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Disney Adults with AJ Wolfe (Disney Food Blog)! · Very Amusing with Carlye Wisel - A Theme Park Podcast

• 0:12
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, and welcome to very amusing.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: You're one stop shop for the story secrets and shenanigans of a popcorn fuel steam park journalist.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm Carly Wiesell and nothing I'm gonna say up front at the top of this episode is gonna compare to the fact that we have freaking AJ wolf on this episode.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: Now ages dear friends, but like, still, Keering AJ's voice even as a friend in person over the phone, on a zoom to record this episode.
• 0:35
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's still like, oh my god, it's AJ.
• 0:36
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god, it's the legend, the Disney food blog legend, that voice.
• 0:41
  [SPEAKER_04]: It is iconic and I'm just so excited about it.
• 0:45
  [SPEAKER_04]: Now, separate from everything we're going to get into on this episode.
• 0:49
  [SPEAKER_04]: I do want to let you know that in a few weeks we'll be doing something new and that is that we will be doing an episode about Royal Caribbean.
• 0:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I guess that's not new because we did want a minute ago or a minute ago.
• 0:59
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's like a year and a half.
• 1:00
  [SPEAKER_04]: About Royal Railway Utopia Station, which was one of their themed restaurants on board.
• 1:05
  [SPEAKER_04]: But I never got to go on that ship.
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: It was a conflict with the trip I had to New York.
• 1:08
  [SPEAKER_04]: I couldn't do it.
• 1:09
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, that was when Noah Connor's playing Madison's work on it.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_04]: And James Bay was opening both of which are acts of my husband that he signed many, many years ago and still works with.
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_04]: And so it was like, this is like my husband's night in Madison's work garden.
• 1:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: I can't, I can't leave to go on a new cruise ship.
• 1:22
  [SPEAKER_04]: But they have a sister ship to that one, the star of the seas, which is coming out and I'm going to be on the inaugural sailing.
• 1:28
  [SPEAKER_04]: I can't wait.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm very, very excited to see what they offer.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: It is different than Disney Cruise Line.
• 1:34
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I think there are a lot of very cool things that I can't wait to experience and report back about.
• 1:38
  [SPEAKER_04]: So, stay tuned for that.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: That is coming up in a few weeks.
• 1:40
  [SPEAKER_04]: I just, I don't know.
• 1:41
  [SPEAKER_04]: I can't keep a secret.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_04]: I had to tell you about it.
• 1:43
  [SPEAKER_04]: This week though, obviously we're talking Disney adults.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_04]: Disney adults with author, ah, published author, AJ Wolf.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_04]: Stick around.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_04]: There's so much fun.
• 1:52
  [SPEAKER_04]: I had this truly, so much fun ahead.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: I can't wait to say even more.
• 1:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: Stay tuned for some deals from our friends over at most man travel.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I'll see you on the other side.
• 2:05
  [UNKNOWN]: Thank you.
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: We got AJ Wolf on the podcast.
• 2:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: I think that's really all you need to know because I have recorded this intro so many times because it is very hard to put into words how much you appreciate and respect and are impressed by a friend and colleague of yours while also saying oh my gosh this is not the book I thought she was gonna write.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_04]: I thought I was gonna write a book about food and this is not Disney adults exploring and falling in love with the magical subculture is AJ's new book comes out in a couple of days and I gotta tell you it pretty much blew me away and it shouldn't happen.
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_04]: because I know as someone who is a member of the media how much work AJ puts into Disney food blog in all years.
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: AJ will not publish or co-sign anything that cannot be backed up.
• 3:00
  [SPEAKER_04]: That's why if Disney food blog says a menu item has changed or something is a miss with the mac and cheese, it's true because she has looked through it.
• 3:09
  [SPEAKER_04]: She's basically my Disney newspaper and I adore her for that.
• 3:12
  [SPEAKER_04]: And of course, she took that same energy and dedicated it towards covering a very intelligent topic, which is Disney adults.
• 3:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: Disney adults is such a blind term.
• 3:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: Both among friends and foes, we all have a lot of feelings about it.
• 3:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: And she chose to dive headfirst right in.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: In this book, she covers
• 3:33
  [SPEAKER_04]: Every end of the Disney adult spectrum, all the culture and anthropology and fandom and psychology and human behavior that really just summarizes the Disney fan experience.
• 3:43
  [SPEAKER_04]: She tackles it from all sides, good and bad, and it's absolutely phenomenal.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_04]: There are even these parts of the book where I learned things about a friend of mine, a friend.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_04]: I have been friends with AJ ever since I went to a media event, it Disney California Adventure, and I heard her iconic voice behind me, and I turned around and went, it's you!
• 4:03
  [SPEAKER_04]: We have been friends since then, and I still learned things about her in this book, and resonated with things that I learned that I had never heard about her before.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_04]: There is so much to discuss, so much in this episode that I don't want to keep you from it.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_04]: But I just want to stress, I respect and adore her so much.
• 4:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: I am so proud of her for really, listen, really like writing a big book.
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like this took a lot of work I would have been too lazy.
• 4:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: I would have been like, here's a list to call about Mickey Waffles, Bing Bing Boom, I am done, but not AJ, AJ puts all of the work in, I adore her.
• 4:38
  [SPEAKER_04]: I hope you enjoyed this episode.
• 4:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: I need to get off the mic before I just list a laundry list of every single thing we talked about because you're gonna love it!
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_04]: We even talk about plastic cheese!
• 4:45
  [SPEAKER_04]: Stay till the end for that!
• 4:47
  [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, enjoy!
• 4:47
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, it congrats to my bread AJ!
• 4:50
  [SPEAKER_04]: Can't believe I'm friends with Disney food blog, like the iconic boys of Disney mood!
• 4:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm a hockey star of the world!
• 4:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: All right, enjoy!
• 4:58
  [SPEAKER_04]: Enjoy!
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_04]: You have a famous, what you know, you have a famous voice.
• 5:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: I have a voice that a lot of people listen to you to go to sleep.
• 5:10
  [SPEAKER_04]: People watch your videos to go to sleep?
• 5:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
• 5:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: Now is that a compliment?
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: Because they spent every night in it to me.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: I think they've needed to be a compliment because they're saying my voice is soothing.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know?
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.
• 5:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I'm going to take it.
• 5:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you're right.
• 5:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know.
• 5:26
  [SPEAKER_04]: Part of it was like, someone is working so hard on the edit and this person is not seeing the end of it.
• 5:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: But then again, people use the most popular shows of all time to go to sleep, too, or like, you know, so my goal is to add value and if adding value means I help you get to sleep, that's done and done, done and dust it.
• 5:45
  [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, I guess I should officially, officially welcome you to the podcast.
• 5:48
  [UNKNOWN]: Okay.
• 5:49
  [SPEAKER_04]: AJ, welcome to Vary of Music.
• 5:52
  [SPEAKER_04]: You, Carly, I'm so happy to be here.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm so excited.
• 5:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's so funny that I was like, big, important work interview and like, just throw the hang out with my friend.
• 6:01
  [SPEAKER_04]: Frill.
• 6:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
• 6:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's basically it.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: We haven't been able to talk in a long time, and we just get like, up in our hotel with each other.
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's the best.
• 6:08
  [SPEAKER_04]: I know.
• 6:08
  [SPEAKER_04]: For those who, I guess like, don't have access to my email and my personal life, AJ and I would zoom all the time during the pandemic, after the pandemic, and then I had a child, which really messed up.
• 6:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: liability to be sitting on a computer channel the time so now to be back it really feels a little retro yeah it's great it's nice I'm always happy to be in the same virtual room at you oh my god it is an honor to know you I mean truly like the voice of a generation literally and figuratively
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: What generation is that?
• 6:41
  [SPEAKER_04]: Um, actually I'm a cuss.
• 6:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm a cuss.
• 6:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know what that is.
• 6:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's not x. It's not millennial.
• 6:45
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's just in the middle.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: Sorry.
• 6:59
  [SPEAKER_04]: To me, the category breakdown is really like, if you see a group of teens, do you feel like you might know them or do you fear them?
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: And now that we all are on this side of being like, oh, no, what do they know that I don't?
• 7:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: I fear to group of teens when I was a teen.
• 7:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: So let's just establish that right now.
• 7:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like I've never felt comfortable with a group of teens in my life.
• 7:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: They're just too cool.
• 7:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: They know too much.
• 7:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: They know all the lingo.
• 7:22
  [SPEAKER_04]: I just sit back in a basement.
• 7:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: Anyway, we are not here to talk about teens.
• 7:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: We are here to talk about you because
• 7:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: You really did it with this one.
• 7:29
  [SPEAKER_04]: You wrote a whole book about Disney adults.
• 7:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: I did.
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: I wrote a whole book and it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.
