May 10, 2024 • 23 mins
This week, we cover some of latest happenings around the parks and share our thoughts on a REALLY BIG RUMOR!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome to whistle while you work podcast.
(00:15):
This is episode 79 Disney News, spring edition.
Bring edition.
That's excellent.
I like it.
We've done Disney News before.
So I'm like, I hope this doesn't confuse the title, but spring 2024 edition.
Exactly.
We've been doing this for a few years now.
I can't remember the start date, but anyway, it's spring 2024 right now.
(00:40):
Spring 2024 Disney News.
I think there's a lot of stuff to kind of hit on.
We try to do this like quarterly two or three times a year.
I mean, honestly, with my newsfeed, as much as I like Disney, like there's a lot of news
and things that come across often.
(01:04):
But we don't talk about that every week.
Sometimes we just do other stuff.
So today is the day that we're going to give you all updates in case you aren't aware or
if you just want to hear our opinion on the news.
Isn't that edit?
Is that editorial?
Editorially appropriate.
Yeah, sure.
Why not?
All right.
I'm OK with that.
(01:24):
What's the first news article you got for us today?
Well, one of the things that are clicking and tapping.
Well, yeah, one of the things that's caught my eye that's actually really kind of interesting
is currently at the Magic Kingdom, the Jungle Cruise queue is under a bit undergoing a little
bit of refurbishment.
Now, last time they did a refurbishment, they took away all the fun stuff and jokes.
(01:49):
Are they taking more of the fun stuff?
I guess they already took it.
There's nothing left to take from that side of it, I think.
No, actually, they're working on the floor and the actual queue, like the line and the
stuff weaves the port.
And from what I can tell, this is kind of in the loading area mostly.
And they've replaced the floor.
(02:10):
It was a wooden floor and they've kind of put some sort of composite material in.
And it looks like they're maybe reconfiguring kind of where the lightning lane and the non
lightning lane queues merge.
I don't know.
Interesting.
I mean, when you go to Disney World, that's one of those kind of Peter Pan, you know,
(02:32):
anomalies.
Like, do you really want to ride the Jungle Cruise?
Like, are you in it?
What time of day?
Because there's no air conditioning.
There's fans, but there's no air conditioning.
I won't do it without a lightning lane.
Yeah.
I love the attraction, but I won't do it without a lightning lane.
Yeah.
I'm wondering what the footprint of the lightning lane and stuff is going to look like.
(02:53):
Yeah.
So the pictures I see right now, it's mostly just kind of showing some of where the construction's
at.
They've got some of their cloths and everything that are kind of covering.
So I can't tell what the final product is going to look like.
It's still taking place, but it looks like they're probably pretty close.
It'll be interesting to see.
I mean, the composite floor looks nice.
One thing that is an advantage about that.
(03:13):
It's a lot easier to clean.
The wood, after a while, it gets hard to kind of hose down and really kind of get it clean.
That composite- And people are spilling food all the time on that.
Food, drinks, whatever.
You can bring food into the line.
Yeah.
So this kind of updates.
It makes it a little fresher, but that's kind of a cool one to just start off with.
(03:34):
It was just something that kind of caught my eye.
I'm like, oh, that's very interesting.
That made me think of back when during COVID and all the adjustments, remember how you
had to wear your mask in line?
You couldn't eat food in line.
So we should be grateful that we can eat again.
No eating in lines.
That was, those were tough times.
(03:55):
And have you noticed that the ground, there's still some cues where you can see where those
stickers stand six feet apart.
There's still some remnants.
Not everywhere.
The place that I always thought it was the most noticeable was in Space Mountain.
So when they repainted the floor at Space Mountain and they did it in that really, really
cool epoxy with like the star kind of thing.
(04:17):
It was really cool.
Of course, interestingly, it's worn really poorly already.
Yeah.
It already has.
I guess, I mean, there's obviously a lot of traction and foot traffic there.
But anyway, that's it.
That's it.
We digress, but yeah, that should be good.
So I guess is the ride down right now?
No, no, no, it's operating.
No, it's operating.
So they just have people going in different areas.
(04:38):
Yeah, they're just kind of loading you and getting you in different ways and stuff like
that.
You know, I think they, I think it's mostly looks like the way they're doing it kind of
probably an after hours sort of thing.
Oh yeah.
So they'll do sections and then, you know, open back up for the next day.
Nice.
Okay.
I got one here.
Is that okay if I go?
Oh yeah.
We got your show too.
(04:59):
Halfway to Halloween.
So if, if you guys don't know, oh, it is halfway to Halloween.
I know.
And it is, I'm a Disney travel agent.
So if you want to go to a Halloween party, hook me, you know, reach out and I'll, I'll
help you get tickets.
You know, some of those dates go pretty fast, especially the ones that are closer to Halloween.
(05:23):
So if you're thinking you got a trip or if you want to go out there, don't delay too
long.
I just love that they post, you know, Disney parks on Instagram.
They post all sorts of Halloween teasers and we've done Halloween there several times and
highly recommended.
(05:43):
So yeah.
Now related to that small price increase this year, always Halloween tickets last year that
range on them.
And so the price of the ticket I believe was, was variable based on when you went right.
