June 16, 2025 • 17 mins
We're wrapping up our first season of theme park adventures with a look back at what we've accomplished and a peek at what's coming in Season 2. From humble beginnings as a "way for our partners to get rid of us for a few hours every week," we're so thrilled at what this has become.
Today is a wrap-up featuring some of what we've covered, current news and a peek at where we're going:
• Latest update on Evermore Park – the purchase deal has fallen through after disputes over what was included in the sale
• Disney's Galactic Starcruiser at Disney World officially closing and converting to office space
• Farewell to Muppet Vision 3D, Jim Henson's final directorial work and last time performing Kermit
• Rivers of America at Magic Kingdom closing after July 4th for a new Cars attraction
• New Coco-themed boat ride coming to California Adventure in the Paradise Gardens area
• Universal's Epic Universe now open, with Monsters Unleashed being called the highlight
• Season 2 will feature another "What If" episode creating an imaginary theme park
• Upcoming episodes on discontinued Disney merchandise, Six Flags, and macabre attractions
• Plans to explore the Winchester Mystery House and Knott's Scary Farm
• Deep dive into Universal Studios' evolution from 1916 silent film tour to modern theme park giant
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So, pete, yeah, what are we talking about this next
season?
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Well, I mean for those of us who are, for those
of us, for those of you who areloyal listeners I mean, I listen
to the show, but I hope you dotoo.
Yeah, I can't be bothered.
Yeah, we notice this about you.
We are now wrapping up what weconsider to be our first season.
That's right.
We made it through a littleover a year of doing this.
It started off as a grandexperiment and a way for our
(00:42):
respective partners to get ridof us for a couple of hours
every week has turned intosomething that we believe is
actually really, really special,and we've been enjoying.
I've enjoyed the hell out of it.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I've really enjoyed the hell out of it.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, and we.
For those of you who tune in ona regular basis, we just had
our season finale at the HowardJohnson.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, and the Howard Johnson suite of the retro
future, inspired by Monsanto'sHouse of the Future, asterisk,
asterisk, yeah, well, I hear.
Now the suite is called the NewAvengers.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
David Harbour was certainly in there, yeah, but
yeah, the Red Guardian lovestalk about Disneyland.
So we're wrapping up season oneand for this little miniature
episode, we're going to kind ofwrap up season one, fill you in
on a few things that have comeup in the news lately, and then
we're going to give you a littlepreview about what we're
(01:40):
planning for season two, so thatwe can keep your eyes and ears
open.
And if you run out of episodesthat you haven't listened to yet
, may I highly recommend thatyou listen to our episodes about
the Disneyland Hotel and aboutthe Golden Horseshoe.
Trust us on this one.
They're actually good guys, Ipromise you.
The subject sounds boring, butit's actually really cool.
(02:03):
So we promise you we do not doboring episodes.
The subjects may suck, but weactually find ways that make it
interesting.
So give it a listen to.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
And speaking of sucking, we cannot stop talking
about Evermore.
Yeah.
Speaking of in the news yeah,so have you kept up with this at
all?
Pete with what's going on.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
The last I had heard is that there was another entity
, a group of loyal people, whohad it was originally going to
be like, oh, there's a tavern.
And then it was just a shopwith a tavern, and now it's just
going to be a shop, and nowit's going to be this, and now
it's going to be this, and nowit's going to be that.
Taylor Swift threw a granolabar at our head or something,
and I just lost track because Igot tired of the drama.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I guess a company decided to buy it and we talked
about this a little bit before.
They had some sort of weirdcontest where they got people to
come up with new names for whatit was going to be and it
became the majestic soundingRealm Town and so this company
was coming in to renovate it.
But, as with everything havingto do with Evermore, there were
(03:15):
lawsuits.
What they purchased turned outto not be what they thought they
had purchased.
They believed they hadpurchased the land and perhaps
the train that circled the landand some of the buildings, and
after they made the purchase andsigned the contract, the former
owners of Evermore just went ohno, you don't get any of that
(03:36):
stuff.
And started packing it up.
There was lawsuits and the dealhas now fallen through.
Evermore is again nothing.
The deal has now fallen through.
Evermore is again nothing.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
So go to your local Renaissance Fair, support your
local Renaissance Fair.
It's the closest you got.
Bring a train set and a TaylorSwift CD and I think you'll be
fine.
It's probably better, it'sprobably a lot better.
