Tales From The Mouse House Ep...87

Welcome to Episode 87 of Tales From The Mouse House Disneyland Podcast!! As we promised you earlier in the year, we’ll be doing more ‘out of the norm’ episodes, you know, to spice things up a bit! So, on this go ‘round, we’ve got something SPECIAL for you.

DCA of yesteryear 

On February 8th, Disney California Adventure celebrated it’s 13th birthday! Wow, seems just like yesterday we saw the “OPENING SOON” commercials on TV! Well, over the last 13 years, California Adventure has gone through quite a few changes - some great, some...well, let’s just leave that one alone. Disney California Adventure has introduced us to some terrific things (like CORN DOGS), and has reinvented itself recently to include a trip through Walt Disney’s history, as well as incorporate an animated world into our own. All these things add up to one great adventure! So, in honor of their 13th birthday, we thought we’d share some of our favorite Disney California Adventure photos with you, set to music, in this latest VIDEO PODCAST EXTRAVAGANZA! (cue impressive music here)

Hey, if YOU'RE in need of a great travel agent, why not give our sponsor, Randy Crane from Mouse Ear Vacations a holler! I bet he can make YOUR vacation a MAGICAL one! Visit Randy at www.randyc-mouseearvacations.com. NOW is the time to book your 2014 Disney adventure! 

Disney California Adventure TODAY!

YEP! Cars Land has arrived in the REAL world!

As always, If you’d like to send in comments for the show, you can send us an email to talespodcast@cox.net, leave us voicemail on the Hotline at 304-TALES23, leave us feedback in iTunes or leave comments for us on our Twitter account @talespodcast. Heck, you can even find us on FaceBook, just search for Tales From The House House - Disneyland podcast! If you'd like to listen to the show, you can find it on iTunes, on our podcast site at talescast.com, the direct episode link: Episode 87, or on Stitcher Radio now! Just visit www.stitcher.com and search for Tales From The Mouse House - Disneyland Podcast!

Thanks for making US a part of your Disney Experience, and remember...
"Make It A Mickey Day!"

                                          ~~ Al, Joyce and Kate (the pup)

Tales From The Mouse House Disneyland Podcast....Episode 73 VIDEO

***HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WIFE JOYCE!!!***

Welcome to Tales From The Mouse House Disneyland Podcast Episode 73 - Video Voiceover Special!! Thanks for our good friend and awesome listener Doug E. for suggesting another of his favorite episodes...the Video Voiceover (imagine this was said with a LOT of echo and dramatic music). So Doug...here you are...a video...you know, voiceover episode! On this episode we take you on a tour of the Main Street Opera House and all the wonderful Disneyland exhibits. Now, if you've not paid a visit to this awesome attraction, you really should. There is SO much Disneyland history inside that you'll kick yourself for not seeing it sooner! Who needs the D23 Expo...when you've got THIS?! 

Exhibit Inside Mainstreet Opera House

Disneyland's Mainstreet Opera House

We also take you back in time to our very first visit to Disneyland together (and MY FIRST EVER VISIT) from September 2007. Now remember, this was pre-HD video for us, so some of the footage is a little grainy. You'll get to see the New Orleans Square train station, take a harrowing ride on one of Toontown's SCARIEST attractions, Gadget's Go Coaster and you'll finally get to see an extinct attraction that I covered a few episodes back, the infamous Maliboomer! And, we take you on a white water adventure over in California Adventure's Grizzly River Run where you'll meet some new friends.

Grizzly River Run

Speaking of my first visit to Disneyland, believe it or not, I can still remember it like it was 6 years ago! Ok, that was an attempt at humor. Seriously, I can still remember it like it was just a few months ago. I was so excited - AFTER I walked through the gates. Before...well, not so much. I was very much like a kid again after walking through the gates, and under that berm. We must have walked 80 miles (no exaggeration) on that vacation, just running here, then there, then back here. So much fun. It was then that my life changed forever. I thank my wonderful wife Joyce for introducing me to my Happy Place, and I thank Walt Disney for creating the getaway of my dreams. My life hasn't been the same since. But...that's a story for another day.

