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Episode 338: Speculation on New Lands, Figment & the Popcorn Bucket of Death image

Episode 338: Speculation on New Lands, Figment & the Popcorn Bucket of Death

Welcome Home: A Disney Parks & DVC Podcast
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On This Episode

The guys catch up on the winter weather hitting their respective homes before diving into a major construction update for the Magic Kingdom. Recent filings by Disney reveal massive show buildings for the upcoming Cars and Villains lands, leading to some reckless speculation about the future of the Haunted Mansion queue and Memento Mori. The guys also discuss the return of a variety-style Muppets special on Disney+, the new playground coming to Animal Kingdom’s Tropical Americas, and the must-have spinning Figment PopSocket. Finally, they head west to celebrate Disney California Adventure’s 25th anniversary, featuring a high-tech Mickey’s Fun Wheel popcorn bucket and the return of Soarin' Over California.

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Transcript

Introduction to the Podcast and Hosts

00:00:07
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, broadcasting on the DVC to all points unknown. If you're within the sound of my voice, you're listening to Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
00:00:30
Speaker
Hello and welcome home. This episode of Welcome Home is brought to you by DVC Resale Market. Thank you for joining us on episode 338 of Welcome Home, a Disney Parks and Vacation Club podcast. I'm Tom, here with Trevor. How's it going, Trevor? Hey, pretty good.
00:00:42
Speaker
We just, we just talked for a while. I, one thing I didn't say to you, we had a big business meeting, you know, we had a meeting of the board of a welcome podcast. Right. But for good reasons, not like bad reasons or anything like that. So don't, don't think there's bad things. These, these are good things.
00:01:00
Speaker
um But

Weather Discussions and Personal Experiences

00:01:01
Speaker
yeah. So what what I wanted to talk about first though, Trevor, and I didn't say this to you because we were busy talking about other stuff, um but it's snowing here. Like, A lot. That's just funny.
00:01:12
Speaker
Yeah. So last weekend we had the ice, right? And now this weekend we are getting ah actual real life snow. And i'm just it's funny because ah we're we're they're you know forecasting about seven inches of snow.
00:01:26
Speaker
The last time we got seven inches of snow, Trevor, here was 2014. And like before that was like another 20 years before. this like We don't get snow like this. You know, it's very rare. But I was like, Trevor's going to laugh at this because here I am, like seven inches of snow is like snowpocalypse for where I live. But like for you, it's a Tuesday, you know? yeah I mean, and the the funny thing is is, we're on the opposite end of it where it's we're back unseasonally warm. We had it was cold. We had a cold snap. And now um it's above zero, which to us is actually T-shirt weather. And I know that sounds weird. crazy if you don't live in the north because you're you're probably going what the heck there's there's still snow on the ground but we're not bothered anyway um you don't care yeah yeah um yeah so yeah that that's funny though that uh i have been seeing you know you know sorry this is probably not the nicest thing but
00:02:28
Speaker
I've been seeing all kinds of reports of like, you know, you know, understandably there's been a lot of cold weather happening down the States. And I know you guys are all like, you know, some of you are like, you know, you have been talking about, you know, planning for staying warm and all that.
00:02:41
Speaker
And yes, as a Canadian, I'm looking at and going like, Oh, yeah. Like, that's like... That's a joke. Yeah. not That's been, like, since November for me. I don't... you're Like, okay. but But I get it. Like, if you're not if you're not prepared for it, if you're in a place where it's not, you know, it doesn't happen regularly, it seems very unnatural and, you know, you don't quite know how to handle it. But...
00:03:06
Speaker
Yes, because I've been in it for so long, all I can kind of do is laugh and go like, ha yeah, you got snow. Like, OK. it's it's Listen, it's it's different. It's just different. It's, ah you know, it's it's just a whole different thing. i I understand why you find it hilarious, though. I would, too, I think, um you know, because it's it's it is kind of weird. Yeah.
00:03:29
Speaker
I mean, i I will say on the flip side, when you guys have heat waves, like, when it gets hot here... like well Well, I have

