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Episode 008 - Aerosmith goes Bye-Bye, OpenAI and Disney Partnership, a Disney Hallmark Movie, and Legoland Harry Potter style
76 Plays27 days ago
In Episode 8 of The Rhubarbs Travelers, we have an official date for the closing of the Aerosmith version of Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. We also dive into Disney’s massive $1 billion investment in OpenAI, which will soon allow fans to create their own Sora videos featuring over 200 iconic characters from Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar. We also discuss the 2027 launch of Lakeshore Lodge, a project aimed at bringing "apartment-style" immersive living directly inside the parks. We also cover Disney’s new "no exceptions" final sale policy at outlet stores designed to shut down professional resellers for good. Plus, we get into the holiday spirit with details on the newly announced 2027 Hallmark movie, Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True, filming right on location at the resort.
In our Aftershow, we react to the first-ever LEGO Harry Potter land and themed accommodations announced for LEGOLAND Deutschland, a historic investment for the Wizarding World.
Make sure to stick around to the end as Damon talks about coming to watch Blake perform with The Raleigh Ringers! And go check out the group at www.rr.org
This episode sponsored by Dontresistthetravel.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Context
00:00:14
Speaker
Hey folks, welcome to episode number eight of the Rhubarb Travelers podcast. We are recording this show on Wednesday, December 17th, 2025. I am Blake and with me as always is Damon. How are you, my friend?
00:00:29
Speaker
I'm tired because you're making me record later than normal. It's an incredible 5.50 in the evening, folks, just for reference. But for reference, yesterday i was in bed at 6.30.
00:00:42
Speaker
Oh my God. And I was getting ready to make a joke. You were going to go to bed in like 10 minutes, but it's, it's true. Yeah. It's 630 yesterday. Everyone was like, where are you going? i was like, think I'm going to bed. find real? it was Yeah. Yeah.
00:00:57
Speaker
My schedule is tough because what happens is I have to get up with the dog like twice a night now. She's older. So it's like I go to bed. i get up at like one something.
00:01:08
Speaker
Go to bed. Get up at like five, maybe 445. So I'm getting up twice a night every night. Like it kind of doesn't matter how much sleep you get when that happens. It's tough, man. It's like having a baby.
00:01:19
Speaker
Yeah. Do you even go back to sleep after you get up at that five o'clock? You know, today i was like, I knew I had a meeting at eight. So I was like, oh, I don't know what to do. So I set an alarm for like
Patreon Appreciation and Viewer Engagement
00:01:34
Speaker
7.57.
00:01:35
Speaker
Sometimes I do. Sometimes I'll watch TV. i I don't know where Bob's Burgers was my whole life. Like I always thought it was like, oh, I've never watched show. It's terrible. I i love that show.
00:01:46
Speaker
So he' I've been playing catch up. Well, the the guy who wrote it is the same guy that did Archer, which I love. I don't like Archer. my gosh. Yeah, I don't like Archer. love it. But Bob's Burgers is pretty good. So I've been watching that. So sometimes I get up in the morning and watch an episode or two before, you know, I get up.
00:02:02
Speaker
I've never seen any episodes of Bob's Burgers. So I guess I'm going to have story. It's a tough couple of episode watches in the beginning. But then, like, once you get cruising, like, it's pretty good. Okay. All right. All right.
00:02:14
Speaker
all right Well, folks, we're going to first send a shout out to our Patreon subscribers. We want to say thank you for being a Patreon subscriber. If you are not one, please consider becoming one. um It helps us out tremendously. And as a bonus, you will get our show notes the day before the show releases. That is exclusive to our Patreon subscribers. It's not a lot. It's just $5 a month right now. And Damon and I are working on getting some more benefits today.
00:02:42
Speaker
included in that. So just be on the be on the lookout. And again, if you would please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber. So I went and checked. My dues went up $13 month.
00:02:55
Speaker
Okay. e This is off of the last show we're talking about. Yeah. I mean, just in general, I mean, for this year, so my dues on, so that's not all of my points. because like I said, I have this split contract with my parents.
00:03:06
Speaker
Um, what is that? excuse i don't know. 270. It doesn't matter. Like my whole thing is like, I don't even think about it. Like it's $13 more. Like, so everyone's like, I just don't understand what people complain about.
