The WDW Radio Show - Your Walt Disney World Information Station

We continue our journey to and through Disneyland Paris, and 30 Reasons to Visit Disneyland Paris, the Walt Disney Studios, Disney Village, and resorts! We’ll look at its unique experiences, thrilling and chilling sides, aesthetics and our overall favorites. And because I want you to experience Disneyland Paris as well, don’t forget about our very special magical vacation for four to Disneyland Paris giveaway going on now until June 25. It’s easy to enter for a chance to win a 4 days / 3 nights stay in the 4-star Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel, 4 tickets for 4 days for 4 people, valid in the 2 Disney® parks, food vouchers for breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and many more epic surprises! It’s a chance to win the trip of a lifetime, and it’s easy to enter. Just visit Instagram.com/LouMongello and look for the giveaway post. Full details, terms and conditions can be found at WDWRadio.com/DLPGiveaway.

Some questions and discussion in the WDW Radio Clubhouse on Facebook this week prompted me to pull this show from the WDW Radio Archives, as Jim Korkis and I virtually visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Show # 327 back in 2013, where we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” We recorded live at Disney’s Hollywood Studios take a stroll through the Studios and look back at the movie’s history, Roger’s presence in the Studios and elsewhere around the parks (both current and extinct), what might have been, and what the future may hold for Roger Rabbit in the Disney Parks. For a much more important and meaningful reason, I also wanted to feature an episode with my longtime friend and guest on the show, Jim Korkis. Jim is not only one of the most knowledgable Disney historians and wonderful storyteller and author of dozens of books, but Jim is just a good man. I shared recently that after suffering his fall and long recovery in the hospital, as well as multiple heart bypasses, Jim has been diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 colon cancer that has also spread to his liver. I visited with Jim for a few hours this week, and he will be starting chemotherapy in the next few weeks. He is also very concerned about mounting bills, and I also wanted to share that a GoFundMe has been formed to help with home and medical expenses. I created an easy link directly to it at WDWRadio.com/HelpJim. Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. You may have never met Jim, but he has been a friend since the very beginning, and is a member of our extended family. Anything you can do to help, whether it be through prayer, his GoFundMe, or even just spreading the word to others would be greatly appreciated

I just returned from a few days in Disneyland Paris, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and this week, we’re going to look at why now is the perfect time to visit. In fact, we’re going to share 30 Reasons to Visit Disneyland Paris! From unique attractions to magical shows, dining, decor, and the countless aspects of Disneyland Paris that not only make this place special, but an absolute must-visit! And to prove to you just how much I really want you to go, I’m going to share how you can WIN a very special, truly magical vacation to Disneyland Paris including a 4 days / 3 nights stay in the 4-star Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel, 4 tickets for 4 days, valid in the 2 Disney® parks, food vouchers for breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and many more epic surprises! It’s easy to enter for a chance to win the trip of a lifetime!

This week, we look at the origins of Walt Disney’s True Life Adventure series, the Academy Award winning films that were not only entertaining, but important. I am joined by Didier Ghez, author of “The Origins of Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventures.” We’ll explore how and why Walt Disney started making documentary films, including his personal attention to and concerns about the vanishing frontier, and how these films helped influence the way that nature and conservation were and are portrayed in media.

Since on our last episode of the show, we imagined Walt Disney World resort concepts that could be and we’d like to see, this week, we go back in time not just on the show to 2008 and Show # 91, but way back to a time before Walt Disney World had even opened. We’ll metaphorically trek through the Florida swamps, as we take a close look at a Walt Disney World we never knew by exploring the Lost Resorts of the Magic Kingdom. The exotic Asian, Persian, and Venetian resorts would have been built along the shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon (hence its name) as part of Phase One. We’ll take a fun look back at what was supposed to be and might have been, with a little wondering and wishing as well.

This week, we play armchair Imagineer and get creative as we share our Top Ten Walt Disney World Resort concepts, including details about theming, dining, activities, and location.

The closing of the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser… and the good that may come from it. From our conversation on WDW Radio LIVE and in the WDW Radio Clubhouse.

Join me at the table at one of my favorite lounges in Walt Disney World, Nomad Lounge in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We review not just the entire (large) menu, but the entire experience, as I do something I’ve never done before. Stay tuned for an announcement of our next WDW Radio group (family) adventure… or should I say, Adventures.

