This grand meeting of fans is an off-shoot of the annual RADP (Rec.arts.Disney.Parks.) a usenet.newsgroup community which traditionally met each December at WDW which began in 1996. It started out small, but Deb Wills, the founder of Allearsnet.com and PassPorter authors Jennifer and Dave Marx saw the potential of such a gathering of fans and they organized the first "Offical" Mousefest in 2003.

But Mousefest goes way beyond just a meeting of fans who love Disney. It is an International event with fans all over the world, all backgrounds and walks of life and it is joined by all the Disney website webmasters, Podcasters and Authors where everyone feels like "Family", sharing their common love of Disney. And most, if not all of the Web "Hosts", Authors and Podcasters have meets where they plan contests, games, or a mass gathering to ride a favorite attraction or just to get together and talk. Here, Hosts and fans can place the face, so to speak to their favorite Webmasters and Authors and maybe even meet up with the many friends made in cyberspace, in person. The highlight is the Mega-Mouse meet held in the Swan and Dolphin Hotel. Here, all the Hosts are gathered together at booths where you can buy books, pins, DVD's and anything else Disney. Here you can share stories and meet new friends! There is literally nothing like Mousefest anywhere. No other entertainment concern can garner up the love and loyalty of it's fans quite like Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney World.

For this article to mention every single Host and participant, it would be way too long. Mousefest this year had over 1700 registered attendees and it gets larger each year. In fact because of the large number of "Meets", many overlapped each other or started at the same time. There is no way to attend every meet, so I had to do some planning and attend what I could. I will describe my four days at Mousefest and mention all of the new friends I had made at the meets and some of the friends I already knew!

Day one Thursday: Magic Kingdom... I was able to attend Mike Scopa's (www.MousePlanet.com) Dole Whip meet in Adventureland. Here over 40 people showed up to have a Dole Pineapple whip and just talk! Mike, who I never met before walked up shook my hand and welcomed me to the meet, and I felt like I knew him for years. I had a great time. Later, I finally got to meet Host Steve Barrett of the Hidden Mickey's book (www.HiddenMickeysGuide.com). Looking for Hidden Mickey's is a favorite pastime for my wife and I and we attended all of Steve's Hunts during Mousefest. Steve's Hunts were fun and he does know his Hidden Mickey's!

Day two Friday..Animal Kingdom... Attended Deb Will's(www.allearsnet.com) Kilimanjaro Safari Meet, were we had a huge group photo and than took over 3 safari cars. Great fun. I had met Deb earlier this year and got to know her better at Mousefest. From there it was over to Expedition Everest with Binnie Betten of the MouseFor Less(www.TheMouseForLess.com) and Jan/Tracy and Charlotte of RADP. We all tested the Fastpass system with that group! I then met at the Flame Tree BBQ with MousePlanet's Mark Goldhaber for the Mini-MouseAdventure. Those puzzles were a lot of fun and almost everyone had the pictures identified! Than it was over to Rafiki's Planet Watch at the Conservation Station with Steve Barrett for another fun Hidden Mickey Hunt. The Conservation Station is filled with those elusive Mickey's.

Now it's over to MGM Studio's for another Steve Barrett Hidden Mickey hunt at the Studio Catering Co. It's amazing how Steve finds some of these Mickeys! Now over to the Backlot Express for Lou Mongello(www.DisneyWorldtrivia.com) and Nathan Rose for their "Live Podcast", where you can get a chance to be "On the Air". I had met Lou Mongello in New Jersey when he had a book signing at Barnes and Nobel and have since kept in touch, I have both his books and they will brighten any Disney Fan's day. We ended Friday's meets at the "Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights" hosted by Ray Kuykendali, "Lets Talk about Disney Podcast with the Bare Necessities. Nowhere will you find a light show to compare with the Osborne's Display.

Day Three Saturday..EPCOT... Started the Day with Carol and Jim from Tagrel(www.Tagrel.com) at the Electric Umbrella for a quick lunch and group photo by Spaceship Earth. Again, made many new friends, one in particular is Tim Devine of the Magic in Pixels(www.themagicinpixels.com) a real funny guy and a photographer of the highest caliber! If you want to know how to use a camera, he's the man. He also hosted several photo meets during the Fest. Than from 1pm to 3:30pm, it was the Mega-Mouse meet at the Swan and Dolphin. All I can say is next year cannot come soon enough for me!

Day Four Sunday..Magic Kingdom... My favorite park and my last day at Mousefest. Started the day (Early!) at the Polynesian' Kona Café Hosted by Deb Wills and friends. A whole section of the Café was reserved and we started the day with a great breakfast and good friends! We then went over to the Tomorrowland Noodle Station with Host Lou Mongello for a great Trivia contest with the grand prize being an I-Pod. It was mobbed and it was fun! Now over to the Haunted Mansion for a group ride Hosted by "Inside the Magic" Rick Brigantea and Joe Raube and lunch at the Columbia Harbor House.

By this time, my Wife's feet needed a rest and we wandered off alone for a cup of coffee and a place to sit for a while. There is a lot of running around during Mousefest. After resting, it was off to the Fire Station and a Windows scavenger hunt, Hosted by Kim Button, Author of the "Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook. In the hunt, you had to find the names on the windows and match them up with the buildings they were on. Back to the Tomorrowland Noodle Station for a Pin Trading Meet Hosted by DisBuzz.com and MouseEarVacations.com team. I got myself a great new pin! We ended Mousefest with a Wilderness Lodge Fireplace meet, Hosted by Nathan Rose of Magical Mountain(www.magicalmountain.net) and Kendra Trahan of the NFFC. This was a great way to end Mousefest, just sitting and talking!

As you can see, Mousefest is tailor-made for the Disney lover! Here you will meet new friends and old, get to talk to the authors, Webmasters and Podcasters who for the most part, do vast amounts of work, without monetary gain and on their own time, many people have no idea how expensive and labor intensive it is to maintain a website, but it's all done for the love of Disney! There were so many more hosts I did not mention, only because I just could not attend every meet (No one can). Mousefest just gets bigger and bigger each year, and requires lots of planning and work. But believe me, it's worth it.

For information on next year's Mousefest, visit: www.Mousefest.org. And as tired as we were through four days of Mousefest, I still wish it could last longer!