July 2, 2025 • 25 mins
We explore the world of Disney adults, theme parks, and insider tips from a former Walt Disney World monorail driver. Bradley shares his personal connection to Disney and provides comprehensive guidance for planning the perfect Disney vacation.
• Disney World spans over 40 square miles with four main parks across the property
• Upcoming Epcot International Food and Wine Festival runs August 28th to November 22nd with 35 global marketplaces
• The Eat to the Beat concert series features performances from Joey Fatone, Hanson, Boyz II Men, and others
• Special July 4th celebrations include enhanced fireworks displays at Magic Kingdom and Epcot
• Book your Disney trip 6-12 months in advance to secure better rates before potential price increases
• Visit during off-peak times (mid-January to mid-March or September to mid-November) for smaller crowds
• Take advantage of mobile food ordering and early dining reservations to avoid long waits
• Arrive at parks before opening and utilize Lightning Lane passes for the most efficient experience
• Disney transportation options include monorails, buses, watercraft, and the newer Skyliner gondola system
• Being a Disney adult means embracing joy and nostalgia without fear of judgment
Follow me on all major podcasting platforms and on social media at the About It Podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So let's talk about those Disney adults.
Come on, welcome to the show.
It's the About it Podcast.
Here we go.
(00:36):
Go, I'm your host, bradleyMarsbrough.
All right, you might bethinking to yourself what is
(01:06):
this guy going to say next?
Okay, spoiler alert, I'm aDisney adult too.
I love all things Disney.
I used to work for Disney backin the day.
Specifically, I drove monorailsat the Walt Disney World Resort
in Orlando, florida.
P5 life to my rail guys.
One rail, one family Justwanted to give that shout out
real quick.
I mean, how can you not loveDisney?
(01:26):
They're literally everywhere.
I grew up on Disney, watchingmovies, tv, going there as a
child in Orlando.
They got 12 parks across theworld in four countries.
I mean United States, china,japan, france.
They're definitely out there.
The one I wanted to talk about,and the spot I wanted to talk
about today, is Disney World.
I mean, just there they haveMagic Kingdom, epcot, hollywood
(01:48):
Studios used to be called MGMAnimal Kingdom.
Then you got the water parksand all the resorts around there
.
The happiest place on earth,right, go there to have fun.
I mean easy time, go onvacation, but at the same time,
it's 40-something square milesof property that's almost as big
as some of the big cities wehave in our country.
But yeah, about Disney World,they got some cool stuff coming
(02:11):
up soon.
Ebci has the International Foodand Wine Festival, august 28th
to November 22nd.
It's going to have some coolstuff going on.
It's going to run for 90 days.
You're going to have Emily'sfromage montage returning for
all my foodies out there.
Uh, going to have about 35, Ithink.
(02:31):
Global marketplaces at Epcotit's going to be a lot of eating
and drinking going on.
Epcot alone is a 270, I think.
Acres it's a pretty big spot.
A lot to do there for everybodythat knows the eat to the beat.
Concert series Now that is somegood stuff, I know.
I've always loved going andtasting the flavors around the
world and then going and seeingthe concerts that they have
(02:52):
there.
They have a lot of big talentshow up.
I have a list here for thisyear that just got released.
So on August 29th through the30th you're going to have Joey
Fatone and Friends.
On August 31st throughSeptember 1st, Mercy Me is going
to show up.
September 5th through 6th.
Kt Turnstall he's going to benew this year.
Got Toby Mack coming on the 7ththrough 8th of September.
(03:13):
Love that guy.
September 12th through 14thyou're going to have Starship
featuring Mickey Thomas On the15th of September, basilios,
let's see.
September 19th through 20thyou're going to have Sheila E
and 21st through 22nd Ben Rector.
September 26th through 7thyou're going to have Tiffany,
then Jesse and Joy.
(03:34):
On the 28th through 29th.
The Baja men are coming October3rd through 4th Still hasn't
been announced who's coming.
The 5th through 6th of Octoberthe wanted 2.0 is coming October
10th through 11th.
The 12th through 13th you'regoing to have the fray.
The 17th through the 20th isHanson.
(03:56):
And you got Hoobastank comingon the 24th through 25th and for
all my all-stars out there,smash Mouth 26th through the
27th of October.
And for all my all-stars outthere, smash Mouth 26th through
the 27th of October.
You got Big Bad Voodoo Daddycoming on October 31st through
November 1st.
Then you got my boys to mencoming on November 2nd through
3rd.
David Archuleta is coming onNovember 7th through 8th.
(04:17):
Jordan Sparks she's new thisyear.
That's going to be pretty cool.
November 9th through 10th yeah,bowling for Soup on November
14th through 15th.
And then you got the Beach Boys, also new this year, november
16th through the 17th.
As you can see, got a lot oftalent spread out over the whole
season of the Eat to the Beatconcert series.
It's a lot of excitement goingon, a lot of star power.
(04:39):
I'm pretty excited.
I hope to get to go see one ofthem this year.
Most, I hope to get to go seeone of them this year.
Most of those guys sound prettygood, and girls.
But up first.
You got the 4th of July right.
That is literally just aroundthe corner here.
I'm recording this on the 2nd ofJuly, so in two days here we're
going to have the 4th of Julycelebrations going on across the
Walt Disney World property.
The Magic Kingdom show is goingto be called Celebrate America
(05:00):
4th of July concert in the sky.
Everyone knows Disney hasfireworks that go off every
night, but on holidays like the4th of July and New Year's, they
really amp up these shows.
During the regular shows theyhave fireworks going off from
about one location, but onevents like these they set up
several satellite stationsaround the area that start
(05:23):
shooting off fireworks as welland create an entirely different
spectacle in the sky.
It is truly amazing.
I mean pretty dang jaw-dropping, honestly.
Pretty freaking cool.
Ebcot's going to have theirLuminous the Symphony of Us.
But it's also going to befollowed by the 4th of July only
edition and that's going to becalled Heartbeat of Freedom.
It's going to follow some ofthe same rules as the Magic
(05:44):
Kingdom, like the satellitelocation set up for displaying
the extra fireworks around theperimeter, putting a lot more
light in the sky there, a lotmore of a show.
