Episode 259: Better late than never! This week we had a delay in our recording schedule because of our recent Disney trip but we have so much news to cover that this is a jumbo episode of Traveling with the Mouse! Disney has a new CEO and Walt Disney world has a very bad week full of ride issues. Spaceship Earth has an official refurbishment date and the Emperor is in fact a clone in Rise of Skywalker. Jason and I went to Disney World this weekend and Jason got to ride Rise of the Resistance for the first…and second time but it wasn’t without drama. We had some really good dining experiences and we survived the crowds and short park hours. This is a big episode…get ready!
Disney News 2-5-2020
Episode: 255 – We discuss the pressing Disney news of the day including details on Lighthouse Point (Disney’s new private island) and more on the Rise of the Resistance boarding group process. Jason is very vocally against the boarding groups and let’s us know why he is not in favor of this system. We also cover several small but interesting news stories ranging from the Super Bowl MVP’s visit to Walt Disney World to Disney releasing a theatrical version of the Broadway show Hamilton. There have also been some price increases on things lately. We discuss the new price of dessert parties and the price increase of Tokyo Disneyland park tickets.
News & Fastpass+ Refresher
Episode 254: With the news of Smuggler’s Run adding fastpass soon we thought it would be a good time to do a refresher on the Disney World Fastpass plus system. A few things have changes since our last episode and we wanted to go over everything all in one episode. We do start by going over the most recent news as there were several stories that caught our attention this week. The parks in China are currently closed, Disney is now selling sporks in Galaxy’s Edge and Disney much more.
Jason’s Disney Cruise Trip Report
Episode 253: Jason recently returned from his first Disney Cruise! He walks us through his experience on a 3 night cruise with a stop at Castaway Cay. We get into a review of the food and entertainment on board the ship. He talks about his experience on Castaway Cay and how to have adult time on a cruise with Kids! He also book ended his cruise with some stops at Walt Disney World. He did a pre-cruise attempt at Rise of the Resistance with a tight window of time. After the cruise he went to Epcot to check out some of the new shows and to experience Festival of the Arts.
Random Disney News
Episode 252: Today we just have a random Disney discussion. We discuss the latest Disney news and have some random things mixed in. For example, Jason has an idea for a Magic Kingdom challenge where you would ride every ride multiple times…but how many times do you think you could ride each ride in a single day? We also discuss some potential strategies to complete this challenge. We also talk about ride closures, construction updates, a roaming R2D2, Festival of the Arts, and Disney Oscar chances this year. Later this week Jason will be embarking on his first Disney cruise but he is also going to try and make it on Rise of the Resistance before his cruise. Will he make it in time? Stay tuned to find out!
Disney News & Picking a ride to Marathon
Episode 251: We discuss some Disney news and we decide which rides we would marathon at each park. We narrow it down to one ride at each Walt Disney World Park that we would be willing to ride over and over again in a single day. If all goes to plan, we will actually go to the parks together and do this in the near future. Just for fun we also discuss the rides that would be the worst to Marathon at each park. In the news we talk about the latest discounts, Issues with Rise of the Resistance, upcoming ride refurbishments, and reduced bus services at the skyliner resorts.
Best of 2019
Episode 249: As 2019 draws to a close we take a look back at some of our favorite moments of the year. We took some clips from our favorite and most popular episodes of 2019. From our one ride short Parkeology run to Jason’s dramatic parkeology completion. We also picked out a few news stories and some trip report segments from episodes that were popular this year. We hope you enjoy this look back as we prepare for 2020! Merry Christmas and happy holidays from all of us at Traveling with the Mouse….And go see Rise of Skywalker.
Disney Cruise Trip Planning
Episode 243: Today we take a look at planning a Disney Cruise! Jason is taking the plunge and booked his first Disney Cruise. Our resident cruise expert Jon goes over the basics of a Disney cruise and answers Jason’s questions. If you are thinking of booking a Disney cruise, we hope this episode will be helpful. We also cover some of the recent Disney news like the new Holiday happenings at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and we touch on the launch of Disney+. We will cover Disney+ more extensively next week, so stay tuned for that!
Disney World Fantasy Draft
This week on the show we cover the news but we also wanted to do something unique and fun. We hold our first ever Walt Disney World Fantasy Draft. We each select 5 Attractions, 1 quick service restaurant, 1 table service restaurant, 1 resort, a character meet & greet, a nighttime spectacular and a bonus attraction. We each had different strategies when forming our new park and We all ended up with some good picks but it is up to you to decide the winner! Click here to take another look at each of our parks and to cast your vote! During the episode we each make our case as to why you should vote for our park so be sure to listen to the episode as we make our selections and pander for your vote!
