Latest / Very Amusing with Carlye Wisel - A Theme Park Podcast / Oh, We Got A LOT of Disney World STUFF To Talk About!

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Oh, We Got A LOT of Disney World STUFF To Talk About! · Very Amusing with Carlye Wisel - A Theme Park Podcast

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not even gonna try I'm not gonna try to hit the high notes, but that is because I saved my voice and I was able to squeak out this entire podcast.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't follow me on social media and you just listen to podcasts, you may not know that I, oh no, you know for last week, doi.
• 0:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I fully lost my voice.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: Like fully lost my voice.
• 0:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: It is now a week and a half later, and I am barely getting pie.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's just funny because like, you know, the things you're supposed to do is hydrate chronically and issue for me, not drink caffeine, not even on the table for options, and then you're supposed to have to use your voice.
• 0:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have a three year old.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have to negotiate for 10 minutes to put her hair in a ponytail.
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I am not able to heal while I am at home.
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I chugged enough tea, I made so much ginger tea over the weekend y'all that I have enough I have just I've like just enough left to get this episode out and I didn't want you to wait because I cannot wait to tell you everything that I liked and didn't like about my trip to Walt Disney World
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: We have so much, and this isn't the typical thing where it's like, I went on this ride, and then I went on this ride, and then I did this, no dude.
• 1:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: We gotta talk about it, because everything I experienced there is basically the precursor to what the future of Disney Park's is over the next 10, 20, 30 years, and we are extrapolating a lot from the experiences that I just went on over those few days in Florida to what we can expect for the future of Walt Disney.
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I needed to get all that out.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: If it damages my vocal cords permanently, I don't care because I gotta get you to the story.
• 1:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: I just gotta be talking about this stuff.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I won't pour you at the top because also my throat feels like there's tiny flame emojis just like boop boop boop boop popping out.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know you watch someone alive and it's like all the emojis lying.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's kind of what it feels like in my throat.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: But we are gonna do it.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I squeaked it out.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I got it done.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I got it done and I'm so excited because I couldn't wait any longer to tell you these stories.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So stick around.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have so much to share with you.
• 1:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I can't wait.
• 2:06
  [UNKNOWN]: Thank you for watching.
• 2:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back this week.
• 2:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're getting into it.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to run down my thoughts on all the new experiences because there are so many and on top of that, we're going to discuss special stuff I got to do like getting a peak of the new carousel progress, which I'm actually allowed to tell you about, which is kind of shocking and I also got a backstage look at what is replacing Star Wars launch bay at Disney's Hollywood studios.
• 2:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's so funny because we'll go on these backstage tours and they're very exciting and they're very special because they're showing you something like You know, Disney doesn't love to peel back the curtain and they're fully peeling it back for us And we get like suited and booted in construction vests and boots and goggles and helmets and I'm like with my friends and my colleagues And we're like stomping around in these silly outfits and it's just kind of funny to be like full construction gear like head to Topee Just to see where we're all gonna Basically hug chip and Dale in a few months
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just a funny world, it's just a funny world to be a part of and I'm very grateful to be a part of it.
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so glad I got to go on this trip because we have an unbelievable amount to talk about.
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: this week I'm just gonna give you the full honest goodness truth what I thought about everything what I saw when I rode with experience and even what I sneaked a peek at we're even getting into the highs and lows of this trip because I've said a lot of positive stuff but there are some bigger themes that have emerged that a lot of what I experience tied to both great and not so great.
• 3:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: We've got a lot to discuss about a certain Disney resort hotel, which will not be surviving this episode.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah!
• 3:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: A certain hotel was not marked as safe today on very amusing.
• 3:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just to set the scene, beyond the two-day media event, I did fly in a day early.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I always like to arrive a little early because you get in late from LA and sometimes there's an event at night and you might miss it and it's just a lot easier to adjust on a quick trip like this by flying in a day early.
• 4:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I left Monday and I flew back on Friday.
• 4:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so grateful that in that gab sash we're going to Disney World episode I outlined everything that was coming because there is a lot and it's all very disparate right it's so hard to communicate 11 things have been improved instead of the clean direct neatness of something like Disney built on new ride but we are going to tackle all of it this week whether or not you listen to that episode but you should because it's a very good one frankly I think they're all fun I think they're all fun
• 4:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: So why don't we begin with some of the wins that I experienced, all right?
• 4:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because there are shockingly men.
• 4:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: The through line I've noticed with so many of the attraction updates that I experienced is that it all feels like the way we remember these rides.
• 4:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Kind of like a good face lift, they all seem the same, but better.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if you haven't paid close enough attention, you just can't quite put your finger on it.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you haven't been in the past few years or visit infrequently, if you've gone these rides again, things like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Frozen Ever After, you're just gonna enjoy them more, even if you don't quite know why.
• 5:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're going to get more joy out of these rides, whether or not you go to Disney all the time.
• 5:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that is so much more worthwhile, as well Disney worlds big summer news, than having one small standalone attraction.
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because take something like Buzz Lightyear Space
• 5:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Walt Disney Imagineering, delivered.
• 5:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: This ride is so much better now.
• 5:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: They added haptics, someone you use your gun.
• 5:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, it was the name for the gun.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: The space gun, your space gun, your shooter gun?
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Your, your toy?
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, my blanket, I'm space, let's see space gun.
• 5:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I should know this.
• 5:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: It should know this inherently in my heart.
• 5:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I don't then users based on you feel it.
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: It jiggles when you actually hit something and also you know just used to be just a mess of everyone blazers everywhere.
• 5:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've get so frustrated and Buzz Lightyear because I'd be like, I don't know who
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: who's late as mine.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think I'm shooting this.
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's them.
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not me.
• 6:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: My score's bad.
• 6:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone's talking about their galactic heroes.
• 6:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a turt on this ride.
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like it used to really upset me.
• 6:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now you can actually, the individualized the game play in a way using haptix, using a red design.
• 6:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you actually know what you're hitting and know when you've hit it.
• 6:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's just so much more enjoyable.
• 6:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Every facet of this ride looks nicer, neater, and more fun.
• 6:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: They truly went up to infinity and beyond with this ride.
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: You could listen, you couldn't even script this podcast if you tried, okay?
• 6:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: They truly went to, they like, you know, you had shoot for the shoot for the moon, you'll end among the stars.
• 6:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: They landed on the friggin' moon.
• 6:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: They really did it with this ride.
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it was a feeling walking off that ride that I kept having over and over at Walt Disney World.
• 6:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Take Frozen Ever After.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, they just kind of fixed everything?
• 6:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is the ride that should have debuted when it first opened.
• 6:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: The animatronics are perfect.
• 6:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And usually, I don't know why I just feel like, maybe the old guard, maybe different leadership would have been like, it's fine.
• 7:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Why do we fix it?
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even if they do already have the models for the audio animatronics from the Frozen lands or building around the world,
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: like why would they put money into this to make this attraction better to plus it as we say in the biz to improve it if frozen three isn't dropping for another year like why would they put the money in now they would seems like they would usually wait I don't know man maybe it's surveys maybe it's crowd flow maybe somebody had to get ready for a wedding and tried to do contour and just had like a split second that's so raven freak out remembering what those
• 7:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Horrid, they were Horrid.
• 7:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Those projected faces were terrible.
• 7:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care what it took, but whatever it did to get this approved at the corporate level, I am so thankful for, because this is what the franchise deserves.
• 7:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Same with Buzz Lightyear, that is what Toy Story deserves.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just felt this over and over that they kept the essence of these rides.
• 8:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: It still feels like the same ride, just better.
• 8:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's not easy to do.
• 8:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Doing it.
• 8:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Remember Frozen 3 is set to debut November 2027.
• 8:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: November 2027.
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think obviously the right timing to do this.
• 8:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry to be like so corporate head about it, but the right timing would have been to wait until
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: late summer, 2027, get people talking about the right again and then zoom right into the movie.
• 8:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, they did it this summer and this stuff just kept happening because almost everything that they updated was phenomenal because I would be remiss if I didn't use every single shred of my vocal cords that still work to scream at you about how good rock and roll those first starring them up it's what.
• 8:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And y'all know, I was a very stressed about the state of this ride from the jump, literally from the moment of inception that Muppets courtyard might be closing, I was, I rate.
• 9:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I remember D23, 2024, driving back to LA with fellow theme parker forter in Loki, genius, Drew Taylor, next week's podcast, yes, surprised the fries.
• 9:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: We had just heard the news and monsters ink was coming to Disney's Hollywood studios, and we knew!
• 9:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: We knew because we are professionals and we are good at our jobs.