Childhood Memories and Sledding Safety

00:03:38
Speaker
experienced, like like, really hot. And, like, when it gets up, like, around... When it gets to, like, 35 degrees here, which is, like... I want to say in, like, the 90s, something like that. um ah Like, when it gets that, like, ah anything above 35.
00:03:53
Speaker
That's 95, yeah. 95. So, like, to me, that's, like... I I'm like, I don't want to go outside. I don't want to go near anything. But and and I know that like, you know, it's the same kind of thing really at the end of the day is it's like, you know, you talk about like, oh, yeah, you know, if it's it's really hot out, you know, you make sure you you're staying hydrated. You make sure that, you know, you you've got, you know, sun protection, all that.
00:04:17
Speaker
But for me, that's like way more. Yeah. the the coldt even though the coldt is the same thing on the other end but it's like yeah i know how to handle that like minus forty i don't like it but i can still go out and function minus forty plus thirty five i like just leave me alone in the house with the ac like Yeah, I understand that. I get that. It makes sense. It it does. So, ah yeah, no, it's just weird, though, because it's it's I mean, it's it's snowing and there's snow on the ground. It's and we also we usually don't get snow that sticks either. Like, that's the thing. That's the other part of this. Right. Is that like we'll we'll get snow, but it'll melt within, you know, an hour. Like this is like actual sticking snow. It's like windy out. It's it's crazy. Right. It's a whole thing. So my wife my daughter is very excited. But here's the thing.
00:05:09
Speaker
Extraordinarily unprepared for this. Right. Like I don't have any like, you know, snow stuff at all. Like I don't even have a heavy jacket, Trevor. I just don't need one. Right. Like I just, you know, I don't have something I can wear like on a daily basis for 19 degree weather. You know, the trick is layers.
00:05:24
Speaker
<unk> got layers yeah yeah You don't need a heavy jacket. What you need is you need a windbreaker. So something that will like stop the the cold air from coming in. And then you just need a layer underneath that um just acts or just gives like an air gap basically between your outer layer and your inner layer. And you'll actually stay warmer than like getting a a heavy, heavy jacket. Yeah. So.
00:05:48
Speaker
Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. So, yeah, you you could. This is going to sound crazy, but you could actually fake it even um if you just it's not super comfortable. But if it's like super windy and cold, you can just use like a rain poncho as your outer layer. Because, again, it's it's just it'll stop the wind because it's just, you know, it's hard or it's, you know, plastic. Right. Yeah.
00:06:15
Speaker
And then you can you can bundle up underneath and that will actually do a lot more good than like trying to find a heavy jacket. Nice. Well, listen, some of our listeners are going to need this tip as well if they're if they're traveling to the parks because I saw Orlando has also got like 30 degree weather, which is crazy for Orlando. There might be actual snow in Disney World, not not those not the snope or whatever. that this it snow fakeke sense yeah yeah the The snow soap or whatever it's called.
00:06:45
Speaker
Yeah, no that's really funny. um But yeah, it's it's it's crazy. at Listen, I'm not going complain because I love snow and I'm happy to see some. And, you know, knowing how excited my daughter is going to be about it is is about it, I should say. Not gonna. She is. She's very thrilled about this going on. So, ah yeah, it's great.
00:07:06
Speaker
But you know what? I guess one thing your your daughter... or um I guess, no, you you have gotten to do it because I think you guys have like a sledding. I remember you saying this. There's like ah ah like a fake toboggan hill near you or something like that. Or they do those. Oh, yeah. It's not really near me. But, yeah, we did. Yeah. It's like a place where you can go. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the one thing like, you know, why when I think about when my son was your daughter's age was like tobogganing was a very fun activity in the winter.
00:07:39
Speaker
That, um yeah you know, the the the hard part is, is that you're, you know, because you guys live in a place where you don't have snow, it's not like your your guys all have like toboggans lined up to go to go find the nearest hill. Right. So but yeah i mean, tobogganing in the snow is is an experience and is interesting. Yeah.
00:08:01
Speaker
Just don't be that person with a garbage bag trying to toboggan down a hill. It it works, but it's not fun. um I think back to when I was a kid and we were like using like cardboard and whatever we could find as makeshift toboggans, because that's what you do when, you know, you, you, we, we couldn't always afford like the, the GT snow racers, which, you know, a anyone in Canada knows what a GT snow racer is. oh racer What is that? yeah You'll have to look it up. They were, they were, they were the, the primo tobogganing thing. And they I think they still are a a lot. Like I've seen. Oh, those things are cool. Yeah. They have like little wheels on them. I feel like I, I don't think I had that. always said tubes.
00:08:40
Speaker
Yeah, not or i they don't. Steering wheel. a Steering wheel. Yeah, and as a steer yeah that was that was the reason people wanted is you could drive them and and you you could like plan out your route down the hill instead of just on the tube and going. See, yeah, no, we would always rock tubes and, you know, you just you would just be taking people out left and right on the on yeah hill. Oh, yeah. I mean, there's no controlling tubes, you know, you just you just go. Yeah. But I mean, that's, you know, if you're if you are tobogganing, always be looking up the hill.
00:09:08
Speaker
Don't you'll never be looking down the hill because that's how you get your legs taken out. it's It's funny, though, because I was like I was looking around my neighborhood because like, listen, I've talked about this before. and it Down south here we we don't have plows and and stuff. Right. So the roads are I'm not going out.
00:09:26
Speaker
Right. We're not going anywhere until it melts. So I said, I was saying to my daughter, it was like, we kind of got to find something within walking distance if we're going to do like any sledding at all. Right. And i what I found was we have a, my neighborhood has an alternate, has a secondary ah retaining pond.
00:09:45
Speaker
Right. So like we have a retaining pond for all the water in the neighborhood and then a secondary one that never fills up to like, it's like an overflow, but it's a, pretty you know, it's an, it's a retaining pond. So it's kind of deep. Right. And it's kind it's kind of steep on the side. was like,
00:09:57
Speaker
That might be an option. Like we might be able to do that. There is another hill in the neighborhood, but the very bottom of it goes directly into a wooded area. Like there's no runoff. Oh yeah. No. yeah Like, which you gotta be careful of. And my best friend slash brother-in-law years and years ago, we used to go to this hill.
00:10:15
Speaker
I bet you could probably Google it. It's, but it's, and it's cause it's a well-known sledding hill, but at the very bottom of it is a major roadway. Let's, And there's no runoff. and so there's But there's concrete ah like traffic dividers there.
00:10:30
Speaker
but But if you don't stop in time, you're just slamming into concrete. Like just slamming into concrete. And my brother-in-law got a concussion there one time. yeah Yeah, that's why you don't use like the garbage bags or whatever because you're going too fast and you can't you can't control it Yeah, yeah like that's really, I mean, yeah we went there and I like literally he got it. He got a concussion because he he ran directly into into this, ah you know, into this thing. So, but yeah, I was also thinking to myself, I'm like, do I have, you know, anything for her to sled with? Because I was like, you know.
00:11:04
Speaker
But i have we have like a bunch of pool toys. So like we have a pool like a but like several pool teams. Yeah, those could work. yeah and sorry It's funny you're talking about the accident. I just remembered this. The company that part the...
00:11:24
Speaker
the the company that i work for used to um they used to do sledding as part of the ah the um christmas party so like they they would do like or like it would be like a weekend thing where like they would go out and do like a full weekend at a at a resort for a christmas party and part of it was um they would do a sledding competition and people got so there was like teams of adults like putting together sleds that got more and more creative crazy over the years yeah and it finally ended with um
00:11:59
Speaker
somebody brought a raft and used a raft as a, as a sled, like like, like, you know, those big rafts that you can, you, you can fit like, you know, 10 people on kind of thing. Yeah. I know exactly. Yeah. But they, they had way too many people on it. Of course. And, it and it ended up crashing into the hockey rink, which, uh, and people ended up getting care taken away in ambulances. okay I'm sorry. now I should have laughed. I should have laughed. about by for My bad. My bad. But no but it's funny in hindsight, like, and and that was like, we don't do that anymore because it's, it was, it's a danger. Like, yeah, you you know, sledding is like, it's fine until, until it's not fine. And then, yeah, people are. truth Like, listen, truthfully, if you're, if you don't get hurt while you're sledding, i mean, you're probably not doing it right. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I've I've gotten many bumps and bruises from sledding. Yeah. If you don't get hurt at least once, you know, then you're probably not you're you're doing sledding wrong, um you know, because we were just kids. We'd make jumps and stuff. You know, you'd have like okay you're always going for the job. You were you were deliberately like trying to like yeah hit the jump on the way down. Yeah.
00:13:08
Speaker
Yeah, although when i said when I did do that as an adult, i oh bad idea it was not good. i yeah when i When I went sledding as an adult, i I have never in my entire life felt older.
00:13:20
Speaker
You suddenly find where all the joints don't quite work the same as when you were a kid. Well, and the worst part about it was it was it was like it's a place that um' it's called Hawk's Nest. It's up in it's up in the mountains in North Carolina. And it's it's it's a place that's just for snow tubing. Right. Like, that's what they do. It's it's a snow tubing place. So there's other people there. So once you get to the bottom, as soon as you get to the bottom, someone else is going.
00:13:44
Speaker
Right. And so, like, you don't have time to, like, you know, work yourself off of the tube. You just need to get off as quickly as possible. So, you know, I'm im like rolling off of it like a beach whale, like, oh. you know, like yeah like, and I'm just like, why does everything hurt? i used to remember this being fun. Just standing up from a tube is actually way harder than you think it is. yeah i well i didn't I didn't recognize is that until I did it at, you know, this older age now, you know, and I...
00:14:15
Speaker
Man, that was yeah rough. You know, we we did it as kids. And, you know, i like as as a kid, my parents weren't always supervising us at the toboggan hill. Oh, no, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:14:31
Speaker
But then as we got older, like, it you know, it was a lot more feral, I guess, when I was a kid because we were just, you know, doing whatever. But, you know as an adult, it was like, oh, yeah, you know, I want to make sure I supervise my kid. or and And, you know, rightfully so, like I see it now, like, you know, every Toboggan Hill, there's like it's not just kids. There's.
00:14:48
Speaker
parents out there whatever but yeah like you said as a parent it's like you remember that like you know what you did as a kid but you know i always when i was a kid i always wondered why my parents didn't participate in the stuff that i was doing as much or they would just kind of stand and watch what i was doing but then as a parent now you understand oh yeah why why they weren't like jumping in and like you know they don't They didn't get on the trampoline with you. They didn't, yeah you know, they didn't go tobogganing with you. Stuff like that was, i get you know, yeah there there is a reason for it.
00:15:21
Speaker
yeah I 100% get it. Yeah, it's just, yeah, it's i you don't realize until until that happens. So anyway. yeah but yeah That was a fun little rant about sledding and weather and all that. which I love how you guys call it tobogganing. That's way cooler than god than calling it sledding, I think. yeah i didn't really Is that really a tobogganing? I mean, yeah.
00:15:46
Speaker
I mean, yeah. is Is it a Canadian thing? I didn't think it was, but... well no I mean, i grew up calling a sled a toboggan, but we never we never called sledding tobogganing. We just called it sledding. But we we had us ah like a wooden sled that we called a toboggan.
00:16:01
Speaker
But there are also people that call toboggans hats down here. So... Okay. That's all hats, toboggans, I should say. um Yeah. That's, that's a, that's another weird thing that I was like, wait, what are you talking about? Cause a toboggan is a sled and they're like, no, it's a hat. I'm like, but no though, it's a sled, you know, like, uh, but yeah, that's, that's, that's, you know, it's funny how these words, uh, all are different things, you know, depending on who you, who you talk to. So, yeah.
00:16:28
Speaker
I didn't realize my Canadianism was showing through quite so much. loging Yeah, it was a little bit. Yeah, but it's okay. It's allowed. I mean, but do you guys even do it that much anymore? I mean, like, you I mean, your son, you guys have so much snow all the time. Like, it was almost like a special thing. Even though we got snow every winter, it was your winter lasts a lot longer than my winters lasted in New Jersey.

