EarzUp!

Over the years, much has been said of Walt and his drive to get Disneyland ready for opening day, but we don't hear enough of the men behind that drive.   Perhaps the most important company to Disneyland's success was ... Arrow Development Today's show is one of our favorites to date!  We interview Dexter Francis, author of "Building Disney's Dream", and it's full of not only Disney history, but amusement park history as well. Dexter gets into the details of a company called Arrow Development, who was responsible for the designing and building of five original Disneyland rides.  Over the 20 years or so after the park opened, Arrow Development had a hand in something like 15 different Disney rides, much of their work warranted patents, and literally re-defined the roller coaster, and Disneyland, as we know it. Dexter is full of great information on not only Arrow as a business but how Walt Disney and Arrow worked together to get the park open on time.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  For more cool stories about Arrow Development, and to grab Dexter's eBook, please head over to his great blog on Arrow Development and all they have done for theme parks around the world! We also do some feedback, including our first ever voice mail feedback!  This show is a long one, so sit back as Dexter takes us back to a time before Disneyland ...  

If you are like us, you have friends who have children of various age groups, and not all of them know what they can do in the park with their little ones.  So we have put together a list of things to do in ... Disneyland For All Age Groups! Is it pointless to bring your 1 year old to Disneyland? Is there anything for grandma and grandpa to do? What about your teenager, will they hate it?On this episode we answer these questions and more when we discuss what you should (or shouldn’t) do with different age groups at Disneyland. We also give some tips about how to make most of your trip, such as:Babies: they’re FREE!, pack light, don’t be afraid to take breaks, buy Mickey Ears! Toddlers/Small Kids: Ride the Dark Rides, be patient, Jedi Academy, buy a silhouette Young Adults: Relive your Childhood, Drink at Carthay, Take the tours, buy another silhouette Grandparents: Mr. Lincoln, Flag Retreat, Disneyland Railroad!, help with the grandkids! Plus feedback from a Not Greg, and Terrence reveals a terrible secret about one of his friends and Disneyland ... Is Disneyland for all age groups?  We think so!  And before you bring your little one around, check out our list of ride height requirements and hopefully avoid any small children going nuclear.

We're back!  After over a month of being off the air due to our studio moving, the EarzUp! crew climb back onto the microphones for another show, and what a relief it was. The show started off with a recap of all the blog posts and happenings going on over on our site while we've been away, like our recap of Disneyland Paris and exclusive photos of the then-secretive Club 33 revamp.  We get some great feedback from a listener called Melanie who told us about how both the EarzUp! crew and Dan over at @MouseBrew helped make a special day even more special. After feedback, we break into the meat of the show: The Disneyland Yippie Riots of 1970.  If you haven't heard of the Yippie Riots, it's a fairly fascinating event in Disneyland history, and one that nobody at the parks likes talking about.  Essentially, 300 (or less) kids caused the park to shut down about 5 hours early, for only the second time in park history. Disney News was up next, where we talk about some new Disney animation projects, some cool Disney Infinity announcements, Marvel's adjustments to their Thor character, and Taren and Jason's experience seeing the new-ish Disney film Maleficent.

After some downtime, Alice in Wonderland opened back up today with some cool new effects and some much-needed love.  We have some short video of the new projected parts of the ride for you: No, the track didn't turn on it's side, our video is wonky ... Nothing jarring, nothing outside of the feel for the ride so far, which was our biggest worry.  Sometimes Disney can get too intrusive with changes, and we enjoyed seeing Alice get a nice boost while still maintaining the old school dark ride vibe. There are other changes to this ride, but we don't want to ruin all the fun!