00:03:20
Speaker
If you can't afford like your dues going up $13, $20 a month, dude, get out. Get out of DVC. Like that's not a big deal. It's not a lot. it's it's roughly cost It's roughly rate of inflation if you want to think about it that way. Yeah, exactly. So keep it moving, man. That's what I say.
00:03:39
Speaker
All
Disney's Lakeshore Lodge and Influencer Culture
00:03:40
Speaker
right. And speaking of DVC, let's get into some DVC I still can't figure this out. Yes. So there was an article that came out that said long-term stays at Disney are now becoming a step closer to reality. And so what this article is about is that it it's about Lakeshore Lodge, right?
00:04:00
Speaker
ah The new DVC property that is coming coming soon in 2027. Okay.
00:04:06
Speaker
And the article says that it's going to be apartment-style living, that Disney World is creating something amazing that will be available to select guests. I'm not exactly sure what select guests. But this even true? Like, mean, this is not an official Disney site. Like, I don't know if this is even true. Well, all of the artwork that they used in the article was official Disney. Yeah.
00:04:27
Speaker
yeah Yeah. OK. I mean, I don't know believe this, but i mean, yeah we'll keep it as a rumor for now. But I mean, I'll talk about it. Yeah, we can talk about it. i I read through that entire article and I have to be honest. I didn't see anything in the article to me that that no screamed, oh, you could just live here at a month at a time and and not ever leave. I mean, you could do that at any DVC resort when you think about it, right? I mean, people If you have enough points, yeah. If you have enough points, you could do it for sure. And people do. You know...
00:05:00
Speaker
I don't think this is going to be any different. I think we have 430 DVC units. That's what we're going to have. It's going to be the same thing as everyone before. i don't think there's any difference to to this. I think that's this. Well, it might be different that it's off it's off the beaten path a little bit, right? It's over there on Bay Lake.
00:05:18
Speaker
Okay. So. yeah yeah I don't see anything different here. I mean, I think, listen. I'm not a fan of being at Disney that long anyway.
00:05:30
Speaker
I watch some of these influencers and I think to myself, like, Disney's not Disney when you're going all the time. It's just, for me, it's just not. I wouldn't want to be in Florida. I wouldn't want to be living at, you know, a DVC resort for a month. Like, for me, that ruins the experience of Disney as someplace away from my normal life.
00:05:52
Speaker
Right. How long he was your longest stay ever? Continuous. e In Disney or in Florida, right? I think. In Disney. Specifically Disney. You were there only for Disney. What was your longest continuous stay?
00:06:06
Speaker
Maybe. I don't even think nine days. I'm probably just making that up, but I'm going to say nine days. I would say it it's between seven and nine for sure. It's not anything more than that.
00:06:19
Speaker
it's It's just not. Yeah. My, our longest was 11 days. And I think that's like on the end of being acceptable for me, I would say like 14 would be acceptable, especially if you're coming from far away or from out of the country. But outside of that, like I said, these influencers, like,
00:06:37
Speaker
anything becomes normal if you're doing it all the time. Anything becomes a job if like yeah influences. I mean, it's great for them. and And I, and I, you know, appreciate the information that we get, but to me that just kind of ruins Disney for me. So yeah if if you have filet mignon, every meal filet mignon doesn't taste all that great after a while. So that's what happened to me so after college, me and my buddy, we were, um, both double majors, five years. Right.
00:07:05
Speaker
Right. And, um, We came home and then that summer we're like, ah, dude, you know, I'm not getting a job until September. And all we did is play tennis every day and eat a steak. And at the end of the summer, i was like, I don't know if I'll ever eat a steak again. And so let's see, I'm 52 now. So how many years is that? 30 years? So 30 years I haven't eaten a steak because I was like, dude, I steak. a minute. You haven't had a steak in 30 years. Literally not in one. I don't eat red meat anymore. No. That was like that summer did me in.
00:07:33
Speaker
steak every day. like was It was crazy talking. We literally have a steak every day and then just like chill out. And I was like, man, I can't do that anymore. So I get it. I get it.
