80: Teens in California

This week's episode follows a different format with a special guest as Kayla and Will talk about visiting the parks in California.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome to whistle while you work podcast.

(00:15):
This is episode 80 teens in California with special guest.
Will Matt guy.
Son number one son number one.
So it's me, Kayla and and my oldest son will today.
Randy is out and about so but this works out.
We got two mics.

(00:36):
I got questions for you.
Yeah, I'm the I'm just the replacement, but it's OK.
I mean you do have dad same first name, so you know, yeah, we're close enough the same
last name too.
So just a little something in the middle is different.
That's all.
All right, well, so for those that are new to our podcast.
Normally it's it's me, Kayla and my husband, Randy, and we just talk about Disney, whatever

(01:02):
we feel like talking about.
And this worked out perfectly this week to have will replacing Randy because will just
came back from California, went to Disneyland, got to do all the sorts of fun stuff out there.
Yeah.
So tell us what was the reason and kind of the outline of of your trip.

(01:23):
So I'm in orchestra at my school and every year we go on some sort of spring trip.
Sometimes it's in state, out of state.
This year we got to go to California and we went and we got to see the symphony and we
went to Disneyland and we went to Universal and we went to Six Flags, Magic Mountain,
Warner Brothers, Warner Brothers Studio.

(01:46):
We got to do a little studio tour of that too.
And we had a little workshop there at Disneyland.
We actually played music.
We did play some music like a requirement for a school trip.
So we can get away with going to Disneyland for five days.
Have fun.
Perfect.
OK, so I haven't really you haven't told me much about that first day at Warner Brothers.

(02:08):
So tell us what was Warner Brothers is it was an actual live studio.
So it was like it is their live studio.
There was only some parts we were allowed to go in because some of the sets are actually
like live real sets that they use.
And so we started off and we ate, you know, got to eat.
It's a bunch of teenagers on a trip.
Yeah, eating all the time.
A requirement.
Yeah.

(02:29):
But we went and we got on these trams and we had this tour guide and he came and we
drove around.
We started in all of the outdoor lots.
And so there was some and he'd explain like what this is from.
I hadn't necessarily seen all of the movies, but like he showed like, oh, the Jurassic
Park jungle that was transformed over here.
Wow.
And the lakes were like concrete holes, but they were lakes and movies and stuff.

(02:52):
And like Kermit the Frog was in the spot because they do rent out those studio lots to other
places to like, yeah, it's and whatnot.
They got to make money and they got to keep them.
Yeah, keep everything used.
Yeah.
I don't want to waste any time.
So would you would you do that again?
I thought that it was cool.
I don't think I need to do it again.

(03:13):
But I mean, it was kind of a cool experience.
I was told that the actor for Young Sheldon was doing tours the day before we went, which
was kind of funny because I would have been fun to have him as a little tour guide.
Yeah.
He seems like a fun guy.
Our guy was fun and all.
Yeah, yeah.
It's you know, real celebrity.
Yeah, to do it.
That's cool.

(03:33):
So you're in a tram though.
You're not.
Yeah, we're in a tram.
We were split into like three groups because there's like 30 of us total.
And so gotcha.
Nice and small.
Oh, that's so cool.
We, you know, drove around, saw some of the tours, some of the studios.
I thought I saw George Clooney in a Porsche.
I don't think it was him.

(03:54):
I don't think it was him.
But you know, he had the beard, he had the glasses.
He was driving a really expensive car.
So I was like, it could be.
Did you take a picture?
I did not.
He drove by too fast.
Were you allowed to take pictures on that?
Oh, in some spots, but not in all of them, because we couldn't take pictures of like,
obviously, what's in the sets and yeah, they don't.
Because then our tour guides like if you do that, they'll find out and I'll get fired.

(04:18):
And I don't want to get fired.
So I'm like, all right, I can't blame you.
That makes sense.
So being like the AV guy, like you do AV at school and stuff, like, was that like, it
was cool.
I got to see some.
I didn't really get to see a whole lot of the equipment as much as I just saw, like
the sets and stuff.
And I mean, it was cool.
I got to see what like, you know, an empty set looks like.

(04:40):
And they're just like, you can put whatever we want in here.
We have this big warehouse completely full of props.
We didn't get to go see that.
But they have all that.
They have like a bunch of props.
You just rent them out pretty much is what happens.
Just check them out, check them back in.
And it was like an hour.
How long were you all there?
The whole experience itself was probably three hours, but that's including eating and pictures.

(05:05):
And then there was also these walkthrough areas where we got to see a bunch of old like costumes
and whatnot.
Like I got to see there was a couple of like Batman, Batmobiles and stuff like there was
the one from the Batman, the movie.
Yeah.
For years ago.
Yeah.
And they had like all of the suits that have been worn by like the actors.
And it was it was cool.

(05:25):
There was there was a whole bunch of memorabilia in there.
And like, you know, if you're a DC fan or you're a fan of I think there was Game of
Thrones as well.
OK, like there was a bunch of other stuff.
They had a bunch of friends stuff as well.
There was all sorts of different, I guess, memorabilia.
Yeah.
Actual pieces, authentic stuff, museum pieces at this point now.

(05:49):
Yeah, pretty much.
OK.
So then you all did the symphony.
So that was the L or is it the what are they called?
The L.A. Philharmonic.
L.A. Philharmonic.
Yeah.
And that's at the Walt Disney Theater.
I have no idea.
I'm blanking on that.
It was downtown.
It is downtown.
It's something Disney.
I remember that.
Interesting.

