Mouse Extra

If you are an avid collector of things about Disney history, you’ll have to excuse me on this posting.  You probably already have this item.  But if you don’t, I can not offer a suggestion for what a Disney addict would want from Santa without recommending the incredible DVD Walt – The Man Behind the Myth.

This documentary is the best available about Walt Disney.  If you have been to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and have seen the One Man’s Dream exhibit you will absolutely adore this film.  It follows the life of Walt from childhood, through his groundbreaking animated films, to the making of his dream Disneyland, right to his death.  It is touching, informative, and even inspirational.  Dick Van Dyke does a masterful job with narration and you get to see interview footage from many Disney legends as they tell of their time with this American icon.

Honestly, I have seen this film so many times that my wife is starting to think there is something wrong with me.  (And she may be on to something.)  But it is just so enjoyable to watch that I can’t help but put it in the DVD player every time I either need to put a smile on my face or I just want something fun to watch.  If even a casual Disney fan asks me for recommendations I also mention this DVD.  If you like Disney, you will be happy you have this DVD.

To me, nothing spells out Christmas more than family, egg nog, and a rousing game of Bingo - Disney style. If you have little ones then this game is a lot of fun for all. Bingo, a relatively easy game for preschoolers to understand, is combined with Disney characters in this DVD version. Every once in awhile, you even get a movie clip from a Disney classic.

For little ones, its easy to spot Belle or Goofy on the TV and find the corresponding board pieces, so there is little frustration for kids who may have a harder time with other board games or even non-Disney Bingo. Its also quite easy to let the tykes win.

Today’s Wishlist suggestion is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra.

Today, contributing writer Mike offer our first installment of the Mouse Extra Santa List.  For the holiday season, we will do our best to bring to you our suggestions for what we think you should as old Saint Nick for.  We love them, and we think you will too.

Just released is the fourth installment of this fantastic series, the Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland. In fact, I indeed asked Santa for my very own copy. The premise of the book is that its for those who would like to tour the park with an actual imagineer. And it works very well.

To date, there are three other guides besides the one dedicated to Disneyland. They have also published imagineering field guides to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and the Animal Kingdom. The book explores each attraction as well as shows and eateries taking them from concept to final product through text, drawings and pictures. They are designed like other field guides in that they are very portable. So get them from Santa, bring them to the parks and learn the imagineering history of Splash Mountain while standing on line.

I’ll admit I was somewhat asleep at the wheel over the last few weeks with regards to the new magazine Celebrations.  Yeah, I heard Lou Mongello’s shameless plugs on his WDW Radio podcast and I read some good things on various blogs and message boards.  But it wasn’t until fellow Mouse Extra writer Mike mentioned it to me that I really took notice.

After reading the premiere issue, I can tell you that if you are a Disney World fanatic this is nothing short of a must-have.  Many of you are familiar with the magazine’s two editors, Tim Foster and Lou Mongello.  And you already know the high standard of quality these guys have set in their previous products.  But this magazine goes beyond expectations.  It is absolutely beautiful.

In all fairness, I was not expecting something this impressive.  I figured it was their first shot at this and it may take a few issues to really get going.  But the Celebrations team hit the ground running.  It is so well presented and so readable that I expect most people will hold onto these for years to come as keepsakes. 

It really is the kind of thing that I have been hoping Disney World would produce for years.  As a DVC member and Annual Passholder, I receive magazines from Disney all the time, but they are all disappointing and simply thrown away after a quick read.  But Celebrations is the kind of magazine you will read cover to cover and peruse the pictures over and over.

Disney fans, call Santa now!  You want this magazine under your tree on Christmas.  Believe me, you will be happy you did.

It appears Disney’s efforts to get people to their theme parks despite the economic recession by using aggressive discount programs is paying off.  While things are certainly not looking up, the doom and gloom may be somewhat less then anticipated.  According to the Dow Jones NewsPlus website, Disney’s CFO is reporting that money has indeed done some talking to reluctant vacationers.

Advanced bookings at Walt Disney Co.’s (DIS) theme parks and resorts are down by about 6% through March, an improvement over the 10% decline the company was anticipating after the end of the September quarter.

Disney Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs, speaking at a UBS media conference, attributed the improvement to the company’s recent discount offer.

While this is certainly good news, don’t expect the bean counters to start jumping for joy and hand buckets of cash over to Imagineering for new attractions.  Attendance is still down, and considering the discounts we can only imagine revenue is as well.  Notice how Staggs only speaks in turns of bookings and not cash.

But let’s not gloss over the good news, which to me has absolutely nothing to do with Disney making more money than they expected.  The discounts worked.  And we can only assume that if this recession continues, and there is no reason right now to believe it won’t, we will continue to see these types of deals.  Perhaps even more aggressive discount programs are in our future.  Let’s hope so.  In these difficult times, we can all use a bit of the Mouse.

Reading through the Mouse Planet Walt Disney World Resort Update yesterday morning, as I do every Monday morning, I noticed an offer that somehow slipped by me for the Disney Cruise Line and Disney Vacation Club members.

While the general public can book a 4- or 7-night Disney Cruise this spring and get a 3-night cruise in the fall for just $99 per person, Disney Vacation Club members can achieve a similar deal using their DVC points. Members booking a 4- or 7-night cruise departing between January 31 and March 8 or between March 21 and 28 will be able to book a 3-night cruise on most sail dates between August 13 and December 17 for just 23 reservation points per person. As with the offer for the general public, the cruises must be booked by next Monday, December 15.

We have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks talking about how Disney can limit their losses during this recession by pulling out all the stops to entice people to vacation at the Mouse.  This deal is a good opportunity for DVC members, but not a great one by any stretch of the imagination.  For those who don’t know, 23 points is about the equivalent of a weekend night at a deluxe resort.  If you do the math, you’ll see that $99 per person is a far greater value than 23 points per person.

This brings me to a much broader issue.  On Friday’s episode of the WDW Today Podcast, the hosts were naming the three wishes they would like to see come true at Walt Disney World.  Matt Hochberg of StudiosCentral.com said he wished that Annual Passholders and DVC members would receive discounts above and beyond what the general public is offered.  To him, the “buy 4 nights and get 3 free” deal is terrific, but it ends up essentially negating the real value of AP discounts.  Why have AP discounts if the normal discount is as good if not better? 

What Matt was saying is that passholders and DVC members are the suckers.  We are the people that will most often take advantage of a really good offer.  We are the ones who, even if the economy is not doing well, will do all we can to make it happen.  You want people who will go on an extra vacation this year despite the troubled times?  Make an offer your fanatics can’t refuse.

I can not agree with Matt’s assessment more, and it is not because I am both a DVC member and a passholder.  And it is not out of any sense of entitlement either, even though that argument is not entirely without merit.  The fact is we are the target audience.  We are the people who already spend a fortune at the Mouse.  For the right discount, the fortune will get larger.