Monthly Archives: December 2014
Tweets on Tuesday: Best Disney Parks Nighttime Show?
Dec 30
Since we are heading into New Years Eve, I figured many of us are getting excited for nighttime celebrations with fireworks and singing and parties. So what more appropriate question could I have had on my Twitter than “What’s the best Disney Parks Nighttime show?” Not only is seeing some of these shows a great way to ring in the new year but they are a great way to end any night on a Disney vacation. I wondered what people would say as I have my own bias towards certain shows. Here is what everyone said was the best Disney Parks Nighttime show.
: Illuminations at Epcot. If I was an Orlando local, I would probably be at Epcot once a month to see this show. It’s amazing and I can’t say that I’ve ever missed it on any vacation since my first trip to Walt Disney World back in the early 1990s. This would be my second choice for best nighttime show personally!
: DCA World of Color! This is my top pick above anything else. This show lacks fireworks but it doesn’t even need it. The water show at California Adventure is breathtaking. I told Angie on our last trip that we would want to see this show more than once. After our first viewing her automatic response was, “We are seeing this again right?” This is how I will always feel. World of Color is the pinnacle of Disney nighttime entertainment as of 2014. Where does it stand in the future, who knows? I’m certain though that this would be my number #1 vote as of right now.
: Concerts during Food and Wine Festival! Eat to the Beat! Between Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival and the Food and Wine Festival, I would say that the Eat to the Beat concert series during the Food and Wine festival is the better of the two festival concert series. In 2014 we saw acts like Sugar Ray, Hanson, The Commodores, Air Supply, Fuel, Night Ranger, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy play. It’s such an amazing and diverse lineup of musicians and the concert is free with your entrance into Epcot. A great answer to this question of nighttime entertainment.
: Hallowishes at Halloween. The best for the whole year is Illuminations at Epcot. Another vote goes in for Illuminations at Epcot but I’m glad to see the Halloween fireworks on display. I think the Halloween party is far superior to the Christmas party…firework display included. Plus there are villains and ghosts and things!
: I mean…fireworks! Seems like someone isn’t really picky about their nighttime show as long as there are fireworks involved and that’s fair enough!
: Fantasmci! No, Wishes! No, Fantasmic! Wishes! Fantasmic! WishesFantasmicWishesFantasmicICANTCHOOOSE! This got out of hand and I’m sorry to mentally break anyone with this question. Ha! Strangely enough, I’m not a fan of the WDW version of Fantasmic nor Wishes so I can’t help you out while you ride the fence here. I will say that Wishes has been around for many years and I wonder if the firework show at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom will get any changes in the coming few years. As for Fantasmic, I’d like to see something with it change as well when Hollywood Studios gets some sort of resurrection.
Wonderful, Wonderful World of Color. That’s two votes for World of Color which ties Epcot’s Illuminations. I think I can contest that the majority of people are loving this!
: Fantasmic. Disneyland Version. I previously mentioned that I’m not a fan of Disney World’s Fantasmic show at the Hollywood Studios park but I’m a major fan of the nearly same show by the same name at the Disneyland park. It’s different in the best of ways. It’s much more intimate. It has better effects. It also doesn’t have those darn bleachers that make everyone’s butt hurt after 5 minutes of sitting on them.
That wraps up this weeks Tweets on Tuesday and I can’t wait to jump into the conversation on Twitter in 2015. Make sure to follow me so you can answer the questions and be featured on the site each and every Tuesday. (Hopefully!) See you all soon!
Josh Taylor
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Top 5: Disney Predictions for 2015
Dec 28
2014 was an awesome year for Disney as it had many hits at the theaters and the Disney parks are seeing some serious changes. It was a great year to be a fan since the #DisneySide promotion really focused on showcasing the fans. It wasn’t the greatest promotion but it definitely gave the fans a reason to promote themselves. I mean we used that hashtag almost all year. So what’s ahead for 2015? There is much to talk about going into 2015 and I’m excited to be a Disney fan going into the new year. What do I think will happen this coming year? Here are my Disney predictions for 2015.
#5-Tomorrowland is not a runaway hit. This one hurts as it’s one of the films I’m looking forward to the most next year but I have to admit that 2015’s summer movie season already looks jam packed and there are tons of films coming out that will trump Tomorrowland. We are looking at Avengers 2, Terminator, Jurassic World, Ant-Man, and Furious 7 all coming out around the same few months. It’s difficult to see Tomorrowland making more at the box office than many of these, especially since it’s an original movies and sequels usually do well in the summer blockbuster season. Will Tomorrowland still do well…Yes…but it won’t be that big hit I was hoping for. It might be #1 at the box office for one week but nothing more than that.