00:07:44
Speaker
Yeah. All right. So anyway, Lakeshore Lodge is coming in 2027. So be on the lookout. i You know, when it comes time to buy, i would look into this. I always said that I would want to buy somewhere on a monorail or somewhere close to somewhere, some sort of mode of transportation that's easy.
00:08:04
Speaker
But I could maybe get into this. yes Okay. if this I'm going to probably buy points just to say I have points there, if nothing else. um It's got to coincide with my current Riviera being paid off, and then I'll just move on over to another one. Move on over. There we go. All right. Let's go talk about some park news.
Theme Park Updates: Changes and Investments
00:08:23
Speaker
The closing date for the Aerosmith version of Rockin' Roller Coaster has now finally been announced. So if you want to go ride Rockin' Roller Coaster while you can still see Steven Tyler, then you're going to have to go do it by March. but don't think you can see anyone, can you?
00:08:43
Speaker
Oh, that's right. Yeah, you can't even see them anymore. That's right. So if if you want to just see anything about Aerosmith, you have to go do it by March 1st because that is the last day to ride. The ride will officially be closed on March 2nd, 2026. So...
00:08:59
Speaker
twenty twenty six so Interesting that the timeline is still saying it is going to reopen in summer of 2026. That gives them six months. That seems like an incredibly fast turnaround. Again, as we talk about, they're not really doing that much. It's like an overlay almost, to be honest with you. I think they have to too. So the backstory here is Scooter's uncle, who's a real estate tycoon, which I guess would have been nice to know when, you know, the Muppets are closing their theater all the time because they don't have enough money, right? Where was this dude then? yeah Maybe he just made his money now. So that's that's fine. So he purchases GeForce Records and puts Scooter in charge. Listen, they better not ever have a storyline about them needing money if this guy can just buy record companies at whim.
00:09:43
Speaker
Exactly. So in the pre-show, you're going to board the attraction, help from Muppet Labs in a very, very fast limousine. And again, not anything different. What I do find interesting, though, is we are going to get our first The Muppet Show, the new The Muppet Show, February 4th, right? So I think this is all lining up to kind of give them a shot at bringing the Muppets back full force. Yep. Right? Because they say if this, you know, Muppet Show special event, which I believe is Sabrina Carpenter, if I remember correctly, um
00:10:14
Speaker
So they're coming back to take the stage of the original Muppet Theater. Yes, and Sabrina Carpenter. And I think if this all goes well, it's kind of a play to you know bring them back big time. We're going to have the roller coaster. We're going to have a new show. We're going to have this. We're going to have that. So right interesting take here for sure. I'm a Muppets fan. Again, I think this is more of an overlay to me. I mean, it's not going to be something unless they're changing track, which they're not. It will be cool, but it's just... well They're going to be adding in some animatronics to the pre-show where you know before it was just a video. yeah
00:10:47
Speaker
good I'm sure there'll still be some sort of video in there, but but they will be adding, Scooter is going to be an animatronic. And I believe they said they were going some penguins in there too, because it's Muppets and you got to have penguins, right? Of course.
00:11:01
Speaker
and put And there's going to be Benson Honeydew and Beaker are going to be there because they talk about Muppet Labs. So you know they're going to make an ah an appearance at some point. and They are some of my favorites. Yeah. All right, moving on. Disney is making a $1 billion, as Dr. Eby would say, $1 billion dollar investment into open AI. So the folks behind ChatGPT. I could have a whole three-part episode just about this alone. Folks.
00:11:28
Speaker
Folks, this is Damon's wheelhouse right here. So I expect him to go off on this. You're not even go off. I think the problem that this is is that, so, okay, so they've invested in OpenAI and they're going to allow licensing of Disney characters, right?
