On the Road With Mickey

Podcasting Disney and other points of interest!

How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks!

On the Road w/Mickey 326 – Best Resort Lobbies at Walt Disney World!

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Best Resort Lobbies at Walt Disney World
Episode 326 – Best Resort Lobbies at Walt Disney World!

Best Resort Lobbies at Walt Disney World!

Hey everyone, I’m Mike, she’s Sophie, that’s Brenda, and he’s Grogu, and We’re On the Road with Mickey! This is episode 326, and our feature topic is the Best Resort Lobbies at Walt Disney World! In this week’s episode, we are talking about our favorite resort lobbies in Walt Disney World! Here’s what we talked about:

  • Cheddar from the Big Cheese:
    • Sophie: The Magic of Disney Animation at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is now open! It opened on September 14, and Disney had 60 characters there for the opening celebration!
    • Brenda: The EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival dates were announced! The festival will run from March 10 – May 31, 2027.
  • Connect with us! Here’s how: 
  • Question of the Week Feedback:
    • There are a lot of little pieces of trivia in the parks. What is a little piece of trivia (or Easter Egg) that you really enjoy?
      • Sophie: The Walt Portrait in Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
      • Sophie: The Roy & Minnie Statue along with the Walt & Mickey Statue
      • Mike: The Disneyland & Walt Disney Firehouses, and the way the light from Walt’s Apartment over the Disneyland firehouse that never turns off in memory of Walt.
      • Lee: Trader Sams, The Polynesian Resort, at the very top, if you look at the ceiling, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride Keys are hanging from the ceiling because he had too many Mai Tais!
      • Brenda: I like the fun aspects of Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater which we have eaten at a lot. All the license plate registrations were dated to 1955 as a nod to Disneyland as well as the 50’s era cars. Plus, the initials on the car license plates are all nods to Disney Imagineers who worked on the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. On each license plate, the 3 letters are an Imagineer’s initials and the 3 numbers are a reference to their birthdays! I always loved that fun Disney touch.
      • Chandler: The Lost Boys Fire Brigade
  • Feature Topic: Best Resort Lobbies at Walt Disney World!
    • Brenda:
      • Animal Kingdom Lodge – Peter Dominique, Jr. designed (he also designed Wilderness Lodge and Grand Californian)
      • Wilderness Lodge
      • Art of Animation Resort
    • Sophie:
      • Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
      • Port Orleans Riverside & French Quarter
      • Polynesian Resort
      • Caribbean Beach Resort
    • Mike:
      • Disney’s Yacht Club & Disney’s Beach Club
      • Coronado Springs Gran Destino Tower
      • Pop Century
  • Sophie’s Question of the Week:
    • What is your Preferred Disney Resort?
    • Sophie: Pop Century
    • Mike: Port Orleans Riverside
    • Brenda: Wilderness Lodge
  • This Day in Disney History for 9/21:
    • 2002: The city of Marceline, Missouri hosts the fourth annual Walt Disney’s Hometown Toonfest.
  • The Weekly Disney Windows
    • Leighton I. Sherwood – First Aid (Disneyland) – Doc Sherwood, M.D – Family Practice – 2014
  • A little bit of Walt
    • “In learning the art of storytelling by animation, I have discovered that language has an anatomy. Every spoken word, whether uttered by a living person or by a cartoon character, has its facial grimace, emphasizing the meaning.” – Walt Disney

Coming next week: Best Attractions for the Whole Family

On the Road w/Mickey 325 – How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | Android | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More

How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks!
Episode 325 – How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks!

How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks!

Hey everyone, I’m Mike, she’s Sophie, and he’s Grogu, and We’re On the Road with Mickey! Brenda is out this week on vacation, and today we’re joined once again by our good friend Lee! This is episode 325, and our feature topic is the How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks! In this week’s episode, we are talking about how the ideas of Walt still play out in the parks today! Here’s what we talked about:

  • Cheddar from the Big Cheese:
    • The 2026 EPCOT Candlelight Processional narrator lineup has been released! Some notable names: Gary Sinise on November 29-December 1; Neil Patrick Harris from December 10-12, Lauren Daigle December 15-16, and Jodi Benson on December 24-25.
    • Congratulations to Disney Legend Lea Salonga, the voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Mulan in the movie Mulan, for becoming the first Filipina ever to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
    • The Glimmering Greenhouses are returning to Epcot for the holidays. In addition to seeing them in the Living with the Land ride, you can also experience them up close with the Behind the Seeds Tour. The Greenhouses will be lit for tours November 27-December 30.
  • Connect with us! Here’s how: 
  • Question of the Week Feedback:
    • What are some of your incredible Disney Memories?
      • Sheila: “Our trips with the Ellis family over the years.”
      • Brenda: “Each and every one of them”
      • Chandler: “When you take your 3yo kiddo for his first trip and he’s not too sure about the characters at Crystal Palace.”
      • Chandler: “When you take your kiddo and he gets to meet the love of his 3yo life.”
      • Chandler: “When your 18yo kiddo asks his dad to ride Aladdin and not his mom.”
      • Chandler: “That time I rode Everest with the kiddo and didn’t know what to expect.”
      • Pam: “Being at Animal Kingdom soft opening”
      • Debbie: “They have all been incredible but one that stands out was December 2001. My Mom and I went down to celebrate Life…Not knowing at the time we both had cancer. The crowds at the parks were very light. We did the Legacy Picture at Epcot and had an unbelievable time…just the two of us.
        We lost her to cancer in October 2004 and I’m now a 23 year cancer survivor. It was our last Disney trip together.
        I bring the Mickey Mouse Snowman every year as my special memory. She bought it for me on that last trip..
      • Robin: “There were these people and two little girls!”
  • Feature Topic: How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks!
    • Keep Moving Forward – the parks will never be completed, things will always be changing
    • Original sketches of Disneyland dating back to 1932.
    • Family atmosphere, the reimagining of areas, not tear down. Frontierland forestry vibe.
    • Epcot – how Walt’s vision for a community of tomorrow became a park, and by extension, communities by Storyliving by Disney
    • How Disney pops up in social media and how the company is incorporated in everyday living.
    • Carousel of Progress – Updating the Decades and incorporating Walt into the show
    • Trashcans and Desired Paths – tiny details that are used to make the parks cleaner
    • When you have a good idea, you stick with it. Example: The Candlelight Processional began, not at Epcot, but at Disneyland in 1955.
  • Sophie’s Question of the Week:
    • There are a lot of little pieces of trivia in the parks. What is a little piece of trivia (or Easter Egg) that you really enjoy?
      • Sophie: The Walt Portrait in Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
      • Sophie: The Roy & Minnie Statue along with the Walt & Mickey Statue
      • Mike: The Disneyland & Walt Disney Firehouses, and the way the light from Walt’s Apartment over the Disneyland firehouse that never turns off in memory of Walt.
      • Lee: Trader Sams, The Polynesian Resort, at the very top, if you look at the ceiling, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride Keys are hanging from the ceiling because he had too many Mai Tais!
  • This Day in Disney History for 9/14:
  • The Weekly Disney Windows
    • Joyce Carlson – Emporium (Magic Kingdom)- Dolls by Miss Joyce – Dollmaker for the World – Shops in New York, California, Florida, Japan, & Paris – Owner & Founder Joyce Carlson. – 2000
  • A little bit of Walt
    • “The important thing is the family.” – Walt Disney

Coming next week: Best Resort Lobbies at Walt Disney World