Websites to Check-Out: Mouseventures

You know, the other day I was thinking, there must be a better way to post my trip reports. Well, I think I might have found the answer. The web site Mouseventures.net is a site that has, in my opinion, found it’s niche in the Disney online community. The premise of the site is a way to organize and present trip reports. The site itself is run by a couple from Texsas and in their words, “…We created this website because of our love of Trip Reports. They are the ultimate insider guide to Disney Resort vacations. Our goal is to create an immersive and interactive experience to entertain and educate you on taking a Disney vacation!”

And their site is truly immersive and interactive. With easy to read text and sharp pictures and even video, I think they have found a great way to display trip reports and anyone can do them. They are also correct in that the best way to find out about Disney world is to read some trip reports. A trip report is kind of like a Hotel review, but for your trip. What’s great with Disney Trip Reports is they are usually a great read. No-one has time to do-it all. But by reading about some of the experiences other people have had can help you plan and decide on what to do on your trip.

Up until now the trip report idea was pretty much the property of the big boards and forums like Disboards and Be Our Guest Podcast’s Forums, but Mouseventures.net is dipping their toes into this Disney Fan Site pond and they’re finding the water quite comfortable.

The site is on the new side but since the idea was so good I wanted to let you know it exists. There needs to be a more clear way to submit your reports, but for now an email to the site owners should do it.  I'm going to submit my latest trip as soon as I can, hopefully you will also.  Good Luck MouseVentures, I hope to see more and more content!

Floyd Norman's 'mr fun' Blog

I have been following Floyd Norman's Blog for about a year now. For those that might not know, Floyd has been a Disney animator and storyman for about the last 50 years working in both the Disney and Pixar studios. Floyd was made a Disney Legend in Oct. 2007. He was convinced to start a blog and it has been a treasure trove of great stories and cartoons. Today Floyd posted a story about the ins and outs of the design for Winnie the Pooh and Walt's reaction to the process. Very funny and enlightening. So check it out. The name of the Blog is Mr. Fun.

Disney Garden Products have Healthy Web Sites

I came across the oddest thing the other day. We had gotten grapes at the local supermarket. They came in a Disney labeled bag. The front of the bag was a picture of Mickey and Minnie having a picnic with the grapes pictured on their picnic blanket. The back of the bag had the Nutrition Facts panel(which, on grapes, is kinda excessive), a couple of fun facts; 'The average person eats about 8 pounds of grapes per year' as an example, and two links. I normally don't think twice about blowing off a products link on packaging as being a waste of time, but hey, this was a Disney Garden product and I had some time, so I took a look at the links. I am glad I did. I can't wait to show them to my kids as being worth while sites to waste their time on(sorry Webkins).

The first is the Imagination Farms web site. There are plenty of games to play all gearing at teaching kids about the five food groups, but especially fruit and vegetables. There is also a lot of fun information for the kids. Some of the sections are Foodle Doodle, Veggie Varsity, Kid Recipes and more. They also run a find a clue contest with codes from the back of the bag.

The second link is a site called Disney's Healthy Kids although when you get there it is really Disney's Fit Forever Champ Camp. This is more of a challenge type of site. Your main goal is to learn how to eat healthy and compete against campers from Camp Lazy Acres. The four parts of the camp are Lilo's Luau, Kim Possible Science Cave, Incredible Island and Mickey's Mess Hall. Each part of the camp teaches the kids about the food pyramid and other things such as moderation and proportionality. All things that you would think were common sense, but looking at the waist lines around you, maybe not. After each 'lesson' there is a trivia type game testing your knowledge. You go against campers from Lazy Acres. I was Stitch going against Gantu. It reminded me of the 10,000 Pyramid. The one thing that did stick out was that even though they used the Disney characters, they must have not had enough to pay for the voices. All of the Disney characters are silent. Only the counselors speak. Check out the Cool Parent link on this site to view other Disney Labeled products in the stores. Kim Possible Oat Meal, Nemo Drink Sticks, Mickey Burgers and a ton more.

Scouting With the Mouse

Scouting with the Mouse is a website we came across a couple of weeks ago. It is run by a friend of mine on Disfriends. I had never even thought of this, but what if you can combine WDW with Scouting. Well it has been done and done with style. This is a website that will help you and the Girl, Boy or Cub Scout in your house get ready for a trip to WDW. You will be amazed at the number of activities and requirements you can achieve while in the parks. There are links to buy Scouting and Disney stuff and plenty of news updated daily about both. There is also a feature that will let you become a MouseScouteer. Sign up for free and get some great extra options from the site. I have not signed up as of yet. As soon as we're going to WDW again, we will. My son has just recieved a prize from Scouting with the Mouse. He just had his Pinewood Derby and we had posted a picture of his Car over at Disfriends. Hypermommy(which I am sure is just a screen name) liked it and posted on the Scouting with the Mouse site. The boy received this great pin in the mail this past week.

The Disney and More Blog

I found a great site the other day as I was tooling around the Internet looking for some new Disney Blogs. The name of the site was the Disney and More Blog. This a very colorful and informative Blog. He covers all aspects of Walt Disney's World and of course More. The majority of his latest posts cover a lot of Walt Disney and his life with the Company, the Public and his Private life. The icing on this wonderful Disney treat of a blog are the colorful pictures and the detailed drawings and graphs that he uses in all of his posts. In his words:


"To all who come to this happy blog, welcome! Like at Disneyland, we celebrate here the past, the present and the future! You will find here the latest infos about Disney theme parks, attraction art-work or rare Disney historical photos. You can also watch great videos and even buy some Disney art or rare collectibles, and much more!"


My first visit to this blog lasted over two hours. This blog is run by Alain Littaye. Alain is from Paris, France and his profile lists him as a the co-author of the the Disneyland Paris from Sketch to Reality book and is a book designer and photographer and all around Disney Park fan. Alain is a constant poster. In fact he just posted another article on Walt's Apartment and Club 33 in Disneyland while I wrote this post. This is a quality site. I would normally say take a couple of minutes and check out the site, but I would be lying. So take a couple of hours and check out this site. You will not be disappointed. And since his site has been around a lot longer than mine, it looks like my header will need to be changed. This is another great Disney Website to Check Out.

Were you a fan of the Wonderful World of Disney TV show? Weren't we all? Here is a web site that I found that lists every show and a description of who and what was on the show. The web site is TV.COM. Here is a sample from Show Number One, Oct. 27, 1954:

Walt Disney introduces the show that will be a Sunday-night tradition for over 40 years, Disneyland. In this episode, he introduces upcoming season previews, plus movies that are to be coming out soon. The second half of the show is all about Mickey Mouse, Disney's first creation.
Writer: Bill Walsh Director: Robert Florey Guest star: Paul Frees (voice of Ludwig Von Drake (1961-1983)) , Jimmie Dodd (Himself), Ward Kimball (Himself), Norman Foster (Himself), Fess Parker (Himself)

Just to read through some of these listings and catch a small whiff of the quality and variety that was involved in these shows was incredible. So if your looking for a good source of Walt Disney TV information or your just looking for another Disney fix, This is a Great web site to check out.

The Walt Disney Family Museum

Here is another great Walt Disney web site and it was basically under my nose. The Walt Disney Family Museum. I found this the other day. I am still touring the site, but there is alot of information here. Many photographs and videos and many excerpts from interviews of Walt, the family and employees.

Here is their description:
"The Disney Family Museum Web site is produced and maintained by the Walt Disney Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Founded in 1995, the Foundation strives to promote education, writing, and scholarship about Walt Disney. The Foundation is not affiliated with The Walt Disney Company, although the site is hosted by Disney Online. "

This is a Website to Check-Out.

Ken Polsson's Walt Disney Company Chronologies

I came across this website about a month ago and wanted to pass it on. The site is the Chronology of the Walt Disney Company web site. I have seen a lot of attempts at Disney Chronologies, but Ken Polsson's site is the all time King. He's been working on this peice of Art since 1995 and continues to update it every day. Here is a sample of what happened in the Disney Company 25 years ago today from Ken's site:

"July 9
Buena Vista releases the live-action and animated feature film Tron to theaters in the US. It cost US$21 million to produce. It is presented in Super Panavision 70mm. Mickey Mouse has a cameo appearance. (Total American theater ticket sales: US$39 million.) [11] [15] [23] [34.272] [52.65] [97.29] [112.503] [245.34] [246.92] [255.D4] [256.C8] [370.317] [436.65] [440.56] [501.572] [602.40]
Bally debuts the arcade game Tron. [255.D4] "

His information is very detailed and completely footnoted, hence the bracketed numbers above. This is a great source and any serious fan of the Disney Worlds should have this link handy at all times. This second link is to his references page where he has links to his Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Mickey Mouse Chronologies.

This is a prime example of one of the Websites to Check-Out.

Check out the Ratatouille Video Podcast

I saw Ratatouille on July 4th with the family. I thought it was a pretty cool animated movie, once you got past that whole Rats in the kitchen thing. I laughed quite a bit as did the kids. I did not think it was worth an article in the blog though, until I came across the Disney Ratatouille Video Podcast on Itunes. It's free and you can do a search for it in the Itunes store. These podcast are 40 second to 4 minute long clips about the movie. The clips are like the extras you would see on the DVD. I followed the link back to the Official Ratatouille Web site. You can get the podcast there also. I was blown away by this site. Disney has finally figured out how to use the Internet. This is a beautiful, colorful, crisply animated and very detailed web site. The Characters menu Bar at the top right was the first tip off that there was some serious time spent on the design of this site. I can't wait to show the kids tomorrow night. Enjoy.