873 · Your Disney Questions + Our Disneyland Halloween Special Events

What would you bring back if you could restore any extinct Disney attraction exactly as it was? What is the weirdest piece of Disney merchandise you own? What's really next for Tomorrowland? Where should you go if want to visit the Disney Park in Asia? What is the TRUTH behind the Tomorrowland film's famous 1952 mystery blueprint? And what is happening this October at Disneyland that you don't want to miss?

This week, I opened up the inbox and share details about our WDW Radio Haunts and Heroes Week at Disneyland happening October 27-29, 2026. We're talking Oogie Boogie Bash VIP access, a private Marvel-themed breakfast inside Disney California Adventure before it opens to the public, and a remarkable experience. Tickets are limited. Spots are already moving. You need to know about this now.

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Please subscribe, tell a friend, and join me again next week... and as always, sit back, relax, and enjoy this week's episode of the WDW Radio Show!

You sent in your questions, you shared your stories, and this week I go deep in the inbox to answer them.

From the weirdest Disney merchandise you own, to which extinct attraction you would bring back if you could, to what Tomorrowland might actually become next to the best seat in the house to watch the Electrical Water Pageant, to a question that takes us to secret blueprints, black lights, hidden worlds, and an experience at D23 Expo that most people never even knew was happening right in front of them. And then the moment that we have been working on for months.

Because this October, we're going back to Disneyland for something we have never done before with our WDW Radio Haunts and Heroes event, Oogie Boogie Bash, vip, a private Marvel breakfast before the park opens, and more. Everything you need to know is in this episode.

Hello, my friend, and welcome to WDW Radio, your guide to the Disney parks and experiences around the world. I am Lou Mongello and this is show number 873.

Whether you are joining me for the very first time where you've been part of this community and family since the very beginning, welcome home. For more than 20 years, we've been coming together every week from wherever we might be.

Whether you're driving, walking, working, or avoiding something else you're supposed to be doing wherever you are, I am grateful that you chose to spend this time with me, and this week, the show belongs to you. It's your questions, your stories, your curiosity, and a few topics that take us in some interesting directions.

I've been looking forward to digging back into the inbox and seeing where the conversations take us. Don't forget, you can also be part of the live show every Wednesday, 7:30pm Eastern on Facebook and YouTube.

And be sure to sign up for my free weekly email newsletter on over at www. Radio.com so you never miss an episode, event, update or bit of Disney magic.

And when today's conversation inevitably has you thinking about your next Disney adventure, visit my friends over@m MouseFanTravel.com Becky and her team of expert vacation planners will help you with every detail at no additional cost so you spend less time worrying about the planning and more time looking forward to the memories. I'D also love for you to join the conversation and community all over in the [email protected] clubhouse.

It is a fun, friendly, family friendly and refreshingly drama free community where you can share your thoughts, ask questions and connect with other people who love Disney as much as you and I do. You can also connect with me on social I am umongello on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

But for now, sit back, relax and enjoy this week's episode of the WW Radio Show. It's time to open up the email inbox once again, so I invite you to pull up a chair at the virtual WW Radio table.

Whether it is a corner booth at Steakhouse 71, a rocking chair at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, a lounge chair on Castaway Cay, which sounds very nice right about now, or wherever you happen to be listening right now.

Maybe you're walking through World Showcase or sitting in traffic or planning your next adventure, unpacking from the last one, or simply looking for a little escape with Disney in the middle of the day.

This segment is created by you, inspired by you, and it is literally made possible by you because you continue to not only show up and listen, but more importantly, share your questions and be part of this community and family. I've always wanted WW Radio to not be something that I create and sort of put out into the world.

I always want it to be something that is a shared adventure that we take together.

Becky forgets the fact that we're recording video as well, and today I get to share this experience with somebody who's been part of that adventure for really as long as I can remember. She's not just a friend, she's family. She has shared. She has sailed and traveled the world with us.

Sailed on more seas and cruise ships than I can count.

More importantly, she's helped create countless memories and somehow survived many years of ideas and detours, last minute plans, and very, very long answers. She is the Judy Hopps to my Nick Wilde. She's the Happy Hogan to my Spider Man. I am so excited for the 30th.

The Cogsworth to my Lumiere, the Edna mode to Mr. Incredible, and occasionally the Mr. Hill to my Nick Fury.

She is my trusted companion, I was going to say voice of reason, but completely the opposite of of that. She is a memory maker, a dream enabler, and a longtime partner and friend. She is, of course, Becky Mankin from Mei and Mouse Fan Travel.

That was quite the lead in I'm I'm pretty proud of you for that one. And yeah, you were just talking about where would you be? I, I, I immediately went to the Lazy river at Aulani.

A Lazy river. Some sort of relaxing, Disney inspired water based experience. Sounds perfect right about now.

Yeah, please bring it on. When are we going there, by the way?

We have a lot of things we need to talk about. Well, we're going, listen, we're going to, we've got Alaska coming up which I can't wait next May. Really looking forward to that.

But today, listen Becky, today it is all about opening up the inbox, answering your questions, sharing a few stories, maybe along the way, hopefully offering some advice, probably wandering off topic at least once and hopefully most likely.

And that that inbox I believe is probably overstuffed at this point because.

Don't, don't even, don't, don't even. Look, we've been answering emails together for nearly 20 years and one thing has never changed, right?

The questions and the comments that we get are amazing and I love how so many of them share like wonderful stories and personal memories and background and details and a lot of the context that I enjoy that reminds us like that there's a real person and a real experience behind every question, every download, every like, every follow, every share. And I am so grateful for that. But to your point, Becky, I do have approximately 7.3 million emails waiting to be answered. Excellent.

