Tall Guy Talks Travel with Rick Dougherty

Rick is joined by regular co-host Maz to talk about two of the most highly-anticipated lands at Epic Universe.  Universal's newest theme park opens to the public for real tomorrow.  Let's continue to get hyped for it.

Rick and Maz had to do an emergency recording session when Disney announced a brand-new theme park coming to Abu Dhabi.  Why pick Abu Dhabi?  What does this mean for the US parks? 

With Epic Universe opening in a few weeks, Rick allows his co-host Maz to vent a little about how JK Rowling's involvement in the new theme park will impact her enjoyment of it.  

Today is the 36th anniversary of the opening of Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World.  As Rick continues to look at the tenure of former-Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner, the creation of Disney-MGM Studio is an important part of that story.

Sarah Says joins Rick for the second week in a row to discuss the changes that have occurred at Disney's California Adventure in the two-and-a-half decades since it opened across the esplanade from Disneyland Park. 

Rick and Sarah Says talk about the opening of Disney's California Adventure through how the park stands today over the next two weeks.  From Superstar Limo to Avengers Campus, DCA has had a unique history.

Peter Moore wrote for some major magazines, before he learned an entirely new skill to appreciate his travel in different ways.  He joins Rick on the show this week to talk hiking, travel, and appreciating the little things.

In the space that is now occupied by Disney California Adventure, Disney had originally planned an educational theme park called WestCOT.  This park was going to be very reminiscent of EPCOT over at Walt Disney World, but there were some notable changes suggested.  Hear about what was proposed.

Rick and Maz will wrap up their Walt Disney World pre-show tier-list today, by taking a look at the pre-shows at Epcot and Magic Kingdom.  Before that, Rick is going to highlight a pioneering woman in the Walt Disney Company.

Pre-shows have become a bigger-and-bigger part of theme park attractions in recent years.  Sometimes these shows have been to the benefit of the guests, and recently it could be argued to the detriment of the guest experience.  Today, Rick and Maz start ranking the pre-shows at Walt Disney World.  It leads to some surprisingly heated discussions.

Rick will talk with Richard Pretlow in today's episode of the podcast.  Richard is a representative from Morgan's Wonderland theme park in San Antonio, Texas.  Morgan's focuses on what they call "ultra-inclusivity."  The park accommodates those on the Autism Spectrum, those with physical disabilities, and other conditions that may hinder someone's enjoyment of a theme park.

Rick is talking with Natalie and Hannah of the Stride Sisters Podcast on this week's episode of the podcast.  Natalie and Hannah both completed the Dopey Challenge as part of Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January

Mouse and More Adam joins Rick on the show today to talk about Muppet*Vision 3D's upcoming closure to make way for a Monsters Inc. Land.  There are a lot of strong thoughts about this change, and Adam and Rick express a lot of them.

Ralph Velasco is known as the Continental Drifter, who started planning trips for fellow photographers.  He has since branched out to talking about Mindful Travel.  Travel shouldn't just be about getting pictures of a few landmarks.  Travel should impact you. For more information about Ralph Velasco... https://continentaldrifter.co/about/

Sarah Says joins Rick on the podcast today with a list of viral animatronic malfunctions that her son found on the internet.  When things go wrong, it can be funny, but it can also give us a closer look at how they work in the first place.

Rick will talk with Disney fan Jeff Gordon about his life as a Disneyland regular; the fires in Los Angeles; and his fundraising efforts for the LA Regional Food Bank.  After that, co-host Maz will be on the show to talk about Wicked, and how it might fit in the Universal theme parks.

Back in December, Rick and his co-host Maz took part in the Orlando Informer Meetup at Universal Orlando Resort.  Maz went to both nights of the event, and talked about Friday in last week's episode of the podcast.  Today, the two co-hosts will cover Saturday night.

Rick and his co-host Maz took part in the Orlando Informer Meetup at Universal Orlando Resort last month.  For the next two weeks, the two of them will discuss everything they were able to accomplish at the event. 