Podcast Changes and Future Plans

00:16:49
Speaker
I mean, it's still it's still very much a thing. And even like the community we live in, we have ah we have like a uh, a community lake and the lake has a tobogganing hill.
00:17:00
Speaker
So, um, I mean, there, there's fat, like we haven't been out there. Um, like I would take my son there all the time when he was younger, but I think by the time he was about like 10 or 11, he didn't want me taking him tobogganing.
00:17:13
Speaker
Um, Yeah, that's fair. So, like, I haven't done it in years, but, you know, the but i I used to also like like my my brother's um daughters are younger and like it was the same thing. Like we would, you know, we would take them tobogganing at the hill and everything as well. So, yeah, I mean, it's...
00:17:30
Speaker
It's just it's a thing you do in the winter because, you you know, not you don't get bored of it because there's not a lot else to do in the winter, I guess. yeah but That makes sense. Yeah.
00:17:42
Speaker
I don't remember my parents coming with me. Like you said, it was a more feral time. You just kind of like I was just like, hey, i'm going sledding. I'll see you later. Yeah. I i i will admit i I did grow up a little bit ah or i i was, I guess, a latchkey kid. Me too. You know, you'll be home before the streetlights come on, which the funny thing here is that that's a real challenge to navigate in the winter because um the streetlights would come on at 4 p.m. here.
00:18:10
Speaker
Oh, geez. Because because of how our... our day and night changes throughout the year. Like the winter, the days are very short and it would be like, you can't stay out while it's dark. And it's like, well, but then, you know, I'm home before dinner because, because you know, the the sun's setting at 430 in the afternoon.
00:18:27
Speaker
Whereas, but then, but then the summertime, like the streetlights wouldn't come on till 10 PM because the days are a lot longer. So we got that bonus. it's this is you This might be a regional reference. I don't know. i It could be an everywhere reference. I don't know. But I i remember when was a kid, ah before the the evening news, they always would play this thing where they would say, it's 7 p.m. Do you know where your children are? Yes. Yeah, we had that too.
00:18:53
Speaker
yeah it it was a Yeah, it was definitely a thing um growing up. that my My parents didn't have any idea where I was. I did actually talk with parents.
00:19:04
Speaker
My mom about this a while ago where I was telling her like the stuff that I did as a kid and she was actually like shocked that the yeah places that we went and yeah potential trouble we could have gotten into because we were like playing in like construction sites and stuff and. Oh, yeah. Yeah. yeah I used to do all that stuff when you were a kid. i mean, yeah my my mom doesn't know half the stuff I did. But anyway, ah sorry, mom, if you're listening to this. I'm not sorry. I already told my mom. so Yeah, that's all good. She can't do it right now. she Yeah, exactly. now so yeah Anyway, we should talk. well let's Let's actually get to the show.
00:19:39
Speaker
Can we talk really briefly, though, about what we were talking about before the show, which is show related? Yes. Yeah. So I guess back to our business thing. Jesus Christ. Actual things about the show and stuff.
00:19:51
Speaker
Sorry for the tangent. I apologize, everyone. You know what? it's It's our show. We can do it however we want. Yeah, we can do it. everyone So we have been, ah you know, I think everybody, you know, remembers ah the the way the show was before. And then we had a change. And then as part of that change, we kind of lost our website. And so we have ah and, you know, we've been kind of just busy trying to, you know,
00:20:14
Speaker
We resettle ourselves into things that I think we've, for the most part, not been all that different. Right. I mean, I think we've been pretty much been doing what we' we're doing, but we yeah we've been busy and we just haven't had a website. So I wanted to let everybody know we now now have a website again. It's back.
00:20:29
Speaker
ah Now the website is slightly changed because it is now welcomehomepodcast.co, not dot com. So or dot co. .co. Yeah. So.co. Just drop the m and you'll you'll find it. um But so we have launched the new website um and it does, you know, has all the episodes on it as YouTube stuff. It has, you know, ways to contact us.
00:20:49
Speaker
All that fun stuff on there. Easy ways to join the Patreon. Stuff about sponsors. all that fun stuff on the website. But that is just kind of step one in our kind of revamp of what we're doing. So listen, check it out. If you have any feedback on please give it to us. I will let everyone know it is still a bit of a work in progress. We are still adding to it. So there might be some things here and there that are not updated yet, but we're working on that. And after this, Trevor, the next step is a new store. And we're going new store. Yes.
00:21:20
Speaker
Yeah, we've been working on that too in the background. So we wanted to get the website up and we still have the existing store. You know, that store has not gone away, but um Tom and I wanted to refresh the store and we've we found a new place to host the store as well. so Which the new store has far more different types of items and is is way more affordable than the one we have now. so Yeah, and and that's part of it too, is you know as as we have talked about, there are things we want to do outside of what we were offering in the old store, and this new store will give us the ability to do that. Yeah.
00:21:57
Speaker
Yeah, and I will tell everyone too, you know, like, listen, our old store, the the stuff in it is fairly expensive, but it wasn't, it was never because Trevor and I wanted to like take a big profit out of it. We actually had it set to almost ah no profit. Like essentially we were like making like a dollar on a shirt because this particular site was very expensive. So this new one is we're going to keep the prices pretty low in there because...
00:22:18
Speaker
You know, truthfully, listen, it's not it's not like a revenue search for us. We we we want, you know, people to be able to buy the stuff and wear it and and, you know, spread the word of the podcast. That's that's what's important to us.
00:22:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's not the only way we're we're helping to support the show. But again, and and to that point, it's not, yeah, you know, you know the the store is not there as... You know that this is putting money in our pocket. It's really just paying our expenses to keep the show running because even even though, yes, yeah yeah you know, putting out these episodes is um relatively easy and relatively low overhead. We still have costs that come up and yeah it's just just one of those things. My my new boat and my ah my house and yeah in in Golden Oaks are completely unrelated to the podcast. Totally unrelated. Hey, haven't I been able to come visit yet?
00:23:09
Speaker
ah Well, you know, I've been laundering money from the go for years now. okay. All 30 cents. oh it ah Exactly. exactly any Anyone will tell you that it's not a podcast. It's not exactly, unless you're, you know, one of the biggest podcasts in in the world, you're not making millions of dollars doing this. so Yeah.
00:23:30
Speaker
But anyway, so please, yeah, check out the site.