• 9:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: We knew that our beloved Muppets courtyard was in danger.
• 9:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: That kind of like, that like anxious, nauseous feeling that I got since that day has carried me all the way through.
• 9:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Having an executive call me on the phone and tell me basically this person was like, I have bad news and good news.
• 9:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, give it to me.
• 9:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so nervous.
• 9:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: The bad news?
• 9:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: The good news we got Rock and Roller Coaster and I was immediately like, what do you mean?
• 9:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: What do you mean?
• 9:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: This timeline has somehow yielded a thrill ride themed to the Muppets.
• 9:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I've always been, you know, cautiously optimistic.
• 9:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they gave us a ride.
• 9:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: They guaranteed we will have a Muppets presence into the future.
• 9:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: As you know, this at least meant we would have a Muppets store open every day in the park, which is something we have not had in years.
• 10:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I really felt in my bones like I really felt good about the fact that we had made enough noise about the closer that we got this, gosh darn it, we got the Muppets to stay in the park.
• 10:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I do believe that our reaction to all of that is partially the reason why.
• 10:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to the actual coaster, when it comes to actual rock and roller coaster, I was worried.
• 10:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: You'll know this.
• 10:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we've really had a reason to me.
• 10:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, wait, you're going to make a muppet's ride?
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: You make a muppet's dark ride.
• 10:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, you make a family-friendly, jolly dark ride.
• 10:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: But this wasn't that.
• 10:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: This also wasn't a muppet's attraction from scratch.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was a overlay done.
• 10:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Quickly, the change of her was fast.
• 10:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was a real fast, you guys.
• 10:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if we designed a Muppets ride from the jump, it would not be this, irrefutably.
• 10:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you started it zero and developed a Muppets ride, it would not be a coaster starring the electric mayhem.
• 10:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I went into it a little topsy-turvy.
• 10:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, this doesn't star-kirm it.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: This doesn't star-miss piggy.
• 11:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is a thrill ride that not everyone can go on.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, what are we doing here?
• 11:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Is this going to channel them up?
• 11:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's enough?
• 11:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Or is it just going to feel like, like, it's just a little bit like, sorry.
• 11:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: We took away your land, but at least you have this.
• 11:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I thought it would just maybe be a bit of a handout.
• 11:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then I wrote it.
• 11:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I have to take ownership here because I fully missed the plot of why this was going to be a good idea.
• 11:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I remember recording that Gatsesh episode a few weeks ago being like, I don't even know what is the plot of this ride now.
• 11:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, what is the plot of this ride?
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Forget the plot of the ride.
• 11:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Forget the plot of the ride because all you need to know is that what they have done with rock and rollercoaster starting the muppets is what the muppets do best.
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because what the muppets do best?
• 11:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: is star in place of humans in our own reality.
• 11:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Taking something and replacing 95% of the humans in it with muppets is where the muppets thrive.
• 11:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's their wheelhouse.
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's genius, really, because if you loved Rock and Rollercoaster, congratulations.
• 12:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's basically the same, but it's more fun.
• 12:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if you've never really cared about Rock and Rollercoaster, congratulations, you're gonna love it now.
• 12:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: The only people who lose in this equation are one young children who cannot enter the queue unless they're tall enough, and I found out the hard way, and anyone who can't do inversions or go on coasters like this, which I get.
• 12:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is not good to go from a very accessible attraction and to make not as accessible one, but I'm hoping if this ride really takes off but intended, if it goes as well as it seems to be going,
• 12:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully, we will get a secondary something or at least be able to justify a secondary muppets experience to go along with this to make sure everyone can get in on the muppety fun.
• 12:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: The people designing this ride were operating on level 3000.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I swear, because if I hated this, I would be letting up the mic.
• 12:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would be telling you all about it.
• 12:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know me, if they hurt me, if they took the franchise that I love and they made a ride, I didn't love.
• 13:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: That sadness would be pouring out of me across every social media platform on the internet.
• 13:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: But this was so good.
• 13:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was so good because it was just, it was so simple.
• 13:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: What they did was so simple and brilliant.
• 13:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just rock and roller coaster.
• 13:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's starring them up.
• 13:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not starring yours, man.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just starring a bunch of muppets.
• 13:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll tell you, I don't really go on this coaster because I lately haven't felt good from upside-down rides.
• 13:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm getting up there in years.
• 13:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was warned before I had a child that after you have a child roller coasters will be more difficult.
• 13:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have found that to be true.
• 13:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have chronic dithiness.
• 13:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm always dehydrated.
• 13:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: You guys know this.
• 13:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: But shockingly, when I went on this coaster,
• 13:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I felt okay, like the dizziness, I kind of browned out on roller coasters.
• 13:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I almost took a medication so that I would stop like almost blacking out on coasters.
• 13:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is how serious it is.
• 13:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that kind of dizziness, the head banging back and forth giving me a headache.
• 13:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Those aches and pains I typically get on rides like this.
• 13:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't, I didn't get.
• 13:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know I was a little too overwhelmed by the Muppets of it all to actually do like the boots on the ground roller coaster research.
• 14:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I thought I would need an ad the laughter and I was pretty good, which shocked me.
• 14:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I found the headrest to be very comfortable in those moments.
• 14:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if you haven't been on this in a few years and you're like, I don't think I'm going to like it.
• 14:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just here to say, maybe give it a shot.
• 14:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, you know yourself in your body well enough, but if you haven't been on in your curious, give it a shot and might not be as bad as you remember.
• 14:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: And this is coming from someone who went to the opening of Epic Universe and felt very, very discombobulated after.
• 14:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: So just keep that in mind that it might be worth a shot and it might not be as physically upsetting.
• 14:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't, I don't, I wasn't really sure.
• 14:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's physically jarring as you may be expecting.
• 14:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And listen, speaking of things that shocked me because I could yell for, I mean, physically, I can't, but I could yell for an hour about how good of a job they did on this, just because again think just replace the people with momids.
• 14:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's all we need it.
• 14:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's all we need it.
• 14:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's perfect, like, so smart.
• 14:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was, I remember like, I recorded some video before I, okay, one more thing about the moments.
• 14:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I recorded a video before I went on the ride because I was like, this is the last time I'm going to know I didn't know was inside and I know it to expect and I was like,
• 15:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I, I'm going to like it, but I'm never going to love it as much as if it was a coaster filled with like 400 muppet animatronics that I just ride past.
• 15:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't have the vision and Disney did.
• 15:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I got it.
• 15:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: I got to give them, I got to give them props for it because I could not see the forest for the trees.
• 15:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: I did not understand that simply just making it the same ride, but just throwing in muppets was all they needed to do.
• 15:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: and it really is not much better.
• 15:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: It surprised me.
• 15:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: It surprised me in an unexpected pleasant way, which also, I can't even believe I'm about to see these words, you guys.
• 15:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Blany and Falcon Smuggler's run is good now.
• 15:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: never in my life.
• 15:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Did I think I would hop on the mic saying a kind word to this ride?
• 15:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is still one of the biggest operational misses I've ever experienced Disney created in my lifetime, truly allowing a stranger to control your entire experience.
• 15:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: When this is an experience, people have seen cinemaically, on film for decades, and they've been waiting to pilot the freaking Millennium Falcon.
• 16:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And as someone else's eight-year-old might do it, actually, the children are usually good because they know how to video game.
• 16:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is a random
• 16:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: debate with strangers who are not in your family to decide who is going to have that pinnacle experience that you came all the way here for, terrible design.
• 16:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, have you never been to a theme park before that's not what Disney's about, Disney's about making everyone's individual dreams come true.
• 16:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: What a doomed concept from the start.
• 16:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, the Mandalorian and Grogo overlay, it improves this ride in every single way possible.
• 16:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know I did not think I would be sitting here saying this and I don't want you to think that I drink some magical electric mayhem cool aid while I was in Florida Which is brainwashed me.
• 16:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just that like didn't did a real good job.
• 16:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: You guys didn't need a really good job And they don't always do a good job I'm really mad that they're they're giving me a bolt load of coffee without a lid I'm really mad about the way they run hotels more than that in a minute I'm really mad about what else is bothering me that there's no toddler potty's anywhere like guys come on
• 17:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Get it with the program.
• 17:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is a family friendly location, but these rides, they just fade.
• 17:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I just kept going off and being like, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.
• 17:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: That was great.
• 17:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: That was great.
• 17:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: That was great.
• 17:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: And one was not, we will get to it in a moment.
• 17:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the landing falcon smugglers run is so much better.
• 17:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not only does it improve the gunner and engineer positions, because now the engineer, one of them gets to decide where you go, I'll get to that in a moment.
• 17:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the gunner experience is so much more interactive and better now.
• 17:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's just so much nicer to see Grogu than to see freaking Hondo Naka.
• 17:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nobody likes Hondo Naka, okay?
• 17:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is not an appealing character.
• 17:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Grogu's cute.
• 17:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: The narration now is appealing.
• 17:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And Hondo Naka sinks compared to Pedro Pascal chatting with me on my journey.
• 17:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not only did it improve the actual seated positions of the ride, but it also looks so much better.
• 17:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's an ambience that is there now.
• 17:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: There wasn't there when you were like grabbing freaking coaxium in that industrial shipyard tunnel.
• 18:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: What was that?
• 18:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: That was an ugly location.
• 18:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: That was like when you play Mario Kart and you're like, ah, I have to do this one so I can get to rainbow road.
• 18:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like that is what the entire setting of smugglers run was.
• 18:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: but now it is just so light and fun and adding in this like star tourism surprise destination option was genius.
• 18:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: The engine year basically it pops up and they have three different destination locations and they get to choose and that interactivity just makes it not only a choose your own adventure which is very fun not only gives the engineer something to actually well they do
• 18:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: But third of all, it gives you a reason to go back.
• 18:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's rewrite ability.
• 18:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not kidding when I say they hit the mark on this ride across the board.
• 18:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: They made everyone's position better.
• 18:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: They made the experience better.
• 18:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: They made it cuter and they also made it worth going on again and again, which was not the case before.
• 18:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Disney's updates have got me out of your caring about rides I haven't cared about in years.
• 19:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's huge.
• 19:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's more value for the ticket you're purchasing.
• 19:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's leveling the playing field between attractions, which makes lightning lane offerings more worth it across the board.
• 19:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: But really, they retained the heart of these rides while making them better.
• 19:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: which is why I have such almost blind faith that the future of Magic Kingdom and the Disney world as a whole is indeed bright because we get to be talking about Magic Kingdom.
• 19:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know.
• 19:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever the paved paradise and put up a parking lot is happening at Magic Kingdom right now is concerning.
• 19:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Laterally, when you were on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad,
• 19:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're just looking at dirt everywhere, dirt.
• 19:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Dirt as far as the eye can see.
• 19:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: But while they used to film me, it was like dread and panic and nausea and they'd be like, oh my god, what are they doing in this place?
• 19:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: What are they doing in this place?
• 19:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a tough story, that's how it should be.
• 19:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, after going on these rides and going to this event, I feel hopeful.
• 19:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: because if they've showed me that they can honor existing attractions while changing them, I have faith that the ones they didn't choose to remove, or, you know, pry from our Mad Maxi and water perched hands, will ultimately be worth it.
• 20:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because I went to a panel that I can only loosely talk about, and I heard multiple him members of Walt Disney World Leadership.
• 20:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Discuss how they're basically working to improve all aspects of the resort from hotel rooms to lobbies to rides to experiences and I just have faith that they are really cognizant of the fact that they cannot mess this up remember the current climate of Disney fandom is loud as we are loud if you piss us off You will hear about it and not just because my job is microphone
• 20:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I assume they gave our group the Carousel of Progress T early on.
• 20:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: They told us about that before you all knew about it, surprise.
• 20:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because it helps to break grief-inducing news to this very loud fandom, myself included when it's coming from the malls of your internet friends.
• 20:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: But like, after seeing them talk about it, and after going on these rides, and after spending these days just backed it back to back to back to back thing like, okay, hope I like what they did, and actually liking it, I just have faith they won't mess this up because they can't.
• 21:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: The stakes are so high, and it'll be in the world's biggest face plant if they do.
• 21:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Before if a change or a ride update didn't go over well, it was just a bad day on Twitter.
• 21:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's people's faces, screaming at you on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, YouTube shorts, blue sky, truly so many platforms for holding the Walt Disney Company accountable, and it's not just reporters, and freaks like me who spend every day of their lives doing it.
• 21:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's EVERYBODY!
• 21:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's EVERYFAN is yelling into their phone telling you you did a terrible job, and I just feel like the teams making these moves are very aware of our complaints,
• 21:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: and the challenge they're up against and maybe just maybe they even share the same feelings we do about knowing things need to change but remaining committed to keeping the essence of what used to be there because these changes don't just feel different or new for nudist sake ultimately they feel like they make these parks better and like they're actually worth it and now that I've seen what they can do I kind of can't wait to see what they do next
• 22:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, not everything I experienced for the first time on this trip was perfect.
• 22:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Which means of course, so we're going to talk about Soren across America.
• 22:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's fine.
• 22:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's temporary.
• 22:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Honestly, I do kind of like that we're celebrating our country in this non-partisan way, which is really hard.
• 22:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a really tough line to walk.
• 22:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I do think it still deserves to be carved out a little bit in the chaos that is existing in America at the moment.
• 22:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I actually cackled after I walked up the ride because I do think that they brilliantly made Sora across America like if you go on it every member of every political party will think it's for them and that is so funny I mean they've got Washington DC and not rush more in it so much like
• 23:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: presidential iconography, which in art year 2026 is either thrilling or absolutely terrifying.
• 23:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then again, they balanced it with not one but two scenes in Los Angeles, California.
• 23:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Literally a shot of the Hollywood side, which I feel in general is kind of a symbol of the opposite of some things.
• 23:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: the symbol of creativity and entertainment, dare I say the liberal media elites and I feel like Disney is always walking this tight rope and what they've done with this is kind of masterful because realistically remember if this is a
• 23:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: can say to the media, if this can keep the news cycle away from condemning Disney for at least maybe a year or so without Disney really sacrificing anything, that means stock prices could be unaffected by all of that media nonsense noise, which means
• 23:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's more money to give us cool things it Disney world.
• 24:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if that's how economics works.
• 24:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like a seven year old with chalk at a chalkboard pretending that they're a professor, but hey, it kind of makes sense, right?
• 24:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: If everyone feels good about Disney, it's not gonna harm the company.
• 24:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know what I'm saying?
• 24:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, I have no need to go back on this ride.
• 24:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's fine.
• 24:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's fine.
• 24:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: It did at a minimum, make me be like, wow, there is a lot of beautiful scenery in our country.
• 24:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I guess I should go see that instead of coming back to Epcot eight times a year.
• 24:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But alas, uh, I will maybe just experience the nature through Sornaros America.
• 24:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: And again, if my biggest critique of the new stuff is it's all
• 24:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think we're doing pretty good.
• 24:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's worth seeing once, but it's not going to be something that we're talking about years from now.
• 24:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, ass.
• 24:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is what it is.
• 24:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: And though I haven't said much about being a Thunder Mountain Railroad, I want you to know that's not a negative.
• 24:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think they did such a good job updating it because here's the whole situation in a nutshell.
• 24:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm bringing my husband to Disney World soon and that man will have no idea.
• 25:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Anything has changed on that ride.
• 25:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what you want.
• 25:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's better, but in a way generally speaking to the public, it's kind of unchanged, which rocks like it feels updated fresh, new, lively, more fun, but they didn't really take away much.
• 25:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: I say much, not anything because I am, I am a little
• 25:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: about it not being as rickety like it's not as rickety and that's like kind of the whole point is that's like the wildest ride in the wilderness and now it's like a wild ride is like a little tame it's a little tame that they came to down they made it a little tame but then again like do I need my sweaty body sliding into someone else's knees I don't and I ride solo a lot so I won't miss that so I'm mostly nearly all positive about big thunder on railroad but I do miss that rickety feeling that I don't feel like is completely still there
• 25:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Also, I know a lot of people are upset about the possums, niche tweak here.
• 25:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people are upset about the possums.
• 25:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was told they are coming back.
• 26:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So look for an update on that in the future.
• 26:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: They will be announcing that the possums are coming back.
• 26:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Possums are coming back.
• 26:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's big news for a certain group of big Thunder Mountain hands.
• 26:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just want to make sure you know.
• 26:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, that's kind of all I got for rides.
• 26:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: But let's talk about experiences because I got a lot to say.
• 26:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: animation courtyard.
• 26:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, let's talk about it from my personally biased perspective, which is that all of us were looking at the layout of Disney's Hollywood studios when they announced the monster's ink, and we were like, this is either going to go mop its RIP, or it's going to go animation courtyard.
• 26:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when they didn't choose animation courtyard, I was I rate, I was quite upset, and now in Walt Disney Imagineering I Trust, because what they have done to this area is
• 26:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Genius is genius.
