Mouse Travel Tips

Lewis Carroll, the author who created the fantastical world of Wonderland, was born on January 27, 1832.  To celebrate his birthday, we’d like to suggest five fun Alice in Wonderland related activities you can do at Disney parks:

1)      Enjoy the Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland:  One of the unique attractions at Disneyland is the Alice in Wonderland ride, located across from the Matterhorn in Fantasyland.  Opened in 1958, the dark ride takes guests through the story of Alice’s adventures in wonderland.  Play croquet with the Queen of Hearts, get lost in Tulgey Wood, sing with the flowers, or have a spot of tea with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.  This enchanting ride is a colorful way to spend time together as a family.  Can’t get there in person?  Enjoy YouTube videos for a vicarious vacation to Wonderland.

2)      Take a ride with Alice and the Mad Hatter on the Teacups:  whenever Alice and the Mad Hatter visit the Mad Tea Party teacups ride, they like to take a spin before they greet guests and pose for pictures.  If you time it right, and have a little bit of luck, you might be selected to ride with them in the teacups.  If not – you can still enjoy a spin any time of day at both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom parks.  Whether you spin left or right, you are sure to have a wonderful (if dizzy) time.

3)      Meet Alice in the UK Pavilion at Epcot:  On most good days, guests can meet Alice in the English garden just behind the Tea Caddy Shop.  Alice will pose for pictures and sign autographs.  If it’s not too busy – you might ask her to teach you how to curtsey to the Queen (say “yes, your Majesty…it saves time”).   Character greeting times are usually between 1:30pm and 6pm most days, but check with a cast member to confirm.

4)      Have breakfast with Alice and the Mad Hatter at 1900 Park Fare:  the Supercalifragilistic breakfast is a great way to meet Alice and the Mad Hatter.  Every day, the 1900 Park Fare restaurant brings together the best British characters for a yummy breakfast meet and greet event.  Alice and the Mad Hatter are usually in attendance, ready to pose for pictures and sign autographs for guests.  You can make dining reservations online at the Walt Disney World website.

5)      Enjoy the classic animation or re-imagined fantasy of the movies:  if you just can’t make it to the parks, you can always celebrate Lewis Carroll’s birthday by curling up with the 1951 animated Disney movie “Alice in Wonderland”, or with the 2010 Tim Burton version of the classic tale.

If all else fails – you can always read the book for free online (see Amazon’s Kindle store or other free ebook sites for the book).  Any way you slice it, you too can wish Lewis Carroll a very merry (un)birthday!

Click to listen or right click to download. Episode 48: Disney Parks Apps, Kim Possible Adventure, and Kringla Bakery

Mouse Travel Tips take a look at 3 different smart phone apps to use at Disney Parks to help with your park planing.  We take a look at Disney World Lines, Walt Disney World Dining, and Steven M. Barretts Hidden Mickey apps.  We then look at Kim Possible World Showcase Adventures at Epcot.  Afterwards, we stop in Kringla Bakery and have a bite to eat.

As always we thank you very much for listening to Mouse Travel Tips. We appreciate the time you take to listen to us. If you enjoy the podcast we welcome feedback our website www.mousetraveltips.com or you may contact us via E-mail or voicemail. We also ask you if you enjoy the show to leave a review on iTunes or Zune.

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Twitter: RayMTT
Facebook: Mouse Travel Tips
Voicemail:1-641-715-3900, extension 601469#.
Email: mousetraveltips@yahoo.com

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Today was a milestone day for me.  I celebrated my 23 year anniversary with my company (yikes – have I really been out of college that long??).  My son turned 13 weeks old today – he’s such a cutie.  And diehard Pooh fans around the world celebrated the birthday of English Author A.A. Milne – creator of the Winnie the Pooh series of children’s books – who was born on the 18^th of January, 1882.

In honor of A. A. Milne’s birthday, I wanted to highlight the many attractions of Winnie the Pooh that you can find at Walt Disney World in Florida.  These include character meals, character greetings, and of course the children’s ride in Fantasyland.

