Disney Dating

Austin's newest dating event helps Disney lovers find true love

This new meet-up allows Mickey lovers mix and mingle.

Are you a Disney fanatic searching for your very own Mickey or Minnie? Then a meet-up planned for this weekend in Austin might be the place for you to satisfy both your Disney and dating desires.

The MouseMingle.com dating website is hosting the Austin meet-up and about two dozen other events in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as the United Kingdom. The Disney dates enable Mickey lovers to mix and mingle with like-minded souls.

The Austin meet-up will be 6-9:30 pm Saturday, December 2, at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on South Lamar Boulevard.

At the Austin gathering, MouseMingle volunteers will help connect assembled moviegoers. After watching Disney-Pixar’s Coco, the group will head to a nearby restaurant to eat and chat.

“MouseMingle Movie Meetups are events that MouseMingle.com is organizing to help people get together in ‘group dates’ as a way of connecting in person, not just online,” says Dave Tavres, a former Disneyland tour guide who founded MouseMingle in December 2015. “For some people, a group date is more comfortable, as you can mingle with different people and get to know them without doing a one-on-one date.”

MouseMingle doesn’t just cater to Disney devotees. It’s also a place for single Star Wars and Marvel Comics enthusiasts to get acquainted with one another.

“When you get groups of diehard fans together, it’s always a great time,” Tavres says. “Then throw in the idea that you might meet someone who’s just as into lightsabers or arc reactors as you are … that’s just not something you find on other [dating] sites.” MouseMingle meet-ups are being set up for upcoming Star Wars and Marvel Comics movies.

While the number of matches made through MouseMingle might not be on par with dating heavyweights like Match.com or OkCupid, Tavres does report some sweet successes.

“So far, we know about two marriages and dozens of relationships from people who have written us to say thanks,” he says. “It’s pretty wonderful to hear from those couples who have met on the site and found their own magic.”

To RSVP for the Austin event, please go here or here.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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