It's going to be a sparklinggrand finale.
It's going to have pyrotechnicsand tributes to Americans'
history.
I cannot wait for that.
(06:05):
I know back in the day when Iwas driving the monorail one
time when I used to work there,I was able to actually I
happened to be driving themonorail into the Epcot Park at
the strike of midnight on theNew Year's Eve celebration when
the grand finale went off, andthat was one of the most
exciting times I've ever hadthere.
That was freaking amazing, Imean.
(06:25):
I think at that point I startedjust laughing uncontrollably
from the sheer sight of it andjoy that it caused me inside
like a straight front row seat,no lie.
So don't miss it.
If you happen to find yourselfaround Disney on the 4th of July
, definitely check that out.
It is not something to miss forsure.
So, yeah, what if it's yourfirst time going to Disney
(06:47):
Disney world, what are some tips, tricks and pointers I could
give you?
Well, let's start with the, youknow, creating a budget and
booking timeline right.
There is a lot going on thereand it is important to get ahead
of things when planning a tripto this place.
As soon as you know that that'swhere you're headed to, that's
pretty much the time to startlocking in and making some
decisions and getting things onthe books.
You know what I mean.
(07:07):
So obviously, start planningahead as soon as you can.
If you can start planningmonths to a year ahead even you
know, let's say, you're going in2026, you can go ahead and lock
in your room rates now for thattimeline, because everyone
knows that not everyone knows.
But ticket prices, they can go,they can fluctuate, they can go
(07:29):
up from year to year and if youbook it a year ahead of time,
the year prior, then sometimesyou can take advantage of
getting ahead of that and notrunning into a price hike,
because those tickets and uhthey can take a chunk out of
your wallet.
Not gonna lie, you can uh booka disney vacation package for
about a 200 down deposit, Ibelieve, and that is, uh,
(07:52):
refundable, of course, as longas it's more than 30 days out
from the time your trip'ssupposed to take place, and I
think sometimes around februarythey can raise the ticket prices
as long as you.
As long as you get ahead of itbefore then, I think you're
going to benefit from it.
It's definitely something tobudget for, and I'll get into it
a little more later in the show.
Once you get to Disney, ofcourse you're going to want to
(08:13):
have a budget for each dayyou're there.
Maybe you're going to want tobuy some things, budget for some
food.
I'm going to give you some tipson that and all that good stuff
.
Some experiences possibly.
Luckily, disney's not like acarnival park.
Obviously they're not on thatlevel.
Once you get in the door,everything's included in the
packages and the ticket pricesto get on the rides and all that
.
Yeah, let's get into it somemore.
(08:33):
Before you get there, you'regoing to want to set up the my
Disney Experience Once you knowyou're going.
They have this thing nowadayswhere you can book the lightning
lanes and genie plus selections60 days out from the time
you're going to be on on theproperty there and be visiting
the park.
To all my old timers and andveterans of disney let's bring
back fast pass.
Who misses that?
(08:54):
It was to me.
Honestly, what they have goingon now it's just makes things
too complicated.
Back in the day, the lightninglane is used to be FastPass and
it was so easy back then.
All you had to do was there wasno electronics involved,
nothing like that, no bookingonline or worrying about having
to pay for anything.
(09:14):
Back then, all you had to dowas take your ticket, go to the
ride itself and insert yourticket into one of the FastPass
machines there and it wouldprint out a FastPass ticket for
you.
That give you a time to comeback and you could go in the
FastPass lane to get on the ridequicker.
To me, I love that system somuch more.
It was so much simpler.
What they have going on now itjust it's not for me
(09:37):
particularly.
So, yeah, bring back theFastPass Disney, please.
We miss that.
To be honest, I think it hadsomething to do with costing
them money.
When now they're making moneyoff of it.
I think Walt Disney World aloneearns something like a billion
dollars per quarter at least Abillion and a half dollars per
quarter.
Almost.
I'm just in profit after theypay all their bills.
I'm in the wrong business.
(09:57):
One good tip I can give you isto, if you plan on eating on
property, use a mobile foodordering.
That is something good thatthey brought out.
You don't necessarily have towait in lines anymore For that.
You can get on your Genie app Ithink it is and order your food
mobily, do a mobile food order,which is pretty cool and saves
some time.
You can also get on that appand reserve spots for the
(10:20):
sit-down restaurants as well,the table service restaurants.
You can even reserve those 60days ahead of time before you
get there.
If you're wondering about whento visit, like you still haven't
booked your trip yet and you'rewondering, hey, when might be a
good time to go?
Maybe you really do just wantto go in summer the popular
seasons go around to holiday.
Those are going to be some ofthe busiest times.
(10:40):
Those are going to be some ofthe busiest times.
But if you're wondering when togo when it's not so busy quite
as much, some of those times arebasically during when school
starts, starts up, so likemid-January to mid-March, and
then again in September ish tomid-November.
Those are some good times to gofor lower crowd counts and
(11:01):
shorter lines, and they're alsosome of the cooler slightly
cooler times of the year inFlorida, of course.
Florida basically has twoseasons melt your face off and
not quite so hot.
If you're interested to learn alittle more about that and
timing and all that stuff,google undercover tourist crowd
calendar.
They'll help you pick the bestweek for your travel dates.
(11:21):
So let's get into some in-partstrategies.
Right, like all right, you'vemade your plans, you've booked
your rooms, you know whereyou're going to stay and all
that.
You know when you're going toget there.
All right, we're there atDisney World now and we're at
the parks, we're getting readyto go.
What are we going to do, like?
What are we going to bringabout it?
So if you're wondering what tobring, let's say you're in your
(11:43):
hotel room at this point.
What are you going to havethere?
You're getting ready to go tothe park.
What are you about to bringwith you?
Personally, me, I like to travellight.
I like to go to the parks andnot have to carry too much.
So the most I've ever carriedis, if I'm bringing anything
with me is a small backpack orsomething like that.
I've seen the good old fannypack whipped out before.
(12:03):
But, like I said, there's over40 square miles of property here
and if you get one of thosepark hopper tickets and plan on
moving around a bit, you're notgoing to want to be weighed down
too much.