00:11:42
Speaker
It's going to be on store and OpenAI i video generation. Cool. But what, you know, I don't love monopolies of any type except the board game. And I think what's happening here is, you know, from, are they, are they sending cease and desist letters to other companies? Yes, they are. I was reading about that. They are sending cease and desist. Yeah. So the the question, you know, is now is like, what does this mean? If I want to do something Disney oriented that I have to then go to a specific
00:12:14
Speaker
AI platform. I don't love that. I don't. i And well said voices are not going to be included. yeah So now I have a video with Kermit, but no Kermit voice. That's tough. Like I get why they invested in it. And, you know, again, there's, there's a lot of tangents and a lot of ways that this could go. mean, we're talking about just, you know, non-commercial generation for fun or for something else. But in theory,
00:12:42
Speaker
could be talking about commercial generation. we're don't Listen, no matter what people think, We're going to get to a world where there's going to be, especially in animation, there's going to be movies that are fully generated with AI and maybe tweaked after the fact. But it's going to happen. Like, you can't stop that no matter how much people want to. It's just not the case anymore. So, you know, is this going to be something that Disney uses as a tool?
00:13:13
Speaker
ah Maybe, you know, I'm not sure, but gosh, it just makes it tough to do things somewhere else now. And I just don't think that should be the case, especially on something called open AI, right? Like at the end of the day, right?
00:13:29
Speaker
It should be something where, you know, I shouldn't have to worry about what platform I'm on for creation of characters. So let me ask you this. yeah So my company just released its own...
00:13:43
Speaker
ah chat GPT, right? So it's through OpenAI, but it's it is, I don't want to say it's a walled off garden, if you understand what I'm saying there.
00:13:54
Speaker
We can use it. We don't have to worry about certain things like like ah blinding clients' names, it's it's a safe space. So where I'm going with this is, do you think Disney will will do the same thing where if we want to make a video using their characters, they say, okay, you could do that, but you have to come to our specific GPT area to do that?
00:14:22
Speaker
You can't just go out in the wild and do it. You have to use ours because we can control what's being made. We can control how it's being used. I don't think so because they're saying they're going to make them available on Sora and OpenAI. So I don't think that's going to be the case. I mean, it's possible.
00:14:39
Speaker
right? I mean, you could do that, but I don't think that's what we're talking about here because no one wants to run. you know, we already have RAM problems. We already have, you know GPU problems. No one wants to run their own backend at the end of the day. That's the problem, right? Because that's where the money is and that's where the problem is in moving forward with AI. So I don't think so. Like I said, I mean, for me, I just worry about other platforms and what that means to some of the big players. I don't want to be in this game where, oh, I could go here for Disney. I could go here for DC characters. i I got to go here for this. I got to go here for that. You know, that's too much. But-
00:15:17
Speaker
It's like streaming platforms. and Yeah, it could be it could be what happens. But again, the people that think that this is not going to move forward with creation of animation, they're they're they're just, it's not it's not the case. It's going to happen.
00:15:32
Speaker
No matter how hard we try to stop it, it's going to happen. And, you know, that may mean that we get movies quicker. That's exactly what I was thinking. Like, this is definitely going to make it more efficient to make movies, for sure.
00:15:47
Speaker
And cheaper, right? And then the question becomes, like, how many Toy Stories do I need? Just because I can make another Toy Story, you know, what do I need? But I'll tell you, I think a lot of what, you know, my personal time with, you know, OpenAI i or Gemini consists of is writing of different endings or different episodes to shows.
00:16:12
Speaker
And it does a darn good job. Like, I get it it's predictive. I get that, like, all you're doing is putting one word after the other. But gosh, have I created some really good Seinfeld episodes? Have I created some, you know, really good different endings to Amphibia or, you know, anything like that? I mean, that's a lot of where my leisure AI time is spent these days. so I tell you, I had had a really good Seinfeld episode. i mean, gosh, I felt like I could have slotted it right in.
00:16:43
Speaker
So you, wait minute. So you literally created a Seinfeld episode using the existing characters and you just went into, what was it Gemini or whatever and just said... I happened to be in Gemini, yeah. I had some, you know...
00:16:56
Speaker
I had an idea. but Um, and yeah, it fleshed out the idea to a full episode, you know, characters and everything. And it was so funny that I was reading it to my wife in the car. Cause I was doing it while we were driving somewhere and like, we were laughing so hard and it was really good. So yeah, I mean, it's good at that.
00:17:15
Speaker
So. So was, it was just a script, right? It wasn't like the entire video. Sorry. I thought you meant like, no and and and and not a video oh no, no, no, no. We're just talking about a script. Okay. All right.
00:17:26
Speaker
Okay. So, well, since we're talking about making movies, next on the list, if you are a Hallmark Christmas movie fan. I'm not, but my wife seems to be, so.
00:17:38
Speaker
Yeah, well, they've got something for you now. So, Disney, if you've been looking at the news, there have been reports of a movie being filmed at Disney World. And it was confirmed that Hallmark was is making a Christmas movie. Now it's not going ah to be released until December of 2026. So we have an entire year to to wait for that.
00:18:02
Speaker
It's going to be called Holiday after Ever After, A Disney World Wish Come True. And here is the plot. Stop me if you've heard this before, right? Yeah. In the film, Lindsay and her extended family head to Walt Disney World to spend a magical Christmas together.
00:18:19
Speaker
But the dream of a jolly holiday quickly unravels when Lindsay discovers her room is right next to Philip, a disastrous first date she recently endured, who is also there on a family trip.
00:18:34
Speaker
And I'm sure hilarity ensues. Yeah. Okay. I don't think that's one that I need to catch, but you know. yeah I think I will probably skip that one unless my wife, the queen commands that I watch it with her. So we'll see. don't know.
00:18:51
Speaker
All right, folks, it is time for a word from our sponsor.
Sponsorship and Policy Changes
00:18:54
Speaker
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00:19:08
Speaker
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00:19:23
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:20:07
Speaker
That's DontResistTheTravel.com.
00:20:14
Speaker
Okay, moving on. Disney is starting to play hardball with merchandise resellers. All right, so here's the story. If you're aware, there are a couple of outlet stores, for lack of a better term, down in Orlando. One is called the Disney Character Warehouse. The other is called Cast Connection. So so this isn't something that's happening in the parks then?
00:20:35
Speaker
This is just in these stores right now? Just in these stores? I wish it would happen in the parks. Yeah, me too. so So Disney Character Warehouse, that's at the outlet store in Orlando. I don't know what the name of that outlet complex is, but anybody can go into that. And it it has merchandise that has been discontinued. It usually has a lot of holiday merchandise. When the holiday passes, they send it on to that.
00:21:01
Speaker
ah The Cast Connection store is for cast members only. Think of it kind of like a Costco or a warehouse club just for cast members where they can go in and they can get merchandise. They can get they have access to whenever DVC does a soft refurb and they have all of this furniture and house goods that they don't they don't need anymore in the warehouse. resort, they'll take it to the cast connection and and cast members have first dibs on being able to purchase these things at a discount. Now the cast member can also bring in a guest. So here is what's happening.
00:21:39
Speaker
People are coming in and just buying all of these items in mass. They are taking them home and then they're listing them on eBay for inflated prices to make a profit.
00:21:54
Speaker
Well, here's the here's the rub. Up until, well, now it's going to be up until February 2026.
00:22:01
Speaker
They will have be able to take those items back to the store if they don't sell them to get a full refund. And that's ridiculous. Yes. That is going to change on February 1st. And on February 1st, both the Disney Character Warehouse and Cash Connection stores, they're going to be instituting a no returns, no exchanges, no refunds, no exceptions. And see, and that hurts the regular person though. See, this is another area where these resellers just hurt the other people because now if you, something isn't your size, or you're not returning it. Like if you miss that, like, oh, it had a hole in it. Oh, oh well.
00:22:38
Speaker
Right. And disney's Disney is doing this because essentially these resellers have a zero risk business, right? They go buy all that stuff. They try to sell it on eBay. And just before the 30 or 60 day or whatever the return limit is, they take it all back and get a full refund. That is not happening. and That's a lot of time for the people bo that have to return those items in the stores too. Exactly. Exactly. That is part of the reason they are doing it is because cast members were having to spend so much time processing all of those returns. So...
00:23:14
Speaker
Now what's going to happen is if you buy it, it is yours. So if you do go there, and there's nothing wrong going there. I've actually been there. No, but the thing is there still is something wrong with buying 50 of something. So yes, it is more risky. But if you think you're good at what you do and you go, well, that's definitely going to sell, you can still buy 100 of them.
