CMDTA’s 1st Annual Disney Podcast Awards

I know there are some legitimate podcast awards out there.  Those are no fun.  I’m doing podcast awards my way.  You won’t find your normal categories on this list.  In fact no one else does a Disney Podcast Award (I think).

The “I thought they died” Award:

This one was tough.  Annette Owens took a big break from WDW Today.  Most years she’d walk away with this award except Van from Netcot only put out a couple episodes this year. Congrats Van! I thought you were dead!

Best Rant

In this category Pete Werner from the DIS Unplugged is nominated…about 15 times. So it’s Pete vs. Himself!  I guess that takes the suspense out of who wins but not for what!  Pete wins for his rant on the “Sick Show.” He was the only person on that episode and he still took the time to do a rant!  Now there is an example of going above and beyond.

Goofiest Guest

In terms of Disney – It’s good to be Goofy!  Out of all the countless guests, who was the goofiest?  The award goes to Tim “Bananas” Foster on the WDW Radio show.  What can you say?  The guy sounds like a dufus and he is a major deek.  Of course I mean that in a good way.

Award for the Podcast with the Most inside Jokes

The winner by a massive margin is WDW Today! When you have to check the wiki at least once in every podcast you know there are a lot of inside jokes.  Arrrgh MONGELLO!!!

Best New Personality Not on Their Own Show or Own Segment for that Matter

Congrats Princess Lisa!  It’s good to know someone is keeping Skipper Ben in line.

Award for the Most Insane Episode

You’d think WDW Today would win this one.  You would be wrong.  This goes to Inside the Magic for its year end review. It clocked in at over five hours. FIVE HOURS! Some people don’t sleep that long at night.

Podcaster Most Likely to be Caught Picking His Nose on a Ride

The first name that comes to mind is Lou Mongello.  However, Lou loves to eat and that’s just gross so this award goes to Len Testa!  Congrats Len!

Most Addicted Podcaster

Ricky Brigante for his Haunted Mansion addiction!  Don’t be surprised if he dies on this attraction while trying to set the consecutive ride record.

The Odd Couple Award

Who doesn’t love an odd combo?  Even the Disney Podcast Community has one.  Congrats Jim Hill and Nathan Rose from the Magical Definitions Podcast!

Most Likely to Die a Death Somehow Related to Van Halen While in a Disney Park

Do I even have to say this one?  Congrats Len Testa!

Most Likely to be Mistaken for the Yeti

Congrats Mike Scoppa!  Most people don’t know this but if you shave the Yeti you find he’s Mike Scoppa’s long lost brother.

Ricky Brigante Loves Halloween…For a Reason

If you listen to the “Inside the Magic” podcast you know that Ricky Brigante loves Halloween. Every year he does full coverage of all of the Halloween happenings in and out of Walt Disney World.

After listening to a lot of his coverage this year I had to start wondering, why does Ricky Brigante love Halloween so much? I know a lot of people like Halloween but Ricky seems to REALLY love it. So I did what I do best. I looked into it.

Inside the Magic has been around for years so I had a lot of research to do. I went through old episodes, distant creations.com, inside the magic.com, and I even added Ricky as a Facebook friend.

Facebook turned out to be the key. When I saw the photos of Ricky on Facebook I knew something wasn’t quite right. It almost looked like he had makeup on. After following Ricky around for a week I realized I was right. He did have makeup on. I’d see him touching it up throughout the day.

Why would Ricky wear makeup? One day Ricky got caught out in a bad storm and got soaked before he could open his umbrella. I saw his face melt off. Underneath the truth was exposed. Ricky is a zombie.

That explains why Ricky loves Halloween. He can go out of the house without makeup. Not only that, he gets all sorts of complements on his costume. He’s even won costume contests without dressing up.

Before you run in fear the next time you see Ricky just remember, he is a friendly zombie that doesn’t eat brains and would stop to give an autograph or take a photo.

If you don’t know the above story is factious. Ricky is not a zombie (I hope), He doesn’t wear make up (that I know of), and I didn’t follow him around for weeks. However, Ricky does love Halloween and covers everything on his podcast.

The Hit or Miss Ride

Most rides at Walt Disney World are very consistent. That’s one of the charms of going. You get consistently good results. One ride that doesn’t really fit this mold is the Jungle Cruise.

The Jungle Cruise is a classic. It was one of Walt’s ideas and it’s been a fan favorite since its debut. The Jungle Cruise is always decent but sometimes it’s amazing. The Jungle Cruise is one of the few rides left that actually have a cast member that plays a big role in the ride. Your experience will vary greatly depending on the cast member you get.

The last time I rode this ride I got the perfect cast member. I wish I had taken note of her name. She was easily the best “skipper” I’ve ever had. She was funny, interactive, and quirky. She got me laughing even though I’ve ridden this ride a good dozen times over the years.