• 26:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I pitched a story that I'm going to be writing in a few weeks, but essentially, yeah, I'm back to writing.
• 26:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, baby.
• 26:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: She's got a lot to say and she lost her voice for a few days.
• 26:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: She started pitching stories to get it all out.
• 26:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't help it.
• 26:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I got to be talking all the time.
• 26:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Basically what they did was made a tiny child friendly theme park inside a larger theme park filled with thrill rides.
• 27:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is kind of bananas what they have accomplished here because they re-opened the did that's a Disney Junior Mickey Mouse Club house life show There used to be a different show there now it's that they also have the little mermaid Amy is gladventure which was recently updated It believes it's maybe a year ago if I haven't lost all sense of time But beyond that the animation courtyard area has been reimagined as Walt Disney Studios Which is it don't even try to even try to Google that you never you never gonna find me You're looking for it is on Google.
• 27:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: The SEO on what they've named this is terrible
• 27:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that's the only complaint I have because it looks like the Walt Disney Studios Burbank Lot which is so funny.
• 27:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's so fun!
• 27:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: They made it look like the lot where they actually make the things.
• 27:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: It just channels the essence of Hollywood Studios in a kid-friendly way that is so nice.
• 27:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because you walk over there.
• 27:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's grass.
• 27:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: What?
• 27:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's grass we love grass now that I'm parents I understand you need somewhere to chill out They have all these little statues of all these little characters and then all of a sudden There's just characters roaming like it's freaking tuned town like there's just characters playing duck duck goose with the chill drink I can't believe what they have done to this area
• 28:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that's not all that they've done.
• 28:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would've been, listen, I would've been happy with grass.
• 28:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would've been happy with grass and Pluto coming over to bought my child on the head.
• 28:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would've been like, 10 out of 10, great.
• 28:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Something I couldn't have done in this a bits of a park before.
• 28:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Remember, I hated Hollywood studios and now they have won me over.
• 28:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: I am voluntarily, I'm going back to Disney World Pro.
• 28:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have four hours free, I'm going to Hollywood studios.
• 28:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: What has happened here?
• 28:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: What have they done to me?
• 28:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: They have turned me into someone who likes this park.
• 28:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's how it's better it is.
• 28:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now I went from Hollywood Studios, Naysayer, to being like, wow, I can't wait to take my child to Hollywood Studios, a park that used to have zilch for her.
• 28:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Honestly, I can't.
• 28:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't even sing it.
• 28:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't even believe what I'm saying.
• 28:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: So not only did they, you know, over the past year-ish, they've updated the shows.
• 28:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's new shows.
• 29:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's places to sit.
• 29:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's characters around.
• 29:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not only that, they added a baby care center, rup right to the area, and let me tell you other Disney parks could learn a thing or two about this, because the fact that the toddler area has the only freaking toddler potty in the park right next to it, whoo, ingenious.
• 29:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: The fact that I don't have to schlep across the park, which I will not do to feed my child.
• 29:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh-uh, I was just feeding around the home and I don't care because I wasn't walking that far.
• 29:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't doing it.
• 29:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever genius thought to be like, why don't we put the baby thing by wearing all the babies are, thank you, thank you.
• 29:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's like reason has entered the group chat.
• 29:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much.
• 29:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like they get it.
• 29:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't even explain to you.
• 29:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't have kids, I can't explain to you how clutch it is to have all that stuff that you need right there.
• 29:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just steps away.
• 29:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: You don't even have to get in a stroller and move.
• 29:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is life-saving for a parent on vacation.
• 29:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: No joke.
• 29:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I cannot wait to go back to this space to experience all of it with Pearl on my own.
• 30:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: We spent a little time in the grass at night.
• 30:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: We laid down.
• 30:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: There was nobody there.
• 30:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was lovely.
• 30:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Also, they got the source of her hat and it learned up at night.
• 30:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just so nice over there.
• 30:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is so nice.
• 30:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: But what is this especially, so incredible, is that this is just the beginning.
• 30:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is basically like they redid the entry and the walkway, but the real show is right behind there.
• 30:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because when they open, the magic of Disney animation, which is what they're calling basically the redo of Star Wars launch bay.
• 30:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: When they open that, you are no joke.
• 30:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Going to have four, five hours worth of stuff to do with your kid in one location, in one location.
• 30:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the best part is this is a lot of stuff.
• 30:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: You don't really need a lightning lane for.
• 30:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's shows, it's interactive.
• 30:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's character me in Greets.
• 30:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a friggin' Mary Blair themed indoor playground.
• 30:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: And for as much as we're talking about, how they're listening to the complaints, you know that I have gotten up here.
• 30:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: God not be with the mic and yelled multiple times about the fact that hey guys we're dealing with global warming and you keep building outdoor attractions with no shade when it rains these rides go down when you're waiting in line you are sweating to death we need shade you can't plant a baby tree and be like in 20 years you'll be able to stand there and be cool absolutely not they're finally doing something about it they have an indoor indoor
• 31:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: indoor playground.
• 31:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And while the anxious mother and me is like, it's kind of listen, the playground I did get a sneak peek of it.
• 31:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is beautiful.
• 31:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a little sweating from my clothes about it because it's kind of shaped like an L-shaped couch like it's like a hallway and then it turns and it's on the smaller side and I know it's going to be ravenous with children.
• 31:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like it's just going to be kids like climbing.
• 31:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So there is a younger kid area.
• 31:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: It looks very enticing, so we'll see if younger kids actually stay in there, if like older kids come in.
• 31:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: It looks like
• 31:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, but it is there, and I am grateful for it, and I will be spending time there because an indoor playground that is just a boop, just a boop boop, just like right next to the things you're wanting to do anyway with your kids is all we've ever wanted and I'm so grateful that they incorporated what parents actually need and want into the design we need somewhere to cool off.
• 32:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: We need somewhere to sit inside.
• 32:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: We, oh, we can see all these characters and doors is going to be so many characters doing me and greets there in their own little theme space.
• 32:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then we can run around a little.
• 32:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let me go sit and see a show.
• 32:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is everything you want.
• 32:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is everything you want in one place.
• 32:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: And they just get it.
• 32:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: They just get it.
• 32:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I did take a hard hat to wear this location.
• 32:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: No photos, they put stickers on your phone, it's a whole thing, you're sloshin' around in these gigantic boots, I'm pushing up, you know, like the goggles on my head being like I'm just trying to see, like, or in the merry-blare, it's my reply, like I'm trying to see all of it in a once.
• 32:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: The timeline says late summer.
• 32:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh wow, I really don't know my voice, this is like summer.
• 32:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: It says like summer.
• 32:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now I, I don't do construction for a living, except when I cause play it one of these hard had tours.
• 32:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I, like, I did, they say league summer.
• 32:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, it's not done.
• 33:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can tell you that.
• 33:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't look.
• 33:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Totally close to being done, but again like we're dealing with fair tales like if Cinderella can have Rodin so redress I wouldn't put a pass Disney to turn this out ASAP because after all if we're celebrating Halloween starting August 7th then what is late summer anyway?
• 33:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: No literally what is it like by Disney calendar I don't know anymore so whenever this opens it'll be worth the wait but honestly I don't
• 33:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not expecting it anytime soon if we're being completely honest.
• 33:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, we have to talk a little bit about cool kids summer and then we are getting into maybe the most passionate tie rate I've ever had on this podcast.
• 33:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, stick around.
• 33:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: We will be right back.
• 33:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back.
• 33:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now the final piece of what's new at Walt Disney World is Cool Kids Summer.
• 34:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: This lasts through September 8th and is basically an ambiguous catch-all for a bunch of random stuff happening across Walt Disney World resort.
• 34:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: They've got everything from pinboards specifically for younger kids trading to hotel activations to character parties and three of Disney's theme parks.
• 34:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I have a lot to say about this as someone who was just there with a kid, with a cool kid, maybe I had.
• 34:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: But let's start with what's going on at the parks because I got a sampling of all three of these activities in my media event and I want to break them down individually.
• 34:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: The first is Goofy Corps.
• 34:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is something I did last year at Epcot as a regular old park guest, and I loved it.
• 34:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: But this year it felt a little more organized, which I almost loved more.
• 34:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: As part of this, we did a parachute activity, we did limbo, and any time I can feel like I'm in a mommy and me class, led by Goofy, I'm a take it, no complaints.
• 34:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: It truly feels like a kids birthday party in the best way,
• 34:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't realize until we went to this event and we went this year at this age, was that this is exactly what my child needed on our Disney trip and was not getting.
