We all have our roles

Honor Hunter, of Blue Sky Disney fame, did a couple posts awhile back where he tried to fill us in on all the various players in the deck of cards known as the Disney Corporation Organizational Chart.

Well, when it comes to the Disney Community (the one that is being celebrated at MouseFest), there are many, many players.  There are so many, I'm sure that I have not even been exposed to them all.

But here is a few of them that I enjoy:

Jeff Pepper, Blogger

Mr. Pepper is the master of Disney Forensic Science.  All we need is for Jerry Bruckheimer to make another spinoff of CSI called DSI:  WDW (Disney Scene Investigations) and cast Jeff as the lead investigator. 

I believe Jeff likes to refer to it as Theme Parkology, but there isn't a detail that cannot be dropped without Jeff being able to pick it up and dissect it on the spot and kick back more info than one would dream to know.  He's the Wikipedia of the Disney theme park back-story. 

In addition to his many reports on his well read blog, 2719 Hyperion, he also provides a whole different audience with the same kind of fun through his involvement with Lou Mongello on The WDW Radio Show Podcast.

Lou Mongello, Author/Podcaster/Trivia Master

There is always room for Mongello!

Lou is a triple threat in the Disney Community.  He has authored two volumes of The Walt Disney World Trivia Book, has produced his award winning podcast The WDW Radio Show, and has very popular forums for the fans of his books and podcast. 

Recently, Lou has added audio tour guide to his resume with the release of his first volume in his Audio Guide CD series.  Volume One is devoted to Main Street, USA.  Now, if your daily diet is short of Vitamin M, you can strap on your headset and listen to his audio guide as you stroll down Main Street, USA on your next trip to Walt Disney World.

What Lou may lack in stature, he makes up in length of his podcast [Ed Note:  You do realize that Lou is taller than you, right???].  But, in all seriousness, Lou is a good sport about his height and allows himself to be the focus of many a height related prank by the boys of WDW Today. 

When Lou isn't recording his Podcast, working on his next installment of the Audio Guide or filling up his Disney Autograph book with the who's who of Disney Royalty, he's secretly celeb-crushing over a certain celebrity who goes by the initials JLH. 

FoxxFur, Blogger

To say Ms. Fur has trouble finding the right words would be worth a good chuckle.  The owner and author of Passport to Dreams Old & New, has single handedly drafted the most number of Disney doctoral theses on record.  She has managed to paper the walls of her "office" with the sheepskins representing her many Doctoral degrees in all things Disney. 

When it comes to academic blogging on the subject of Disney, she reigns supreme.  Every one of her posts has a purpose, a thesis statement.  I have admitted that many of her posts seem to fly over my head, but I have never made any claims of being that smart. 

Her posts are thick with details past and present but not devoid of her very clear opinion on things.  If you are looking for an academic view of the Disney Theme Parks, then Foxx is your lady.

Major Pepperidge, Blogger

Major Pepperidge has a blog full of pictures capturing the heyday of the Disneyland Theme Park. 

I often wonder to myself if this is really Dave Smith operating under a nom de plume because many of his posts are as if he raided the very vaults of Dave Smith's offices and pulled out gems of photographic history. 

Many of his pictures are from time periods when my own parents were very young and in high school.

If you are a history buff and like to look back to see where we have come from, then Major Pepperidge has put together quite a blog for you to dig into.  Plus, he has just celebrated the 500th post on his Gorillas Don't Blog blog

John Frost, Blogger

There are many blogs out there that focus on news about Disney.  Mr. Frost has managed to position himself on the top of that mountain. 

His The Disney Blog is more than just a news scraper blog.  His site is updated several times a day with all things related to the House of Mouse.  That means that he is reporting on more than just the Disney Theme Parks and Movies.  It also encompasses the ABC Network and ESPN and the other Disney Holdings. 

Lately he has added the feature of correspondents providing recaps of some popular ABC Television Shows. 

John's much missed Daily Roundup posts have done a lot to showcase up and coming bloggers as well as established mainstays.  I've heard some say that you haven't really done anything noteworthy until one of your posts made the Roundup.  John, you need to bring this back....it is missed!

