news and two of us have trips coming up soon. Jason is in Walt Disney world this weekend to see Fantasmic and I will be there soon as well. We discuss some of the latest holiday happenings around Walt Disney World. Bob is at it again and we discuss the Q4 earnings call. We got some new details on the Disneyland treehouse redesign. It is going to be kind of back to the original Swiss Family Robinson but not quite. We have a date for when Guardians will add the holiday track to cosmic rewind. A rare hurricane in November impacted the Disney World resort this week. We also experienced some technical difficulties that cut this episode short.
Episode 366: We made it to our leap year episode! This week Jon and I go back in time and discuss the best attractions that Epcot has ever had. We go through every iteration of attractions in each location in Future World and some in World Showcase as well. It’s no surprise that we are fans of the original Epcot since we were kids of the 80’s and 90’s. We do agree on some but disagree on others. There are modern attractions that we love to like Guardians, Test Track and Soarin’ but we don’t always agree on which version is best. We may continue this discussion with the other parks in the coming episodes. Let us know if you enjoy this type of discussion and chime in with your picks for the best attractions at Epcot.
Episode: 364 This week we have another trip report from Walt Disney World. This time I recently returned from a trip with a group of 14 people. I found out that there are some challenges with a group of that size of course, but also that an enjoyable time with minimal wait times can still be had. With a few tricks up my sleeve we did the majority of our rides with Lightning Lanes. We did all 4 parks each day with a group of 10-14 people and I go through the strategies that I used for each park. It turned out surprisingly well! If I can get a large group through Disney and everyone had a great time then so can you! There will be a part 2 to this trip coming soon. We also cover some news that broke this week. Mainly that Bob’s contract got extended and We now know that Tiana’s bayou adventure will be opening in 2024!
Episode 363: Jon and I catch up on the Disney news of the past month. With all of our recent trips it we haven’t talked much about the latest news. I was impressed by the Indiana Jones merch that came out this month. If only these movie props could’ve been around when I was 10 years old! The Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue has now officially reopened, We discuss what is new, what is the same and is it still a good value? There’s a lot of meet and greets returning over the summer. Things are slowly returning back. Christmas time this year is going to be a lot more like 2019! Except for the price tag 🙁 The Disney Wish made it into port but will it be ready for it’s first sailing? All this and more!
Episode: 362 James recently returned from Walt Disney World and he also stopped by Sea World for a day. He talks about his experience with Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind and now it looks like it is James/Adam vs. Jon/Jason when it comes to which coaster is our favorite at Walt Disney World. He also talks about the new dining experiences they had this time and which ones were there favorites. The used Genie+ on all of their park days and were able to snag some really good lightning lanes. There were a few bumps at the end of their trip as some in their party started feeling sick towards the end of their trip.
Episode 361: Jason and I just returned from a Disney cruise! It was my first cruise and I talk about what it was like for a first timer. I bookended my trip with a stop at Walt Disney World. I got to ride Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind 4 times during the trip. Jason also got to ride it after the cruise. On the cruise we were dodging the tropical storm and had to postpone our day at Castaway Cay. Thankfully the weather cleared and we were able to still go! We review the food, the kids club, and the adult only areas of the ship. I also discovered the virtually unlimited supply of chicken fingers and ice cream! You certainly wont go hungry on a Disney Cruise!
Episode:360 Jon discusses his most recent trip to Walt Disney World with a stop at Peppa Pig Park. This trip certainly had it’s ups and down which included highlights such as riding Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind but there were also some lows like having a visit to the local urgent care and having the trip cut short. He praised the cast members at Coronado Springs resort but also the room location was a little questionable. He also discusses how he stacked some lightning lanes to get the most out of it but overall is still frustrated with the Genie Plus experience. We give our first reviews of Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind now that we have all done it. Look for more discussion on this new ride in next few episodes.
Episode 359: This week we are all traveling to Disney in different ways. We have a cruise, a land and sea cruise and we have Walt Disney World trips. Between the four of us we have a lot of Disney travel this month! Jon and I first discuss the first two episodes of the Obiwan series. This was the most watch premiere of a Disney Plus show ever. We discuss some other parks news and then we go into our trip previews. This is my first cruise so I have a lot to learn but the biggest hurdle right now seems to be getting cleared to get on this ship. Once I make it on the ship with Cape Canaveral behind us, then I’ll share that sentiment. Jon talks about his upcoming trip and how he used a crowd calendar as his guide for selecting which parks he reserved for each day of his trip. Look foward to trip reports in the coming weeks!