Muppet Show Special Preview

00:23:33
Speaker
ah we We would love to hear ah your feedback about it. and But just also keep in mind, too, that it is a work in progress. and But if you do find something that's not working or you do, you know, that's something you'd want to see on the site, you know, that's not on there now, just, you know, pop us an email. ah There's a contact form on there. You can even contact us through or, you know, send us a message. And ah we're we're happy to take a look at it because we want to make this ah a cool place. So.
00:23:57
Speaker
yeah Yeah. So that's that. Now we can actually talk about like stuff that's going on. All right. So let's so let's change gears a little bit here. And, um you know, we I guess we do talk about Muppets on a regular basis, but there is a little bit of Muppets news this week. Yeah. um Yeah.
00:24:14
Speaker
so and actually And this isn't for DVC. This is for gold members. Yeah. Is that the level that anyone can get? i forget. i No, i don't think I don't think I can get gold.
00:24:26
Speaker
because Oh. Yeah, it's... Yeah, i can't I can't remember how they changed the ah the tiering, but I think gold is like the paid. Yes, it is the paid. Yeah, yeah yeah yeah exactly. So, um so so yeah, D23 gold members get an early screening of the Muppet Show special. So this is the um this is the um remake of the the old school Muppet Show that they're doing with... um is it? Seth... Seth Rogen. Seth Rogen, yeah. I was trying to remember which Seth it was that was doing this. There's more So, Carpenter's hosting it, too. So, Seth Rogen and then his producing partner, Evan Goldberg. And then some... They're going to have... All your favorite Muppets are there, right? So, all the...
00:25:11
Speaker
And it's giving that old school vibe, like the the the original Muppet Show kind of vibe. with all and And I love this. I actually kind of forgot how big of a thing this was with the Muppet Show was they did a really good job of doing the behind the scenes scenes.
00:25:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah. yeah or there was like the main show where they would do like skits and stuff but there was always like you know them talking in the in the wings and stuff like that which i'm i'm kind of excited to see that again i hope that they're able to maintain that energy that that the old shows had for that so Yeah. So, they yeah. And so and they're they're really bringing it back to the old, you know, to to the old format, too. They're doing a variety show and, you know, they're doing it in the in the, you know, the buffppet in Muppet Studios. And I mean, yeah, everyone's going to be there, including terrible Kermit. But, you know, that's terrible Kermit.
00:26:05
Speaker
I mean, we'll have to see. You know, maybe he got feedback. I don't know. I can't with Kermit anymore. I just, I just, no, no, not maybe he got, it's been too long now. Okay. It's been too long. He needs to be better. I mean, yeah, yeah, fine. We'll leave it there. But, but either way, the, uh, you know, the, um,
00:26:28
Speaker
So, yeah, they they said that they're getting this, the preview of it. Yeah. And it's, it's happening on February 3rd, which is actually coming up this next week. So hopefully.
00:26:39
Speaker
That'd be, that'd be Tuesday. so if you're listening to this after it came out on Monday, this is to you tomorrow. so if you're a gold member, I'm sure you got an email about it. But yeah, this, they're going to have, they're going to have this, ah this, this free preview thing.
00:26:54
Speaker
It's awesome. Yeah, it's cool. i'm I'm looking forward to it. I want to see what kind of feedback it gets. And, you know, when it comes out for the rest of us, I'll be i'll be excited to check it out.
00:27:07
Speaker
Yeah. No, I mean, it's going to be out on the 4th and it's going to be on Disney Plus. So that'll be easy enough for you to watch, right? Yeah. I'm definitely going to watch it for sure. I'm glad that they're doing more stuff with the Muppets always.
00:27:18
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, you know, it's it's funny. um People people were i don't want to say What's the right term for it? it that They weren't like in my head. I want to say crying, but it they weren't crying about it. But, you know, there there was a lot of like, you know, the the Muppets 3D going away. Yeah. you know You know, there was a lot of like, you know, but, you know, why why are they changing it? Whatever. And it's like, but ah the interesting thing is now that they've kind of taken that away, I feel like there's more Muppets stuff coming now.
00:27:56
Speaker
Because like, like the fact that it's not. swim up and bit Yeah. like But so it's funny because, like you know, between between the rock and roller coaster redo and, you you know, they're they're launching the show and and, you know, we keep hearing more and more stuff about like they have intent to do more with Muppets as a franchise.
00:28:13
Speaker
I feel like Muppets vision was kind of holding them back a little bit. Yeah, can see that. And, you know, that might be a hot take that some people don't like that. You know, I know I know Muppet vision 3D was endearing and all that, but.
00:28:25
Speaker
Yeah, i don't I don't think we would be getting the stuff we're getting if it was still there. So, you know, yeah food for thought. I mean, i I do feel like, though, I mean, they're they're obviously letting that having the the Muppets take over Rock and Roller Coaster. So it's, I mean, they're, you know. I have felt of up but that i don't think that would have happened if Muppet Vision 3D didn't close.
00:28:47
Speaker
okay Okay. Just putting it out there. yeah I get that. I get that. I mean, that was you. So you're saying they they were like, OK, we're going to close Muppet Vision 3D, but we got to throw them a bone here and, you know, and do something else with the Muppets. So let's that we'll have the the. Yeah, it kind of. Well, I think it kind of like prompted something in them because they were closing and they were like, oh, yeah, yeah. Now we need to do something with it. Right. Like there wasn't there wasn't an urgency to do something with the franchise because of the fact that Muppet Vision 3D was there.
00:29:16
Speaker
OK. Yeah. Right? like Yeah. I think that makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. get what you're saying. So the other piece here, we'll talk about this briefly, Trevor, just because this is not a ton of information. But one of the things that, you know, as they're working on this tropical America's land, which I don't know if you've been looking at, know, people have been sharing pictures. I think it's going up quick. mean, yeah. I'm not seeing the construction construction photos. Yeah. Cause it's, I mean like there's like a straight up building already for the, for, for the, uh, uh, in concert ride. I mean, it's, it's really coming up quick.
00:29:53
Speaker
Uh, but you know, and maybe that'll be, ah maybe that'll be in this other, don't know if it's cars and villains land. Not okay. But, uh, but yeah, it's, there's, there's a lot of pictures floating around of construction there. You know, of course you're getting like the overhead pictures from,
00:30:06
Speaker
uh, from the helicopters that people are taking, you know, cause that's, that's always a thing too. But, uh, but you can see, I mean, it's, it's gone high enough now. You can see like the steel being built up and everything, but, uh, this particular thing, there was some, uh, there was like some, there these aren't permits, but I guess their plans are filing, uh, you know, with, with, uh, with Florida with, the you know, while they're doing the the construction here, and specific to the playground area,
00:30:32
Speaker
Which, listen, one of the things that really bummed me out about Tropical tropical Americas, the closing of Dinoland, I should say, was the closure of, ah you know, the Boneyard and that play area over there. because my daughter really liked that. And I think I really like that stuff in in Disney parks. Like, it's it's a weird kind of thing where you just, there's a random playground and a the and theme park. But it it it makes sense, you know? Playgrounds need to exist in theme parks. Agreed. Full stop. They they need to be there.
00:31:00
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean, listen, I like one of my and I bet a lot of people would agree with this is like one of my early memories of Disney is is being in the hunting. I shrunk the kids, you know, that that play area that they had at Hollywood Studios because it was so cool.
00:31:15
Speaker
yeah like It was a whole different, I mean, it was a different kind of play area, but it was so neat and different. ah But it looks like, see, I almost thought for a second they might just like keep the structure of like the boneyard and like the the playground over there and just like maybe re-theme it.
00:31:30
Speaker
But no, they're actually going to be moving this over to where the Chip and Dale meet and greet is and Daisy Duck is over over by Dinosaur and Restaurant-a-Saurus. So like they're building a whole brand new thing.
00:31:41
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. That, um, yeah, i feel like that's like, you know, I'm, I'm looking at the concept art for this and where Boneyard was, i you're like, I, I, yeah, it didn't make sense to keep it where it was. Yeah. Cause that's where they're putting the new carousel that they're putting in the land. So exactly. And, and because they're like, I feel like they're kind of like, they're trying to build like that center courtyard. Like they're, they're almost giving it like the, like a hub.
00:32:08
Speaker
Yeah. They're doing the treatment. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah, and it makes sense that they had to move it. And also, like, to your point, you know, of them, you know, they could have just rethemed it. I'm actually kind of glad that they didn't. Me too. Because it it does lend itself to, you know, they don't have to maintain, you know, frankly, an old play structure because the Boneyard was getting kind of old.
00:32:29
Speaker
Yeah. So, um yeah. yeah yes Yeah, I agree. Yeah, i'm I'm curious to see what this looks like when it's done because, you know, I don't... You know, I'm not at a point anymore where I have kids that need to go to playgrounds when we're in a theme park. But like you, um you know, my my son, he he had plenty of great times at various playgrounds in Disneyland and Disney World.
00:32:56
Speaker
And in Disneyland, the yeah the Redwood Creek... um ah playground is the like like that that like it's the same kind of thing like you were talking about with like the honey I shrunk the kids stuff where it's like it it made such an awesome impression on him and on us like like you know even though it wasn't like going down the slides or anything like it was just like wow this is like a really cool playground And, you know, you know, had a lot of neat elements to it that, you know, some of it tied back to like Brother Bear and stuff like that. um But yeah, so that so this one, you know, you know, the Tropical Americus, I'm I'm kind of expecting I'm wondering if it'll lean more into Encanto or more into Indiana Jones or maybe both. I think it's going to be Indiana Jones and because where they're putting it is going to be so close to the Indiana Jones ride. And, but also too, there's like the structure on the end of it. I don't know what that is.
00:33:50
Speaker
Like, it almost looks like the old like dig yard that they had, like, you know, but I don't think that's what it is, but that's, it kind of, I mean, and if you actually look at the original source article, they kind of did an overlay of where this is, is on the map where these plans actually sit.
00:34:05
Speaker
And i don't know, like I could see this being like an Indiana Jones, like, you know, almost like they're they're recreating the boneyard, whereas you're doing like archaeological stuff, like an archaeology, you know, and like a dig site, you know, so it almost could be kind of a cool way for them to to to keep a part of Dinoland. I know not everybody like Dinoland. do.
00:34:27
Speaker
I'm probably in the minority of liking Dinoland and thinking it was kind of fun. And i i liked the concept of it just because it was like the roadside attraction thing. But I also understand why anybody would walk in there and go, oh, man, this is weird. It's like all this open space and it's like a big old parking lot. Like, I get it.
00:34:44
Speaker
like you know I live close enough to Drumheller, Alberta. I get what Dinoland was doing. What they were trying to do. Yeah. But like if you didn't, you weren't like, if you didn't know like what a roadside attraction was though, like it it could just look like they cheaped out, you know, which they also did. Don't get me wrong. Like, but that's, yeah of there yeah but, um but anyway, so why don't we go ahead and do our ad Trevor and then we'll talk a little bit more about new stuff that's being built and ah yeah, but let's do our ad first.
00:35:13
Speaker
All right. The sponsor of this episode is DVC Resale Market. DVC Resale Market, a key holder vacation company, is the leader in the DVC Resale industry with 13 former Disney Vacation Club guides and three former Disney Vacation Club quality assurance managers. If you're thinking of buying DVC, browse the largest selection of DVC Resale listings anywhere with DVC experts on hand seven days a week to answer your questions.
00:35:35
Speaker
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00:35:59
Speaker
So, yeah. So check them out. Yeah. Anyway. So we're we're now we're so we're getting a lot more details, Trevor, as as, you know, things are going on here. Like, I i know it's funny to me. i We talked about this before where a lot of people are just like, well, you know, why is it disney Disney doing anything new? It's like they're doing a ton of new stuff. You know, like there's like a lot of construction going on at the resort

