The View from Scopa Towers

We are now under the 180 day mark for Mousefest and I know there are plenty of you out there who are making plans and thinking about meets and making ADRS.

As the Mousefest Executive and Organizational Committees put Mousefest Plans together there are many t’s to cross and i’s to dot and I want to point out that as Mousefest grows every year that with that growth comes the fact that we all face the prospect of making more and more decisions each year.

As much as many of us would love to do every meet at Mousefest it is neither practical nor humanly possible to do that.

So if you have an opportunity to make an ADR at a restaurant and have a group of friends join you by all means MAKE the ADR now and see how things work out. Don’t wait long as those open slots will be scooped up ASAP. IF the Mousefest Schedule, when announced, shows a conflict with your ADR and a meet then you may have to make a decision. But remember that it’s easy to cancel an ADR a month a few months before MF than it is to make one a month before you go.

For those of you who have never been to MF or who have not been in a while be advised that Mark Goldhaber of Mouseplanet and I are planning on delivering “Mousefest 101” again this year although the exact time and venue has not been established.

Last year we conducted MF 101 in Magic Kingdom’s Noodle Station at around 1 P.M.
We were fortunate in that the Noodle Station was closed and thank goodness for that as we had over 300 people there.

Stay tuned for more of that.

I also plan to hold yet another Dole Whip Meet and maybe we should warn Aloha Isle as to when we are coming because I’m sure on that day they will need plenty of Dole Whip and plenty of CM’s on hand to handle the crowd.

So as much as you have not heard much as far as Mousefest news please understand that the wheels are turning and that plans are being put together as you read my words and I’m sure that fairly soon you will begin to hear some news about MF…just remember that things cannot be announced until they are set in stone.

Here are my 2007 MouseFest Blogs!

Well, MagicMeets is approaching and things are happening. I’m sure that Fred Block and crew are busy putting together what will no doubt be yet another magical weekend for those lucky enough to attend the 5th Annual MagicMeets.

I will be there hosting two special sessions we’re calling “MagicTunes” in which participants will be given an opportunity to show off their Disney sound bite knowledge.

I’m working hard with Mike Newell of MouseWorldRadio and Trent Schwartz of DISfriends in putting together a list of “bites” and clues.

We will be doing a special "Celebrity MagicTunes" session on Friday night and then a regular session on Saturday afternoon.

This should be a fun time for all who attend and participate. So how is your Disney sound bite knowledge?

Also happening this year at MagicMeets is an “Experts Panel” made up of people who are there to answer any questions people may have.

If you happen to be at MagicMeets you can ask the panel your question there. This is a great opportunity to get that special question answered by some Disney knowledgeable folks.

Who will be on that panel?

AllEars.Net’s own Deb Wills and yours truly as well as PassPorter.com’s Dave Marx, the Unofficial Guide’s Len Testa, WDWRADIO's Lou Mongello, and Mouse Fan Travel’s Beci Mahnken. The discussion will be broadcast live on MouseWorld Radio!

Of course the WDWTODAY Podcast team will be there and we are planning to do a LIVE podcast during Saturday's events, including this panel discussion as well as interviews, and a few surprises. If you were listening last year you may have heard Beci Mahnken surprise a guest with a special "dream" so you never know what will happen during a live podcast.

During the WDWToday Show live podcast we'll be encouraging our listeners to make a donation to Lou Mongello's Disney World Trivia Dream Team Ptoject at the Disney World Trivia Dream Team Site.

All donations made between 9:15 A.M. and 2:30 P.M. on July 19th will be counted towards the auction total! So please help out - giving will bring Disney smiles to you and a little Disney magic to the lives of the children who need it most.

Thank you so very much for your support.

On Sunday morning at MagicMeets Weekend I will be holding a breakout session that talks about the special parties at The Magic Kingdom. In this session I will talk about the preparation and planning required to fully enjoy the parties and will talk specifically on how to tour each party. You do Mickey’s Pirate and Princess Party somewhat differently than you do Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party.