• 7:37
  [SPEAKER_04]: They would told me ages ago that you were writing a book.
• 7:40
  [SPEAKER_04]: This is not the book I thought you were going to do.
• 7:43
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like, what compelled you to really jump into shark-infested waters with this one?
• 7:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: Simon and Chewster contacted me and they said, hey, we want you to do a book.
• 7:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: And we think this would be the right one for you to do.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm like, okay, well, I am happy to do that.
• 8:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's a difficult topic, but what was actually a blessing in disguise is that it's not a topic that anybody has ever really talked about before in public.
• 8:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know what I mean?
• 8:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, Jeff, everything that's out there about Disney adults is like on Reddit or in some weird dark web.
• 8:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, it's the annual takedown piece.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, nobody really established it as a subculture in real life, except to make fun of it.
• 8:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so it's like, okay, great.
• 8:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, let's take this opportunity to do that and actually figure out who we are and what, what this group is, what they stand for, are they good?
• 8:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: Are they bad, pros, cons, and that's kind of what we did with the book is just sort of
• 8:49
  [SPEAKER_04]: look at it stem to stern interview a bunch of Disney adults and figure out who who is who is this some culture mate you know who makes this up I found the book fascinating which is I would say someone unexpected for people listening to this were like I'm a Disney builder I know Disney adults I might not need to read this I found it fascinating because it is not what you think it's gonna be no it is not what you think it's gonna be there's so many different
• 9:16
  [SPEAKER_04]: topics covered in it and the chapters are so varied there's stories I'd never heard before then there's other tidbits like the first one that comes to mind is one that you point it out that like Mickey Mouse has always been for the adults like the amount of Mickey Mouse watches they sold to adults are astronomical when those first debuted with that collaboration like so many details of it really informed the idea that for so many of us boils down to that one woman yelling that a millennial got the last Mickey pretzel, would you include the book because you are so beautiful
• 9:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I mean, a lot of people, I have to meet people where they are.
• 9:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: And most people, when they think of Disney adults, they are certain things pop up.
• 9:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: So we have to at least pay homage to those things.
• 9:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, we are stereotypes are there for a reason, man.
• 10:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: I will say, the book is not at all what I think anybody would expect it to be.
• 10:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: They either think it's an apology.
• 10:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: or they think it's somehow a defense of it's neither of those things it is an absolutely churnalistic pullback like what the hell is this and what are we talking about here it's you know we talk about dizzy a lot because Disney a great effect
• 10:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's fans, right?
• 10:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: And fans are fans because of what they're following.
• 10:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then we also talk about things.
• 10:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: I have nothing to do with Disney and just what community and humanity contribute to your tribe, right?
• 10:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like this is all in all.
• 10:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: This is primarily book about humans and this is how humans act with each other.
• 10:45
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's fascinating because again, you run some of the biggest media companies online like you like if you are looking for anything Disney people come across your platforms and yet I still found it to be profound and maybe even revolutionary that in the book in text you say essentially I am AJ and I am a Disney adult and you and I are speaking
• 11:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: as people who do this for a job, who love these parts, love these places, speaking to an audience, who also loves these places, and yet to say you're a Disney tool, feels a little like, whoa, whoa, that's wild, like what do you think and not to distill the book into a few sentences, but like, why do you think the term Disney adult is so maligned and so ikki, even if we clearly are Disney adults?
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, that is something that I find fascinating is that anybody, anybody who was obviously a Disney adult is not going to
• 11:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: own it.
• 11:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, you will get so many caveats around that.
• 11:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, well, I'm not like that.
• 11:45
  [SPEAKER_03]: Does he?
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I'm not, you know, I'm not, you know, and it's like, oh, you are, you are.
• 11:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: We're all, we're all like that.
• 11:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, I promise that you have, you have pushed somebody out of the way to get over to the side of guardians of the galaxy where that little thing opens.
• 11:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, I promise you have.
• 12:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, but I, I, I guess,
• 12:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: Michael was just to figure out, you know, let's give this a definition, first and foremost, let's figure out why, why is it stigmatized?
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: Why is it stereotype?
• 12:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: Because it is, and it is for a reason.
• 12:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: And pay homage like I said to all of those reasons why, but also go really in depth into
• 12:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: Who are we really as far as individuals?
• 12:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's how you get to know any maligned subculture better anyway.
• 12:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's actually talking to the humans that are part of it.
• 12:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: But yeah, I mean, I will absolutely say I'm a Disney adult.
• 12:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: I've been a Disney adult for, you know, twenty five years at this point because I was, you know, I also sang the book I was running up my credit cards when I was in my early twenties just to get to Disney.
• 12:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so that's another thing that I think is important about this book.
• 12:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I know I'm not completely answering your question, but it's like,
• 12:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's important to look at your relationship with Disney as a Disney adult as a progression, right?
• 13:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, there are going to be times where it is going to absolutely be medicative for you to love Disney and go to Disney and there are going to be times where it's going to be a fun hobby that you have, but it's not consistent one way or the other and it's going to have in flow.
• 13:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so there will absolutely be times that you do things that you
• 13:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: are shocked that you would do, and you look back and you go, ooh, that was, ooh, that was, that was a good, like pushing people out of the way to get, you know, in the line first.
• 13:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: But that's again, that's human nature, that's who we are, and it's something else that's interesting about the book is looking at why people hate Disney adults so much versus hating other subcultures that
• 13:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: also have negative attributes, you know what I mean?
• 13:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: But because it's Disney, it's somehow worse.
• 13:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that was that was cool to dive into too.
• 13:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: To go back about one thing you said, like I knew some of your backstory and knew like the origin of you being involved in Disney was that the started when you were in New York doing a different job.
• 14:01
  [SPEAKER_04]: But I didn't realize the extent of it.
• 14:03
  [SPEAKER_04]: I didn't realize you were staying late at work to print out trip reports.
• 14:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: I did not know you went into debt for Disney trips.
• 14:11
  [SPEAKER_04]: And it's fascinating to look back on it now and be like, look at what those choices led to.
• 14:16
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like it led to you.
• 14:17
  [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
• 14:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's almost not fair.
• 14:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like it's like I would somehow rewarded for the negative choices I mean in my early days.
• 14:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know if that's because that's bad.
• 14:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: But no credit card debt.
• 14:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: Sometimes it isn't investment in your future if you're into wool.
• 14:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: true.
• 14:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's so like I but I am so I'm such a completionist and an OCD kind of person that I have like I had to know everything about the parks.
• 14:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: I had to know everything and that is and luckily I was able to translate and that into something that was valuable to other people but yeah it was it was a bad scene.
• 14:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: I was not in a good place.
• 15:00
  [SPEAKER_04]: See, I, okay, similarly, I have a very similar origin story to you, where I was also in New York, and I became, I mean, I went, there's like the bachelor, bachelor, bachelor at party bit where I showed up at Disney World, because I couldn't go anywhere else and was like, oh, I'm obsessed now, but I also came home, needed to know everything else and like fully dived in.
• 15:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: And there's just something, there's something there.
• 15:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: There's something there where like, if you're in a, you're in a city or in a situation and you go there, it can trigger something that you didn't know was inside of you.
• 15:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like I never did.
• 15:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I never did.
• 15:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: I would be obsessed with Disney, but they just, and you go into this in the book, like they just offer so much.
• 15:37
  [SPEAKER_04]: There's so much joy.
• 15:38
  [SPEAKER_04]: Everyone there is friendly.
• 15:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: It just can be a really nice antidote to like regular human adult life.
• 15:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: a thousand percent and there's also a ton of psychology going on where Disney is actively
• 15:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: working to convince your subconscious that it needs to live there.
• 15:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like it needs to be in dizzy all the time.
• 16:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot going on there where they're, you know, they are affecting how you feel.
• 16:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so I think that that's another piece of it is if they happen to grab you at a time in your life when you're really meeting that sort of
• 16:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: That other, you know, that sort of different space that's different from what you're in right now, that you kind of hate or that you're having a hard time with or whatever, like it, you know, you absolutely can, but.
• 16:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: But also, we got to cough though, because I will say also that a lot of people entering to the Disney fandom.
• 16:33
  [SPEAKER_03]: through family and relationships where they have these very strong memories of positive experiences.
• 16:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: So you don't have to be broken to follow them.
• 16:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: They're like, it's okay if you get there another way.
• 16:47
  [SPEAKER_04]: I feel so bad that you're like, it's just me who was broken.
• 16:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm sure there's others of us, but it's okay if you just, if you just, you know, your grandma took you there and it was cool.
• 16:59
  [SPEAKER_04]: See, I showed up.
• 17:00
  [SPEAKER_04]: I feel like I'm a good case study because I showed up with basically known as Selja.
• 17:04
  [SPEAKER_04]: I, like, don't, I have bad memory.
