Show # 34 of the "WGTWDW" Podcast

 

Hello and welcome to the Marathon show that has become # 34!  On this show we Spin the Wheel of Attraction and get one of our Favorite attractions a WDW.  We then discuss different types of technology that The Disney Company is using in the parks.  After that, Tom from Wis. joins us for another addition of the Fan Meet and Greet. So welcome back and thanks for listening. 

On this show the Wheel of Attraction smiles on us and lands on one of the best attraction in WDW, Muppets 3D.  All of us love this ride and the pre-show just as much.  There are so many hidden details hidden in there, it is so cool.

Rats fishing in the Fountain

 We mention the clap-boards and the crates on the show and I want to repeat it here.  Read everything in that pre-show room.  Make sure you even read the words on the side of the 3-D glasses containers as you walk into the room.  Along with the static displays, there are the TV's there are multiple sets of three TV's so people can stand all over the pre-show room.  The gags they show on that TV are classic.  It makes waiting so enjoyable.  Check-out Sam the Eagle and Gonzo below:

 

 

We next spend some time talking about some of the technology that keeps us impressed with the Disney Parks.  From the new RFID technology to the other forms of great stuff.  We all were talking about what we knew about the new RFID stuff.  When we were there on Spring Break we saw the display at the old Odyssey Rest. 

It was very cool seeing these.  Even though this was in April, the word is they are still not ready to give out yet.  We were hoping in July, but a little birdy told us...nope.  We then discussed the Tower of Terror drop computer, the Haunted Mansion hitch hiking ghosts,the new BOG Animated Rose and the lanterns at the American Adventure.

 We really look forward to hearing from our listeners and we think that the Fan Meet and Greet is a great way to do that.  We would love to hear from you in either audio or email.  Email us at wgtwdw@gmail.com and let us know anything you want about your Disney like inside and outside the parks.  Your first time at a Disney park or your favorite character and why.  Anything that you want to discuss is welcome.  On this show we hear from Tom from Wis.  and his first time to the parks and trips to follow.  Tom also had some great news in that he and his wife are expecting 2 Princesses in the near future.  Congrats!  Start studying up on all of those princess names and stories.

 

One last thanks go out to Jim and Kim over at Once Upon a Time Travel.  They're the people to contact the next time you travel to Disney! Contact them through their Facebook Page or at

(504) 304-4904

 



Behind-the-Scenes at the Making of Monsters U.

Ever since college-bound Mike Wazowski (voice of Billy Crystal) was a little monster, he has dreamed of becoming a Scarer—and he knows better than anyone that the best Scarers come from Monsters University (MU). But during his first semester at MU, Mike’s plans are derailed when he crosses paths with hotshot James P. Sullivan, “Sulley” (voice of John Goodman), a natural-born Scarer. The pair’s out-of-control competitive spirit gets them both kicked out of the University’s elite Scare Program. To make matters worse, they realize they will have to work together, along with an odd bunch of misfit monsters, if they ever hope to make things right. Screaming with laughter and oozing with heart, Disney•Pixar’s “Monsters University” is directed by Dan Scanlon (“Cars,” “Mater and the Ghostlight,” “Tracy”), produced by Kori Rae (“Up,” “The Incredibles,” “Monsters, Inc.”) and features music from future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and award-winning composer Randy Newman (“Monsters, Inc.,” “Toy Story 3”).

Disney Insider is giving fans an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of Monsters University, sharing one scene from the film as it is transformed from a sketch into the final frame that will appear on screen through Pixar’s six-step animation process. Disney Insider combined these six images into an animated GIF to give fans a real sense of the animation progress.

New Technology in Epcot's American Experience

One of the things that impresses me the most about Walt Disney World is their sense of technology.  It seems that while some other amusement parks find something that works and sticks with it for years and years, Disney never waits until something is obsolete to replace or upgrade it.  Some of the biggest complaints from WDW world fans is when a ride is replaced or updated.  This idea of updating technology and staying in the fore-front has been part of Walt Disney's ideals from long ago.  Here are some really great quotes from Walt Disney about this:

"I believe in being an modivator."