And I do read every one of them. But if I try and read every one of them in their entirety on the show, history suggests we will never actually reach the questions.

So we're going to do what we did last time. I went through the emails, pulled out the key questions.

When we get right to them in the heart of what they want to know so we can answer more, help more people and hopefully have a more meaningful dent in the the inbox. At least until another 7 million arrive tomorrow.

If you have a question, email me louwwradio.com so in no particular order other than randomly reaching into the metaphorical inbox, Becky, you're gonna love or hate this one. And I picked this one because I was looking at your background and my background. You look so scared. I love it.

I do. I'm terrified when you start like that.

What is the weirdest or most unexpected piece of merchandise you own? And that's from Leo. Just Leo.

Wow.

Right? I went to you first, because I'm having a tough time answering this.

The weirdest or most unexpected piece of merchandise. Piece of merchandise that I own.

So I sort of. And I think I have your answer, actually, because I think everything, everything in your house is weird, man. I've been there.

But unexpected, I think is. Is possibly the key because maybe it's something that you did not seek out but was given to you or gifted to you.

Gifted to me?

Oh, my gosh, you're looking around, you're so confused.

I am so confused. What do you think my answer is? Because right now for unexpected, I walked into an attraction one time, saw something and said, I have to buy that.

Which was unexpected to me because I didn't realize that I actually shut the.

Attraction down and take that off of the animatronic. I want it.

I didn't realize that I needed a full size rocket raccoon, but yet I got it. So.

Don't you have a diamond, a fake diamond off of the Disneyland castle?

I do. That's actually. Yeah, you're right. Not something that I have displayed in the office. So I wasn't immediately going there.

Yes, I had somebody who was close to a cast member when they pulled the diamonds off after the anniversary gifted me one. And yeah, that is, that's definitely a little bit of a treasure that I kind of forgot I had until you mentioned it.

So I was trying to buy myself time, but because my immediate answer was my 20,000 leagues under the Sea porthole of which I have talked about for years, it still sits in my garage because I haven't figured out exactly how or what to do with it.

Other than the fact that it's unexpected and that this single item I can attribute to why you and I are having this conversation today.

Okay.

Because this literally is the thing that got me started on my journey. We went to Walt Disney World for the first time in November of 71. I was just a wee lad.

And it's a big, black, very, very thin, probably like almost 12 inch by 12 inch book that's shaped in the old Walt Disney World D logo. And it was a large format. It's like 48 pages. It's not very big, and it's soft cover.

And it's filled with color photos and illustrations and concept art and maps and construction images of Walt Disney World.

And what I love is that because it was so early in Walt Disney World's just months after the park opened, it's really not just a story about how Walt Disney World was planned and conceived and engineered, but it's really about the development of the Florida project and construction. And because the resort had just opened, relatively few of the photos are of completed areas filled with guests.

Most of it is those models and imagineering work and the promise of Walt Disney World, what could become it even had. I wish I would have taken it out ahead of time.

It even had on the property map the proposed Asian version and Asian, Venetian and Persian resorts that obviously later disappeared. And they printed this book over a number of years, I think maybe to like the early 80s. But this is.

And the reason why it's so important to me is because this is the book, Becky, that we drove back and forth. We didn't have phones, we didn't have DVD players, we didn't have movies in the back of the car.

Like we played the serial game or like here kid read a map. I read this book cover to cover to cover. I still have my original version on my bookshelf. And it was. It was very sort of.

It had a profound impact on me because I really do attribute this to starting my journey. What I love about this book is that, yes, it's a collectible, but you can find them. Like you can find a lot.

Like there may be 10, 20, $30 on eBay or like vintage stores. And I think it's just a great collectible. I think it's a great snapshot of history.

And again, for me, it was put me on this path that led you, led us here to this very moment.

That's really cool. And so it was something that you bought for yourself or did your parents buy it for you?

I was unemployed when I was three, so. Or five, whatever.

Like, I didn't know how you obtained it. So is this something that.

Thank you, mom and dad for a lot of things, including, but not limited to my. My souvenir book.

So to. To roll off of that very quickly.

The one for me that got me on this path was remember the, the albums, the record albums that have the story in them as well. The first time my dad wanted to take me to Disneyland, he bought me the Haunted Mansion and the Country Bears and one other.

It was a Hall of Presidents one, too.

The hall of Presidents. Yes.

And that way I could learn about the attraction and read through it, especially Haunted Mansion, so I wouldn't be scared when we went and I still have all three of them.

I could see how that conversation went between your dad and your mom. What can we buy Becky to shut her up for a few hours? Oh, a book and a record. She'll just sit in a room. Perfect. No, I love that.

I love that, and I love that with these. And I want to certainly hear from you, our friend who's listening, like, what is your most weird or unexpected or unique piece of merchandise?

That's a good question.

I said this was rapid fire. Let's go. Hey, Lou, we're planning our honeymoon in October this year. Congratulations. We've decided to go to Asia. I love this question already.

To visit the Disney parks. We will have 16 days over there and we'll see some other sites as well, which is probably a good idea.

I know we want to do Tokyo Disney and Disneysea, but would you suggest Hong Kong Disney or Shanghai Disney, or do you think we would have time to do all three? Your guidance is appreciated, Jennifer. Soon to be married. Sanders.

Yes, that's actually the perfect scenario. If you have the time and if you have the budget, you can do all three.

