Here’s a new video of a walk-around Mickey Mouse talking to guests outside his house in Disneyland’s Toontown. After watching a couple different videos of various interactions, Mickey appears to have a limited dialogue capability. That’s to be expected as there is only so much… Read More »Talking Mickey Mouse gets more play at Disneyland
I’m looking forward to catching at least one Spring Training game while the MLB’s Atlanta Braves practice at the ESPN WWOS Complex. With ESPN The Weekend and the NY Mets in town, Disney is rolling out all the stops. This year they’re even adding new… Read More »Hidden Mickey finds way to MLB Spring Training at ESPN WWOS
The big news earlier today was that Mickey and Minnie’s Main Street Meet and Greet would be opening with the benefit of Fastpass to avoid the long waits that the Toontown Fair location had become known for. I’m a bit on the fence about this. I don’t like Fastpass in general because I think it A) is unnecessary for most attractions, B) upsets the guests in the standby queue which is bad show, C) artificially inflates the guests in public spaces which means a lower overall capacity for the parks, D) totally negates the chance to enjoy an afternoon in the parks with an equal chance to enjoy the fastpass attractions… I can go on… but I’ll stop now. Positioning FASTPASS as convenience, which you’ll see Disney has done in their press release, is only true for those who are able to use it. Once Fastpass runs out or the return time passes beyond your availability, then it’s no longer a convenience and instead becomes a huge burden.
That said, I can see Fastpass working for character meet and greets if, and it’s an important if, they dedicate one room to that queue and then manage the standby queue to keep it under a reasonable length (say 20 minutes for the Big Cheese). Do I actually see Disney managing the queues that way? I doubt it, but I hope I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Yes, I know that people “hate” to wait for attractions and characters. Nothing sucks more than waiting 45 minutes for a 30 second experience with a character that can’t even talk to you. To me that is a staffing problem and a capacity problem. Fastpass does nothing to address either of those. But it does make the guests that use it happy and they say good things about it, so it does have that one thing going for it. I don’t see how that outweighs the rest, but oh well.
Disney’s full press release for the announcement is below the jump. Please jump in on the comments with your thoughts on the changes:
Read More »Mickey and Minnie Meet and Greet gets FASTPASS, new Concept Art
Making his post-super bowl victory pledge come true in less than 24 hours, World Champion Green Bay Packer Quarter back and Super Bowl XLV MVP Aaron Rodgers paraded with Mickey Mouse across the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World to the cheers of thousands of… Read More »Green Bay Packer Superbowl MVP Aaron Rodgers Parades Through Disney World
Fans of Disney’s latest collectibles craze, the Mickey Mouse shaped Vinylmation series, stay tuned. I have been sent a very special sneak peek at the Vinylmation Villains series created especially for The Disney Store and DisneyStore.com. The new series will be available beginning January 31, 2011.
The eleven figures assembled in Villains Series #1 are: Ursula, Prince John, Banzai, Mim, Kaa, Cruella De Vil, Steam Boat Pete, Old Hag, Stromboli, Shan Yu, Ratcliff. Of course there’s also the elusive chaser. Suggested retails price for all the 3 inch figures is $9.95.
More previews and details of an exciting Vinylmation Giveaway below the jump:
Read More »Exclusive Disney Store Villains Vinylmation Preview & Giveaway
A new DVD and remote package featuring the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie’s Masquerade collection of episodes from the popular MIckey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon will debut on February 8th, 2011 just in time for Valentine’s Day. The DVD features preschool level lessons about themes of friendship, teamwork, sharing, problem solving, and dressing-up. The DVD is now available for pre-order on Amazon.
Read More »Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie’s Masquerade on DVD with bonus
I think a lot of people, myself included, forget that Mickey Mouse was once as big a comic book and cartoon strip star as he was a silver screen celebrity. Check out these 1940s era comics Where Mickey Mouse became a Nazi fighter. http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/01/07/comic-book-legends-revealed-294/ Speaking… Read More »Mickey Mouse takes on the Nazis
Ed: Please welcome new guest author Jeff Heimbuch with this excellent review
When you think of video game stars, Mickey Mouse isn’t exactly one of the first to spring to mind. In fact, he might not even be on the list that is populated by Mario, Sonic, Donkey Kong, and so on. However, Warren Spector and Junction Point Studios want to change that. While the House of Mouse isn’t exactly known for its video games, Spector wanted to bring Mickey into the fold and introduce a brand new concept that would help him join the ranks of his video game colleagues.
Did they succeed?
In my mind, absolutely. Epic Mickey, while some times flawed, is a great way to bring Mickey Mouse to stardom in the world of video games. Not only that, but Spector was given the task of reintroducing the world to Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, Walt’s original creation, who has not been seen in a Walt Disney production of any kind for over 70 years.