No offense to all the devotedactors and so forth who worked
Evermore you guys from what Ihave seen of the footage, I
(04:07):
never got to go, sadly, but fromwhat I had seen of all the hard
work you guys put into it, youdid a great job.
Yeah, speaking of interactive,also, galactic Star Cruiser at
Disney World has now beenofficially announced.
It's just going to be offices.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, that's right.
World has now been officiallyannounced.
It's just going to be officesyeah, that's right.
Which is at least better thantaking valuable theme park real
estate and turning it intooffices, which is kind of what
they were doing with the oldChristmas shop in the Muppets
courtyard for years and years.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah, and as a recording, we say goodbye to
Muppet Vision 3D at Disney World.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, it finally had its final show.
You know I'm willing to enjoychange in the theme parks.
This one stings.
This is Jim Henson's final work, not only the final thing, he
directed the final time heplayed Kermit.
Yeah, it is a masterpiece.
I saw it again about a year ago.
It is still just as funny asyou remembered it being, and it
(05:12):
is just a real shame.
It is Not to say that I don'tthink the Monsters Inc roller
coaster will be cool.
I do, but the Monsters Incroller coaster is not going in
the same building that MuppetVision 3D was in.
So I, the Monsters Inc rollercoaster, is not going in the
same building that Muppet Vision3D was in.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So I'm a little irked , yeah, yeah, let's see what
else is in the news lately.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, the Rivers of America are going to close right
after the 4th of July, Just intime.
I don't want to be too dourabout this.
But yeah, the Magic Kingdoms,and specifically so don't freak
out anybody the Magic Kingdom inFlorida, its Rivers of America,
(05:55):
will be closing just after the4th to make way for a new Cars
attraction.
Enough said, but I do, you know, just so we're not totally dour
, I think that over inCalifornia Adventure, this new
Coco ride looks pretty terrific.
I'm kind of into it.
Oh, Pete's looking at me.
He has not heard about this, sothere's going to be— this isn't
Coco's pants.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Is it Not Coco the Clown?
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, thatCoco the pigs are Coco.
Okay, god, no, I really wasperplexed, folks.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Coco's pants.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Kelly Coco, okay, god , no, I really was perplexed.
Folks, coco's pants, kelly'slike, give me this.
Look like Pete, you've fallenbehind.
Yeah, what's happened?
Oh right, okay, going into theday of the dead Coco, not Coco,
the clown from our what Ifepisode, correct.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Okay, yeah, and it's going.
I'll pat myself on the back alittle bit.
I wrote an article about wherea lot of these changes were
going to happen.
I nailed this one.
It's going right in theParadise Gardens area, right on
the edge of Pixar Pier.
It will wind behind theIncredicoaster.
(06:58):
It's going to be mostly anindoor attraction traction.
As I understand it, it's a boatride.
It looks neat.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I like it.
Are they going to use the samelayout as the Three Caballeros
boat ride?
I hope so, because I love thatride.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I love that ride too.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I've got a soft spot.
A lot of people don't like itbecause it's a series of just
video screens of like here'sMexico and it's like no it
totally follows the.
Three Caballeros and it'sreally.
I enjoy the heck out of it,also because I'm a massive
Donald Duck fan.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I mean, at the end you get the three caballeros,
like in audio-animatronic form,singing the song.
What's wrong with that?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah, I want the little Brazilian bird running
around, you know, all over theplace.
It'd be really, really fun.
So Epic Universe and UniversalStudios has opened.
That was a thing this year.
Indeed, it was a thing.
It was a thing.
But you'll probably go back toour Bob Gurr episode in which we
(08:00):
had visited Garner Holt.
Yeah, and we cannot 100%substantiate this, but we're
pretty suspicious.
Yeah, we were walking throughit.
We were given explicit ordersnot to photograph anything, but
we thought we actually saw someof the animatronics for Epic
Universe in there.
Yeah, and if we're wrong, wewill totally own it.
Like, if somebody from GarnerHolt goes Pete Kelly, you were
(08:22):
wrong, that was not us.
Yeah, if somebody fromGardner-Holt goes Pete Kelly,
you were wrong, that was not us,we'll totally own it.
But that made us do a lot oftalking on the way back home.
It certainly did.
They're really good animatronicsmanufacturers and they're very
enthusiastic.
