Memorial Day Weekend in Orlando

I'm on my way to sunny Florida for a little work and a little fun.

I have my trusty iPhone with me, so I'll be sure to send along picture updates from all around the Walt Disney World Resort.

Be sure to watch the blog and especially our Twitter feed for a lot of updates. I'll be sending tons of TwitPics throughout the trip!

Am I Reading This Correctly?

I'm a news junkie and I spend a few minutes every night surfing the web for good stories.

So you can imagine my surprise when I came across this article on MSNBC.com:

"Disney parks stop scans for topless riders"

Wait, what?

Back on the podcast, we once had a discussion about the phenomenon of women (and men too) flashing their boobs for the on-ride camera on Splash Mountain. The pictures have made their way to a pretty famous site that probably isn't appropriate for this blog.

But now, Disney says that they have "reassigned employees at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure who watched for breast-baring riders because 'actual inappropriate behaviors by guests are rare.'"

I agree that most sane people don't unleash their breasts on a family flume ride. But did Disney really have a paid staff person monitoring photos of every single log looking for evidence of boobs?

How do you put that on a resume?

Talk about this in the CoasterRadio.com forums.

My New Reality Series

As a television producer, I'm always thinking about new ideas for TV shows.

Most times, I try to keep the idea of theme parks away from the brain-storming, because I realize that not everyone likes them as much as I do.

But I was watching the A&E show "Airline" the other day and it got me thinking.

For those of you who don't know, "Airline" is about the day-to-day operations of Southwest Airlines. It shows the ups and downs of the airline at airports across the country. Most times, they aren't afraid to show when things go wrong with scheduling, lost luggage and the dozens of other horrors related to airline travel.

I realized that if producers could make something as boring as Southwest Airlines into an entertaining reality show, it would be really easy create a great show about a theme park.

Actually, a great show would be one about a specific chain.

For instance, imagine a weekly show that was all about the Six Flags chain. During each episode, the story could bounce around the country to the different Six Flags parks.

We could see drama unfold as an attraction's opening date draws near, but isn't quite ready yet. We could see how park security deals with an unruly guest. We could see the competition for a starring role in one of the park's shows.

It doesn't stop there....

We could see what a costumed character really goes through on 100 degree days. We could possibly watch as a romantic relationship blossoms between two ride operators. We could see how a brand new PR manager deals with her demanding job.

Of course, you could probably spend a whole episode showing the craziness that is the roller coaster enthusiast community.

I'm surprised this hasn't been done yet. Sure, I know that it could possibly show the park in a bad light every now and then, but it could also show what a dynamic, exciting and caring place it is. With the right production, it could be the ultimate PR tool.

If we can have reality shows about housewives, cake makers, dress designers and washed up rock stars... couldn't this idea work too?

I'm ready to produce it. So give me a call Mark Shapiro.

Talk about it in the CoasterRadio.com forums.

Give it up for Clint Novak

Here's a tip of the hat to Mr. Clint Novak of the Coaster Crew.

He agreed to ride Shockwave at Kings Dominion in a red dress if listeners of In the Loop met their financial goal for the Single Riders Marathon.

The listeners came through and Clint paid off the bet like a man. And he wore the propeller beanie for good measure!

Congratulations to Clint and everyone over at the Coaster Crew!