Disney Construction and Future Developments

00:36:22
Speaker
right now. Right. I mean, a lot.
00:36:24
Speaker
like And I i understand you know there's there's a lot there's new parks and stuff at a Universal, and so that's that's a big piece of news. But they're they're building a lot of new things here. So, ah so I mean, you know we we should be we should be excited about those things for sure. Obviously, it's hard to get excited when it's just mounds of dirt. But um but as they they continue they continue on working through these things, ah you know it's it's ah really kind of interesting to see the details as they emerge, especially since they've been...
00:36:51
Speaker
kind of quiet about a lot of it, really. Especially for a while now. We haven't heard much. I'll be honest. i like there's been i get why there's been a lot of Cars Land stuff.
00:37:05
Speaker
like yeah Because Cars Land is going to be coming way faster than Villain's Land. yeah But yeah, like like to your point, like you know we haven't really heard a lot about Cars Land at the moment. And Villain's Land has been like...
00:37:19
Speaker
nothing We've heard so. thing Yeah, we've heard not a single thing. Yeah, really. I mean, really, we haven't. So ah what we're what we're seeing now is like, you know, they're as they're doing some of these filings, you know, in which you listen, you know, ah a filing with a a a ah a government agency is not in and of itself exciting, but it does kind of give you.
00:37:42
Speaker
ah insight into what's going on, right? You know, like what's, what's going on with this construction. So like, if you look at the, at these new filings, it's showing where there's some of the facilities are going to be as in like some of like the buildings are going to be for the villains lands and for, uh,
00:38:02
Speaker
ah and And for cars. And so there's two there's two gigantic buildings. And by the way, i think one of these buildings is ah is the reason why we're getting the Haunted Mansion work that we're getting, because it's kind of in in the line of sight of the queue.
00:38:20
Speaker
ah If you look at it it's like right behind ah behind where Haunted Mansion is. And it's it's almost and there it looks ah also looks like they're building some other facility right by where the queue is there too. and now what that's going to be, I don't know. But that also, I guess, could be part of it as well because it's there' there's there's some sort of building that is literally right next to the queue for Haunted Mansion. Yeah.
00:38:44
Speaker
You see that? Yeah, i do see it. It's a very small building. is. Wait, do you think, oh boy. We're going and like need to play the reckless speculation song. I mean, do you think that they're going to move memento Mori? Ooh.
00:39:02
Speaker
Now that's a good question, Trevor. Yeah. well that I mean, I could see it. Because I look, I just, I'm looking at it. Okay. So so for context, for anyone that's wondering, I'm like, Tom sent me this link, which is an overlay of that. So the plans for these buildings over the actual map.
00:39:22
Speaker
the size of this little building that is going to land next to Haunted Mansion looks about the same size as Memento Mori. Like, it's it's not a huge building, and neither is... Like, Memento Mori is very small, but it's also attached to...
00:39:37
Speaker
um It's attached to like the the rest of the facade going into Fantasyland, right? So it's it's not its own building, it's but it like it it it doesn't have a lot of space.
00:39:50
Speaker
To your point, you know the fact that they're building this very tiny building right next to Haunted Mansion... Makes me go, like, why why would they put something there? Like, it's it's really close to Haunted Mansion. It is. It's extremely close to Haunted Mansion, and that's interesting.
00:40:07
Speaker
And the other so the other side of that is if they if they moved Memento Mori over there... it kind of, or well, I guess, I think they tear down momentum, Mori. I think they take the opportunity because that particular area is a choke point, right? Like it's, Oh, and so don't actually replace with anything, but just expand, just make more sidewalk space, right? Because, yeah, Think of how bad that choke point is going to be once the new lands open up.
00:40:37
Speaker
That's true. You're going to have people coming from all different directions. And anybody that's coming from Fantasyland to Carsland and to Villain's Land is going to be coming through that area. And that already cannot accommodate a lot of people. it it it already gets gummed up all the time. I mean, literally every time I'm there, we are yeah there' it's a bad spot.
00:40:56
Speaker
yeah Yeah, you're you're right. we We avoid going that way through Fantasyland unless we absolutely have to. Like, I'll actually go back through Liberty Square and through the hub instead of doing going that back route. Absolutely. Yeah, because it's it's it's a really kind of cramped area. Yeah. Like Memento Mori, if you like look at like if you do like a satellite of Google Maps, you get rid of Memento Mori. That's a huge amount of space that people can walk through. I mean, it's it's a small store, but you open that up and and there's and the stuff that's behind and that. I mean, you can make a very large walkway.
00:41:30
Speaker
Yeah. So, yeah, that's, that's a good point. That literally will feed directly into a new walkway that gets you to Cars Land. I mean, if you, Memento Mori is right at the entrance of, of Haunted Mansion. Like that's, that's some legit ah reckless speculation right there. Yeah. I mean, it, it makes sense. Cause like, like I said, when you sent this to me and I was looking at, I'm like,
00:41:51
Speaker
Like immediately that tiny building was the first thing that stood out to me. It was like, there like you said, there's these huge buildings, which looking at at the larger buildings, i'm I'm not convinced that this whole area is going to be Cars Land. Yeah.
00:42:07
Speaker
Well, the the the ones in the the huge buildings in the back are villains are where Villain's Land is. so Yeah, but but that's supposed to expand extend beyond the berm for the yeah true um for the track. That's true. Because I thought Villain's Land was supposed to be past the train. Right. Was it not? Yeah, but this could be a show building for something in Villain's Land, though. I mean, it's that's what they're speculating, I think, here. One of the one of the buildings, though, overlaps the train. New tunnel? rain new tunnel
00:42:39
Speaker
Could be. yeah Yeah, it could be the or it could be the tunnel. but then But then what is this other building that is like in Rivers of America? What you think that could be? So this article, and by the way, I'll give credit to WDW Magic. Okay.
00:42:54
Speaker
So the um the the one building, the the large building that's back there is in Villain's Land is 71,000 square feet, which is about the same size as the show building for Rock and Roller Coaster.
00:43:07
Speaker
So oh maybe Indoor Coaster. I don't know. The second building is about 48,000 square feet. ah So that's that's the two buildings for villains. And those, I mean, those are big buildings, but, and they're saying, know, for comparison, Rise of Resistance has, ah is 92,000 square feet. Dinosaurs, square feet. So,
00:43:29
Speaker
um which is in interestinging dinosaur they're not They're not that big. They're decent size, though. I mean, they're not small. Yeah. I guess, yeah. Yeah. So, okay. Fair. Because I guess, yeah, you know, I'm looking at Haunted Mansion next season. Like, you're right. it's It's a bigger building than Haunted Mansion. Yeah.
00:43:46
Speaker
But I guess we're kind of used to, like... or Or sorry, if I'm thinking indoor roller coaster, indoor roller coasters need a ton of space. They do. Yeah. So listen, and nothing compares to Cosmic Rewind, which is one hundred and ninety seven thousand square feet, although I think that's the largest one in existence. So, yeah, I don't think they've ever made a bigger building than that for a roller coaster. So, ah yeah, this is this is.
00:44:12
Speaker
really, really interesting to me because without actually knowing what they're doing in Villain's Land, like they even had said what there's going to be in Villain's Land, right? Like we can see in the concept earth that there's certainly roller coaster of some sort, right?
00:44:25
Speaker
And so there's there's, you know, there's going to be a roller coaster, but, you know, we don't know what that's going to look like. And, you know, this could just be the inside portion, right? Obviously. So there's probably going to be an outside portion too, I would think. To that point, yeah, the the coaster doesn't necessarily need to be exclusively indoor.
00:44:42
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah. Now, I also wonder, though, too, if this one facility that almost like that is is like literally just a it almost looks like it's just like a tunnel. Right. It is a long straight piece.
00:44:54
Speaker
I almost wonder if that is going to be a tunnel. Right. Because the reason why I'm saying that is you are going to need some sort of separation ah between. Cars Land and also, you know, ah Big Thunder is right there, right?
00:45:08
Speaker
It's almost like you would want some sort of like, like almost like the tunnel that they have for for for Star Wars, right? For Galaxy Sledge, where you where it it enables you to keep everything out around it right like it actually does like that transforming you know into a different place where you're actually getting away from Hollywood Studios you know it's the portals in Epic Universe if you or I know you haven't seen that or know what I'm talking about anyone who's been to Epic Universe the portals fit that same functionality it's all the same concept yeah yeah so But I don't know if that's what it is. It seems kind of long. And I also anticipate that there's i I assume there's going to be stuff next to Big Thunder there because that's not going to be water anymore. I wouldn't think. But I don't know.
00:45:49
Speaker
ah But yeah, I don't know. That's all going to be that to that um piston peak attraction, though. Correct. I mean, that's all kind of in the middle. Right. Yeah. Yeah. yeah That's all kind in the middle ah where where Tom Sawyer Island was. Yeah, yeah you're right. like I didn't realize how much space there was actually like on the back end of Tom Sawyer's Island. Yeah. like yeah there's there There is so much unused space there that they're they're going to be filling stuff into. And and yeah, I guess i I was honestly thinking that Villain's Land was going to be further back. Like I didn't.
00:46:24
Speaker
I thought that I thought the train was closer. I guess the train seems closer, but there's, yeah, it's, it's a very odd thing that there, I guess if villains land is like straddling the train,
00:46:43
Speaker
That's kind of a that's going to be very interesting because you'll like you'll have a section of the train that like how do you hide that right. how Like like you're just going to have like the Walt Disney World Railroad running through Villain's Land. Like I mean I guess it makes sense. Yeah tunnel they're building a tunnel right. That's what's going to happen. They're they're going to build the tunnel. But that whole section will be a tunnel. Yeah, kind of seems like it. Yeah, kind of seems like it. It's interesting, though, because that one that one straight piece, like you don't really get that far back in the concept art for Cars Land. Right. Like there's no that doesn't exist in the Cars Land, you know, at least that what we've gotten so far.
00:47:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So ah this is, I don't know, it's going to be interesting. it's ah there's There's a lot of, ah obviously, we're going to learn a lot more sometime soon here. I think all the Cars Land stuff is pretty straightforward, right? Because clearly there's going to be indoor parts of the of that ride and and outdoor parts, right? It looks like it's mostly out there. like buildings for, like like there's going to be shops and stuff there too. Like that's what I'm kind of thinking and this is. is like there you know there's going to Because i believe there Was there going to be a ah like a restaurant or a quick service there? I don't remember. It says it's it's also expected to include themed dining and shopping locations. Right. Into Frontierland style.
00:48:00
Speaker
Exactly. so So, yeah, a lot of lot of these buildings are that. Like, it's not even just... Because i think a lot of the a lot of the attraction is outdoors for Piston Peak. So, yeah, these these buildings are facilitating exactly that. It's going to be yeah um dining and all that.
00:48:17
Speaker
um But then, yeah, that that long one, I was thinking, you know, maybe ah maybe it was like storage or something like that. But, yeah, if you're saying it's a tunnel, that makes sense. But then it's...
00:48:29
Speaker
then Then you're going to have... It's going to be weird because you're going to have like you're going to have a separation with Haunted Mansion. or I'm not sure how... i guess you'll have to see how they slice this up because yeah um like Haunted Mansion would fit going into um Villain's Land.
00:48:48
Speaker
But where Villain's Land sits is on like the back end of Haunted Mansion, which... doesn't make any sense right like it does yeah it's you're it's not it's not going to be it's going to be strangely connected if it if if they uh Yeah, you're right. they They have to do something. There has to be like a portal or something that they're using to kind of split those two lands. Yeah. Yeah. yeah That's kind of what I was thinking. But I mean, don I don't really know. Obviously, we're just I mean, I didn't play the reckless speculation song, but we're recklessly speculating. So because we honestly nobody knows at this point, except unless you work in Imagineering. But oh I wouldn't say this is speculation only because of the fact that we're we're just looking at building positioning. And pretty much yeah yeah I guess we are speculating on what those buildings could be. But yeah.
00:49:37
Speaker
I mean, I think it's pretty safe bet to say that these are going to be show buildings for Villainsland. Those are two really big buildings. Like, what else are they going to be? i mean, they got to be, right? Yeah. And that I mean, we don't know what this little square next to Haunted Mansion is going to be. We don't know what this Cars Land stuff is going to be, but we have to assume it's all part of the attraction and part of the land.
00:49:56
Speaker
So, you know, that's really what we what we're we we have to guess here because we don't we don't have any more details. well Well, we will probably soon, though. I mean, I'm assuming they're going to start talking about this kind of stuff soon.
00:50:07
Speaker
Yeah, i I'm betting we're going to get a whole bunch more Piston Peak stuff here going into 2026. I'm not honestly expecting that we're going to see anything about Villain's Land for like another year. that's you probably You're not wrong. yeah That's my feeling.
00:50:24
Speaker
so yeah yeah I mean, did they even give us like a date for any, like a year for any of this? I mean, I feel like it's going to, I mean, it's obviously going to take a couple years. It's, you know. but Yeah. But I just, I'm trying to remember if they even like gave an idea. Yeah.
00:50:36
Speaker
but Wait, Villain's Land was announced in 2024? Or was it 2025? Gosh, I don't know. 2024, probably? Yeah. Time flies, man. Yeah.
00:50:47
Speaker
Time flies. I, you know, I don't know. It's a good question.
00:50:53
Speaker
Yeah, let me find out. Yeah, you you you look at you look into that. August 2024. Okay, yeah. So, okay yeah. So, so we're we're more than a year now into this. Yeah. But like you said, you know, these things take a couple of years. I i think realistically, you're not going to see you're not going to see Villain's Land until probably 2028 what thinking. Yeah.
00:51:17
Speaker
is what i'm thinking And that makes sense because, yeah, it's, listen, it's, it's a brand new, it's not like they're retheming an area. They're net new. I mean, if you think about how long it took them to build like Avatar, right? That took forever. That was like five years, right? I mean, maybe more. Galaxy's Edge got like, they they announced Galaxy's Edge very early yeah,
00:51:39
Speaker
It was yeah it was a good four or five years of development before it actually opened. And I and i remember that because you know people were covering it um in Disneyland and Disney World. And there was like there was ah um one vlogger that was doing like weekly updates in Disneyland, which was just like...
00:52:00
Speaker
I remember I like went and looked at it and for, it was like weeks of like, they moved this dirt pile. I was like, okay. yeah it's so Yeah. That's, that's yeah, exactly. Yeah. Uh, but it's, this is a, this is really, is this is going to be interesting. the, the, by the way, this, uh,
00:52:18
Speaker
The other somebody's speculating in the article here that they're saying that the building by the Haunted Mansion could just be like, you know, an extended queue or restrooms or a bar or something. Again, restrooms doesn't make sense because you have You have restrooms right there already. Yeah, yeah. The tangled restrooms are right there. Yeah, they're literally right there.
00:52:39
Speaker
So, like, I don't think they need another restroom. i I'm I'm going to put this out there. I feel this is going to be a either moving my momentum or it'll be a new ah maybe they won't call it momentum or it'll be a new like gift shop for Haunted Mansion stuff.
00:52:58
Speaker
And then momentum or it will close down. Love it. i like let Somebody mark that down somewhere. Yeah. i'm I'm going to totally forget about this in like six months, but I forget about it. and say I'll forget about it in a week. ah But anyway, yeah. Okay. So that was so I should have I should have, ah you know, put some record I was not thinking that we would speculate on that one. But yeah there we are.
00:53:21
Speaker
ah Trevor, this next thing I put on the list just because I want it. um And i don't even I don't even care about pop sockets. I don't use pop sockets. Yeah, i was going to when was the last time we talked about a pop socket? Listen. Because. i I know. i haven't had a pop socket on my phone since like 2015.
00:53:39
Speaker
but My wife uses pop sockets, though. She okay loves a good pop socket. I'm not a fan. I don't feel the need for pop sockets, but she loves them. But, I mean, I can't.
00:53:50
Speaker
i This one's an exception. Yeah, I can't let a figment pop socket go by that spins, Trevor. It spins. Okay. You can spin figment on it. Yeah, the the spinning aspect of it is definitely like, you know, it turns it into a fidget spinner yeah on the back your phone, which is i would not a bad thing. I would break this within weeks because I'd be spinning it too much, you know? Like, it would spin itself off of there very quickly. Yeah, i if I was to buy this, I would need to buy two.
00:54:20
Speaker
yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I would have one that would just get absolutely destroyed on the back of my phone. And then another one that, you know, it it looks very nice. like the it the um It looks like it's metal. I was going to say it looks like a pin, right? like It looks like a metal pin. And then, and then yeah, you know, the the the coloring and everything on it is just, it looks amazing.
00:54:43
Speaker
really nice. It's really cool. And I i love this time of year when this when the Arts Festival is going on because we we get ah you know all this really cool Figment merch. you know like Figment gets his time in the sun. you know like Every time we have the Festival of the Arts, it's it's all Figment all the time, which is great. like It makes me happy. Because Figment should just always be getting all the love that he's always getting, you know, of that not always getting, you know what i mean? Yeah. So it's it's nice to see when all this all this different Figment merch. Although I feel like, I don't know, I feel like keep Disney keeps like leaning into Figment and then leaning out, you know, like there's just...
00:55:20
Speaker
you know It's an ebb and a flow thing. You can't. yeah I mean, you know, i I get what you're saying that, you know, you want more figment, but it is very much a double edged sword. Right. You know, just like we talked about with Muppets and and everything else is that, you know. There's time to lean into it, but then they do need to back off because, you know, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
00:55:42
Speaker
yeah and And, you know, it gets people, you know, more excited for it And then when they bring it back, it's like, oh, you know, you know, the next thing. And it kind of builds that hype up again. Right. So, you know, it's it's it's not it's not bad of them to, you know, limit how much they're doing of it. And, and you know,
00:56:00
Speaker
I think if if it was all Figment all the time, you say you want that, but I don't think that's what you actually want. ah Yeah. All right.
00:56:12
Speaker
Listen, I... You've got find balance. You know, you know you know fi Figment appreciates balance, I think. Even though he's very chaotic, I think you've got to find balance. like Yeah, he likes the balance. That's fair. Yeah. I...
00:56:24
Speaker
yeah I think there's one thing all of us really want that we I feel like we're going to get eventually. We just don't have now. And that's the ride to be redone. Right. Yes. Agreed.
00:56:35
Speaker
Like all they need to do is take it back to the to the to two versions. Take it back to the original. Like literally just make it an updated version of the original and people would be very happy with that. Like you don't even need to do anything new.
00:56:48
Speaker
I, I, you probably won't like me saying this, oh no but I think that they may have similar problems to like how rocket rods ruined the people mover in Disneyland. Oh yeah. well That's fair.
00:57:02
Speaker
I, I get like, I know there's a whole other section of that building that that yeah that they're not using, i'm I feel at this point there's probably something that has been done that can't be undone, and just putting it back to the way it was was is as actually going to be more work than just redoing the whole ride. gutting the whole thing? Yeah.
00:57:25
Speaker
i I still... yeah I still believe it should be an Omnimover. See, I still think it should i think it should be a trackless. A trackless, yeah. Yeah, I guess yeah it could work as a trackless too, but I don't know. I just...
00:57:38
Speaker
There's not enough Omnimover rides, in my opinion. Really? Okay. I think there could be more. And especially in Epcot. Like, Epcot specifically, um the only Omnimover there is Nemo, right? Yeah, yeah. um I think they could do another one. but No, they also have, they have SpaceShip Earth, too, and... ah Oh, yeah. Fair. Yeah. I yeah i guess that that is an off-the-boover. Don't forget that. ah I'm trying to think. Is there another one? ah No.
00:58:06
Speaker
No, there isn't. Yeah. or every yeah No. ah But like, yeah, like you said, it and so the the the new one only used sixty percent of the track of the original one So it's really it's it's unfortunate that that's the way that the way the things happen. But I mean, they also like, you know, they moved all of like the entrance and exit and and all that stuff. So like you it's it's a completely different ride, really.
00:58:32
Speaker
Which again, to my point is, I don't think they can they can put it back the way that it was. No, no, they they probably can't. But i again, I want to say i think they should do trackless because I think trackless would be very cool.
00:58:46
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I'm on the fence about trackless. why wicked You don't like the trackless? Like, they're they're good, but... I just think they're so cool, though.
00:58:59
Speaker
Yeah, they they have the ability to do interesting things. the The one thing that I don't think helps trackless rides is... The parts where they put you into a very small area and use screens to pretend that the ride is doing more than it is.
00:59:17
Speaker
yeah I think that part needs to stop with trackless rides. Yeah. Because i i think that because it's it's basically turning it into a simulator ride, like ah like a Star Tours or something like that, which, to your point, yes, trackless rides are cool, but they they kind of waste some of the potential by shoving you in a corner, making you watch a video for 30 seconds. i understand I understand that. I that. I think, though, I think you can do it in ways that are, you know, I just think it would be really...
00:59:47
Speaker
it It plays into the chaotic nature of what you can do with Figment. You know what I mean? like Yeah, you're right. I guess it like kind of like Mickey Minnie's that, you know, I i don't know if you if you paid attention to the stuff. Like I didn't realize how in-depth Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is, but like to the point where there's elements that happen like like once in a hundred rides kind of thing. Like there are.
01:00:12
Speaker
yeah yeah have you heard a bunch of videos thatd imagine it I didn't watch that imaginary video. So there's like have like the Loch Ness Monster shows up at one part in the ride, but it's like extremely rare.
01:00:23
Speaker
like it does it Yeah, like you you could you could ride it like like a hundred times and not see it kind of thing. That's crazy. Okay. Yeah. So I didn't know that. I that's that's news to me. Was that in the Imagineering video that they put out about it? or don't know if it was in the Imagineering video, but I saw a a video specifically talking about that. And it might have been a clip from the Imagineering video. I didn't. what i actually was when It just came out. I almost put it in the rundown. yeah I didn't. so Yeah. So, but yeah, like there's there's stuff like that where like like the ride is deliberately programmed in a way that there's unique elements

Trackless Rides and California Adventure Anniversary

01:00:57
Speaker
that you you may never actually see, which is both cool and maddening at the same time because, you know, yeah you want to see it. But...
01:01:07
Speaker
um But yeah, like like you're right. I guess yeah Figment could go the same way that you know you could have you could have where the vast majority of ride-throughs play out a certain way, but then every once in a while you get something just...
01:01:22
Speaker
slightly off right which yeah that's why I like the track list though too is because every ride is a little bit different because you're taking different paths now the paths are defined but you don't really ever know where you're going you know that's that's how like rise resistance is like that where like you there's the ride is almost completely different just like every when you go on it because it takes you in different different ways you know and it's kind of that's what I like about it is is there's that randomness to it the re-ride ability piece you know It just, it also just feels like, I mean, like ah that would every time I am at the, at Ratatouille and I'm getting off and I see, you see all of the ahe mice at the same time, ah sideways park into the spot. Like, it's just kind of cool. You know, i don't know. Maybe it's just the nerd, you know, wannabe imagineer in me that, that looks at that and go, that's just really cool to watch it like that. And also just like Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. I mean,
01:02:17
Speaker
the fact that they make it legitimately feel like you're on a train that's connected and then everything just kind of disconnects and then it all reconnects, you know, and, and it it's the, it's so seamless that it feels really real. And even though they're not connected at any time, they do feel like they are, you know? Yeah.
01:02:35
Speaker
Yeah. I get, I get it. It's yeah, there, there are merits to it. Like I said, I think there's just some choices that are made with, with those ride systems that, feel it feels a little cheaper to me versus the reason I say i like Omni movers is that You know, while the you know the the throughput is incredibly high, so it means that, you know, there's always a chance you can get on it.
01:02:59
Speaker
And in my experience, you know, you know the the obvious Omnimover rides like the Haunted Mansion and Spaceship Earth, they, there's so, like, even though you're not seeing a different thing every time, there's so many details in those rides that that's what plays into the re-ridability of it is that,
01:03:19
Speaker
you can like you can find stuff that you you know you can ride it like 50 times and never notice this one little thing, but it's always been there kind of stuff, right? Yeah, yeah, like i see yeah i see the the benefits of doing one or the other. you know we're all We're talking about this as if they're actually like doing anything with Figment. you know maybe we'll Maybe we'll see. i you know I know you didn't put this on the rundown, but I did see some...
01:03:47
Speaker
There have been some rumors about um Bob Iger. um Yeah, yeah. I thought about putting another rundown for yeah a hot second. But but let let's, you know, let let's just put it out there. you know You know, there's talk that he's potentially going to be stepping down here or at least naming the successor, which, you know, we'll see how that plays out. Hopefully, whoever whatever comes in you know, maybe they have a to-do list of things that they want to clean up and maybe figments on that list, right? Yeah.
01:04:13
Speaker
I, I, say so I, you know, I've, I've heard, I want to say it was Tony Baxter. might've been a different, uh, a different Imagineer that said it was a matter of, uh, of when, not if that they were going to redo it. Um, so, and, and I would would like to believe that.
01:04:28
Speaker
So, um I want to believe that that is true. but the The fact that we're, you know, we were clamoring over a pop socket, you know, 10 minutes ago says that, you know, there's there's there's a demand there for figment. and Well, listen, they've been doing these surveys. We keep talking about these surveys that they've been doing the past couple of years on you know, people's thoughts on figment. So...
01:04:49
Speaker
Clearly they're thinking about it. They just don't, they they just just don't know if they want to spend the money on it. Less pop socket, more ride, please. Yeah. Just put that on your next, uh, your next, uh, survey that you get. More ride. I like that. Okay. Less pop socket, more ride. Okay.
01:05:06
Speaker
There you go. All right. So, Trevor, what did you want to talk about with this Disneyland stuff? Pop into Disneyland and wrap the show up here. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Let's so let's talk about the California Adventure 25th anniversary offerings.
01:05:20
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Because I need to talk about this popcorn bucket. Is that a popcorn? Okay. Yeah, it's a popcorn bucket. It is a popcorn bucket, yeah. So, first of all, you believe it's been 25 years that California Adventure's been open? That's kind of crazy. I mean, I can because I've...
01:05:35
Speaker
I've gone to California Adventure in various incarnations of it, which is, you know, honestly, the fact that it's only 25 years is surprising, but also...
01:05:48
Speaker
kind of makes sense um because it's um yeah, the the park has changed so much. like Like it's kind of crazy to think about like. Well, they basically redid the whole thing when Iger came back, it came in. Right. I mean, he was like, yeah, we screwed this place up. We're going to redo it all. You know, and I saw it like in those transitions where like like things were honestly, like before, um, Radiator Springs opened, like it was, yeah it was not good, but, but there, are there were, there were still some redeeming elements of it. Like California Screamin' was great before it became Incredicoaster and, we got soaring out of it.
01:06:25
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And, and, um, uh, you know, gri Grizzly or Grizzly Peak and and all that, you know, you know, all that coming in, it's changed so much. And like I said, just the fact that 25 years is,
01:06:41
Speaker
is It feels like it should be longer. i do like, like you said, this popcorn bucket. The fact that it's Mickey's Fun Wheel or the Wheel of Death as it's completely named. But just the concept of this is, I mean, it's cool. This is a cool popcorn bucket.
01:07:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's there. My only comment on it is there's so many little pieces to it. yeah Because like is of like the cars on it. Yeah. Yeah. like and And just because it is like the wheel, like, you know, there's a lot of like very thin pieces to it.
01:07:17
Speaker
I don't know that I would want to walk around with this hanging off my neck because I feel like it would get broken. Yeah, I get that. I get I just I this is such a cool idea for a popcorn bucket. The fact that they even did this is great, but it's see through the middle part of it is the popcorn bucket and it's seen through. And so it's it's there. But also, if you I don't know if you saw, but you turn the lights on by touching Mickey's nose. Oh, is that how? Oh, I didn't know. I don't know if that's actually how you do it or if they were just doing that for the video. But ah yeah, it's it's pretty cool.
01:07:51
Speaker
Yeah. i really I really like this. And I you know have not been to California Adventure, but ah this is a this is a cool... It's an interesting ride to pick as a popcorn bucket because it is obviously very polarizing ride. Like some people, some people like it. Some people refuse to ride it. Like my wife who, you know, mean, to be fair, my wife does. I hate Ferris wheel. So I would never do that. Really? love a good Ferris wheel. But this one in particular, like it's, it's a scary Ferris wheel. Like I will give it that. It has way more going on to it than,
01:08:26
Speaker
Then normal Ferris wheels, they do have the normal cars. You know, I guess you could do the normal Ferris wheel cars if you want to, but the ones on the tracks are so much fun. So, yeah. Well, I just judging by the Instagram comments on this, the bucket we never, we never knew we always wanted. Amazing. Iconic. This is the winner of the year. Coolest popcorn bucket ever. Yeah.
01:08:49
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. It's definitely one of the one of the cooler popcorn buckets that's come out of the these celebration type things, right? Yeah, this literally if everyone is just raving about this. they're going to this is This is the thing. so But it's funny because you know I'm sure a lot of those people would also say like, I'll never ride Mickey's Fun Wheel either. Yeah, but who cares? you don't need to You don't need to ride it to to where... That's true. yeah there's here's like Here's a comment for you, Trevor. Does it also play the various sounds of blood-curdling screaming? Yeah.
01:09:21
Speaker
terrified screams as you come over the crest and you you feel like your car is going to fly off. Yeah, yeah exactly. yeah yeah Yeah, exactly. But it needs to be authentic. um That's very cool. I really like that. ah And oh, also, by the way, too, we're we're we're actually missing ah the even the coolest part about this. And it says featuring embedded magic inside technology, the bucket reacts to select locations in the parks.
01:09:47
Speaker
Oh, it changes colors, lighting pattern in and lighting patterns based on where you are during, so you know, ah in some of the lands and attractions and also during the nighttime spectacular. So this is this is going back to the glow with the show stuff. You remember that? stuff like But they're doing it with a popcorn bucket.
01:10:05
Speaker
which is That's actually ah a much smarter way to do it than the ah than the ears and stuff that they did. Because I'm more likely to be walking around with a popcorn bucket and it's just going to be constantly on display, which will grab people's attention more than...
01:10:22
Speaker
like Like, you know, we we tried an early incarnation of those ears, and I think we wore them for like 10 minutes and found that they were very uncomfortable. They were very heavy. there It was like where I used to, I would mess with my wife because she bought them, and I would just go and knock on her head because they were like a hard hat. Like, you know, they were like a construction hard hat. Because it was it was just a, they were, big I mean, listen, at the time, you know, the technology wasn't, it was small, but it was still big enough that it was heavy and you had batteries sitting on top of your head and stuff, you know? Yeah.
01:10:52
Speaker
It is what it is. But yeah. But yeah, like said, putting it into a popcorn bucket is I hope that this is something you see a little more of where like, you know, having interactive elements to the popcorn bucket because there are people that, you know, like my wife is very much one of these people that will buy a popcorn bucket and walk around with it.
01:11:14
Speaker
And having it interact with different elements in the park is smart. in my opinion. it's it's ah It's a great way to incentivize it even more than, you know, it's already a cool popcorn bucket, but, you know, take those elements and do more pop popcorn buckets in the same way.
01:11:29
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Merchandise Highlights and Nostalgia