• 17:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: I don't remember.
• 17:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'll offer my childhood.
• 17:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: I know we went, but that was it.
• 17:09
  [SPEAKER_04]: I was a little kid.
• 17:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I showed up as an adult and I was so bad for on property now.
• 17:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I don't know for a fact that she probably made those trips the best possible trips ever.
• 17:21
  [SPEAKER_04]: I love you mom, my grandma plan them.
• 17:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: I love you mom, my grandma plan them.
• 17:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: So we're fine.
• 17:28
  [SPEAKER_04]: Also, my mom, I've taken around enough to these trips.
• 17:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: I made up for anything I say in perpetuity on the podcast.
• 17:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: But like I showed up not knowing anything about what was happening and what resonated with me was that I felt like as an adult like there's nowhere to go you go to get coffee you go to get a macha or you go out to dinner maybe you see a concert or a show but like that's it like there's nowhere you can really interact you can kind of experience in this way that you can't at a park and to show up somewhere where
• 17:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: people spent their entire careers developing a space purely so that I have fun like the amount of thousands of people who have contributed their lives to making sure that we have a good time would become here to me that resonated above anything because like people at a coffee shop are doing that but here at a Disney park at a Disney cruise like everyone is working so hard so that I have a good time and that in like terms of hospitality and travel just rained supreme for me that's how I became a Disney adult
• 18:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, a thousand percent and like I was really This is in the book, but it was really shocking to me to go to Glendale to the Imagineering Building right because Walking in there and seeing how those people feel about the work that they're doing like they're No excited and that passion just comes through and I think that they are honestly
• 18:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: They are more excited about the work that they're doing rather than it being Disney.
• 18:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: They don't care that it's Disney.
• 19:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: They'll go do this anywhere that anybody gives them money to do this because they're just excited to explore the next new thing and the next big thing and make it even better.
• 19:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: And that just, that energy just overwhelmed me.
• 19:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I was like, God, they really care.
• 19:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: They are actively excited about that so that you can go ride that ride for four minutes.
• 19:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it just, you know, lives rent free and you're running for the rest of your life.
• 19:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's just so fun.
• 19:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's so cool.
• 19:28
  [SPEAKER_04]: Talk to me about like the push and pull for Disney adults between nostalgia, but also craving something new.
• 19:35
  [SPEAKER_04]: We are in like a really small era of closures.
• 19:37
  [SPEAKER_04]: We have so many going on.
• 19:38
  [SPEAKER_04]: Tom Sawyer Island, all that just happened days ago when we're recording this.
• 19:43
  [SPEAKER_04]: Muppets courtyard, Muppets vision three D like we have experienced a lot of closures in the past month or so, let along the past couple of years.
• 19:50
  [SPEAKER_04]: But on the other hand, a lot of us Disney adults are always like, what's new?
• 19:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: What's next?
• 19:54
  [SPEAKER_04]: Where's the new ride?
• 19:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: Why don't I have a new ride?
• 19:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: Why don't I have a new land?
• 19:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: So talk to me from your perspective of that, just that balance between the two and how you have to sacrifice one for the other, but sometimes we don't always want to accept that.
• 20:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: Right?
• 20:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: I know.
• 20:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I think that's, I think that's something that's gotta be very, very difficult for Disney to deal with, honestly, is we are, it is impossible to please us.
• 20:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: And if you say that, that's us too.
• 20:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: We're included.
• 20:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: Absolutely.
• 20:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: We are never going to be happy with what you do to the end of story.
• 20:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know this, we know this.
• 20:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: Because Disney is so nostalgic driven for a lot of us.
• 20:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: We want our Disney that we grew up with that made us love it in the first place to stick around forever.
• 20:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: We want to always go and go through those gates and have it be exactly the same as it was.
• 20:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: when we first went, right?
• 20:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: I still want kitchen cabaret to be there every time I go to have fun.
• 20:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: But at the same time, like you said, we're always like, what's new, what's next?
• 20:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: You guys are just saying, blue sky, you're not actually doing anything.
• 21:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's like, we don't want them to do anything.
• 21:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: You literally want the same ride.
• 21:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, how are they supposed to figure this out?
• 21:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, if we were in a romantic relationship with Disney, it would be toxic.
• 21:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: So,
• 21:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know how they manage us or how they deal with us.
• 21:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: Unfortunately, they're stuck with us.
• 21:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's their own fault.
• 21:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's sorry.
• 21:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: But we're too good at building a scene park and this is what they want to do.
• 21:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can't be that good at it and expect, you know, and not expect hotheads like us.
• 21:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I think that the balance has to be that we have to convince ourselves that the balance has to be there.
• 21:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, I stay in the book.
• 21:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's a bunch of people who every time Disney makes a change, they're like, well, it would be rolling in its grave.
• 21:45
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, Walt was into money.
• 21:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: Also, Walt has been dead for sixty years, do you guys?
• 21:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: I understand that there are some people that are like, what would Walt do?
• 21:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I know that there are engineers still working there that like, what would wall do?
• 22:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: To an extent, that's great.
• 22:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: Business practices, understood.
• 22:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: But when it comes to having to evolve to keep an audience fresh and happy and
• 22:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: I guess growing, you have to change things.
• 22:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: Things have to be different.
• 22:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: And what's going to happen is a whole new side of Disney fans are going to come in and this is going to be their Disney that they are then going to cry and complain and whale and their teeth over in ten years when they're going to take that right out, right?
• 22:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: So Disney just have to continue moving on, figuring out based on
• 22:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: the real data, which is not social media, what people are loving, where they're spending their money, and what makes sense to make sure they're at the cutting edge of innovation and what audiences are wanting.
• 22:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: So we as fans have to accept and be okay with that things are going to be
• 22:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: things are going to change things to be different.
• 22:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: We have to be excited about it either way.
• 22:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: But also, if we're in a rebuilding year, we have to be okay with that too.
• 23:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: We're all going to complain about the walls.
• 23:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: By the way, I have coined the term wall Disney World, which I think is what I'm going to call it for the next four years.
• 23:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: But it's going to be wall Disney World for a really long time.
• 23:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: And we're all going to complain about it.
• 23:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's just what it is.
• 23:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: But that is the mark of an invested
• 23:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: fandom, too.
• 23:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's kind of like, well, Disney, you can't, what more could you ask for?
• 23:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, you want an invested fandom that this is all we think about, and it's all we care about, and it's all we talk about.
• 23:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: We're never going to be happy, but we sure are going to keep coming.
• 23:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: Wow.
• 23:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: Perfect phrase.
• 23:41
  [SPEAKER_04]: I also feel like for me the best case scenario that we saw was the opening of Guardians of Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, because that was, you know, people are always up in arms and things change, but when that would open, they were like, oh, my bad.
• 23:51
  [SPEAKER_04]: ride rocks like we're good.
• 23:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: Don't worry about it.
• 23:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, there's a super, there's a super cool quote from a former imaginer in my book.
• 23:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: And he was just like, I'm like, do you guys worry, you know, do you care about what social media?
• 24:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: And he's like, social media influencers want it to be cool.
• 24:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: They want it to be a cool ride.
• 24:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: They desperately want us to succeed.
• 24:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, and he literally was like, all we have to do is make it awesome.
• 24:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's all we have to do.
• 24:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then they'll be happy.
• 24:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm like,
• 24:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
• 24:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, we're never, how can we be?
• 24:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's true though when it's good we're like okay.
• 24:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: Uh, my bad.
• 24:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's cool.
• 24:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
• 24:28
  [SPEAKER_04]: Which at this point I'm like, I will not critique anything before I see it professionally because I never know what it's going to be and I can't just cast judgment on, you know, like a little rendering that's very vague and detailed.
• 24:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: But sometimes you do make it awesome.
• 24:41
  [SPEAKER_04]: Extremely awesome.
• 24:42
  [SPEAKER_04]: And it's what we, the walls didn't really live through.
• 24:46
  [SPEAKER_04]: It was worth it.
• 24:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I'm so proud of it.
• 24:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I think something that you said I was interviewing you for this book, actually, which I'm not allowed, I don't know if I'm allowed to say that, but I did intervene fairly for this book.
• 24:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: Surprise.
• 24:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: Surprise.
• 24:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: She's one of my favorite, didn't you?
• 25:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you.
• 25:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: But she was talking about how, you know, we were talking about Star Cruiser.
• 25:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot about the Star Cruiser in this book, because I think there's a very unique junction, junction between Disney adults and what Disney did regarding the Star Cruiser.
• 25:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: But Carly was basically saying, like, that's one of the first things that you didn't think at all until you got there.
• 25:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, Disney didn't give you any previews.
• 25:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: They didn't show what it looks like inside.
• 25:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: So the only people you had to go on were the media who were getting in there first.