Yeah.
The more Halloween you were, the more expensive it was going to be.
So that range was 109 to 199, which is an insanely diverse range, right?
(06:08):
4 PM to midnight.
Yeah, that's, that's crazy.
I mean, I remember when we first did it, it was like 139 or something like that.
And I'm like, that seems high, but, but at the end we thought it was worth it.
So small bump this year instead of 109, now they start at 119.
Yeah.
So $10 bump on the small end.
So if you want to celebrate Halloween in August, yeah, what I'd love to see is, what I'd love
(06:32):
to see is are there more 199 dates than there were before as well?
But anyways, you can get in all sorts of discussions about that.
I know, but that, that, I mean, we've, we've done episodes, but like Disney knows how to
do holidays.
So if you want to get in the full Halloween, you know, mode, yeah.
(06:54):
And actually get to wear a costume at Disney world, which is a rarity.
Yeah.
It's definitely worth considering.
So anyway, that was mine.
What do you have next?
Well, over in Epcot, in the Morocco pavilion, a pavilion where there has not been much going
on for quite some time now.
Disney actually has opened up an annual pass holder lounge.
(07:15):
And so this is actually kind of cool.
I wish we were going to kind of experience that.
I'd be very curious.
The lounge is there.
It's open from noon to 8 PM and it's only going to be there through June 18th.
This is part of, um, VI pass holders month, VIP, so VI pass holders.
That's so clever.
It's going to be right at the, uh, restaurant Madakesh in the Morocco pavilion, but it's
(07:40):
kind of cool.
Um, there is a little bit of a wait from what I understand.
Sometimes it's anywhere from 10 minutes to get on the list and then 30 minutes to get
inside.
But, um, uh, you get to go inside.
There is, um, refreshments, there's characters, there's, I don't know.
(08:01):
I mean, refreshments, that means air conditioning, complimentary snacks and water charge mobile
devices.
Really?
You know, we've talked about this before, very similar to the, uh, Disney vacation club
member lounge available also in Epcot, but at the imagination pavilion, um, or the pyramids.
(08:23):
Right.
So this is the pass holder version of it.
It's open for a limited time.
Seems like that'd be pretty cool.
Um, the complimentary snacks from what I understand are like peanuts and Chex mix and to drink,
they have the cheapest snacks to drink.
They have ice cold water and some Moroccan mint tea.
Um, so this isn't, uh, Hey, those aren't just any peanuts.
(08:44):
Those are planters.
So, you know, and it's real Chex mix, but so not quite as cool.
But I think the DVC lounge, but you know, it's just a little bit of something for passholders
to enjoy as well.
Yeah.
And I feel like that's the smart spot.
Cause at that point you're at the heart of world showcase.
And so having a place to go and, and relax and have some peanuts would be nice.
(09:08):
Okay.
I have that when he talked about the pyramids and the DVC lounge, it made me think of your
escape to the magic podcast.
So Randy has a couple other guy friends that they do, um, a podcast and they were talking
the other day.
I was, I, me and my son, our son, Colin, we are avid listeners, but you guys were talking
(09:28):
about like which countries you would add to the world showcase.
And I just can't get over how good of an idea it is that those pyramids could be Egypt and
that they could add Egypt.
Like when, when Egypt came up and I was like, we've already got pyramids, let's just do
it.
And I was like, well, most of the world showcase pavilion, like it wouldn't be hard I think
to wrap that in.
The only thing is it's not directly on the lagoon.
(09:51):
Yeah.
We could, we could create an aisle river somehow.
I think it would be cool to have an Egypt.
Yeah.
I don't know that that would ever happen.
I think they're actually redoing, um, the imagination pavilion.
I think they're redoing, um, figment at some point, but anyway, that would be a cool idea.
Yeah, figment doesn't seem very Egyptian to me.
(10:15):
What was the other thing you guys were talking about?
We talked about many things.
Yeah.
Brazil with the Troscaria or whatever.
Oh yeah.
That would be great.
Okay.
Anyway, should we talk about George Bush, George W. Bush?
Yeah.
That's what I have up next here.
Tell us about it.
So more news in Epcot, lots going on in Epcot next month.
They have the most things that change.
(10:37):
Maybe that's not true.
They do.
I mean, well, you know, there's all the festivals.
Yeah.
The locals go there.
They need something fresh.
Yeah.
They got, they got to go get something to drink, you know?
Um, so anyway, so if you don't know this may actually kicks off national military appreciation
month.
Okay.
And so, um, at the American adventure pavilion, uh, opening up on June 9th, a special exhibit
(11:03):
is going to be there.
It's called portraits of courage, a commander in chief's tribute to America's warriors.
Uh, and this is a special exhibit.
It's put on by the George W. Bush Institute.
Um, and it will feature, um, paintings over 60 paintings from former president George
W. Bush.
(11:23):
I didn't know he was an artist.
Did you know he was an artist when he was president?
Yeah.
After, after, after he retired, after his presidency was over and he went into retirement,
he took a painting.
Um, it's pretty cool.
And so what he's doing is there's 60 oil paintings that president Bush, um, has, uh, painted
(11:44):
I guess, right?
I was trying not to use the same word over and over again.
