Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 002 - DVC Moonlight Magic, Paddlefish Robbery, Bye-Bye Launch Bay, and Candlelight Processional
97 Plays1 month ago
Blake and Damon discuss their recent trip reports and then dive into DVC Moonlight Magic dates. Also, the guys respond to listener questions.
In the news portion, we talk about the Paddlefish robbery, new projection mapping and AI, and saying goodbye to Star Wars Launch Bay. We talk Candlelight Processional Narrators as well.
The Aftershow delved into several cool new things in the Dollywood area and we look at permits filed by Universal for destruction of some old show buildings.
This episode sponsored by DontResisttheTravel.com
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Co-host Greeting
00:00:14
Speaker
Hey folks, welcome to episode two of the Rhubarb Travelers podcast. We are recording a show on September 24th, 2025. I'm Blake, and as always, I'm here with Damon.
00:00:25
Speaker
How are you doing, my friend? So it's, you know, we made it to episode two. I mean, that's that's and something I didn't know if we would do. yes Exactly. it's i See, i can I can make a show when it's like at a normal time.
00:00:40
Speaker
Right. Folks, where we usually record these in the the early afternoons just because of Damon and my work schedule.
Breakfast Solutions and Social Media Presence
00:00:48
Speaker
It just works out that way. so So when he's alert, he's boy, it's it's a great show.
00:00:53
Speaker
Listen, when again, like you know when I don't have a million other things to do. So I will say, though, that I had to move this oats overnight thing. I just started eating those. Oh, okay. yeah Yeah, I don't know how I feel about it it. could be a game changer. They could be too sweet. I'm not sure, but we'll see how it goes.
00:01:11
Speaker
So it's a you just soak them in cream overnight? Yeah, but there's a company that like makes all different flavors. think had chocolate chip cookie dough today. Is that what I should be having for breakfast? I'm not sure.
00:01:22
Speaker
Yeah. But they would make good good things to take to Disney. that Oh, yeah, because you could just set it out at night and be ready to go in the morning. You don't have to pay $25 for a coffee and donut inside the I don't do coffee, so that's there's that. but and All right, so we have right so a few things, right? Just, again, we'll mention this at the end, but because they're so important, we'll talk about them up front. Please join the Facebook group, Rhubarb Travelers. There is a Rhubarb Travelers podcast Facebook page.
00:01:50
Speaker
yep um That's where we'll put some you know of the episodes and things like that. But I've been making videos of Blake over on TikTok and Reels, even though when he doesn't get the instructions right, like we try to make them work anyway. You know what?
00:02:05
Speaker
i I did it in landscape mode one time and because I forgot. But that's why we have a big Blake face now in our Reels. and i know If you'd got any closer, you could have seen the nose hairs on me, man. That would have been
First Patreon Supporter Celebration
00:02:20
Speaker
bad. But we are going to keep up on those things. It's also on YouTube shorts. Like we are going to make it a point that we're going to use those avenues for some things. And I'll be honest with you.
00:02:29
Speaker
i showed Blake something that like, I don't really want to pay for it, but I might anyway. So we don't even want to talk about it because yeah it's going to be like such a reveal. Like you have no idea, but there is something that may be in the works. But yeah that all being said, we wanted to thank our...
00:02:48
Speaker
Hand it off to Blake. All right. So all of these things that we are talking about, they will not be possible without our Patreon subscribers. We do have an active Patreon. ah We're going to put a link to that in the show notes. We're also going to post the Patreon link in the Facebook group.
00:03:02
Speaker
But we wanted to send a special shout out to our very, very first Patreon subscriber, Colleen M. Colleen, thank you so much. Thank you.
00:03:13
Speaker
Without people like you, this show would not be possible. and And even though Damon and I have not talked about it, I'm going to put it out there and call it right now. Whenever we come up with our swag, whatever that might be, we're going to send you a piece of swag.