If you're actually targeting pretty much the, the Disney area, obviously you could spend 12 to 16 nights in Japan all by itself if you wanted to really explore Japan. But you can definitely do Shanghai and Hong Kong and Tokyo Disney if you're focused on the Disney parks in, in that time period. I, I'm all for it.

You know, you and I did that. We did those two parks in China and then we said, hey, on the way home, because it's just right there.

We can stop and go to Tokyo for the very first time. And we did really cool to compare the three experiences from the three parks because they are so unique.

So I would say you have the time and you, you, you're okay with not spending a ton of time in each of the countries besides focusing on Disney, with exception of a couple of, of trips out, you could do it in that amount of time.

So, Jennifer, one, congratulations. Two, keep in mind one thing before I give you this answer. Look, you only get married once or twice or three times in this Life.

So I think that you really need to make the most of it. I love that you're spend. Look, you know my love for Japan. I think you can and should spend 16 days in Japan alone.

Becky, I don't think three is the right answer. I think four is the right answer. I think you do all three parks and then you go on the Disney adventure out of Singapore.

Now that's a little bit more of a haul.

That sounds so all the way over there. It's right across the street. Look, I think in order for you to do all of the parks at a bare minimum, I think you need two days for Shanghai.

You could do, I think two days for Hong Kong, but you could possibly get through Hong Kong in a day. I think two. And I think you need three, you know, at the bare minimum for Tokyo. So that's two, four, you know, that's seven days.

So you still have nine other days to enjoy the rest of the parks and maybe save the Disney adventure for another time. So you could do back to back.

Yeah, that's that. Oh, that's an amazing itinerary and a great way to celebrate your marriage. I can't think of anything better.

The only thing that would make it better is if they took us with them.

Yeah, we can be a tour guide. We're happy to be tour guides. What do you need?

All right, Becky, we're going to go backwards.

Once again, Benjamin Rhodes asks, Benjamin Rhodes asks, if you could bring back any extinct attraction exactly as it was, which I think is key, what would it be?

Becky, what I'm gonna say is because I never got to see it and everybody talks about it all the time and I never got to see it was Horizons. Everybody talked about how great it was and the experience was wonderful and it was so unique, but I never got to experience it.

So I would love to go back in time and see what all the fuss is about.

Yeah, I think as it was is key. And I think a lot of the knee jerk reaction answers are 20,000 leagues, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Horizons.

Although I wonder, and I'm speaking specifically, well, for both world and land, I wonder if the skyway is the overlooked answer. To have those unique views of the parks in this simple no tech attraction is very appealing. However, the correct answer is Horizons. To bring it back.

Because I think, and I say Horizons because I think Horizons captured everything that made the original Epcot center so special. Optimism, imagination, technology, family. And this wonderful belief that the future could be better if we choose to build it that way.

And I think you have that messaging and the music and the orange groves and these massive Omnimax screens. The ability to choose your own ending made it feel very personal, I think, and ambitious.

There usually weren't lines because it was an omnimover attraction. But I think more than anything, I think Horizons, it didn't sort of simply try to predict the future.

I think it made you feel excited to be a part of helping to create it. So Horizons is in fact the correct answer.

And if I was looking at Disneyland, I would go way back before Rocket rods and its 15 minutes of fame and go to the people mover.

Or when you said Skyway, I. I remember the skyway going right through the middle of the Matterhorn and being able to look straight down and see all the tracks. That was something that I remember as a kid and I would love to experience that again.

Yeah, I never had that. I'd love to. And that's why I think the Skyway is a great answer.

Yeah.

For both of the parks.

Okay.

Okay. Garrett, Lyle, we're gonna think we're gonna swing the pendulum completely the opposite way.

If you could spend one day as an imagineer with unlimited budget, what would you build? Do you need a second to think,.

Yeah, I think I have it. But you go ahead. So I can formulate this entire process here because.

So I'm going to give you the typical lawyer answer because my initial knee jerk reaction was San Fransokyo in Walt Disney World. So I could visit it often and have a Big Hero 6, full blown attraction or. And I think this is actually my honest answer, I would build.

Don't take my answer well.

I'm gonna go back to sort of where we just came from. And I think that's maybe why I'm swinging this way.

Okay.

I'm gonna go back to where we came from. We'll talk about Horizons. I would build a new, fully immersive Epcot pavilion devoted to imagination and storytelling and the future.

I think that it would combine somehow.

I don't know what it would look like or feel like, but it would combine that ambition of Horizons, that wonder that we had in the original and still best journey to imagination. You weave in the emotional Disney storytelling. And I think. I think this idea of.

I think we need this now more than ever, of being able to look to the possibility of incredible futures and make choices that impact and I think personalize the experience for us maybe will help us leave the way I think I felt in Epcot early on, which was, I think sometimes you would leave inspired to create something of their own. And I think, remember, I have unlimited budget. Be careful what you wish for. I would.

Obviously every detail has to matter, from the architecture to the music, to the cast member roles, to the food and the technology. I want to build a place that makes people, to summarize, that makes people feel, I don't know what it looks like, that anything is possible.

That would be cool to have that inspiration back again. But mine is totally opposite of this.

I want to build a luxury lounge for one with no children.

No, I'm not gonna change my answer. Okay. What came to my mind immediately when I was thinking, I gotta flesh this out a little bit because there's a lot of detail.

If I could build one thing, I would love to build a Haunted Mansion themed hotel. I think that would be incredibly cool with the technology that comes behind it, where a, a ghost could visit you during the day or night or whatever.

In each, each of the rooms have its own theme and its own ghost that lives in that room. I would love to have that immersive feeling and, and I know, you know, going back to, to Star Cruiser, which I loved, and I'm still sad is gone.