I hope to help all those who have never attended any of these parties. These are separated ticketed events and everyone should be as best prepared to get the best out of their time and money on those evenings.

So it will be an exciting weekend and oh yes I plan to be blogging that weekend as well.

MagicMeets is always one of the highlights of my year and I KNOW there will be some smiling and happy faces that weekend and that’s what it’s all about.

Here is my report from the 2007 Magic Meets!

I have received some emails lately asking me about the Disney Dining Plan.

Specifically, you want to know what is better the Basic Dining Plan or the Deluxe Dining Plan.

That’s a tough question to answer because it depends upon things like your eating habits and where you prefer to eat. There is about a $30 difference between the two as well as a different daily assortment of credits.

The Basic Plan is about $38/day for adults and offers one table credit, one quick-service credit and one snack per day per person whereas the Deluxe Plan costs about $67 a day and that gives each adult three table-services credits and two snacks per day.

Here are the two issues I have with the Deluxe Plan…first…I rarely find myself sitting down for three meals during the day. For the most part I may have two sit down meals every other day and maybe a snack here and there but I like the one table-service, one quick-service and one snack plan. I think the concern here is that I really don’t want to spend a lot of time sitting in a restaurant while I’m enjoying my WDW vacation. Time is a premium so I want to make the best of that time and that does not mean spending anywhere from three to five hours sitting in restaurants every day.

I can always find a SNACK...

The other important issue here is that I get concerned when I read an email from someone who is less than six months from a potential vacation and is in the process of booking said vacation and says, “Hey Mike, do you think I should get the Dining Plan?”

Yikes. My philosophy is to first secure the ADRS in your favorite restaurant and then and only then can you really judge whether or not the DDP is for you. Why commit to the Dining Plan when you cannot take advantage of it?

I’ve used the Dining Plan in the past and usually I wait until I have all my ADRs in before deciding if it’s worth it.

Why get the Dining Plan if you cannot get ADRs for those restaurants in which you would use it?

Once you get within six months of your trip your ADR possibilities start to dwindle.

Also, you may not want to use your dining credits everywhere. For instance, I really enjoy eating at such places at Trail’s End at Fort Wilderness, the Plaza Restaurant at The Magic Kingdom, as well as other restaurants which are very reasonably priced.

Well, if I have breakfast at Trail’s End why would I use one of my table credits when the cost is only $11.99 per person? I just happen to be an Annual Passholder and have my Disney Dining Experience Card so that means that $11.99 turns into $9.60.

That frees up a table service credit which I may want to use at a higher priced restaurant like Le Cellier, or even a signature restaurant like California Grill or Yachtsman Steakhouse where two table service credits are required.

Also, in general if I have a sit down breakfast at WDW I don’t use my Dining Plan.

So think very carefully about your dining habits before you commit to any Disney Dining Plan.

Here are some additional AllEars Resources on the Disney Dining Plan:

*** Rate and Review - Feedback from AllEars Readers!

General Information

Okay, July 4th has come and gone.

For those of you who are training for either your first Walt Disney World full or half-marathon…how are you doing? You should be in full swing training by now.

Hopefully by now you are somewhere in the 3-5 mile range and are at a comfortable pace. Remember, as your conditioning improves your pace may improve as well. Don’t push yourself too much…just “nudge” yourself a little more each time out.

By “nudge” I mean add a minute or two to your workout each day. You want to gradually build your stamina and ease your body into a longer workout rather than rush it.

If you’ve never participated in a race before now is the time to think about trying out a local short 5K race. It will be good experience for you to get a few races under your belt before the big one.

Good luck.

Check out my entire series on Running With Mickey!

Are you one of the lucky ones who was able to scoff up one of those rare MagicMeets tickets?

If so then you are probably a bit excited this week because MagicMeets is practically here.

By the time you get to read this I am probably already in Harrisburg (or almost there) and preparing for a wonderful weekend of Disney Magic with many of my friends.