• 25:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: Those were the only, I guess, opinions you had to base your opinions on.
• 25:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so it ended up being a very weird situation where people
• 25:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: He did the concept of it, not just because of the price, but also because I think maybe they had no idea what was in there or what was going on and they weren't able to own it as a fandom in a way that wasn't the case for any other ride or any other attraction.
• 26:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: So anyway, I thought that was really compelling and interesting too.
• 26:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: When you mentioned that, I'm just like, I never thought about that.
• 26:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: Did he kind of have to show you what's going on for you to be on board with it?
• 26:12
  [SPEAKER_04]: Totally and thank you for making whatever ramblings I said seem profound I think also the you know the big selling point of Star Wars galactic star cruiser was essentially intangible What they're selling is something you feel internally when you're there and that's really really hard to convey That's really hard to explain because even if you watch a little video that someone took on their phone It's just of them in the audience like you don't feel the right of waking up in that place after two nights and going out in the real world and being like
• 26:42
  [SPEAKER_04]: I am somewhere different.
• 26:43
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like I'm back where I was, but I feel completely different.
• 26:45
  [SPEAKER_04]: And it's really hard to explain that.
• 26:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: So many people have experienced immerse at the theater that it's very, very hard to sell it to you if you haven't experienced it.
• 26:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's no way to know what that's going to be like.
• 26:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: And there's no way to put a price tag on that.
• 27:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I think that was, I mean, that was a big ask.
• 27:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I also think it should have had a pool.
• 27:10
  [SPEAKER_04]: That's also a huge critique of mine.
• 27:12
  [SPEAKER_04]: How are you going to tell people it's a cruise?
• 27:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: You don't got a pool, you don't got a hot tub, you don't got a space stop, come on now.
• 27:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, listen, there were a lot that was wrong, but none of us have ever been on a star cruise ever before.
• 27:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: So what do we know?
• 27:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, but yeah, no, I think that anyway, we could we have another podcast.
• 27:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: all about StarCree because we haven't really talked about it, you and I. No, it just kind of appeared and then it went away.
• 27:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: It was so weird.
• 27:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, we haven't really discussed our feelings about it and I think enough time is past that we may need to do another podcast for rediscuss our feelings about what happened there.
• 28:08
  [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, something that you revealed in your book, which I did not know about you.
• 28:12
  [SPEAKER_04]: And keep in mind, we are real world friends.
• 28:15
  [SPEAKER_04]: AJ is currently wearing a hat that I made her for a trip we took to Texas together.
• 28:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: Uh, it says I survived the rainforest.
• 28:22
  [SPEAKER_04]: Give me a river ride and get some Texas because we did.
• 28:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: We did three times.
• 28:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: Three times.
• 28:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: Three times.
• 28:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: Three times.
• 28:28
  [SPEAKER_04]: I was like five, but I guess I was three.
• 28:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: No, three because we did once.
• 28:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: And we went again.
• 28:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: And we're like, okay, we should do one finale last one more time.
• 28:35
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I will say you were the only one who got wet, I don't know why.
• 28:40
  [SPEAKER_04]: I don't know why you were the only one that got wet on that weird drive.
• 28:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: I don't very interesting.
• 28:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know why.
• 28:46
  [SPEAKER_04]: There was like one animal squirting water and it kept hitting you.
• 28:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: He'll kind of like I was baptized by the river ride.
• 28:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: I was baptized by the Rape Forest Cafe, Ryan.
• 28:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, yeah.
• 28:58
  [SPEAKER_04]: God.
• 28:59
  [SPEAKER_04]: And by the way, incredible trip.
• 29:00
  [SPEAKER_04]: But all of that is to say, like, like, we've hung out, we are friends.
• 29:04
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I learned things about even this book I didn't know about you.
• 29:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: I did not know.
• 29:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not very forthcoming with things about me.
• 29:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's so, that isn't surprising.
• 29:13
  [SPEAKER_04]: But I know you.
• 29:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I had no idea you had this closet of Disney souvenirs that you've never spoken about.
• 29:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: I do.
• 29:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's right there.
• 29:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's been in that, do you know how many times I've seen AJ in this room?
• 29:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's in that room and I never knew.
• 29:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's right over there.
• 29:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it's my shame closet.
• 29:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: I call it my shame closet.
• 29:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's not really a shame closet, although it is kind of a shame closet.
• 29:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: But in the book, actually, I think the first line in the book was about the closet.
• 29:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's it's my Monica closet, like from friends where she's got that closet where she doesn't organize anything in it.
• 29:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's just a bunch of a bunch of crap that if you open the door at all, come out on you.
• 29:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: I have my closet bowl of
• 29:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: Disney stuff.
• 29:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: I have menus from Disney restaurants from like, two thousand three.
• 29:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know what I mean?
• 30:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, I have a pen from when I went to O'HANA for the very first time.
• 30:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I didn't even know what it was.
• 30:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: This was back in like, what?
• 30:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: They were like, two websites that about did me.
• 30:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, you know, I mean, I just, I've got so much stuff and then I've got, again, like I said, there are things that you buy because you get caught up in the moment.
• 30:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's opening day of Galaxy's Edge.
• 30:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's opening day of voice story, land.
• 30:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's, you know, fantasy springs.
• 30:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, God.
• 30:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
• 30:35
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like you said in the book, Tokyo was exempt from this from a merchandise policy.
• 30:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: Tokyo's exempt, you're going to buy what you buy in Tokyo.
• 30:41
  [SPEAKER_04]: But what's the rarest thing?
• 30:43
  [SPEAKER_04]: Or what do you think is the most valuable thing in your collection?
• 30:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my gosh, this, this is a very, probably the teaky mugs.
• 30:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like I actually added up how much the teaky mugs were worth.
• 30:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I think we're, you know, pushing like a grand or something like a lot of money for all the teaky mugs that I have from all the limited releases of the Trader Stams.
• 31:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: And, you know, we have a mutual friend who's a club thirty three member and she gets me all those teaky mugs and, and that come out.
• 31:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so it's like,
• 31:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I had a lot of those in there and they're like fragile for GLA.
• 31:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: Do not touch, you know, leave this shelf alone.
• 31:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I know.
• 31:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I don't know, I'm sure I've got other stuff in there that is from, you know, B.R.
• 31:33
  [SPEAKER_03]: Guest Restaurant opening or whatever, you know, like what, like stuff way back in the, I think I was there when this wasn't when I was work.
• 31:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I started the blog in two thousand nine, but pre that, I would still go, you know, to do all of the specialty thing, even wasn't media events or whatever.
• 31:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: So like opening,
• 31:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: of like animal kingdom lodge stuff like that, you know, I think one of the most fascinating things about the hate towards Disney adults is that like you mentioned the Tiki mugs and from my perspective, I'm kind of like don't you all understand that we're keeping these parts profitable?
• 32:08
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like we are not, you know, bringing our three young children and packing a Ziploc bag of goldfish and uncrustables for them like we are coming here and we are dropping adult
• 32:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: Monday.
• 32:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: And that's the profitability which leads to investment in these places we love.
• 32:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like we are part of the reason that you're getting so many new experiences.
• 32:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I feel like we're out of the conversation.
• 32:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like you shouldn't hate us.
• 32:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: You should appreciate that we're here and doing the thing.
• 32:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it's so true.
• 32:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: And something that's really compelling statistic that are really compelling to me is that now you will find adults without children.
• 32:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: More often in the parks than you'll find adults with children.
• 32:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: So you will, you know, the number of Disney adults, the number of people going to these parks without kids is just growing.
• 32:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: And, you know, they just gave a whole bunch of prime real estate to an adult's only lounge in edcut.
• 33:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's insane.
• 33:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: That alone has to tell you where they are seeing the dollar signs happening.
• 33:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's
• 33:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's this group of people that are going to keep going back over and over and over again, and are going to want to one up each other by having that experience because if they don't, then someone's going to consider them less than that they didn't do the fireworks thing at DO AD two or whatever, you know what I mean, like it's this
• 33:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's it's just fascinating.
• 33:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: I know.
• 33:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: Branding this book just totally blew my mind.
• 33:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: It was so fascinating to me.
• 33:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then thinking about how Disney's thinking about all this stuff and how how Disney adults affect what Disney does because they do they have to.
• 33:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: Even though Disney will never say that they do.
• 33:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: Of course they do.
• 33:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: So just kind of digging into all of that.
• 33:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's seeing what's happened online and what's happened as a result at the need.
• 33:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, so cool.
• 33:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: Such cool stuff.
• 34:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: I love that anthropological piece of it.
• 34:02
  [SPEAKER_04]: I know.
• 34:03
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I love it.
• 34:04
  [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, although they haven't admitted it.
• 34:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like, we're here and we're allowed.
• 34:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: So they know.