And these are, these are, these are portraits of service members and veterans who served
in military uniform with honor since nine 11.
Oh, wow.
These are all people with whom he has come to personally know since leaving office.
Wow.
So it's pretty cool.
(12:04):
I think that's really pretty cool.
I wonder how many of those that are in the paintings will come to the exhibit or be part
of it.
I don't know.
I don't know.
It's you think president Bush will be there for at least the first day or, um, I would
be surprised if he wasn't to tell you the truth.
Like I think the grand opening he'll, he'll be there.
He'll kind of be there.
So, um, you know, I feel like I'm close to president George W. Bush because my mom and
(12:28):
I, we went to the presidential library and sat in his version of the oval office in Dallas
where the presidential library is.
So I basically know him, you know, we're, we're friends.
I mean, you know, he, uh, we did grow up in Dallas and he, he was owner of the, or part
owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team for some time.
(12:48):
So, you know, anyways, that seems like a cool thing.
Unique, um, short run, but, but really cool.
And that's actually one of my favorite things about Epcot.
I mean, of course we love guardians.
I love frozen ever after, but I really do like looking at the artwork.
Um, I've looked at the artwork and the American pavilion.
(13:12):
I remember once in the Norway pavilion, there was an artist there and he had lots of great
things.
I actually bought one of his paintings of Elsa on the North mountain.
Um, I'm sure you remember that one signed from the artists itself.
It's just, yeah, I think it's just a cool, a cool thing.
All right.
(13:32):
What other news do you got?
I'm trying to see what else I had.
Well, if you've been to Hollywood studios lately, or if you go soon, um, one thing you
might notice in galaxy's edge, but doc on Dar, you know who doc on Dar is, right?
Yes.
He has a den of antiquities.
Okay.
Um, it's the coolest shop, I think in all of the theme parks.
(13:52):
Yes.
Yes.
Um, anyways, there's an audio animatronic there of doc on Dar.
He's on vacation, just FYI, in case you were wondering, does that mean he's not working?
That means that there is a curtain up because he now, he no worky, no worky, no worky.
The force is not with him.
Force is not with him.
Not today.
You do love that store.
(14:13):
Um, I mean, I just like to go in every time just to see, I mean, you know, the merchandise
doesn't change over a whole lot, but every time I go, there's something a little bit
different.
They're just kind of cool stuff.
I love star wars.
I think it's a lot of fun.
Um, it wasn't something that I loved as a kid.
Especially, you know, that most, most star wars, most true diehard star wars fans, I
(14:33):
think we're all episode four or five, six people.
Yeah.
Like I kind of then, and even now feel they were a little hokey.
Um, I was, I was an episode one, two, three fan, right?
And so I want to go to town and play with my friends.
You know, that's my, that's the thing, you know, and, uh, you don't like whiny, whiny
is easy to be made fun of.
(14:55):
Yeah.
But what's this guy on star trick?
That's also whiny.
Wesley.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, we all agreed to shut up, Wesley.
So sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your, we've, we've now crossed, we've now crossed
IP thresholds.
I don't know.
We, we can, Disney is the star wars thing.
I don't know if we're allowed to talk about star.
Well, you were the one that was, you were talking down.
(15:17):
I thought, I assume that you were talking up to what you really liked then.
Nope.
But you're making no connection.
All right.
Well, I know your heart and I know you're the only thing that
is a constant is JJ Abrams somehow managed to ruin both star wars and star trek.
So that's the one constant.
Okay.
That's the common thread there.
(15:37):
You know, I have a lot of opinions and some of them are pretty strong.
No, an elected official said that to me the other day.
Yeah.
And I said, yes, sir, that is true.
You do.
That's okay.
All right.
So let's go over to animal kingdom.
Do you know what a flotilla is?
Flotilla is a waste of time.
(15:58):
It seems like a made up word.
I think that's so funny.
Yes, you do think that.
It's not a tortilla and it's not a float.
It's a flotilla.
It's a flotilla.
So there are rivers in animal kingdom.
I guess that's the best way I would describe it.
(16:20):
I would call it the world's biggest, dirtiest, lazy river.
Okay.
With flotillas, which is.
Well, so in a parade you have a float.
Yeah.
But if you're going to have a parade on water, your floats got a float actually.
Yes.
Or it would sink and it wouldn't be a very long parade.
So they called it a flotilla, right?
(16:41):
Basically it's just a one float kind of procession on the water.
Right.
It's not a parade.
It's just a little procession and there's kind of something going on.
Typically a character, sometimes just musicians.
Sometimes both.
Yeah.
Characters and musicians.
I mean, honestly, I guess I have, I don't know animal kingdom well enough because I
(17:03):
thought that they were just a COVID thing.
I thought they just did that during COVID, but they're still around.
So you go to Disney and all of a sudden you're near a river or whatever they're called lazy
river.
The lazy river.
Well, so.
And you'll have these characters come by and it's exciting, you know.
So they were a COVID thing.
I mean, that's how the flotilla started.
(17:23):
Okay.
All right.
So now.
There's some cool ones.
So they have like the, one of the musical groups that plays on all the exotic instruments
and stuff like that.
You know, they're kind of like that's percussion, right?