#4-Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary celebrations will bring record numbers to the park. The original Disney theme park celebrates a milestone this year and with it comes new parades, upgraded attractions, and some things still to be announced. With 2012 being a big step forward for the Disneyland Resort considering it’s major overhaul of the California Adventure park, the 60th anniversary could mean record numbers. The resort will also host the D23 Expo once again which could mean a very hectic and busy weekend. I see many dates where Disneyland has to close it’s gates due to max capacity. If you want to hit Disneyland this year and see all the new stuff and not have to elbow a few people to do it, I suggest going in September or October before Halloween.
#3-The D23 Expo reveals trackless attractions coming to U.S. parks. If you know anything about the international parks, you’ll see that all of them are getting attractions that are trackless. Dark rides like Pooh’s Hunny Hunt in Tokyo or Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy in Paris or Mystic Manor in Hong Kong. These attractions add another dimension to the dark ride. Will the changes to the dark rides at Disneyland for it’s 60th anniversary bring these trackless systems? Probably not, but I’d like to see some announcements be made in August at the D23 Expo. Maybe something for Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Epcot in the coming years will open.
#2-Star Wars: The Force Awakens has the best opening weekend of the year. There has been no bigger hype than for a brand new Star Wars film. We’ve been getting hints along the way to this new film. Episode VII has been approved by fans so far and looks to be one of the years biggest. So big that I will say it has the biggest opening weekend of the year. It’s December release means that we will know what it really has to go up against, most likely it’s Disney relative in The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Out of all of my predictions, this is the one I’m probably most sure about.
#1-Disney unveils huge plans for an overhaul to much of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Over the course of 2014 Disney’s Hollywood Studios park in Orlando saw a downward spiral. It was a lackluster park at the beginning of the year and it’s worse off at the end of it. There is hope since TCM has signed on to sponsor the park’s oldest and most center stage attraction, but this park needs more loving. Like lots more loving. It’s been quite a while since the Studios park has had a major boost in attendence due to an attraction. It did get Toy Story Midway Mania a few years back, but it needs a bigger boost, like an entire new land or overhaul like California Adventure got. I hope these announcements happen soon or at least work begins while they unveil what they have been working on at the D23 Expo.
What do you think should, could, or will happen in 2015 for Disney. Is this a big year for announcements? For films? For theme parks? Leave your thoughts below!
Josh Taylor
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3 Giveaways!
Dec 26
Hey! Angie here. I just posted 3 different Giveaways for 3 different mouse ears I’ve made. So, if you would like to enter, go to 1 or all 3 of these places (it’s just liking the pictures, commenting, and following essentially):
A Modern Mouse Christmas Card
Tweets on Tuesday: Best Holiday Overlay to a Disney Attraction?
Dec 23
Tweets on Tuesday is on a roll with my third post. I’m excited to bring you a holiday edition and I really enjoyed this one. Over the past decade or so Disney has turned their attractions into Christmas themed adventures. I’ve not had the pleasure to ride any of these versions so I put the question out to twitter. What Disney attraction has the best Holiday overlay? I got several answers and I think we covered some good tracks. As always, be sure to follow me on Twitter if you want to participate in Tweets on Tuesday!
: Small World Holiday is the best balance of original attraction and holiday theme. I’m not sure if it’s the best balance as it seems many others had their say. I would go along with this though for the simple response of never having been on any of the holiday attractions. Love how they explained their answer.
: Haunted Mansion Holiday. No real explanation here but I guess there doesn’t need to be considering that Haunted Mansion becomes a completely different Nightmare Before Christmas attraction. It definitely is the most outrageous of all of the makeovers and by that point could be the best.
: I would have said Country Bears when I was younger. But Osbourne over NY street if that counts. I would say it most certainly does! I love the Osbourne light show and would consider it its own attraction and a good use of space on New York street. You are also correct about the Country Bears as it was last shown at Magic Kingdom in 2005 but is sadly missed. It might have been my choice had I ever seen it.
: 1. Country Bears Christmas, 2. Small World Holiday. So these seem to be a running theme. An interesting group to put on the list as one of these holiday versions no longer exists and another attraction would be one that many people would skip over during the rest of the year.
: Mansion, DL. No contest. Another repeat here which means that 3 attractions have two votes each and I don’t have a “best attraction” yet. Seems like it’s up to what you like right?
: Country Bears. Again with an attraction that no longer has a holiday overlay. Obviously this needs to make a return to Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland because it is deeply missed by many.
: haunted Mansion DL. Nightmare Before Christmas and the overlay at Disneyland tends to be the most popular still running overlay around. Makes sense as Disney goes out of it’s way to make this grand and it’s the one holiday makeover that runs the longest, going from October through December. Almost 1/4 of the year, the Haunted Mansion is this different attraction.