• 34:08
  [SPEAKER_04]: But like, I love that we are being catered to because there is an end of this and you talk about it in the book.
• 34:13
  [SPEAKER_04]: We're like, we are kind of dragged for going here without kids.
• 34:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: A lot of people are like, oh, one of the main arguments is, oh, this is a place for you to bring your children.
• 34:22
  [SPEAKER_04]: And again, that is kind of the origin story.
• 34:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: of Disneyland and Disney parks is that this is a place for families to spend time together.
• 34:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: But again, I can tend that there's nowhere to go.
• 34:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: There's nowhere to go.
• 34:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: Where am I going to go to a mall?
• 34:34
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's twenty twenty five.
• 34:35
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm not going to a shopping mall.
• 34:36
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like there's nowhere to go.
• 34:38
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I'm so grateful that we have this place that we can visit and outwardly have fun at and just like feel joy in a very open public way because unless and not to keep saying as you say in the book.
• 34:49
  [SPEAKER_04]: But like one of the closest comparisons is
• 34:52
  [SPEAKER_04]: sport fans which clearly I'm not one from the way I phrased that but people who love to go to sport games again I don't know people who love a football who love a basketball it couldn't be me and yet like there's nowhere if you aren't in that sphere there's like nowhere to go and spend time with your friends or your family or just a bunch of people and so I love that they are recognizing us and Building spaces for us within a place that is open to everyone
• 35:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: I think so too.
• 35:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: I think that's I think we're going to see a lot more of that in the future.
• 35:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know that we're necessarily going to see more thrill rides per se because I think, you know, adults have shown that they're almost just a happy with, you know, the family friendly rides.
• 35:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I do think we're going to see more exclusive stuff just for grownups just for adults.
• 35:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: probably going to see some changes to some more restaurants and things like that.
• 35:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's an exciting time, but I do not envy Disney.
• 35:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: I certainly don't want to be sitting in a border in there trying to figure out what the audience wants.
• 35:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: I think it's very confusing especially as the
• 36:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: as the demographic changes.
• 36:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: And the demographic is going to change drastically over the next ten years.
• 36:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: And they're going to be called upon to do even more for adults without kids.
• 36:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's going to be interesting.
• 36:13
  [SPEAKER_04]: I can't wait for this sequel.
• 36:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: AJ, this has been wonderful.
• 36:16
  [SPEAKER_04]: I have some lightning lane questions for you.
• 36:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: No pressure.
• 36:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: I hope this doesn't stress you out.
• 36:21
  [SPEAKER_04]: But everything stresses me out.
• 36:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: I know as I said that I was like, that was a mistake.
• 36:26
  [SPEAKER_04]: What is your best tip for someone who's a Disney expert like us?
• 36:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like someone who goes to the parks all the time.
• 36:33
  [SPEAKER_04]: And it doesn't even have to be a tip, maybe it's a favorite thing that you do when you're there.
• 36:36
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like what little nugget of info would you have for someone who is as well-versed in these parks as we are?
• 36:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, that's a very good question.
• 36:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: Because if you know the perks this well, you kind of already have your own little MO, right?
• 36:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I think my thing would be to get to no cast members more.
• 36:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: I love talking to cast members and getting to no cast members in certain places, hearing from them when I'm not there, you know, getting little messages from them.
• 37:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: And of course, cast members are a lot of them are transitional, and so they're not going to be there forever, but to keep in touch with them and follow along with where they go next.
• 37:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's been, it's just been a lot of fun to see through their eyes how, because I've never been a Disney cast member.
• 37:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I don't really know what that feels like, but to see through their eyes how they make magic for people and how much that means to them.
• 37:33
  [SPEAKER_03]: That enriches my visits.
• 37:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: significantly.
• 37:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that's always really fun if getting to know the bartenders or getting to know the, you know, the people that work in the Emporium or whatever.
• 37:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that's been great.
• 37:45
  [SPEAKER_04]: I love that.
• 37:47
  [SPEAKER_04]: What is the most secret space at Disney parks that you've ever been to?
• 37:51
  [SPEAKER_04]: Is there any like unusual experience you've had at Disney parks by way of your job that is not a standard experience someone would have?
• 38:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, when my only like hard hat walkthrough was when we were at Mickey and Minnie Droneaway Railway, that was something that I thought was truly outstanding doing a walkthrough of Minnie and Mickey Droneaway Railway before it opened.
• 38:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: That was just bonkers to me, like my brain was exploding the whole time.
• 38:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, we were back.
• 38:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, we were back.
• 38:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: of the attraction.
• 38:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: It was it was so cool and being in there with the Imagineers who were kind of working on it.
• 38:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: Also, I would say again, I'll reiterate being in the Imagineering Building and seeing where that stuff happens.
• 38:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: Not even because it's Disney, but because you're surrounded by these people who are so smart and who are doing such cool stuff that they're so proud of.
• 38:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: Dad alone was, I mean, that is what I will take to my grave.
• 38:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's probably my best to think experience ever.
• 38:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's being able to be in that building.
• 38:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, Imagineers, if you want me to come back, please let me know.
• 38:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: Sign her in, make it happen.
• 39:01
  [SPEAKER_04]: It is.
• 39:01
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's an unbelievable place.
• 39:02
  [SPEAKER_04]: It, um, those hallowed halls are hallowed for a reason.
• 39:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: They are.
• 39:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, and I think it's one of the most authentic places I've ever been in Disney, too.
• 39:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, um, yeah, I'll leave it at that.
• 39:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
• 39:16
  [SPEAKER_04]: Describe to me your perfect Disney day.
• 39:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, sleeping in.
• 39:21
  [SPEAKER_04]: Whoa.
• 39:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: Do as I say, not as I do, start it.
• 39:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm not waking up until I'm sorry.
• 39:29
  [SPEAKER_04]: You said my forbidden.
• 39:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: No, I know.
• 39:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's just so funny because like that would be a dream for me, too.
• 39:33
  [SPEAKER_04]: But my advice is always like grab a granola bar and run.
• 39:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: Sure, if you've never been, um, no, for me, if I, because I do, I do try to build in a media when I'm in a Disney, um, for whatever reason, whether it's a media event, or I haven't, I haven't been to meetings, I need to go to or whatever.
• 39:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I always try to build in a media because that's the only thing that calms me down enough.
• 39:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I'm so high anxiety that I'd have to build in a time to just relax and calm down.
• 40:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so I build in a media where I sleep in, I do not send the alarm.
• 40:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: And that's all that being a mom that's
• 40:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: extra, you know, just extra luxurious because usually when I'm home, I have to get up early, take my kid to school.
• 40:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: They'll both bless you.
• 40:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: Have your lunch, whatever.
• 40:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: So being someplace where I'm, I'm all by myself in a room and there's literally nobody else and I can just sleep until I wake up.
• 40:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like that is amazing.
• 40:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: It never happens.
• 40:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: So sleep until I wake up.
• 40:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then it would be amazing if I didn't have any work to do.
• 40:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I probably do, just a little bit, but that's fine.
• 40:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then I will probably go into a park, and that's either going to be a Magic Kingdom or Epcot, most likely, ideally, when I could walk to.
• 40:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: I will probably have already made a reservation for a lunch that I want to go to at like eleven a.m.
• 40:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: when nobody else is in there, so I can be all by myself.
• 40:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: So some restaurant I haven't been to in a while that I love.
• 40:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then.
• 41:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: I probably go to another park or I go take a nap or take a swim.
• 41:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like that's my thing and then I will swim or nap until dinner.
• 41:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then I'll have dinner and then I'll probably go to a park for like after hours.
• 41:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like that's why I deal this day day.
• 41:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: That sounds fantastic.
• 41:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: And for me, like as I spend more time at Walt Disney World Resort specifically, like just being there is the thing I want.
• 41:21
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's not what I ride.
• 41:22
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's not everything I jam in.
• 41:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's just like being there existing on property is through it.
• 41:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, no, exactly.
• 41:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: And that's actually something that I think is the ultimate and Disney adult.
• 41:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: I guess if you're scoring things, you know, if you're getting like points, being able to just walk into a park and not feel like you have to do anything and not feel like pressured that you've got to leave soon or whatever.
• 41:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: And just almost feel like you live there and, you know, there's no rush.
• 41:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like that is the ultimate and do me adult, you know, like high score.
• 42:03
  [SPEAKER_04]: Bliss.
• 42:03
  [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely bliss.
• 42:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: Wonder around.
• 42:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: I don't just to be just to exist.
• 42:10
  [SPEAKER_04]: What is your favorite underrated Disney restaurant?
• 42:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: BFD, do you wonder if things are actually underrated anymore?
• 42:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: Because we've talked about them so much on DFB that, you know, like places like Sinai, Nomad Lounge, aren't underrated.
• 42:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: Now they're like really hard to get into.