Yeah.
They go down.
It's kind of cool.
There's a flotilla with Scrooge McDuck and Launchpad McQuack from DuckTales.
(17:45):
That's kind of cool, but they just kind of go around and.
Pretty sure Mickey and Minnie.
You only see, I don't think I've seen Mickey.
Maybe I have.
I don't remember, but they just go around and you have, if you catch them at the water,
at the right time, great.
But the majority of that lazy river, nobody can see all of it.
Right.
So they just kind of disappear at a certain point.
(18:07):
Imagine it like this.
Imagine we had these flotillas going around the Liberty lagoon there around Tom Sawyer
Island.
Okay.
Yeah.
Well, you know, if you ride the Liberty boat and you go to the backside, there's nothing.
You can't see anything unless the train goes by.
Yeah.
That's kind of what most of these flotillas like.
They're going through this area where nobody can see anything.
(18:28):
It's just foot traffic.
Yeah.
So they're playing to the animals, I guess.
The animals need music too.
Maybe the animals need a nap.
Okay.
So what we didn't tell them the news.
What's the news about the flotilla?
Oh yeah.
So this is a rumor.
This is a rumor, not confirmed, but looks like the flotillas are probably ending soon.
(18:54):
Well, that makes sense if it was, if it started in COVID.
Now, definitely ended is kite tails, right?
Oh my gosh.
Thank goodness that couldn't end soon enough.
I could not bring it up.
The jet skis with the kites in the back and the really loud.
No good.
Loud show.
No good.
(19:15):
Also at Animal Kingdom.
All right.
Anything else you want to, any other news that.
Yeah.
So I want to hit on one really, really big rumor before we wrap this up.
Okay.
This is a big rumor, nothing confirmed, but it could have some legs.
Okay.
Big Thunder Mountain may be closing for an extended period, not permanently, just an
(19:36):
extended period.
Okay.
That could be like a year, up to a year.
The rumor is they're finally ready to replace the full track and potentially add some scenes
that you see in the big Thunder Mountain rides at all the other parts across the world.
Right.
Yeah.
(19:57):
And some of that would be really cool.
So first of all, you know, I've only done Magic Kingdom and Disneyland.
I've never been to any of the other ones, although I've heard, I've heard some of the
other ones are really cool.
Like especially the one in, is it.
Paris.
Is it, I've heard Paris is cool, but is it, I can't remember if it's Disney Sea that has
it or Tokyo Disneyland.
(20:18):
One of the two, cause they're right next to each other.
I hear that's really cool.
But at Disneyland in California, as you go through one of the tunnels, you remember actually
the dynamite is like, fizzling on the wall or lighting up and stuff like that.
And I was like, wow, that's so cool.
It makes so much sense.
Like why don't we do that in the Magic Kingdom?
(20:39):
I hope some of that kind of stuff is coming.
Just extra effects.
I mean, I'm just thinking if the track, I mean, that ride's been there for 40 years
at least, I think.
It's an original to the park.
Was it?
I don't know.
You speak, you speak so assuredly there.
Oh, we're typing it up.
(21:00):
It's been there at least for 40 years.
So it makes sense that the track, I mean, you think about expedition Everest or seven
almost original 1979.
Okay.
So, I'm sure.
No, no, no, no, no, I'm sorry.
Nope.
Wrong.
It was the first time I've ever seen a track like that.
And I think it's been there for 40 years.
(21:22):
I'm sure they've redone things, but just compared to the track on expedition Everest, seven
doors, mine train, just how smooth those ones are.
I can see that that it could use some more work.
My hope with this rumor is that they're actually adding the in ride photo opportunity.
(21:43):
I think that is definitely a missed.
I don't know why there's no camera.
BTM needs a picture, right?
It's the wildest ride in the wilderness.
You know who designed it, right?
The guy with the mustache.
One of the greatest imagineers of all time.
Tony Baxter, Tony Baxter, guy with the mustache, you know, the guy that started working at
(22:06):
Disneyland selling ice cream.
That's how awesome he is.
He moved his way out.
And then he built big thunder mountain.
It's pretty awesome.
My hero way to go, Tony.
I mean, I selling ice cream is also important to.
Yeah.
OK, so one bonus one that I don't have all the details, but on my Instagram today it
(22:26):
popped up.
There is a ride at Tokyo Disney Sea.
And I'm just like, how can I get to Tokyo?
Like how soon can I get there?
I really need to do this.
But there is a ride that looks like the version of Frozen Ever After, but with tangled.
Oh, it's got the lanterns and they're there in the water with the canoe and the at last
(22:48):
I see the light, you know.
Oh my goodness.
I'm like, I need to be there.
I need to experience.
That's the park I want to go to next.
I mean, I think the park that we're most likely to go to next is Paris, but I really want
to go to Disney Sea.
Yeah.
We got to figure it out because that looked amazing and I love that movie.
So we'll have to make it work.
(23:12):
Maybe all of our listeners could go fund me or something.
Excellent.
That would be excellent.
All right, guys.
Well, thanks for checking out the news with us.
We from time to time, like we said, we like to just see what's what's happening and share
our thoughts.
And we'd love to hear what you know that's going on and what you think about it.
(23:33):
Thanks.
All right.
Bye.
Hey everybody, welcome to whistle while you work podcast.
(00:15):
This is episode 79 Disney News, spring edition.
Bring edition.
That's excellent.
I like it.
We've done Disney News before.
So I'm like, I hope this doesn't confuse the title, but spring 2024 edition.
Exactly.
We've been doing this for a few years now.
I can't remember the start date, but anyway, it's spring 2024 right now.
(00:40):
Spring 2024 Disney News.
I think there's a lot of stuff to kind of hit on.
We try to do this like quarterly two or three times a year.
I mean, honestly, with my newsfeed, as much as I like Disney, like there's a lot of news
and things that come across often.
(01:04):
But we don't talk about that every week.
Sometimes we just do other stuff.
So today is the day that we're going to give you all updates in case you aren't aware or
if you just want to hear our opinion on the news.
Isn't that edit?
Is that editorial?
Editorially appropriate.
Yeah, sure.
Why not?
All right.
I'm OK with that.
(01:24):
What's the first news article you got for us today?
Well, one of the things that are clicking and tapping.
Well, yeah, one of the things that's caught my eye that's actually really kind of interesting
is currently at the Magic Kingdom, the Jungle Cruise queue is under a bit undergoing a little
bit of refurbishment.
Now, last time they did a refurbishment, they took away all the fun stuff and jokes.
(01:49):
Are they taking more of the fun stuff?
I guess they already took it.
There's nothing left to take from that side of it, I think.
No, actually, they're working on the floor and the actual queue, like the line and the
stuff weaves the port.
And from what I can tell, this is kind of in the loading area mostly.
And they've replaced the floor.
(02:10):
It was a wooden floor and they've kind of put some sort of composite material in.
And it looks like they're maybe reconfiguring kind of where the lightning lane and the non
lightning lane queues merge.
I don't know.
Interesting.
I mean, when you go to Disney World, that's one of those kind of Peter Pan, you know,
(02:32):
anomalies.
Like, do you really want to ride the Jungle Cruise?
Like, are you in it?
What time of day?
Because there's no air conditioning.
There's fans, but there's no air conditioning.
I won't do it without a lightning lane.
Yeah.
I love the attraction, but I won't do it without a lightning lane.
Yeah.
I'm wondering what the footprint of the lightning lane and stuff is going to look like.
(02:53):
Yeah.
So the pictures I see right now, it's mostly just kind of showing some of where the construction's
at.
They've got some of their cloths and everything that are kind of covering.
So I can't tell what the final product is going to look like.
It's still taking place, but it looks like they're probably pretty close.
It'll be interesting to see.
I mean, the composite floor looks nice.
One thing that is an advantage about that.
(03:13):
It's a lot easier to clean.
The wood, after a while, it gets hard to kind of hose down and really kind of get it clean.
That composite- And people are spilling food all the time on that.
Food, drinks, whatever.
You can bring food into the line.
Yeah.
So this kind of updates.
It makes it a little fresher, but that's kind of a cool one to just start off with.
(03:34):
It was just something that kind of caught my eye.
I'm like, oh, that's very interesting.
That made me think of back when during COVID and all the adjustments, remember how you
had to wear your mask in line?
You couldn't eat food in line.
So we should be grateful that we can eat again.
No eating in lines.
That was, those were tough times.
(03:55):
And have you noticed that the ground, there's still some cues where you can see where those
stickers stand six feet apart.
There's still some remnants.
Not everywhere.
The place that I always thought it was the most noticeable was in Space Mountain.
So when they repainted the floor at Space Mountain and they did it in that really, really
cool epoxy with like the star kind of thing.
(04:17):
It was really cool.
Of course, interestingly, it's worn really poorly already.
Yeah.
It already has.
I guess, I mean, there's obviously a lot of traction and foot traffic there.
But anyway, that's it.
That's it.
We digress, but yeah, that should be good.
So I guess is the ride down right now?
No, no, no, it's operating.
No, it's operating.
So they just have people going in different areas.
(04:38):
Yeah, they're just kind of loading you and getting you in different ways and stuff like
that.
You know, I think they, I think it's mostly looks like the way they're doing it kind of
probably an after hours sort of thing.
Oh yeah.
So they'll do sections and then, you know, open back up for the next day.
Nice.
Okay.
I got one here.
Is that okay if I go?
Oh yeah.
We got your show too.
(04:59):
Halfway to Halloween.
So if, if you guys don't know, oh, it is halfway to Halloween.
I know.
And it is, I'm a Disney travel agent.
So if you want to go to a Halloween party, hook me, you know, reach out and I'll, I'll
help you get tickets.
You know, some of those dates go pretty fast, especially the ones that are closer to Halloween.
(05:23):
So if you're thinking you got a trip or if you want to go out there, don't delay too
long.
I just love that they post, you know, Disney parks on Instagram.
They post all sorts of Halloween teasers and we've done Halloween there several times and
highly recommended.
(05:43):
So yeah.
Now related to that small price increase this year, always Halloween tickets last year that
range on them.
And so the price of the ticket I believe was, was variable based on when you went right.
Yeah.
The more Halloween you were, the more expensive it was going to be.
So that range was 109 to 199, which is an insanely diverse range, right?
(06:08):
4 PM to midnight.
Yeah, that's, that's crazy.
I mean, I remember when we first did it, it was like 139 or something like that.
And I'm like, that seems high, but, but at the end we thought it was worth it.
So small bump this year instead of 109, now they start at 119.
Yeah.
So $10 bump on the small end.
So if you want to celebrate Halloween in August, yeah, what I'd love to see is, what I'd love
(06:32):
to see is are there more 199 dates than there were before as well?
But anyways, you can get in all sorts of discussions about that.
I know, but that, that, I mean, we've, we've done episodes, but like Disney knows how to
do holidays.
So if you want to get in the full Halloween, you know, mode, yeah.
(06:54):
And actually get to wear a costume at Disney world, which is a rarity.
Yeah.
It's definitely worth considering.
So anyway, that was mine.
What do you have next?
Well, over in Epcot, in the Morocco pavilion, a pavilion where there has not been much going
on for quite some time now.
Disney actually has opened up an annual pass holder lounge.
(07:15):
And so this is actually kind of cool.
I wish we were going to kind of experience that.
I'd be very curious.
The lounge is there.
It's open from noon to 8 PM and it's only going to be there through June 18th.
This is part of, um, VI pass holders month, VIP, so VI pass holders.
That's so clever.
It's going to be right at the, uh, restaurant Madakesh in the Morocco pavilion, but it's
(07:40):
kind of cool.
Um, there is a little bit of a wait from what I understand.
Sometimes it's anywhere from 10 minutes to get on the list and then 30 minutes to get
inside.
But, um, uh, you get to go inside.
There is, um, refreshments, there's characters, there's, I don't know.
(08:01):
I mean, refreshments, that means air conditioning, complimentary snacks and water charge mobile
devices.
Really?
You know, we've talked about this before, very similar to the, uh, Disney vacation club
member lounge available also in Epcot, but at the imagination pavilion, um, or the pyramids.
(08:23):
Right.
So this is the pass holder version of it.
It's open for a limited time.
Seems like that'd be pretty cool.
Um, the complimentary snacks from what I understand are like peanuts and Chex mix and to drink,
they have the cheapest snacks to drink.
They have ice cold water and some Moroccan mint tea.
Um, so this isn't, uh, Hey, those aren't just any peanuts.
(08:44):
Those are planters.
So, you know, and it's real Chex mix, but so not quite as cool.
But I think the DVC lounge, but you know, it's just a little bit of something for passholders
to enjoy as well.
Yeah.
And I feel like that's the smart spot.
Cause at that point you're at the heart of world showcase.
And so having a place to go and, and relax and have some peanuts would be nice.
(09:08):
Okay.
I have that when he talked about the pyramids and the DVC lounge, it made me think of your
escape to the magic podcast.
So Randy has a couple other guy friends that they do, um, a podcast and they were talking
the other day.
I was, I, me and my son, our son, Colin, we are avid listeners, but you guys were talking
(09:28):
about like which countries you would add to the world showcase.
And I just can't get over how good of an idea it is that those pyramids could be Egypt and
that they could add Egypt.
Like when, when Egypt came up and I was like, we've already got pyramids, let's just do
it.
And I was like, well, most of the world showcase pavilion, like it wouldn't be hard I think
to wrap that in.
The only thing is it's not directly on the lagoon.
(09:51):
Yeah.
We could, we could create an aisle river somehow.
I think it would be cool to have an Egypt.
Yeah.
I don't know that that would ever happen.
I think they're actually redoing, um, the imagination pavilion.
I think they're redoing, um, figment at some point, but anyway, that would be a cool idea.
Yeah, figment doesn't seem very Egyptian to me.
(10:15):
What was the other thing you guys were talking about?
We talked about many things.
Yeah.
Brazil with the Troscaria or whatever.
Oh yeah.
That would be great.
Okay.
Anyway, should we talk about George Bush, George W. Bush?
Yeah.
That's what I have up next here.
Tell us about it.
So more news in Epcot, lots going on in Epcot next month.
They have the most things that change.
(10:37):
Maybe that's not true.
They do.
I mean, well, you know, there's all the festivals.
Yeah.
The locals go there.
They need something fresh.
Yeah.
They got, they got to go get something to drink, you know?
Um, so anyway, so if you don't know this may actually kicks off national military appreciation
month.
Okay.
And so, um, at the American adventure pavilion, uh, opening up on June 9th, a special exhibit
(11:03):
is going to be there.
It's called portraits of courage, a commander in chief's tribute to America's warriors.
Uh, and this is a special exhibit.
It's put on by the George W. Bush Institute.
Um, and it will feature, um, paintings over 60 paintings from former president George
W. Bush.
(11:23):
I didn't know he was an artist.
Did you know he was an artist when he was president?
Yeah.
After, after, after he retired, after his presidency was over and he went into retirement,
he took a painting.
Um, it's pretty cool.
And so what he's doing is there's 60 oil paintings that president Bush, um, has, uh, painted
(11:44):
I guess, right?
I was trying not to use the same word over and over again.
And these are, these are, these are portraits of service members and veterans who served
in military uniform with honor since nine 11.