• 35:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: She was not getting playing with friend time.
• 35:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: She was not getting wiggle and dance around time.
• 35:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then offering stuff like this indoors in the air conditioning is exactly what we needed even before I realized we needed it myself.
• 35:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Also, this brings some life into the Communical Hall graveyard.
• 35:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know a lot of us have feelings almost unilaterally about that space, and I do think Goofy Corps is a wonderful, wonderful way to utilize that.
• 35:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just nice to have some more indoors and cool where kids can get all those wiggles at.
• 35:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Similarly, there's Blueie's Wild World at Disney's Animal Kingdom, and in case you haven't seen it did require a virtual cue, which is a bit of a headache, but it no longer does, thankfully, which again, just makes all of this easier, make parent's lives easier, and they will continue spending their money.
• 36:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was looking at it because there's basically like blue and bingo doing what they usually do in a different space, but like on a big event dance floor, um, I was concerned, but what I've seen is the current version at DAC at Disney's Animal Kingdom, it seems very organized and very good and it it seems ideal.
• 36:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: The thing is, at the end of the day between Disneyland and Disneyland, all these blue reactivations, all we want is a meet and greet.
• 36:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: All anyone wants is a meet and greet.
• 36:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's all I've wanted with my kid.
• 36:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I flew out of Florida, mostly based on the premise that one she might see them up and she did, but she didn't understand.
• 36:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: And two, she might be able to hug Blueie.
• 36:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's like a main reason I brought her to Florida.
• 36:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: But once I saw Blueie in being a person, I realized,
• 36:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, TV screens adjust height, and once you see them in person when they're there, like the celebrities are there, they're very tall.
• 36:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: They'll even go our very tall, and they're kind of huge, and like my child small, and my child compared to them, I was like, there's no, like she can't even, it's like, it's like hugging a red wood, like there's just no way to hug them in person.
• 37:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: These are some big dogs, y'all, and so pro couldn't even like walk up to them at night.
• 37:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, so I kind of love the format of this because you get to have an activity you get your Wiggles out and you also get to experience them because I do not think a mean Greek would be the best way to handle this.
• 37:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: That said, my dear friend Michael Michael does Disney was just a camp in New York.
• 37:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you listen to old episodes, if you're a long time listener, you know all about camp.
• 37:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: We did an episode about their income to experience.
• 37:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: They have a blueie experience right now where you can meet and hog blueie and bingo.
• 37:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if you're in that kind of tri-state area, definitely check that out because you can
• 37:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Experience all of that and go to Michael's page.
• 37:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Michael doesn't Disney.
• 37:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Michael does Disney.
• 37:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you can see what firsthand what a video of that is like the third activation is just he's round up a rip Lauren review at Magic Kingdom Park presented by Baby Bell
• 37:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if you think I'm ever gonna call that by something other than its full name, Jesse's Roundup, a rip-run review, and Magic Kingdom Park presented by BBBell, you are wrong.
• 37:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because that is so delicious to say.
• 38:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I love it.
• 38:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I love a sponsorship.
• 38:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I love a corporate sponsor, dance party.
• 38:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's basically like one parent pay for permits for us and then you just get to like eat ice cream Sundays and have a candy bar and run around with your friends every Saturday night.
• 38:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, that's what we want.
• 38:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: And this is similar to the others.
• 38:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's in time and horseshoe and Magic Kingdom.
• 38:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: and just getting these kids indoors and getting their silly's out with the star of a movie that's about to be the biggest movie in the country.
• 38:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, that's fantastic.
• 38:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what we want.
• 38:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: And for all three, I just gotta say, I just gotta put it out there.
• 38:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Did they hear my complaints about shade?
• 38:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Did I fill out enough surveys where it'd finally reach someone at the top?
• 38:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Truly, I don't want to harp on any Disney decisions over the past, but it feels like a lot of what they're deciding for the theme parks right now are being made from a committee of people who are firing on all cylinders.
• 38:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, you saw my carousel of progress video.
• 38:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: You saw what I said about Michael Hungen.
• 38:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: By the way, people talk about carousel progress last, it is coming eye promise.
• 38:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it feels like they got all their executives together.
• 38:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: They saw all the survey results.
• 38:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: They sat in a room, they crunched the numbers.
• 39:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: They discussed what they can do to make family's lives better.
• 39:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think it just feels like they all sat down with a quad shot ice latte and were like let's do it and they did they did this thing because every choice that they have made from attraction to experience is like yeah that is what I wanted I did want this change in the ride.
• 39:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: I did want these activities like they knew what I needed before I even knew it as a parent and a Disney expert they did real good
• 39:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: But cool kids summer isn't just those in-park experiences.
• 39:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like activation is the best word, but we'll say experiences.
• 39:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: There is also a hotel component to it.
• 39:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is the second year they're doing this, and it's only its select hotels.
• 39:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I got to compliment them for sticking to non-deluxe hotels for this.
• 39:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: The four participating resorts are Disney's pop century, Disney's Art of Animation, Disney's Caribbean Beach, and Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside, which is where I stayed for this trip.
• 39:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And basically they're just bringing in fun activities which make your stay better.
• 39:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's a pajama party with Mickey and Minnie in the cutest outfits.
• 40:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: A library provided by Disney Publishing with a bunch of books which pro-used when we stayed last year we went to Disney's wilderness lodge when they had this at a deluxe.
• 40:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: And like she read the book because I gave it so lovely.
• 40:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: They gave her a little gift this year they have extra magic at the campfire.
• 40:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't yet know what that is but I assume it's probably a character.
• 40:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Surprise, me and Grace and Treehouse.
• 40:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: I almost said Disney was in the lobby.
• 40:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mickey was in the lobby.
• 40:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I got to take a swing of my coffee.
• 40:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: I haven't had nearly enough.
• 40:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even at this pace, I haven't had enough.
• 40:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it is great.
• 40:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it really makes being at these hotels feel so special.
• 40:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Having experienced this before and at the locks, I love that they're plusing these moderate and value hotels and kind of giving them the shine this summer.
• 40:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: But here's my problem.
• 40:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: The cooking summer messaging is very confusing.
• 40:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if you are not tapped in, even in my level, even if you're listening to this podcast, there's kind of no way to know what cooking summer at the hotels actually is.
• 40:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because I do this for a living, and I would not have known these were the four hotels when I was booking.
• 41:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just went to book a fake room.
• 41:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: It Disney's Caribbean Beach in June during the dates of this, and nothing pops up to tell you this is happening.
• 41:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are no prompts on the hotel pages to let you know that you are getting a little something extra by choosing these hotels, and I, even as a reporter, did not know some of the perks that were offered until I'd already left one of the participating hotels.
• 41:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, it did start days after my stay.
• 41:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I will admit that, and maybe that's partially the blame, but I do imagine a world where you could similarly not know this is happening while staying there.
• 41:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they have preempted this.
• 41:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: They have tried to spread the word about cool consumer in a really smart way.
• 41:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: They have these adorable design maps for all four parks and participating hotels, which are very colorful and fun and handy, pearl loved playing with hers when I gave her a few and we were at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
• 41:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And these maps are chock full of information, especially for hotel guests, but also for first time guests who might not know kind of basic stuff like the Baby Care Center.
• 42:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: but this is Disney World.
• 42:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if you're checking in online and bypassing the front desk, especially in a never-ending campus, like Caribbean Beach, or Portland's Riverside, that has its own internal bus system.
• 42:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you're not always going the lobby.
• 42:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: You may never come across this unless it's already in your room upon checking.
• 42:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Something that I personally don't know because we checked in before this began.
• 42:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: which is unfortunate, because it is full of so much information you would want in need.
• 42:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: And as kind of the tip of the iceberg of an issue that has emerged within Walt Disney World resort hotels, that is deeply frustrating to me, and could so easily be fixed.
• 42:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Disney is doing so much now to cater to parents of young kids, and I have to give them props on that.
• 42:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Disney's Hollywood Studios is slaying.
• 42:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: That whole area is a win for parents.
• 42:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they joined the Boniard Play Area for construction at Disney's Animal Kingdom, though I do have faith that they will do an incredible job in tropical America, after what I saw last week.
• 42:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And Magic Kingdom's Play Area is water, which is a headache of its own.
• 42:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: but it truly feels like they are making new experiences designed for what parents of young kids want and need.
• 43:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: And some are temporary, like Wilkins Summer, which is great and others are permanent, like didn't tell you studios, which is great.
• 43:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm seeing improvements, and I am gleeful about it.
• 43:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is what I am saying.