00:23:34
Speaker
You're just, right well, I can't return them, so I better make sure I sell X amount of items. so Exactly. I don't love this. I think there's better ways to do this. yeah it is It is quite the broad hammer stroke. And I don't know if it necessarily solves the problem because, again, I can still buy one hundred of them. It's just there's more risk for me. Okay, but what if I'm good at it?
00:23:56
Speaker
Right. You know? Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, if if you are planning to go buy things now at the Disney Character Warehouse or Cast Connection, just please make sure you look over it. Make sure there's nothing wrong with it. Make sure if it's clothing, make sure it fits if you have the ability to try it on. Because starting February 1, you will not be able to take it back for a return or refund.
00:24:30
Speaker
All right, after show time.
Expansions and Performances in Theme Parks
00:24:32
Speaker
One and only item on our after show, and this is really kind of cool, big item here. Lego, Legoland. There is Legoland in Germany called Legoland Deutschland.
00:24:44
Speaker
And they have just announced today that they are building a Harry Potter land within their Legoland facility there.
00:24:56
Speaker
Which is awesome. It's going to be awesome. They are ah you know doing this in partnership with Warner Brothers and Merlin Entertainment. They are a big name in the entertainment industry as far as things like this.
00:25:10
Speaker
ah The land is going to be entirely in brick form. That's going to be interesting for sure. And for the first time ever, and here's the biggie, there is going to be a Harry Potter themed hotel slash resort on the grounds.
00:25:25
Speaker
i it It made me come back to the, why haven't they done this at Universal Florida? I just, I feel like it would be so fitting like I think it would be, honestly, if you did Epic Universe and the next thing you announced was a full-blown all four houses in a hotel, like my god I think you would crush Disney at that point. like I think people would I don't know what would happen.
00:25:54
Speaker
I didn't even think about that. Man, you could have four hotels exactly like you just said, one theme to each house. man I think the only thing you worry about there is, right, do people skew to a specific theme?
00:26:06
Speaker
Like, that's the only downside to doing that. I think you create them all in one hotel. I think kind of alleviates that somewhat. Ah, okay. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that would be my only thing. I mean, gosh, the the best thing in the world would be is that if you went in, got sorted, and then got your room based on your sorting. and then you got your room. mean, that would be crazy. mean, that's not feasible. But I think the feasibility of creating this hotel, i think would, I understand there's this bad taste from the Star Wars hotel. I get it But I just think that Harry Potter appeals to a different demographic and age range.
00:26:43
Speaker
And I think that it would work. And I would be absolutely impressed. you know, again, for me, the best news in the world would be is that, hey, we're doing a, you know, DVC universal and the first hotel is going to be Harry Potter. I mean, I just feel like that's just such money making right there. But I don't know.
00:27:02
Speaker
Would you put it? See, I think that would work if you'd put it right next to either one of the Harry Potter lands that ah exist at Orlando right now. but So that way you can literally walk out your hotel and you're there at Hogsmeade or... I don't even know if it needs to happen like that. I mean, if you build this hotel, like...
00:27:24
Speaker
And, you know, he you know it was funny. So, again, we we talk about this AI stuff, right? So, for me, you know, I'm looking forward to what HBO and Max are going to do with the new Harry Potter series. But at the end of the day, I'm a big, like, hey, i already know what's going to happen, right? So, I had this debate. So, we were talking about Impossible Creatures, right? Reading it because Disney bought it and all that. I'm almost done with it. It's okay. Okay.
00:27:50
Speaker
um But it's not a Harry Potter because, or even a Stranger Things, there's just this cultural phenomenon that goes along with shows like that. So, okay, so new Harry Potter's coming out. I do understand that it's going to be, you know, something that people watch. I get it. But it is the same old story at the end of the day. So I was like, hmm, I wonder what I'd like to see in terms of a new Harry Potter series on HBO that focused on something different. And then Gemini wrote me up a story and a script, right? And we were in Japan and we were at the wizarding school in Japan, which I didn't even know existed until I, and, you know, my wife was like, well, that doesn't exist. I was like, you know, I kind of think it might. And I went back and yeah, it does. Like it is mentioned, it is canon in, ah you know, the Harry Potter universe. So and the story was phenomenal by the way, too. It was about this, you know, guy that was, know, I even want to ruin it. Cause maybe, maybe I use it somewhere. But I think that if we did something like that, you wouldn't have to go, you wouldn't have to make the Star Wars hotel. You get what I'm saying? Like you could create a Harry Potter hotel that exists within a different wizarding school and it would still do extremely well. And then you wouldn't be attached to all of the things that maybe you don't want to do.