(06:10):
OK.
It was a very interesting theater because I'm only used to the one down here in Houston.
Yeah.
I forgot what that one's called as well.
But that's not that's not the important part.
It's where the Houston Symphony plays.
And that's big.
And it's three big stories.
It was also big, but it was like we were on these like little side rows.
I don't think we were like facing like a big like oval essentially.

(06:35):
And so we got to go and we were on like the side rows and it was like just two rows pretty
much and we were just facing down just right below the symphony or right above the symphony.
Was it inspiring?
Like did it stir your soul?
So there was it was this concerto for two pianists.
There was two of them and there was two concertos.

(06:57):
They were very technical.
OK.
But I don't know about interesting.
And this is also on, you know, our 20 of this day one because we'd been up since about three
in the morning.
Yeah, that's how those days were.
Just we're just I kind of fell asleep for a little bit.
So it was not soul stirring.

(07:17):
It was not as cool.
And then after the intermission, we had played one of the pieces of like this whole symphony
that was being played.
And so that part was cool.
So I got to sound what it really sounded like.
I got to hear what it sounds like by like the real deal.
And that was cool.
That's cool.
And it was, you know, it was it's a symphony and symphony after being up for 20 hours,

(07:41):
you know, it's an experience.
But we're not there for the symphony necessarily.
We're there to go to Disneyland for Disneyland.
So day two of your trip, this is a five day trip.
So day two, you guys woke up, probably didn't get enough sleep, I'm sure.
No.
And then you woke up and you had the actual workshop.
We did have the workshop at Disneyland.

(08:02):
And so and you've done this at Disney World.
I have done this at Disney World.
And you know how Disney World is.
It's all over the place.
Disneyland is very in one spot.
But Disney World is in this one like building.
It's like way out of the way next to like Animal Kingdom.
But in Disneyland, it's actually like right next to the Disneyland Hotel.
OK, essentially.
Yeah.
It's like in downtown Disney.

(08:24):
It's like right next to the Lego store.
It's this big building.
It's the Imagination Campus, I believe is what it was called.
So we got to go in there and there's all these rooms.
There was these rooms, these studios, and we had this guest conductor.
He came in and it's his whole job.
He does all the big tour groups.
Yeah, yeah, workshops.
He gets to do all the workshops and stuff.

(08:44):
And so we got to play some Disney music.
We played some of the songs from Up, from Lion King.
And we actually got to use like the headphones and they got like the clicker and everything
because they're keeping you like on the beat so it like stays with the movie exactly.
Wow.
It makes sense that it has to be.
It has to be like on the dot.
And like in Florida, too, this was two years ago, but we didn't have the headphones.

(09:07):
It was just kind of like a big speaker that was played.
But we got to like have the headphones in and like you could actually like hear like
the clicker like count you off.
That's cool.
It was very cool.
It was very cool.
Did they record it like for a mom that could go?
They do record it.
I'm pretty sure that we might see it at our next concert.
OK, that's important to me.

(09:29):
That's important to me.
I don't know about songs like Disney songs you knew.
Yeah, we played like it was they picked popular songs.
They didn't pick all the really obscure ones.
And so I was it was fun.
It was cool.
It was about like into the unknown.
We did not know we did up Lion King.
I forgot the rest.

(09:50):
But you know, I'm sitting there.
I'm like I could be in Disneyland right now.
You're yeah.
You're like I'm like this.
So this is the final bit of the actual work part of this trip.
Now I'm just going to go and have fun.
So is it like two hours all together or something?
It's an hour and a half altogether.
OK.
And so it was OK.
We got out about noon, pack our instruments up and they're like go to Disneyland.

(10:13):
I was like OK.
OK, perfect.
And so I think you guys had two day park hoppers.
We had two day park hoppers while we were there.
And so that first day we we had to start in Disneyland.
Yeah, you still have to make park reservations.
Yeah, there were still park reservations.
And so we had to start in there until two, I believe.
I think you can park hop sooner than that.

(10:35):
But you're yeah.
But we had to at least check in Disneyland before we went to park hop.
And so that first day we did not do Genie Plus because I was in a big group.
There was eight of us.
We were all hanging out together.
And so they're like we'll do it for the full day when we're there from like park open to
park closed.
But not on this because it would have been thirty dollars per.

(10:56):
It was thirty bucks and some people didn't even really want to buy it for the second
day.
Had to really twist their arm.
Yeah, come on.
Everyone else is doing it.
Why won't you?
Peer pressure.
Peer pressure.
It's very real.
But it worked.
And so that first day was we did pretty much everything in California adventure that we

(11:17):
had wanted to do.
Even though you had started in Disneyland.
Even though we had started in Disneyland, I think we literally just checked into Disneyland
and then parked hopped over right away.
And so we started off.
I have a question.
I have a question for you.
Just first of all, how was it?
This is probably your first.
This was your first time going without a parent like without us, you know, Disney crazy people,

(11:42):
parents.
I mean, I'm a big boy, so it's fine.
I'm able to, you know, handle it on my own.
And I mean, most of my group also knew that I knew a fair amount about Disney.
And so they kind of just let me be the ringleader and kind of just I don't want to say just
follow me.
But I kind of just led the way.

(12:04):
It's so helpful when there's just one person.
Yeah, I mean, I was I was pretty much the one calling the shots for everyone.
I'm just like, we should just go do this.
This line is OK.
We shouldn't wait for this.
Right.
And so I got to be the little ringleader.
I appreciated that maybe at first they didn't know.
I think that they liked it because.

(12:24):
I knew what was best for them.
I think I think it's one of those that I was like they they know that I know the good stuff
because I've been enough, even though I hadn't really been to Disneyland a whole lot.
I've only been that was my second time.
Yeah, there's a lot of similarities.
There is a fair amount of similarities.
So I knew what was worth going and doing.