Is Disneyland really the place of creativity and imagination we all think it is?  Join us as we talk about ...  Disneyland Ride Movies Since the park opened, Disneyland has been a great example of creativity in theme parks.  The depth and variety of the rides and attractions changed the way theme parks were built and what crowds were expecting when spending their day there. Have things changed?  Has the Disney brand lost their imagination?  It seems that every new movie or ride to come out at the parks or in the theaters has been based on a pre-existing park ride or an older Disney movie.  In today's episode, we talk a bit about that trend and what can be done about it.  The amount of Disney ride movies  - and movies based on rides - may just turn Disneyland into a glorified Universal Studios. Later in the show we follow the Disney path and try to come up with movies of our own based on rides or attractions in Disneyland - ones that have no movies to date - complete with titles, cast, and directors! Then we catch up on some Disney news including the new Big Hero films set to come out, the huge jump in park attendance and talk about the Fact of the Show.  

What does soda have to do with Walt Disney and the house he was born in?  We are glad you asked!  Take a moment and learn all about Elias (Walt's Dad) and ... O-Zell Soda and Walt's Birthplace We got the opportunity to sit down with Dina and Brent from O-Zell soda and Walt's birthplace to talk about their love of Disney and their ongoing project to restore the house that Elias Disney built in Chicago in 1893, and where Walt Disney himself was born in.  Dina and Brent purchased the home in 2013, and are using the profits from the sales of O-Zell soda to help heal this historic home. The story of Elias and the O-Zell soda company is a great read, one that could easily be made into a Disney movie, as it has a great story arc moving from Elias being broke due to the owner of O-Zell embezzling his money, to his son Walt becoming a larger-than-life entertainment figure. We also talk about the recent price changes for the Anaheim parks and what the means for your next vacation.  And ours. So listen to the history of the Disney family and the O-Zell soda line, then buy some great-tasting soda and help Dina and Brent restore Walt's birthplace!    

Frontierland seems to be the one section of Disneyland that has undergone the most change since opening day.  Our ongoing series of digging into the various lands of the park continues with ... The History of Frontierland It's no secret that Disneyland is always in constant flux.  Rides and attractions coming, going, and getting new life breathed into them, always trying to capture the imagination of it's guests.  Diving into the history of Frontierland, you get a sense of real change within the park.  Almost as if Frontierland was this weird idea that never really set right in Walt's mind.  That's what we thought, anyway. Check out our runthrough of the history of Frontierland - including the Indian Village, the Frito Kid, and back-scratching bears!  

Disneyland has so much to offer, from rides to food to people-watching.  But if you have kids, you have inevitably wondered ... What To Do in Disneyland When Your Kids Are Asleep That's right, sometimes those little bundles of energy run out and need naps. Sometimes, those naps coincide with parents needing a bit of a Disney break (as shocking as that sounds). While Disneyland proper doesn't have much in the way of adult-focused entertainment, California Adventure and Downtown Disney does.   Of course, Disneyland is not Vegas, so the only thing for Mom and Dad to do when they want to get away while still getting the most out of their vacation is to grab a beer and relax. To help us find the best little secret spots in and around Disneyland, we brought Dan on from MouseBrew over on Twitter (and Instagram and YouTube)  and got his take on the craft beer and coffee scene in everyone's favorite vacation spot.   So if you have ever sat around in that post-child calm and wondered what to do in Disneyland when your kids are asleep, this is the show for you!  

Ever want to go to an unofficial Disneyland day?  Here's your chance! Unofficial days in the park are sort of on the rise in the last few years - mostly due to Harry Potter Day and Dapper Day, however there are way more of these than you'd think. We did our homework and give you a rundown on every single of the unofficial Disneyland days and what that means for you - discounted tickets, hotels stays, etc.  So plug in and see which group of Disneyland fans you most align with!  

Of all the tours that Disneyland has to offer, we were the most excited about being able to give you the Walk In Walt's Disneyland Footsteps tour review, because the tour ends on the highest of high notes: a tour through Walt's apartment, located above the firehouse on Main Street.  Cast members can't even get in here, that's how exclusive it is. To score our entry, we had to join the tour group and walk around the park, listening to audio of Walt talking about the park, giving speeches, and some other neat audio.  If you have ever thought about taking this tour, listen to our recap of it and decide if it's for you, since the price tag is over $100 for the thing! Plus, we cover a bit of Disney News and drop the Fact of the Show.