George Taylor (aka Biblioadonis), Blogger

Mr. Taylor and his brother, Andy, run a little blog known as Imaginerding:  The Home of the Disney Geeks.  George, by profession, is a Librarian.  As such, their blog is regularly highlighting great books about Walt Disney and his theme parks around the world. 

But, as anyone who has gone to a librarian looking for help can attest, in true Librarian fashion, George will point you in the direction of the information but you must do the work yourself.  There is a ton of reference material highlighted on their blog.  It's an ever growing bibliography of Disney material.

George is always looking for new blogs, books, podcasts and other Disney reference material.  These newly discovered treats are often showcased on his own blog in the form of "Geek Link" posts or are added to his extensive link list.  You also shouldn't be surprised when you think you've discovered a great new blog and find that George has already been there spreading some "geek love" (aka comments). 

He's travels around the blog-o-sphere so much one wonders when he finds time to get some "real" work in.

Every now and again we get an extra special treat when Andy puts up a post that showcases his rapier wit.  The more whimsical side of the Taylor boys has a real way of entertaining but still informing.  It's edutainment in blog form.  I, for one, would love to see more of this side of Andy on Imaginerding. 

Tim Devine, Photographer/Webmaster

Anyone who follows my blog knows my appreciation of Tim's photographic prowess.  I try to showcase his photos whenever possible.

Tim, in my opinion, is one of the greatest photographers of Disney theme parks that isn't on Disney's payroll and may be better than many who are.

Tim's Haunted Mansion Wallpaper CD was recently given rave reviews by Mr. Haunted Mansion himself, Ricky Brigante, on his podcast Inside the Magic for his Halloween episode.

In addition to all his great photographs, Tim runs a great forum that allows fellow photographers to discuss and chimp one's photos.  But, conversations are not limited to photography inside the parks.  Discussions about all photographic topics are welcomed.

There are many Disney forums out there that have sections devoted to photography, but Tim has created a welcoming site for those just wanting to talk about photography and not much else.

So, if you want to discuss photography or get some tips, don't worry about what kind of camera you have and stop on by.  There are people who can answer practically any question about capturing the perfect photo. 

After all, we all want to have the one-of-a-kind 16"x20" print we can tell everyone that we took ourselves.

Jessica, Blogger/Crate Lover

Jessica is a relative new comer to the Disney blogging community but she came out with a bang.  Rumored to be one of the founding members of the Crate Appreciation Society, she has used her If We Can Dream It blog as a voice for the "overlooked and under appreciated details found around Disney World".

With all this attention to detail, one could make the argument that Jessica has garnered an apprenticeship in Disney Forensic Science under the watchful eye of Lou and Jeff (the other founding members of the Crate Appreciation Society).

Her blog is great at opening our eyes to things that we just walk by and not even realize are carefully chosen show pieces that are nods and winks to things that the casual fan may not be aware of.

Jessica recently took a trip to Anaheim and has applied her watchful eye to the details over there as well.

When Jessica isn't wandering the parks taking fantastic shots of easily missed details, she is actively collaborating with Lou and Jeff on new ways to deny George admittance into the Crate Appreciation Society [Ed Note:  I had to get my dig in on this running joke before it has been beaten too far into the ground...haha].

Honor Hunter, Blogger

Honor runs the Blue Sky Disney blog who's claim to fame are the Blue Sky Alert posts.  Honor's main focus is on rumors coming out of Disneyland.  His information comes from an army of Bothan spies that he has scattered throughout the Disney Company.

I love Honor's site because I'm a big fan of the movie spoiler site, Dark Horizons, and this site is like the Disney version.  Everything is just a rumor until verified by the Disney Company, but it's always nice to feel like you are getting information before the rest of the world.  Many times, it may turn out to be wrong, but who cares.  Until proven false, we can sound cool and "in the know" when we tell our friends all the great rumors out in the blog-o-sphere.

If you aren't on this list, it wasn't deliberate.  There is quite a lengthy list of people who put out great Disney content and this post would rival my trip report lengths if I tried to showcase them all.

But, as a consolation, I add all the great sites I visit to my link list as I find them.

To everyone that is attempting to entertain and enlighten us with their Disney blogs, Podcasts, web sites and books, keep up the great work and remember to keep moving forward.

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