: Jungle Cruise. Jungle all the way. After asking so many people, finally I got someone who likes the “Jingle Cruise” version of the Jungle Cruise. This is only it’s second year with the overlay of Christmas cheer but it seems to have received some serious improvements this year. However by the responses I got, the Jingle Cruise already seems like it rubbed people the wrong way last year and guests weren’t returning to the attraction this year.
: Kilimanjingle Safari. This clearly hasn’t happened and I’m not sure any of those lions out on the rocks will be wearing a Santa hat anytime soon. For now you’ll have to just enjoy the animatronic jungle attraction to get your holiday fix.
So it seems like this isn’t really a “best attraction”. It’s more like a “pick your poison” situation because what appeals to one person doesn’t appeal to another. I guess I’ll eventually have to test all of these that I can myself. Thanks to all who participated for their thoughts and until next week, be sure to follow me on Twitter and answer a question from me when you see it, you might be featured the next time around!
Josh Taylor
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Modern Mouse News: California Gets Frozen, Avatar Gets Tested
Dec 23
Stories Discussed This Week
Spiderman Talks Leaked
STK at Disney Springs
New Private Dining at Disneyland
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Josh Taylor
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Keith Lapinig
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Angie Carreiro
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Email Josh at
modernmouseradio.com
www.keithlapinig.com
Disney History: Walt Disney, The Dreamer
Dec 20
Top 5: Reasons it Was Awkward to see Cruella De Vil on Once Upon A Time
Dec 19
I will never stop watching Once Upon a Time, well, not until it comes to an end. Wait, it’s going to end? No! No! It can’t end, why would you tell me that!? ANYWAY I can look past some things when it comes to watching tv and noticing errors in continuity, small plot holes, or bad CG effects, but what really puzzled me in this week’s episode was seeing Cruella De Vil, and here’s why:
5. Since when are Dalmatians her minions? – Maybe I interpreted the scene wrong, but Belle totally gets lured into the woods by this Dalmatian pup. He comes up to her, acts all cute and stuff, then runs off, and she follows, because, hey, cute puppy love, am I right? That makes it seem like the plan all along, because the second she gets into the woods, she is captured by someone, who we later find out is a team of 3 villains, including Cruella, which makes sense because her movie is the only one with Dalmatians. But, it’s hard for me to think of puppies as evil, so let’s all just tell ourselves he just got wrapped up in the wrong crowd and it wasn’t his fault.
4. She would never wear that outfit and subject it to those conditions – Cruella cares about one thing and one thing only – fashion. At least that’s the whole plot behind 101 Dalmatians. So, it was just weird to me to see her voluntarily wearing a full length fur coat in the middle of the forest, and basically in a cave. At least the other villains have magic and/or live in the ocean, therefore can kind of just clean up at the drop of a hat. Cruella would have to take that pure white bundle of animal cruelty to the dry cleaners, and I just have a sneaking suspicion you wont be finding a dry cleaners in the Enchanted Forest.
3. Why would Ursula and Maleficent team up with her? – Think about it, what can Cruella even do? Yeah she’s super evil, I mean, she is willing to KILL puppies, but beyond that she’s useless. She gets 2 guys to do all of the work in the movie she is originally from, so she can’t even lure a sweet puppy into her grasps, and on top of that, she doesn’t have the ONE thing ALL of the other villains in the Enchanted Forest, Oz, and Arendale have – magic. Seriously, what use do these other 2 villains have for her, she’s worthless!
2. The Actor who played her was too attractive, or something – Ok, so other well known and beloved characters in Once Upon A Time have strayed from the look we know them for, but with Cruella they pretty much try to make her look almost exactly like the animated version of the villain from 101 Dalmatians. 
The problem isn’t so much that the actress isn’t a 6’4″ hag who weighs 83 pounds, but more that, well, she kind of looks to me like someone who is doing a pretty excellent job cosplaying, but isn’t quite a believable version of the character. Even the face characters in the parks are better than what I saw in this episode, and maybe it’s just me, but the fact that I even thought this at all means they did something wrong, because it just wasn’t on point enough.
1. Cruella isn’t from the Enchanted Forest so why and how is she there – Isn’t Cruella De Vil CLEARLY from our world – i.e. London, i.e. obviously NOT the Enchanted Forest. So, why is she there, how did she get there, what the heck!? It just didn’t make any sense. I usually don’t nit-pick over plot holes, but this one was just kind of stupid. Hopefully they explain it somehow in an upcoming episode, but for now it stands to be non-sensicle. I mean, are there even really puppies in the Enchanted Forest, because, for someone who lives, sleeps, and eats to skin animals and make coats, it doesn’t seem like she would be too keen on residing in a land that doesn’t seem to have an abundance of those commodities.
Of course, I’m just trying to be humorous with my article, and I love Once Upon A Time no matter what, but what do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below please!
Angie Carreiro
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Hiro and Baymax Meet and Greet – Disneyland
Dec 18