What would I put in thebackpack?
What would I have in my pockets?
That is one thing I suggest is,if you're going to Disney, wear
some shorts or pants withpockets in them.
Because you're going to Disney,wear some shorts or pants with
(12:25):
pockets in them, because you'regoing to have a lot going on and
you show up in just a pair ofathletic shorts or something.
It's going to make life alittle hard to carry the things
you need to carry with you orpick up along the way.
So, yeah, wear some coolclothes, some cotton or sweat
wicking clothes.
If you have issues with the sun, you're going to want to pack
some sunscreen because if youlook up the UV index in Florida
on an average day it's up there.
(12:47):
It can go over 10, you knowwhat I mean.
I suggest limiting your alcoholintake before going out in the
heat all day long.
I've definitely been there andthere's been some sorry to laugh
, but there's been some medicalemergencies involving folks that
had drank too much the nightbefore and possibly even that
(13:09):
morning or day or something, andand they show up in the medical
facility or having theparamedics called on them
because they're severelydehydrated and passing out in
the in the sun and all that, soa lot of heat going on.
So, yeah, again, drink water,drink some fluids before you go
out into the parks.
There, I mean, if you want tobring a cooler, more power to
(13:30):
you, but personally I would justdrink some water before going.
And if you want to go ahead andeat before you go into the
parks and after you leave andlike me, myself and my family,
we would usually only eat onetime in the parks and maybe get
a snack or two if we werestaying there all day we just
didn't bring anything with us.
Pack your sunglasses I meanagain, it's bright out there, so
(13:52):
I'd definitely bring somesunglasses with me.
Try to leave your valuables inyour room or just don't bring
them with you at all, becauseyou don't want anything
happening to them.
Something you might not thinkabout is bring some sanitizer
with you.
Right, you got thousands ofpeople every day.
You got about 50,000 people aday that can visit those parks
and you're touching all therides and all the hand railings
(14:14):
and everything.
So, yeah, a little sanitizationwouldn't hurt either.
And again, while you're decidingon your budget and all that,
try to figure out what you'regoing to do each day.
If you think you're going to bebuying some souvenirs and all
that, you know, bring one or twodebit cards with you in your
wallet, your credit card,whatever.
Bring a little cash with you.
Of course, try not to bring toomuch of that in case you lose
(14:36):
your wallet.
I know folks there have losttheir purses and wallets and all
that kind of stuff every day.
You wouldn't want it all todisappear in one fell swoop.
So yeah, that's a few things Ijust wanted to pass along to you
.
Think about, of course, makeyour own list up.
You know what you'recomfortable with and not.
So yeah, you're arriving at thepark.
Now, if you want to really geton some rides and stuff like
(14:57):
that, something I'd suggest isgetting there early.
Of course, if I'm on vacation,I'm not necessarily wanting to
wake up at the crack of dawn,but to wake up at the crack of
dawn, but there's definitelyfolks that do that.
They wake up and some of therestaurants even allow you in
before the park opens.
But let's say you're wanting tocatch a bunch of rides and such
, go ahead in there and getthere before they opened.
You can have about an hour ortwo of good times and then
(15:19):
slightly shorter wait timesbefore everybody crowds in, and
you can even catch some of themorning shows that happen around
the parks there.
Speaking of shows, if you'rethe kind of person that likes to
go watch the shows around theparks Magic Kingdom, epcot and
all that, and MGM you gotFantasmic over there, something
(15:40):
I'd suggest, and it didn'talways used to be like this but
you're going to want to show upa decent amount of time before
the show starts.
Because if you get up thereright at the start of the show
time, there's a high likelihoodthat, especially nowadays, that
the show could be filled up andthen you don't get to get in at
all.
You know what I mean and that'sdefinitely a downer when you're
supposed to be having a goodtime.
So, yeah, show up to the showsearly.
You don't want to be late for afirst act.
(16:00):
Yeah, once you get in there.
Now, like I said before, theyused to have the FastPass thing.
That was my favorite.
I mean to me you can't beatthat and it was free.
I know other park systems likewhat is it?
Seaworld and Busch Gardens havesome FastPass systems.
That I think is better as well,where you can just buy one
FastPass for the whole daywithout having to worry about
putting yourself on each ride,and that is so much more
(16:23):
convenient.
But yeah, nowadays they offerthe Lightning Lane Passes.
You get to book one ride at atime on there.
Of course, you get on there,you book your ride, you want to
get in for the fast lane and youcome back at the time it says
and you got to pay a littlemoney for each one of those, and
that will help you squeeze in afew more rides in the day if
that's something that you wantto do.
Another tip is to tip atgetting on the rides quicker and
(16:46):
cutting some of the lines out.
Of course, if you're into theshows, like I said, you're going
to be at those more than therides, possibly.
But if you're not as concernedwith making each show, then you
can use those show times wheneverybody's going to watch those
to get into the shorter lineson the rides that will be
happening at those moments andthose times, like the parades,
(17:07):
fireworks, some of the biggershows going on, so definitely
take advantage of that.
Something else that's prettycool at Disney is, especially if
you're staying on property,they have extra magic hours, so
for the hotel and resort guestsstaying on property, so before
the regular park hours begin orafter the end, you have the
option of visiting the park wheneverybody is not there, which
is pretty awesome.
(17:27):
So that would be basically alow crowd time to be able to get
on the rides and enjoy theamenities of the parks and not
get too stressed out with allthe lines.
Another thing that's fun totake advantage of is the
behind-the-scenes tours thatthey have there, so you can do
tours like Keys to the Kingdomat the Magic Kingdom, savor the
(17:47):
Savannah, and Behind the Seedstours, where you get to do
things that not everybody elseis getting to do and get some
insider experiences.
I'd suggest booking those farin advance to your trip, though,
because they can fill upquickly.
Now, for everyone that doesn'tknow what a Disney adult is, the
dictionary definition wouldbasically be, you know,
millennials like 20-somethingsto 40 year olds, who visit the
(18:10):
parks without children,basically and celebrate the
Disney life outside of kids.
A lot of us are drawn bynostalgia and basically the
atmosphere and vibe andeverything that Disney provides.