Rick will be talking with Natalie Keller Reinert, who is a former-Disney cast member, and she has used that experience to shape her new book "Must Be This Tall."  This novel follows workers in a fictional theme park that will seem very familiar to most of our listeners.  

With Walt Disney World's version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad going down for a refurbishment for over a year, Rick thought it was a good time to take a look at what makes the ride such an iconic part of any Disney vacation.  We will discuss the theming, fictional backstory, and the real backstory behind the attraction.

This week, Rick will talk to Janelle Jones, who sold all of her possessions, bought an RV, and travels the US, Mexico, and Canada on her own terms.  Hear all about her experiences and get some advice if this is something that would interest you.

As Rick continues his look at the legacy of former-Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner with an in-depth discussion about one of his biggest successes Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  This movie directly caused and funded the Disney Renaissance.

Jonathan Groff has made an impact on the Disney community as the voice of Kristoff in Frozen, and as the King in Hamilton.  He also just so happens to be from Rick's hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  With Maz and Sarah both having a ton of knowledge about musicals, the three co-hosts will talk about the Broadway and Hollywood star.

On the show, Rick is going to go back and pull from past conversations with authors of successful books. Rick will talk with Phil Gramlich, who put together a collection of stories for “Walt and His Park: The Stories You (Probably) Never Heard”; Ethan Gallogly, who used his time hiking the John Muir Trail as inspiration for his book “The Trail: A Novel”; and the husband-and-wife team of Greg Glasgow and Kathryn Mayer, who wrote “Disneyland on The Mountain: Walt, the Environmentalists; and the Ski Resort That Never Was.”

Sarah Says, Maz, and Rick are all on the show this week to commemorate the 200th episode of Tall Guy Talks Travel with Rick Dougherty.  Since it is also Thanksgiving, the three of them will share travel experiences for which they are thankful.

As Rick continues to delve into the tenure of former-Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner, this week he focuses on an early failure Eisner had to build a patriotic theme park in Northern Virginia.

Maz is back on the show this week, and she will be joining Rick to rank every attraction at Epcot in Walt Disney World.  The two started the tier list last week, but will wrap it up today.

Rick and Maz do another one of their popular theme park tier-lists.  This week, and next week, they will go over every attraction at Epcot in Walt Disney World.

In honor of Halloween, Sarah Says joins Rick on the show this week to talk about when scary things happen on a Disney vacation.  From the annoying to the legitimately fear-inducing, they go through contingency plans to make sure you can salvage the magic from the grips of disappointment.

This week, Rick continues his in-depth look into the life and career of former-Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner.  Frank Wells was a big part of Eisner's success in his first decade with Disney.  Today, we take a look at some of the bigger moments in that business relationship that is viewed very fondly by many in the Disney fan community.

Stephen from A Life in the Parks is back on the show this week to talk about the different options in cruising.  There will be a particular focus on Disney Cruise Line, but we will cover a number of different options.

Mary Blair was hugely influential in the artistic direction of the Walt Disney Company from the "Three Caballeros" to "It's A Small World."  At a time when women weren't put in positions of influence, Blair not only made her mark in the mid-20th Century; but also has had appreciation for her art only grow in the subsequent decades.  This week, Rick and Sarah Says will go in-depth into Mary Blair, and the different places where she left her mark on the Walt Disney Company.

Rick is joined by his regular co-host Maz to talk about the different ways that the new paid skip-the-line plans at Walt Disney World are changing the entire dynamics of the parks.

After talking about the animated classic two weeks ago, Rick and Sarah Says talk about other versions of The Little Mermaid.  From musicals, to television, to theme parks, to live-action, there are a lot of different versions of the story.  

Over the next few months, Rick will be doing one episode per-week on former-Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner.  Today, Rick is looking at the ways in which Eisner's early life differed from that of Walt Disney, himself.

The 35th anniversary of the original Disney animated feature The Little Mermaid is coming up in November.  To celebrate, Rick is joined by co-host Sarah Says for a conversation about the movie that isn't just nostalgic for many of our listeners, but also served as the kickstart to the Disney Renaissance.