Episode 357: Today we answer the age old question…Will the Disneyland PeopleMover ever return to operation? Actually, we don’t answer that definitively because nobody knows for sure. What we do know is what it will take and that will require a lot of work and a lot of money. We also cover some news and we start a conversation on Disney’s Polynesian resort but it evolves into discussing Disney resorts in general. We do have a lot of fond memories at the Polynesian and we will dig into that more in future episodes. However, in the short term we have a lot of travel coming up. Jason and I have a Disney cruise (my first one) and Jon and James are both taking trips to Walt Disney World in June. There’s lots of content coming up for what will be a busy summer!
Episode 356: We have a full house in this episode as we have Jason and James join us this week! We discuss the latest news. Which includes Tron testing at full speed and Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic rewind is in passholder previews. Meanwhile the Disney CEO is touting the Q2 earnings for the company. He points to things like Genie Plus, Disney Plus and Galactic Starcruiser as the reasons for the increase in revenue. In order to help Bob out more, we pulled a list of every Disney movie made and we randomly selected some to come up with attraction ideas from the existing Disney IP database. We found some hidden gems that I think Bob would be proud to have made into new attractions or an overlay to existing attractions. It was a fun game for us to play.
Episode 355: We mostly discuss the news this week. Most of the news in centered around Epcot. The previews have started for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. The World Celebration area of Epcot and for Moana: Journey of Water. The new Comunicore Hall is a very scaled back version of what was originally in the plans for a new festival center. The new trailer for Obiwan Kenobi series was released and it got me excited. Also, could Tarzan’s Treehouse turn into an Encanto attraction out in Disneyland?
Episode 352: On this episode, Jon and I have a discussion about Disney CEOs. We talk about the good and bad from each one and even have a little fun ranking them from best to worst. We start with some news discussion. The major topic of the week is the Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind had an official opening date. Passholder and DVC previews were also announced but as of the time of this episode there isn’t any confirmation of dates. Disney is also planning more solar farms and affordable housing in Florida. Out in Disneyland there will be the first entry of Encanto into the Disney parks by way of the projection show on the front of It’s a Small World. We speculate about them adding an Encanto piece to the Enchantment fireworks as they did some after hours testing recently at Magic Kingdom. We’d love to see Encanto included! Now, back to the CEOs…We’d love to hear your rankings so let us know!
Episode 351: Today we catch up on the latest Disney news and one of us just booked their first Disney Cruise! We start with the news and even though we don’t talk about Bruno, we had to talk about the Oscars. Encanto won best animated feature but it lost for best song. Oh yeah, and there was a little incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock. We give our take on that. There’s more drama in Florida with Bob. Connections Café will have some cool new features. The queue for Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind has been revealed and speculation is running wild about previews! Jon and I end this episode by having some fun Disney conversation.
Episode 301: In this episode this we discuss the latest Disney news and give a construction update on the various construction project going on at Walt Disney World. Jason, points out that his favorite attraction, The Tom Sawyer Island Rafts. The Soul of Jazz exhibit is now open at Epcot and Annual Passholders will get a 30% discount on merch again for the next month. The park hours have been extended for the President’s Day holiday week. There has been a new record for the Points challenge this past week. Can someone beat the new record next week with the longer hours? We wrap the show by giving a collection of the different tips that we have learned over the past several months traveling to Walt Disney world during Covid-19.
Episode 293: There was quite a bit of news to discuss this week. Mickey Mouse had a birthday and so did our very own Jon…We discovered that he and Mickey are exactly 50 years apart in Age. We did get a few updates on attractions that are under construction. The biggest update was from the Guardians of the Galaxy coaster coming to Epcot. We got to see the train in action, as well as a peek inside the massive show building for the coaster. Josh D’Amaro confirmed that Ratatouille will be opening in 2021 and that the retheme of Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog will be happening sooner than later. We mention 2 stories this week from teenagers doing dumb things at Walt Disney World and getting caught for it. We wrap up the news with stories that broke Dis Twitter this week. The new McDonalds toys, Testing of Fireworks at Magic Kingdom, and Figment got a new sweater! Jon gives us some details on his upcoming trip so be looking for his trip report after Thanksgiving. We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday….Wear a mask!
Episode 292: After a week off we are back to discuss the latest Disney news & rumors and give a quick review of the Mandalorian Season 2. We also do a preview on Jon’s upcoming Walt Disney World trip! In the news this week we talk about a price increase for DVC fees that will take effect in 2021. The Grand Californian will re-open to DVC guests in early December. We got a first look at the new roller coaster trains for the Guardian’s of the Galaxy coaster at Epcot. The Muppets are back at Liberty square in the Magic Kingdom and we give a construction update on the various projects that are still ongoing at Walt Disney World. We discuss some start wars news before diving into our review of the first 2 episodes from season 2 of the Mandalorian. Finally, we preview Jon’s upcoming trip to Walt Disney World. He talks about his strategy and expectations about going to Walt Disney World during this pandemic.
