Mousefest cancelled for 2009

[safetymom]

http://www.mousefest.org/MF2009faq.html Before you make any travel plans you may want to take a look at this FAQ.

[Tikihula]

Just got an email about that. What a shame that it has outgrown its humble beginnings and had to be put on hiatus. Hopefully they'll find someone qualified to chair the event in the future. RIP (temporarily) MouseFest. :sad2:

[firemanx]

Sad news I was looking forward to attending MF2009

[DizMom11]

Can someone please explain to me how the pod cast and mousefest are related and what impact this will have? Thanks

[Mouse Skywalker]

Oh, that's too bad. I was already saving for it. I guess I'll just have to continue to save for some other DIS Unplugged get together. ;) I have great memories from last year, and really enjoyed going to the TSM meet with my girls. Maybe MouseFest could be replaced by the DIS Unplugged/GKTW team for marathon weekend 2010.

[Launchpad11B]

That sucks. We enjoyed last years MF a lot. Maybe the podcast crew will come up with something around the same time period and we can have our own party. :goodvibes

[OKW Lover]

Val & I are probably still going that same weekend. Early December trips are magical to us because that's when we first met at WDW. :pixiedust:

Perhaps we can have a DIS mini-meet anyway.

[AlexDurrani]

Can someone please explain to me how the pod cast and mousefest are related and what impact this will have? Thanks

MouseFest is a gathering of different communities and podcasts that are disney related. 2008 Mousefest was the first year that DisUnplugged actually participated in the event. I talked quite a bit last year with Mark Goldheiber who is on the exec committee for Mousefest and he was explaining to me that Mousefest has gotten so big that Disney is getting a bit scared about it. He then told me that unless something drastic changes that there was going to be a lot of rethinking on the committee's part for the future. We see it now with the news release sent out today. I agree to a point that someone who has experience in organizing large gatherings on shoestring budgets is needed before something happens. On another note there is always (I hope) the Mouseguest experience in October if they do it again.

TTFN

Alex

[anonymousegirl]

I am more than a little bummed. I found out about 2008's Mousefest a little late, and although I could have signed up, the prices for the hotels that were available were a little pricey for me. Had I known, I would have made it to 2008 no matter what.

As it stands, I just booked a DVC stay for the second week in December 2009in hopes of attending this year's events.

[Launchpad11B]

http://www.mousefest.org/

Follow this link for the official press release.

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

This is freakin' sad news. I wasn't planning to attend this year, but the tone of that statement doesn't leave me very hopeful that it's coming back. :sad2:

[spaddy]

That is very sad news. I just made DVC reservations at that time. I might have to move to Food and Wine.

[Bornteach]

Oh I am sooooo bummed! Kim and I were escaping our children and the cold!

Maybe Pete and the gang will come up with a great activity (or two) to host while we are there!

Puuuhhhllllleeeeezzzzzzeeeeeeeeee!!!!

[UrsulasShadow]

Well, I'm glad I made it to 2008's Mousefest, then.

Let's start DisFest...it'll be much nicer going around saying "DFDFDFDFDFDFDFDF!!!" anyway, and I can call everyone DFers, and nobody will get offended.

[crazytp93]

Wow, thats shocking.
I don't think it said the economy was the cause (although I glanced over it fast.)

Was this the outstanding cause?

[UrsulasShadow]

Wow, thats shocking.
I don't think it said the economy was the cause (although I glanced over it fast.)

Was this the outstanding cause?

It's mostly due to the chairman of long standing, Dave Marx, stepping down to devote more time to his family, and since the chairman needs to be a person with great talent, loads of time, and willing to devote him/herself with no pay to this endeavor, it's unlikely anyone will step up in time to organize 2009.

[UrsulasShadow]

MouseFest is a gathering of different communities and podcasts that are disney related. 2008 Mousefest was the first year that DisUnplugged actually participated in the event. I talked quite a bit last year with Mark Goldheiber who is on the exec committee for Mousefest and he was explaining to me that Mousefest has gotten so big that Disney is getting a bit scared about it. He then told me that unless something drastic changes that there was going to be a lot of rethinking on the committee's part for the future. We see it now with the news release sent out today. I agree to a point that someone who has experience in organizing large gatherings on shoestring budgets is needed before something happens. On another note there is always (I hope) the Mouseguest experience in October if they do it again.