Rick is joined by fellow-Disney and M*A*S*H fanatic Shan.  They will talk about the ideal ways to enjoy a Walt Disney World vacation, and they will talk about the greatest television show of all-time.

After covering the Walt Disney World announcements from the D23 Expo with Maz the past two weeks, Rick will be going over the remainder of the theme park announcements for the other Disney parks throughout the world.  He will also be talking quickly about the five-year anniversary of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Walt Disney World, and going over the menu items for Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival.  

Rick and Maz spend a second-straight week discussing the D23 announcements for Walt Disney World.  They get into Maz's favorite park, Disney's Animal Kingdom.  They talk about the announcement that has Rick most intrigued. 

Rick and Maz are very passionate about the announcements from this past weekend's D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.  For the next two weeks, the two of them will discuss the announcements for Walt Disney World from the Expo.  Today's conversation even includes a mention of some of the things that weren't announced, even if we expected them.

Author and Hiker Ethan Gallogly, who wrote the book "The Trail: A Novel" will be Rick's guest on the show this week.  The two will discuss traveling as a way to get reconnected with nature through hiking, and exploring locations that aren't theme parks.

Rick is joined by runDisney veteran Natalie.  Along with some of her college friends, Natalie is starting her own podcast to follow their preparations for runDisney races on both coasts of the United States.  Hear about the races that have returned to Disneyland, and the extremely popular races at Walt Disney World.

To most of the Northern Hemisphere, late-July is the middle of summer.  In the Orlando-area, it is time for Halloween.  On today's episode, Rick talks with his friend Gillian, as the two talk about why they are thinking of skipping the special-ticketed events in 2024. 

In the mid-1960s Walt Disney was very busy.  He was not only scooping up land for his Florida Project, and his hopes for an experimental, prototype community of tomorrow.  Walt also had plans for a ski resort in the mountains of California.  Why didn't it work?  The authors of the book "Disneyland on the Mountain: Walk, the Environmentalists, and the Sky Resort That Never Was" will be on the show today to answer that question.

Rick and Maz started a tier-list for all of the attractions in Disney's Hollywood Studios back in June.  Today, the two of them will finish ranking those attractions.  Before that, Rick talks with a representative from Locks-of-Love about his donation of hair for sick children.

On the 4th of July, Rick is going to take a look at the American Adventure in Epcot's World Showcase, and he will talk about the different changes he would make to the attraction.  Speaking of changes, Disney has made a lot of changes to their Disability Access Service.  Rick is going to go over those changes in the first week of Disability Pride Month.

After Maz and Rick ranked all of the attractions at Disney's Animal Kingdom, and it was extremely popular, they are back to do the same thing with Disney's Hollywood Studios.  Ranking Star Wars, Toy Story, Muppets, and more, it is bound to be controversial.  

Rick will be joined by former-Walt Disney World cast member Miranda, who currently works for Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando.  Miranda will talk about working in the aquarium in the Seas Pavilion in Epcot, and she will discuss what she does to help animals in the Orlando-area.   After that, Rick's wife Courtney will be on the show to do a dining review for Storybook Dining with Snow White at Artists Point in Disney's Wilderness Lodge.  This is the second time the two of them have eaten in this restaurant, so they will compare-and-contrast food items.

One of the reasons we love Walt Disney World is because the resort has a tradition of being accommodating and accessible to different types of people.  While there have been some changes to impact that accessibility recently, this episode is focused on navigating the parks with a wheelchair.  Rick is joined by his wife Courtney to talk about a weekend with a wheelchair at the theme parks.

Rick and Maz continue their two-week conversation about what to expect from the D23 Expo coming up in Anaheim, California from August 9th-11th.  There are a ton of theme park announcements to be expected from the event, and the two co-hosts will try to guess at some of those new things.

The D23 Expo is on the way August 9th-11th in Anaheim, California.  There will be a ton of announcements at the event; specifically about the theme parks.  Today and next week, Maz joins Rick to discuss what they hope to hear at D23, and whether they think things will actually come to fruition this time.