Mousetalgia! - Your Disneyland Podcast

Team Mousetalgia reviews Walt Disney Animation Studios' latest feature Zootopia on this week's episode, and we talk about the latest in a line of critically acclaimed hits from Pixar's sister studio. We'll tell you what worked and what to look for in this anthropomorphic whodunnit - all spoiler free! We also discuss Disneyland's move to tiered seasonal pricing, and what it might mean for the futur...

Team Mousetalgia returns to our overflowing inbox to catch up on your burning questions, and topics include: Searching for nightlife at the Disneyland Resort; locker rentals at the park; trip budgeting; limos from LAX; the value of an Annual Passport during park construction; blu-ray storage; adult experiences at the parks; Disneyland bests and worsts; comparing the Land versus the World for first...

Jeff and Kristen bring you dueling trip reports on today's episode of Mousetalgia as we discuss the current Annual Passholder Days happening this month at Disneyland Park. Kristen gets adventurous while Jeff trips the park fantastic, but the rare character photo ops leave Kristen stewing and Jeff hopping. Other topics of discussion include Disneyland's new Inspired Photography, the state of Fronti...

Mousetalgia celebrates Valentine's Day this year with a show all about relationships with a Disney twist, both romantic and platonic. First, we welcome Julia Locus to the show to talk about official Disneyana clubs, and how Disney fans can gather and interact with each other via this international society. Next, we welcome Jason Garrett, one of the founders of the Magic Geekdom club, to the show t...

Mousetalgia welcomes Ron DeFore to the show to discuss "Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Barbecue," which was located in Disneyland from 1957 through 1961. We learn about Ron's father Don, who, as an innovative live television broadcaster, caught Walt Disney's attention and became close to Walt, eventually opening his own barbecue restaurant in Frotierland at Disneyland. Ron talks about the restaurant as...

Team Mousetalgia expands our Disney library and brings you four new book reviews, including "Mickey Mouse: Emblem of the American Spirit" by Garry Apgar; "Funny: Twenty-Five Years of Laughter from the Pixar Story Room;" "Keep Moving (and Other Tips and Truths About Aging)" by Dick Van Dyke; and "The Nine Old Men" by Andreas Deja. Plus, in a Mousetalgia "Collector's Corner," Jeff talks about Star W...

Mousetalgia's own Dave Breiland ran the Star Wars Half Marathon at Disneyland Resort as the park finally started closing much of Frontierland in anticipation of the construction of the new Star Wars galaxy, and he reports from the event and the status of the parks. Covering everything from Elton John performing a surprise concert to some food reviews, we discuss the RunDisney Expo, skipper trainin...

Team Mousetalgia goes back to the mailbag to answer your pressing questions this week, with hot topics including the edible plants of Tomorrowland; touring Disneyland with 80-year-olds; storing and displaying blu-ray discs; discussing the best place to start a day inside the park; hiring professional photographers for shoots inside the park; tips and tricks for traveling north for the Pacific Nort...

Travel back to the New World, out to Halloween Town, and off to a galaxy far, far away this week as Mousetalgia takes you to SacAnime, a convention for anime fans held biannually in Sacramento, CA. Jeff reviews the convention and talks to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman about Star Wars, and offers excerpts of panel discussions with Chris Sarandon and Ken Page (the voices of J...

Team Mousetalgia reminisces over the past year, and we share our thoughts in our annual New Year show. Topics include the best additions or changes to Disneyland; the best Disney movies (apart from Star Wars!) and our analysis (Cinderella, Inside Out, and Tomorrowland are contenders); our best theme park dining experiences (the Blue Lagoon at Disneyland Paris, Carthay Circle, Catal, and of course,...

This week, Team Mousetalgia takes you on an audio tour of Disneyland during the holiday season. Join us as we listen to the festive sounds of the Buena Vista Street Community Bell Ringers, the Club 33 Carolers, Olaf's Snow Fest, Five and Dime, the Frontierland Orchestrion, and the Candlelight chorus. Next, listen to a special recording from a recent panel discussion in which Prep and Landing Co-Di...

The Force is wide awake on this week's episode of Mousetalgia as we celebrate everything Star Wars, from past to present. First, we take a look at Disneyland's "Season of the Force," and discuss Hyperspace Mountain, the Star Wars Launch Bay, Star Tours' new trip to Jakku, and various food offerings - and of course, the new merchandise. Then, we welcome Emmy-Award winning writer Jymn Magon to the s...