TTFN

Alex
I would think that, in this economy, Disney would be more scared about it NOT happening. It filled lots of rooms, including conference rooms, filled lots of restaurants, and while it may have created a bottleneck or two, I don't see that it did anything to cramp Disney's operations at all, other than to bring in revenue.

[DisneyKevin]

You never know what those crazy DIS Unplugged podcasters will come up with.

Now you have a reason to listen to the podcast and see what might come of this.....

[UrsulasShadow]

You never know what those crazy DIS Unplugged podcasters will come up with.

Now you have a reson to listen to the podcast and see what might come of this.....

Oh, yeah, like we NEED a reason!

[Launchpad11B]

You never know what those crazy DIS Unplugged podcasters will come up with.

Now you have a reason to listen to the podcast and see what might come of this.....

Always the tease huh Kevin. :sad2:

[mikelan6]

I have a feeling that there will be some sort of meet for the fans. Disney fans will find a way even if it's not called mousefest or organized as such.

[rlduvall]

After I got the e-mail, I went into mousefest.org. If you go to the 'faq' section, it almost sounds like it could be over with . . . permanently. :sad1:

[DISNEYNV]

I agree... Disney fans will find a creative way to get together anyway:)
The DIS podcast team has to out do last years TSM Meet... Even though that would be pretty hard to do. It was really awesome!

[kab407]

You never know what those crazy DIS Unplugged podcasters will come up with.

Now you have a reason to listen to the podcast and see what might come of this.....

Crazy???? OK, if you say so.....

[ADP]

Wow! I'm not digging this at all. I guess I understand the disruption surrounding Dave's sudden departure, but why can't there be a transition of power? Basically, the Chair would assist the new chair during 2009s planning. I'm sure it's not that easy.

Sorry...Just thinking out loud I guess, and expressing a little denial and disappointment over all this. I hope many of us still plan on travelling to WDW during early December. I really want the chance to see many of you again. :)

[Madi100]

That is sad. I wash hoping that we could attend this year, even though we've decided not to :) Maybe it will have to be on a smaller scale where each group plans their own things. Give a little organization, and people run with it. Look at what we've done with the cruise. There are lots of smaller things planned around the cruise.

[2xcited2sleep]

You never know what those crazy DIS Unplugged podcasters will come up with.

Now you have a reason to listen to the podcast and see what might come of this.....

Such a tease. But that was my first thought... maybe the DIS Unplugged can step in! :flower3:

And I agree with Mindy, DF'ers sounds much better than...well, you know... ;)

And also, I don't need a reason to listen! :goodvibes

[fakereadhed]

I would think that, in this economy, Disney would be more scared about it NOT happening. It filled lots of rooms, including conference rooms, filled lots of restaurants, and while it may have created a bottleneck or two, I don't see that it did anything to cramp Disney's operations at all, other than to bring in revenue.

ITA, in fact I got a 40% off pin that excluded the dates that were previously given for MF 09. I figured Disney is onto us and doesn't need to offer discounts for that time.

I am disappointed, but it will really help me not to take a trip in December. I am trying to keep it to one trip a year to save money for a car for DD. We'll see how long that lasts!

[rtobe]

Well, I've gone to WDW in Dec for years, just not always for Mousefest so I'm hoping to still go, but hope to figure out what our podcasters might have up their sleeves before I need to commit to airfare. Besides, nothing like celebrating my birthday at WDW riding various roller coasters

[firemanx]

This is freakin' sad news. I wasn't planning to attend this year, but the tone of that statement doesn't leave me very hopeful that it's coming back. :sad2:


It would surprise me if it didnt come back. There is just to many fans of this yearly event for it to just disappear. I believe it will return in 2010 in some form.

[jcb]

So if the "crazy Disunplugged Podcasters" come up with something, should it be called the second-annual "send John to the funny farm" fest?

[scarlett873]

I'm very sad to hear this...but here's hoping the gang comes up with something way cool for us in lieu of Mousefest!

[BriarRosie]

I'm gonna take the blame for it, since this is the first time in four years I could attend. I killed MouseFest this year! :laughing:

I do remember when it was new, Deb Wills and Dave and Jennifer Marx took the existing December meets we did with the RADP Usenet group, and turned it into MouseFest. I had a feeling it would grow to the point of overwhelming the planning, but it has been wildly popular.

I'm still going since I know plenty of people will be there. :)

[cocowum]

That is very sad news. I just made DVC reservations at that time. I might have to move to Food and Wine.

