Betweenlanders want to know more about Disney, we want the inside track on rumors and what could have been. Let’s face it, living in Betweenland you are kinda out of the Disney loop. Sure we can hear rumors and get news from the main Disney news outlets, but we want to know more than Cars Land is going to open June 15, 2012. We want to know about the things that could have been, the things that never happened and the inside stories of how our favorite attractions were developed or became extinct.
Jim Hill lives that dream. He knows people and has connections within Disney and the theme park industry that most Disney enthusiasts will never have access to. Sometimes it is about who you know! Additionally, it seems clear that sometimes Mr. Hill has lucked into seeing pieces of Disney history that many would not have noticed, but when seen through Mr. Hill’s eyes tell a story of what will or was to be.
Len Testa, of WDW Today and Touring Plans, has partnered with Jim Hill to create “The Unofficial Guide’s Disney Dish with Jim Hill.” The podcast is simple in production but rich in content. The two Disney experts literally walk around the parks talking. Testa throws out questions to which Hill responds and provides stories and details that often have not been heard before by Disney fans. As they talk you hear the sounds of the background music and running attractions around them.
In the first seven episodes they have toured all four parks of the Walt Disney World Resort; The Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Additionally the two have walked through the hotels of both the Epcot area and Magic Kingdom. They have even toured Downtown Disney.
The content of all these podcasts is fascinating. I have repeated so many of these stories to the Between Wife, she would probably like me to quit listening. The story telling is engaging and often funny. And both Hill and Testa know these theme parks in a way many of us could only dream of. Every episode is an absolute must listen. And when they are done, you feel like you know something new and something the off the street Disney fan is not in the loop about yet.
The biggest question I have is the future. The podcast releases on a very irregular schedule, with every release being a surprise that instantly goes to the top of my listening queue. So every episode leaves the listener with the question of when will another episode drop and what will it be about. I can foresee episodes on Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. And there could be more episodes on hotels, it’s not like they have visited the values yet! Perhaps, one way to keep this series going is more visits to the visited parks, especially after the completion of the New Fantasyland. Another idea would be a visit to Disneyland for three or four episodes. Yet another opportunity is clear in their episodes on the Universal Orlando Resort, which introduced this park to me a non-Universal fan. As much as I don't want to admit it, Orlando offers more than one resort. Most recently they have released episodes with Sam Gennawey with Testa, sharing his planning knowledge about design elements within the Magic Kingdom.
Clearly there is still opportunity to share some great stories. And I will be waiting out here in Betweenland to put myself in the loop.
Years ago I would have to say that I was only a casual Disney fan. Disney movies were always present and we owned the biggest pile of VHS Disney in our circle of friends. And I had been to the Walt Disney World not once but twice. But I really was just your typical easy to manage non-fanatical Disney fan. Yep I was a pretty normal guy.
Then I decided I needed to up my participation in the planning for a third trip to Walt Disney World. In that increased participation I moved past www.AllEars.net and decided to try out a planning podcast or two. On AllEars I found a reference to a podcast called WDW Today and I have not looked back since.
What I found was a wealth of information that anyone planning a Walt Disney World vacation would need. I sampled an episode and then downloaded 20 other topics. Each episode was around 30 minutes or less, making each easily digestible. And other than the general Listener Question episodes, typically released on Wednesdays, all episodes had a uniting theme. So, if you wanted to know about hurricanes, they did it. Segway tours, it’s in the can. Perhaps you are interested in cult foods especially Dole Whip, yep they’ve been there. If you want a detailed report on drinking around the world at Epcot, they have done it not once not twice but three times. With the show reaching towards 1,000 episodes they have covered tons of topics that would help anyone plan their Walt Disney World vacation including the most experienced planners.
The podcast personalities are a mix of five of the best informed Disney Adjacent fans you are going to find. Len Testa is one of the co-authors of the Unofficial Guide series of Disney travel guidebooks. Testa’s opinions are typically either backed by statistics or experience having sampled the majority of accommodations and dining locations for the good book. In addition, it’s his research that the touring plans found in the good book are based on including Lines the mobile outgrowth of touring plans. Mike Newell turned his Disney fandom into an online streaming music empire in MouseWorld Radio. Mike Scopa is a long time Walt Disney World visitor, Walt Disney World fan writer and currently blogs at www.AllEars.net. Host Matt Hochberg is the only member of the team who is a physically Disney Adjacent panelist, and runs Studios Central a website dedicated to convinced us all the Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the best part in Orlando. Hochberg admits in episode 971 since moving to Orlando he has only gone two weeks without visiting one of the parks. Yes, I am jealous. Finally, but not last, the Fabulous Annette Owens is a Disney focused travel agent. She adds to the panel years of planning countless Disney vacations. Together there are not many planning questions this group cannot handle.
So, I listened in preparation of my Walt Disney World vacation several years ago. I fully intended to quit listening after I returned. I in fact dropped several podcasts after our return. Instead, I found myself still downloading three times a week; Monday, Wednesday, Friday. WDW Today had become part of my podcast diet. I could not escape it, living out in Between Disney with no trip planned I still had to know more about the parks. I needed the common sense and fun the hosts provided. And I was becoming something I did not expect, a Disney enthusiast. I find that listening helps me plan non-Disney events since much of the common sense can be applied in other family adventures. I am a better planner because of WDW Today. I’m sure I am not the only one living Between Disney who can credit, or blame, WDW Today for helping feed a Disney parks obsession.