A lot of folks will dress up inDisney character inspired
outfits and all that good stuffand basically, if there was a
psychological meaning behind it,I would say it's embracing your
(18:33):
childhood and that inner child.
It can actually bolster yourwell-being and your authenticity
in adulthood, basically beingmore comfortable with who you
are.
It's not necessarily a way justto escape maturity.
Of course you get some Disneyadults like myself.
I mean the point of going tothe happiest place on earth is
to be happy, have fun, be joyful.
(18:53):
Right, I know this can annoysome of the families that are
there, but I know everybodywho's been there has seen folks
in line the ride announcementscome on and they're sitting
there mimicking them, justacting youthful and joyous and
all this stuff.
To me that's a good part of thecelebration.
That goes into going to Disney,of course not getting too
overzealous, but you know, havefun.
(19:14):
Disney's there to create aworld of immersion, so you got
to respect that too.
I know some folks can get alittle far out there with it.
But yeah, basically being aDisney adult means you're not
afraid to enjoy yourself and tofall into that immersion that
happens and that Disney createsfor the guests that show up
there.
Yeah, it doesn't matter ifyou're 5, 25 or 85.
(19:36):
Get you a crown to wear on yourhead.
Get you a Mickey Mouse T-shirt,laugh it up, smile while you're
there, have a good time and beconsiderate while you're at it.
Don't be afraid to be a Disneyadult.
All right, getting park to parkright.
So, being in transportationmyself when I was there before
driving the monorails, like Isaid, I got to learn a lot about
(19:57):
how the transportation worked.
So one of the biggest positivesabout visiting Disney is that
you don't have to pay for thetransportation.
There is a way to get fromanywhere to anywhere while
you're on property Going park topark.
If you're going between theMagic Kingdom and EBCOT, you get
to take the monorails, whichare pretty awesome.
Obviously, I have a biastowards those.
They have the buses that cantake you about anywhere on the
(20:21):
property, the Disney bus system,and they also have the Disney
watercraft system.
So where, uh, you might notwant to get on a monorail, or
where it might not take you, orif you want to try something
different, you can get on thewatercraft as well.
They also just recently addedsome odd years ago the uh
Skyliner system.
So it's a gondola overheadsystem that transports folks
(20:42):
between some parks and resortson the property as well, of
course.
Get on the Disney website andthey'll have maps of all these
things that'll help you withyour plans to move around the
property.
So yeah, for monorails, theyhave in their collection 12
monorails For that system.
They have in the watercraftsystem they have several types
(21:02):
of boats from the big ferries,like the General Joe Potter.
They have smaller watercraft,everything in between pretty
much with that, along with thosebuses and Skyliner systems.
Just be aware that they areinterested in efficiency as a
part of their motto.
So it might get kind of crowdedon the Disney transportation.
They try to fit as many folksas they can in Also.
(21:24):
I just wanted to talk about someof my favorite rides as well.
Right, so they got all thesekinds of rides there.
In Magic Kingdom you got SpaceMountain, big Thunder, railroad,
pirates of the Caribbean.
They're redoing what used to becalled Splash Mountain.
That's going to be a fun ride.
Over at Epcot you haveSpaceship Earth and the big ball
there.
There's actually a ride insideof it, test Track Mission Space.
(21:45):
It was, I believe, designed inpart with NASA, so that's a
pretty awesome ride.
And over at Hollywood Studios,of course, you have the Tower of
Terror, hollywood Tower Hotel,now that they call it.
They used to have the Aerosmithride at the Hollywood Studios
as well, but now it's beingrethemed to the Muffets, I
believe.
Oh goodness, I'm going to missriding those limousines.
And then Animal Kingdom, ofcourse.
(22:05):
Oh goodness, I'm going to missriding those limousines.
And then Animal Kingdom, ofcourse they have Mount Everest,
a big roller coaster there.
That's pretty awesome.
And another one would be theKilimanjaro Safaris.
That's pretty awesome.
Cali River Rapids and, ofcourse, the Flight of Passage
ride from the Avatar movie isbad to the bone.
Just a few of my favorites tohelp guide you along the way if
you don't know what to picknecessarily.
(22:26):
But of my favorites to helpguide you along the way if you
don't know what to picknecessarily, but try as many as
you can, of course, get thosepark hoppers and take the
challenge.
Get to all four parks in oneday and ride everything if you
can.
Might need a couple energydrinks to make it through.
I remember when I was younger Iused to go with my family.
They had these pin tradingevents.
So when you get there, ofcourse they got all the Disney
pins that they wear on all thelanyards, and it would also be a
part of getting in the parksearly too.
(22:47):
So we'd show up at like five inthe morning or something like
that to get a limited editionrelease Disney pin, wait in line
, sit there for a few hours andget this limited edition,
limited release pin that wecould keep, that we could
collect, and then we'd literallygo to all four parks in one day
, riding like all the rides andgoing to everything, stay until
(23:09):
like 10, 11 at night.
Man, those were some long days,but I was a kid then so I
didn't necessarily notice adifference.
I was going to be awake all dayanyway, full of energy, and I
envy the kids.
They don't ever seem to run outof it.
They also have a couple of waterparks that you can check out
there Typhoonoon and blizzardbeach, usually open in the
summer only.
Then you also have downtowndisney, which is now called
(23:32):
disney springs.
Um, they basically changedeverything about the place.
Mostly they went from about, Ithink, 150 shops there to now
somewhere around 300 orsomething like that.
They've also added two coolparking garages.
The only thing I don't likethat they took out was the
Disney Quest.
Back in the day, that was thebest Like five floors of
(23:54):
straight arcade awesomeness.
They do have a cool bowlingalley there now, though, but
yeah, a lot of shops, greatplaces to eat there.
Now it's a great way to spend alittle time out of the parks.
But, yeah, a couple other things, just like some of the
backstage tours you can take andalternatives to just staying in
the park all day.
They also have golfing atDisney, so, if that's your thing
, hit up one of Disney's golfcourses.
(24:15):
They are some of the best inthe country, definitely.
They even have horses at Disney, right?