• 42:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I say it's because we've talked about them on DFB.
• 42:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm sure everybody else is talking about them too, because they're so good.
• 42:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: But so I will go backwards.
• 42:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: I will go back to a restaurant that used to be super popular.
• 42:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: Then now is relatively easy to get into.
• 42:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I will say Lacellia.
• 42:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: I think Lacellia is an excellent restaurant.
• 42:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I don't think it's that hard to get into anymore.
• 42:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: It used to be back when I back in the day in like two thousand three.
• 42:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: It was impossible to get into.
• 42:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I'm gonna say Licellia is an underrated restaurant because it is still is excellent, but for some reason it's been taken out of the zeitgeist stuff.
• 43:04
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, yeah, you're right that Evan Flowway think is affected them.
• 43:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, yeah, because when you're super super popular and everybody's like, forget it, I'm not going to as possible to get into and then nobody goes.
• 43:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: Um, is there any like food item or snack or meal that you have to have on every trip?
• 43:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: Do you have something you have to do every time you're there?
• 43:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: Not anymore.
• 43:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, it used to be that I would have to have dull lip.
• 43:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: I used to be that I would have to have the gas brilla island grilled macaroni and cheese.
• 43:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, yeah.
• 43:33
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, those were kind of mustos for me.
• 43:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: Now I'm
• 43:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: My old age, there isn't, there isn't ever a must do.
• 43:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm just, I'm happy with whatever I can, whatever I can get.
• 43:45
  [SPEAKER_04]: Yep, you're really, yeah, it looks jewelry-yating and then I'm just happy to be here.
• 43:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: Exactly, a thousand percent.
• 43:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: I will often, I will go get a lapu lapu if I'm in a situation where I can get the Polynesian and like, just chill out and be on vacation, like lapu lapu says vacation to me, like nothing else.
• 44:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I'll get a big pineapple drink.
• 44:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: I aspire to be like you because if I don't get caramel corner giggins, those are, those are, yeah, those are definitely your, I understand.
• 44:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, did you give it, I think it was you that you that gave me the tip to use.
• 44:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's a certain aspect of it.
• 44:26
  [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I unfortunately invented this which is embarrassing that I like like whoever thought you could hire a person to be a cookie mule to you would a theme park like that's obviously I was postpartum and that's where it came out of where I was like I need my cookies.
• 44:42
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm here for one day But it was I basically I flew LA to New York with my whole family and I was in New York and I was like I hadn't been on Tron
• 44:52
  [SPEAKER_04]: I think I'd been on guard.
• 44:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'd been on guardians.
• 44:54
  [SPEAKER_04]: But I was like, I got to get back.
• 44:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: I got to get on a roller coaster.
• 44:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: And so I flew.
• 44:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: I did that thing where you fly like in the morning.
• 44:59
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's like back at night.
• 45:00
  [SPEAKER_04]: But it kind of became a TikTok meme.
• 45:02
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I did that.
• 45:03
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I was like, but I got to get Gideon's, but I don't have time.
• 45:05
  [SPEAKER_04]: So then I had a task rabbit to deliver to me at Epcot.
• 45:09
  [SPEAKER_04]: And it was awesome.
• 45:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: I actually took your advice and I did that before I took my mom on a cruise.
• 45:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: I got like a big old box of Gideons to bring on the cruise with us so that we could just pick them throughout the trip, you know, throughout the cruise.
• 45:26
  [SPEAKER_04]: I actually did a two different trails calls about this on the hotline of the podcast because I advised someone to do that and then someone called in was like they're not going to let you bring the cookies on the cruise.
• 45:36
  [SPEAKER_04]: But you were okay because you're not, you know, if it's like the time's food bringing it on is a little dicey.
• 45:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: But they mean, maybe appearing Europe.
• 45:44
  [SPEAKER_04]: No, because with food, they're like, like, I had to throw out berries recently, but I could bring other food that my kid had.
• 45:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe I just got lucky, but I had a big little box.
• 45:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: It was probably ten pounds of cookies.
• 45:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
• 45:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, I will try this again.
• 45:58
  [SPEAKER_04]: I will try this again in a future cruise and see how it goes.
• 46:01
  [SPEAKER_04]: Last question.
• 46:02
  [SPEAKER_04]: What is your unpopular Disney hot take?
• 46:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like, what is your one rider diet opinion that you have that, like, you don't care if people bully you over it, but like, you stand by it.
• 46:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not very good at things that I don't care if people bully me over.
• 46:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, you know this more than anybody.
• 46:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: I am, I am so balanced and even keel in like every single opinion I have.
• 46:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: Everybody hates on Animal Kingdom.
• 46:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: I love to hate on Animal Kingdom.
• 46:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: Animal Kingdom is incredible.
• 46:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: It is the most incredibly imaginable part.
• 46:33
  [SPEAKER_03]: You have ever been in, end of story, including Tokyo.
• 46:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: Animal Kingdom is amazing.
• 46:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's stuff going on in there that you have never even seen and you won't ever see.
• 47:02
  [SPEAKER_04]: So if you're not that way, that's totally fine.
• 47:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, here's what I will say, Carly.
• 47:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: And this comes from being, this comes from training, right?
• 47:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: This comes from practice and training is our, our ammo.
• 47:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: It does need food ball.
• 47:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's never to tell you that something's good or bad, right?
• 47:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: Our ammo is to give you all the information you need to decide if it's right or wrong for you.
• 47:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so that's something that is just like branded on us at Disney Food blog.
• 47:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's don't,
• 47:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: Nobody cares about you, nobody cares about your opinions.
• 47:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: They care about how your experiences are somehow going to make their experiences better or worse, right?
• 47:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that's how we approach everything we do over there.
• 47:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's very rare that I'm going to say this real strong talk, except for point at Hollywood, which sucks.
• 47:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not going to say that.
• 47:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to say, this is what's good and bad about this restaurant and depending on what you want to prioritize, just what you know.
• 47:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: That's so funny because I think my amo is the exact opposite.
• 48:01
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's like, if I don't tell you how good the caramel corn is, I might perish.
• 48:05
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like if I don't scream it out loud, I'm going to be ill.
• 48:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: No, I know.
• 48:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I will scream about certain things.
• 48:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, like there are certain things.
• 48:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: Everything with that love plastic cheese and plastic cheese is my, is my writer died.
• 48:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: You and people are faster.
• 48:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: But like, you know, I'm, but I'm also not going to say, oh my god, don't ever go to this particular kiosk because it's just balls.
• 48:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, no, it's not.
• 48:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: It may be of had a bad day when I was there and they're going to change them anyway next week.
• 48:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I don't want anybody to be like, oh, I just had never to go there and then they never do and then it's probably could be the best meal they ever had.
• 48:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I'm giving you all the information so you can make your choice that the propelina hollywood don't go there.
• 48:44
  [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, then I guess a more appropriate final question for you is when it comes to plastic cheese.
• 48:49
  [SPEAKER_04]: Where do you land between peel top?
• 48:52
  [SPEAKER_04]: And no, I'm not comfortable with peel top ever.
• 48:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: So I have warmed to it, which I say specifically because when it is served hot, when it is not a solid, it's edible and it's fine.
• 49:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: But it is important in its storm.
• 49:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: Any important in the storm, if you don't have plastic cheese and that is your option, if you're at the movies and that's what you're gonna get, fine, that's fine.
• 49:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: But if you have the choice,
• 49:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, always go with fresh plastic cheese out of the pump out of the pump.
• 49:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's just, it's hard to find in Disney world sometimes.
• 49:26
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's hard.
• 49:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: I know.
• 49:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: And you don't pay a buck for it.
• 49:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's a cheaper case of wonco in Epcot at La Cantina that I think is fifty cents.
• 49:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: But these are all, these are all very important niche topics that you should spend some time on in the future.
• 49:43
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's just when they serve that thing and it's not warm and you put your press on it and it just sticks.
• 49:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: It should be a regal.
• 49:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: Why do I want a chunk of weird cheese?
• 49:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: Just paste.
• 49:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's paste.
• 49:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: Why?
• 49:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: And nobody wants that.
• 49:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: Do you have a favorite cheese location?
• 50:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, my favorite cheese location is back on Express because there is AC.
• 50:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: I don't have to usually fight to find a table.
• 50:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: I can go tuck myself away in a corner and spend some alone time with my cheese and my chicken tenders.
• 50:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it is a big one.
• 50:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's a big one.
• 50:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
• 50:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's a big cup.
• 50:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, so you're, yeah, that's probably, but also I will say, and this is not plastic cheese.
• 50:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I don't want anyone to think it's plastic cheese.
• 50:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: But if you go over to Captain Earth, you go over two cooks of Dublin and you get the vintage Dubliner.
• 50:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, Irish cheese and bacon dip.