01:11:31
Speaker
Now, the other thing, um so outside of the popcorn bucket, I have to say, i do really like the merch that they did for the 25th anniversary.
01:11:41
Speaker
um i thought you were going to comment on Mickey and Minnie's outfits that are interesting. No, i'm I'm ignoring those because I don't know what to think about those. They're they're a little... They're they're interesting.
01:11:55
Speaker
There's a lot of colors going on, which I'm not usually opposed to colors, but... They feel very 90s. They feel very throwback. I don't even know what it... it It's not even It's like early 2000s. Yeah, I guess when the park opened, right? It's, you know...
01:12:07
Speaker
Actually, yeah, that that does make sense. So I'm not vibing with it quite as much as other 90s apparel, but um you know further down on this list, there's the 20... What is the set called? I don't even know what the set's called. It's just the... The 20th anniversary set. Yeah, yeah. um did So they have... um It shows the Carthay Circle Tower, but it's done in the same aesthetic as like around Carthay Circle, which also, funny enough, um gives the same vibes as Tower of Terror before they redid it to Guardians of the Galaxy.
01:12:43
Speaker
So, yeah i kind of i kind of like it because it's reminding me of... Like, I know it's showing like the current state of the park, but it reminds me of like...
01:12:55
Speaker
weirdly of like a good part of the park that is no longer there. Okay. That's fair. oh So I like it. I like the aesthetic of the 25th anniversary because it is giving the, um,
01:13:09
Speaker
Yeah, the Carthay Circle stuff is like very 1930s, 1940s, which yeah um I like that. i like I like that aesthetic on the merch, for sure. yeah they They also just, you know, too, they're bringing a back Soren over California to Soren on February 6th. So if you are a fan of the the original, you can go see that.
01:13:31
Speaker
Yeah. And good what about, um are we going to talk about Humphrey? i don't know how much I care about this. Really? you don't You don't care about Humphrey? Not really, no
01:13:45
Speaker
i'm I'm a little disappointed. I didn't know that anyone cared about Humphrey. Okay. I mean, I remember him from the, from the, cart you know, from cartoons. I mean, i mean, cause there was the ones with him and Donald in like, yeah, like I liked Humphrey. It was like, I always enjoyed seeing him in, in the various but like cartoons. just, I just am not like clamoring to go meet him. i don't know.
01:14:10
Speaker
Well, but you, but, maybe Maybe you'll find he's more endearing than you think he is. um he He is going to be at Storytellers Cafe, okay which is in the Grand Californian, believe. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. um So ah kind of kind of a deep cut.
01:14:29
Speaker
To be honest, like, yeah a little bit. I, you're right. I didn't think that they would do like a Humphrey meet and greet, but you can go and meet Humphrey. i I feel like that, you know, they're pushing that it should have been Humphrey and Donald. Like, I think those two together would be an interesting meet and greet.
01:14:46
Speaker
But the the fact that they're that they're diving into more obscure characters, I'm not opposed to that. Oh, no, listen, I'm always in favor of them going back to, like, yeah older characters, obscure characters. I just, like, I don't know. I just didn't have, a ah like, an attachment to Humphrey. Like, I know of him, but he doesn't do anything for me. I don't know. Maybe just me. No, that's fair. I mean, like said I said, I remember watching the like the Sunday Wonderful World of Disney cartoons, and yeah he would always show up in there. so Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
01:15:18
Speaker
Yeah. yeah ah i I don't know if there's anything else you want to mention here, Trevor. No, I mean, there's there's stuff about downtown Disney as well, but um it's, yeah.
01:15:29
Speaker
I mean, there's a Bananas Foster Beignet over at Beignet's Express. I mean, i would I would tear that up. But yeah, mean, it's Beignet. But like, that's, yeah, i that's nothing like. it's

Listener Engagement and Support

01:15:42
Speaker
not special.
01:15:42
Speaker
yeah it's not i mean they're always doing new takes on menies and stuff like that it's yeah so yeah all right well i think that's good yeah let's wrap it yeah all right so um yeah i guess you know you know if you want to reach out to us about anything that we did talk about on the show today you can always find us at welcome on podcast at gmail.com um you can also find us through the website now so you know just a reminder we have our website up and running again, which is welcomehomepodcast.co. So you can go there and you can find episodes. So as the episodes come out, they'll be posted up there. We are working on the website. There will be more stuff added as we go, but you can also contact us through the website too. It just sends you to the email address that I mentioned.
01:16:27
Speaker
So you know you can... you know, send us questions, send us feedback, thoughts, any of that kind of stuff. Similarly, we are on other social media platforms. So you can find us on Facebook as Welcome Home Podcast.
01:16:39
Speaker
YouTube is Welcome Home Podcast and Instagram is Welcome Home Picks. ah We also have in Facebook, there is our group Welcome Home Disney Waitlist. Again, another place that, you know, we have conversations about stuff from the show, but also just, you know, people talking about their general Disney experiences and stuff that they're they're doing with Disney. I've, you know, I've seen, um you know, love seeing people talking on there, you know, asking questions about like, um, you know, uh, what was one that I saw recently? It was, think somebody was asking about, uh, um,
01:17:15
Speaker
planning for, I think it was Ashley, it was asking about, um you know, ways to entertain their four-year-old while they're waiting in line for rides. Oh, yeah, yeah. Love seeing discussions like that. leon i Love seeing, you know, you guys, you know, it's not's not just about us in the podcast. It's, you know, it's about everybody talking about Disney and enjoying Disney stuff. So, you know, you know come join us in there and, you know, talk about Disney stuff with us. and Yeah, yeah.
01:17:39
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's so always a good time. Um, as we mentioned, uh, we, so we do have a store, which is, um, you know, one of the ways you can help support the show sort out welcome podcast.co.
01:17:50
Speaker
Um, you know, right now it's still, you know, as we talked about, we, we have the current lineup of merch is still up there. You can still find shirts and all that kind of stuff. We will have a new store coming. That'll be in the future, but you know, it is underway as we're getting the website up and running. So stay tuned for that.
01:18:07
Speaker
Um, And we also have a Patreon. So go to patreon.com slash welcome on pod and check out our different levels of Patreon support. And all of our Patreon supporters do get access to the Discord server, which is yet another place that we talk about all the stuff from the show and sometimes random topics as well. Because, you know, why not? We we love going down our rabbit holes and, you know, the Discord's yet another place we can do that.
01:18:33
Speaker
And last but not least, if you're listening on iTunes or Spotify or anywhere, you can leave us five stars. Leave us a five-star review. Also on iTunes, you can write us a review and let us know what you think about the show. We love we love hearing what you guys think there as well.
01:18:48
Speaker
Yeah. And shout out to Becky, because, by the way, if you're if you're in the Patreon, you get you get an early view at the at the rundown of what we're going to talk about, which is essentially just an outline. Trevor and I, you know, tend to to deviate from the outline, but the outline helps us, you know, it's a framework. It's not it's not a script. that's right It's a framework, but ah shout out to Becky who found a typo in the, in the, uh, in the, uh, rundown and, and let, and let me know about it in discord. So if you want to find my typos, uh, you know, due to, uh, writing rundowns, uh, with lack of sleep. You could do you could do that if you join Patreon. so But the other thing you should do is don't is not forget, you know in fact, remember to subscribe to Welcome Home Podcast. So you can be reminded every time we're releasing the episode, you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music.
01:19:40
Speaker
That's just a couple places. There's like a million places that you can find us. okay there's Everyone that streams podcasts, you can find us, except for Netflix. We're not cool enough for that. Yeah. everywhere else where you know you can stream any podcast you can find us there so huge thank you to the sponsor of this episode dvc resale market and uh also keyholder vacations for sponsoring everything that we do here uh and continuing to be great partners of ours and uh you're going to hear more from those folks as we uh we continue to uh do the show so uh join us next time for more disney parks discussion of course more dvc talk we hope to see you all real soon
01:20:16
Speaker
Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, signing off from Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC....when we had a chair.
01:20:28
Speaker
How she can cuddle, it's no mess of fur. I look around for fold of hope. Found her in her sugar bowl. Hey, look out, here goes my ball and chain..........