On last night’s WDW Radio LIVE show (WDWRadioLIVE.com), I brought you with me to and through Disney’s Polynesian Resort for a walking tour at sunset of the grounds and Great Ceremonial House. We also looked at and discussed the construction of the new Disney Vacation Club Tower, and I remarked how the idea of a tower at this location was not something new, but was planned for from the very beginning, as early concepts for Disney’s Polynesian Resort featured a 12-story tower before evolving into a more architecturally authentic “village” layout. So in the spirit of aloha and the origins of Disney’s Polynesian Resort, I went back into the Archives this week to Show 111, where we boarded my Walt Disney World Wayback Machine and looked at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort through the years… at least up until 2009 when the episode first released. We turned back the clock to a time before Walt Disney World was even a vision in Walt’s mind, and look at how his personal interests influenced what would become the model for themed resorts that would follow. We explored the Polynesian Village through the years and looked at some of its additions, changes and lost experiences. It’s also interesting to hear how we discussed what the resort was like today (today being 2009), and then speculated as to what the future may hold… or should I say may have held. Were we right? Let’s see…

As we continue our recap and review of our WDW Radio Adventures by Disney trip to Italy, we continue on to one of the most beautiful and surprising stops on our journey, Orvieto. From there, we visit Tuscany, which was remarkable for so many reasons, before continuing on to the romance and renaissance of Florence, then punctuating our adventure with Carnevale in Florence. We discuss not only the highlights and special moments, but what made this, and Adventures by Disney as a whole, truly special and unique.

With The Muppets Mayhem coming to Disney+, and having just watched Muppet Treasure Island on FunnelVision on the Disney Fantasy… and just my love of the Muppets and fond memories of growing up with The Muppet Show, this week we’re going to go back in time and take a look back at the relationship between Disney and the Muppets, including the story of how the Muppets came to Walt Disney World in a variety of ways. Go back nearly 12 years to Show 251 - Join me from Disney’s Hollywood Studios as we tour the park and explore some of the secrets, stories and history of MuppetVision 3D, Muppet-based shows that are no longer here, the Disney-Henson marriage, as well as “The Muppets That Never Were.” Jim Korkis joins me as we wander the Studios and discuss some of the proposed concepts that never made it both in and out of the parks. It’s a fascinating live tour of the Muppets in the present, as well as a look back in time, and possibly even into the future of the Muppets in Walt Disney World.

This week, we look back at our WDW Radio Adventures by Disney trip to Italy, which was years in the making, that yielded a lifetime of memories. In part one of our discussion, we look at our expectations for Adventures by Disney, our initial days in Rome… and the first few of the many surprises we would have on our journey.

We’re going back fifteen years this week, to a segment I called, “How to Be an Imagineer,” which was in response to a question I received (and still do) quite often since I first started the show more than 18 years ago. In 2008, Disney Imagineer Ed Romeo joined me to talk about his story and journey to become an Imagineer, as well as what working at and for Imagineering was like. This interview was the first of many conversations that I have shared on the show over the years that helped demonstrate that the road to becoming an Imagineer might not necessarily be one the path you think, and there are many different ways you (or your child) can become an Imagineer.

If you think you have seen, done, and eaten it all in Walt Disney World, this week we uncover and share a number of our favorite little-known “extras” in Walt Disney World that will make your experience a little (or a lot) more magical. Whether you are a seasoned Annual Passholder, or planning your first visit, we have not just tips, but the when, where, how, and why you should experience some of these enchanting extras that will take your Walt Disney World experience to the next level!

On last night’s WDW Radio LIVE show, I spent the evening wandering my way through Tomorrowland, to not only celebrate the opening of Tron Lightcycle /Run, but speculate on the future of this land. As we explored the entire land as the golden hour dissolved into twilight, Tomorrowland was energized with new life… and light, and takes on an entirely new atmosphere at night. Riding the Peoplemover and looking over at the spectacular, color-changing canopy of Tron, I thought not only about how beautiful this (and other lands) are at night, but how some things in Walt Disney World are just better after dark. So for this week’s show From the Archives, we’re going back to 2009 and show # 104, where we discussed our list of Top Ten Things in Walt Disney World That are Better at Night. In more than 18 years of podcasting, I very VERY rarely revisit a topic, but enough time has passed and new additions to the parks and resorts have been made that it may be time to reexamine this list on an upcoming episode. But for now, please enjoy this look (and listen) at our list, and I invite you to share suggestions of what else needs to be added when we make up our new list (spoiler alert… Tron WILL be on that list).