00:03:28
Speaker
Just for being the very first one. You took a chance on us, so we're going to send something to say thank you. So, Colleen, thank you so much. I'm going to put that fully on Blake to send, just so they're aware.
00:03:40
Speaker
after i you After we get the swag approved by Damon, then I'll be the one that has to do all the work. You don't necessarily have to approve it. I just felt like I had ah good swag person that was making the other swag, even though I had to put it in a box and kind of wrap it up like the arc from you know Raiders of the Lost Ark.
00:04:00
Speaker
But other than that, yes. Yeah. So we have some DVC news and tips. and So let's start with
Vacation Planning Tips and Disney Announcements
00:04:05
Speaker
a tip. What I've decided is, and I didn't even tell Blake, is I'm going to use AI to give us tips for DVC.
00:04:12
Speaker
I don't know. It just seemed like it was kind of fun. So the first tip that Robo Jeffrey AI gave us... was that if you're looking to stay at a resort other than your own resort, maybe you should think about a split stay.
00:04:25
Speaker
And what you should do is book your home resort at 11 months in two different actual bookings, right? So you book three days at well, for me, it be let's say three days at Saratoga and then another four days at Saratoga, right?
00:04:41
Speaker
So then when your seven month comes up, you have an easier time to switch one of the shorter reservations over. And then worst case, if you don't get them, you still have your original reservation.
00:04:54
Speaker
Yes, you might have to switch rooms. That is the downside. That's the thing that always argue with my wife about. i don't mind switching rooms. Like when we get there, she just wants to like, blah, and everything's out. Unpack. and and' women are you I got a question. do you Do you live out of your suitcase while you're there? Or do you actually take your stuff out and put them in the drawers and all that? So this is what usually happens. I pack a whole bunch of stuff in a bag, and then I'll wear the same shorts the whole entire time.
00:05:18
Speaker
oh Oh, that's gross, dude. well I mean, why? is I mean... and buts Like these actual same pair of shorts? Yeah, what am I doing in these shorts?
00:05:29
Speaker
Like I'm switching my underwear out. Like, what am I doing in these shorts? mean, I could see a couple of days, a day or two maybe. Yeah, i mean, sometimes they get recycled. It depends how long the vacation is. But I usually tend not to really use everything that I have. So I tend to live out of...
00:05:47
Speaker
and Not even a suitcase, but more of a duffel. Right. Okay. Personally. So split stays, I would agree with that. I mean, you want to, especially if you, if if there's somewhere you wanted to go.
00:05:59
Speaker
just like the breakup of it, but my wife does not like that. So anyway, Robo Jeffrey says, think about that for a split stay. Okay. All right. Then news. think I'm going to actually have to make a Robo Jeffrey agent for AI. like We'll have to come up with a voice.
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah. We'll need to get him a voice too. Like a Robo Jeffrey voice. Does he really need a voice? Oh, well. I don't know, but we'll see. We're going to go all out for that. and Okay. But there was some other interesting news.
00:06:26
Speaker
Yes. So ah DVC has announced some more Moonlight Magic dates for 2025. All right. So here here's the info on that.
00:06:38
Speaker
These are specifically for Disney's Animal Kingdom. And there are three dates. They are October 29, November 18, and December 15.
00:06:50
Speaker
Now, you can register for one and only one of those dates. And even if you have already attended a Moonlight Magic event for 2025, you are eligible to register for one of these dates.
00:07:05
Speaker
And again, that's in 2025. um There's also going to be, they've announced dates for 2026. And just like for 2025, you must be staying on property to take advantage of of this benefit.
00:07:20
Speaker
um For the 2026 dates, you can register for one event in each season. And a season is defined by DVC as the winter is January to March, spring is April to June, and summer is July through September. so You could potentially go to three Moonlight Magic events in 2026. If you were so lucky.
00:07:43
Speaker
If you are so lucky. and i yeah think the nice thing is is being at Animal Kingdom and being later is is kind of cool, right? Because yeah Animal Kingdom normally is not open late. So I think that's a total win.