So another cool thing to do isgo check out the horses at Walt
Disney World, the Tri-Circle DRanch located at Fort Wilderness
, I believe.
You can see various breedsthere, including Clydesdales,
percherons and Sheetland Ponies,so go take a ride.
All right, folks, that's allfor now.
(24:35):
I just wanted to thank you forjoining me and look forward to
talking with you guys in thefuture and joining you on future
podcasts.
Please follow me on the socialsat the about it podcast.
I'm on all major podcastingplatforms.
Follow me, subscribe, look meup.
Um, yeah, it's been good.
(24:58):
Thank you, we'll see you nexttime.
So let's talk about those Disney adults.
Come on, welcome to the show.
It's the About it Podcast.
Here we go.
(00:36):
Go, I'm your host, bradleyMarsbrough.
All right, you might bethinking to yourself what is
(01:06):
this guy going to say next?
Okay, spoiler alert, I'm aDisney adult too.
I love all things Disney.
I used to work for Disney backin the day.
Specifically, I drove monorailsat the Walt Disney World Resort
in Orlando, florida.
P5 life to my rail guys.
One rail, one family Justwanted to give that shout out
real quick.
I mean, how can you not loveDisney?
(01:26):
They're literally everywhere.
I grew up on Disney, watchingmovies, tv, going there as a
child in Orlando.
They got 12 parks across theworld in four countries.
I mean United States, china,japan, france.
They're definitely out there.
The one I wanted to talk about,and the spot I wanted to talk
about today, is Disney World.
I mean, just there they haveMagic Kingdom, epcot, hollywood
(01:48):
Studios used to be called MGMAnimal Kingdom.
Then you got the water parksand all the resorts around there
.
The happiest place on earth,right, go there to have fun.
I mean easy time, go onvacation, but at the same time,
it's 40-something square milesof property that's almost as big
as some of the big cities wehave in our country.
But yeah, about Disney World,they got some cool stuff coming
(02:11):
up soon.
Ebci has the International Foodand Wine Festival, august 28th
to November 22nd.
It's going to have some coolstuff going on.
It's going to run for 90 days.
You're going to have Emily'sfromage montage returning for
all my foodies out there.
Uh, going to have about 35, Ithink.
(02:31):
Global marketplaces at Epcotit's going to be a lot of eating
and drinking going on.
Epcot alone is a 270, I think.
Acres it's a pretty big spot.
A lot to do there for everybodythat knows the eat to the beat.
Concert series Now that is somegood stuff, I know.
I've always loved going andtasting the flavors around the
world and then going and seeingthe concerts that they have
(02:52):
there.
They have a lot of big talentshow up.
I have a list here for thisyear that just got released.
So on August 29th through the30th you're going to have Joey
Fatone and Friends.
On August 31st throughSeptember 1st, Mercy Me is going
to show up.
September 5th through 6th.
Kt Turnstall he's going to benew this year.
Got Toby Mack coming on the 7ththrough 8th of September.
(03:13):
Love that guy.
September 12th through 14thyou're going to have Starship
featuring Mickey Thomas On the15th of September, basilios,
let's see.
September 19th through 20thyou're going to have Sheila E
and 21st through 22nd Ben Rector.
September 26th through 7thyou're going to have Tiffany,
then Jesse and Joy.
(03:34):
On the 28th through 29th.
The Baja men are coming October3rd through 4th Still hasn't
been announced who's coming.
The 5th through 6th of Octoberthe wanted 2.0 is coming October
10th through 11th.
The 12th through 13th you'regoing to have the fray.
The 17th through the 20th isHanson.
(03:56):
And you got Hoobastank comingon the 24th through 25th and for
all my all-stars out there,smash Mouth 26th through the
27th of October.
And for all my all-stars outthere, smash Mouth 26th through
the 27th of October.
You got Big Bad Voodoo Daddycoming on October 31st through
November 1st.
Then you got my boys to mencoming on November 2nd through
3rd.
David Archuleta is coming onNovember 7th through 8th.
(04:17):
Jordan Sparks she's new thisyear.
That's going to be pretty cool.
November 9th through 10th yeah,bowling for Soup on November
14th through 15th.
And then you got the Beach Boys, also new this year, november
16th through the 17th.
As you can see, got a lot oftalent spread out over the whole
season of the Eat to the Beatconcert series.
It's a lot of excitement goingon, a lot of star power.
(04:39):
I'm pretty excited.
I hope to get to go see one ofthem this year.
Most, I hope to get to go seeone of them this year.
Most of those guys sound prettygood, and girls.
But up first.
You got the 4th of July right.
That is literally just aroundthe corner here.
I'm recording this on the 2nd ofJuly, so in two days here we're
going to have the 4th of Julycelebrations going on across the
Walt Disney World property.
The Magic Kingdom show is goingto be called Celebrate America
(05:00):
4th of July concert in the sky.
Everyone knows Disney hasfireworks that go off every
night, but on holidays like the4th of July and New Year's, they
really amp up these shows.
During the regular shows theyhave fireworks going off from
about one location, but onevents like these they set up
several satellite stationsaround the area that start
(05:23):
shooting off fireworks as welland create an entirely different
spectacle in the sky.
It is truly amazing.
I mean pretty dang jaw-dropping, honestly.
Pretty freaking cool.
Ebcot's going to have theirLuminous the Symphony of Us.
But it's also going to befollowed by the 4th of July only
edition and that's going to becalled Heartbeat of Freedom.
It's going to follow some ofthe same rules as the Magic
(05:44):
Kingdom, like the satellitelocation set up for displaying
the extra fireworks around theperimeter, putting a lot more
light in the sky there, a lotmore of a show.
It's going to be a sparklinggrand finale.
It's going to have pyrotechnicsand tributes to Americans'
history.
I cannot wait for that.
(06:05):
I know back in the day when Iwas driving the monorail one
time when I used to work there,I was able to actually I
happened to be driving themonorail into the Epcot Park at
the strike of midnight on theNew Year's Eve celebration when
the grand finale went off, andthat was one of the most
exciting times I've ever hadthere.
That was freaking amazing, Imean.