00:29:07
Speaker
Such a, wait minute, when you say things you don't want to do, what do you Well, because, you know, you don't want to create like this whole, like, I only want to go to this house because this is the house that I know from Harry Potter. i only want to do this. You eliminate that if you create something in, you know, the Japan wizarding school or one of the other. i think there's 11.
00:29:25
Speaker
I don't know. My daughter is very well versed in in Harry Potter. and She knew a lot more than I did. But yeah, like, I think that you could do something like that. And I would be on board with that as well. Right.
00:29:35
Speaker
So there aren't a lot of details that have been released yet about this new resort, but it did say that we should hear something within the next 12 months so with as far as details. So be on the lookout for that.
00:29:49
Speaker
Who knows? Maybe, Damon, we could head to Deutschland and there you go go to Legoland then. all right, folks, that is going to do it for this show. We'd like to thank our sponsor, DontResistTheTravel.com.
00:30:04
Speaker
Please go visit them and let them handle every detail in creating and planning your next getaway. And as always, it does not have to be to Disney, does not have to be to Universal. It can be to anywhere. They will handle your travel.
00:30:18
Speaker
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00:30:51
Speaker
Reach us. Our email is rhubarbtravelerspodcast at gmail.com. Shoot us an email. We would love to discuss it. Go ahead.
00:31:02
Speaker
go go ahead and I was going to say, like yeah, i mean if you want to discuss you know Blake's performance this week, you know as a bell ringing, please and you let us know. I'm more than happy to. You know what? Let me get through this and we'll talk about it. all right, so we're also on Patreon, like we said earlier. Please join us on Patreon and consider becoming a subscriber. And then, of course, we are on all the socials, Twitter, X, Instagram, Facebook. go Yeah, don't let don't let him lie to you. We're really not on X. We're on the other two, though. um So for for the future, for 2026, just remember the rhubarb duck.
00:31:36
Speaker
That will be coming. Okay. And then I guess the... Rhubarb Cypher? I mean, i don't I don't know. Maybe Bill Cypher? I don't know. We'll have to figure that out. I'm excited for some things in the next year. you know Again, this year kind of got me towards the end with a lot of other things that I had to do. Finishing up with Christmas was was a lot more than I thought. But be prepared for some fun things in the next year on our socials.
00:32:00
Speaker
So yeah, so back to Blake's thing. So Blake was able to talk me and my wife in to come to, I guess, his ringing podcast. Right. So let me let me give some backstory here. So if you have looked at our website, in my bio, it lists that I am part of a performing group in Raleigh, North Carolina called the Raleigh Ringers. And we are and let's be honest, I thought that it was like a nothing. I know you did. I was like, dude, Raleigh ringers, whatever. This seems so like, so South ringing. Like i just wasn't like, I was just like, whatever. Yeah. So we are a community handbell, uh, ensemble and a if you handbell is literally what it's, what it sounds like. It is a bell that you hold in your hand and you ring them and they're all different pitches. Right. And so,
00:32:51
Speaker
we play all types of music. Now, generally you find them in churches, but there are community groups that, that play all types of music and we're one of them. and it was, it was funny because once I was like, so Blake was like, right, I'm going to send you tickets and I'm figuring whatever. And he's like, oh, here's the ticket master link. And I was like, oh, I guess maybe this is kind of a big deal. Maybe. I mean, I know. Damon was expecting me to hand him like some sort of handwritten ticket. I kind of was. Tell the guy at the front desk, they I got three tickets for you.
00:33:23
Speaker
Yeah. So we we performed at the the Symphony Hall in Raleigh, where the North Carolina- was very nice, by the way. I've never been there before. It was very nice. It is a very nice facility. And so we play the entire concert, right? And the next day, Damon sends me this text, right? And it's a screenshot of a conversation he had with a friend- Yeah, so when I was doing the Netflix podcast to one of my my friends from New Jersey, she is also a bell ringer as well, and their group also travels the country, right? Right.