• 50:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: That stuff is insane.
• 50:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's not plastic cheese, but it is melted cheese and it is a dip and it is bonkers delicious.
• 50:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I never had that.
• 50:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
• 50:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: Let's go.
• 50:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: Next time here we go.
• 50:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: We'll go because it is.
• 50:47
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's been okay.
• 50:48
  [SPEAKER_04]: And then we'll pop over there.
• 50:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: No, let me say for a minute no more.
• 50:54
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, then we got to go.
• 50:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm just dragging you to rainforest cafe is all over the world.
• 50:59
  [SPEAKER_04]: That's my plan.
• 51:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: If that is what I need to do to be your friend, I'm in.
• 51:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm a thousand percent in.
• 51:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: I adore you.
• 51:08
  [SPEAKER_04]: Thank you so much for coming on AJ.
• 51:10
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm so excited about your book.
• 51:11
  [SPEAKER_04]: I hope everyone reads it.
• 51:13
  [SPEAKER_04]: It is truly fantastic.
• 51:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: I read the entire thing in one sitting.
• 51:17
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god, I'm currently and it's not like it's like easy to breathe through.
• 51:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: I just I read like thirty pages of it at night and I was like okay, I have to go to sleep and this is keeping me up.
• 51:26
  [SPEAKER_04]: So in the next day I just sat down and was like boom and just read the entire I like couldn't walk away.
• 51:29
  [SPEAKER_04]: I was like I'm committed.
• 51:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: I have to finish this.
• 51:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my gosh, I feel like I have to pay so much money for saying that.
• 51:34
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm I know you could hate it enough to say a book was good if I didn't think it was.
• 51:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's amazing.
• 51:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, thank you for being in a read for it and for contributing so much to it.
• 51:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: And thank you for having me on to talk about it because it is, it is, this is like, I've been so looking forward to this.
• 51:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: I've ever since I wrote the book.
• 51:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, maybe if I write a book, I could be on Carly's podcast.
• 51:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: Please, please.
• 51:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: If you keep that up, you're going to end up being like a co-host.
• 52:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: All right, cool.
• 52:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: We have about three more podcasts already lined up that we need to do and I'm excited about that.
• 52:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: Perfect.
• 52:10
  [SPEAKER_04]: Star Cruiser Part One, two and three.
• 52:12
  [SPEAKER_04]: I can't wait.
• 52:12
  [SPEAKER_04]: I currently, I'm Michelle calling for Washington D.C.
• 52:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And my sister has three kids who she wants to take on their first Disney World trip next year.
• 52:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: They'll be three, five, and eight.
• 52:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm trying to convince her that we should turn this family trip into a Disney World plus Disney cruise trip.
• 52:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe a bit of a longer cruise and only one or two days in the park.
• 52:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: My mom can't really walk a lot, so it would be hard for her.
• 52:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: And maybe it's selfishly I haven't been on a cruise in a while, so I really love to do that.
• 52:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: But my sister thinks that this would be too stressful doing those legs that the kids should rather just stick to the part.
• 53:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I kind of have the opposite opinion that the crews would be better for everybody.
• 53:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to hear your thoughts.
• 53:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: If there's some way I could approach this or maybe if you think she's right and it's too much to do both things with the family.
• 53:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Would love to hear your thoughts.
• 53:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks.
• 53:17
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my gosh.
• 53:17
  [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
• 53:17
  [SPEAKER_04]: I hope I gave my candid thoughts and not inserting myself in any like family vacation decision drama.
• 53:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: But I'm a side with you.
• 53:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: I am definitely going to side with you.
• 53:26
  [SPEAKER_04]: because when you mentioned that your sister was like, it's gonna be too stressful to do something more than Disney parks.
• 53:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I bring one, no!
• 53:34
  [SPEAKER_04]: Because as much as I love Disney parks, I think like unilaterally across the board, Disney Cruise Line is inherently a less stressful vacation than Disney parks.
• 53:45
  [SPEAKER_04]: Disney parks, there's just so much to schedule and to think about it's a plan.
• 53:48
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like, are you doing Disney?
• 53:49
  [SPEAKER_04]: Dining plan.
• 53:50
  [SPEAKER_04]: If you get like a free meal thing, like, what if you want to eat here and you have to make a reservation?
• 53:54
  [SPEAKER_04]: What if you want to do this extra?
• 53:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: What if you want to do lightning lane?
• 53:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: What if you only want to do, like, the single rise single path lightning lane?
• 54:01
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like if one kid is tall enough to go on guardians of the galaxy cosmic green mind and really really wants to be the other one wants to go on Remi's ride to a adventure in the timing and the naps and someone has to go to the bathroom and someone's hungry.
• 54:10
  [SPEAKER_04]: The parks are again like a more stressful environment than a cruise ship because a cruise ship is essentially a hotel knocked on its side.
• 54:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: You're in one contained space and it has a lot of the offerings that you're looking for in the park.
• 54:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: But I feel like you've already tried to sell your sibling on a lot of this.
• 54:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: So I am going to hit a few important key points that if I was giving like a PowerPoint presentation to my family, this is what I would be emphasizing.
• 54:33
  [SPEAKER_04]: Now the first thing I would emphasize is that you're not saying that you don't want to go to the parks.
• 54:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: What you're instead saying is that you want to have a more robust Disney vacation.
• 54:44
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I think you really want to sell the fact that when you do it a Disney World trip, you have to be making so many plans.
• 54:51
  [SPEAKER_04]: You have to possibly book ride return times.
• 54:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: You have to make dining reservations.
• 54:54
  [SPEAKER_04]: There's just a lot of scheduling that needs to happen.
• 54:57
  [SPEAKER_04]: And you need to emphasize that a lot of that work doesn't even need to happen on Disney Cruise Line.
• 55:00
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can all die together.
• 55:02
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can all spend that time together.
• 55:03
  [SPEAKER_04]: And like, that just happens automatically.
• 55:05
  [SPEAKER_04]: You will automatically just you want to see a show.
• 55:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: You just show up.
• 55:08
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's a lot easier.
• 55:09
  [SPEAKER_04]: It takes away a lot of the reservation planning stress.
• 55:12
  [SPEAKER_04]: and it'll actually make planning the Disney Parks portion of it easier because you'll have less work to do if you weren't only there for a couple days.
• 55:20
  [SPEAKER_04]: The other thing you really got to emphasize this point is that Disney Cruise Line will give your sister an opportunity to relax.
• 55:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: Your sister has three children.
• 55:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: this person needs a break.
• 55:33
  [SPEAKER_04]: And with the kids' clubs on the ship, there is something for all three of her children.
• 55:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: And especially her three-year-olds.
• 55:41
  [SPEAKER_04]: Because when you're three, I believe this is true from what I understand.
• 55:44
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can go in it's a small world nursery or in the kids' clubs.
• 55:47
  [SPEAKER_04]: So no matter where that three-year-old is at, like, developmentally, which vibe fits them better, they have both those options available.
• 55:54
  [SPEAKER_04]: There is nothing like that in Disney World.
• 55:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: There's no babysitting.
• 55:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: There's no kids club like you are with your kids the entire time, which is what we love.
• 56:00
  [SPEAKER_04]: We love going on vacation with our kids.
• 56:02
  [SPEAKER_04]: But even an hour away to lay by a pool by yourself and like you don't have to trade off someone doesn't have to do work.
• 56:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's built into the price.
• 56:09
  [SPEAKER_04]: It is free.
• 56:10
  [SPEAKER_04]: It is part of your reservation.
• 56:11
  [SPEAKER_04]: I think that is so essential and kind of letting her know that she can decompress after you do all the fun stuff you want to do in the parks.
• 56:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: There is an opportunity throughout the trip to just decompress and have some solo time and get away on a family vacation and I think that is huge.
• 56:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: And now transporting kids, carting them around, is tricky and I know that.
• 56:29
  [SPEAKER_04]: I've been, I've been drag and purl to the parks since she was a baby.
• 56:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: But let me tell you, there is a bus that will take you from your hotel straight
• 56:38
  [SPEAKER_04]: to the cruise terminal.
• 56:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can take buses directly between the cruise terminal of your sailing out of Port Canaveral and sailing Disney Cruise Line.
• 56:45
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can take a bus from any Disney resort hotel to the terminal.
• 56:49
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can take a bus from the airport to the terminal and vice versa.
• 56:52
  [SPEAKER_04]: So if you want to schedule your trip like you fly in, you go to a Disney hotel for a few days, you go to the parks and then you go to the cruise.
• 56:59
  [SPEAKER_04]: You basically don't have to worry about how you're going to be the airport because you can book this bus to go straight to the cruise and then straight back to the airport.
• 57:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: I think the trickiest part of transportation on a Disney vacation now is getting from Disney world from the park hotels back and forth to the airport.