I agree. We actually borrowed points to make the ressie. :sad2: :sad2: :sad2:

You never know what those crazy DIS Unplugged podcasters will come up with.

Now you have a reason to listen to the podcast and see what might come of this.....


Kevin, you a such a tease! You love to torment us. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Guess I'll have to force myself to listen to the Podcast...:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

[DVCsince02]

<---------------- Waiting patiently for a DIS Fest. ;)

[Minnie Lor]

You never know what those crazy DIS Unplugged podcasters will come up with.

Now you have a reason to listen to the podcast and see what might come of this.....

As always, I'm all EARS.

I'm planning on still going from the 7th-14th of Dec. Alot of other forums are planning their own thing. Mini-MouseFest's without the name. Hoping to meet up with the DIS and my other friends.

Dave Marx did a fabulous job of handling MF for years. I'm glad that I got to go in 2007 and was so sorry that I missed in 2008.

[chirurgeon]

I see Kevin is back to his old tormenting self. Good to see, if not a little frustrating.

Like I posted on the now Non Mousefest thread, I will have to think about December. Save money, buy new TV, save vacation days and money for April 2010 and have more days available for Mousefest 2010. But what if the Dis does something great?

Dilemma.
:confused:

Kim

[crazytp93]

It's mostly due to the chairman of long standing, Dave Marx, stepping down to devote more time to his family, and since the chairman needs to be a person with great talent, loads of time, and willing to devote him/herself with no pay to this endeavor, it's unlikely anyone will step up in time to organize 2009.

Oh wow. Thanks.

Good Luck to Mr. Marx.

[katscradle]

Last year was our first year attending MF. :)
The 2 years that we had gone before we did not know about it.
I am very sad that this will not be happening this year. :sad2:
Also makes me wonder about the future of MF. :scared1:
We already have our room booked for Dec. 1st-14th/09
We will still go as this is my favorite time of the year. :yay:
I am so glad we went in 2008.
I will teasure my pics of that event even more now. :love:
Even if nothing official is planned we will still strive to do little mini meets with fellow disers. :love:
Now a DIS event!!! WOW!!!! :cool1: :woohoo:
DIS ROCKS!!! :thumbsup2
GO DIS GO!!!! :banana: :woohoo:

[DisneyKevin]

Always the tease huh Kevin. :sad2:

Truly not meant to be a tease....

We just heard the news today along with everyone else.

More of a knee jerk reaction than anything else.

There is nothing planned and nothing I'm hiding. To be perfectly truthful......there hasnt really been time to discuss or digest this.

[SamSam]

Oh, that's too bad. I was already saving for it. I guess I'll just have to continue to save for some other DIS Unplugged get together. ;) I have great memories from last year, and really enjoyed going to the TSM meet with my girls. Maybe MouseFest could be replaced by the DIS Unplugged/GKTW team for marathon weekend 2010.

Sounds like a great idea!

[BRobson]

You never know what those crazy DIS Unplugged podcasters will come up with.

Now you have a reason to listen to the podcast and see what might come of this.....

Truly not meant to be a tease....

We just heard the news today along with everyone else.

More of a knee jerk reaction than anything else.

There is nothing planned and nothing I'm hiding. To be perfectly truthful......there hasnt really been time to discuss or digest this.

When you guys are organising you dont want to do something in December - that would be predictable ;) ;)

Arrange something for maybe October and Food and Wine - oh and an added bonus , I will be there then :lmao: :lmao:

[Launchpad11B]

Truly not meant to be a tease....

We just heard the news today along with everyone else.

More of a knee jerk reaction than anything else.

There is nothing planned and nothing I'm hiding. To be perfectly truthful......there hasnt really been time to discuss or digest this.

I'm just busting your chops Kevin. I'm sure planning the cruise is plenty of work for you guys this year. How's the eye? pirate:

[lttlmc3]

Truly not meant to be a tease....

We just heard the news today along with everyone else.

More of a knee jerk reaction than anything else.

There is nothing planned and nothing I'm hiding. To be perfectly truthful......there hasnt really been time to discuss or digest this.

Yes Kevin, like you guys need MORE to do! :goodvibes

[Mickey_Man]

But what if the Dis does something great?

Dilemma.
:confused:

Kim

After experiencing TSMM Meet last year, I am certain there is no "if" when it comes to the Dis doing something great (thanks again!!!!!!!!). This was our First Mousefest - I can't believe it is possibly our only one!

