Happy New Year fellow MiceChatters! Did you hear? The hat is finally coming down at Disney Hollywood Studios and fans of the park couldn’t be happier. Want to hear an idea for a Tron Ride?  How could Walt Disney World finally fix the Yeti?  There’s plenty to ready and talk about in this week’s MiceChat Round Up of Disney and Theme Park News and discussion. The big controversy lies in the new Polynesian lobby as many are calling it lackluster.  See for yourself and decide. We have wonderful end-of-the-year reviews  including the World of Color countdown to 2015 and Andy Castro’s impeccable review of the past year at the Disneyland Resort.

The MiceChat community is nearing ten years of fun Theme Park discussion and Disney News.  Join us as we celebrate our big anniversary in Februrary at the Disneyland Resort. It’s a weekend not-to-be-missed.

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Top Stories

MiceChat Top StoriesMiceAge Update – Disneyland Diamonds and Jedi
Disneyland has just finished the busiest two weeks of the year with massive crowds of big-spending tourists packing the parks every day. This week, with Annual Passes unblocked, the crowds will moderate but flip to a local demographic before the slower weeks of January and February settle in. In this update we’ll fill you in on just what the numbers looked like for Anaheim this holiday season, why the winter will be looking so bleak in the weeks ahead, and when TDA will finally admit what is coming this spring for the 60th Anniversary.

MiceChat Top Stories

Magic and Mistakes: Disneyland Year in Review 2014
Welcome to 2015! With no major new attractions, the loss of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, controversial changes in New Orleans Square, and ugly safety changes at Sleeping Beauty Castle, it was a bit of a rough year for long-time Disneyland fans. It wasn’t all bad, though, and the year packed in a lot of smaller things worth celebrating as we head into Disneyland’s big 60th Anniversary this summer. Today we take a look back at Disneyland’s notable happenings — all the good and the bad, too — throughout 2014 with our annual Disneyland Year in Review!

SPECIAL VIDEO JUST FOR YOU
On December 5th, the Walt Disney Birthplace celebrated Walt’s birthday with a very special and emotional event in Chicago. They’ve created a short video of the evening for you to enjoy.

Walt’s 113th Birthday at The Walt Disney Birthplace from The Walt Disney Birthplace on Vimeo.

Visit The Walt Disney Birthplace HERE

Micechat Tickets

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UPDATED – MiceChat 7 night Alaska Cruise on the Disney Wonder – June 1st, 2015: Join us as we sail toward the top of the world on the delightful Disney Wonder with Disney legend Bob Gurr. We’ll hold all sorts of special MiceChat meet-ups on board and hear many wonderful stories from our special guest. Suggest group excursions you might want to join us on. Dine as a group to discuss our adventures and more. Vancouver, Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, glorious glaciers, whales, and spectacular nature everywhere. Don’t miss this MiceChat adventure at sea!

Ask us for more details on any of our upcoming MiceTrips or for Disney adventures of your own by emailing us at [email protected]. It doesn’t cost you more to use our travel agent, it’s just more magical. Let us do the work, you enjoy the Disney fun!!!

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Profits from the sale of every bottle of refreshing O-Zell soda supports the restoration of the Walt Disney Birthplace in Chicago. Pick up some delicious Victorian style natural soda AND help a great cause at the same time: O-Zell Soda  For a special treat, listen to the O-Zell jingle here: O-Zell Soda Song

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Disney Parks News and Reports

Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and wishing you the best in 2015!  We have some spectacular photos of Disneyland at Christmastime,  and of course a video of New Year’s eve countdown.  And now that Hollywood in DCA has been Frozen over, we have some guest reviews of the seasonal additions! ~ Aladdin

MiceChat Newsletter

Rainy Christmas Photos from Disneyland
WDW Figment
 has captured some of the most spectacular Christmastime photos from inside Disneylsnd! look here!

Frozen ‘Fun’: A Rather Angry Review
Disneyland Master
 experienced DCA’s Frozen Backlot, and gives us their report on recent transformation!

Country Bear Playhouse
Duckzz
 is asking for photos of Disneyland’s old Country Bear Lobby, which had several of the bears dressing room doors? Please share some of your old photos from this classic attraction and its lobby!

MiceChat Newsletter

World of Color New Years Eve Countdown to 2015
The Forbidden Eye
 has video from DCA’s New Year’s Eve countdown, and a few others also share their video, too!

Diz-nee-Land (Simpsons)
Oaktown
 points us to another fun spoof of Disneyland, but what do you think did it “first”?!

Disneyland Resort from a WDW perspective
999doombuggies
 may soon be relocating to the west coast, and gives us their comparison between the east coast and west coast Disney Theme Parks. Take a look at their thoughts, and then give us your perspective, too!

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Check out our armchair imagineers’ ideas for new rides at the Magic Kingdom and Disney California Adventure ~ Trekkie Dad

MiceChat Newsletter

My idea of a TRON ride!
Mary Pesik thinks it’s about time the Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland could use a new dark ride based on the Tron films.

Idea for A Bugs Land
DLR92 has ideas for a couple dark rides in A Bugs Land at Disney California Adventure.

Final Fix for Expedition Everest YETI
DoctorQ9 has heard there are plans to ‘fix’ Expedition Everest’s non-functional Yeti with an advanced animated projection system.

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MiceChat Newsletter

Sorcerer’s Hat Comes Down This Week
PlutoHasFleas says it best, ‘Love it or hate it, it’s finally happening.’ The sorcerer’s hat is coming down.