So, I just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my best friend and wife Joyce. Hope you had a wonderful day honey. And I want to remind you all that if you're thinking of taking a trip to Disneyland, or heck anywhere for that matter, give our good friend and sponsor Randy Crane from Mouse Ear Vacations a shout. He CAN get you the best deal in town. Check out his website at www.randyc-mouseearvacations.com   

Oh, and if you're looking for a good audiobook to listen to, check out storytellerpodcasts.com for the books I've narrated. Some awesome stuff there! 

An Audiobook Narrated by Al!

As always, If you’d like to send in comments for the show, you can send us an email to talespodcast@cox.net, leave us voicemail on the Hotline at 304-TALES23, leave us feedback in iTunes or leave comments for us on our Twitter account @talespodcast. Heck, you can even find us on FaceBook, just search for Tales From The House House - Disneyland podcast! If you'd like to listen to the show, you can find it on iTunes, on our podcast site at talescast.com, the direct episode link: Episode 73, or on Stitcher Radio now! Just visit www.stitcher.com and search for Tales From The Mouse House - Disneyland Podcast!


Thanks for making us part of your Disney experience and remember…


"Make It A Mickey Day!" ~~ Al & Joyce

Joyce the birthday girl (on the right)

Happiest Blog On Earth...Walter Elias Disney



Walt Disney and a Friend!

Today is December 5th. For a lot of people, an ordinary, average everyday sort of day. For many, it marks the point in the year where it's officially time to freak out about Christmas shopping! And then there are those of us who look at this day differently. We see December 5th as a very auspicious day in the...well, in the Happiness "industry"! See, an inspirational visionary was born on December 5, 1901 - Walt Disney

Now, this isn't going to be a history lesson, or a biographical piece, so I won't delve into WHO Walt was, but I will tell you WHAT he means to me. It's only fitting that I pay tribute to him. After all, I owe a LOT to him really. Over the course of his amazing life, Walt created most of the greatest memories for a great many people, through his animated movies, TV shows and of course, his beloved Parks. I know for me personally, Disneyland has changed my life, for the better of course!

 By now, most of you know my story: I didn't make my first visit to Disneyland until 2007. After that point, well, pretty difficult to imagine life WITHOUT Disneyland. For so many reasons, I owe Walt Disney a debt. By creating his wonderful Disneyland, Walt helped me find that inner child that I had once thought gone. Disneyland also created a huge bond between Joyce and me (not that we were EVER in danger of growing apart, trust me! We're soul mates!!), it gave us a HUGE common thread, something we could both dive head-first into TOGETHER. Up to that point, Joyce's fixation with Disney was a mystery to me. After that point, well, let's just say our house definitely looks like a place where true Disney lovers live! But it's more than just a fanaticism for an icon with us. Much more. Through Disney, and Disneyland, we have met some of the most awesome people - people who we are very proud to call friends, no, not friends...FAMILY.

Walt and the Main Street Station

Without even knowing me, Walt Disney also gave me a new purpose in my life. I truly believe in the Magic Walt Disney created. Magic he dearly loved to spread to others. In fact, both Joyce and I believe in that Magic so deeply that we built our now fairly popular podcast around it. I say popular not out of ego, but out of thanks to those of you who enjoy the Magic we share! We've built our mission statement, not just for the podcast but for every aspect of our "Disney Life" to reflect the sincere love we have for Disney and Disneyland, and the fond desire to spread that Magic to as many people as we can. And through this mission, we've met other Disney minded people, like Mr. Daps, Lisa Robertson, Randy Crane, Jason Gordon...and so many, many more, that we've realized that the word friend just doesn't cut it! They're our family.

So, as the world laments about the quickly fading number of days of shopping left until Christmas, some of us celebrate the birth of a man who, without knowing, improved the lives of so many others, including me! Happy Birthday Uncle Walt...and thank you for the Magic! ~~ Al