Having that ability to walk and not just walk into it and then leave when you get warm, but to actually stay overnight in that world. I would love it to be Haunted Mansion themed.

I think that would be incredibly cool with all the things in the hallways coming to life or changing colors or doing stuff and having, you know, knocks on your door. I. I just think it would be incredibly cool to have something like that.

So I actually agree with that answer 1,000%.

And if you remember, this is maybe it was like 20, 21 or so, they had Disney released concept art for Haunted Mansion themed hotel rooms similar to what they were doing with the pirate rooms and the Royal rooms over at Caribbean beach and I think Riverside. Those things never came to pass, but you can still find that concept art. I think the idea of. I think we're both in agreement.

The Star Cruiser was a brilliant idea. There were some execution issues, but I think that you can and should.

I think the concept of a fully themed immersive hotel very much still has a lot of. Not just appeal to it, but I think, I think it's a plausible idea. It's just a matter of figuring out exactly what that looks and feels like.

I totally agree.

And again, being able to live in that environment for days and being able to leave, which was the problem about being on a Star Cruiser out in the galaxy.

You can't just go into the Magic Kingdom if you wanted to, but to be able to come and go and have that flexibility, but yet be greeted by all the characters that we know and love of the 99 haunts.

And I don't know if you want that because it's so similar to what you exactly live in right now. Like, again, I've been to your house. It's more like the house on Haunted Hill, but I understand. Wait, quick question. I should have asked this.

Now you're just making yourself giggle. Look, you've just amused yourself. Congratulations.

I work by myself and it's me and the cats and I have to find out ways. Rick Keane has a question that we. I should have attached to the last one, but again, I'm reading these as I go through.

Does Mouse Fan Travel arrange trips to the Asia parks, Airlines transfers, hotels, park tickets, etc. The thought of arranging a trip like that on my own seems daunting. Exclamation point.

So if you would have asked me this a couple months ago, I would have said it's really difficult because we don't have access to the Disney hotels. However, we now have a supplier that we can work with. As long as you're not just doing Disney, you have to have some other components within. Within.

Like Japan, for example. You have to do some tours in Japan.

You have to have other things, not just the Disney element, but as long as you've got that going for you, we can do flights and hotels and Disney hotels and park tickets and Tokyo and all of those pieces. We have other suppliers that we can in fact do Shanghai and Hong Kong as well. So the answer is. Is yes, with some caveats.

Becky, it's not that I don't believe you, but I think we need to sort of put this to the test.

Maybe we should do like a demo trip to show exactly what Mouse Fan Travel can do and document how you were able to make this trip for me so seamless and enjoyable.

And of course, that might be something on the list that I need to talk to you about. So I'm all for it. And yes,.

Three letters caught my attention in this next email.

F1.

What land or park do you think is going to receive the next big update or upgrade? Maybe a D23 announcement says Bryn O'. Connell. What park or land do you think is ripe for.

I have two directions that I'm going on this. I think Tomorrowland has. They've got to. They've got to do something with Tomorrowland sooner or later.

But I'm also very focused and my fingers are crossed and all my toes are crossed that we get a lot of new information about what's coming to Disneyland. I think that's the place that I hope that we're gonna see a massive expansion at and a little bit more love for my home park.

Yeah. We'll Talk more about D23 as we get closer to D23, which has been occupying my time and my mind as we prepare the booth for.

It always does this time of year.

Listen, now is the time. Now is the best and most stressful but amazing time. I'm excited that we're going to be able to be there and do the things that we love doing at D23.

I agree with you. And without going too deep down the rabbit hole, I think we've been talking about Tomorrowland showing signs of being ready for updates.

I think we saw that a number of years ago, Covid happened, et cetera.

But when you have areas of that land that have attractions that are closed and spaces that are underutilized and things that you can see are sort of waiting for a little bit more attention and love, and then you see things like Buzz Lightyear getting an upgrade and you see carousel progress going down for a refurbishment, I think all of those indicators are pointing to this is the next land that we are going to work on. I think timing is going to be interesting because there is so much going on on the other side of the park.

So while it might not happen, no pun or pun intended, tomorrow, I think this is something that we may or may not hear at D23. But I do think, I think this is the next land that's going to get, I think, a major refresh in terms of the story, or lack thereof.

The story that used to be part of Tomorrowland that really isn't there very much anymore. I think there's going to be sort of a general overhaul of the land as a whole.

It is time. It is beyond time for that. I mean, you've got all kinds of opportunities and possibilities and. And yet it just sits there.

So I'm really hoping we see something.

And the rumors are just swirling, especially as we're getting closer to D23. Like, all of the stuff is just coming out.

I haven't heard a lot of rumors on that one yet.

So, yeah, one of the rumors that, and I'll address it either on another show or a Wednesday night show, because I don't want to go too far, is that Space Mountain is not just going to get A like a track overhaul like Big Thunder Mountain. But they are going to level it like what they're doing in Tokyo.

And they are going to completely reshape and retheme and redesign Space Mountain from the ground up. Remember that attraction? Those tracks are 50 years old.

So true.

From a pure maintenance perspective. I get it. And when you start doing that level of work, I'm sure they're asking themselves, well, wait a minute.

Like, do we take advantage of this opportunity to do something grander and change this attraction? We shall see.

Cool. I can't wait. Can't wait to hear. Because there's been times that we've done predictions before and we've been so wrong.

Oh yeah. I delete those shows because I don't want to go back like months later.

I can't find them anymore.