And plus we were just so punchdrunk from meeting Bob Gurr, so
how could you go wrong with that?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
And everything I'm hearing is that that particular
attraction, the MonstersUnleashed attraction, is the
highlight of the park.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Since this is a mini-sode about our wrapping up
of season one, a little reminderfor everybody Give a listen to
our episode about Dracula as asubject of theme park
attractions.
Yes, that was a fun one to do.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Totally.
And and hey, remind me, pete,didn't you tell me something
about Rick Baker and the um andEpic universe?
Creator Rick.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Baker.
Rick Baker, monster maker yes,the great Rick Baker, and again,
little Pete name drop.
I actually got to work with himon a little independent film
called Keep the Gaslight Burning.
That was a lot of fun, butbecause of that, we had hooked
up through Facebook and socialmedia.
I do not know him well, but hisname will.
(09:39):
He will pop up on my feed and hedoes apparently pay attention
to his Instagram feed becauseduring the pandemic, I dressed
up my kid as a werewolf and wewere both posing for the thing
and the first person to commenton it was Rick Baker going
parenting done, right, you canlook me up, it's all in there,
but anyhow, yeah, apparentlyRick Baker went there as a
(10:00):
special guest, as like a tourfor all these great, you know,
monster makers and so forth.
He walked around, he was takingphotographs of the place and I
guess on Instagram he posted onepicture of the square which is
basically a replica of theSquare of Wonders, whatever
that's called, yeah, right, andhe basically just said I want to
live here, yeah, which isawesome.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So what have we got coming up next year?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
So here's a little sneak preview of some of the
things that Kelly and I havebeen talking about, and I would
like to take a moment to reachout to our friends out there,
including the one of you who isfrom Russia, yeah we've got
someone from Abu Dhabi now.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Oh we have an Abu Dhabi listener, yeah, and
someone from Ukraine, so wecould be the perestroika that
makes change, wouldn't that be?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
great, yeah.
So for those of you who areinternational listeners, who
might be listening to thisMinnesota if you have a—we're
not afraid to take on just aboutanything.
We agreed when we first starteddoing this podcast we would not
just be doing Disney, we werenot going to be a Disney only
podcast.
Disneyland and Disney Worldtend to be a forefront because
(11:11):
it is a dominant force in themarket.
However, as you'll find out inseason 2, we're going to be
attacking a lot more independentand a lot more diverse theme
park attractions, but don'tworry, the Disney will still be
in there.
Oh yeah, we're going to throwDisney all over the place.
We can't avoid it.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
It'll be like Lucha Libre with Donald.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
So that's a different three caballeros.
Some of the shows that we'retalking about, I know here are
some of the ones, those whoremember our what If episode.
We have another one coming up,that's right.
I won't spoil what it is, butwe are going to be doing another
what If episode in which webasically build a theme park
right before your very ears andget nostalgic about it and yet
(11:56):
be pretty fairly factuallyaccurate.
Just like we did with our.
Fleischer Studios theme parkattraction.
So if you've not heard thatepisode from this last season,
give it a shout.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I've been delighted.
A few people have told me thatthey listened to it and did not
know until fairly long, fairlydeep into the episode, that it
was not real.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
That's pretty, and I wonder what hint?
Was it Coco's pants, yes, orwas it some other?
It was Coco's pants.
It was Coco's pants.
It was Coco's pants.
You know, there's some greatclip of me going what you should
have seen my face, folks.
I mean, I literally was likeCoco's Pants.
What are you doing?
Okay, it's improv.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yes, ask.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Coco's Pants, let's roll with it.
But we're going to do anotherwhat If?
Episode?
Yep, fairly soon we are goingto be going down the nostalgia
rabbit hole of Disneymerchandise that no longer is
being sold at the park Yep,famous and infamous.
Yep, let's see.
Here we're going to dive intothe world of Six Flags.
Yep, we sure are, and we'llprobably also tackle some more.
(13:12):
For those of you who are intothe macabre, we'll be tackling
some more macabre attractions,yep, like the London Dungeon,
attractions over in Europe.
And Kelly, I'm sure, has a listof his own subjects.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, I've got I'm still trying to work this out a
little bit but potentially aguest around Halloween time,
around the spooky time of theyear.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Definitely.
Well, one thing we aredefinitely going to cover around
that time is the WinchesterMystery House.
For sure that is definitelygoing to cover around that time.
Is the Winchester Mystery HouseFor sure that is definitely
going to come up, having workedthere myself.
But also Knott's Berry Farm.
And of course it's Sister'sShow that invades every
September and October.