[Launchpad11B]

After experiencing TSMM Meet last year, I am certain there is no "if" when it comes to the Dis doing something great (thanks again!!!!!!!!). This was our First Mousefest - I can't believe it is possibly our only one!

I hear ya. Mega Mouse Meets was a great place to meet everyone face to face. Hopefully in the future the void will be filled with something just as good. :thumbsup2

[OKW Lover]

Truly not meant to be a tease....

We just heard the news today along with everyone else.

More of a knee jerk reaction than anything else.

There is nothing planned and nothing I'm hiding. To be perfectly truthful......there hasnt really been time to discuss or digest this.

Kevin, not to try to twist your arm or anything, but as you can see in this thread, along with this thread (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=30308121#post30308121) there are a lot of DIS'ers that are still up for some kind of meet in December. Perhaps once you guys get past the PodCast Cruise (and some recovery time) you'll go with your initial reaction. I know I'm planning on going then. :thumbsup2

[crazydisneyman]

Seriously, Paul, How's the eye? pirate:

Very funny!!! :lmao:

Next, Kevin is always floating new ideas with us on this board. I have a suggestion.... a Podcast trip to Disney Paris! Yeah right. Um... but like most other people, I could not afford that right now, but maybe a good idea for the future.

Anyway, back to MF, and now Mindy calls it DF. I am sorry to see it go, but I understand why he decided to step down.

I see no reason why we can't have a DIS Meet in December. Can you imagine DATW every other night with Corey leading us? And EATW on the other nights with Kevin and John leading us through World Showcase?

I say do it! We could even have ABBA night where we get all dressed up like ABBA, including Mindy!

Kevin did say CRAZY, and so I have responded. :thumbsup2

[Launchpad11B]

Seriously, Paul, How's the eye? pirate:

Very funny!!! :lmao:






Thank you. You're to kind. I'll be here all week. :)

[DisneyKevin]

Dont get me wrong....

There is NOTHING I like better than teasing the DIS Unplugged community, and if I have something good.....you can bet I'm gonna work it.... but in this situation, thats currently not the case.

And seriously..... I dont think we can get John to start planning anythng else until he's done with the Crisis Counseling from the last one. :lmao: :lmao:

As for the eye thing.....I'm a really impatient patient. Things are going well....slow, but well. I'm really more of a "ok, I'm done with this, let's move on" kinda guy and this doesnt work like that.

[crazydisneyman]

Dont get me wrong....

There is NOTHING I like better than teasing the DIS Unplugged community, and if I have something good.....you can bet I'm gonna work it.... but in this situation, thats currently not the case.

And seriously..... I dont think we can get John to start planning anythng else until he's done with the Crisis Counseling from the last one. :lmao: :lmao:

As for the eye thing.....I'm a really impatient patient. Things are going well....slow, but well. I'm really more of a "ok, I'm done with this, let's move on" kinda guy and this doesnt work like that.

Oh, Kevin, we love to return the teasing favor. So, right back at you! :lmao:

[exwdwcm]

so sad to hear. We are already booked for Dec 11-20, 2009 at WL. I was hoping to attend a few MF events since our trip overlapped. Oh well. I know the DIS probably will come up with something great. we can HOPE, right? :confused3 :thumbsup2 :wizard: Regardless, I'll be at disney in December!!! :woohoo:

[chirurgeon]

I sent a message to the Mousefest people. Here it is:

Please know that I understand the need for the down time. Also please know that I know you were not charging enough for the people attending the event. I would be more than willing to pay a per day amount of$25, or a flat rate of $100 to attend Mousefest. If not more.

I hate to say it , but I think Mousefest this year was a little too full of events. I know the cruise has become an important part of the event, but what if the cruise was changed to the 3 day leaving on the Thursday prior and extending out the events. I know I spent 11 days at WDW this past Mousefest. If the events had started on Monday as opposed to Thursday and having the same number of events, but more spread out to help prevent a burn out. I know I was crispy by Sunday afternoon. My last day, Monday, I was so burned out, I was very grateful to have been staying at AKL Concierge because I just relaxed and spent most of the day there. I wasn't able to enjoy any of the parks that day.

This was not my first Mousefest, I had attended Mousefest 2006 and truly enjoyed it. I am not saying I didn't enjoy this year, but I did too much. It seemed to me like the event had doubled in size.

I hope I haven't attended the last Mousefest. And please know, if you need some kind of help from the Disney community, you know you will have it. I can't think of another event that draws together so many of the Disney Internet communities for such a fun and even educational event (I have learned so much about photography, I can't say how much I appreciate the knowledge I have gained.)