• 57:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: That's the tricky part.
• 57:16
  [SPEAKER_04]: And this, it's good.
• 57:17
  [SPEAKER_04]: You just gotta show up.
• 57:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's easy.
• 57:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: The bus is easy.
• 57:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: I think, especially with three kids.
• 57:21
  [SPEAKER_04]: That's a little easier navigate than shoving them all in a car.
• 57:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: I think that it just makes things a little easier transportation-wise.
• 57:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: And if moving the kids around is one of the main issues, that's fine.
• 57:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: But above all, I would emphasize that again, you're not trying to take away what your sister wants to do on vacation.
• 57:38
  [SPEAKER_04]: You're merely offering an opportunity to have and do it all.
• 57:41
  [SPEAKER_04]: And especially for your mom who you mentioned isn't really walking a lot, I do think this would be a good mix.
• 57:48
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can still have the park memories, still do the park thing, have a great time, but also be able to spend time together in a more closed off contained space where everyone gets a little bit of what they want.
• 57:59
  [SPEAKER_04]: And if that still doesn't work, I'm going to open this up and I'm going to say both of you can call me on the TRO's hotline.
• 58:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: Your sister can tell me her concerns and I will call you back.
• 58:10
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I will serve as like a mediation theme park counselor and I will try to get this done for you because it's very, it's very important to me.
• 58:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: I know exactly what you're looking for.
• 58:19
  [SPEAKER_04]: I think it's the ideal vacation to get parks and crews in one go and I just, I really want it.
• 58:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: I really want that for you.
• 58:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: So, call me back.
• 58:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: Let me know, uh, wishing you the best of luck, and I hope it all works out.
• 58:29
  [SPEAKER_04]: Like, truly, you're not taking away the parks.
• 58:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: You just want to do it all.
• 58:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: And so do I. And that's what I'm here for to help you along Med Journey.
• 58:42
  [SPEAKER_04]: Thank you all so much for listening to this very, very special interview with AJ Wolf, a dear friend in icon, a legend and truly someone that I admire and respect more than anyone else.
• 58:55
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can pick up your own copy of Disney Adults exploring and falling in love with a magical subculture August fifth that's when it drops I always recommend pre-ordering so you don't have to do anything it just shows up If you hear this the day it comes out like get out in middle of a ride it'll arrive right when it comes out and you're gonna want to read it because I for one could not put it down I just I feel so seen and I also was wowed by things I read in the book which I think AJ really made
• 59:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: it.
• 59:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: Age of really nailed it on this one and I'm just so proud and I'm so I'm so grateful that I got to discuss all this with you.
• 59:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can rate review and follow very amusing on Apple podcast and rate and follow us on Spotify.
• 59:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: Also, I forgot I should say follow Disney Food blog in all years but I feel like if you're in the Disney mix you know who Disney Food
• 59:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: You probably get most of your news from it as I do as well.
• 59:42
  [SPEAKER_04]: They're on the internet, check them out.
• 59:44
  [SPEAKER_04]: They're YouTube videos are fantastic and so is there social media?
• 59:47
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can give us a call any time of day or night at seven or seven euros again.
• 59:51
  [SPEAKER_04]: I love to answer your questions.
• 59:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: And if you were thinking of planning a Disney trip and Epic Universe trip, a cruise, you just kind of want to like price out what a spring break visit would be next year, reach out to MouseFanTravel.
• 1:00:03
  [SPEAKER_04]: MouseFanTravel.com slash amusing for all of your planning needs.
• 1:00:06
  [SPEAKER_04]: It really is wild that they will do work for you and you have to pay nothing.
• 1:00:11
  [SPEAKER_04]: It feels strange, but the money comes out of the other end.
• 1:00:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: It doesn't come out of your pocket.
• 1:00:15
  [SPEAKER_04]: Disney pays them.
• 1:00:16
  [SPEAKER_04]: So like, it's a free service and we should be talking about it more because travel agents aren't credible and they work so hard to make your vacations great.
• 1:00:23
  [SPEAKER_04]: And if you're going out vacation, you might as well do less work planning it and have more fun.
• 1:00:28
  [SPEAKER_04]: And they ain't in them.
• 1:00:29
  [SPEAKER_04]: Now I'll stand travel.
• 1:00:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: Again, love them.
• 1:00:31
  [SPEAKER_04]: They make this podcast happen.
• 1:00:32
  [SPEAKER_04]: They make the group trip happen.
• 1:00:34
  [SPEAKER_04]: And we love them.
• 1:00:34
  [SPEAKER_04]: I'll stand travel.com slash amazing.
• 1:00:36
  [SPEAKER_04]: You know, I also, there's so many deals right now.
• 1:00:38
  [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my lord.
• 1:00:38
  [SPEAKER_04]: So many deals I can't even keep track.
• 1:00:40
  [SPEAKER_04]: So let's check them out.
• 1:00:41
  [SPEAKER_04]: You know the deal.
• 1:00:42
  [SPEAKER_04]: Follow me at Carly Wiesel for whatever.
• 1:00:44
  [SPEAKER_04]: I don't know what I'm doing on the internet.
• 1:00:46
  [SPEAKER_04]: Sometimes I'm posting about spray tints.
• 1:00:47
  [SPEAKER_04]: Sometimes I'm posting like bringing Disney news.
• 1:00:49
  [SPEAKER_04]: You never know what you're going to get.
• 1:00:50
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's a grab bag.
• 1:00:52
  [SPEAKER_04]: I kind of like it that way.
• 1:00:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: I kind of like the other way.
• 1:00:53
  [SPEAKER_04]: I know everyone in the internet's like, you got an niche down.
• 1:00:56
  [SPEAKER_04]: You got to focus on like the bucketed content that you're doing.
• 1:01:00
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I'm like, nah man, I am a real person who has varied interests.
• 1:01:04
  [SPEAKER_04]: Sometimes it's the big bang theory.
• 1:01:05
  [SPEAKER_04]: Sometimes it's the TV show bones.
• 1:01:07
  [SPEAKER_04]: Sometimes it's like the minutia of Disney's contemporary resort.
• 1:01:11
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's all across, it's all a spectrum.
• 1:01:13
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's all much stuff.
• 1:01:14
  [SPEAKER_04]: And I just, I just try to live my life online as authentically as I do in person.
• 1:01:18
  [SPEAKER_04]: You can join the foamy, it's Facebook.com slash group slash Carly myself.
• 1:01:22
  [SPEAKER_04]: And for ninety-nine cents a month, you can subscribe to my Instagram.
• 1:01:24
  [SPEAKER_04]: Honestly, it's fun.
• 1:01:25
  [SPEAKER_04]: I really like it.
• 1:01:26
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's like a little clubhouse.
• 1:01:27
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's like we all like crawl into a tree house together in chill and I love it.
• 1:01:30
  [SPEAKER_04]: There's like a monthly Q&A, which I've been doing a little more lately.
• 1:01:34
  [SPEAKER_04]: It's just a really, really nice, it's a nice place.
• 1:01:36
  [SPEAKER_04]: It feels like I'm group texting everyone all the time and I love it so much.
• 1:01:39
  [SPEAKER_04]: So if you want to join us ninety-nine cents a month over on Instagram.
• 1:01:42
  [SPEAKER_04]: This episode was edited subconsciously by Jeff Fox.
• 1:01:46
  [SPEAKER_04]: Thanks so much for listening.
• 1:01:48
  [SPEAKER_04]: See you real soon.
• 1:01:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hey honey, it's mom.
• 1:02:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was so lucky to be with you with so many of these fabulous hotels in Florida in Orlando, but I have to agree with you.
• 1:02:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: My favorite greatest
• 1:02:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: hotel of all time is the Grand Floridian.
• 1:02:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: That one I have to say is the greatest.
• 1:02:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: When you were little, I saved toddler two or three years old.
• 1:02:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: I took you there and you would run around and go into the little busy store.
• 1:02:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: You loved it.
• 1:02:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's so much to have a piano player.
• 1:02:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love when I do that gingerbread displays.
• 1:02:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love when I do the Christmas tree decorations.
• 1:02:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I love to food in every restaurant even the fast snack shop.
• 1:02:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Love it.
• 1:02:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's my favorite anywhere.
• 1:02:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Just feel so good at this smell.
• 1:02:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: This smell, as soon as I walk it off the motorway, I'm like, I'm home.
• 1:02:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love it so much.
• 1:02:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: It is a greatest place.
• 1:02:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: It is to my number one as well.
• 1:02:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Great job, honey.
• 1:02:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love you so much.
• 1:02:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love you so much, Pearl.
• 1:02:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that was not easy to wait.
• 1:02:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm sure.
• 1:02:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Love you.
• 1:02:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: See you soon, baby.
• 1:02:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bye.