(12:47):
But I just have to emphasize how helpful that is to have somebody that that's in charge.
And then there's not like eight people like, well, maybe we should go do this.
And like no one's making a decision.
I mean, I guess that's a way to live your life.
But to me, if you want to maximize all that there is at Disneyland, you got I mean, we

(13:10):
did.
We still did have those moments, especially with like food and stuff where everyone was
kind of split.
But generally speaking, I was kind of just like, no, we can go do this during this time
because this line will go down.
This line's going to go up.
We should go do this now.
And like for food, we loved the one spot next to Soarin, the smoke jumpers.

(13:32):
Yes, yes.
That was like in a big giant hanger.
Yeah, it's a big hanger.
It was we went there for like all of our meals pretty much.
I they have a really good hamburger.
I remember.
We got those those chicken strips and those fries.
They're like Shake Shack fries.
Yes, they were.
They were good because, you know, Disney fries.
They're hit and miss.

(13:52):
Those were those were hits, I think.
And you guys got gift cards.
We got so what we would do is we would have a twenty five dollar gift card for lunch and
one for dinner.
So fifty dollars in total to just spend throughout your day there.
We had breakfast at the hotel.
Probably could you could probably even use that like a churro cart.
Yeah.
So what I did is I would do that and I got those chicken strips.

(14:14):
I got those lunch and dinner because it's it's good amount of good calories.
You know, keep me going.
And so I did that.
And that was like an eighteen dollar meal or something, which for Disney is not off.
Right.
And so I did that.
And then I had about fourteen dollars left over.
So I got to go get myself some popcorn and a drink when I need it.
Oh, perfect.

(14:35):
And so I think on that first day I left over with eighty one cents or something.
Oh, and you could have used it.
The second day.
And I could have.
I think I did, but I didn't need to.
And so it was good.
We got to go and that's like what was some of your favorite rides at DCA?
I think our group's favorite two were Guardians and the Incredicoaster.

(14:57):
Oh, yeah.
I mean, it's a bunch of teenage boys.
So, you know, the adrenaline junkies and you just did regular lines.
You didn't wait that first day.
We all just did regular lines.
We didn't do the line for a while.
I would think we were in line for a fair bit.
We did Guardians once that first day.
And that was that was the first thing we did.

(15:17):
That was like a 45 minute line.
That was pretty consistent throughout both days we were there.
It was about under an hour, just about the whole time.
And so we did that.
And credit coaster.
That was about a 30 minute line.
We did that.
We jumped in at the right spot.
That was your first time ever.
That was my first time ever doing the Incredicoaster.
I'd never done it before.

(15:38):
And you don't really even like Tower of Terror.
I guess you're starting to like it.
I've changed.
I used to absolutely hate it, but now I actually really like the ride.
I don't know what changed.
Did you enjoy the storyline more?
I did enjoy the storyline more.
You know, I got to pay attention and like I was like, oh, this isn't all bad now that
I'm not like terrified.

(15:59):
Yeah.
And I think it not being the big scary aspect to get seemed in Florida probably would have
helped me a few years ago when I was still scared of it.
Well, I think that's the point, though.
I think that's what it makes.
Makes it such a good ride.
Yeah.
Is that it is.
They freak you out.
Yeah, they're like it.

(16:19):
It works.
They're really good at what they do.
They are.
And so we did that.
We did do the single rider line for Radiator Springs Racers because you told us to do that.
Okay.
I have to just insert here.
I don't usually follow my kids on GPS.
You know how you can kind of track where they're tracking me.
Oh my gosh.
I was like all day long.

(16:41):
I was like, where is he?
I just like I had to like live vicariously through you.
So I knew you went to Disneyland with me.
I didn't even know.
I'm sorry.
No, it's okay.
But like I was just so like.
He's there.
Where is he at?
Does he know what to do?
And like you did, like I shouldn't have worried.
But anyway, so yes, Radiator Racers.

(17:03):
I think that was one that I had texted you like, hey, make sure you were like, make sure
you do the single rider line.
And then after we had all done it, they're just like, yeah, we should.
We would not have enjoyed that waiting in that 90 minute line.
It was something ridiculous.
And it's it's pretty much in the sun there.
I know it's not as hot, but still in the sun.
It was warm without winds.

(17:24):
Like the breeze was very nice.
But I mean, it was it was still like 80 degrees without that breeze, which I mean, we live
in Texas.
It's not terrible, terrible, but it's not very pleasant, especially since I packed for
mid 50s to 70s, not 80s.
And so I was in a lot of pants and long sleeves.

(17:45):
Yeah, probably would have been fine in shorts.
But that was your mom that was like, you need to take pants.
It's going to be cold in the mornings.
It was it was cold in the mornings for like an hour.
Yeah.
And then it was like fine.
All right.
So, OK, anything else?
So day one, I think they wanted you all to go watch World of Color.

(18:06):
Was that kind of the group?
So we did.
That was one of the other things that we split off for, because we were going to go and jump
back into in credit coaster.
But in credit coaster doesn't run while World of Color is right.
It's the background.
That was one of the things I did not know.
Yeah, because I have I just haven't been to Disneyland enough to know that.

(18:29):
And that was OK.
So but what we had done before is we did the Grizzly River Run, which for those of you
that don't know, that's the water ride.
It's a lot like the Cali River Rapids and Animal Kingdom in Florida.
And that was probably I'd say that's my favorite ride, not necessarily because of the intensity

(18:51):
there.
I mean, well, I mean, it's it's still like a water ride.
You still like splashing around.
It was probably the hardest I've left in a long time because we were on there.
And you know, it's like six teenage boys that, you know, they're all we're all big buff and
masculine.
Right.
But no, we were we were screaming like little girls on that because you never know where

(19:14):
you're going to end up.
No, because it's like spinning you around and stuff.
And like some of like the little splashes, it wasn't the big splashes that were like
getting you the small ones that were like, really, that's what got me.
Yeah.
And then I'm just like, we're completely soaked.
And so some of us did go and watch Road of Color.
I seen it on TV enough.
I mean, I did.
We did walk by it and I saw it and it was cool.

(19:35):
But I was like, I don't need 20 minutes.
And so we went back and we did that ride two more times that night.
And it was.
And I mean, your shoes must have been wet.
Right.
Yes.
Yes.
I was in.
And that was one thing your mom texted you like, hey, do it.
You're going to get wet.
Wait till the end of the night.
Yeah.
That's why you did that.
No.
I mean, it was like probably a 20, 15 minute line most of the day, but it was just a walk

(19:57):
on.
We didn't have to get off if we didn't want to.
That's I love when they let you stay on.
Yeah.
And so that was how we ended off our night one.
So this is day two of your trip now.
Day three, you went back to day three.
We're back at Disneyland.
And I, you know, again, I was watching you.
It doesn't look like you guys actually rope dropped.
Did you?
You didn't quite know.

(20:17):
We didn't quite make the rope drop.
But I mean, it was I guess it was a Saturday.
So it was kind of busy, but it wasn't like it wasn't that bad.
Most of the lines didn't get that bad till the afternoon.
And so we started off and this was our Genie Plus day.
And so actually instead of eight, we actually had three more join us.

(20:38):
Oh, wow.
So I was the group total ended up being 11.
And so I got to manage the Genie Plus for 11 people.
So all right.
Well, we got to get some more information here.
So did you purchase it?
I guess you can't purchase it.
You can't purchase it until you actually scan into the park ticket.
And then so you had to make sure everyone had purchased it and then you had to like

(20:59):
link everybody.
Yeah.
So the night before, I'd actually I had scanned.
I did a little bit of research because I wanted to make sure, you know, do it right so I can
get as most the most out of that 30 dollars.
Yeah.
And so I scanned everyone's ticket the night before that wanted to do it.
And then the three more that joined us, I scanned once they had gotten in.

(21:20):
And so actually, you do have to be 18 to buy Genie Plus.
And so there was a couple of people that they just paid me and I just had to buy it for
them because you have to be 18 to do it.
And so I guess technically I was their guardian.
OK.
You just had to get them their Genie Plus.
But we started off and after scanning 11 people, we were like I was looking and I mean, most

(21:45):
of the Genie Pluses weren't starting till like 10 or something.
It's like 830.
I'm like, all right, what are we going to go do?
And so first thing I decided to grab was the Matterhorn.
And that was posted for like a nine forty five or something.
And so I scan it and I redeem it.
And then for the original eight of us that I had, it gave it to us like right then, like

(22:05):
right at 830 when we had gotten in there.
And then for the other three, it didn't put them in there.
I don't know why the system bugged out or something.
And so I had to go and redeem it.
And there is was actually for the 10, it was posted or whatever and not the hour and a
half earlier.
They gave it to us.
OK.
And so technically we kind of cheated the system because it just gave it to us right

(22:25):
then and there.
OK.
And so we walked up and I'm just I have to go.
I see I went and talked to the cast members by myself.
You've learned something you've watched your mom does for me.
And so I had to talk to them and I'm just like, hey, so we got we reserved this earlier
this morning and it only gave it to eight of us.
But I redeemed it for all 11.
And so there's three of them that aren't there.

(22:47):
They just come now.
Come now with us.
And they I mean, you know, there's 11 of us.
They're just trying to get us all through.
So they just I scanned everyone through.
They're like, yeah, you're fine.
And so, you know, I got to sneak three people in for the first time.
OK, wait, I have a question.
Yeah.
So at Disneyland, you can use a magic band plus if you have the the the newest magic

(23:10):
band, the one you know, the wristband with your ticket.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But most people there use their paper ticket to scan and most people use their phones,
not their pay.
OK, yeah, they're all on your phone.
So that's what I did is I would just be standing there and I would just be swiping through
all 11 of them, just because they're all under me.

(23:31):
So I can just get the first day.
Did you use your phone as well or did you use a paper ticket?
The first?
Well, we never had paper tickets.
We only had our digital.
Yeah.
OK, so I made it.
I made it nice and convenient.
They made sure we downloaded the app and the chaperones, they kept all of our paper tickets.
So, you know, all the teenagers don't go lose it.
OK, anyway, sorry.
I that's no, no, because that was it's been I guess it's been a year and a half or so

(23:54):
since I've been to Disneyland.
So I felt like a lot of people were using paper tickets, but it's good that they're
using the app.
Yeah.
And actually, I didn't see very many of the people using magic bands.
Everyone that I saw was just using their phone.
Yeah.
So it does make it different when you're trying to get into rides compared to Disney World
where they pretty much individually have everybody's.
Yeah.

(24:15):
At Disney World, I think at Disneyland, it's much easier to sneak someone in, not saying
that you should go and write this.
But it's the system's a little bit broken.
And if I did it.
But yeah, you definitely could if you need if you just have one extra person in your
group or something, it's probably not the end of the world.
I don't condone that.
So tell me about Matterhorn, because I haven't done that one in a very long time.

(24:38):
Neither had I.
I think the last time I was like 10.
Yeah, that was I was.
I was I was I was little.
And so that was the first ride we did that day.
And we pretty much walked on.
It was like three minute wait or something, because they just put you right up there.
There's no line.
And it I don't know exactly what I was expecting going on to it.

(25:01):
I mean, it's a cool.
It is a very cool like, oh, we're going on a mountain.
And I mean, it was cool.
It was rough.
Yeah, it's it's a very rough ride.
I did not remember it being that shaky.
But like it like kind of like hurt a little bit.
I got off of it.
It's like the bullet down here.
Oh, yeah.
That kind of hurt my neck a little bit.
It was fun.

(25:22):
I mean, you're there with a bunch of other teens.
I mean, y'all probably made the best of it, I'm sure.
Yeah, no, it was still fun.
I think we all enjoyed it.
Just, you know, shook us a little bit.
But you know, I need to do it again.
Yeah, no, I didn't.
I was like, I don't need to do it, especially not for like the 40 minute line.
I had like the whole time.
So we started off.
Wait, what about the Yeti, though?
Oh, the Yeti animatronics I hadn't seen because, you know, 10 year old me was terrified.

(25:45):
I was like avoiding my eyes.
I'm like shutting them.
Yeah, that's a little secret about 10 year old me.
I did not like those Yeti animatronics.
Same thing on Everest, too.
I would always be scared of those.
Yeah, I don't know why.
I mean, it's a big Yeti.
Yeah.
You know, Yetis are real.
Yeah, they are real.
All right.
What else did y'all do?

(26:06):
So you're you stayed in Disneyland that morning.
We stayed in Disneyland for that morning.
I kind of burst y'all's bubble, too, because I, you know, even though I'm a Disney travel
agent, I don't remember everything.
But that you do have the individual Lightning Lane at Rise of the Resistance, because that
was the one you were going to pick.
I was like, oh, that sounds great.

(26:26):
Yeah.
Then I forgot that that's separate.
And then it's like, oh, no, it's $18 extra or something.
We're just like, no, it's not.
Yeah.
And especially since I've already done it in Disneyland before or Disney World before,
I'm just like, it's not an essential for me.
Let's see.
After we did the Matterhorn, I think the next thing we went and did was the Millennium Falcon.

(26:46):
And that was just standby line, which actually in Florida, you know, that line's always 40,
50 minutes long.
It sat around 15 or 20 pretty much the whole time we were really.
Yeah.
Maybe it's because there's so many rides at Disneyland.
There is a lot more compared to like Hollywood Studios.
Yeah.
In Hollywood, there's not a whole lot to do.

(27:07):
But like, I mean, in Disneyland, they you got options.
And since it's the two parks are right next to each other, you can just go do whatever
you want.
And that was cool.
How did you feel about about Everest or what's it called?
Star Wars, the Star Wars being at essentially Magic Kingdom.
Like was that weird?
I mean, it's it definitely wasn't normal.

(27:30):
I mean, I kind of just walked in on just like, oh, I'm in Star Wars land now.
I'm just so used to it, but I'm like not thinking about the fact that it's normally Hollywood
Studios.
And now I'm walking from Big Thunder Mountain to it.
Right.
It's very those are two very different places.
I mean, they make good transitions.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, it was there's a good tunnel and then, oh, it's a different place.
Yeah.
So it's very different, but it was still weird.

(27:51):
I'm just like, oh, this isn't.
But it was familiar.
I'm sure it was familiar.
I walked in and I knew I was going because it's the same layout.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Which was nice.
So how did your crew do on Millennium Falcon?
They did.
Okay.
I mean, I'm very I was a pilot.
I'm very used to our crew of six that is very experienced video game, video game oriented.

(28:17):
And I mean, a lot of those guys were as well.
But I mean, it's a very physical and like, you know, it's it's a lot, especially if you're
not like ready for it.
Yeah.
And so we did.
We got a mediocre score.
You know, I'm used to the top of the top.
Did you have fun?
I did.
Did you yell at your crew?
No, no.

(28:37):
I mean, not in a mean way, but were you kind of like, hey, don't forget this?
Yeah, I hit the break.
You know, that's that's a hard one.
Dad would have been proud.
I hit that break, though.
We were still floating and then we fell.
But that's not important.
Okay.
And so Millennium Falcon was fun.
That was probably more of like a 25, 30 minute line, but it's not a big deal.

(29:01):
It's not the 60, 70.
You didn't use a Genie plus for that.
No, that was just a standby line.
Okay.
And then I believe our next reservation I had gotten was for Space Mountain, I want
to say.
And so that was I was until like 11.
And you didn't do Space Mountain the day before?
No, we did not.

(29:21):
Wow.
Okay.
Yeah.
Because you're mostly in DCA.
We didn't we didn't do a whole lot.
And I wanted to say Magic Kingdom.
It's Disneyland.
But we did.
So next thing we did is we went on Big Thunder because it had been closed for the start of
the morning and then it had just opened up.
And so it was like a 10 minute line.
Oh, yes.
Go through nice and quick.

(29:43):
It wasn't a big deal.
It's very different there than Disney World.
It is very different.
I mean, the rides pretty similar.
It's pretty much the same.
I mean, it does have like on that third lift, all those dynamite sticks and stuff blowing
up, which I think they should bring over to Florida.
Yeah, I think it's cool.
Yeah.
But that one was fun.
And that was also just a little standby line after Big Thunder Mountain.

(30:08):
We did Mickey and Minnie's next.
Were people like were any of the people in your group scared?
Like of some of these rides?
No.
And if I mean, if they were, they didn't show it.
OK, so that's the thing when you're there with other friends.
Yeah, it's like, oh, you just got to suck it up.
Right.
And so next thing we did was Mickey and Minnie's.
And that queue is very different than the Chinese theater and Hollywood Studios.