Knott's Scary Farm yeah, theHaunt itself.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
We are going to make a real attempt to get down there
this year because we're alittle concerned about the Six
Flags Cedar Fair merger.
We want to make sure we get tovisit the scary farm this year
before it maybe changes.
We have no insider knowledge,we're just concerned.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Yeah, just in case, because you never know in this
industry, you never know.
Yeah, just in case, because younever know in this industry,
you never know.
We're probably going to go alittle bit into the actual
history of Universal Studios asa theme park itself.
We've covered separateattractions like Back to the
Future and, of course, castle,dracula and Conan the
Barbarian's show Spectacular.
But we haven't really talkedabout the park itself and its
(14:35):
development and how it has gonefrom.
Hey, everybody, let's take alook at, let's watch people make
movies and it's silent.
So who cares to this juggernautthat's about to, you know,
devour Disney whole if they'renot careful.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Well, yeah, and you know I'm reading a book right
now about silent film stuntwomanHelen Gibson, and you know it
goes to the origins of theUniversal Tour, which is 1916,
people, wow.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So that'll be a big history day.
So that might be a two-parter.
We'll have to see and I'm surewe'll cover a lot more.
But for those of you who areout there, who've been devout
listeners, thank you.
Yes, I mean Kelly and I starteddoing this just for giggles,
right, and it turned into likehey, we actually have people
(15:24):
listening to this thing.
Yeah, please spread the word,please put the word out there
and tell people.
If you like this, please leavea review.
If you're on Spotify, leave areview.
If you're on YouTube, pleaseshare.
We don't care.
We just want to see people andlisten and enjoy our show, and
if you have any requests or haveany memories that you'd like us
to cover, we'd love to hearfrom you.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, and just as we kind of wrap up this mini-sode,
I just want to say again thankyou to Paul Berry for inviting
us to the Hojo to do thatepisode.
With all of these greatpodcasters and new friends of
ours, I've been starting tolisten to some of their podcasts
Me too, really enjoying them.
(16:07):
Yeah, they're great.
I heard us get shouted out onDisney Indiana, like two
episodes ago, which I reallyappreciate it, guys, yay, and I
wanted you to know that I hadbeen listening and I'm really
enjoying your show.
Mm-hmm.
And I wanted you to know that Ihad been listening and I'm
really enjoying your show, andthat's pretty much it.
We're getting ready for seasontwo.
I think we're going to startseason two within seconds of us
turning the microphones off forthis.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Oh yes, and don't worry folks, the prospector will
be back this year, so don'tMaybe I'll have to learn some
Russian or Ukrainian in order to.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I've told you my one Russian phrase that I know right
, no, okay, it means I am a bigduck.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Well, on that note, I'm Peter Overstreet.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I'm Kelly McGovern.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
And you've been listening to the Lowdown on the
Plus Zone.
So, pete, yeah, what are we talking about this next
season?
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Well, I mean for those of us who are, for those
of us, for those of you who areloyal listeners I mean, I listen
to the show, but I hope you dotoo.
Yeah, I can't be bothered.
Yeah, we notice this about you.
We are now wrapping up what weconsider to be our first season.
That's right.
We made it through a littleover a year of doing this.
It started off as a grandexperiment and a way for our
(00:42):
respective partners to get ridof us for a couple of hours
every week has turned intosomething that we believe is
actually really, really special,and we've been enjoying.
I've enjoyed the hell out of it.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I've really enjoyed the hell out of it.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, and we.
For those of you who tune in ona regular basis, we just had
our season finale at the HowardJohnson.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, and the Howard Johnson suite of the retro
future, inspired by Monsanto'sHouse of the Future, asterisk,
asterisk, yeah, well, I hear.
Now the suite is called the NewAvengers.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
David Harbour was certainly in there, yeah, but
yeah, the Red Guardian lovestalk about Disneyland.
So we're wrapping up season oneand for this little miniature
episode, we're going to kind ofwrap up season one, fill you in
on a few things that have comeup in the news lately, and then
we're going to give you a littlepreview about what we're
(01:40):
planning for season two, so thatwe can keep your eyes and ears
open.
And if you run out of episodesthat you haven't listened to yet
, may I highly recommend thatyou listen to our episodes about
the Disneyland Hotel and aboutthe Golden Horseshoe.
Trust us on this one.
They're actually good guys, Ipromise you.
The subject sounds boring, butit's actually really cool.
(02:03):
So we promise you we do not doboring episodes.