00:07:56
Speaker
I have been to the one at Typhoon Lagoon. It's Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach. I don't remember which one I was at. um But that was definitely enjoyable. These are fun because they're free, right? Like, i just they're just an extra. So yes, it is a little stressful getting them.
00:08:13
Speaker
um But if you do get them, it is a nice bonus. So that's kind of how you how you have to think about these things is like, don't plan your trip and be like, well, I'm definitely going to get in on this. Like you plan it. And if you get in, great,
Disney Dining and Theme Park Differences
00:08:25
Speaker
right? I think that's the way to look at it. And then they are kind of this little bonus situation that you do get.
00:08:30
Speaker
Right. The only other DVC news we have right now is, of course, Lakeshore Lodge. um Construction is ongoing. There are pictures all over the internet. If you happen to follow, there's a gentleman on Twitter who goes by the handle of BioReconstruct.
00:08:47
Speaker
He flies over Walt Disney World regularly and takes aerial photos. I highly recommend you go follow him. um He's got great photos, and he keeps up with all of the construction and park updates. So,
00:08:58
Speaker
What I realized too is like now that I'm going to be able to like retell stories. So I'm going haunted river country. Like we'll have to get into that at some point. yeah I may actually buy here just specifically because of that.
00:09:10
Speaker
But again, I don't know how many more points i need, but I still made, I might pop off 50 points at Lake Shore Lodge just because we'll have to see. They haven't announced it yet, but is that, do you think they're going to run a boat from there to, to the entrance or is it just going to be, ah wait a minute.
00:09:25
Speaker
That's an, is that the island? I can't remember.
00:09:29
Speaker
Blake, Blake, Blake, you have to do some more research before you start yip yapping about things sometimes. You're the research guy. Like I have to rely on you. i don't know. Anything that you feel like you're going to have to question to the point of, well, was it? I don't know. That's not, that's not my role here.
00:09:45
Speaker
That's not my role. but So i'm I'm the driver. You're the commenter. You're like, you're the backseat driver. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, there we go. I like that. I'm the one that always tells you when to break because like I obviously know when it's time to break from the not driver's seat, of course. Right. Okay.
00:10:01
Speaker
All right. Well, let's let's get into some listener questions then. Okay, so first question is from Jeremy in the Facebook group. He says, if your kids get to choose by vote and you are not allowed to veto, what Walt Disney World restaurant are you guys having dinner at?
00:10:18
Speaker
Is it at the resort or it a park? i You don't get to vote, though. so Yeah, I mean, if we're talking about my kids in particular, I think the answer I'm going to get back is I don't care, I don't care, I don't care.
00:10:30
Speaker
Yeah. um and make your own decision but i think that yak and yeti has probably been kind of the spot where we always go so i would take that as like a spot that we always go would probably be one of their favorite spots to go because we always go there and if they didn't like it i think that it would be known right right and we've also had some interesting experiences there like My son, unbeknownst to us, we're sitting down eating at the Yak and Yeti, and there's a kid from his school and his grade and his class and their whole family sitting right next to us. It was just kind of amusing.
00:11:12
Speaker
We've had those sort of situations there as well. So that's what I'm going with. Yeah, my mine would be... Gosh, I think mine would be Chef Mickey. Dude, what?
00:11:24
Speaker
ah You don't own TVC, and then you just said Chef Mickey. Like, do we have to shut this down now? Please, no star reviews, please. what What? You know what? It's the kids. The kids get to vote, right? They love the characters, and God, they are such plain eaters.
00:11:38
Speaker
they They don't like to try anything wild, so they like the buffet. Eh. Okay. So... um Which is, yeah, hi if if it were up to me, I would go to the beer garden, which I know I don't get a vote, but I don't get a vote. Sorry. Yeah.
00:11:53
Speaker
Sorry. All right. right Next question is from Chris. Do you consider Disney World an amusement park or a theme park? And what are the differences for you or are they interchangeable definitions?