• 43:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it makes you think, because why are we doing the construction, the labor, the entertainment, the planning, the marketing, the maps, why are we doing all of this when kind of when we actually need to fix is the hotel guest experience.
• 43:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is Walt Disney World, the vacation kingdom for families.
• 43:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: And yet, if you are not professionally someone who covers theme parks, you may not know that sometimes these hotel rooms don't have bathtubs.
• 43:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Portland's Riverside was recently redesigned to have new rooms, cool, they don't all have bathtubs.
• 43:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: And to spare you the guts of it, this kind of became the inciting incident that's spun out the first half of our trip out of control.
• 43:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I found myself at a hotel boasting that it's great for kids, while attending a media event all about how great this place is for kids, struggling more than I have at any Disney hotel in my life.
• 44:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I experienced every side of staying
• 44:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that is unique, but it has yielded a realization for me through all of this, because at these 4 hotels, the cool kid's summer hotels this summer, Disney is doing something awesome and offering a lot of amenities upon request.
• 44:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can call or visit the front desk for things like night lights and bottle sterilizers.
• 44:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some of these amenities like diaper disposals like little like a diaper pale and put an answer to his mom like poopy Some of these amenities are available exclusively for cool-kin summer while other things like packing plays or bed bumpers Which they recently redid and changed the ones out that they used to have in the new ones I think everyone agrees that they're way better.
• 44:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I experienced them.
• 44:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I also thought they were great Those are always available Both of which I did request and they were in my room, which was wonderful
• 44:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: But while cool gets summer is fantastic, I really, I really do love it, I really think it's great.
• 45:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: While it is great, we need to be offering this stuff always because parents don't only need diaper pales at four of the hotels.
• 45:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Parents don't only need bottle warmers until around a Labor Day weekend.
• 45:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are permanent real needs that clearly they know about and clearly there can be infrastructure for but maybe the budget just isn't supporting that.
• 45:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: This stuff should not only be seasonal at select resorts, but everywhere all the time and well-known.
• 45:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I experienced this firsthand.
• 45:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: We had a really tough stay at Disney's Port Orleans River side with my three-year-old toddler.
• 45:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not, I'm not, I'm not going to give you all the details, but it was really tough.
• 45:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, knowing when I know that we've been arrived from the west coast around like 715pm, I called an advance to make sure I could request the bed bumpers,
• 45:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I knew we would be in crunch time to kind of like get her fend and get her to bed on time.
• 45:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I just wanted to make sure we were all set for when we arrived.
• 45:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our mirrors bus took two hours, two hours.
• 46:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's all I can say without screaming and fooling with my voice again because I just took two hours.
• 46:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's...
• 46:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: It took two hours, which means we arrived extremely late when the sun was down in full crunch time to get my child ready.
• 46:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: We dragged everything to the room because we didn't have 20 to 30 minutes to wait for luggage to be delivered because we had to get dinner, we had to get situated and have to be there when they dropped the bags off.
• 46:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a whole thing.
• 46:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, oh, sorry, I still have to make dust.
• 46:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we made it to the room and lo and behold, it's not have a bathtub.
• 46:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: When you have a toddler, the club is not negotiable.
• 46:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I really don't want to be taken a shower with my toddler standing up when she is Disney Dirty, like we need a top period.
• 46:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: So long to be short, I had to go to the front desk and I talked to them and they were great, but we had to work it out and then I went back to our room and then the next morning we had to pack up all our bags and move to a new room later that day because there was no bathtub.
• 46:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, the thing I called about that I worked on in advance.
• 46:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And some of this may have been because I was there for a media event.
• 46:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: They always put us in like a block of rooms and so everything's like a little non-standard when we stay.
• 47:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: But some of this is the fact that this can happen to anyone who is staying in a hotel like this.
• 47:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is just the way it is.
• 47:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now.
• 47:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Would this have been a big deal for other people?
• 47:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Probably not.
• 47:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Would our state have made a lot easier if we spend less time in the parks and walked around the admittedly beautiful manicured grounds?
• 47:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: What if we were just like going in the pool the next day?
• 47:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Taking it easy.
• 47:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: If my kid was older and didn't need to be strolled all the way to the room.
• 47:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, and if I wasn't working and if like this wasn't it's a standard booking maybe everything would have been more simple and Everyone I encountered through this could not have been more helpful and I know it sounds like I'm harping on a bathtub a lot But I want to get to a point that this bathtub is kind of representative of
• 47:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: but the economy of being at a hotel that for the summer is the most friendly to toddlers that could possibly be.
• 47:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: While still struggling to meet a basic need for my child to keep them clean, it's frustrating.
• 47:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because think about it, Disney knows how to manage every detail of ride cues and lightning lanes and hotels and occupancy, and as much as I drag the Go.com platform a lot like a lot.
• 48:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: They have the technology, the technological backing to pull off some wild stuff.
• 48:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And yet their system can't flag that when someone whose age and birthday are right there on Hermite Disney experience account, because she's three, I got it, she got it, she needs a ticket, they know she's three.
• 48:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, they can't flag on the back end that this three-year-old would obviously undoubtedly need a bathtub or some sort of aid to sleep comfortably in her room?
• 48:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is a coming in a categorically-collects data on everything.
• 48:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: You scan my magic band at the front desk.
• 48:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: You see a record of every magic band I've had in my lifetime.
• 48:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I know, because every time I go to the front desk of a Disney hotel, they're like, wow, that's a lot of magic bands.
• 48:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, I know, it's a situation.
• 48:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: If they have that, why can't this stuff be automatically brought to a room when the reservation shows that there's a small child there?
• 48:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Why isn't this technology there on the back end to see that, oh, a four-month-old is coming here on vacation, and automatically flag all the requests that they might need so that they have what they need while they're there.
• 49:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: That would really make a family's summer better.
• 49:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the pajama parties and the activations and the events and the dance parties, it's all excellent.
• 49:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: All the cool kid summer stuff is great.
• 49:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not critiquing it.
• 49:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think they've done a fantastic job and I don't want to knock that.
• 49:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if we are focusing on how to make these vacations better for parents of young children, if we are redesigning part of Disney's Hollywood studios to make the experience better for parents of young children.
• 49:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine getting even an automated call asking if you need bed bumpers or a pack and play or a diaper pale.
• 49:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine a form being auto-email to you when you book a trip with someone under four or five asking if you would like to request those items in advance.
• 49:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine checking into your room, traveling with an infant and having a diaper pale and a bottle warmer and a baby bathtub, all just being there.
• 49:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is the Disney difference because I've seen it on Disney Cruise Line.
• 49:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've seen it at luxury hotels, but here it would make such a massive impact.
• 50:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: And especially if everything we're discussing, everything is them plusing the experiences of things, taking things we already have and making them that much better, this is something that would do that so much for so many people.
• 50:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm telling you, as a higher parent, taking care of a parent even in the slightest most minimal way would change their trips and their lives, I assure you the hoops I jump through to bring some of this stuff on my own would melt someone's brain.
• 50:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have the world's biggest carabiner so that I can hook.
• 50:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: my pack and play onto a suitcase so that I can push both of those while also pushing a stroller at international airports when I travel alone with my child.
• 50:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nobody knows this better than me.
• 50:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is coming from the author of the story about the inflatable infant bathtub you need to travel with on wire cutter.
• 50:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: The website that has the best recommendations at the New York Times for stuff you need to travel with with your baby.
• 50:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I wrote it.
• 50:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay?
• 50:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm kind of an expert in this field.
• 51:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now I'm at home thinking about all this stuff looking at the cool kids on my pamphlet and realizing that I was sleep deprived and didn't close read it and didn't know they have straw or storage?
• 51:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's character phone messages like I was at this hotel and I didn't know this stuff was coming in the following week and if I booked a room right now on Disney's website I probably wouldn't know either.
• 51:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And part of this is on me, I need to admit, I need to take the L. The bathtub snafu was like a domino falling in line of chaos and it ultimately led us to skip this additional moment to check out this hotel room where they did indeed explain this to media.
• 51:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our media check-in event had a secondary location you were supposed to go to to hear about all of this stuff.
• 51:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was not able to go because we started our day four and a half hours later than planned because we had to pack up all of our stuff.
• 51:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, it was like a full domino effect.
• 51:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I missed the moment where someone could have told me this in person.
• 51:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is my bad.
• 51:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm still mad at myself about it.
• 51:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I did a bad job there.
• 52:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I admit it and I need to own that.
• 52:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: But not everyone who comes here would even see the content from that.
• 52:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not everyone who visits with small children would see videos from people who did attend that and did post.