We have not had any food related questions and it does not surprise me that Kyle Bullmeyer, who enjoys food as much as I do, reaches out and says, what is the best restaurant viewing location for the electrical Water Pageant? Becky, the electrical Water pageant is a water parade that takes place on the.

See, for me, it's the balcony of my hotel that I get that overlooks.

I don't even need Becky on the show anymore. I can answer the questions for her. I would be on my road with champagne and strawberries being sent to my room.

No, I guess the. Well, there's always the one at Grand Floridian, which. Why is it escaping me?

Narcoossis.

Thank you. But I think what I might enjoy more is the new place at the Tower. The Polynesian Tower.

Wailulu.

Thank you. Because that outdoor area, I really like that. I love the outdoor area with the bar right there and the nighttime atmosphere.

And uh, I have not sat there to watch the parade go by. But it seems from its location where it is would be a good option. I think that's probably the one I would pick.

Yeah. I think for a sit down, indoor air conditioned experience, Narcoossee's is it. And back on show seven, something something.

We did a live review of Narcoossee's. The food is excellent. The atmosphere and the service is amazing.

Has.

Huge like floor to ceiling windows and they have a waterfront patio. I think it's actually listed as like a viewing location. Again, a table by the window is not guaranteed. It's wonderful.

If you could get it so you can go outside, watch out on the patio. Time your reservation accordingly. Like I'd schedule my reservation like 45 minutes before. Figure out when the Grand Florida.

Figure out when it goes by Grand Florida. And then schedule your reservation like 45 minutes.

Before that, however, I will give you my runner up and probably the place that I would almost choose first.

Okay.

And it's Geyser Point at Wilderness Lodge. A little bit more casual, which is a little more loose speed. It's open air, beautiful views of Bay Lake, incredible food I like.

And obviously they pump the music in there too. And you can even see the tops of the fireworks over the trees in the distance.

I think it just, it's beautiful outside, especially at certain times of year when the weather is not like the surface of the sun.

That's not a bad choice. I hadn't thought. I have not been to Narcoossee's in years. It's probably been 15 years since I dined there.

If only there was somebody, anybody who would.

If only there was somebody, anybody who would say, hey, you know, we should probably go there and we should probably go there.

Just give me warnings so I could find pants. All right, I have one more question. It's a longer question, but I want to. I have to read it and I want to answer it because I sort of dig.

Especially as with what is coming up. Ian Parsons from England 1. Go England in the World Cup 2. I love the fact that the show reaches people across the planet. It's still amazing.

I can honestly say that your attitude towards life, your podcast, and your kindness has absolutely changed my life. Ian, come here and give me a hug, man.

But the other reason for my email concerns Tomorrowland and specifically the film based on it, Tomorrowland A World Beyond. He says, please bear with me and I'll try to be concise. Dude, you're talking to me. I get it.

We in England have a very popular late night chat show called the Graham Norton show where he interviews some of the biggest named guests in the world. I've been watching his back episodes and last night was season 17, episode 7, in case you can find it on streaming.

His guests were George Clooney, Jessica Hines and Hugh Laurie, and they appeared primarily to promote their new at the time film, the World of Tomorrowland.

And then naturally thought that if anybody could answer this, it would be Lou Mongello. Although I appreciate it's Disneyland and related and not Walt Disney World. Anyway, hope that you can answer my question.

Thank you for everything that you do. Many thanks. And I still miss Jim Corkus. I do as well. P.S. As an afternoon. What are you trying to do to me? Wait, this just took a darker turn.

Oh, I'm a gardener. And last week I was in a customer's garden with tears in my eyes listening to show 865. Oh, thank you, Lou. Well, thank you.

So, first of all, Ian, thank you for such an incredibly kind and thoughtful message. The fact that you went back to listen to episode one and I think that you're up to you said 460 something is no small feat.

Again, that's a lot of Lou. So God bless you, my friend. More importantly, knowing that the show has had a positive impact on your life means more than I can express.

There's no greater compliment that you can give me.

But you also sent me down this fascinating Tomorrowland rabbit hole, and I wanted to try and make sure I give you the most accurate information that I possibly can, being the flawed human that I am.

And I bring it up now, Becky, because we're talking about Expo.

And they had all of this fake, quote unquote, archival material alongside Items that they created to support this fictional story of how they sort of came about, these items leading up to the tomorrow. Like, there was actually this, and it wasn't real, but there was a picture of, like, Walt Disney and Amelia Earhart. And I think what.

I think what they were showing was this blueprint that was something that was. I'm trying to remember the story. Like, they took it out, they found it in the archives.

And they tried to make it sound as though this was something that was real and authentic. And they went to Imagineering and, like, looked at World's Fair and all these real documents and. And there was all these sort of, like, what if?

Questions. And they wanted to create this fictional mythology that would eventually tie into the mythology that was part of the movie.

So the very long answer to your very short question is there was no real plan. Unless there is something secret in imagineering, this is sort of their way of talking.

There was no real plan by Walt or the Imagineers to create this second Tomorrowland underneath Disneyland.

And look, either George Clooney believed that it really was, or he's just a really, really good actor because he kept on sort of retelling the story and that fictional mythology of what was created for the film as if it was something that was really created for Disneyland. And I think this does a couple of things. I think, one, as somebody who's a huge fan of Lost, Becky, don't go down the road.

We can still be friends, even though you don't get it. The JJ And Damon. Gosh, the JJ the storytelling and the mystery box and the way they create these things is brilliant.

And I love the fact that they were doing that for the film. And if you remember, Becky, this was something that there was this time period.