Thank you all for all of the work you have done and PLEASE still do.

Kim Barron

[3guysandagal]

OK, MF is cancelled...bummer.

The gang MAY have ideas for Dec....Cool.

Haven't had time to catch up yet so I hope this is original.


I have a suggestion for a name IF something was to happen.....


FestiMouse!!

Sort of a play on Festivous ala Seinfeld.

I'll let you know where to send the royalty checks...:rotfl2:

[chirurgeon]

OK, MF is cancelled...bummer.

The gang MAY have ideas for Dec....Cool.

Haven't had time to catch up yet so I hope this is original.


I have a suggestion for a name IF something was to happen.....


FestiMouse!!

Sort of a play on Festivous ala Seinfeld.

I'll let you know where to send the royalty checks...:rotfl2:

No royalty checks for you, John. The other John has come up with the name. Dis-A-Palooza. He has posted a thread.

Kim

[CAJUNWDWFAN]

I was hoping to go to Mouse fest one day in the future but I guess that will not be possible. I wish I could have gone this past year.

[Matt@WDWR]

Kudos to anybody who put that much work into Mousefest and they were doing it for free. Not many people would do that.

[MouseGuest]

It is unfortunate that such a great fan event like Mousefest will not happen in 2009, although with the size and scope of organizing it, it is completely understandable. Dave and the rest of the executive committee did a spectacular job of running the event, and in the process created a lot of magical memories for many, many people. Kudos to them!

I would like to mention the fan event that we started last year, The Mouse Guest Experience. It is similar to Mousefest in that anyone and everyone is welcome, there are guests from many different Disney sites and podcasts, and there are scheduled meets during the event. It is different from Mousefest in that it is much (much) smaller, and there are generally less meets each day, in order to give attendees more time with family or to just hang out at the parks with friends (or rest!).

This year The Mouse Guest Experience will be held at the Walt Disney World Resort from October 10-15. More information will be coming soon on The MGE website at http://www.mouseguest.com/experience. Hope to see you there!

[Cyrano]

Mousefest sounded a great event and I'm sure there will be many in the Disney community who will be saddened by this news :sad1:

[LMO429]

I am sad to hear about mousefest not happening in 2009. We were looking forward to attending it for the first time. Considering the size of the disney community I am sure there will be other disney group planning unofficial events that time of year as well. Looking forward to seeing what comes up, we plan on going back to WDW in Dec.

[wishspirit]

Next, Kevin is always floating new ideas with us on this board. I have a suggestion.... a Podcast trip to Disney Paris! Yeah right. Um... but like most other people, I could not afford that right now, but maybe a good idea for the future.

Dang it! Its the only one I COULD afford!!!

If you ever did a trip to DLRP, I would certainly try and get there!

I am just hoping a meet or at least a chance to spot the crew will appear in mid-September! :goodvibes

[Donald is #1]

I was so sad to read last night that Mousefest was cancelled for this year. This past December was my first Mousefest and I had an awesome time. I got to meet many of you, my fellow DIS-ers, for the first time plus I got to meet lots of people from other communities.

I was really looking forward to Mousefest this year and I already had AKV booked. Hopefully, for those of us traveling in December, we can come up with some DISmeets/Events.


I would also like to thank Deb, Dave, and all members of the executive committee. Planning and putting on an event like Mousefest must take a great deal of their time. So I can easily see the need to regroup. Hopefully, once they have had the chance to re-group, they will come back with something in '10.

[fakereadhed]

I was so sad to read last night that Mousefest was cancelled for this year. This past December was my first Mousefest and I had an awesome time. I got to meet many of you, my fellow DIS-ers, for the first time plus I got to meet lots of people from other communities.

Just wanted to say :wave2: !

It was great meeting you at Mousefest. And thanks for the ride home after the Wishes cruise!!!

[chirurgeon]

You know, including the DIS, I have seen at least 2 or 3 other communities that are still talking about get togethers during the traditional Mousefest time. You just have to look at other communities to get the info. Mousefest the entity isn't involved this year, but the components seem to be stepping up to the plate.

So much for the new TV this year.

Kim

[Donald is #1]

Just wanted to say :wave2: !

It was great meeting you at Mousefest. And thanks for the ride home after the Wishes cruise!!!


Hi! It was great meeting you too! You're welcome! It was so much fun meeting everyone. :goodvibes