Ep32: Room for one more?

Jan 28, 2015 | Podcast episode, Podketeers

In this episode: Is the measles epidemic a product of a slow news day and is the Hatbox Ghost coming back?

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We started off by drinking a great beer by Stone Brewery called ‘Stone Stochasticity Project Hibiscusicity’. It was fantastic! Thanks, Mario! If you want to read Stone’s own blog post about this beer flavor, go here:

http://blog.stonebrewing.com/index.php/stone-stochasticity-hibiscusicity/

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Although we took a picture of the donuts that Javier brought from Donut man, their pic on their Facebook page was infinitely better.

Photo from Donut Man Facebook page.

We received a handful of questions and comments on whether or not we were going to talk about the measles. To us this primarily seems like a “slow news day” type thing. We did receive a comment on Instagram from listener @martinfett2 asking if we thought it was “crowd control”. Although we didn’t answer this on the podcast, I will personally go on record to say no. Although we joked about the conspiracy theories of the outbreak we know for a fact that there was people that had the measles (that came from outside of Disneyland) and it spread throughout some cast members of visitors of the park. As soon as the Disneyland resort found out what they were dealing with, they did what they could to mitigate the problem. They even put out a statement on how they were handling the situation. See below:

As you may know from the news, exposure to measles has become a more widespread concern throughout Orange County and across California. As part of our commitment to the health of our cast and the larger community, we are taking significant steps at the Disneyland Resort that I wanted to share with you.

Once the Orange County Health Care Agency notified us of this issue, we began working with them to inform our cast and raise awareness. A small number of cast members have tested positive and as they are medically cleared, they have been returning to work. In addition, cast members who may have come in close contact with those who tested positive are being tested for immunity to the virus. While awaiting results, they have been put on paid leave until medically cleared to return to work. We are also offering free vaccinations to all Disneyland Resort cast members.

As the California Department of Public Health has said: “Measles is highly contagious and highly preventable through vaccinations. CDPH is urging caution to individuals who are not vaccinated, especially infants under 12 months. Any place where large numbers of people congregate and there are a number of international visitors, like airports, shopping malls and tourist attractions, you may be more likely to find measles, which should be considered if you are not vaccinated. It is absolutely safe to visit these places, including the Disneyland Resort, if you are vaccinated. Therefore, CDPH recommends that anyone not already immunized against measles gets immunized at this time. Two doses of measles-containing vaccine (MMR vaccine) are more than 99 percent effective in preventing measles. If you are unsure of your vaccination status, check with your doctor to have a test to check for measles immunity or to receive vaccination.” – Dr. Gil Chavez, State Epidemiologist and Deputy Director, Center for Infectious Diseases, California Department of Public Health

Click here to see the original post on the Disneyland Public Affairs website: http://publicaffairs.disneyland.com/?p=4316

One thing that we mentioned in this episode and would like to remind you of is that if you got immunized between 1970 and 1990 you might want to get yourself checked to see if you are properly vaccinated. So what are your thoughts on all of this? Leave your comment below.

And now… The HatBox Ghost. 🙂 For a long time now there have been rumors that the Hatbox Ghost would be returning since we saw an incarnation of him at the D23 Expo back in 2013.

Click the image to see more photos from the D23 Expo on Heyzen’s personal photography website.

As mentioned in this episode, the Hatbox Ghost was supposed to originally show up for the 40th Anniversary of the Haunted Mansion but wasn’t installed at the last minute. This time it seems to be a bit different, though. This illusion is not a hologram but in fact a lenticular of a window with a bat stanchion (like the ones in the hallway when you first enter the mansion after the stretching room); pictured below: