November 22, 2024 • 22 mins
Join Tony and Lauren for a lively discussion as they engage in a fun "this or that" game centered around Disney resorts and attractions. The episode features a variety of comparisons, from headliner rides like Rise of the Resistance and Guardians of the Galaxy to pool experiences at Typhoon Lagoon versus Storm Along Bay. Food choices are also on the table, with a debate over lunch at the Mexico Pavilion versus the UK Pavilion in Epcot. The hosts share their personal experiences and preferences, revealing insights into their favorite rides, pools, and dining options. Tune in for a delightful exploration of all things Disney, combined with engaging banter and valuable tips for planning your next visit.
Takeaways:
- Tony and Lauren engage in a fun 'this or that' game, focusing on Disney attractions and resorts.
- The discussion highlights the unique experiences of rides like Rise of the Resistance and Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Listeners are encouraged to consider the value of relaxing pool days during their Disney vacations.
- Food options at Epcot are debated, particularly between the Mexico Pavilion and the UK Pavilion.
- Tony expresses nostalgia for the monorail system, emphasizing its significance in his childhood visits.
- The podcast touches on the upcoming changes and closures at Disney, including the Muppet 3D attraction.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Disney
- Universal
- All the Magic Travel
- Epcot
- Typhoon Lagoon
- Storm Along Bay
- Disney Cruise Line
- Epic Universe
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
It's another episode of theWands and Wishes podcast.
Your podcast for everythingDisney and Universal.
Lauren Mallard of all themagic travel.
I'm Tony Doziri.
Oh, we got a fun episode today.
We are going to do a littlebit of this or that.
As far as Disney resorts go.
How are you, Lauren?
Nice.
Good.
How are you weather here wherewe are in Tennessee?
It's cold.
It is cold.
It is cold.
(00:27):
It is.
It's very cold.
I was telling my wife therewas only someplace we could go that
was a little warm, warmer, anda little bit more fun.
Only some place that we couldgo if only we just had unlimited
funds.
Then I would be there all the time.
Exactly, Exactly.
All right, so this or that,we're gonna have a little fun with
some Disney resort and parksinformation house.
Are you gonna throw out some things?
Yeah.
Okay.
So I'm gonna throw some ideasat you and what I want you to do.
(00:50):
I don't care if you've beenthere before.
I don't care if you've stayedthere before.
If you've ridden this ride.
I want to see if it were up toyou, which one would you choose first?
Basically, even if you want todo both of them, I want to know which
one you would choose first andthen I'll tell you my answer with
them.
So.
So, yeah, so first of all, Iwant to start with a couple of rides.
Okay.
So, you know, we've.
(01:10):
We've had some really big onesthat have come on board in the last
few years in the parks.
And so I want to know if you are.
If you only have one day for apark for like a headliner.
Okay.
Are you going to Rise of theResistance or are you going to Guardians
of the Galaxy?
Oh, that's such a good question.
Because when I rode Rise ofthe Resistance, I remember getting
(01:33):
off the ride and saying, thisis the best theme park ride I'd ever
ridden.
Because it was just thiscombination of story.
It was a combination ofdifferent elements.
There was acting, there was awhole immersion aspect to it.
But when I went on Guardiansof the Galaxy, I was like, this might
be one of the coolest typeroller coaster type rides I had ever
(01:53):
been on with it sort oftheming and spinning and just the
way the.
The engineering went.
But I'm going to stick withthe first one.
I'm going to stick with Riseof the Resistance.
Okay.
I never been on anything quitelike the experience of going on a
transport, having a show, thenthat show leading to this other awe
inspiring thing.
And I.
I remember thinking, I'venever been on a ride that incorporated
(02:16):
so many elements, but.
But, you know, Gar, that was agood one, because Guardians, I felt.
I felt the same way when Iwalked off Guardians that I did on
Rise of the Resistance.
Yeah.
You know, I.
I get motion sick.
So Guardians was a one anddone for me.
Every time I'm there, I think,maybe I should try it again, but
then I chicken out.
So I haven't tried it again.
But I think, honestly, if Icould do Guardians, I did think it
(02:38):
was really, really fantastic.
And since I'm not a huge Starwars fan, I would probably lean towards
Guardians.
I think my family, Chris andGraham especially, probably still
lean towards Rise of the Resistance.
Graham, absolutely.
Every time we're there, he'slike, this is still my favorite ride,
Mom.
And it just.
It really does encompass somuch, and it reaches such a wide
audience that I think it's just.
(02:58):
It's really a good attraction.
Guardians of the Galaxy isreally interesting to me because
I remember when the movie came out.
I want to say 2014.
I might be getting my dateswrong, but it's around.
It was around about 10 years ago.
Yeah.
When it came out.
And I remember I had been acomic book guy as a kid, but I never
really remembered it.
And I remember, like, mybrother and I were like, let's go
see it.
Let's bring the kids to it.
And it was surprisingly fantastic.
(03:20):
Like, surprisingly good.
And I was kind of warped intoit, and I really loved it, and I
wanted to see it again when itcame out.
And so I've always had thiskind of affinity for the character
and the sort of franchise.
Now, when we went there, wegot a lightning pass through a beautiful
thing of pixie dust that mywife got.
(03:40):
Nice.
I missed a lot of the queue.
We ended up right in the roomand kind of went on the ride.
But I heard the Queue isreally, really well done.
You know, I've never seen iteither, because I do.
I opt for the Lightning Pass,so I prefer to not see the queue
if I can.
But, yeah, it is.
It's supposed to be prettywell done.
Whereas Rise of theResistance, the Queue does take you
through things you recognizefrom the movies as you kind of weave
(04:03):
your way through.
It's kind of interesting to belike, oh, I remember this scene from
the movie.
I remember this aspect fromthe movie.
So there's a lot of.
There's a lot of those cool elements.
That's a very, very good one.
Two really good headliners,for sure.
All right, next, this one,we're going to think outside the
box a little bit.
So there, it's not going toreally be apples to apples.
It's going to be a little different.
So I'm thinking about pools.
(04:23):
Okay.
All right, so if you couldspend a day at Typhoon Lagoon or
at Storm Along Bay, which isthe pool at beach and Yacht Club,
which one are you choosing?
Well, I get lazy rivers with both.
Correct.
You do.
You get it on a smaller scale.
I'm a lazy river guy when itcomes to water parks.
(04:44):
I don't know why I've dumpedwater parks out of my life completely.
Because 1.
Water parks have advanced so much.
I love a good water park.
I, I used to, when I wasyounger, there were some things I've
never seen before in my life.
But I.
All I remember, all mywaterpark experiences were lugging
a tube up a flight of stairs.
(05:05):
Now they don't do any of that.
Yeah.
Like none of them, they're all advanced.
They're all got really greatways of doing that.
So I stick to just the lazy river.
Yeah.
But I have not been to the,the, the, the pool area.
I have not been at Stirling Bay.
I've heard great things about it.
So I would.
I think I'm going to leantowards that.
Okay.
You know, I think that that'sa really good pick, and I think I
(05:27):
would choose the same because.
So I love a good pool day at Disney.
Me too.
So don't sleep on that ifyou're going to Disney.
Don't like if you can pack ina rest day.
If the weather's going to benice enough, pack in a rest day that
you can just do the pool.
They've got great food out bymost of the pools at any of the resorts.
And then at the end of the dayat some of these resorts, you can
(05:50):
almost see some of thenighttime shows from Hollywood Studios
or Epcot from there.
So I would just really want tojust kind of lay low and take it
in for the day.
Just by the pool.
All right, that's a good one.
All right, so next we aregoing to go food, of course, because
who, who doesn't love somegood food at Disney?
Good little restaurant.
All right, so we're gonna goover to Epcot and we're going to
(06:13):
say you have to have lunchsomewhere and you're in the World
Showcase.
Are you going to go to theMexico Pavilion and get tacos or
whatever your heart's desireis there, or are you going to go
over to my favorite the UK andget fish and chips.
I'm going to go to the Mexico Pavilion.
Okay.
I'm not a huge fish guy.
Okay.
(06:33):
But I've gotten great, youknow, great feedback on the fish
and chips over in England.
But I'm going to stick withMexico because one, I'll.
I'll eat the lunch.
I'll go on Grand Fiesta Tourbefore it ends up becoming a cocoa
ride, which has been my prediction.
That's right.
Since D23.
I'm going to enjoy it while Igot it.
That's right.
I'm going to stay in theMexico pavilion.
You know, you can kind of makean afternoon of that, really, if
(06:54):
you're.
If you're there for an earlylunch and you get.
You get your tacos or whateveryou want to get, you can sit.
So at the Mexico Pavilion,it's got such a pretty backdrop of
just the lake, and you can seethe spaceship Earth in the background
and all of that.
So you can do that, and youcan go inside and ride the boat,
and then you can meet Donaldright there, which a lot of people
don't always see him.
He's kind of tucked away justpast the Mexico Pavilion.
(07:17):
And then, of course, you canstop at La Cava and get a handcrafted
margarita as well.
But of course, I cannot strayfrom my favorite fish and chips.
I'm gonna get fish and chipswith the malt vinegar and enjoy that
for the day.
My mother gets it every timeon her birthday.
Oh, it's so delicious.
So delicious.
Very good.
All right, so I want to goback to rides.
Okay, so I want to talk abouta couple of smaller coasters.
(07:40):
Okay.
These are two of my favorite,and I want to know if you only can
ride one of these.
Are you going to ride SlinkyDog Dash or are you going to ride
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train?
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Oh, that was emphatic.
And I like Slinky Dog Dash,but I.
I love the Mine Train.
I.
It's not the best rollercoaster in the park, and it.
(08:02):
And I could use a little moretheming, but I really.
I love the queue there.
I love the queue.
Now, the queue at Slinky DogDash with the big toys making you
feel like you're part of it.
That's.
That's really, really well done.
But I'm going to stick withSlinky Dog Dash.
I'm not.
I mean, Seven Dwarfs MindTrain only because I really am a
Seven Dwarfs person.
Okay.
So I have a poster of it in mymedia room, and I.
(08:25):
I'VE liked that.
That movie for a very long time.
I really love that coaster.
I just wish that there wasmaybe, I mean, give us 20 more seconds,
30 more seconds if we can,because it's over so quickly, so
fast, and it's such a fun ride.
I think everybody can reallyjust laugh and have fun.
But I'm gonna go over toSlinky Dog because if I could ride
one ride over and over allday, I think it would be Slinky.
(08:48):
And if I could hear Slinky'svoice in the queue telling me to
keep my hands and arms insidethe vehicle, me and my kids laugh
at that every time because he.
He has this, you know, countryaccent when he's doing it, and so
it's funny.
But I love Slinky Dog Dash.
And it's still to this day, Imean, we're.
We're going on seven years, Iguess, since Toy Story Land opened.
(09:10):
That's right.
And that ride consistentlystays at a high wait time all day,
all the time, every day.
The first time I rode it wasChristmas Eve 2018.
My parents took everyone, allof us, to Disney for the day, right
on Christmas Eve.
And the line was weaving allthe way through, out of the area
of Toy Story Land.
That's how, that's how longthe line was.
(09:31):
But we had to stay in itbecause very simply, that was the
ride we had to go on.
If there was one ride we werenot going to leave that day with
without, it was going to bethat ride.
It was going to be the ridethat we had to ride without question.
That's awesome.
So, yes.
So, yeah, so we've beenthrough a few rides.
We've been through some food.
I want to go back to someresorts for a second.
(09:51):
Okay.
So I want to go to areas.
If you were to be able to stayin a particular area over another
one.
Because, you know, you've got.
You've got so manyconveniences now.
You've got the monorail andyou've got the Skyliner and you've
got different levels ofresorts on those.
So let's say you had to choosean Epcot Resort over or a monorail
(10:13):
resort.
Which one are you going?
I'm going to go with themonorail resort.
I've stayed at the Epcot resort.
I was at Port Orleans and Iloved Port Orleans.
We.
The one problem we had was the bus.
The bus was.
It's a.
There's like there were fourlocations around that entire.
Just that resort with, withthe, with.
River, How Coronado Springs Is too.
And I love Coronado.
(10:33):
But for the bus system, it'sso hard there.
You're getting on, you'restopping, stopping again, stopping
again, depending on where youcatch it on its loop.
So to me, yes, no, I've allthe Monal was the main reason as
a young kid that I fell inlove with the Disney parks.
Cuz I never been to anamusement park that required you
to additionally travel to itonce you were out of the parking
(10:54):
lot.
And I just was in Enamor, thiswas, I mean again, 82.
So I know the thrill is gonefor most people who consider it kind
of outdated, but for a 10 yearold kid in 1982 it was a phenomenal
way to get to a theme park.
There's so much nostalgia toit too.
I think it's still, I, Iconsider it something that you have
to do on every vacation.
(11:14):
You have to take a ride aroundthe monorail.
You know, if I'm gonna chooseMagic Kingdom is my favorite park.
So if I have better access toMagic Kingdom, I'm gonna choose being
close to the monorail.
That's right, every day, all day.
So I have a friend of mine whois a, the producer at the radio station
I work for and he's fromCalifornia and he has been a Disneyland
(11:34):
seasoned pass holder for avery, very long time.
Never been to Disney World,doesn't know much about Disney World,
always been sort of California based.
And he was blown away when Itold him, yeah, no, you get to the
parking lot and you're noteven at Magic Kingdom yet.
It is still a boat ride or atrain ride away.
And he was fascinated by that.
And I said listen, look, justGoogle Earth and you'll see it.
(11:55):
And he did.
And it was fun to watch his expression.
I thought everybody sort ofknew this, but I guess that's not
really the case because thefirst time I went to Disneyland it
was right there.
I mean it was, you know, youwent to Disneyland, there was the
parking lot and there'sDisneyland and it's right like there's
a Denny's right across thestreet from the park.
So the monorail to me hasalways been like super, super fascinating
(12:17):
on the method oftransportation around the theme park.
Okay, so I've only got liketwo more that I'm going to.
Okay.
All right, so next we're goingto go over to Disney Cruise Line.
All right, so I'm going to askyou about a couple of sailings, particularly
not about which boat you wantto go on.
But let's say you can only doone sailing.
(12:37):
Are you going to do an Alaskansailing, or are you going to do.
Let's call it the Eastern Caribbean?
Okay.
Alaska sailing?
Okay.
All right.
Because I have this thing.
I've been all over the countrycovering sports or personal travel.
Yeah, I've never been to Alaska.
Yeah, I was very close togoing to Alaska with a hockey team
once, many years ago.
(12:57):
Really Very close.
But they didn't want to bringbroadcasting to that game because
the games are going to be on late.
So I didn't get to travel withthe team.
But we've always.
My wife and I have alwayswanted to go to Alaska.
Okay.
So we've done the Caribbean anumber of times with different cruise
lines.
And the Alaskan cruise peopletell me, look, it's very different.
It's.
It's unique.
There's a lot.
You know, there's different ways.
You got to sort of enjoy itwith weather and all that stuff.
(13:19):
But I'm looking forward to the challenge.
I would love to do a.
An Alaskan cruise.
I absolutely would love alsoto do an Alaskan cruise.
The only challenge from me isif I have my kids with me, then the
weather is going to be such achallenge because they think about
a cruise and they're thinkingabout beach time.
Yeah, that's the one.
(13:40):
That's the one thing I have tobe careful about with that because
I.
I'm.
I'm in for fun in the sun on acruise boat and not.
And not necessarily jacketsand looking at icebergs.
I don't love cold weather, butI think that the trade off for seeing
the things that you get to seeon an Alaskan cruise would be totally
worth it.
Yes.
And, you know, my.
My biggest thing on an Alaskancruise is I don't.
(14:02):
I don't think I would enjoygoing from point A to point B.
That's a long flight.
I think you'd leave out ofSeattle, some places, Vancouver,
some places.
That's a long flight fromwhere we are.
Yeah.
And you can kind of make it, though.
Like, you could kind of makeit a mini trip beforehand.
You could go out there two orthree days beforehand and go ahead
and see some of those cities.
If you're out in Vancouver.
I know I've never been out there.
Vancouver is wonderful.
(14:23):
And so I would love to seesome of that and kind of make it
two vacations in one.
Absolutely.
All right, so we both agree onthe Alaskan cruise.
Okay.
So I've got one more for you.
Okay.
And since.
Since it's the last one.
Or at least for me, if youhave any you want to throw out there,
you're welcome to do so.
But since it's the last one, Idecided to go with the End of the
Day.
Okay, so you're at Walt DisneyWorld, it's the end of the day and
(14:45):
you can only see one show.
Are you going to go toHollywood Studios to see Fantasmic
or are you going to go toMagic Kingdom and see Happily ever
After?
Oh, goodness.
I like Fantasmic.
I think it's more of acomplete show.
Sit down, really enjoy thewhole thing, the sort of anticipation
of it.
Yes, I've always, I've alwaysenjoyed that part of it.
(15:06):
Okay.
Yeah, I'm gonna go Fantasmic.
I love that like that.
I love Fantasmic.
And I probably would havealways chosen Fantasmic in the past.
Since we've had kids, we.
We very rarely make it to anyof the nighttime shows.
And that's kind of a stickingpoint sometimes with Chris because
he wants to see the fireworksfrom inside the park.
And by that time of night, ourkids are usually done, at least the
(15:29):
younger ones.
And so no longer have we doneFantasmic because it's so hard with
there being only one entrypoint and one exit point, that if
you're not sitting in just theright spot to be able to get out
quickly, then it can be kindof a long time to get back to the
buses.
But it's a fantastic show.
If you've never seen itbefore, the way that they do it,
(15:51):
it's really unique.
It's not your typicalfireworks show.
It's really, really somethingto see if you've never seen it.
It's got so many characters in it.
There's almost everybody's.
Absolutely.
It's great.
All right, I got one for you.
Oh, good.
You're looking for that sortof 20 minute air conditioned relaxation,
possibly a nap.
Okay.
Carousel of Progress or Hallof Presidents.
(16:11):
Oh, this is a great one.
Okay.
For me, it's actually going tobe hall of Presidents.
Hall of Presidents.
Okay.
I like it.
I find something soothingabout being in there.
And the voices of thepresidents are a little quieter and
more conducive for napping, inmy opinion, than the Carousel of
Progress.
But I think both of those areexcellent, excellent choices for
(16:32):
an hour.
Absolutely.
Get that 20 minutes in.
Lean back.
Enjoy.
Listen.
Listen through your.
Through your ears and closeyour eyes.
That's right.
Enjoy.
I saw a guy on Tick Tocksaying here's some attractions that
he thought were going to beclosed at Disney World soon.
This was going to be closing.
And he mentioned the hall ofPresidents and I kept thinking that's
hard for me to believe thatwith all of those animatronics and
(16:53):
all of those presents and theamount of work and the legacy of
the work and the money.
That'S probably gone intomaking those.
Yeah.
And it's, yeah, it may not bepeople's favorite thing to do.
It's, it's, it's long andit's, it's kind of a cool show and
it's, if you like history,it's great.
It's a classic.
It's a classic.
But I can't imagine all of thework that people put in that to just
realize how much effort wentinto making each individual president.
(17:15):
And it's sort of a, you know,you see new presidents come and they
get their bust, you know, theyget their animatronic done at hall
of Presidents.
But Carousel of Progress isone of those interesting rides for
me because I, I keep waitingfor the them to shift the timeline
because eventually you'regoing to go from the, from the early
turn of the century to thetwenties to the forties.
(17:36):
We're a hundred years past actnumber three in that run.
We have to update it at somepoint and I don't know if there's
been pushback on doing that orwhat, but.
Yeah, you're right.
At some point it's, it's going to.
Be laughing, it's going to bea huge jump.
I mean, it already kind of is.
The virtual reality game thatthey're playing at Christmas is like,
(17:57):
that's like 35 years past the time.
Yes.
So yeah, that's, so that,that's a, that's my wife is always
said to me, yeah, I'll, I'llclose my eyes because I like Carousel
of Progress.
I like the music and whatnot.
Let's see if I can try to comeup with another one.
All right, would, I'm thinkingof the, the parties.
Okay.
Okay.
Would you go to one of theparties, Halloween or Christmas,
(18:20):
and have a sit down dinner atyour favorite restaurant or gorge
on the specialty snacks?
Oh, that's a very, very good question.
I love a good sweet, but onceI've had one, I don't want more than
one.
Okay, but that's really, it'sa hard question because I don't want
(18:41):
to spend my time sitting downto eat at a party.
Right.
So.
Oh, you know, maybe I wouldlike load up on protein before I
go so that so that I couldjust like, gorge on all the snacks
and have the sweets and notfeel horrible afterwards.
There you go.
Yeah.
You know, I don't think Iwould spend my time sitting down
for a dinner.
Okay, very good.
(19:01):
Very good.
All right.
So that's a fun game.
Yeah, I like that.
We should do it again.
We should do it again.
If you have any ideas, sendthem into us.
Yeah, we'll do this or that.
We love that.
We'd love that.
What did you make of the newsthat's coming out about 3D?
Muppet 3D?
We.
It was kind of not surprisingthat Muppet 3D was closing for Monsters,
Inc.
Yeah.
They kind of hinted it in the.
In the drawings that that'swhere it was going to go.
Yeah, you know, I.
(19:22):
I did expect it.
I am not as heartbroken assome people are going to be.
I mean, the Disney communityis blowing up about it and talking
about how they don't want toget rid of it, but really, at the
end of the day, how many ofthem are still going to see on every
trip?
And I think to make way for acoaster like what we're expecting
with Monsters, Inc.
(19:43):
I think it's really going tobe big for Hollywood studios, you
know, and I hate to.
I hate to sort of compare itlike this, but my wife and I will
do spring cleaning a lot.
Right.
And we will say, look, we gotto get into, you know, this stuff.
What do you want to keep?
What do you want to get rid of?
And inevitably, there's alwaysa reason to keep something.
Yeah, there's always a.
Oh, yeah.
Remember when we bought thatwhen we were stuck at that gas station
(20:05):
in Atlanta when our motor beltwent down?
You know, things like that.
Right.
Yeah.
And eventually, you got to go,we got to let this go.
Right?
We.
We.
We just.
We don't have enough space for everything.
Yes.
We got to let this go.
And I think that's one of themain problems that Disney.
The Disney community struggleswith is this idea of, we want new,
we want different, we wantmake this better, make this.
(20:28):
Give us new things.
Look at Epic Universe.
They've got all this stuff,and Disney goes, great, we're going
to do this, but you know what?
We're going to take this out.
That has been kind of the samething for 30 years.
Oh, no, no.
You can't touch that.
Okay, well, then where do youwant it to go?
Right.
You know, I think that theycould do it and kind of kind of give
homage to the.
To the ride by keeping.
(20:48):
Let's say they keep thefountain or something in the area
just to kind of to say, well,you know, here's.
Here's things of the past, buthere's this great thing that we're
going to have coming for you.
Yeah, exactly.
So, I mean, listen, and they,they've done some great.
Like they used to have the20,000 leagues under the Sea where
the.
Where the mine train was yearsand years ago.
(21:12):
I'm sure back then people werelike, I remember the Mr.
Toad wild ride fiasco of the90s where people went nuts.
Like, you're taking that away.
Yeah, that's.
That, that's a 1940s thing.
They were leaning towards anew Winnie the Pooh popularity.
There's only so many places itcan go now.
I've heard that they're tryingto overlay the rock and roll roller
(21:32):
coaster with Muppets.
Oh, that's a little rumor.
That's a little rumor.
So I'm not going to say that'sofficial, but I heard a little rumor
that they might overlay.
That would be cool.
So Dr.
Teeth and the Electric Mayhemwould provide a little bit a different
than Aerosmith.
Yeah.
And I heard that they wantedto kind of move off of Aerosmith
anyway.
But we.
We shall see.
Oh, that'd be cool.
I like that.
I like.
(21:52):
If you're going to dosomething with the.
It is your property they own.
So they're trying to dosomething with it.
Yeah, but I've gone back and forth.
I mean, I grew up watching theMuppet show in the late 70s, but
I.
My kids don't care about the Muppets.
They tried to bring it back.
They tried to make it a force again.
It just doesn't.
It doesn't really pop.
So.
So that's a big news of whatwe got.
But that was a fun little.
(22:13):
Fun little game we playedthere on this edition of the podcast.
All right, so again, hit us up.
Hit Lauren up at Lauren at allthe magic travel.
You can hit me up with Travelwith Tony.
Dmail.com Please subscribe tothe podcast.
Give us a like helps us withthe algorithms.
And next week we might betalking about the Disney treasure.
That was sort of.
Everybody was of buzzing aboutthat with that news that came.
Got to see the ship and whatit was bringing photos.
(22:35):
It looks really, really awesome.
So we're going to dive intothat next week.
Again, please subscribe tothis to the podcast.
We really appreciate it.
Thank you for all your support.
This is Tony D.
And that's Lauren Mallard andthis is Wands and Wishes Pod.
It's another episode of theWands and Wishes podcast.
Your podcast for everythingDisney and Universal.
Lauren Mallard of all themagic travel.
I'm Tony Doziri.
Oh, we got a fun episode today.
We are going to do a littlebit of this or that.
As far as Disney resorts go.
How are you, Lauren?
Nice.
Good.
How are you weather here wherewe are in Tennessee?
It's cold.
It is cold.
It is cold.
(00:27):
It is.
It's very cold.
I was telling my wife therewas only someplace we could go that
was a little warm, warmer, anda little bit more fun.
Only some place that we couldgo if only we just had unlimited
funds.
Then I would be there all the time.
Exactly, Exactly.
All right, so this or that,we're gonna have a little fun with
some Disney resort and parksinformation house.
Are you gonna throw out some things?
Yeah.
Okay.
So I'm gonna throw some ideasat you and what I want you to do.
(00:50):
I don't care if you've beenthere before.
I don't care if you've stayedthere before.
If you've ridden this ride.
I want to see if it were up toyou, which one would you choose first?
Basically, even if you want todo both of them, I want to know which
one you would choose first andthen I'll tell you my answer with
them.
So.
So, yeah, so first of all, Iwant to start with a couple of rides.
Okay.
So, you know, we've.
(01:10):
We've had some really big onesthat have come on board in the last
few years in the parks.
And so I want to know if you are.
If you only have one day for apark for like a headliner.
Okay.
Are you going to Rise of theResistance or are you going to Guardians
of the Galaxy?
Oh, that's such a good question.
Because when I rode Rise ofthe Resistance, I remember getting
(01:33):
off the ride and saying, thisis the best theme park ride I'd ever
ridden.
Because it was just thiscombination of story.
It was a combination ofdifferent elements.
There was acting, there was awhole immersion aspect to it.
But when I went on Guardiansof the Galaxy, I was like, this might
be one of the coolest typeroller coaster type rides I had ever
(01:53):
been on with it sort oftheming and spinning and just the
way the.
The engineering went.
But I'm going to stick withthe first one.
I'm going to stick with Riseof the Resistance.
Okay.
I never been on anything quitelike the experience of going on a
transport, having a show, thenthat show leading to this other awe
inspiring thing.
And I.
I remember thinking, I'venever been on a ride that incorporated
(02:16):
so many elements, but.
But, you know, Gar, that was agood one, because Guardians, I felt.
I felt the same way when Iwalked off Guardians that I did on
Rise of the Resistance.
Yeah.
You know, I.
I get motion sick.
So Guardians was a one anddone for me.
Every time I'm there, I think,maybe I should try it again, but
then I chicken out.
So I haven't tried it again.
But I think, honestly, if Icould do Guardians, I did think it
(02:38):
was really, really fantastic.
And since I'm not a huge Starwars fan, I would probably lean towards
Guardians.
I think my family, Chris andGraham especially, probably still
lean towards Rise of the Resistance.
Graham, absolutely.
Every time we're there, he'slike, this is still my favorite ride,
Mom.
And it just.
It really does encompass somuch, and it reaches such a wide
audience that I think it's just.
(02:58):
It's really a good attraction.
Guardians of the Galaxy isreally interesting to me because
I remember when the movie came out.
I want to say 2014.
I might be getting my dateswrong, but it's around.
It was around about 10 years ago.
Yeah.
When it came out.
And I remember I had been acomic book guy as a kid, but I never
really remembered it.
And I remember, like, mybrother and I were like, let's go
see it.
Let's bring the kids to it.
And it was surprisingly fantastic.
(03:20):
Like, surprisingly good.
And I was kind of warped intoit, and I really loved it, and I
wanted to see it again when itcame out.
And so I've always had thiskind of affinity for the character
and the sort of franchise.
Now, when we went there, wegot a lightning pass through a beautiful
thing of pixie dust that mywife got.
(03:40):
Nice.
I missed a lot of the queue.
We ended up right in the roomand kind of went on the ride.
But I heard the Queue isreally, really well done.
You know, I've never seen iteither, because I do.
I opt for the Lightning Pass,so I prefer to not see the queue
if I can.
But, yeah, it is.
It's supposed to be prettywell done.
Whereas Rise of theResistance, the Queue does take you
through things you recognizefrom the movies as you kind of weave
(04:03):
your way through.
It's kind of interesting to belike, oh, I remember this scene from
the movie.
I remember this aspect fromthe movie.
So there's a lot of.
There's a lot of those cool elements.
That's a very, very good one.
Two really good headliners,for sure.
All right, next, this one,we're going to think outside the
box a little bit.
So there, it's not going toreally be apples to apples.
It's going to be a little different.
So I'm thinking about pools.
(04:23):
Okay.
All right, so if you couldspend a day at Typhoon Lagoon or
at Storm Along Bay, which isthe pool at beach and Yacht Club,
which one are you choosing?
Well, I get lazy rivers with both.
Correct.
You do.
You get it on a smaller scale.
I'm a lazy river guy when itcomes to water parks.
(04:44):
I don't know why I've dumpedwater parks out of my life completely.
Because 1.
Water parks have advanced so much.
I love a good water park.
I, I used to, when I wasyounger, there were some things I've
never seen before in my life.
But I.
All I remember, all mywaterpark experiences were lugging
a tube up a flight of stairs.
(05:05):
Now they don't do any of that.
Yeah.
Like none of them, they're all advanced.
They're all got really greatways of doing that.
So I stick to just the lazy river.
Yeah.
But I have not been to the,the, the, the pool area.
I have not been at Stirling Bay.
I've heard great things about it.
So I would.
I think I'm going to leantowards that.
Okay.
You know, I think that that'sa really good pick, and I think I
(05:27):
would choose the same because.
So I love a good pool day at Disney.
Me too.
So don't sleep on that ifyou're going to Disney.
Don't like if you can pack ina rest day.
If the weather's going to benice enough, pack in a rest day that
you can just do the pool.
They've got great food out bymost of the pools at any of the resorts.
And then at the end of the dayat some of these resorts, you can
(05:50):
almost see some of thenighttime shows from Hollywood Studios
or Epcot from there.
So I would just really want tojust kind of lay low and take it
in for the day.
Just by the pool.
All right, that's a good one.
All right, so next we aregoing to go food, of course, because
who, who doesn't love somegood food at Disney?
Good little restaurant.
All right, so we're gonna goover to Epcot and we're going to
(06:13):
say you have to have lunchsomewhere and you're in the World
Showcase.
Are you going to go to theMexico Pavilion and get tacos or
whatever your heart's desireis there, or are you going to go
over to my favorite the UK andget fish and chips.
I'm going to go to the Mexico Pavilion.
Okay.
I'm not a huge fish guy.
Okay.
(06:33):
But I've gotten great, youknow, great feedback on the fish
and chips over in England.
But I'm going to stick withMexico because one, I'll.
I'll eat the lunch.
I'll go on Grand Fiesta Tourbefore it ends up becoming a cocoa
ride, which has been my prediction.
That's right.
Since D23.
I'm going to enjoy it while Igot it.
That's right.
I'm going to stay in theMexico pavilion.
You know, you can kind of makean afternoon of that, really, if
(06:54):
you're.
If you're there for an earlylunch and you get.
You get your tacos or whateveryou want to get, you can sit.
So at the Mexico Pavilion,it's got such a pretty backdrop of
just the lake, and you can seethe spaceship Earth in the background
and all of that.
So you can do that, and youcan go inside and ride the boat,
and then you can meet Donaldright there, which a lot of people
don't always see him.
He's kind of tucked away justpast the Mexico Pavilion.
(07:17):
And then, of course, you canstop at La Cava and get a handcrafted
margarita as well.
But of course, I cannot strayfrom my favorite fish and chips.
I'm gonna get fish and chipswith the malt vinegar and enjoy that
for the day.
My mother gets it every timeon her birthday.
Oh, it's so delicious.
So delicious.
Very good.
All right, so I want to goback to rides.
Okay, so I want to talk abouta couple of smaller coasters.
(07:40):
Okay.
These are two of my favorite,and I want to know if you only can
ride one of these.
Are you going to ride SlinkyDog Dash or are you going to ride
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train?
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Oh, that was emphatic.
And I like Slinky Dog Dash,but I.
I love the Mine Train.
I.
It's not the best rollercoaster in the park, and it.
(08:02):
And I could use a little moretheming, but I really.
I love the queue there.
I love the queue.
Now, the queue at Slinky DogDash with the big toys making you
feel like you're part of it.
That's.
That's really, really well done.
But I'm going to stick withSlinky Dog Dash.
I'm not.
I mean, Seven Dwarfs MindTrain only because I really am a
Seven Dwarfs person.
Okay.
So I have a poster of it in mymedia room, and I.
(08:25):
I'VE liked that.
That movie for a very long time.
I really love that coaster.
I just wish that there wasmaybe, I mean, give us 20 more seconds,
30 more seconds if we can,because it's over so quickly, so
fast, and it's such a fun ride.
I think everybody can reallyjust laugh and have fun.
But I'm gonna go over toSlinky Dog because if I could ride
one ride over and over allday, I think it would be Slinky.
(08:48):
And if I could hear Slinky'svoice in the queue telling me to
keep my hands and arms insidethe vehicle, me and my kids laugh
at that every time because he.
He has this, you know, countryaccent when he's doing it, and so
it's funny.
But I love Slinky Dog Dash.
And it's still to this day, Imean, we're.
We're going on seven years, Iguess, since Toy Story Land opened.
(09:10):
That's right.
And that ride consistentlystays at a high wait time all day,
all the time, every day.
The first time I rode it wasChristmas Eve 2018.
My parents took everyone, allof us, to Disney for the day, right
on Christmas Eve.
And the line was weaving allthe way through, out of the area
of Toy Story Land.
That's how, that's how longthe line was.
(09:31):
But we had to stay in itbecause very simply, that was the
ride we had to go on.
If there was one ride we werenot going to leave that day with
without, it was going to bethat ride.
It was going to be the ridethat we had to ride without question.
That's awesome.
So, yes.
So, yeah, so we've beenthrough a few rides.
We've been through some food.
I want to go back to someresorts for a second.
(09:51):
Okay.
So I want to go to areas.
If you were to be able to stayin a particular area over another
one.
Because, you know, you've got.
You've got so manyconveniences now.
You've got the monorail andyou've got the Skyliner and you've
got different levels ofresorts on those.
So let's say you had to choosean Epcot Resort over or a monorail
(10:13):
resort.
Which one are you going?
I'm going to go with themonorail resort.
I've stayed at the Epcot resort.
I was at Port Orleans and Iloved Port Orleans.
We.
The one problem we had was the bus.
The bus was.
It's a.
There's like there were fourlocations around that entire.
Just that resort with, withthe, with.
River, How Coronado Springs Is too.
And I love Coronado.
(10:33):
But for the bus system, it'sso hard there.
You're getting on, you'restopping, stopping again, stopping
again, depending on where youcatch it on its loop.
So to me, yes, no, I've allthe Monal was the main reason as
a young kid that I fell inlove with the Disney parks.
Cuz I never been to anamusement park that required you
to additionally travel to itonce you were out of the parking
(10:54):
lot.
And I just was in Enamor, thiswas, I mean again, 82.
So I know the thrill is gonefor most people who consider it kind
of outdated, but for a 10 yearold kid in 1982 it was a phenomenal
way to get to a theme park.
There's so much nostalgia toit too.
I think it's still, I, Iconsider it something that you have
to do on every vacation.
(11:14):
You have to take a ride aroundthe monorail.
You know, if I'm gonna chooseMagic Kingdom is my favorite park.
So if I have better access toMagic Kingdom, I'm gonna choose being
close to the monorail.
That's right, every day, all day.
So I have a friend of mine whois a, the producer at the radio station
I work for and he's fromCalifornia and he has been a Disneyland
(11:34):
seasoned pass holder for avery, very long time.
Never been to Disney World,doesn't know much about Disney World,
always been sort of California based.
And he was blown away when Itold him, yeah, no, you get to the
parking lot and you're noteven at Magic Kingdom yet.
It is still a boat ride or atrain ride away.
And he was fascinated by that.
And I said listen, look, justGoogle Earth and you'll see it.
(11:55):
And he did.
And it was fun to watch his expression.
I thought everybody sort ofknew this, but I guess that's not
really the case because thefirst time I went to Disneyland it
was right there.
I mean it was, you know, youwent to Disneyland, there was the
parking lot and there'sDisneyland and it's right like there's
a Denny's right across thestreet from the park.
So the monorail to me hasalways been like super, super fascinating
(12:17):
on the method oftransportation around the theme park.
Okay, so I've only got liketwo more that I'm going to.
Okay.
All right, so next we're goingto go over to Disney Cruise Line.
All right, so I'm going to askyou about a couple of sailings, particularly
not about which boat you wantto go on.
But let's say you can only doone sailing.
(12:37):
Are you going to do an Alaskansailing, or are you going to do.
Let's call it the Eastern Caribbean?
Okay.
Alaska sailing?
Okay.
All right.
Because I have this thing.
I've been all over the countrycovering sports or personal travel.
Yeah, I've never been to Alaska.
Yeah, I was very close togoing to Alaska with a hockey team
once, many years ago.
(12:57):
Really Very close.
But they didn't want to bringbroadcasting to that game because
the games are going to be on late.
So I didn't get to travel withthe team.
But we've always.
My wife and I have alwayswanted to go to Alaska.
Okay.
So we've done the Caribbean anumber of times with different cruise
lines.
And the Alaskan cruise peopletell me, look, it's very different.
It's.
It's unique.
There's a lot.
You know, there's different ways.
You got to sort of enjoy itwith weather and all that stuff.
(13:19):
But I'm looking forward to the challenge.
I would love to do a.
An Alaskan cruise.
I absolutely would love alsoto do an Alaskan cruise.
The only challenge from me isif I have my kids with me, then the
weather is going to be such achallenge because they think about
a cruise and they're thinkingabout beach time.
Yeah, that's the one.
(13:40):
That's the one thing I have tobe careful about with that because
I.
I'm.
I'm in for fun in the sun on acruise boat and not.
And not necessarily jacketsand looking at icebergs.
I don't love cold weather, butI think that the trade off for seeing
the things that you get to seeon an Alaskan cruise would be totally
worth it.
Yes.
And, you know, my.
My biggest thing on an Alaskancruise is I don't.
(14:02):
I don't think I would enjoygoing from point A to point B.
That's a long flight.
I think you'd leave out ofSeattle, some places, Vancouver,
some places.
That's a long flight fromwhere we are.
Yeah.
And you can kind of make it, though.
Like, you could kind of makeit a mini trip beforehand.
You could go out there two orthree days beforehand and go ahead
and see some of those cities.
If you're out in Vancouver.
I know I've never been out there.
Vancouver is wonderful.
(14:23):
And so I would love to seesome of that and kind of make it
two vacations in one.
Absolutely.
All right, so we both agree onthe Alaskan cruise.
Okay.
So I've got one more for you.
Okay.
And since.
Since it's the last one.
Or at least for me, if youhave any you want to throw out there,
you're welcome to do so.
But since it's the last one, Idecided to go with the End of the
Day.
Okay, so you're at Walt DisneyWorld, it's the end of the day and
(14:45):
you can only see one show.
Are you going to go toHollywood Studios to see Fantasmic
or are you going to go toMagic Kingdom and see Happily ever
After?
Oh, goodness.
I like Fantasmic.
I think it's more of acomplete show.
Sit down, really enjoy thewhole thing, the sort of anticipation
of it.
Yes, I've always, I've alwaysenjoyed that part of it.
(15:06):
Okay.
Yeah, I'm gonna go Fantasmic.
I love that like that.
I love Fantasmic.
And I probably would havealways chosen Fantasmic in the past.
Since we've had kids, we.
We very rarely make it to anyof the nighttime shows.
And that's kind of a stickingpoint sometimes with Chris because
he wants to see the fireworksfrom inside the park.
And by that time of night, ourkids are usually done, at least the
(15:29):
younger ones.
And so no longer have we doneFantasmic because it's so hard with
there being only one entrypoint and one exit point, that if
you're not sitting in just theright spot to be able to get out
quickly, then it can be kindof a long time to get back to the
buses.
But it's a fantastic show.
If you've never seen itbefore, the way that they do it,
(15:51):
it's really unique.
It's not your typicalfireworks show.
It's really, really somethingto see if you've never seen it.
It's got so many characters in it.
There's almost everybody's.
Absolutely.
It's great.
All right, I got one for you.
Oh, good.
You're looking for that sortof 20 minute air conditioned relaxation,
possibly a nap.
Okay.
Carousel of Progress or Hallof Presidents.
(16:11):
Oh, this is a great one.
Okay.
For me, it's actually going tobe hall of Presidents.
Hall of Presidents.
Okay.
I like it.
I find something soothingabout being in there.
And the voices of thepresidents are a little quieter and
more conducive for napping, inmy opinion, than the Carousel of
Progress.
But I think both of those areexcellent, excellent choices for
(16:32):
an hour.
Absolutely.
Get that 20 minutes in.
Lean back.
Enjoy.
Listen.
Listen through your.
Through your ears and closeyour eyes.
That's right.
Enjoy.
I saw a guy on Tick Tocksaying here's some attractions that
he thought were going to beclosed at Disney World soon.
This was going to be closing.
And he mentioned the hall ofPresidents and I kept thinking that's
hard for me to believe thatwith all of those animatronics and
(16:53):
all of those presents and theamount of work and the legacy of
the work and the money.
That'S probably gone intomaking those.
Yeah.
And it's, yeah, it may not bepeople's favorite thing to do.
