See WDW! Near & Far

See WDW! Near & Far

By see.wdwnearandfarSociety & CulturePlaces & Travel
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See WDW! Near & Far episodes

  • SeeWDW Near and Far Parks and Socials 6/10/23

    This week, John spends some time at EPCOT. He talks about some of the new Passholder experiences, some new merchandise, and we discuss a few things at some of the festival booths. We finish the show up with a discussion about the SeeWDW social media channels.


    43 min
  • #142 Do Disney Influencers Still Influence?

    06/06/23 -Did you ever watch your favorite daily dose of social media influencers and wonder if they are being authentic? Did an influencer video convince you to spend thousands on a trip to the galactic starcruiser? This week, we discuss whether these influencers still have the power to influence potential guests. Thanks for tuning in. We will be back soon with another episode!

    You can send comments and questions to [email protected]

    Who we are -  John, the founder of See WDW and See UO lives in the Orlando area. This makes him the "near" of this podcast. He is a theme park content creator on several social media formats. His point-of-view theme park video style presents viewers with theme park experiences free of bias or opinion. This allows the viewer to see the parks, hotels, rides, and shows from a guest perspective. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.wdw/

    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/see.wdw

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/seewdw

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.uo/

    Mike is from the mountains of Central Pennsylvania and has been going to Disney World and the Orlando area since the early 1980s. He has been involved in several content creation ventures including podcasts, YouTube content creation, and video game streaming. While not currently active, he built a small fanbase as Twitch personality "Willyrob Levi" and took that personality to YouTube for a series of travel and model building videos. Mike is currently working with John on his YouTube channel. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/theegiantrat/

    Tiktok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMecFj11t/ or just search for theegiantrat

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/@theegiantrat



    53 min
  • #141 Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest

    05/30/23 - Imagine you could travel to the Himalayan Mountains on a scientific expedition. This expedition tasks your group of explorers with finding evidence of the existence of the cryptid king, The Yeti. Now, imagine in the middle of this expedition, everything suddenly goes wrong and you are instantly jolted from an adventure filled with mystery and conservation into a terrifying nightmare that placed you on the edge of death. That is Expedition Everest. We explore this attraction along with it's history and technology in this episode. Thanks for tuning in. We will be back soon with another episode!

    You can send comments and questions to [email protected]

    Who we are -  John, the founder of See WDW and See UO lives in the Orlando area. This makes him the "near" of this podcast. He is a theme park content creator on several social media formats. His point-of-view theme park video style presents viewers with theme park experiences free of bias or opinion. This allows the viewer to see the parks, hotels, rides, and shows from a guest perspective. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.wdw/

    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/see.wdw

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/seewdw

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.uo/

    Mike is from the mountains of Central Pennsylvania and has been going to Disney World and the Orlando area since the early 1980s. He has been involved in several content creation ventures including podcasts, YouTube content creation, and video game streaming. While not currently active, he built a small fanbase as Twitch personality "Willyrob Levi" and took that personality to YouTube for a series of travel and model building videos. Mike is currently working with John on his YouTube channel. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/theegiantrat/

    Tiktok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMecFj11t/ or just search for theegiantrat

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/@theegiantrat

    1 hr 9 min
  • SeeWDW Near and Far Parks and Socials 5/15/23

    This week, John returns to Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure. Later in the week, he made it to Animal Kingdom and talks about the lack of lines in the evening. We finish the show up with a discussion about the SeeWDW social media channels.


    45 min
  • #140 Hollywood Studios The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror!

    05/08/23 - You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone. That is the chilling experience you are faced with when braving the Tower of Terror. In this episode, we talk about the history, experience, and behind the scenes aspects of the attraction and lend our thoughts on the legacy of the ride and what it means for us.

    Thanks for tuning in. We will be back soon with another episode!