The subjects may suck, but weactually find ways that make it
interesting.
So give it a listen to.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
And speaking of sucking, we cannot stop talking
about Evermore.
Yeah.
Speaking of in the news yeah,so have you kept up with this at
all?
Pete with what's going on.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
The last I had heard is that there was another entity
, a group of loyal people, whohad it was originally going to
be like, oh, there's a tavern.
And then it was just a shopwith a tavern, and now it's just
going to be a shop, and nowit's going to be this, and now
it's going to be this, and nowit's going to be that.
Taylor Swift threw a granolabar at our head or something,
and I just lost track because Igot tired of the drama.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I guess a company decided to buy it and we talked
about this a little bit before.
They had some sort of weirdcontest where they got people to
come up with new names for whatit was going to be and it
became the majestic soundingRealm Town and so this company
was coming in to renovate it.
But, as with everything havingto do with Evermore, there were
(03:15):
lawsuits.
What they purchased turned outto not be what they thought they
had purchased.
They believed they hadpurchased the land and perhaps
the train that circled the landand some of the buildings, and
after they made the purchase andsigned the contract, the former
owners of Evermore just went ohno, you don't get any of that
(03:36):
stuff.
And started packing it up.
There was lawsuits and the dealhas now fallen through.
Evermore is again nothing.
The deal has now fallen through.
Evermore is again nothing.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
So go to your local Renaissance Fair, support your
local Renaissance Fair.
It's the closest you got.
Bring a train set and a TaylorSwift CD and I think you'll be
fine.
It's probably better, it'sprobably a lot better.
No offense to all the devotedactors and so forth who worked
Evermore you guys from what Ihave seen of the footage, I
(04:07):
never got to go, sadly, but fromwhat I had seen of all the hard
work you guys put into it, youdid a great job.
Yeah, speaking of interactive,also, galactic Star Cruiser at
Disney World has now beenofficially announced.
It's just going to be offices.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, that's right.
World has now been officiallyannounced.
It's just going to be officesyeah, that's right.
Which is at least better thantaking valuable theme park real
estate and turning it intooffices, which is kind of what
they were doing with the oldChristmas shop in the Muppets
courtyard for years and years.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah, and as a recording, we say goodbye to
Muppet Vision 3D at Disney World.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, it finally had its final show.
You know I'm willing to enjoychange in the theme parks.
This one stings.
This is Jim Henson's final work, not only the final thing, he
directed the final time heplayed Kermit.
Yeah, it is a masterpiece.
I saw it again about a year ago.
It is still just as funny asyou remembered it being, and it
(05:12):
is just a real shame.
It is Not to say that I don'tthink the Monsters Inc roller
coaster will be cool.
I do, but the Monsters Incroller coaster is not going in
the same building that MuppetVision 3D was in.
So I, the Monsters Inc rollercoaster, is not going in the
same building that Muppet Vision3D was in.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So I'm a little irked , yeah, yeah, let's see what
else is in the news lately.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, the Rivers of America are going to close right
after the 4th of July, Just intime.
I don't want to be too dourabout this.
But yeah, the Magic Kingdoms,and specifically so don't freak
out anybody the Magic Kingdom inFlorida, its Rivers of America,
(05:55):
will be closing just after the4th to make way for a new Cars
attraction.
Enough said, but I do, you know, just so we're not totally dour
, I think that over inCalifornia Adventure, this new
Coco ride looks pretty terrific.
I'm kind of into it.
Oh, Pete's looking at me.
He has not heard about this, sothere's going to be— this isn't
Coco's pants.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Is it Not Coco the Clown?
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, thatCoco the pigs are Coco.
Okay, god, no, I really wasperplexed, folks.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Coco's pants.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Kelly Coco, okay, god , no, I really was perplexed.
Folks, coco's pants, kelly'slike, give me this.
Look like Pete, you've fallenbehind.
Yeah, what's happened?
Oh right, okay, going into theday of the dead Coco, not Coco,
the clown from our what Ifepisode, correct.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Okay, yeah, and it's going.
I'll pat myself on the back alittle bit.
I wrote an article about wherea lot of these changes were
going to happen.
I nailed this one.
It's going right in theParadise Gardens area, right on
the edge of Pixar Pier.
It will wind behind theIncredicoaster.
(06:58):
It's going to be mostly anindoor attraction traction.
As I understand it, it's a boatride.
It looks neat.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I like it.