(06:25):
I think at that point I startedjust laughing uncontrollably
from the sheer sight of it andjoy that it caused me inside
like a straight front row seat,no lie.
So don't miss it.
If you happen to find yourselfaround Disney on the 4th of July
, definitely check that out.
It is not something to miss forsure.
So, yeah, what if it's yourfirst time going to Disney
(06:47):
Disney world, what are some tips, tricks and pointers I could
give you?
Well, let's start with the, youknow, creating a budget and
booking timeline right.
There is a lot going on thereand it is important to get ahead
of things when planning a tripto this place.
As soon as you know that that'swhere you're headed to, that's
pretty much the time to startlocking in and making some
decisions and getting things onthe books.
You know what I mean.
(07:07):
So obviously, start planningahead as soon as you can.
If you can start planningmonths to a year ahead even you
know, let's say, you're going in2026, you can go ahead and lock
in your room rates now for thattimeline, because everyone
knows that not everyone knows.
But ticket prices, they can go,they can fluctuate, they can go
(07:29):
up from year to year and if youbook it a year ahead of time,
the year prior, then sometimesyou can take advantage of
getting ahead of that and notrunning into a price hike,
because those tickets and uhthey can take a chunk out of
your wallet.
Not gonna lie, you can uh booka disney vacation package for
about a 200 down deposit, Ibelieve, and that is, uh,
(07:52):
refundable, of course, as longas it's more than 30 days out
from the time your trip'ssupposed to take place, and I
think sometimes around februarythey can raise the ticket prices
as long as you.
As long as you get ahead of itbefore then, I think you're
going to benefit from it.
It's definitely something tobudget for, and I'll get into it
a little more later in the show.
Once you get to Disney, ofcourse you're going to want to
(08:13):
have a budget for each dayyou're there.
Maybe you're going to want tobuy some things, budget for some
food.
I'm going to give you some tipson that and all that good stuff
.
Some experiences possibly.
Luckily, disney's not like acarnival park.
Obviously they're not on thatlevel.
Once you get in the door,everything's included in the
packages and the ticket pricesto get on the rides and all that
.
Yeah, let's get into it somemore.
(08:33):
Before you get there, you'regoing to want to set up the my
Disney Experience Once you knowyou're going.
They have this thing nowadayswhere you can book the lightning
lanes and genie plus selections60 days out from the time
you're going to be on on theproperty there and be visiting
the park.
To all my old timers and andveterans of disney let's bring
back fast pass.
Who misses that?
(08:54):
It was to me.
Honestly, what they have goingon now it's just makes things
too complicated.
Back in the day, the lightninglane is used to be FastPass and
it was so easy back then.
All you had to do was there wasno electronics involved,
nothing like that, no bookingonline or worrying about having
to pay for anything.
(09:14):
Back then, all you had to dowas take your ticket, go to the
ride itself and insert yourticket into one of the FastPass
machines there and it wouldprint out a FastPass ticket for
you.
That give you a time to comeback and you could go in the
FastPass lane to get on the ridequicker.
To me, I love that system somuch more.
It was so much simpler.
What they have going on now itjust it's not for me
(09:37):
particularly.
So, yeah, bring back theFastPass Disney, please.
We miss that.
To be honest, I think it hadsomething to do with costing
them money.
When now they're making moneyoff of it.
I think Walt Disney World aloneearns something like a billion
dollars per quarter at least Abillion and a half dollars per
quarter.
Almost.
I'm just in profit after theypay all their bills.
I'm in the wrong business.
(09:57):
One good tip I can give you isto, if you plan on eating on
property, use a mobile foodordering.
That is something good thatthey brought out.
You don't necessarily have towait in lines anymore For that.
You can get on your Genie app Ithink it is and order your food
mobily, do a mobile food order,which is pretty cool and saves
some time.
You can also get on that appand reserve spots for the
(10:20):
sit-down restaurants as well,the table service restaurants.
You can even reserve those 60days ahead of time before you
get there.
If you're wondering about whento visit, like you still haven't
booked your trip yet and you'rewondering, hey, when might be a
good time to go?
Maybe you really do just wantto go in summer the popular
seasons go around to holiday.
Those are going to be some ofthe busiest times.
(10:40):
Those are going to be some ofthe busiest times.
But if you're wondering when togo when it's not so busy quite
as much, some of those times arebasically during when school
starts, starts up, so likemid-January to mid-March, and
then again in September ish tomid-November.
Those are some good times to gofor lower crowd counts and
(11:01):
shorter lines, and they're alsosome of the cooler slightly
cooler times of the year inFlorida, of course.
Florida basically has twoseasons melt your face off and
not quite so hot.
If you're interested to learn alittle more about that and
timing and all that stuff,google undercover tourist crowd
calendar.
They'll help you pick the bestweek for your travel dates.
(11:21):
So let's get into some in-partstrategies.
Right, like all right, you'vemade your plans, you've booked
your rooms, you know whereyou're going to stay and all
that.
You know when you're going toget there.
All right, we're there atDisney World now and we're at
the parks, we're getting readyto go.
What are we going to do, like?
What are we going to bringabout it?
So if you're wondering what tobring, let's say you're in your
(11:43):
hotel room at this point.
What are you going to havethere?
You're getting ready to go tothe park.
What are you about to bringwith you?
Personally, me, I like to travellight.
I like to go to the parks andnot have to carry too much.
So the most I've ever carriedis, if I'm bringing anything
with me is a small backpack orsomething like that.
I've seen the good old fannypack whipped out before.
(12:03):
But, like I said, there's over40 square miles of property here
and if you get one of thosepark hopper tickets and plan on
moving around a bit, you're notgoing to want to be weighed down
too much.
What would I put in thebackpack?
What would I have in my pockets?
That is one thing I suggest is,if you're going to Disney, wear
some shorts or pants withpockets in them.
Because you're going to Disney,wear some shorts or pants with
(12:25):
pockets in them, because you'regoing to have a lot going on and
you show up in just a pair ofathletic shorts or something.
It's going to make life alittle hard to carry the things
you need to carry with you orpick up along the way.
So, yeah, wear some coolclothes, some cotton or sweat
wicking clothes.