    You can send comments and questions to [email protected]

    Who we are -  John, the founder of See WDW and See UO lives in the Orlando area. This makes him the "near" of this podcast. He is a theme park content creator on several social media formats. His point-of-view theme park video style presents viewers with theme park experiences free of bias or opinion. This allows the viewer to see the parks, hotels, rides, and shows from a guest perspective. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.wdw/

    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/see.wdw

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/seewdw

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.uo/

    Mike is from the mountains of Central Pennsylvania and has been going to Disney World and the Orlando area since the early 1980s. He has been involved in several content creation ventures including podcasts, YouTube content creation, and video game streaming. While not currently active, he built a small fanbase as Twitch personality "Willyrob Levi" and took that personality to YouTube for a series of travel and model building videos. Mike is currently working with John on his YouTube channel. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/theegiantrat/

    Tiktok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMecFj11t/ or just search for theegiantrat

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/@theegiantrat

    59 min
  • SeeWDW Near and Far Parks and Socials 5/4/23

    This week, John talks about his visit to the Universal Orlando parks and EPCOT. He gives us a few "regular guy" reviews on some items from Flower and Garden and we close with an update on how the SeeWDW socials are performing including an interesting proposal from TikTok.

    51 min
  • #139 Disney Announcements that Never Happened

    05/01/23 - Did you ever get excited about a Disney announcement only to have the company cancel the project a few months or years later? That is what this episode is about. We look at canceled projects from theme parks to attractions in every era of the Disney Parks. Thanks for tuning in. We will be back soon with another episode!

    You can send comments and questions to [email protected]

    Who we are -  John, the founder of See WDW and See UO lives in the Orlando area. This makes him the "near" of this podcast. He is a theme park content creator on several social media formats. His point-of-view theme park video style presents viewers with theme park experiences free of bias or opinion. This allows the viewer to see the parks, hotels, rides, and shows from a guest perspective. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.wdw/

    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/see.wdw

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/seewdw

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.uo/

    Mike is from the mountains of Central Pennsylvania and has been going to Disney World and the Orlando area since the early 1980s. He has been involved in several content creation ventures including podcasts, YouTube content creation, and video game streaming. While not currently active, he built a small fanbase as Twitch personality "Willyrob Levi" and took that personality to YouTube for a series of travel and model building videos. Mike is currently working with John on his YouTube channel. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/theegiantrat/

    Tiktok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMecFj11t/ or just search for theegiantrat

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/@theegiantrat

    1 hr 19 min
  • SeeWDW Near and Far Parks and Socials 4/28/23

    We are starting a new weekly series covering John's week in the parks and discussions on social media. These will typically be shorter episodes but this week for our first episode, we cover three weeks worth of park visits. Thanks for listening! Our topical weekly podcasts will be live, on YouTube, each Friday and on audio the next Monday. The parks and socials episodes will come live on YouTube typically midweek and on audio each Friday. We hope you enjoy!


    You can send comments and questions to [email protected]

    Who we are -  John, the founder of See WDW and See UO lives in the Orlando area. This makes him the "near" of this podcast. He is a theme park content creator on several social media formats. His point-of-view theme park video style presents viewers with theme park experiences free of bias or opinion. This allows the viewer to see the parks, hotels, rides, and shows from a guest perspective. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.wdw/

    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/see.wdw

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/seewdw

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.uo/

    Mike is from the mountains of Central Pennsylvania and has been going to Disney World and the Orlando area since the early 1980s. He has been involved in several content creation ventures including podcasts, YouTube content creation, and video game streaming. While not currently active, he built a small fanbase as Twitch personality "Willyrob Levi" and took that personality to YouTube for a series of travel and model building videos. Mike is currently working with John on his YouTube channel. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/theegiantrat/

    Tiktok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMecFj11t/ or just search for theegiantrat

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/@theegiantrat


    1 hr 7 min
  • #138 EPCOT's Horizons

    04/24/23 - In this episode, the extinct but still fan favorite attraction, Horizons. We explore this attraction from top to bottom and try to shed some light onto why it was so special. How did Horizons influence the industry and Disney theme parks, globally? Why did it shut down? When did it open? Who designed it? We discuss all of this and more on this episode. Thanks for tuning in. We will be back soon with another episode!