Oh, wow.
These are all people with whom he has come to personally know since leaving office.
Wow.
So it's pretty cool.
(12:04):
I think that's really pretty cool.
I wonder how many of those that are in the paintings will come to the exhibit or be part
of it.
I don't know.
I don't know.
It's you think president Bush will be there for at least the first day or, um, I would
be surprised if he wasn't to tell you the truth.
Like I think the grand opening he'll, he'll be there.
He'll kind of be there.
So, um, you know, I feel like I'm close to president George W. Bush because my mom and
(12:28):
I, we went to the presidential library and sat in his version of the oval office in Dallas
where the presidential library is.
So I basically know him, you know, we're, we're friends.
I mean, you know, he, uh, we did grow up in Dallas and he, he was owner of the, or part
owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team for some time.
(12:48):
So, you know, anyways, that seems like a cool thing.
Unique, um, short run, but, but really cool.
And that's actually one of my favorite things about Epcot.
I mean, of course we love guardians.
I love frozen ever after, but I really do like looking at the artwork.
Um, I've looked at the artwork and the American pavilion.
(13:12):
I remember once in the Norway pavilion, there was an artist there and he had lots of great
things.
I actually bought one of his paintings of Elsa on the North mountain.
Um, I'm sure you remember that one signed from the artists itself.
It's just, yeah, I think it's just a cool, a cool thing.
All right.
(13:32):
What other news do you got?
I'm trying to see what else I had.
Well, if you've been to Hollywood studios lately, or if you go soon, um, one thing you
might notice in galaxy's edge, but doc on Dar, you know who doc on Dar is, right?
Yes.
He has a den of antiquities.
Okay.
Um, it's the coolest shop, I think in all of the theme parks.
(13:52):
Yes.
Yes.
Um, anyways, there's an audio animatronic there of doc on Dar.
He's on vacation, just FYI, in case you were wondering, does that mean he's not working?
That means that there is a curtain up because he now, he no worky, no worky, no worky.
The force is not with him.
Force is not with him.
Not today.
You do love that store.
(14:13):
Um, I mean, I just like to go in every time just to see, I mean, you know, the merchandise
doesn't change over a whole lot, but every time I go, there's something a little bit
different.
They're just kind of cool stuff.
I love star wars.
I think it's a lot of fun.
Um, it wasn't something that I loved as a kid.
Especially, you know, that most, most star wars, most true diehard star wars fans, I
(14:33):
think we're all episode four or five, six people.
Yeah.
Like I kind of then, and even now feel they were a little hokey.
Um, I was, I was an episode one, two, three fan, right?
And so I want to go to town and play with my friends.
You know, that's my, that's the thing, you know, and, uh, you don't like whiny, whiny
is easy to be made fun of.
(14:55):
Yeah.
But what's this guy on star trick?
That's also whiny.
Wesley.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, we all agreed to shut up, Wesley.
So sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your, we've, we've now crossed, we've now crossed
IP thresholds.
I don't know.
We, we can, Disney is the star wars thing.
I don't know if we're allowed to talk about star.
Well, you were the one that was, you were talking down.
(15:17):
I thought, I assume that you were talking up to what you really liked then.
Nope.
But you're making no connection.
All right.
Well, I know your heart and I know you're the only thing that
is a constant is JJ Abrams somehow managed to ruin both star wars and star trek.
So that's the one constant.
Okay.
That's the common thread there.
(15:37):
You know, I have a lot of opinions and some of them are pretty strong.
No, an elected official said that to me the other day.
Yeah.
And I said, yes, sir, that is true.
You do.
That's okay.
All right.
So let's go over to animal kingdom.
Do you know what a flotilla is?
Flotilla is a waste of time.
(15:58):
It seems like a made up word.
I think that's so funny.
Yes, you do think that.
It's not a tortilla and it's not a float.
It's a flotilla.
It's a flotilla.
So there are rivers in animal kingdom.
I guess that's the best way I would describe it.
(16:20):
I would call it the world's biggest, dirtiest, lazy river.
Okay.
With flotillas, which is.
Well, so in a parade you have a float.
Yeah.
But if you're going to have a parade on water, your floats got a float actually.
Yes.
Or it would sink and it wouldn't be a very long parade.
So they called it a flotilla, right?
(16:41):
Basically it's just a one float kind of procession on the water.
Right.
It's not a parade.
It's just a little procession and there's kind of something going on.
Typically a character, sometimes just musicians.
Sometimes both.
Yeah.
Characters and musicians.
I mean, honestly, I guess I have, I don't know animal kingdom well enough because I
(17:03):
thought that they were just a COVID thing.
I thought they just did that during COVID, but they're still around.
So you go to Disney and all of a sudden you're near a river or whatever they're called lazy
river.
The lazy river.
Well, so.
And you'll have these characters come by and it's exciting, you know.
So they were a COVID thing.
I mean, that's how the flotilla started.
(17:23):
Okay.
All right.
So now.
There's some cool ones.
So they have like the, one of the musical groups that plays on all the exotic instruments
and stuff like that.
You know, they're kind of like that's percussion, right?
Yeah.
They go down.
It's kind of cool.