Are they going to use the samelayout as the Three Caballeros
boat ride?
I hope so, because I love thatride.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I love that ride too.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I've got a soft spot.
A lot of people don't like itbecause it's a series of just
video screens of like here'sMexico and it's like no it
totally follows the.
Three Caballeros and it'sreally.
I enjoy the heck out of it,also because I'm a massive
Donald Duck fan.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I mean, at the end you get the three caballeros,
like in audio-animatronic form,singing the song.
What's wrong with that?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah, I want the little Brazilian bird running
around, you know, all over theplace.
It'd be really, really fun.
So Epic Universe and UniversalStudios has opened.
That was a thing this year.
Indeed, it was a thing.
It was a thing.
But you'll probably go back toour Bob Gurr episode in which we
(08:00):
had visited Garner Holt.
Yeah, and we cannot 100%substantiate this, but we're
pretty suspicious.
Yeah, we were walking throughit.
We were given explicit ordersnot to photograph anything, but
we thought we actually saw someof the animatronics for Epic
Universe in there.
Yeah, and if we're wrong, wewill totally own it.
Like, if somebody from GarnerHolt goes Pete Kelly, you were
(08:22):
wrong, that was not us.
Yeah, if somebody fromGardner-Holt goes Pete Kelly,
you were wrong, that was not us,we'll totally own it.
But that made us do a lot oftalking on the way back home.
It certainly did.
They're really good animatronicsmanufacturers and they're very
enthusiastic.
And plus we were just so punchdrunk from meeting Bob Gurr, so
how could you go wrong with that?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
And everything I'm hearing is that that particular
attraction, the MonstersUnleashed attraction, is the
highlight of the park.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Since this is a mini-sode about our wrapping up
of season one, a little reminderfor everybody Give a listen to
our episode about Dracula as asubject of theme park
attractions.
Yes, that was a fun one to do.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Totally.
And and hey, remind me, pete,didn't you tell me something
about Rick Baker and the um andEpic universe?
Creator Rick.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Baker.
Rick Baker, monster maker yes,the great Rick Baker, and again,
little Pete name drop.
I actually got to work with himon a little independent film
called Keep the Gaslight Burning.
That was a lot of fun, butbecause of that, we had hooked
up through Facebook and socialmedia.
I do not know him well, but hisname will.
(09:39):
He will pop up on my feed and hedoes apparently pay attention
to his Instagram feed becauseduring the pandemic, I dressed
up my kid as a werewolf and wewere both posing for the thing
and the first person to commenton it was Rick Baker going
parenting done, right, you canlook me up, it's all in there,
but anyhow, yeah, apparentlyRick Baker went there as a
(10:00):
special guest, as like a tourfor all these great, you know,
monster makers and so forth.
He walked around, he was takingphotographs of the place and I
guess on Instagram he posted onepicture of the square which is
basically a replica of theSquare of Wonders, whatever
that's called, yeah, right, andhe basically just said I want to
live here, yeah, which isawesome.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So what have we got coming up next year?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
So here's a little sneak preview of some of the
things that Kelly and I havebeen talking about, and I would
like to take a moment to reachout to our friends out there,
including the one of you who isfrom Russia, yeah we've got
someone from Abu Dhabi now.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Oh we have an Abu Dhabi listener, yeah, and
someone from Ukraine, so wecould be the perestroika that
makes change, wouldn't that be?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
great, yeah.
So for those of you who areinternational listeners, who
might be listening to thisMinnesota if you have a—we're
not afraid to take on just aboutanything.
We agreed when we first starteddoing this podcast we would not
just be doing Disney, we werenot going to be a Disney only
podcast.
Disneyland and Disney Worldtend to be a forefront because
(11:11):
it is a dominant force in themarket.
However, as you'll find out inseason 2, we're going to be
attacking a lot more independentand a lot more diverse theme
park attractions, but don'tworry, the Disney will still be
in there.
Oh yeah, we're going to throwDisney all over the place.
We can't avoid it.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
It'll be like Lucha Libre with Donald.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
So that's a different three caballeros.
Some of the shows that we'retalking about, I know here are
some of the ones, those whoremember our what If episode.
We have another one coming up,that's right.
I won't spoil what it is, butwe are going to be doing another
what If episode in which webasically build a theme park
right before your very ears andget nostalgic about it and yet
(11:56):
be pretty fairly factuallyaccurate.
Just like we did with our.
Fleischer Studios theme parkattraction.