    You can send comments and questions to [email protected]

    Who we are -  John, the founder of See WDW and See UO lives in the Orlando area. This makes him the "near" of this podcast. He is a theme park content creator on several social media formats. His point-of-view theme park video style presents viewers with theme park experiences free of bias or opinion. This allows the viewer to see the parks, hotels, rides, and shows from a guest perspective. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.wdw/

    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/see.wdw

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/seewdw

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.uo/

    Mike is from the mountains of Central Pennsylvania and has been going to Disney World and the Orlando area since the early 1980s. He has been involved in several content creation ventures including podcasts, YouTube content creation, and video game streaming. While not currently active, he built a small fanbase as Twitch personality "Willyrob Levi" and took that personality to YouTube for a series of travel and model building videos. Mike is currently working with John on his YouTube channel. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/theegiantrat/

    Tiktok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMecFj11t/ or just search for theegiantrat

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/@theegiantrat

    1 hr 34 min
  • #137 The Spaceship Earth Experience

    04/18/23 - In this episode, we discuss the past, present, and future of Spaceship Earth and explore our thoughts on the experience of this day one EPCOT attraction. Thanks for tuning in. We will be back soon with another episode!

    Show Notes

    Introduction:
    • Brief history of Spaceship Earth
    • John Hench was a legendary Imagineer and artist who played a crucial role in the design and development of many iconic Disney attractions, including Spaceship Earth.
    • Hench was instrumental in the creation of Spaceship Earth, serving as the project's design director.
    • One of Hench's most notable contributions to Spaceship Earth was his development of the attraction's original storyline, which took guests on a journey through the history of human communication and technology.
    • Why it's a beloved attraction among Disney fans
    • The ride creates a timeless blend of education, nostalgia, design, and technology.
    • Experiential discussion…
    • Tease the topics to be covered in the episode
    • Quick review of the segments
    Segment 1: The Ride Experience
    • A detailed walkthrough of the Spaceship Earth attraction
    • Queue:
    • Boarding Area:
    • Pre-Show:
    • Ancient Civilization:
    • Middle Ages:
    • Renaissance:
    • Industrial Revolution:
    • Space Age:
    • Future World:
    • Post-Show:
    • Discuss the animatronics
    • Over 50 animatronics
    • Some have been in operation over 30 years
    • Many faces were cast using molds of real people
    • historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Johannes Gutenberg.
    • Some animatronics have been recycled
    Segment 2: The Technology Behind Spaceship Earth
    • Omnimover System:
    • Advanced Lighting:
    • Advanced Audio Technology:
    • The geodesic sphere:
    • Projection technology:
    Segment 3: The History and Future of Spaceship Earth
    • Narration:
    • Scenes:
    • Technology:
    • A shelved future version promised a more story telling version of the attraction and several other updates.
    Segment 4: Spaceship Earth's Impact on Popular Culture
    • The attraction was featured in the 1994 film "The Rocketeer."
    • It was also featured in the 2004 film "The Incredibles."
    • The attraction has been referenced in numerous television shows, including "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "The Office."
    • It has also been featured in music videos, such as "Spaceship Earth" by Owl City.
    • Spaceship Earth has even been used as a symbol of the United States in foreign films, such as "The Host" (2006).
    • The geodesic sphere has become a symbol of Epcot and one of the most recognizable “weenies” of the Disney parks.
    Conclusion:

    You can send comments and questions to [email protected]

    Who we are -  John, the founder of See WDW and See UO lives in the Orlando area. This makes him the "near" of this podcast. He is a theme park content creator on several social media formats. His point-of-view theme park video style presents viewers with theme park experiences free of bias or opinion. This allows the viewer to see the parks, hotels, rides, and shows from a guest perspective. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.wdw/

    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/see.wdw

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/seewdw

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/see.uo/

    Mike is from the mountains of Central Pennsylvania and has been going to Disney World and the Orlando area since the early 1980s. He has been involved in several content creation ventures including podcasts, YouTube content creation, and video game streaming. While not currently active, he built a small fanbase as Twitch personality "Willyrob Levi" and took that personality to YouTube for a series of travel and model building videos. Mike is currently working with John on his YouTube channel. You can find his content in the following places.

    Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/theegiantrat/

    Tiktok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMecFj11t/ or just search for theegiantrat

    Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/@theegiantrat


    1 hr 13 min

About See WDW! Near & Far

From the publisher's feed

Perspectives of Walt Disney World and the Orlando theme parks from 10 miles to 1000 miles away. See WDW! Near & Far gives you the local and vacationing perspective from Disney and theme park veterans.