I'm even more excited this year because for the first time we are presenting MagicTunes.

What is MagicTunes?

MagicTunes is new to MagicMeets 2008 and offers MagicMeets guests the opportunity to display their knowledge of Disney sound bites.

When we talk of Disney sound bites we refer to the sounds of Disney heard on television, film, and in the theme parks.

MagicTunes is fun, competitive, entertaining, and sure to be a staple for every MagicMeets.
Based on the long running television game show “Name that Tune” MagicTunes is played almost the same way.

Everyone who attends MagicTunes will have a chance to play.

In fact 12 lucky guests will be chosen as MagicTunes contestants for the Saturday session of MagicTunes.

If you are one of the lucky 12 guests to be chosen to play MagicTunes come to the front of the room and take a seat in the first row. The sooner our contestants are seated the sooner we can get started with MagicTunes.

How do you play MagicTunes?

MagicTunes involves several rounds of play.

The first round will see the 12 contestants (3 sets of 4) vying to reach the next or Playoff Round and here’s how it’s done:

Four (4) players will take their positions around the MagicTunes-Omatic. The MagicTunes-Omatic is a special device that has four (4) buttons. Each contestant will have his/her own button which they need to press/hit ahead of their competition to be able to first give an answer to the MagicTunes question. The answer we are looking for is the identification of the Disney sound bite just played.

The answer must be the name of an attraction, movie, or television show....although if it's the title of a song...that counts too.

There will be a preliminary round, Playoff Round, Semi-Final Round, and Championship Round.

Are You Ready for MAGICTUNES?!?!?!?!?!?

On Friday night we will have a special edition of MagicTunes. Our celebs will actually be doing us all a favor.

Besides testing their Disney sound bite knowledge, our celebrities, Annette Owens, Deb Wills, Lou Mongello, and Steve Barrett will also be helping everyone to see how MagicTunes is played.

Celebrity MagicTunes is open to all MagicMeets attendees.

There is a $5 minimum donation at the door. All proceeds will be donated to both Deb Wills' Avon Walk Against Breast Cancer and Lou Mongello's Dream Team.

Yours truly will be the Master of Ceremony for both MagicTunes sessions.

Oh Yeah...before I forget.

On Sunday morning I'll be presenting everything I know about the three parties held at WDW's Magic Kingdom. If you have never been to any of the three...Mickey's Pirate and Princess Party, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party...then you may want to sit in and listen to our discussion.

Don'tt forget to check in with Blog Central all weekend as we'll be blogging from MagicMeets.

Harrisburg here I come...uhhh...here I am!

This is a special mailbag edition of “The View from Scopa Towers” in which Michelle Scribner-MacLean I answer some of the many emails we received regarding our “No Kidding Around” blogs.

To refresh your memory, here are the links to Part 1 and Part 2.

Following each letter you’ll first find Michelle’s comments, followed by my comments.

Many readers supported the idea of having a trip to WDW enhance their educational experiences.

Karen’s daughter integrated her study of Germany with her trip:

“We ate lunch at the Biergarten and interviewed cast members about their home country and gathered info from the menus, shops any anything else we could find. She also needed audio-visual aids, so we bought a t-shirt with the German flag on it and some cookies made in Germany. (She wore the t-shirt and passed out cookies to the class) We also picked up an EPCOT guide map (written) in German to use in her presentation.”

Michelle’s comments:

While the idea of turning your vacation into an extended field trip may not appeal to everyone, Karen and her family clearly sought out the details that make each of the countries at EPCOT so interesting. The food and the ambiance were designed to entertain, but also to teach visitors about the countries. Karen made the most of her child’s out-of-school experience by doing some preplanning.

Mike’s comments:

I think that regardless of where you travel it will and should result in somewhat of an educational experience. WDW is no exception. The term “edutainment” was coined to describe what EPCOT has to offer…but I think it is also suitable for all the theme parks. There are some things you just cannot teach in the classroom.