00:12:06
Speaker
Hmm. I would say that in my head, Carowinds is an amusement park and Disney is a theme park. I agree 100%.
00:12:17
Speaker
Right. So for me, it's just really more about the theming than the ride. I'm not even more about the theming, but there there's a lot more theming going on with the ride. I would even say that, you know, the there's the bigger question is, but what do you categorize as amusement parks or theme parks, right? Like I would say theme park wise, I go Universal, Disney, Dollywood.
00:12:37
Speaker
I wouldn't, I don't know that I would qualify Dollywood. I think it's one of the highest tier theme parks, but I don't, I don't know if I would call it You're saying it's one of the highest tier amusement parks? Amusement parks, yeah. But I don't know. that Yeah, but Wildwood Grove, right, kind of has added that sort of theming to me, right? that that's That's what I would say. I would say it's on the lower cusp of theme park, right? it's But anyway, that's that would be my definition and how I would kind of.
00:13:06
Speaker
and And I would agree. I think Disney World Universal, definitely theme parks because there is a cohesive theme, not just in the lands, but I kind of think throughout the entire parks.
00:13:19
Speaker
um Especially like if you think about Disney Hollywood Studios, you know, it started out as all about movies. It still kind of is if you think about it, because everything there revolves around some sort of movie.
00:13:32
Speaker
um And obviously Animal Kingdom is all about the animals. Yeah. so And then things like Carowinds, King's Dominion, if you're in the Virginia area, you know what I'm talking about.
00:13:44
Speaker
Those are more amusement parks. Now, not saying that they are lesser. You know, there's some really good rides. They have, yeah. that Sometimes they have more thrilling rides. Well, not sometimes. They definitely have more thrilling rides. Oh, absolutely.
00:13:57
Speaker
now so
Personal Disney Experiences
00:13:58
Speaker
All right. We have some trip reports. So my parents went to Disney. It was a little bit of an interesting situation because my mom kind of hurt her back right before going. I feel like that's always the case. It's so funny. It kind of led me down this rabbit hole of like,
00:14:12
Speaker
So I said, you know, so what what happened? Like they're on their way to Disney. You know, they're going for five days, you know, with their friends. You know, so what happened? How'd you hurt your back? Oh, I was cleaning up. Like, why are you cleaning before you go away? Like, I don't understand. Like, I get the feeling of wanting to come home to a clean house, but I was just like, yeah, not me. I'm like, I'm living in a bubble for a couple of days before I go to Disney, right? Like I'm not trying to get hurt, sick, whatever, um things like that. But anyway, they had ah really good time. My mom got pixie dusted. So her little story was, is that,
00:14:42
Speaker
So she's disabled, so she's in a wheelchair, and um you know she's sitting in the wheelchair. And I think everyone else was kind of doing something else, and she was trying to go to Woody's Lunchbox.
00:14:53
Speaker
okay So she goes over and asks a cast member, hey, you know like how do I get to Woody's Lunchbox? I think they were going on Slinky Dog. That's what it was. And she wasn't going to go on. So she was kind of asking where that was because she wanted one of the Pop-Tarts, right? That was her kind of her thing.
00:15:06
Speaker
And the cast member says to her, well, you know well what flavor do you want? She's like, oh, I don't know, like, you know, whatever. She gives him a flavor and then he yells to somebody else and they just go get her one and bring it back. She tries to hand him the magic band, you know, hey, you know, I'll have to pay for And they're like, I don't know. Don't worry about it. Oh, I thought that was I thought that was nice. Yeah.
00:15:26
Speaker
Now, it was just just your mom and dad, right? Nobody else? ah Two of their friends as well. Okay. All right. Which also brings up an interesting discussion, right? Because there was like, so they used their points to pay for everything.