Like, they were creating these new mythologies and stories and creating these almost interactive experiences that you could not just do while you were at Expo, but when you got home. Like, there was websites you can go to and sort of go down the rabbit hole. They did that with Lost. They did that with Tomorrowland.

And do you remember? They did it with the Optimist. Right. There was this whole sort of alternate reality game that they launched at. It might have been the same one.

And then they eventually tied it into the Tomorrowland movie. There was like this six week game that you could do with like a, like an alternate reality game that you could play at home.

But they had like characters there at Expo that you could walk up to the desk and interact with them and look at all of these different props and then it would tie into eventually what was going to be in Tomorrowland.

So it's that same type of thing, this fictional history and mythology that they crafted just for this story and this game and the tie into Tomorrowland. I have no recollection of any of these things.

I think I was in the booth when you were wandering around seeing these things. I have just a slight memory of some of these pieces. I did not go down the rabbit hole at the time.

But I think those ideas are brilliant because it allows you to hook people right on the story and on the pieces. So I love the fact that they're thinking creatively like that.

And when you talk on the floor it's like, oh, did you see this thing that you go over and it's interactive and you learn something and it's got these hidden treasures and that's intriguing and really wants you to, to get involved in, in that storytelling. So I love the fact that George Clooney seeming seemingly is talking about it as if it was history.

And like I said, Ori's just a fantastic actor and made people believe like, oh, I think George really buys this.

And just keep, keep going with it.

Yeah, I, I love that because it becomes, it becomes a mystery that you want to solve or that you want to talk to your friends about and see if they heard about it. So I love that and I think.

That's what it was. I think the character's name, I might be, I think the character's name at Expo was Amelia.

And she was like researching like her father or grandfather was an imagineer and she found all these documents and then it led to this thing that you could do virtually as well as in the parks. Like I think you could go to like the Opera House and Carousel of Progress and like other places and get either virtual clues or physical clues.

Like there was this whole big world that they had created around this. And I don't know if it just didn't gain traction for one reason or another. People didn't understand it.

But I do remember I can see myself talking to the person who had like a briefcase and a radio or something like on the desk. And you were interacting with this character that had this fully flushed out history.

And the more you talk to them, the More you could sort of learn about this thing. And then you were sort of set off on this journey that started like you could do things at Expo, but you could also go over to.

They wanted you to go over to Disneyland. That's right. And collect clues or do whatever, sort of fill in the gaps and play the game.

Wasn't like pin involved that you got like the Tomorrowland pin.

It's so funny you said that because I literally. Spoiler alert. I literally was like going through some of my vintage stuff over the weekend because one of the things we're going to do and give away.

I don't want to give away too much. I found a Tomorrowland pin which was really sort of like the magic item in the movie.

And I have my Tomorrowland pin and who knows, I might be giving away my Tomorrowland pin at the.

Okay, so that was part of it though. Right, Right.

Okay.

But there was.

I have to. I have to look more. I know that because there was also like this other. There was like this other secret organization. Oh, it was called like Plus.

It was something like with Plus.

There was some other organization that tied in that was like this secret division of Imagineering where I'm now like my old man brain is starting to like kick in because now that I'm seeing these things. But I think this is one of the things that I think for a little while they were doing really, really well at Expo.

Remember when they were doing the juju's? Remember like the little collectible like wooden carved like tikis of the parrot and you can like collect all.

I still have my parrot juju around here somewhere. So those activate.

Cool.

Yeah, those are very cool. Yeah. I have to now I'm going to go down this rabbit hole a little.

Sounds like it deeper.

I dig this kind of stuff. Man, I love this alternate reality look when Lost came out. Sit back, Becky. I'm going need a couple minutes.

They would create these websites, they would create these like short form podcasts, like limited time pod.

All these things that would allow you to even like some little games and stuff on your phone or that were web based to sort of dig more into the deeper mythology of Lost and the Hanso foundation and all the things that surrounded the mysteries of the island that allowed you, if you wanted to individually and collectively have that virtual water cooler to talk about these things and figure out more. And when the show was over, it wasn't over. Because if you wanted to dig deeper, that enhanced experience was there.

And I love, love, love when they do those kind of things, and especially things that you could do from the comfort of your home or phone.

Yeah.

Because not everybody can be there and enjoy running around expo and then running to the park, but when they can do those activations, that pulls in any fan who wants to be a part of the story. That's. That's even better.

Yeah.

And if you remember the Optimist, if you played the game, if you have any of that Optimist ephemera or memorabilia, please email me, reach out to me on dm, whatever, let me know. I'd love to see it and hear your story and about your experience. All right, Becky, last question. One last question. I know.

I've got 6,999,972 other questions.

Need to do more shows.

Hey, Louis, when. Stop it. When are you going to announce and give details about that cool Disneyland special event you were hinting at?

And that is from a lot of you, and the answer is right now. So we have been waiting to share this with you, and we are so excited that we can finally make it official.

Because this October, WWRadio, thanks to our friends at MouseFan Travel, we are going back to Disneyland for something that we have never done before. And we're calling it the WWE Radio Haunts and Heroes Week at Disneyland from October 27th through October 29th later on this year.

This is not just a meetup, although I'm going to schedule one of those, too. It's not just a night in the parks.

It is not one, not two, but three very different, very special experiences that you can choose from, combining Halloween, heroes, food, obviously exclusive access, and more importantly, the opportunity for us to experience it together. And you can, like, join us for one experience, two of them, or make it a week long, unforgettable three or more day Disneyland adventure.