If you have issues with the sun, you're going to want to pack
some sunscreen because if youlook up the UV index in Florida
on an average day it's up there.
(12:47):
It can go over 10, you knowwhat I mean.
I suggest limiting your alcoholintake before going out in the
heat all day long.
I've definitely been there andthere's been some sorry to laugh
, but there's been some medicalemergencies involving folks that
had drank too much the nightbefore and possibly even that
(13:09):
morning or day or something, andand they show up in the medical
facility or having theparamedics called on them
because they're severelydehydrated and passing out in
the in the sun and all that, soa lot of heat going on.
So, yeah, again, drink water,drink some fluids before you go
out into the parks.
There, I mean, if you want tobring a cooler, more power to
(13:30):
you, but personally I would justdrink some water before going.
And if you want to go ahead andeat before you go into the
parks and after you leave andlike me, myself and my family,
we would usually only eat onetime in the parks and maybe get
a snack or two if we werestaying there all day we just
didn't bring anything with us.
Pack your sunglasses I meanagain, it's bright out there, so
(13:52):
I'd definitely bring somesunglasses with me.
Try to leave your valuables inyour room or just don't bring
them with you at all, becauseyou don't want anything
happening to them.
Something you might not thinkabout is bring some sanitizer
with you.
Right, you got thousands ofpeople every day.
You got about 50,000 people aday that can visit those parks
and you're touching all therides and all the hand railings
(14:14):
and everything.
So, yeah, a little sanitizationwouldn't hurt either.
And again, while you're decidingon your budget and all that,
try to figure out what you'regoing to do each day.
If you think you're going to bebuying some souvenirs and all
that, you know, bring one or twodebit cards with you in your
wallet, your credit card,whatever.
Bring a little cash with you.
Of course, try not to bring toomuch of that in case you lose
(14:36):
your wallet.
I know folks there have losttheir purses and wallets and all
that kind of stuff every day.
You wouldn't want it all todisappear in one fell swoop.
So yeah, that's a few things Ijust wanted to pass along to you
.
Think about, of course, makeyour own list up.
You know what you'recomfortable with and not.
So yeah, you're arriving at thepark.
Now, if you want to really geton some rides and stuff like
(14:57):
that, something I'd suggest isgetting there early.
Of course, if I'm on vacation,I'm not necessarily wanting to
wake up at the crack of dawn,but to wake up at the crack of
dawn, but there's definitelyfolks that do that.
They wake up and some of therestaurants even allow you in
before the park opens.
But let's say you're wanting tocatch a bunch of rides and such
, go ahead in there and getthere before they opened.
You can have about an hour ortwo of good times and then
(15:19):
slightly shorter wait timesbefore everybody crowds in, and
you can even catch some of themorning shows that happen around
the parks there.
Speaking of shows, if you'rethe kind of person that likes to
go watch the shows around theparks Magic Kingdom, epcot and
all that, and MGM you gotFantasmic over there, something
(15:40):
I'd suggest, and it didn'talways used to be like this but
you're going to want to show upa decent amount of time before
the show starts.
Because if you get up thereright at the start of the show
time, there's a high likelihoodthat, especially nowadays, that
the show could be filled up andthen you don't get to get in at
all.
You know what I mean and that'sdefinitely a downer when you're
supposed to be having a goodtime.
So, yeah, show up to the showsearly.
You don't want to be late for afirst act.
(16:00):
Yeah, once you get in there.
Now, like I said before, theyused to have the FastPass thing.
That was my favorite.
I mean to me you can't beatthat and it was free.
I know other park systems likewhat is it?
Seaworld and Busch Gardens havesome FastPass systems.
That I think is better as well,where you can just buy one
FastPass for the whole daywithout having to worry about
putting yourself on each ride,and that is so much more
(16:23):
convenient.
But yeah, nowadays they offerthe Lightning Lane Passes.
You get to book one ride at atime on there.
Of course, you get on there,you book your ride, you want to
get in for the fast lane and youcome back at the time it says
and you got to pay a littlemoney for each one of those, and
that will help you squeeze in afew more rides in the day if
that's something that you wantto do.
Another tip is to tip atgetting on the rides quicker and
(16:46):
cutting some of the lines out.
Of course, if you're into theshows, like I said, you're going
to be at those more than therides, possibly.
But if you're not as concernedwith making each show, then you
can use those show times wheneverybody's going to watch those
to get into the shorter lineson the rides that will be
happening at those moments andthose times, like the parades,
(17:07):
fireworks, some of the biggershows going on, so definitely
take advantage of that.
Something else that's prettycool at Disney is, especially if
you're staying on property,they have extra magic hours, so
for the hotel and resort guestsstaying on property, so before
the regular park hours begin orafter the end, you have the
option of visiting the park wheneverybody is not there, which
is pretty awesome.
(17:27):
So that would be basically alow crowd time to be able to get
on the rides and enjoy theamenities of the parks and not
get too stressed out with allthe lines.
Another thing that's fun totake advantage of is the
behind-the-scenes tours thatthey have there, so you can do
tours like Keys to the Kingdomat the Magic Kingdom, savor the
(17:47):
Savannah, and Behind the Seedstours, where you get to do
things that not everybody elseis getting to do and get some
insider experiences.
I'd suggest booking those farin advance to your trip, though,
because they can fill upquickly.
Now, for everyone that doesn'tknow what a Disney adult is, the
dictionary definition wouldbasically be, you know,
millennials like 20-somethingsto 40 year olds, who visit the
(18:10):
parks without children,basically and celebrate the
Disney life outside of kids.
A lot of us are drawn bynostalgia and basically the
atmosphere and vibe andeverything that Disney provides.
A lot of folks will dress up inDisney character inspired
outfits and all that good stuffand basically, if there was a
psychological meaning behind it,I would say it's embracing your
(18:33):
childhood and that inner child.
It can actually bolster yourwell-being and your authenticity
in adulthood, basically beingmore comfortable with who you
are.
It's not necessarily a way justto escape maturity.
Of course you get some Disneyadults like myself.
I mean the point of going tothe happiest place on earth is
to be happy, have fun, be joyful.