00:33:58
Speaker
And, um you know, she had the reason this all kind of came up and reminded me of it she was like, hey, does anyone know of a location in Charlotte that, you know, because we're looking to finish a tour up and we need some place in Charlotte. And I sent her, you know, I... instead of replying to that on Facebook, I just texted her. like, hey, I'm not sure, but I have a friend that's in the Raleigh ringers. like I can ask him if you like you really can't find a place. like I'm not in Charlotte, so I don't know. But you know if you decide to come to Raleigh, I'd also you know maybe be able to give you more insight. And then so just off the cuff, I was just kind of like, yeah, so you know are the Raleigh ringers you know kind of a big deal? and she's like,
00:34:38
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it's Raleigh ringers. This Raleigh ringers. That's all people talk about in the communities is these Raleigh ringers. and I'm like, okay, so there we are. Yeah. So we, has anyone ever been cut?
00:34:53
Speaker
Uh, yes. Okay. But I'll tell you a quick story. My very first year in the group, did you get cut? No, I did not get cut. Oh, okay. But we we made it, so the way our group works, so we start in January and go through December, right? And so it's a one-year commitment, and everybody has to try out every single year. no one gets No one gets a free pass, right? So my first year in the group, I tried out. There were three new people, me and two other people. And at the end of our summer tour, which is this long, week-long tour that we take, one person was told not to come back. so
00:35:33
Speaker
Yes, people do get cut. It just, the only thing, I mean, it was very nice and it was very festive and definitely brought us into the holiday season. um the The only thing for me is it seems like a job. Like, I looked at the amount of times you're away I'm like, dude, there's no way. And how often do you practice a week? I think that was the first question my wife had. Like, well, how often do you practice every week?
00:35:55
Speaker
So we practice once a week. It usually lasts around, we start at seven o'clock and we're usually leaving our building at about 1045. Oh, heck no.
00:36:06
Speaker
Or 11 o'clock. Yeah, yeah yeah no way. And it's 100, like Damon said, it's 100% volunteer. Every single person that does it is a volunteer. We don't get paid to play.
00:36:17
Speaker
It's just... It's something we love to do. It was very nice, but you wouldn't catch me bell ringing like that for that amount of time. That's for sure. It is a commitment. So folks, if you are interested after hearing this, please go to www.rr.org.
00:36:35
Speaker
RR standing for Raleigh Ringers. And just go check us out. That's pretty impressive yeah URL. Yeah. it's we We had a website, gosh, starting back in the early 2000s, like around 2000 or 2001. Yeah. we had a a pretty big pick of all of the web addresses. Yeah, there you go.
00:36:56
Speaker
So... Anyway, head on over to rr.org. Look us up. You can go to YouTube and look up the Raleigh Ringers and you'll see lots of videos. And Merry Christmas, right? Because we don't do another episode for after Christmas. right. So Merry Christmas, everyone. it will be Christmas almost in a week. Until all the good night.
00:37:12
Speaker
Yeah. All the good night. We will see you in the new year. So, Damon, until then, see you later. Sounds good. Folks, the Rhubarb Travelers podcast is for entertainment purposes only. We are not employed by the Walt Disney Company or NBC Universal, the parent company of Universal Studios. And as such, all opinions expressed on the show are exclusively our own.
00:37:34
Speaker
Please consult a DVC or Disney cast member or Universal team member for more information about anything we might have talked about today.
00:37:53
Speaker
This is not happening. No, this is not, but this is about the, you know, the, the, yeah, yeah, yeah. They have out at the. Okay. All right. Like I said, I wish it was for the park too, but go ahead. Let's talk about it.
00:38:04
Speaker
All right. All right. Let me start over then. No, no. Why are we starting over? No. That was part of the banter. Oh, sorry. I thought you were like correcting me. Sorry. No. All right.
00:38:15
Speaker
I guess we're starting over now. We're starting over now for sure. This is guy i'm going going add this in as a blooper at the end.