So we want to walk you through everything because space for each experience is limited and each of these experiences is very, very different. Experience number one, we are doing an Oogie Boogie Bash VIP experience.

You probably know that Oogie Boogie Bash is one of the most popular and difficult to get Halloween events at Disneyland Resort. And we are taking that to another level, Becky.

People go and they wait for Oogie Boogie tickets like the runners do for race weekends, like they're taking the day off. They've got 17 machines lined up trying to get their tickets.

We are going to do something not just to give them an opportunity to get tickets, but make it even more Special. On Tuesday, October 27th.

Mm. We are.

The important part.

When you're talking about Oogie Boogie, I'm going to say something very. Someone's going to yell at me. Controversial. It's better than Walt Disney World. It really is. For Halloween Party.

ECI at MEI Edition. Listen. It's a very. It is A Oogie Boogie is very different than not so scary.

It's so.

And if you're a Halloween person.

Yeah. So much better.

I'll help you out. If you. If you're a Halloween person, I'm raising my hand. I love Halloween. I'm a kid at heart.

If you're a Halloween person and you could only choose one, I would hop on a plane and go to Oogie Woogie Bash.

Yep. So you're agreeing with me?

What we're doing is. I do. It's. We've been together way too long. I mean, we're not together. Like. Like what?

Anyway, stop it.

Your admission is going to include your ticket to Oogie Boogie Bash, plus access to an exclusive WW radio VIP hospitality lounge from 7 to 9pm Inside the lounge, we're going to have food, beverages, time to relax, meet, mingle one another, maybe a few surprises along the way. And of course, you're still going to have plenty of time to experience the treat.

Trails and entertainment and attractions and characters and costumes and everything else that makes Oogie Boogie Bash so special. The price for these VIP tickets is $225 per person.

However, if you book your Disneyland resort, hostel, hotel, say, or a hotel and ticket package through our friends at MouseFan Travel, you get a special discounted price of $200 per person. These tickets are limited to only 75 guests. This is not going to be like our VIP space.

And the tickets we've allotted is only for 75 people, and we do expect those to go fast. But wait, there's more experience. Number two is the next morning for an Inner Sanctum breakfast.

Next day, Wednesday, October 28th, we are going somewhere very few guests ever get to experience this way.

Because we're going to meet for a private Inner Sanctum breakfast starting at 6am before Disney California Adventure opens for the day for an intimate private breakfast inspired by the world of Marvel superheroes. Maybe a special Marvel character opportunity, an appearance will happen. Photo ops, maybe a little commemorative keepsake.

And again, we always like to have a few surprises as well. So imagine beginning your morning inside Disney California Adventure.

A group of fellow WWE family members enjoying breakfast together before guests even get to entertain the park here. The price for the Inner sanctum breakfast is 125 per person.

However, if you book your hotel stay same thing or a hotel and ticket package through Mousefin Travel, you get a discounted price of $99 per person. This we are limiting to 100 guests.

The third experience is already sold out, but I wanted to tell you about it anyway because later on that week we offered what is going to be one of the most extraordinary experiences we have ever done. We had opened it up to an interest list which filled up very very fast because we are going to 21 Royal inside Disneyland Park.

As I'm sure you know, 21 Royal is the private residence located above Royal street in Orland Square envisioned by Walt and Lillian as their own private place to entertain guests. Today it is probably the most exclusive and intimate fine dining experiences anywhere.

Not just at Disneyland, but I think in any Disney park around the world. And it is not simply a dinner.

It is an evening of Disney history and storytelling and incredible hospitality and a multi course dining experience inside a location that most people will never have the opportunity to visit. This was only offered to 10 people. Again, we opened up an interest list. It's why you need to be part of the clubhouse.

Subscribe to the newsletter and like when these things come out you have to jump fast and those tickets are already sold out because they were done on a first come first serve basis. If you're interested in being on a wait list for this kind of experience, you can reach out to me and let me know.

More importantly, for any or all of these, or even if you're just coming out to Disneyland and you want to come to a meet of the month that we're going to schedule, we also have a very special group rate through Mousefan Travel over at Disney's Grand California for 449 plus tax for a run of the house room. You can come early, you can stay late and they can also help with park tickets and other Disneyland area hotel packages.

Some of the good neighbor hotels I dig a lot.

But again, if you are planning on coming and booking your hotel through Mousefan Travel and you want those discounted tickets, request your hotel first before you purchase your tickets.

Once your reservation's been arranged, Mousefan Travel is gonna give you a private link and promotional code that's gonna unlock the reduced event price during checkout. So again, hotel first, event tickets second. Now if you're interested and wanna Join us. This is how it's going to go.

When that link is active on Thursday, you'll find information about all the experiences, pricing, availability, et cetera, and how you can also request the discounted hotel rate through MouseFanTravel. Again, you can participate in one or both or join us for the whole week. Again, I'll do a meet of the month as well. But again, do not wait.

Oogie Boogie is limited to 75. Breakfast is limited to 100.

We really like to make these events not just special, but intimate and around creating memories together that we simply could not create on our own. So again, Becky, thank you and your team for this has been a process to try and get this put together.

This is something that's been we've been working on. I know. And you've been behind the scenes for months putting it together. And I can't wait for this. I love Halloween. I love this time of year.

And I can't wait for these very, very special events.

I love this one especially.

Yeah, it has been a labor of love, but to be able to as as a community with a band of friends together, to experience Oogie Boogie together and then have a place that we can go and congregate and hang out together. I love this idea. Obviously, the, the breakfast is fun.