"Whenever I go on a ride, I'm always thinking of what's wrong with the thing and how it can be improved."

"It's something that will never be finished. Something that I can keep developing...and adding to."

"Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."

"EPCOT will be an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise."

And one of my favorite Walt quotes:

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Well one of the "new paths" is now found at the American Experience in Epcot and we were happy to see this the last time we were there.  The American Experience pavilion has three main areas.  The first is the Main Lobby, where there are great paintings and where the Voices of Liberty perform.  The second area is the gallery exhibit called National Treasures and the third is the main show area. 

Inside the National Treasures area the WDW Imagineers have introduced of of those new technologies in the form of a 3d imaging lamp, to tell the story of the items on display.  I wish I had taken more video.  Here is what it looked like:

 

 

This is such a great way to grab the interest of the park guests as they walk through the exhibit.  Let me know what you think.  Have you seen these new lanterns?  Post your thoughts below.

Show # 31 of The "WGTWDW" Podcast

Hello and welcome to show # 31!  On this show we take a break from the conversation and spend some time with sounds from the parks.  We've done this kind of show before and I personally love to listen to these kind of shows.  I'm a Disney Geek to the core, so even hearing sounds from the parks gets me really happy. 

 

On other Disney Podcasts that do this I love to listen, figure out where the clip is from and then see if I get any memory responses from when we did or saw what we were listening to.  As we do shows like this down the road, consider them a tribute to Paul and the Window To the Magic Podcast.  He owns this idea with is Disneyland park walkthroughs, Awesome

I mentioned on the show that these audio clips came from video, so below are the video segements I got these from.  There out of order and I might have missed one or two, but most of the are there.

Thanks again to Jim and Kim over at Once Upon at Time Travel, contact them when making plans for your next trip. 
And for Quinn, Hope, George and Ed, thanks for listening.  Email us at WGTWDW@gmail.com  and go to Itunes and give us a review.  And, we're up on Facebook.  Stop by and give us a LIKE!  Enjoy the videos!

We took this first video a while back, but it's still great.  Sam the Eagle is so straight and get's taken by Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat, Classic!

 

The next clip is Yehaa Bob Jackson who performs over at the River Roost at the Port Orleans Riverside Hotel.  This is a great show and if you ever have the chance, please go.  I've gone three times in the last 4 trips. It's a great place to Meet up with friends!

 

 

This is the Animal Kingdom Parade.  As I mentioned on the show, we're not Parade people anymore now that the kids are older.  But as we were walking along a Cast member was cutting off the walk-way to set-up for the parade.  Well, since we were there, we watched the parade.  Very fun!

 

 

 

Here is part of the Captain jack Tutorial.  I actually had put two different videos together to give you more of a taste of the show.

 

 

And now the Nemo clip.  This is such a great show, as a father the message really hits home to me.  This is a broadway quality show.  We've seen it every time we've been in AK.  Very cool to see the same actors as we go back doing different parts.

 

 

In this next clip, these guys are great.  If I could only play an instrument like these guys can. It's always worth a couple minutes to stop and watch a couple of songs.

 

 

 

And the last clip for today, is of course, Wishes.  We love this fireworks show.  I've watched my kids grow up from them sleeping through it, to the ear plugs and hugs to get them through it.  Now there telling us where to watch from.  Priceless!

 

Monstrous Summer at Disney

A little while ago, the Execs at WDW put on a presentation at Epcot with a couple of our favorite Monsters as special HUGE guests.  The parks are happy to announce that this is going to be a Monstrous Summer of fun.  To start off, they are once again throwing  an all night party which is happening at the Magic Kingdom Park in Florida and Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure park in California. The parks will stay open from 6 a.m., May 24 to 6 a.m., May 25, 2013.  Wish I could Go!  For those that missed it, here is the way it was announced.  Thanks to Ricky at Inside the Magic for the great video.