It's, it's, it's long andit's, it's kind of a cool show and
it's, if you like history,it's great.
It's a classic.
It's a classic.
But I can't imagine all of thework that people put in that to just
realize how much effort wentinto making each individual president.
(17:15):
And it's sort of a, you know,you see new presidents come and they
get their bust, you know, theyget their animatronic done at hall
of Presidents.
But Carousel of Progress isone of those interesting rides for
me because I, I keep waitingfor the them to shift the timeline
because eventually you'regoing to go from the, from the early
turn of the century to thetwenties to the forties.
(17:36):
We're a hundred years past actnumber three in that run.
We have to update it at somepoint and I don't know if there's
been pushback on doing that orwhat, but.
Yeah, you're right.
At some point it's, it's going to.
Be laughing, it's going to bea huge jump.
I mean, it already kind of is.
The virtual reality game thatthey're playing at Christmas is like,
(17:57):
that's like 35 years past the time.
Yes.
So yeah, that's, so that,that's a, that's my wife is always
said to me, yeah, I'll, I'llclose my eyes because I like Carousel
of Progress.
I like the music and whatnot.
Let's see if I can try to comeup with another one.
All right, would, I'm thinkingof the, the parties.
Okay.
Okay.
Would you go to one of theparties, Halloween or Christmas,
(18:20):
and have a sit down dinner atyour favorite restaurant or gorge
on the specialty snacks?
Oh, that's a very, very good question.
I love a good sweet, but onceI've had one, I don't want more than
one.
Okay, but that's really, it'sa hard question because I don't want
(18:41):
to spend my time sitting downto eat at a party.
Right.
So.
Oh, you know, maybe I wouldlike load up on protein before I
go so that so that I couldjust like, gorge on all the snacks
and have the sweets and notfeel horrible afterwards.
There you go.
Yeah.
You know, I don't think Iwould spend my time sitting down
for a dinner.
Okay, very good.
(19:01):
Very good.
All right.
So that's a fun game.
Yeah, I like that.
We should do it again.
We should do it again.
If you have any ideas, sendthem into us.
Yeah, we'll do this or that.
We love that.
We'd love that.
What did you make of the newsthat's coming out about 3D?
Muppet 3D?
We.
It was kind of not surprisingthat Muppet 3D was closing for Monsters,
Inc.
Yeah.
They kind of hinted it in the.
In the drawings that that'swhere it was going to go.
Yeah, you know, I.
(19:22):
I did expect it.
I am not as heartbroken assome people are going to be.
I mean, the Disney communityis blowing up about it and talking
about how they don't want toget rid of it, but really, at the
end of the day, how many ofthem are still going to see on every
trip?
And I think to make way for acoaster like what we're expecting
with Monsters, Inc.
(19:43):
I think it's really going tobe big for Hollywood studios, you
know, and I hate to.
I hate to sort of compare itlike this, but my wife and I will
do spring cleaning a lot.
Right.
And we will say, look, we gotto get into, you know, this stuff.
What do you want to keep?
What do you want to get rid of?
And inevitably, there's alwaysa reason to keep something.
Yeah, there's always a.
Oh, yeah.
Remember when we bought thatwhen we were stuck at that gas station
(20:05):
in Atlanta when our motor beltwent down?
You know, things like that.
Right.
Yeah.
And eventually, you got to go,we got to let this go.
Right?
We.
We.
We just.
We don't have enough space for everything.
Yes.
We got to let this go.
And I think that's one of themain problems that Disney.
The Disney community struggleswith is this idea of, we want new,
we want different, we wantmake this better, make this.
(20:28):
Give us new things.
Look at Epic Universe.
They've got all this stuff,and Disney goes, great, we're going
to do this, but you know what?
We're going to take this out.
That has been kind of the samething for 30 years.
Oh, no, no.
You can't touch that.
Okay, well, then where do youwant it to go?
Right.
You know, I think that theycould do it and kind of kind of give
homage to the.
To the ride by keeping.
(20:48):
Let's say they keep thefountain or something in the area
just to kind of to say, well,you know, here's.
Here's things of the past, buthere's this great thing that we're
going to have coming for you.
Yeah, exactly.
So, I mean, listen, and they,they've done some great.
Like they used to have the20,000 leagues under the Sea where
the.
Where the mine train was yearsand years ago.
(21:12):
I'm sure back then people werelike, I remember the Mr.
Toad wild ride fiasco of the90s where people went nuts.
Like, you're taking that away.
Yeah, that's.
That, that's a 1940s thing.
They were leaning towards anew Winnie the Pooh popularity.
There's only so many places itcan go now.
I've heard that they're tryingto overlay the rock and roll roller
(21:32):
coaster with Muppets.
Oh, that's a little rumor.
That's a little rumor.
So I'm not going to say that'sofficial, but I heard a little rumor
that they might overlay.
That would be cool.
So Dr.
Teeth and the Electric Mayhemwould provide a little bit a different
than Aerosmith.
Yeah.
And I heard that they wantedto kind of move off of Aerosmith
anyway.
But we.
We shall see.
Oh, that'd be cool.
I like that.
I like.
(21:52):
If you're going to dosomething with the.
It is your property they own.
So they're trying to dosomething with it.
Yeah, but I've gone back and forth.
I mean, I grew up watching theMuppet show in the late 70s, but
I.
My kids don't care about the Muppets.
They tried to bring it back.
They tried to make it a force again.
It just doesn't.
It doesn't really pop.
So.
So that's a big news of whatwe got.
But that was a fun little.
(22:13):
Fun little game we playedthere on this edition of the podcast.
All right, so again, hit us up.
Hit Lauren up at Lauren at allthe magic travel.
You can hit me up with Travelwith Tony.
Dmail.com Please subscribe tothe podcast.
Give us a like helps us withthe algorithms.
And next week we might betalking about the Disney treasure.
That was sort of.
Everybody was of buzzing aboutthat with that news that came.
Got to see the ship and whatit was bringing photos.
(22:35):
It looks really, really awesome.
So we're going to dive intothat next week.
Again, please subscribe tothis to the podcast.
We really appreciate it.
Thank you for all your support.
This is Tony D.
And that's Lauren Mallard andthis is Wands and Wishes Pod.
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