(30:32):
I actually really like that queue because it's all of the like little Mickey shorts that
like they're basing it off of.
They got all the little Easter eggs in there and like, oh, it's the potato from potato
land or something.
I think I sent that picture to you.
And there's like it's really, really kid oriented, which that ride is.
It's a very kid friendly ride.

(30:53):
Yeah.
And so that queue is very fun.
It's a very cute queue.
I mean, it's Toontown.
It's very.
Do you remember what it used to be?
It used to be that Roger Rabbit ride.
Do you remember that?
I don't think we ever went on that.
We went when you were 10.
It was kind of weird.
I don't.
So I'm glad they redid it.
Yeah, I don't remember that very well.
It was it was definitely fun.
I mean, it's one of those that I don't have to do all the time.

(31:16):
But while we were just we're waiting for another Genie Plus.
So we're waiting for Space Mountain.
It's just something to do.
But you actually got to ride it.
I think Jack was telling us that he waited in that queue.
Yeah, Jack broke down.
Yeah, he got in after we did and it broke down after we got not like immediately after
we got off.
But what was the ride the same as Disney?
The ride still?
Yeah, it's the same thing.
It was.

(31:36):
It's fun.
You know, I'm starting to like look for all the hidden details I miss because I've done
it enough that I'm just trying to find something new.
And you can't get that song out of your head.
No, I cannot.
Nothing can stop us now.
Yeah.
OK.
In my head now.
Let's see, after that, we did.
So you must have walked by.
It's a small world.
We did walk by.

(31:57):
It's a small world.
It is a cool thing.
We did not end up doing it.
A bunch of teenagers didn't really care for it.
It's a lot longer at Disneyland.
It is a very different ride at Disneyland.
I didn't need to do it.
I could have.
I think the only thing that I really wanted to do that I didn't was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

(32:19):
Oh, yeah, but that was one dark ride that just didn't.
It didn't happen.
And that was OK.
So we went and then we had Space Mountain, which we had.
So good at Disneyland.
Yeah.
I come to think of it, I think I did do Space Mountain the first day because we waited in
standby and like the evening time.

(32:40):
And it was a long.
It was like an hour line and that was hot.
And that line is not as cool.
I mean, Disney World, it's at least it's like more like indoor themes.
You're just kind of in like a big you're on the roof or you're on the roof of like a food
court.
And I mean, it's it's cool.
But it's it's I like that queue in Disney World much better.

(33:00):
And so we did that and we got our lightning lane.
And so I think we enjoyed it much more waiting for eight minutes than we did for sixty eight
minutes.
Isn't that weird?
Yeah.
A ride it all of a sudden becomes much more exciting.
It's so much more fun when I didn't wait an hour for it.
You know, it's such a great ride.
It is a great ride.
I like the dual side by side and speaker in your ear.

(33:23):
And it's the Star Wars theme.
It was the hyperspace mountain.
So was it Star Wars?
It was Star Wars music.
And like there's like there's TIE fighters flying by and they got like lasers blasting
and stuff.
And it was really cool, actually.
I wasn't expecting that at all.
I was expecting the normal.
Yeah, which I did.
I wish I had gotten to heard like the music and stuff.
Yeah.

(33:44):
You know, do the original.
But I the hyperspace mountains really cool.
So is the signage like on the outside of the rides that say hyperspace?
It says hyperspace mountain.
Yeah, they switch it out, I guess.
OK.
I guess they had it switched for May the fourth.
Right.
Yeah, I think they just have it.
I thought they do better more overlays at Disneyland than they do.
I think they do because they got the Haunted Mansion.

(34:04):
They got hyperspace mountain.
They do.
It's guardians after dark.
Yeah, it's a small world.
They do a bunch of different ones.
So did you eat anything at Disneyland?
We did eat at the.
Well, what's it?
Tomorrowland.
Oh, boy.
Yeah.
Did you get the pizza?

(34:25):
Pizza Planet?
No, we did not.
I was I told everyone like Pizza Planet is not good.
Let's not get pizza.
That was that was one bit of advice.
I remember from when I was 10.
Yeah.
Is that Pizza Planet is not all that.
No.
And so you ate like hot dogs or.
Yeah, hot dogs, chicken.
I pretty much lived off of the chicken strip.

(34:45):
So I was there.
I mean, it's it's good value.
That's right.
And I mean, you know, it doesn't have the they didn't have those Shake Shack fries while
they're over there.
Yeah, like, no.
And so there's about three of us that were we're just like, no, we'll go back to the
smokejumpers grill and we'll just go there again.
There again, because it's consistent and it's a nice area.

(35:07):
So as teenagers, were you guys clean?
Like did you clean up your table and stuff?
Yeah, we were.
Were you citizens?
Well, I keep Disney clean again or something.
But yeah, we were I mean, we didn't want to leave a mess.
That's good.
I'm very proud.
Enough of us have jobs that have to deal with all of that.
So we don't really want to.

(35:29):
We know what it's like on the other end.
So did you see other teen groups there?
And like, do you feel like you maybe better?
We were probably on the better end of it.
We were keeping it much cleaner.
That's good.
Yeah, this is the questions you get from a mom.
Yeah.
Are you keeping yourself clean?
Are you making me look bad even though I'm in a different state?

(35:53):
Well, I'll never forget the text where you were like, you know, you've taught me well
or something when you were managing all the yeah, managing all the genie pluses and whatnot.
And my heart, my mom hearts, you know, grew three times bigger or something.
So I think in total, we got seven or eight genie pluses in.

(36:15):
That's crazy.
I've been told by you is much better.
Average is three.
I mean, most people average three.
I don't see how you could average three, but I think I've shadowed dad enough to see what
to do, what not to do.
Yeah.
It's like, OK, just go grab this.
We'll do that.
OK.
You didn't tell me about web slingers.
Oh, yes.
Web slinger.

(36:35):
We did do that the first day.
We did not single writer it, which I was told after the fact that you should have a bad
idea.
I thought it was.
What about the pre show?
I mean, the pre show is really cool.
I mean, that was one thing that I had kind of seen a long time ago, but like on like
online.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The Internet and what?

(36:56):
Yeah.
But what's what's the Internet?
Tell me about that.
So it was cool.
I was I was like expecting it because I had kind of seen it.
But I was just like, I don't know.
I don't know what I'm going to do.
Yeah.
It's like, oh, that's Tom Holland.
And there's a spider in that vent.
And they're everywhere and they're breaking out.
And it was I thought that was a really cool pre show.

(37:17):
I think compared to like other rides of similar like the mania, midway mania, all the other
ones that are like games.
I thought that was really cool.
It was fun.
I didn't get the highest score.
I was leading for the most part.
And then at the very end, I got overtaken.

(37:38):
One of our group members did have like a two hundred fifty thousand score, which is one
hundred thousand higher than I got.
I don't know how he did it.
He must have got like the special golden.
Yeah, he had.
He did.
He's cheating or something.
It was fun, though.
I thought it was enjoyable.
That little I mean, it's just a little area there.

(37:58):
They don't have a whole lot of room to build any like big lands.
But it's I mean, it's just that whole like little Marvel Avengers Avengers camp.
That's what it is.
Yeah, I thought it was cool.
We did see the Spider-Man dummy, you know, his little stunt.
Yeah, it's a robot, isn't it?
It's yeah.
Animatronic.

(38:18):
Yeah, but it looks like there's an actual actor.
Yeah, there's a real actor up there.
And then he goes and hides.
And you know, you think that you think that it's really him and he's flipping and flying.
We were just walking by.
It wasn't like a cool thing.
We were just like, whoa.
That's cool.
Yeah, I'd seen that on the Imagineering story or something.
Yes, that's where it was.
Oh, there it is.

(38:40):
It was cool.
It was very cool.
It's amazing.
Those Imagineers, what they can come up with and how they make robots and all the things.
Yeah.
OK, any advice that you would give to teens that are headed on a trip like?
I think probably just know what you want to do.
Yeah, like if you want to just relax, if you want to have Instagram content and you just

(39:04):
want to take some pictures, I mean, you can obviously there's plenty of people that will
tell you what to do and what not to do.
If you want all the rides, Genie Plus is worth it.
Definitely we got a lot done and we got to have fun.
You know, we were not waiting in line because they had a really good Genie Plus manager.

(39:25):
Do you think those people that were kind of dragging their feet?
Do you think in the end they were grateful for that?
I think that from those that I had asked, I'm just like, they're just like, yeah, I
think you got my thirty dollars out of that.
And so I'm like, OK, that's good.
At least I got to do my part.
Well, we don't have a ton of time, but I want you to just kind of get maybe give an overview.

(39:47):
I mean, I guess Six Flags Magic Mountain was another thing that was the next day.
And going from Disney to Six Flags, it's two different experiences, I guess is the best
way to put it.
I'm sure there was thrilling rides, but there was some thrilling rides.
There was the one, the X2 for those that know what that is.

(40:08):
That was probably the coolest roller coaster I've done in a long time.
But it was very different because we were mobile order and food at Disney and, you know,
they'd be like, pick a time.
It'll be ready in that time.
Yeah, and then we went to Six Flags, we're mobile order and then 20 minutes later, where's
my food at?

(40:28):
It was an interesting experience and that actually kept us.
We were ended up being a little bit late because my order was not.
And then Universal, which we did on a Monday.
So I don't I'm pretty sure the crowds aren't that light normally.
And we got the early access to the Nintendo land, which was really cool.

(40:50):
That Mario Kart ride for I'd seen it online and was like, oh, it's a little fun dark ride
and stuff.
But you have these little glasses that you're wearing and you hook those up and they're
like AR glasses.
And so basically, it's like you're actually playing a game.
You're trying to collect coins by like drifting and driving and like pick up power ups and
shells and you like your it's a whole little game like trying to get the top score.

(41:14):
And it was it was very different than what I was expecting because I was just expecting
a cute little dark ride where I'm just riding around.
But it was it's Nintendo.
They're not going to add a tan like what was it out of 10, 10 being the best.
I'd give it an eight.
I think it was cool, especially.
I mean, we got early access to that Nintendo land in the morning.
And so we just went and got to do that.

(41:35):
And that line was I mean, it was the longest out of all of them.
It's still only like a 40 minute line at its.
So you only did it once.
We only did it that one time.
I don't think any of us really needed to do it again.
I think that universal, I mean, if you get the best score, I mean, I did have the second
best score again.
Someone else bested me again, but that's OK.
It's just it's the fun that counts.

(41:56):
You know, I was experiencing something new.
I was thinking it was just going to be like just Instagram worthy.
Yeah, that's honestly kind of what I was just going into.
I'm just like, OK, so there's one little roller coaster.
And that was the mummy, which we did a bunch.
Yeah.
And that one was fun.
We did do.
It's a great.
You've been to the one in Florida twice.