• 52:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because again, this stuff should be automatic and it easily can be.
• 52:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, just take the cool kids, I'm like waving at you.
• 52:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can't see me.
• 52:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just take the cool kids summer guide.
• 52:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm looking at it and it's beautiful.
• 52:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: They put so much work into this.
• 52:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: They should send this via email seven days before your trip.
• 52:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: This should be automatic because it's that good.
• 52:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm old enough to remember, when you didn't have to think about a lot of stuff in your Disney trip, you didn't have to think about airport transportation, when your bags would automatically be brought to your room.
• 52:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: When you could check them in your hotel to make your final day easier.
• 52:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I try not to lament on what we've lost.
• 52:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: But after all of this, dragging my suitcases not once but twice through the plantation labyrinth that is Disney's Port Orleans Riverside.
• 52:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't help but see the holes in a modern Disney vacation, like wet pickles on a sandwich.
• 52:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: These things have become unignorable.
• 53:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when you're on a paid bus that takes two hours door to door arriving so late you have to drag those suitcases to room that doesn't suit your needs.
• 53:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are choirs you to move rooms to another new room where you would probably need to request your diaper paler, nightlight, or whatever, all over again.
• 53:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just to mean your basic needs for your kid to sleep through the night so you can actually
• 53:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: To not being very cool and I know we've lost a lot and harping on it isn't helpful But this stuff is fixable.
• 53:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is doable and it's not just like hey Hey, I oh I hate it so much This is the type of stuff that we have automation for this would actually really impact so many families on their Disney trip and make them want to come back It would make things more seamless
• 53:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: and they could do it all without contracting out of fleet of buses and luggage handlers.
• 53:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Big moves like that.
• 53:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I hope from what I've seen from the great decisions I've encountered during my trip, cool kids summer, all of the changes to ride, all of that.
• 54:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hope that maybe we can carry some of that through beyond just the summer and to everyone's Disney hotel staying.
• 54:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: You might say, there's possibly a great big beautiful tomorrow because the last thing we have to discuss incredible segue, incredible, I didn't plan that, and I'm just like, good.
• 54:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: We have to talk about Disney's carousel of progress.
• 54:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, if you've seen the video that I posted, you basically know how I feel about it.
• 54:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I before I went to Disney World on this trip, I might have been like, oh boy, oh boy, don't know how this is going to go over.
• 54:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: But now that I've seen what they can do, like I said, I'm just going to let them cook.
• 54:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have so much trust and faith in Walt Disney Imagineering right now, because what they've shown me with these rides they've recently updated, which is recent.
• 54:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like you know, these people are working on all of the projects in Magic Kingdom in throughout Walt Disney World.
• 54:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: They've shown me that they're up to the job.
• 54:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: They understand how to retain the heart of an attraction while also updating it and making it modern.
• 54:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because the thing is, as much as we are nostalgia, about this, as much as we are nostalgic about these experiences.
• 55:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: As much as we want them to stay the same forever, they need to grow so that the next generation doesn't look at them in like weird old stuff and not the interest in.
• 55:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: We need the next generation to love it just as much as we did.
• 55:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that will keep these parks moving forward.
• 55:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: What I've seen, Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Frozen Ever After, Lightning Falkenswag goes run.
• 55:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: These people are capable of keeping the heart and the core of these attractions while also making them more fun.
• 55:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: All they've been doing at the end of the day is making us get more out of our Disney world trip without changing that much.
• 55:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if they cannot change much and make those rides so much better, why wouldn't they be able to start ground up and make things even better than that?
• 55:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: That dirt pig looms large.
• 55:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not gonna lie.
• 55:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: When you're on big Thunder Mountain Railroad, you feel like you're in a sand box.
• 55:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a big parcel of land.
• 55:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I have so much faith in the future of Disney World after seeing what they've done.
• 55:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: They've shown me their work.
• 56:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: They've shown me what they can do.
• 56:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm kind of, I'm just sitting back and waiting to see.
• 56:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: What happens?
• 56:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because they have proven to me in terms of carousel, and in terms of ripping out something like rivers of America, which seems like the most insane thing you can possibly do.
• 56:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: But this is a team that is careful about these decisions.
• 56:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: They are thinking them through.
• 56:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're not doing anything really nearly.
• 56:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: They know how important these spaces are to people.
• 56:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if they know that, and they still made the decision to remove rivers of America, I have to believe it will be worth it.
• 56:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have to believe it will be worth it.
• 56:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's exactly how I feel about the changes coming to carousel of progress.
• 56:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I'm, um, personally violated and threatened by the fact that my birth decade is now the second scene of carousel of progress.
• 56:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't like that.
• 56:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't like that one bit.
• 56:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I have to trust that they are going to do right by this attraction because they know the sticks are high.
• 56:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: They know they can't mess it up.
• 56:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And as many have said, Walt would want this to be updated too.
• 56:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think reframing it so that Walt is the first thing you see, which again, you gotta remember.
• 57:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I talked about this a lot when they introduced Walt at Disneyland Park.
• 57:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: The next generations are so distant from Walt Disney being an actual person that bringing him in at the start of this attraction, I think is the perfect way to set it up.
• 57:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then we see decades that are closer to them.
• 57:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we're looking into the future.
• 57:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: And from what I've seen, I did get to see them.
• 57:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: We saw a little preview, saw preview of each scene.
• 57:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not going to give too much away, because I don't, I don't know how much is going to change from the renderings that we saw.
• 57:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it is going to be fun, and it's going to be silly.
• 57:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be funny.
• 57:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be good.
• 57:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to have heart, and it's still going to retain that carousel of progress essence.
• 57:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I do want to recognize that them getting rid of a walled error attraction like this.
• 57:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a big deal.
• 57:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a big deal.
• 57:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: But again,
• 57:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: They know that, and if they are getting rid of it, it's going to be for a good reason.
• 57:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's just what I'm believing right now.
• 57:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I believe in them wholeheartedly after what I've seen.
• 57:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And one of the things that really made me feel that way was that we got to see some of the practical effects they are bringing to this ride.
• 57:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're not bringing screens.
• 57:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like,
• 57:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: they are bringing practical effects.
• 58:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: We got to see kitchen appliances like a popcorn popper fake popping popcorn.
• 58:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: We got to see them working on a washing machine kind of exploding.
• 58:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's going to be a lot of like electronics gags.
• 58:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's going to be an odd of body experience to see stuff that we've recently lived through in carousel of progress.
• 58:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I think they had something like a death tones poster on the wall.
• 58:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like they were all, I guess, they're like an internal joky argument about like what bands are going to be represented from the 80s.
• 58:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: But like it's going to be a little jarring.
• 58:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: but I think it's going to be ultimately great and I really offer almost everything they've done.
• 58:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think they've done a fantastic job.
• 58:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so glad I went to this event.
• 58:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so glad I saw everything firsthand.
• 58:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm really, I'm really impressed by the changes.
• 58:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I do hope that I think there is more room for improvement, but as you've heard this week, I think they're on fire.
• 58:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think Disney World is on fire and I cannot wait to see what they do next.
• 58:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh, I made it through the entire episode, and my voice still works.
• 58:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening.
• 58:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think I have enough in me to do a Charles call, so stick around.
• 58:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll be right back with that.
• 58:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if any questions about this stuff, let me know.
• 59:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I am not going to BSU.
• 59:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I genuinely went to this event being like, I'm going to come home and be so sad about the moment.
• 59:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to be so sad about the moment.
• 59:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to be in mourning.
• 59:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I was just like, my job's easy.
• 59:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: I loved it all.
• 59:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: And really this great.
• 59:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: It really is great.
• 59:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's great.
• 59:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hi Carly, my name is Sarah Big fan of the podcast.
• 59:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: I wanted to ask you, we have a trip coming up to both Hong Kong and Tokyo's Disney or Tokyo, and I'm trying to decide which
• 59:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: With the caveat that I'm a big Disney fan, but my husband is not so much and doesn't love the line.
• 59:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: The scene the lines, I told you Disney can be quite overwhelming and the weights can be quite long.
• 59:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: I just want to see if you would recommend one over the other for someone who loves theme parks, but then also somebody who doesn't have the same theme park love slash really dislikes the lines.
• 1:00:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks so much.
• 1:00:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: Bye.
• 1:00:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: Who, boy, okay.
• 1:00:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: So Sarah, here's the deal.
• 1:00:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously Tokyo, Tokyo doesn't easy.
• 1:00:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, if you haven't been to Tokyo, didn't you see you're going to be in Tokyo, you are going to Tokyo, Disney City, I demand that you go.
