I am always looking for a way to keep the Disney Magic alive between trips. One of the best ways I have found is to follow a Disney Podcast. I am going to take a few moments to talk about two of my favorites. While I am only touching on two, there are many more that I listen to and hope talk about a little more in a future blog post.
WDW Radio Show
If you are a true passionate fan of everything Walt Disney World, then you must have heard of Lou Mongello. I don’t know of a single person who tries harder or does more to bring everyone closer to the magic of Walt Disney World than Lou.
My first encounter with Lou Mongello was through his trivia book (The Walt Disney World Trivia Book). My wife came home with his first edition, and I picked it up right away. It not only has the trivia questions with multiple choice answers, but the answer pages also offer a brief description or background along with the answer. It is the perfect way to learn more and get a little closer to Disney World. My wife and I used to sit up in bed and ask each other the questions to see who could get more correct. I think I read his book about a dozen times so far.
I stumbled across his podcast before I even knew what they were or had an iPod. I installed iTunes, grabbed a recent one and was in immediate awe. When you are such huge fans of Disney World as we are, you often find yourselves in the minority among family and close friends. It is hard to find someone with that same passion. Listening to Lou’s podcast each week was like a weekly phone call from a friend and all you do is sit around and talk about Disney World! I eagerly await each Sunday for a new episode.
Some of his topics include his famous top ten lists with Tim Foster, the Wayback machine, were he talks about some of our favorite attractions, and incredible interviews such as Julie Andrews, Richard Sherman and various Imagineers. He will often answer emails, play messages left on his voicemail, and somehow is always on top of the latest news and rumors on the parks. One thing that is always a constant is his incredible enthusiasm for Walt Disney World.
In June 2009, on our family vacation to WDW, Lou held a ‘Meet of the Month’ at MGM Studios during Star Wars Weekends. I can honestly say I have met some famous celebrities and sporting figures, but none of them even closely compared to meeting Lou. He was so incredibly gracious, and took time to speak with everyone and take pictures. He even gave my youngest daughter a free WDW Radio t-shirt because he was so impressed with the t-shirt she had made. It was and still is one of the highlights of that Disney vacation. Lou now has a meet each month at various locations throughout Disney World.
On top of his award-winning podcast, Lou is editor of Celebrations Magazine, along with Tim Foster. If you have not yet ordered a copy, stop what you are doing and go now. I have not yet found anything that compares to the work that they put into this magazine. Each issue has over 80 pages of amazing articles and full color pictures of Walt Disney World, and includes a Featured Ride, Featured Resort, and Featured Movie. They are currently printing issue 12. I will talk much more about it in a future blog post. You can find it at www.celebrationspress.com
Last 5 WDW Radio Show podcast episode titles:
178: “The Walt Disney World that almost never was, Listener Fact or Fiction, and more”
177: “Captain EO returns, Listener Email and more”
176: “Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel”
175: “Top ten things to do with your dad in Walt Disney World”
174: “Wayback Machine – Time Keeper”
Some of my personal favorite episodes:
173: “24 hour Live broadcast recap roundtable”
164: “Top ten ride vehicles; celebrating the legacy of the Adventurers Club”
135: “Richard Sherman Interview, Ultimate Disney Dream with Justin Muchoney”
96: “Top ten sentimental moments in Walt Disney World”
95: “Cast Members – one of the 7 wonders of WDW”
Some more information and links for WDW Radio and Lou Mongello
Host: Lou Mongello
Website: www.wdwradio.com
Website contains Lou’s latest blog posts, links to his audio and video podcasts, a forum to connect with others, and a link to shop for some of his amazing work, such as his trivia and audio guides.
Podcast: The WDW Radio Show
(New episodes Sunday evenings)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wdwradio
Twitter: www.twitter.com/loumongello
Email: lou@wdwradio.com
Celebrations Magazine: www.celebrationspress.com
Be Our Guest Podcast
After searching iTunes a few months ago for some more Disney related podcasts, I came upon the Be Our Guest Podcast. The very first episode I listened to, I was hooked! The Be Our Guest Podcast team has two episodes each week, one on Mondays, and one on Fridays. Monday is usually devoted to an interview with a family or individuals about their latest trip to Walt Disney World. Fridays are a roundtable forum with the team about various topics regarding Walt Disney World. Listening to the group, you feel like you are sitting alongside them talking about your favorite resort, ride, or just why you really love Disney so much.
I also discovered his other amazing outlet for Walt Disney magic: Magical Mouse Radio. It is a station on the widely popular Live365 website, and plays Disney Audio 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I have personally not found a Live365 station that has a better selection of Walt Disney Park audio than this one. If you need to get that much closer to Disney at anytime during your day, run to that site, and see what I mean. www.magicalmouseradio.com
Last 5 BeOurGuest podcast episode titles:
246: “Stacey Aswad” (Stacey is the host of Walt Disney Resort TV)
245: “ ‘Yehaa’ Bob Jackson and Len Testa”
244: “Taking Babies to Walt Disney World”
243: “DVC, Wilderness Lodge, Pop Century, and Great Meals”
242: “Disney’s Contemporary Resort”
Some of my personal favorite episodes:
277: “Disney Obsessions”
206: “Where to be inspired at Walt Disney World”
174: “Sentimental Journey to Walt Disney World”
143: “Debbie’s move to Orlando”
112: “Little things we love at WDW”
241: “Carl and Ellie of TheRelocatedTourist.com” (Thanks again Mike!!)
Some more information and links for the Be Our Guest Podcast:
Host: Mike Rahlman
Co-Hosts: Pam Forrester, Rikki Niblett, Debbie
Website: www.beourguestpodcast.com
Website contains the team’s latest podcasts posts and links to their message forum, and chat room.
Podcast: The Be Our Guest Podcast
(New episodes Mondays and Fridays)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=37042345739
Twitter: Mike: www.twitter.com/beourguestmike
Rikki: www.twitter.com/RikkiNibs
Email: mike@beourguestpodcast.com
Blog: www.adisneyworldafterall.com (Rikki’s blog)
Live365 station: www.magicalmouseradio.com
There are so many more Disney related podcasts out there. One thing that I have been more and more amazed at these past few years is the ever-increasing amount of people who want to share their love for Disney. While I could not mention all of the available podcasts if I wanted to, one thing I can do is really encourage you all to make sure you take a moment to thank the ones that you listen to. Just knowing what it takes to keep up a simple blog, I can’t imagine the work that it takes to put out a very high quality podcast, and do it every week. So make sure this week you take a moment to send the hosts of whatever podcast you listen to a note and thank them for the hard work they do to bring us all closer to the Disney Magic.
What Disney Podcasts do you listen to? Drop a comment and let us know which ones, and why you enjoy them. I don’t know how I would make it between trips without them!
~ Carl