So if you've not heard thatepisode from this last season,
give it a shout.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I've been delighted.
A few people have told me thatthey listened to it and did not
know until fairly long, fairlydeep into the episode, that it
was not real.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
That's pretty, and I wonder what hint?
Was it Coco's pants, yes, orwas it some other?
It was Coco's pants.
It was Coco's pants.
It was Coco's pants.
You know, there's some greatclip of me going what you should
have seen my face, folks.
I mean, I literally was likeCoco's Pants.
What are you doing?
Okay, it's improv.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yes, ask.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Coco's Pants, let's roll with it.
But we're going to do anotherwhat If?
Episode?
Yep, fairly soon we are goingto be going down the nostalgia
rabbit hole of Disneymerchandise that no longer is
being sold at the park Yep,famous and infamous.
Yep, let's see.
Here we're going to dive intothe world of Six Flags.
Yep, we sure are, and we'llprobably also tackle some more.
(13:12):
For those of you who are intothe macabre, we'll be tackling
some more macabre attractions,yep, like the London Dungeon,
attractions over in Europe.
And Kelly, I'm sure, has a listof his own subjects.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, I've got I'm still trying to work this out a
little bit but potentially aguest around Halloween time,
around the spooky time of theyear.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Definitely.
Well, one thing we aredefinitely going to cover around
that time is the WinchesterMystery House.
For sure that is definitelygoing to cover around that time.
Is the Winchester Mystery HouseFor sure that is definitely
going to come up, having workedthere myself.
But also Knott's Berry Farm.
And of course it's Sister'sShow that invades every
September and October.
Knott's Scary Farm yeah, theHaunt itself.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
We are going to make a real attempt to get down there
this year because we're alittle concerned about the Six
Flags Cedar Fair merger.
We want to make sure we get tovisit the scary farm this year
before it maybe changes.
We have no insider knowledge,we're just concerned.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Yeah, just in case, because you never know in this
industry, you never know.
Yeah, just in case, because younever know in this industry,
you never know.
We're probably going to go alittle bit into the actual
history of Universal Studios asa theme park itself.
We've covered separateattractions like Back to the
Future and, of course, castle,dracula and Conan the
Barbarian's show Spectacular.
But we haven't really talkedabout the park itself and its
(14:35):
development and how it has gonefrom.
Hey, everybody, let's take alook at, let's watch people make
movies and it's silent.
So who cares to this juggernautthat's about to, you know,
devour Disney whole if they'renot careful.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Well, yeah, and you know I'm reading a book right
now about silent film stuntwomanHelen Gibson, and you know it
goes to the origins of theUniversal Tour, which is 1916,
people, wow.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So that'll be a big history day.
So that might be a two-parter.
We'll have to see and I'm surewe'll cover a lot more.
But for those of you who areout there, who've been devout
listeners, thank you.
Yes, I mean Kelly and I starteddoing this just for giggles,
right, and it turned into likehey, we actually have people
(15:24):
listening to this thing.
Yeah, please spread the word,please put the word out there
and tell people.
If you like this, please leavea review.
If you're on Spotify, leave areview.
If you're on YouTube, pleaseshare.
We don't care.
We just want to see people andlisten and enjoy our show, and
if you have any requests or haveany memories that you'd like us
to cover, we'd love to hearfrom you.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, and just as we kind of wrap up this mini-sode,
I just want to say again thankyou to Paul Berry for inviting
us to the Hojo to do thatepisode.
With all of these greatpodcasters and new friends of
ours, I've been starting tolisten to some of their podcasts
Me too, really enjoying them.
(16:07):
Yeah, they're great.
I heard us get shouted out onDisney Indiana, like two
episodes ago, which I reallyappreciate it, guys, yay, and I
wanted you to know that I hadbeen listening and I'm really
enjoying your show.
Mm-hmm.
And I wanted you to know that Ihad been listening and I'm
really enjoying your show, andthat's pretty much it.
We're getting ready for seasontwo.
I think we're going to startseason two within seconds of us
turning the microphones off forthis.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Oh yes, and don't worry folks, the prospector will
be back this year, so don'tMaybe I'll have to learn some
Russian or Ukrainian in order to.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I've told you my one Russian phrase that I know right
, no, okay, it means I am a bigduck.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Well, on that note, I'm Peter Overstreet.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I'm Kelly McGovern.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
And you've been listening to the Lowdown on the
Plus Zone.
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