(42:17):
Yes, I've been to Universal twice in.
That's a much different experience there because this one's just like right in the heart of
Hollywood.
It's just in Hollywood.
It's just like on a hill pretty much.
And so it's a great one day park if you just do it on some weekday.
If you do it out of the blue, it's great.
We got everything we want to done by like three o'clock.

(42:39):
Honestly, it's a pretty good half day park.
You're not a huge Harry Potter fan.
I'm not a huge.
I mean, it's still they still had the castle ride, which was fun.
And we got I went and did that one twice.
Was it.
Is it like Hogsmeade or whatever?
Like yeah, it's actually pretty much almost a one of one.

(42:59):
It was a lot roomier than Florida.
So is it like the Islands of Adventure?
It's like the Islands of Adventure, actually, pretty much exactly.
Except you don't walk back behind to the Jurassic Park land.
It's just it's right there.
You walk in and then it's just a dead end and you come back out.
But it's actually pretty one of one to the one in Florida.

(43:19):
OK, OK.
Because there's the castle and they got all the wand shop and it was it seemed it seemed
much more spacious.
I don't know if it's just because I could see where I'm going because there wasn't as
many people there.
Oh, nice.
Because the one in Florida, you know, if you're if you've been there, you know that it's shoulder
to shoulder and you're struggling just to, you know, keep with your group.

(43:39):
But we actually had a pretty good amount of room.
I guess it is missing Hagrid's.
So that was a big deal.
That is a big deal.
But, I mean, it was just it's just a little doorway there instead.
And it didn't have the train either.
Ollivanders where you can get.
Yeah, they had the Ollivanders and they had the candy shop.
Honeydukes.
They had the wand store.

(44:00):
And there was all there was.
OK, it was fun.
I think it was a great half day park.
It was a good way to end it because we were all completely exhausted.
So you guys didn't do that.
Yeah, I'm sure you were.
You didn't do the train like the back back lot.
We did not do the back lot.
That was one that honestly, if I was there by myself and I still had the rest of like
the night, I would have went and done it.

(44:22):
But it just wasn't interesting to our group.
Yeah.
So I mean, it's an hour long.
Well, this is the teens go to California.
Yeah, we need we need our we need the dopamine.
We got to keep something going.
We got to have a plan.
You got to burn off those chicken nuggets.
Yeah, we chicken.
We'd already been on a tram tour.
We didn't want to go do it again.
But I think I would have liked to have done it again.

(44:43):
But that wasn't it wasn't an essential.
Well, I'm happy.
It sounds like it was like I mean, I helped fund this trip.
So it sounds like you got, you know, I think we got your money's worth.
Not that that's the most important thing.
But you know, it seems like you had a lot of fun and that, you know, you're a senior.

(45:05):
Yeah, it was my it's my last time to go and hang out with some of these people, especially
you know, in this setting.
In this setting.
Yeah.
And it was it was fun.
We got we had a better hotel than we did in Florida, too, which helped just a little bit.
Breakfast was pretty solid.
You got to share a bed with your share, your giant brother.

(45:27):
Bedsheet hogging can't keep his own side, brother.
But that was memories.
We were all exhausted anyway.
We just went to sleep and just shove him every once in a while.
Get him back on his side.
Well, this is fun.
I'm glad I'm glad we could get I got more information.

(45:48):
You've already told me a bunch of this, but I'm glad I got more details.
But I'm here from the detail guy.
Did you get any you didn't get a churro or anything sweet at Disneyland?
I did not.
I didn't really want to.
Oh, I did.
I did get ice cream.
Oh, I did go get ice cream from Main Street.
Yeah.
No, it was the DCA ice cream shop.

(46:10):
It was I mean, it's the same.
Yeah, it's the same thing.
Good for you.
I did get ice cream.
I did forget about that.
See, I'm getting all these details that I know.
Well, I like the food.
Yeah, here in the food stuff.
So you used all of your gift card, your money.
I did have like five bucks left over something.
I was going to go get a drink.

(46:30):
But on that last night, we had a Indiana Jones reservation that I had reserved earlier in
the day.
And that was for like nine o'clock.
And y'all were late.
We were late again because we were we I'm used to the Florida fireworks where it goes.
It's a 30 minute show, you know, and then getting out and everything.
And they were all the way back in Galaxy's Edge.

(46:51):
That's where they were watching him.
So I'm like, it'll take him at least 15 minutes to get out on top of that.
You know, and then, you know, by the time we get over there at like 910, they're like
already done.
It's like because, you know, it has Bo Peep or Barbie and she's like, bye bye now.
From the end of the Toy Story.
And it's literally playing that on the walls.
And I'm just like, ah, shoot.

(47:11):
We're in trouble.
Yeah.
And so I was just like, no, because I really want to go do this.
They don't have it in Florida.
I was like, this is one of like the three things that I need to do while I'm still here.
We didn't talk about pirates.
OK, this last thing, pirates.
Tell me about pirates compared to your Disney world.
It's so much cooler.
I don't know.
I mean, I really love it in Florida.

(47:32):
I love both of them.
But I mean, it's that, you know, you start off and it's that it's probably twice the
length you're going through the bayou.
You're going through the bayou.
People are eating dinner next to you.
You're just enjoying your ride.
And it was it was very fun.
There's two drops there.
There is two drops there.
And it's like a much longer like cave area.

(47:52):
But I still love that ride.
Yeah.
Yo ho, yo ho.
A pirate's life for me.
All right, guys.
Well, thanks for joining us.
I'm sure Dad will be excited to hear this episode.
I think he doesn't listen to our podcast.
He doesn't like me enough.
But thanks for joining us, Will.
And y'all have a good week.
And I'll see you next time.