• 1:00:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: You need to see it firsthand.
• 1:00:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is really incredible.
• 1:00:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the problem is your husband is going to be miserable.
• 1:00:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: miserable because it requires a lot of waiting, you have to have to get there early.
• 1:00:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you're not seeing it, the hotel, which doesn't sound like you are, like you kind of have to get there earlier, kind of you have to wait in lines.
• 1:00:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, Hong Kong Disneyland is much easier to navigate, compared to Tokyo.
• 1:00:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: So what I'm going to recommend to you.
• 1:00:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: little unconventional, but I think it's going to work for everybody.
• 1:00:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to recommend you go to Hong Kong Disneyland with your husband for one day.
• 1:00:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: You don't even have to smell like the whole day there.
• 1:00:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you can just go on like mystic manner.
• 1:00:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can walk around.
• 1:00:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can do a fun few things.
• 1:00:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you can easily get there back and forth.
• 1:01:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you
• 1:01:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Do Hong Kong Disneyland with your husband keep it chill, keep it very chill, very good vibes.
• 1:01:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just check it out a few things here and they're not doing it all.
• 1:01:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you are able to do that, that's something I'm still working on.
• 1:01:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you're able to do some stuff, do some stuff that your husband have a casual fun day.
• 1:01:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: They'll go, oh great, loves love to Hong Kong Disneyland.
• 1:01:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Great.
• 1:01:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: He got a Tokyo.
• 1:01:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all be splitting up for a day.
• 1:01:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry.
• 1:01:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is, you got to be going to Tokyo Disney and like being there with someone who doesn't want to be there is complicated because there is so much waiting.
• 1:01:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thankfully, like my husband has been there before, so he packed his patience as we say and he was such a good sport, but we did leave the park after like seven hours and I was like what do you mean?
• 1:01:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I want to move in here and I want to stay overnight and I want to stay forever.
• 1:01:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: So in case you have that bug like I do because there's so much to see I think I really like and we've done it before my husband and I'm going to Tokyo We've split up for a day because usually there's something he really wants to do that I'm like I don't care I don't want to go to like like now like like a whiskey little distillery like I don't care
• 1:01:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to go to some random stuff he's into.
• 1:02:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not, I'm like, fine, run along, I have fun.
• 1:02:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that finding something that your spouse would really like to do in Tokyo, and then you guys spending a day apart and then meeting back up for dinner, is going to be the best of both worlds.
• 1:02:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: That way, you still get to have your fun and with my spouse on vacation, Hong Kong, Disney, relax, nice day, and then you also get to run and gun it at Tokyo Disney C, and you just get to do everything you want to do, and then you can be back up and tell them about it.
• 1:02:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, that way, they get to avoid all that and just enjoy your joy.
• 1:02:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: That I think is the best approach.
• 1:02:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know not everyone likes to split up in a foreign country.
• 1:02:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know, but you can also easily take.
• 1:02:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: We went very early in the morning to wait outside of Tokyo, Disney C. You can easily just like take.
• 1:02:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know we're from the hotel, like your husband will be downstairs and be like, bye-bye, and then you'll just get right in the car, and then you can, I would recommend leaving out of Mira Costa.
• 1:02:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't want to take the train stuff by yourself, I completely understand being like solo in a foreign country that you're only in for a minute, totally get it.
• 1:03:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think it was that expensive when we did it, but I left the park.
• 1:03:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I went into Mira Costa, which they let us do, but TVD they might not.
• 1:03:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then we got an Uber at Mira Costa to go home.
• 1:03:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: That I think is the best way for you to have everything.
• 1:03:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a real like have your Mickey shaped cake and eat it too.
• 1:03:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's going to work great for you.
• 1:03:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just make sure if your husband is kind of about it, maybe find some stuff that they would want to do in Tokyo that you can be like, you can do this, this, and this, and I don't mind.
• 1:03:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And in that way, it'll, it'll just make everything better.
• 1:03:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know splitting up in a foreign country isn't for everyone, but I fully went to San Real Pureland on a commuter train and took the wrong train.
• 1:03:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was like lost.
• 1:03:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: I did it so worth it.
• 1:03:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I went to a reappearland by myself.
• 1:03:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I ate three Mr. Donuts instead of eating real meals.
• 1:03:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I had the time in my life.
• 1:03:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then we came back together and was like, oh, we have new things to talk about, which is nice when you're on vacation with one other person.
• 1:03:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have fun.
• 1:03:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Please, don't deny yourself talk to your Disney City.
• 1:03:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Don't deny yourself.
• 1:03:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's great, but also Hong Kong.
• 1:03:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I loved being there.
• 1:03:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I had a great time there.
• 1:03:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think doing both, that's the best way to do it.
• 1:04:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let me know how it goes.
• 1:04:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have so much fun on your trip.
• 1:04:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sounds amazing.
• 1:04:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: that's our show.
• 1:04:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening and I apologize again for the state of my voice.
• 1:04:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't reach those high highs and I feel like all my runners who listen, shout out to my runners.
• 1:04:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Also shout out to Jeffrey.
• 1:04:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think I mentioned this episode.
• 1:04:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our podcast man has got Jeffrey.
• 1:04:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jeffrey brought me cookies back from Giddy-ins.
• 1:04:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that so nice?
• 1:04:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, there are fears in our land of like two seconds and you brought me Giddy-ins.
• 1:04:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I love him in angel.
• 1:04:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like you guys if you're like jogging like you need that.
• 1:04:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh god that hurts so much But I don't have I will have a next week.
• 1:04:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I will have a next week because I've always I my voice is not back after two and a half weeks like impossible it will be there's I've so much ginger in the house We can get this job done
• 1:04:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, thank you all so much for listening.
• 1:04:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for your patience and waiting for this episode to come out.
• 1:04:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was ready to go.
• 1:04:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I had my whole weekend blocked off being like Ben, take Pearl.
• 1:04:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna work and then I lost my voice.
• 1:04:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm so grateful for your patience and your understanding and also your understanding that this episode sounds a little different.
• 1:05:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I sound a little more monodoon.
• 1:05:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I will be back next week with a really fun episode.
• 1:05:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: I already told you what it is, but, um, and no more.
• 1:05:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: No more.
• 1:05:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's fun.
• 1:05:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's so much fun.
• 1:05:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's much fun.
• 1:05:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can rate or view and follow us on Apple Podcasts, rate and follow us on Spotify.
• 1:05:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: And give us a call on 7 or 7 sorrows, uh, book your trip with M.I.
• 1:05:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mouse fan travel.
• 1:05:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: We love them.
• 1:05:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, also that they would tell you a lot of cool things.
• 1:05:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Or go to mouse fan travel.com slash I'm using for all of your needs.
• 1:05:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Remember, there's always random, random discounts now.
• 1:05:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like you want to be reaching out to find out so you can take advantage of them.
• 1:05:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: because like they announced as discount and boom they're gone, especially like Disney Cruise 9 boom boom you gotta go.
• 1:05:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: So make sure to use them or you trip, they don't charge anything and they will help the plan.
• 1:05:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's that easy.
• 1:05:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Follow me at Carly Waisel across the internet, join the Foley at Facebook.com slash Group slash Carly Waisel, subscribe to my Instagram 99 cents a month, it's basically close friends.
• 1:05:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean that makes it sound like you're spending 99 cents a month being my close friend.
• 1:05:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the 99 cents a month is just a barrier for stuff I can't say I'm in.
• 1:05:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: As long as I, uh, it's very fun, uh, it's very fun, it's very fun, uh, thank you so much for listening.
• 1:06:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Siri, oh boy, oh, with the end of the episode, I don't got any juice left.
• 1:06:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Siri, oh, sue, okay, tea.
• 1:06:16
  [UNKNOWN]: Hi honey, great, I'm up at interview sweetheart.
• 1:06:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I too was screaming when John's name was came on stage to play with them up until they left with my hand bad and you could hear me screaming on my video the entire time.
• 1:06:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: I screamed from when they announced him, asked for a lot of his bungalow playing and until he got off of stage.
• 1:06:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like you, I have now met John's name those two times and I was more excited this time because now I have a video of him saying my name and it was, and as you going to the
• 1:06:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you had an interview, this is your second muppet interview, but you had an interview with Janice and Floyd Pepper from a electric mayhem band twice, and you are just as excited if not more than I am with John Stamos.
• 1:07:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, we were both screaming at the same concert, we both lost our voices, that's a party, a great party, a party to remember forever, I love you, Carly.
• 1:07:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love you, Pearl, and I love you, John Stamos.
• 1:07:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bye.