I love going into a park before it ever opens the public so you can kind of have that really intimate experience that morning. It's an early morning, granted, but it's always worth it, especially as the sun is just coming up.

You can get some pretty good pictures too of, of the park area with nobody in it, which I love. But yeah, that signature event of doing 21 Royal.

I've been lucky enough to do it once before, which when I came back and said we've got to do this again, it is in the top three of any dining experience I've ever had anywhere, anytime. Which is one of the reasons I wanted to do it again. And if, if it goes over well and there's others that want to do it again.

Yeah, I would repeat this one. So it's sold out now only because that that interest list, when they said they were interested, we went to them first. Yep, they were interested.

And yeah, I'm this would have a repeatability I'm just going on record for. I'm happy to do another one, but I'm really, really actually to see the people in this community, Lou, are so creative.

I'm sure we're going to see some interesting costumes on this one, and I can't wait to see what you're gonna decide to dress up as.

We are not doing matching costumes. Just let me be clear right from the outside. I already have.

Never let us do Matt. Not matching. I don't want themed. We should sometime do a themed thing. That would be fun, right?

You go as me and I'll go as you. How's that?

That's so scary. I don't know if I will.

I really want to. I'm already excited. I. It's July and I'm excited for Halloween.

Oh, well, because we know that basically Halloween starts at Walt Disney World in August anyway.

See, and I can't do that.

That's one of the things I love about this.

It's really near Halloween, so. Makes me happy.

Yeah. Thank you again, Becky from MouseFan Travel.

More importantly, thank you, our friend who for listening and more importantly, for being part of the conversation, for continuing to make WW so much more than a show or a podcast. You make it a community and a family. And remember, this segment begins with you.

So please send me your questions louwwradio.com and I will, I promise I will feature yours on an upcoming episode. Becky, any last thoughts, Any last bit of wisdom or insight.

In terms of what for the exception, maybe. I don't know.

Okay, so I'm gonna leave you with this question. I'm gonna leave you with this question. If Cinderella's glass slipper fits perfectly, why did it fall off?

I am. This is not. This is not the direction I thought you were going.

To. Time for this week's Disney Trivia challenge to see how well you know the magic, memories and hidden treasures of Disney.

If you think you know the answer, you can test your knowledge, have some fun, and enter for a chance to win a Disney prize package. But before we get to this week's question, we're going to go back, review last week's and select our winner.

The Magic Kingdom 1, the Magic Kingdom 2, and the Kingdom Queen.

They would later be renamed the Admiral Joe Fowler, the Richard F. Irvine, and the General Joe Potter, honoring three people who played very important roles in the creation and development of Walt Disney World. Joe Fowler was a retired Navy admiral who Walt Disney brought in to help oversee the construction of Disneyland and then later Walt Disney World.

Potter was a U.S. army general and an engineer who helped lead the enormous infrastructure work in order to make Walt Disney World possible.

And Irvine was one of the creative leaders of WED Enterprises, later Imagineering, who helped shape the design and development of the parks and attractions. But I took all the correct entries, randomly selected one.

And last week you were playing for a prize package that included a WW Audio keychain, stickers, pin, a patch, and a mystery prize that I brought to you for you from Shanghai and or Hong Kong, Disneyland. And last week's winner, randomly selected is Al Moir. So, Al, congratulations. I'll get your prize package out to you right away.

And if you played last week and didn't win, wipe away your tears because here's your next chance to enter in this week's Walt Disney World Trivia challenge.

So we're gonna go back in time and back to Epcot center, because this week I want you to tell me what was the name of the automotive exhibit that was located at the exit of World of Motion? What was the name of the exhibit located at the exit of World of Motion?

The keychain, the stickers, the pin, the patch, and yes, a surprise from one of the Asia Disney parks. So good luck and have fun. That's going to do it for this week's show. Thank you so much for being here.

I know you can spend your time anywhere, and the fact that you chose to spend some of it with me means more than you know. If this episode helped you, if it made you think or simply made you smile, please do me a favor. Share it with someone who might enjoy it, too.

That's how our community and family grows and how we continue to find one another. And let me know what what you think I want to hear from you. Come join the conversation over in the clubhouse.

And just a quick reminder that if you want help turning what you love into what you do.

If you have an idea you can't stop thinking about or you're trying to go your podcast, brand or business around something you love, Momentum Weekend Workshop in Walt Disney World might be exactly what you need. It is my intimate four day workshop for creators and entrepreneurs and solopreneurs held at Walt Disney World during the Food and Wine Festival.

There are only 50 seats. Everything happens in one room and the focus is not just you listening to presentations.

It's about getting you clarity, helping you make decisions, building a real personal plan for you, and being able to move forward.

You leave with that action plan, a 200 plus page workbook, practical strategies, honest feedback, meaningful relationships, and a room full of people who understand what you're trying to build and are there to help you too. We are more than 65% or so sold out now and the early bird pricing ends soon.

So if you're waiting for the right moment, the right time, the right people or the right push, this is it. Visit Lou mongello.com momentum or email me louwwradio.com if you have any questions or want to know if this is right for you.

Thank you once again for being here. Stay tuned.

We're going to have more details about the WW Reno booth over at D23, the ultimate Disney Fan Experience, how you can participate if you're going to be there, or what I'll be sharing while I am there as well. But for now, always remember to please be kind, choose the good be and set an example for others. And always keep moving forward.

If there's ever anything I can do for you, please reach out and let me know. I mean that. So until next time, have a great day and even better tomorrow. I love and appreciate you. See ya. Well, it sounds pretty good.

In fact, that's just the right spirit.