This week Mousetalgia reports from Disneyland's Candlelight weekend and brings you a holiday report from both the resort and D23's "Light Up The Season" holiday event on the Walt Disney Studios lot. At the D23 event, guests celebrated the season as they met Sorcerer Mickey, played carnival games, ate in the commissary and watched holiday shorts in the studio theater. Then, we discuss Candlelight w...

Don Hahn joins Mousetalgia this week to talk about a special PBS SoCal show airing on December 17: "Richard M. Sherman: Songs of a Lifetime." Listen in as we talk about Richard Sherman and this television special, developed and produced by Don Hahn, and also discuss Hahn's latest forays into the preservation and celebration of the art of animation. Next, Jeff reports on a WDFM panel discussion fea...

Team Mousetalgia offers a Disneyland Paris trip report this week, hitting the major highlights: Phantom Manor and the bride - does the cohesive storyline give this attraction a leg up on its cousin, the Haunted Mansion? Also discussed: the holidays at Disneyland Paris and how the celebrations compare with the American parks; the European atmosphere and cultural differences; and highlights from the...

This week, Mousetalgia takes you behind the scenes at MouseCon, the first annual Northern California Disney fan convention. We share some exclusive conversations with the special guests - Tommy Kirk on Walt Disney, Floyd Norman on WED and the origins of the Haunted Mansion, and C. Andrew Nelson on putting on the mask of Sith Lord Vader - plus we collect some thoughts from fans at the convention. T...

Mousetalgia ushers in the Disney holiday season this week with a conversation with Emmy Award-winning writer and director Kevin Deters, who joins us to talk about his Prep and Landing television shows. Deters talks about the show's characters and the other classic holiday television offerings that helped inspire Prep and Landing. Then, Jeff talks about a pair of talks from the Walt Disney Family M...

Mousetalgia gets Muppety this episode, as Kristen visits the Henson Studios in Hollywood with the Disneyana Club and reports from the event. Built in 1917 by Charlie Chaplin, the Henson Studio lot packs in the history, and Kristen shares some of her experiences and some moments from the trip, including Lisa Henson's talk about her father Jim, his early career, and how he related to his most famous...

Mike Van Eaton from Van Eaton Galleries joins Mousetalgia to talk about "Collecting Disneyland," their upcoming Disneyana auction, to preview some of the most outstanding pieces and to discuss the state of collecting memorabilia from Walt Disney's original theme park. Then, Barbara Burnett Brock returns to the show to share some insider tales of being a Disneyland Tour Guide. Barbara talks about t...

Double double, toil and trouble, broilers burn and cheese will bubble.. but this is no time to be ordering In-N-Out, because Mousetalgia's Trick-or-Treat Smorgasbord is waiting to be sampled! Recipes both fair and foul, tales aimed to make you howl, secrets hid from prying eye, and audio that makes you cry! Features include: Disneyland's earliest Halloween Time plans unveiled (hayrides and leaves...

Mousetalgia reports on "Disney's Mid-Century Modern - to the World's Fair and Beyond," a panel discussion held at the Walt Disney Family Museum with Garner Holt's Bill Butler, historian Alan Hess, and historian Bill Cotter, the preeminent expert on the World's Fairs. The panelists discussed the influence of modern design on Disney's mid-century productions, including Disneyland and the 1964-65 Wor...

Disneyland admission prices - how does the increased cost reflect on the park and its community? We share some thoughts from Disney expert Jeff Kurtti, and share our own reactions to the recent annual pass price increases at the Disney parks. Plus, Mousetalgia reports on Halloween Time - the tricks, the treats, and the differences from years prior. From Pumpkin Flan to Banana Fritters, we discuss...

It's a week of Mousetalgia book reports! First, Lynn Barron and Ken Pellman, authors of "Cleaning the Kingdom: Insider Tales of Keeping Walt's Dream Spotless" join Mousetalgia to talk about their new book, which is all about the duties and experiences of the custodial team at Disneyland. Discover the perks to working as a sweeper, the best lands to keep clean, meeting Disney Legends, walking throu...

Let's talk CHOC: it's not too late to get involved with the 2015 CHOC Walk in the Park, the time-honored fundraiser coming to Disneyland Resort Oct. 11. Zach Abrams from CHOC joins us to talk about the upcoming event and describes some of the features of this 25th anniversary stroll through Disneyland before it opens to the public. Then, we hear a detailed description of the first Jungle Cruise Su...

Team Mousetalgia discusses "American Experience: Walt Disney," and we offer our first impressions and questions - then we welcome Disney historian Joseph Titizian back to the show for a balanced critical perspective on the documentary from a friend of the Disney/Miller family. Titizian discusses new information from the Walt Disney Archives on Walt's own words about his childhood and his relations...