(18:53):
Right, I know this can annoysome of the families that are
there, but I know everybodywho's been there has seen folks
in line the ride announcementscome on and they're sitting
there mimicking them, justacting youthful and joyous and
all this stuff.
To me that's a good part of thecelebration.
That goes into going to Disney,of course not getting too
overzealous, but you know, havefun.
(19:14):
Disney's there to create aworld of immersion, so you got
to respect that too.
I know some folks can get alittle far out there with it.
But yeah, basically being aDisney adult means you're not
afraid to enjoy yourself and tofall into that immersion that
happens and that Disney createsfor the guests that show up
there.
Yeah, it doesn't matter ifyou're 5, 25 or 85.
(19:36):
Get you a crown to wear on yourhead.
Get you a Mickey Mouse T-shirt,laugh it up, smile while you're
there, have a good time and beconsiderate while you're at it.
Don't be afraid to be a Disneyadult.
All right, getting park to parkright.
So, being in transportationmyself when I was there before
driving the monorails, like Isaid, I got to learn a lot about
(19:57):
how the transportation worked.
So one of the biggest positivesabout visiting Disney is that
you don't have to pay for thetransportation.
There is a way to get fromanywhere to anywhere while
you're on property Going park topark.
If you're going between theMagic Kingdom and EBCOT, you get
to take the monorails, whichare pretty awesome.
Obviously, I have a biastowards those.
They have the buses that cantake you about anywhere on the
(20:21):
property, the Disney bus system,and they also have the Disney
watercraft system.
So where, uh, you might notwant to get on a monorail, or
where it might not take you, orif you want to try something
different, you can get on thewatercraft as well.
They also just recently addedsome odd years ago the uh
Skyliner system.
So it's a gondola overheadsystem that transports folks
(20:42):
between some parks and resortson the property as well, of
course.
Get on the Disney website andthey'll have maps of all these
things that'll help you withyour plans to move around the
property.
So yeah, for monorails, theyhave in their collection 12
monorails For that system.
They have in the watercraftsystem they have several types
(21:02):
of boats from the big ferries,like the General Joe Potter.
They have smaller watercraft,everything in between pretty
much with that, along with thosebuses and Skyliner systems.
Just be aware that they areinterested in efficiency as a
part of their motto.
So it might get kind of crowdedon the Disney transportation.
They try to fit as many folksas they can in Also.
(21:24):
I just wanted to talk about someof my favorite rides as well.
Right, so they got all thesekinds of rides there.
In Magic Kingdom you got SpaceMountain, big Thunder, railroad,
pirates of the Caribbean.
They're redoing what used to becalled Splash Mountain.
That's going to be a fun ride.
Over at Epcot you haveSpaceship Earth and the big ball
there.
There's actually a ride insideof it, test Track Mission Space.
(21:45):
It was, I believe, designed inpart with NASA, so that's a
pretty awesome ride.
And over at Hollywood Studios,of course, you have the Tower of
Terror, hollywood Tower Hotel,now that they call it.
They used to have the Aerosmithride at the Hollywood Studios
as well, but now it's beingrethemed to the Muffets, I
believe.
Oh goodness, I'm going to missriding those limousines.
And then Animal Kingdom, ofcourse.
(22:05):
Oh goodness, I'm going to missriding those limousines.
And then Animal Kingdom, ofcourse they have Mount Everest,
a big roller coaster there.
That's pretty awesome.
And another one would be theKilimanjaro Safaris.
That's pretty awesome.
Cali River Rapids and, ofcourse, the Flight of Passage
ride from the Avatar movie isbad to the bone.
Just a few of my favorites tohelp guide you along the way if
you don't know what to picknecessarily.
(22:26):
But of my favorites to helpguide you along the way if you
don't know what to picknecessarily, but try as many as
you can, of course, get thosepark hoppers and take the
challenge.
Get to all four parks in oneday and ride everything if you
can.
Might need a couple energydrinks to make it through.
I remember when I was younger Iused to go with my family.
They had these pin tradingevents.
So when you get there, ofcourse they got all the Disney
pins that they wear on all thelanyards, and it would also be a
part of getting in the parksearly too.
(22:47):
So we'd show up at like five inthe morning or something like
that to get a limited editionrelease Disney pin, wait in line
, sit there for a few hours andget this limited edition,
limited release pin that wecould keep, that we could
collect, and then we'd literallygo to all four parks in one day
, riding like all the rides andgoing to everything, stay until
(23:09):
like 10, 11 at night.
Man, those were some long days,but I was a kid then so I
didn't necessarily notice adifference.
I was going to be awake all dayanyway, full of energy, and I
envy the kids.
They don't ever seem to run outof it.
They also have a couple of waterparks that you can check out
there Typhoonoon and blizzardbeach, usually open in the
summer only.
Then you also have downtowndisney, which is now called
(23:32):
disney springs.
Um, they basically changedeverything about the place.
Mostly they went from about, Ithink, 150 shops there to now
somewhere around 300 orsomething like that.
They've also added two coolparking garages.
The only thing I don't likethat they took out was the
Disney Quest.
Back in the day, that was thebest Like five floors of
(23:54):
straight arcade awesomeness.
They do have a cool bowlingalley there now, though, but
yeah, a lot of shops, greatplaces to eat there.
Now it's a great way to spend alittle time out of the parks.
But, yeah, a couple other things, just like some of the
backstage tours you can take andalternatives to just staying in
the park all day.
They also have golfing atDisney, so, if that's your thing
, hit up one of Disney's golfcourses.
(24:15):
They are some of the best inthe country, definitely.
They even have horses at Disney, right?
So another cool thing to do isgo check out the horses at Walt
Disney World, the Tri-Circle DRanch located at Fort Wilderness
, I believe.
You can see various breedsthere, including Clydesdales,
percherons and Sheetland Ponies,so go take a ride.
All right, folks, that's allfor now.
(24:35):
I just wanted to thank you forjoining me and look forward to
talking with you guys in thefuture and joining you on future
podcasts.
Please follow me on the socialsat the about it podcast.
I'm on all major podcastingplatforms.
Follow me, subscribe, look meup.
Um, yeah, it's been good.
(24:58):
Thank you, we'll see you nexttime.
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