Disney Flip Side Sweepstakes
Disney is giving away 30 trips to WDW which includes one night in the Cinderella Castle Suite.

A Lifetime of Disney Memories
antem put together a montage of years of visits to WDW as a tribute.

They Pulled A ‘New Orleans Square’ With The Polynesian Lobby
The Polynesian Lobby has been drastically redone from the waterfall and rainforest lobby.

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MiceChat Newsletter

Hong Kong Disney Christmas
TimmyTimmyTimmy brings us a great trip report from Hong Kong during the Christmas.

Third hotel ground breaking
Asa brings is info about how Hong Kong Disneyland broke ground for their third hotel, Explorers’ Lodge.

Other Theme Parks & Resorts

This week we have photo reports from Victoria, BC and the Caribbean. ~ Trekkie Dad

MiceChat Newsletter

‘MINIATURE WORLD’ Attraction Trip Report
Check out the Lance Cardinal‘s pictures from this attraction in Victoria, BC Canada.

Oasis of the Seas 2014 New Years Cruise – A photo TR
mikeland sure knows how to ring in the new year with a Caribbean cruise.

AV Room

Window to the Magic: Enjoy the sounds of the park on our weekly journeys into the wonderful world of the Disney sound experience!

Disafterdark: Welcome back to the Mouses Head and thank you for the download. For the first half of the show, we are joined by Tom Ameen www.tomameenmusic.com as we talk about his newest album Magical Moments 2. Nick promises to show us his musical talents on a Kazoo, which we very much look forward to. Then we go back to some news items as usual.

Direct Link

Dead Man’s DIEgest: On this episode we step away from Halloween Horror Nights and sit down with the guys from the U.K scare company Primrose Unknown Projects, to talk about their history in the scare business and their mazes for 2103.

Direct Link

The Season Pass: The Essential Theme Park Podcast: Tony Baxter returns to the Season Pass Podcast to discuss creating Disneyland Paris, 1998’s Tomorrowland at Disneyland, and more!

Direct Link | iTunes Link

Disney Avenue Podcast: Returns with a wonderful Christmas Special that is sure to get you in the Holiday spirit. Disney historian and author Jim Korkis joins host Keith Michael Mahne for a wonderful interview on Walt Disney featuring some amazing and rarely heard Christmas stories from his life.

Mousetalgia! – An Unofficial Disneyland Podcast: Team Mousetalgia gets personal and discusses our personal highlights and memories from 2014. At the movies – did Captain America conquer Maleficent, or did a little puppy take the cake – and the meatballs? Jeff is over the fog-shrouded moon at the opportunity to host a Haunted Mansion panel at ScareLA, while Kristen takes pride in providing some material to the Walt Disney Family Museum to honor Disney artist Mary Blair. Dave enjoys a special meal at the Grand Californian’s Napa Rose, while Becky puts the rest of the team to shame with her most precious memory of the year.

Direct Link | iTunes Link

DoomBuggies Spook Show: In this spook-er-sized Halloween episode, we discuss the recent “Ghostly Materials” exhibition at Disneyland and speak with one of the artists, Bridget McCarty, about the opening day of this release of Haunted Mansion-related artwork. We also talk about the recent flood of Haunted Mansion merchandise in the parks, and the new Haunted Mansion-specific store called “Memento Mori” at the Magic Kingdom.

Direct Link

The Sweet Spot: In this Episode we welcome former Disneyland cast member Vern Hoiland. Vern was hired into Disneyland in 1969 and retired in 2006. Vern saw a lot fo changes over the years from managment, park changes, his own changes in roles, and much more. This is a great interview if you want to learn about how it was working in Disneyland as far back as 1969. Plus, we’ll look at the latest in the Disneyland Resort news with Tommy. Enjoy and please visit our new website www.thesweepspot.com

Unofficial Universal Orlando Podcast: Islands of Adventure Orientation Part 3

Direct Link

Featured Columns
MiceChat Newsletter

Medieval Times Offers Guests a Royal Glimpse into a Storied Past
Anyone who has every traveled along the Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Kissimmee has undoubtedly noticed the wide variety of roadside attractions that dominate the landscape. Everything from large alligators devouring automobiles to sinking pirate ships can be glimpsed from the comfort of your car.

MiceChat Newsletter

Marvelous Marvel – Getting Your Game On – Part 6
Calling all Marvel lovers, Noe Valladolid is back with part 6 of his fantastic exploration of the Marvel universe. Join us in the comments below with your thoughts on this mega-powerful franchise. If you are catching us in the middle, you can review Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five before reading below.

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The MiceEars Crew puts a lot of time and effort into making these Round-Ups happen.Our thanks to:Editor CakvalaSC and the MiceEars Crew: Aladdin, Yoyoflamingo, Trekkie Dad, DLandFansAZ, RegionsBeyond, Fishbulb & Dustysage.

We hope to see you online again soon, Dusty and the amazing MiceChat crew!

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If you have questions for Anthony our Editor or our MiceEars Grew they can be e-mailed at: [email protected] or Follow him on Twitter @CakvalaSC | Flickr: flickr.com/photos/cakvalasc/ | Instagram: instagram.com/cakvala

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CakvalaSC
MiceChat.com's webmaster and occasional writer. Cakvala is senior graphic designer and photographer. Admirer of all things Disney and theme-parks !