Disney News & Trip Report
Episode 238: We discuss the latest Disney news and Talk about what it’s like to go to Walt Disney World without kids! That’s right Jason and I just returned from a trip with our wive’s and no kids. We talk about what it’s like to go to the Food & Wine festival and eat at signature restaurants without children. I’m not going to lie, it was kind of awesome. We crammed a lot into a weekend trip and we ate a lot of food and had a lot of drinks. We spent time at all 4 parks and had a very memorable dinning experience at Monsieur Paul at the France pavilion! Jason and his family are now DVC members! Look for a DVC episode coming up soon.
Disney News – October 2, 2019
Episode 236: In this episode we catch up on the news of the past couple of weeks. We focus on some of the recent news like the opening of the Skyliner and the final showing of Illuminations. We also go more in depth on a couple of stories from D23 now that the dust has settled on them. We give our thoughts on the Disney Genie app that will be coming next year and we dig a little further into the Star Wars hotel/Space cruise ship.
Jason’s September 20th Parkeology Run
Episode 235: Today’s episode is all about Jason’s recent Parkeology run! Jason details his day and give some great insight into what was going on inside the ropes on what was a dramatic but exciting day! Jason takes us through the ups and downs of the day that at one point looked nearly impossible for him to complete. He tells us what he was thinking when he took some major risks in order for his run to stay alive. Ultimately his determination is what got him to the finish line! Congratulations to our Parkeology Expert, Jason!
Disney News & Live Trip report
Episode 233: In this episode Jon is coming to us live from Gran Destino Tower. He took some time out from his trip to talk some Disney news with us and give us some live updates from the ground at Walt Disney World. We discuss some construction updates and Get Jon’s thoughts on Galaxy’s Edge. Look for a more detailed trip report coming up!
Disney News & Recent challenge completions
Episode 232: Today we cover the most recent Disney News and discuss the recent deluge of parkeology completions since the opening of Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World. Hurricane Dorian has been lurking off the coast of Florida for several days and it cancelled a challenge run of our own. In other news we talk about star wars sporks, shade (finally) being thrown over Slinky Dog Dash queue and the TSA reversing their decision on coke bottles. We wrap up by discussing some of the recent challenge completions over the past week.
D23 News summary
Epsidoe: 231 – Today we are breaking down all of the major news that came out the recent D23 expo! We cover the major news from Disney Plus to the new announcement for Disney Parks around the world. We then focus on the many upcoming and ongoing changes to Epcot. We conclude by each giving our top 3 things to come out of this year’s D23! Let us know what you are most excited about.
Disney News & Galaxy’s Edge Preview
Episode 230: We discuss the latest Disney news and talk about Jason and Adam’s recent Passholder Preview day at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge! We start with a rundown of the news like New Forky merchandise, Epcot Construction updates and New Afternoon Magic tickets. We also discuss more unscheduled ride refurbishments at Magic Kingdom, and new photopass opportunities for the Halloween Party. Speaking of the halloween party there’s a new party pass available for MNSSHP this year. We also take a look at new concept art from the upcoming Reflections resort. Then, Jason and I walk you through our Passholder preview of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. We give our thoughts on the theming of the land and a review of Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run.
Disney News & D23 Preview
Episode 229: As always we discuss the latest Disney news & Rumors! We cover some new things exclusively coming the the Hollywood Studios version of Galaxy’s Edge. Tower of Terror has completed it’s refurbishment. Epcot’s project gamma is continuing to expand. The NBA experience is now quite operational. There was some unusual maintenance issues at Disneyland recently. And finally we preview the upcoming D23 convention in Anaheim. We give some rumors as well as our wish list of things we’d like to see announced.
Disney News and Parkeology Recap for July 10, 2019
Episode 224: In this episode we discuss Disney news and recap Jason’s July 4th Parkeology run! Now that we have all seen Toy Story 4 we discuss the film and give our thoughts. It is mostly spoiler free but there may be a few. (Ye be warned) We also talk about the opening of Gran Destino Tower over at the Coronado Springs resort. Jason and I will be staying at this resort later in the month so we will give a full review soon. We also talk about the new Disney Buses coming to Walt Disney World and the rumor that the Skyliner is opening next month. There’s also a plethora of changes coming to Epcot in the near future and we list out the things that will be closing in the next few months. Let us know if you like the longer format of these once per week shows!
Jon’s Trip Report
Episode 220: In today’s episode Jon recaps his recent trip to Orlando with a stay at Universal’s Cabana Bay and visits to Sea World and Disney Springs. We talk about his visit to the new Sesame Street area in Sea World and his overall thoughts of the park. He then gives his thoughts on Disney Springs and has a few dinning reviews to share during his time there. He wrapped his trip up with a breakfast at Kona Cafe at the Disney’s Polynesian Village resort!
June 1, 2019 Parkeology Recap
Episode 218: Today we are recapping our recent Parkeology run from June 1st! For anyone not familiar with this challenge, we attempted to ride every ride in all 4 Walt Disney World theme parks in 1 day. We attempted the challenge for the first time back in March and came up short. On our second attempt we had 2 additional rides to complete but we also had 2 more hours in the day. This day produced a lot of fun and a lot of drama…Our run literally came down to the last minute!