Several teachers jumped on-board and had their say. Larry, who is from a family of teachers, speaks for many educators wrote:

“…we suggest a temporary tutor or relative who can catch up the child. If they do take the work with them, and complete it and come back with a question, that’s great--we'll help. But many, many vacationing kids who take the work with them do NOT even start it, much less complete it. We gladly work with kids after school that have been out due to illness or other legitimate (approved/excused) reason. Even though we are tremendous Disney fans, we don't approve of leaving school for a trip.”

Michelle’s comments:

Larry makes an important point. If you’re planning on taking your children out of school, it is a good idea to contact the teacher to find out what work needs to be completed or made-up, but parents need to follow through. Missing school to go to WDW doesn’t mean that the work missed disappears. Making up the work might be considered “part of the deal” – and parents should hold up their part of the bargain by ensuring work that their child missed is turned in.

Mike’s comment:

Let’s face it, life is a partnership and early on our partners are our parents. If these partners don’t pull their weight then there will be consequences. I think the most discouraging aspect of this is that these parents miss out on teaching their kids a lesson on responsibility and also unfortunately are making a comment to their children that perhaps school is not that important.

A cadre of parents wrote to express their appreciation for teachers who were supportive and accommodating teachers. They felt that many educators supported their decision to take their children out school to go to WDW.

Reader Stacey agreed, saying, “Many teachers are more than willing to work with you so that you can take a nice family vacation and also make it a learning experience.”

Michelle’s comments:

Trying to find quality family time is something with which many parents struggle. Some parents supported the idea of taking children out of school because they have work schedules that do not mesh with school vacations, while others believe that taking their kids out of school to go to WDW only enhanced their family experience.

Mike’s comments:

It’s that partnership thing again….the child-parent-teacher partnership can make this a wonderful experience and in today’s society everyone’s schedule is just plain nuts. I know when my children were young there were piano lessons, singing lessons, dance lessons, baseball, soccer, basketball, and oh yes I was playing softball and coaching so rarely were those family days. When we went to WDW it was for two weeks at a time…the best two weeks of the year because we did everything together….priceless….but those two weeks were during the summer when our schedules were open.

Here are some other comments:

Pat mentioned that she and her family decided that taking kids out of school worked better when they were younger, but not as they grew older. She goes on to say, “…family time is an extremely rare commodity these days. The times we spent at Disney World are great memories for our family just spending together. We now have two college graduates, so I guess our Disney Trips did nothing to hurt their academic progress.”

Deb believed that her experience with her granddaughter was worth the missed school time:
“Her wonderful experience with us, at Disney, far outweighed any loss from being in school during that week. She still talks about her experiences every single time we get together. Life is about the memories we create with our loved ones.”

Finally, reader Marguerite broke Mike’s heart by asking…
“What exactly is a "Dole Whip?”

Michelle’s final thoughts on the topic (for now):

Regardless of whether or not parents decide to take their students out of school, planning a trip to WDW should be a team effort. Parents, children, and teachers should discuss the pros and cons of missing school, how feasible it will be to make up work, and weigh the benefits of a trip to WDW against the potential difficulties of making up school work. There’s no right or wrong here – every family has to make the decision that is best for them.

Mike’s final thoughts on the topic (for now):

The only right answer here is what is most appropriate for the individual child. Some children will thrive with an opportunity to enhance his/her education outside the classroom. A WDW vacation will do so. Others may struggle and face “catch up” on the return.

What is important here is that any decision should not be made in a vacuum but after some discussion among parent, teacher, and child. Remember, the focus should be on the child and a WDW vacation that requires taking the child out of school, if done right, will return many dividends.

We have received so many emails on this topic that it became very difficult to determine which ones to include in the mailbag; each and every email was worthy. We felt it best to include those which most exemplify the majority of opinions expressed.

We thank those of you who took the time to write and send your thoughts on this subject.

Michelle & Mike