There's a flotilla with Scrooge McDuck and Launchpad McQuack from DuckTales.
(17:45):
That's kind of cool, but they just kind of go around and.
Pretty sure Mickey and Minnie.
You only see, I don't think I've seen Mickey.
Maybe I have.
I don't remember, but they just go around and you have, if you catch them at the water,
at the right time, great.
But the majority of that lazy river, nobody can see all of it.
Right.
So they just kind of disappear at a certain point.
(18:07):
Imagine it like this.
Imagine we had these flotillas going around the Liberty lagoon there around Tom Sawyer
Island.
Okay.
Yeah.
Well, you know, if you ride the Liberty boat and you go to the backside, there's nothing.
You can't see anything unless the train goes by.
Yeah.
That's kind of what most of these flotillas like.
They're going through this area where nobody can see anything.
(18:28):
It's just foot traffic.
Yeah.
So they're playing to the animals, I guess.
The animals need music too.
Maybe the animals need a nap.
Okay.
So what we didn't tell them the news.
What's the news about the flotilla?
Oh yeah.
So this is a rumor.
This is a rumor, not confirmed, but looks like the flotillas are probably ending soon.
(18:54):
Well, that makes sense if it was, if it started in COVID.
Now, definitely ended is kite tails, right?
Oh my gosh.
Thank goodness that couldn't end soon enough.
I could not bring it up.
The jet skis with the kites in the back and the really loud.
No good.
Loud show.
No good.
(19:15):
Also at Animal Kingdom.
All right.
Anything else you want to, any other news that.
Yeah.
So I want to hit on one really, really big rumor before we wrap this up.
Okay.
This is a big rumor, nothing confirmed, but it could have some legs.
Okay.
Big Thunder Mountain may be closing for an extended period, not permanently, just an
(19:36):
extended period.
Okay.
That could be like a year, up to a year.
The rumor is they're finally ready to replace the full track and potentially add some scenes
that you see in the big Thunder Mountain rides at all the other parts across the world.
Right.
Yeah.
(19:57):
And some of that would be really cool.
So first of all, you know, I've only done Magic Kingdom and Disneyland.
I've never been to any of the other ones, although I've heard, I've heard some of the
other ones are really cool.
Like especially the one in, is it.
Paris.
Is it, I've heard Paris is cool, but is it, I can't remember if it's Disney Sea that has
it or Tokyo Disneyland.
(20:18):
One of the two, cause they're right next to each other.
I hear that's really cool.
But at Disneyland in California, as you go through one of the tunnels, you remember actually
the dynamite is like, fizzling on the wall or lighting up and stuff like that.
And I was like, wow, that's so cool.
It makes so much sense.
Like why don't we do that in the Magic Kingdom?
(20:39):
I hope some of that kind of stuff is coming.
Just extra effects.
I mean, I'm just thinking if the track, I mean, that ride's been there for 40 years
at least, I think.
It's an original to the park.
Was it?
I don't know.
You speak, you speak so assuredly there.
Oh, we're typing it up.
(21:00):
It's been there at least for 40 years.
So it makes sense that the track, I mean, you think about expedition Everest or seven
almost original 1979.
Okay.
So, I'm sure.
No, no, no, no, no, I'm sorry.
Nope.
Wrong.
It was the first time I've ever seen a track like that.
And I think it's been there for 40 years.
(21:22):
I'm sure they've redone things, but just compared to the track on expedition Everest, seven
doors, mine train, just how smooth those ones are.
I can see that that it could use some more work.
My hope with this rumor is that they're actually adding the in ride photo opportunity.
(21:43):
I think that is definitely a missed.
I don't know why there's no camera.
BTM needs a picture, right?
It's the wildest ride in the wilderness.
You know who designed it, right?
The guy with the mustache.
One of the greatest imagineers of all time.
Tony Baxter, Tony Baxter, guy with the mustache, you know, the guy that started working at
(22:06):
Disneyland selling ice cream.
That's how awesome he is.
He moved his way out.
And then he built big thunder mountain.
It's pretty awesome.
My hero way to go, Tony.
I mean, I selling ice cream is also important to.
Yeah.
OK, so one bonus one that I don't have all the details, but on my Instagram today it
(22:26):
popped up.
There is a ride at Tokyo Disney Sea.
And I'm just like, how can I get to Tokyo?
Like how soon can I get there?
I really need to do this.
But there is a ride that looks like the version of Frozen Ever After, but with tangled.
Oh, it's got the lanterns and they're there in the water with the canoe and the at last
(22:48):
I see the light, you know.
Oh my goodness.
I'm like, I need to be there.
I need to experience.
That's the park I want to go to next.
I mean, I think the park that we're most likely to go to next is Paris, but I really want
to go to Disney Sea.
Yeah.
We got to figure it out because that looked amazing and I love that movie.
So we'll have to make it work.
(23:12):
Maybe all of our listeners could go fund me or something.
Excellent.
That would be excellent.
All right, guys.
Well, thanks for checking out the news with us.
We from time to time, like we said, we like to just see what's what's happening and share
our thoughts.
And we'd love to hear what you know that's going on and what you think about it.
(23:33):
Thanks.
All right.
Bye.
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