Her is another version of the video I found.  It looks like they did a test run first.  The other thing to take note is that the above I had assumed was on the back of SpaceShip Earth, but could not tell.  The below video of this announcement is done in an empty Epcot and it is defiantly the front of SpaceShip Earth.  Thanks to the Disney Parks Blog for getting this out there for us.

I was also lucky to find this third video of the event with some great behind the scenes interviews of the Imagineers who put this together.

Habit Heroes at Epcot

This is Hope's turn at a Blog post, so welcome our second guest blogger, Hope.

On Tuesday March 26, 2013, Dad, Quinn, and I went to Epcot. The one thing that stood out to me was an attraction in Innoventions. This attraction is called “Habit Heroes.” Habit Heroes is an attraction for all ages. Last time we went to Innoventions Habit Heroes was closed. This time it was open. Anyway, in this attraction you go through three rooms. The first room has sixteen circles spread evenly out on the floor. Each circle had a sensor in it to indicate your movement. When everyone takes their place on a circle a cast member explains what we will be doing in the attraction. The one thing the cast member teaches you is that when she or the agent says, “Now is the hour,” you have to say in return, “To build our power.”    The whole idea is that there are three villains who try to make you stay unhealthy. There are three agents who help you defeat the three bad guys. One bad guy makes you dehydrated, his color is blue. One makes you be lazy and not go outside and exercise and his color is red. The last one makes you eat unhealthy, his color is green. These three bad guys are invisible so you cannot see them in the real world. The first room was defending ourselves and how to throw moves to beat the bad guys. You follow different move patterns as sensors detect if your doing the move right and moving shapes on the big screen show your movement.

The second room was protecting our city and has guns set up along two walls.  Groups of three for one red, one green and one blue.  We each then shot the bad guy that matched our color gun as he came down the screen. The third room was protecting our world.  We ran around the whole room touching the colored card the CM gave us to lights on the wall to match the bad guys coming down to get us. 

Well we won.  We also got a nice rubber bracelet to match the color that we played.  Dad got a Red one, Quinn got a Green one and I got a Blue one.  We had a really fun time with this and hope to do it again.

Epcot's Test Track V2

I am happy to introduce a Guest Blogger today, my son Quinn.  We just got back from a quick one day trip to Epcot and the kids' only price was to each write a Blog post.  Here is the price he paid.  It was well worth it for both of us!

On March 26, 2013, during our trip to Florida for Spring Break, we had the amazing opportunity to visit the Epcot theme park for the day. Though we spent the day hitting the rides we usually hit, and a new experience in Innovations (See Habit Heroes Article), we were even more excited for the new version of Test Track, recently renovated. This version, now sponsored by Chevy, featured the way cars are designed, rather than how they are tested. At first glance, and from reports about the ride, it seemed to be just as great as the original Test Track, but it turned out to be better.

Because of our normal schedule of getting into the park, sending either me (Quinn), or Dad (Ed), to get fastpasses for Soarin’, we missed the huge development of the stand-by line at Test Track. It was at 40 minutes so we decided to take the single rider line, to avoid the long wait. Though it was obvious the normal line had a more in-depth demonstrations about how cars were designed, the line we went on, had a slick silver sports car, and models of engines, one normal one, and one that seemed futuristically possible. We also passed through the area were we would choose our design.

The monitors were on a platform, about four on each side of the platform, and displayed a choice of four different attributes of a car, Power, Efficiency, Responsiveness, and Speed.  After you chose one, it would give you a set of cars to pick, and you would record that onto either your Key to the Kingdom card, available only if you were staying at a resort hotel, or a white card given at the beginning of the platform.

