The Casual Runner

Playlist Peek: Disney Dish Podcast

Playlist Peek: The Unofficial Guide’s Disney Dish Podcast with Jim Hill
Well….yeah, its just that good!


As you know, I canNOT run unless have something to entertain and distract me. As variety is the spice of life, music alone may not be enough to keep you entertained during your many Casual Running training miles. Thus, last week we debuted a new feature where we started sharing recommendations on fun and, dare we say, enlightening, podcasts to keep you entertained (I would say educational, but I do not want to scare anyone away). In that article we looked at the Good Job, Brain podcast.

Since the more you run, the more robust your entertainment selection needs to be to keep you entertained, we are listening to our readers’ request for more tips and are sharing another great recommendation. This week we have something a little more focused on you runDisney aficionados.


Many Casual Runners are big fans of runDisney. As you know, running Disney means travelling to Disney. So why not share some information about a great podcast that helps you learn a little more about the past, present, and even future of the Disney Parks and Resorts!


You know how Oprah has her favorite things that she shares with her audience? Wellllll…The Unofficial Guide’s Disney Dish Podcast with Jim Hill is the confluence of some of my favorite things.  The Unofficial Guide is a series of Disney travel planning books and ebooks. Touring Plans offers a website and smartphone app to help you plan your Disney vacation to minimize waiting in line and maximize your fun. Len Testa is the driving force behind both. Jim Hill is a great entertainment reporter who has an uncanny knack for gathering and sharing great inside information of the themed entertainment industry, including and especially Disney.

Put them all together, and you have a podcast that just works well and will keep you highly entertained.

Tell Me A Little More?

This podcast releases 2 new episodes monthly and then supplements them with bonus material on their website. You have the option of the free downloads (via iTunes, etc.), or you can pay for certain bonus materials at your pleasure.


What can you expect? Wellll….while their primary focus is Disney, Jim and Len discuss whatever is on their minds. This can be current developments in theme parks (Disney, Universal, Sea World, etc.), or podcasts dedicated to specific subjects such as the history of a particular park, resort, or attraction. No matter what the topic, their research and insight is impeccable and never fails to keep you enthralled. Yes, this means you can and will actually learn something while on your run or drive or grocery shopping adventure.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly?

There are some podcasts that work really hard but just cannot seem to connect to their audience. Others are overproduced. Yet others are thin on quality content or even, dare I say, provide inaccurate or misleading information. The Disney Dish Podcast is none of these things.

Len and Jim have excellent chemistry that always works. Their respective areas of expertise and insight complement each other perfectly, and their banter is fun and light, making this a great option to take with you on your run.


If you are like me and you enjoy learning about how things evolved and came to be, their look at the history and evolution of the Disney Parks and Resorts is satisfyingly entertaining and educational. I seriously cannot get enough and they always leave me wanting more. I swear these two could do a podcast on the history of Disney napkins or popcorn buckets and they would find a way to make it a must-see event.  Come to think of it, that actually could make for an interesting topic…just saying.

Like I said, Jim Hill has a knack for getting access to advance information for both Disney and Universal. So if you want to know what is on the horizon for these entertainment giants, Jim is usually right, so much so that you often wonder “how DOES he do it?” He is my preferred and most-trusted source of such information.

IMG_2830Len Testa comes from a statistical modeling background, and thus offers unique perspectives for considering everyday vacation touring issues like why ride lines work the way they do and are as long as they are, how to effectively use Fast Pass +, and how Disney fans rate each and every attraction from best to worst. When you listen to him enough, you will find yourself thinking about the concepts he discusses when you are walking around the parks.

And yes, they even recorded an entire podcast on the history and evolution of runDisney!

Needless to say, I highly recommend this podcast to take add to your training run entertainment reserves. You will certainly enjoy it.

Oh, and if you are wondering why I keep saying wellllll, or variations thereof, just give this podcast a listen, and you will understand. Thanks Len and Jim for all of the education and entertainment!


