Episode 325 – How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks! How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks! Hey everyone, I’m Mike, she’s Sophie, and he’s Grogu, and We’re On the Road with Mickey! Brenda is out this week on vacation, and today we’re joined once again by our good friend Lee! This is episode 325, and our feature topic is the How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks! In this week’s episode, we are talking about how the ideas of Walt still play out in the parks today! Here’s what we talked about: Cheddar from the Big Cheese: The 2026 EPCOT Candlelight Processional narrator lineup has been released! Some notable names: Gary Sinise on November 29-December 1; Neil Patrick Harris from December 10-12, Lauren Daigle December 15-16, and Jodi Benson on December 24-25. Congratulations to Disney Legend Lea Salonga, the voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Mulan in the movie Mulan, for becoming the first Filipina ever to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Glimmering Greenhouses are returning to Epcot for the holidays. In addition to seeing them in the Living with the Land ride, you can also experience them up close with the Behind the Seeds Tour. The Greenhouses will be lit for tours November 27-December 30. Connect with us! Here’s how: Facebook: https://facebook.ontheroadwithmickey.com Facebook Group: https://facebookgroup.ontheroadwithmickey.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OntheRoadwithMickey Instagram: On the Road with Mickey Email: info@ontheroadwithmickey.com Website: ontheroadwithmickey.com Question of the Week Feedback: What are some of your incredible Disney Memories? Sheila: “Our trips with the Ellis family over the years.” Brenda: “Each and every one of them” Chandler: “When you take your 3yo kiddo for his first trip and he’s not too sure about the characters at Crystal Palace.” Chandler: “When you take your kiddo and he gets to meet the love of his 3yo life.” Chandler: “When your 18yo kiddo asks his dad to ride Aladdin and not his mom.” Chandler: “That time I rode Everest with the kiddo and didn’t know what to expect.” Pam: “Being at Animal Kingdom soft opening” Debbie: “They have all been incredible but one that stands out was December 2001. My Mom and I went down to celebrate Life…Not knowing at the time we both had cancer. The crowds at the parks were very light. We did the Legacy Picture at Epcot and had an unbelievable time…just the two of us. We lost her to cancer in October 2004 and I’m now a 23 year cancer survivor. It was our last Disney trip together. I bring the Mickey Mouse Snowman every year as my special memory. She bought it for me on that last trip.. Robin: “There were these people and two little girls!” Feature Topic: How Walt Disney’s Original Ideas Still Shape the Parks! Keep Moving Forward – the parks will never be completed, things will always be changing Original sketches of Disneyland dating back to 1932. Family atmosphere, the reimagining of areas, not tear down. Frontierland forestry vibe. Epcot – how Walt’s vision for a community of tomorrow became a park, and by extension, communities by Storyliving by Disney How Disney pops up in social media and how the company is incorporated in everyday living. Carousel of Progress – Updating the Decades and incorporating Walt into the show Trashcans and Desired Paths – tiny details that are used to make the parks cleaner When you have a good idea, you stick with it. Example: The Candlelight Processional began, not at Epcot, but at Disneyland in 1955. Sophie’s Question of the Week: There are a lot of little pieces of trivia in the parks. What is a little piece of trivia (or Easter Egg) that you really enjoy? Sophie: The Walt Portrait in Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Sophie: The Roy & Minnie Statue along with the Walt & Mickey Statue Mike: The Disneyland & Walt Disney Firehouses, and the way the light from Walt’s Apartment over the Disneyland firehouse that never turns off in memory of Walt. Lee: Trader Sams, The Polynesian Resort, at the very top, if you look at the ceiling, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride Keys are hanging from the ceiling because he had too many Mai Tais! This Day in Disney History for 9/14: 1928: Walt Disney writes a letter to his brother Roy and Ub Iwerks about the recording session for Steamboat Willie. The Weekly Disney Windows Joyce Carlson – Emporium (Magic Kingdom)- Dolls by Miss Joyce – Dollmaker for the World – Shops in New York, California, Florida, Japan, & Paris – Owner & Founder Joyce Carlson. – 2000 A little bit of Walt “The important thing is the family.” – Walt Disney Coming next week: Best Resort Lobbies at Walt Disney World