One thing I noticed as we walked through the line is that the single riders have to choose from a set of cars that were pre-made, while the normal line riders would be able to shape and mold their car choice. This was discovered as we walked through the line, because of a glass wall that looked down on the normal line’s monitors. After going through where the engines were displayed, the loading dock for the cars came into view, where you would be matched up with any odd numbered party.

 

Due to what I suspect is a way to cut down the price of this renovation, the track wasn’t different, at all. What was around the track was. After going through the Seatbelt check, the cars, now designed like they had technological wires running around the car, took you up the hill where the power test would be conducted. This was tested by going down the track at a high speed, and using the brakes. After going through the test, the results were shown, ranking our virtual cars that we made by earlier. Next, the Efficiency was tested, by going through various tests to decipher that miles per gallon, and the aerodynamics of the created cars. Once again the results were shown. The Responsiveness test was next, and this test had you curving around the winding road, through the forest. After almost colliding with a virtual truck, the results are again shown (My car ranked first for this one). Next was the one everybody enjoys, which was the Speed test. This sent you flying against a wall, only for it to open just before you hit it, sending you to the outdoor track, which loops around the back parking lot, and to the front of the attraction. After the rankings are shown, you are taken back to the loading dock, where you would exit.

After you get your photos from the Speed Test, you enter a room where you can create your own car commercial, using your virtual car. Unfortunately, we did not get to experience this as we walked to the next room. In the next room, there were games, in which there was a track, and you could key in your car to race around a virtual track. Continuing on, there were car models filling half the room, as another room revealed the gift shop. We had to return our cards, as they were to be reused by other riders.

In my opinion, this ride was just as great, if even better than the original. One downside I found was the tests were just put in to match the track, but besides that, the ride fit together nicely. It was nice to see how the cars were created, for the four attributes, and how a balance of each was a great car.

Disney Pixar "Cars Toons" Shorty Shorts

Brand New Disney Pixar “Cars Toons” Shorty Shorts Live on Disney.com!

There are three brand new Disney Pixar "Cars Toons" Shorty Shorts now live on Disney.com and Cars.Disney.com. Dubbed “Shorty Shorts” because they’re no longer than a minute and a half long, each video offers a quick and fun peek into the world of "Cars." Directed by Jeremy Lasky and produced by Mary Alice Drumm, Disney Pixar “Cars Toons” feature some of our favorite characters in new and surprising situations.

Head to Disney.com or Cars.Disney.com to check out all three videos, including:

 

· “Hiccups” - When Lightning McQueen gets the hiccups, everyone in Radiator Springs thinks they have the cure.

 

· “Bugged” - Red's peaceful morning routine is interrupted by a pesky visitor.

 

· “Spinning” - Guido discovers he has a hidden talent as a street corner sign spinner.

 

2013 Star Wars Weekend Poster Released

Every year I wait for the one event that combines two of my favorite Pop Culture icons, Star Wars and Disney, Star Wars Weekends.  This is an event that occurs 4 weekends in a row usually the end of May through the beginning of June.  This year it goes from May 17th, thru June 9th.  The event draws 1000's down to Disney Hollywood Studios for those four weekends.  The events include autograph sessions, exclusive merchandise, a special parade and a really funny dance session/contest known as the Hyperspace Hoopla to close each weekend down.  There are also various information sessions and interviews.  They just released the official logo for 2013.  And here it is.

Their celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of the Return of the Jedi.  Hence Mickey and Chip and Dale cruising through the forest of Endor. Each weekend it is traditional to have a host.  For this year the hosting duties will be split between Warwick Davis (former Ewok among other SW roles) and Ray Park, otherwise known as Darth Maul. 
If you are planning to make the trip to SWW here are a couple of things to keep in mind.  If you are going for Rope Drop, plan on going early.  Lines form as early as 6:00am.  The process for buying merchandise and getting autographs is run by tickets that you get as you come into the park.  To see what the parade and the Dance show looks like, let YouTube be your friend.  As far as the Hoopla goes, does anyone else think it's kind of weird/icky seeing Amidala and Lei dancing together?