Winnie the Pooh (and Tigger Too!) can be found along with other Hundred Acre Woods friends at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, for a wonderful and tasty character meal.  Whether you choose the breakfast, lunch, or dinner buffet, you are guaranteed to meet Pooh Bear, along with his pals Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet.  They come by your table, pose for pictures, sign autographs, and have fun with the little ones before moving on in their dining room rotation.  Less frequently, you can also meet Pooh and select pals at the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast in the 1900 Park Fare dining room of the Grand Floridian hotel.  Most of the characters at this buffet meal are from English stories and movies, but the roster can vary day to day.  So your best bet for sharing a honey pot with Winnie the Pooh is at the Crystal Palace.

Our favorite spot to meet Winnie the Pooh is over at the Toy Soldier store in the UK Pavilion at Epcot.  The store itself has a very English feel to it (OK – no big surprise since you are in the United Kingdom Pavilion).  There are lots of sweet toys to choose from – most unlike American toy stores with their Transformers, Star Wars action figures, and more.  The Toy Soldier is home to Paddington Bear, knights and castles, and so forth – mostly made in England.  The Kidcot Fun Stop is located here – along with the character greeting spot to meet English friends, like Winnie the Pooh.  Photopass photographers are often on hand to capture the moment, or you can use your own camera to snap a shot of the famous bear and his comrades in stuffed and fluffy arms.

Finally, there’s no place like Fantasyland to enjoy the adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  Especially now that Disney has opened the new interactive queue and play area near the attraction (since Pooh’s Playful Spot got demolished as part of the ongoing expansion of Fantasyland).  In the Interactive queue, guests can wind their way through the hundred acre wood, including Rabbit’s farm, where the interactive portion of the queue comes to life.  Kids of all ages can spin sunflowers and pound melon drums.  If they step on the animal tracks on the ground, gophers pop up to greet them.  Or they can wipe away the hunny flowing from the walls to reveal hidden pictures underneath (very cool!).  This interactive queue is the perfect way to keep little ones from being bored in what can often be a long wait for the Adventures ride.

What is your favorite way to meet Winnie the Pooh on your trips to Disney?

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Click to listen or right click to download: Episode 43: Christmas in Epcot

Mouse Travel Tips episode 43 parks hop over to Epcot and we enjoy the Christmas season there.  We start of with the famous Candlelight Processional that is shown not only in Epcot, but in where it started in Disneyland. We then talk about the Word Showcase Storytellers from the different lands.  We can not forget the holiday ending of Illuminations, and so we briefly talk about that.  We also share some information on shows during the holiday season.  Before we leave we share Walt Disney World trivia on what it takes to host a Christmas celebration at Walt Disney World.

As always we thank you very much for listening to Mouse Travel Tips. We appreciate the time you take to listen to us. If you enjoy the podcast we welcome feedback our website www.mousetraveltips.com or you may contact us via E-mail or voicemail. We also ask you if you enjoy the show to leave a review on iTunes or Zune.

Contact:

Twitter: RayMTT
Facebook: Mouse Travel Tips
Voicemail:1-641-715-3900, extension 601469#.
Email: mousetraveltips@yahoo.com

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History of Candlelight Processional from Mouseplanet.com

Click to listen or right click to download. Episode 30: Epcot Food and Wine Festival, United Kingdom Pavilion, and Rose and Crown

Mouse Travel Tips episode 30 starts off with Epcot annual Food and Wine Festival.  We take a look at the different activities that you are able to take part in the festival.  We also give some tips on how to maximize the trip to Food and Wine Festival.  While at Epcot we stop off in the United Kingdom Pavilion and look at the different shops in UK and then we stop for a bit to eat in the Rose and Crown pub.

Thank you very much for listening to Mouse Travel Tips. We appreciate the time you take to listen to us. If you enjoy the podcast we welcome feedback our website www.mousetraveltips.com or you may contact us via E-mail or voicemail. We also ask you if you enjoy the show to leave a review on iTunes or Zune.

Contact:

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