Another classic ride I had on the Jungle Cruise was extremely different. It was during Mickey’s Christmas Party. I didn’t care at all about the Christmas stuff, I just wanted to hit rides with no lines all night. I got in line at the Jungle Cruise and found out I was the only one. I got on the boat and the cast member pulled away from the dock. Since I was the only one on the boat, she looked at me and asked if I wanted the normal ride or the behind the scenes ride. I opted for the behind the scenes ride. She went in detail into the background of the ride, its history, and even pointed out a hidden Mickey in the wall of the cave. It was another Jungle Cruise ride I’ll never forget.

The other times I’ve ridden the ride were good, they just didn’t match up to the other experiences. It must be hard though. To do the same thing over and over but try to keep it fresh and make it seem like your not mailing it in can’t be easy.

Too bad I never went on the ride when “Skipper” Ben of the Inside the Magic podcast was doing that ride. I bet he could do a good one.

Podcasts

There are a number of Disney podcasts out there. Each one has its own flavor. Some are serious, some are funny, and some just exist. I thought I really stoke the fire and rank them. Not all of them. Just the ones I listen to. If you listen to another podcast not listed let me know and I’ll check it out. Here are the things I take into consideration. Information, Humor, Guest Hosts, Diversity, Community, Cheese and Oddity.

#1 WDW Today

Information Factor 9
Funny Factor 8
Guest Factor 3
Diversity 8
Oddity 8
Community 8
Cheese 5

Four guys – One Girl – One show. I don’t think I’ve seen a combo like this since the five stooges. I say five because there were five people who played the three stooges. I’ll let you figure out who is who. There is no question they cannot answer. There are numerous runny jokes. Some of their topics are ridiculous and they occasionally have a random person join them. The cheese comes from their song. It’s decent but cheesy. MONGELLO!

#2 – This one was VERY close but number two goes to the Magical Definitions podcast.

Information Factor 10+
Funny Factor 4
Guest Factor 1
Diversity 5
Oddity 10
Community 4
Cheese 1

Jim Hill is the reason this one comes in second place. I don’t know where he gets his info. I don’t know if he makes it up or he really has some inside sources. Either way I can’t stop listening when he tells a story. He’s the Josephus of Disney. The format of this podcast odd too, it just seems to happen. A lot of the others have ridged formats this has no real format that I can detect, just two guys talking Disney. They are an odd couple too. I don’t know how these two found each other but it works.

#3 The Dis Unplugged

Information Factor 8
Funny Factor 7
Guest Factor 7
Diversity 10
Oddity 3
Community 10++++
Cheese 3

No podcast has a bigger heart. They know their stuff and they go beyond the parks. They are a strange mix too, a young married couple, a recovering alcoholic who hides nothing, a man who just wants decent meal with his mother in tow, and a total hodgepodge or random people along for the ride. They have a peanut gallery. They often start laughing so hard you think they are going to ruin a Depends. They have a prize thingy (sorry I don’t know the proper spelling of prizeamatron). They also have such a big Disney community around them that you can’t tell where the podcast ends and where the community begins. That was proven with the loss of Bob Varley. Let’s go grab a Dole Whip!

#4 NETCOT

Information Factor 7
Funny Factor 2
Guest Factor 6
Diversity 5
Oddity 3
Community 5
Cheese 9

You may wonder why the cheese factor is so high on this podcast. It’s the outtakes, the music, and the transitions. What really makes this podcast standout are the countdowns. They are great and almost always interesting.

#5 This was very close but it goes to Inside the Magic.

Information Factor 7
Funny Factor 2
Guest Factor 4
Diversity 5
Oddity 3
Community 5
Cheese 7

Ricky does a good job with packing a lot of info into his podcast. Sometimes he runs out and packs a bunch of Disney music in there. I normally don’t enjoy that. Some people love it. If I want Disney music I’ll listen to my iPod or go to wdwradio.com. That’s why his cheese factor is so high. He tries to have a good variety of topics and tries to keep it different.

#6 – The WDW Radio Show

Information Factor 8
Funny Factor 2
Guest Factor 8
Diversity 3
Oddity 3
Community 5
Cheese 4

MONGELLO! The walking Disney Trivial Pursuit pulls this one off on a weekly basis. He has a wide variety of guests and keeps me wondering who he manages to find so many Disney legends on his show. Even his creepy fascination with tiny Lolita and Samantha Brown isn’t enough to scare me away. The music he plays in the background can be distracting at times. Sometimes his show just goes too long and you get bored but overall it’s a great show.

Before anyone starts complaining about who should be where just remember this, if you do anything and come in the top ten, you’re doing an exceptional job.