Unofficial
Univeral Orlando Podcast Episode 42: Whew. What a relief! I had some
very conflicted emotions going into this new Halloween edition of UUOP, and I am happy to report that long
gone are the 2 hours shows filled with script reads and copy/paste jobs from
the Universal website, and back are the usual fun, smart, and hilarious Lee,
Tracey, and Darren that I have come to love. On the first UUOP Halloween special last year
we were introduced to Darren and he gave an excellent trip report on Universals
Halloween Horror Nights. Now a UUOP
host, Darren returns to the role of last year and shares his thoughts on HHN
and Busch Gardens Howl O Scream. As usual, Darren is articulate, smart, and
almost accidentally funny. Lee and Tracey do a great job at playing the role of
the listener and asking Darren important, need to know questions. This is an
example of how their handicap of not being able to visit the park is an
advantage. They ask questions, listen to stories, and probe deeper as if they
were about to leave on a trip tomorrow and they were trying to get every last
drop of information from Darren. Lee made a bit of a big deal of the background
music on this weeks show but I was so enthralled and into the topics and
content of the show, I didn’t even notice the background music. (Maybe that is
the way its supposed to be.) The listener trip reports were interesting to
listen as well, and the interview a former Universal team member was down right
fascinating. Their guest was Adrian LePeltier, and on top of being funny, he
was a mountain of information and stories. While the opening segment of the
show went on a little bit too long, I can forgive that because the rest of the
show was top notch. Definitely take the time and give this weeks show a listen.
Magical
Definition October 28: Nathan Rose and Jim Hill continue to soldier on and
turn conventional theme park podcasting on its ear. On this weeks show the duo
talks about the new Disney animated feature Wreck it Ralph. Sometimes I do feel a little bit bad for Nathan. He
does the intro for the show and then poses a question to Jim, and 40 minutes
later the show is over. Ok, so maybe its not that stark, but Jim does tend to
run with a question for a long time. And as Jim Hills number one fan, I am 100%
ok with that! I have noticed in the last few shows that Nathan has been doing a
little bit of a better job at getting a word in edge wise. When it comes to the
content on this weeks show, it’s the same as always with Magical Definition;
you simply can not compete with the amount of knowledge and insider information
that Jim Hill brings to the table. Like him or not, he is one of the most
informed and articulate guys in the business today. When it comes to the
discussion about Wreck it Ralph, I
have to say that I disagree a little bit with Jim Hills assessment of the film. I
think he kind of under rated it and didn’t do the best job of conveying the
true story of the film to the listeners. That being said, like usual, this
weeks Magical Definition is still
well worth the listen.
WDW
Happy Place Episode 16: On this weeks show the hosts are joined by two
guests to talk about the recent opening of New Fantasyland. Now I really do to
want to come across as harsh, but I really did not enjoy this weeks show. And
that is not just because it’s a glorified trip report of a show, but I do think
that the guests on the show heavily over rated New Fantasyland. Giving the new
themed land a 9 star review is just too much for me, and because I really
disagreed with the rating and opinion of New Fantasyland, I found it hard to
stay engaged and interested in the rest of the show. There was also some
hesitation from one of the guests to “spoil” New Fantasyland. So the review was
vague, shallow, and full of incomplete thoughts and ideas. More so than an
objective overview of the land, the trip report turned into a pseudo step by
step tour of the land with details. It felt like all the guest was saying was, “Well
this attraction is over here, and this shop is next to it.” The strong hesitation to ot “spoil” the new
land led me to become even more disengaged with the show. And I understand that
a show that is hosted by a few moms may not be in my wheel house, but I would
much rather listen to the Mickey Mama’s podcast
than this weeks episode of WDW Happy
Place. Again, I might be a little too harsh with this review, but this
weeks show just did not click for me.
Show of the Week: Wedway Radio Episode 132:This weeks show from the brothers
Parrish is by far the best podcast I
have listened to all week, and maybe even the best show I have heard all year.
More than anything what impressed me about this weeks episode is that the
normally awesome and informative Matt and Nate managed to do an even better job
at getting information out to their listeners. On this weeks show they are
joined by Steve "Tikiman" Seifert who is an absolute expert on
everything that is Disney’s Polynesian resort. To even begin to try and
describe how amazing this weeks show was is an overwhelming task. The
combination of the Matt, Nate, and Steve is one that works very well. I am
surprised by just how much Steve knows about the Polynesian resort, and I also
was surprised by the amazing amount of detail they go into on this show. On the
surface a podcast episode about the Polynesian resort did not seem too
appealing to me, but I knew that I was in good hands with Matt and Nate. The
added factor of Steve on this weeks show multiplied the usual information
output of WEDWAY Radio by a thousand! And in typical mMatt and Nate fashion, I
walked away from the episode having learned more in 90 minutes then I all of
the Polynesian knowledge I had gathered over the last three years. Top notch,
five stars! This is what podcasting is all about for me. History, information,
and great story telling!
This means that WEDWAY Radio Episode 132 and Inside the Magic Episode 391 are the two candidates for October Show of the Month! So tweet me @wakefieldreport your vote!
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