Looking at using Ridemax for your next Disneyland trip?  Check out our review first! One thing about every family that visits Disneyland is the rush to hit every ride they can, right?  How often do you pass a large family arguing about which ride to hit next - junior wants to dive bomb Splash Mountain, and sister really wants to see Small World.  Again.  Well, there's a web app for that! Ridemax is a software/website that will actually plan your day in Disneyland for you, so you can do everything your group wants to and not leave a single thing out.  Sounds too good to be true, but it does work.  How well?  Tune in and find out as we cover Ridemax! We also go through some listener feedback, hear how folks on our Facebook page plan their days at the parks, and the Fact of the Show will have you trying to find room in your house for another cat. Bonus:  We never noticed that the lantern hooks look like Captain Hook's iron appendage.  Neat!

Of all the hidden things and little details that Disneyland puts into its parks, none is more underrated - or more ignored - than its music.  Everywhere you go in the park,various styles of music playing through hidden speakers subtly reinforces the fact that you are actually in a different location.  A different time.  Maybe even a different person. The music of Disneyland is not often something we think about when we go to the park. After doing this show and really listening to the soundtrack of Disneyland, we realized just how important it is to the different sections and attractions.  More to the point, just hearing the music of Disneyland instantly transported us back to the park, strolling down Main Street and off into imagination. So come along as we take a trip into the park with the music of Disneyland.  Plus, we have some listeners call in and play Guess That Attraction!

 The closest Disneyland Gumbo Recipe you will ever find! Disneyland is known for many things, but not too many that are culinary-related, save for heartburn, maybe.   According to the experts at EarzUp! podcast, the gumbo at Disneyland is quite possibly the best food offering you can find there.  No, Churros don't count. In case you haven't had it, Gumbo is a thicker version of a stew, with loads of vegetables and garlic and whatever else you want to put in there.  Originating in southern Louisiana, it is the perfect food to eat after a meander through New Orleans Square, and makes a nice end-cap to a Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  Take all that goodness and serve it up in a sourdough bread bowl and you have a mighty fine way to take a break and people watch. Making gumbo at home is fairly simple, but what makes it "Disneyland Official"?  The recipe, of course!  In this episode, we give you the exact Disneyland gumbo recipe used in the park, and it is very, very simple to make.  It's also really authentic, which is a bonus.  Listen carefully to the ingredients, then make a batch up in your house and tell us how it came out!    

We dive into the history of Tomorrowland so you don't have to! Our first show back after an unexpected break finds us reviewing the history of Tomorrowland.  Too often we wander the parks and forget that some of these buildings have been in place since the beginning.  Well forget no more - Terrence, Taren, and JP will take you through a few of the forgotten rides in Tomorrowland and what replaced them.  We go through some feedback (not from someone called "Greg", either) as well, and in our Tip of the Show we explore the rumor of the two identical wooden Indian statues in Disneyland, and drill down into the semantics of the word "identical". Of course, we have a bit of rambling to get through before we jump into the History of Tomorrowland - after all, we've been off the air for a few weeks!   So not only will you get to hear all about Rocket to the Moon in the History of Tomorrowland segment, but you get to hear all about how Terrence puts on a zippy sweatshirt ... only on EarzUp!

 Check out some of the different food options in Disneyland you never knew existed We all need to eat while traipsing through the park, right?  If you are anything like us, your hunger varies - sometimes you want fast, and sometimes you want a nice sit-down meal.  On show number 9, we break down some of the food options in Disneyland, and give you our calls on the best ones,  based off of things like where to go for Breakfast, Fast and Cheap options, Dining Experience, and more. Not to mention our Tip of the Show is just for all of you Churro fans out there ... you won't want to miss this!