00:15:39
Speaker
But then like, what is the obligation of the people that are going and not paying for the hotel? I could be a whole show about that. Yeah. I would say at least at least maybe offer up to pay for a couple of days of the park tickets. Maybe, you know, maybe not the whole thing. I don't know.
00:15:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they they were again, there was some discussion about maybe they just pay for all the food, which I don't think happened. I don't know. It was a thing. I always have a problem with that, like because it is it is a tough situation, because I don't think people understand how expensive Disney hotels are. I think that's where kind of the discrepancy yeah kind of lies. Because you say, hey, well, listen, that trip would have cost, you know, they were in a two-bedroom.
00:16:18
Speaker
in Riviera. like Oh my gosh. Yeah. ra Five days. That's pretty expensive. Rack rates will make your eyes water when you look at us. Yes. So that, that was, that was kind of their trip. I'm trying to think if they did, they did not get to Moana again, when you're going with other people, it becomes difficult in general, but they did say they really love Tiana. They thought that that ride was really well done.
00:16:40
Speaker
They did not ride Tron, and then they could not get into Beacon Barrel. They tried their hardest. They also did that thing where you pay that $99, and you have like photos and access to the lounges and things like that. I know people don't like it because they said paying for something that was free before.
00:16:57
Speaker
But for them, it was great because they were able to get into the lounges and they said there was huge lines to get into the lounges and they were called next. Boom, right in. So for them, it was a benefit.
00:17:08
Speaker
I feel that's actually called. There's got a name for it. Yeah, I know what you're talking about and I can't think it off the top of my head. it's but But you know what? Something like that is all about what do you consider your time worth, right?
00:17:19
Speaker
Yeah, especially like if you want to just go and get in and relax. Like the point of like relaxing is you're tired now. You're not tired an hour from now. Yeah, exactly. Way too tired an hour from now.
00:17:32
Speaker
So they did that. They enjoyed it. They did not utilize the pictures. They also did say that there wasn't as many people as there used to be for picture taking, which I would agree with. So, but they also did not utilize it as like I would have been running around like a crazy person getting pictures. But again, I think for the cost, I think it was still well worth it for them.
00:17:50
Speaker
Right. Good. So how about your trip, Blake? Right. So the queen and I went down to Atlantis Resort down in the Bahamas. um We actually got- it's not part of the after show though.
00:18:02
Speaker
um We're just going to sneak it in here. Forgive Forgive us. forgive Yeah, I will. Yeah. Yeah. So we- Pretend like Blake went on a Disney cruise there. How's that? Yeah. yeah did We saw a lot of cruise boats while we were there. see, and I guess you could get there from a Disney cruise. So I guess it does fit a little.
00:18:16
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. ah We actually won this stay at a charity auction and through a silent auction that I won. So we used this a chance to go down and just enjoy some time off and relax.
00:18:31
Speaker
We were there for three nights and four days. It's an incredible b place. i got I got to admit, it's the first time we'd ever been. But did you go down the shark water slide? ah We did, yeah. Okay. We went down the shark water slide, the steep thing where you drop really quick.
00:18:46
Speaker
Yeah, and it's like a clear tube and there's sharks and blah, blah, blah. Yeah, we did that. We did that one time and one time was enough. I mean, it was fun, but we're not going to do it again. We did the Lazy River, but I'll be honest, most of what we did, we sat on the beach one day, we sat by the pool one day, and we just relaxed, which was which was great.
00:19:06
Speaker
Yeah, that's not a me vacation, but I get it. i get it. Yep. Highly recommend it. yeah The food was pretty good. We did spend some time down in downtown Nassau.
00:19:18
Speaker
So we did the the the touristy
Sponsorship and Unusual Disney News
00:19:20
Speaker
things. like We went to the straw market, which is where all the crafts and stuff like that are. And we saw the locals there and got offered more Rolex watches than I could process possibly ever buy, which I'm sure they were all real, right?
00:19:33
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah, they're all real. All right, folks, in just a minute, we're going to dive into the news from Walt Disney World. But before we do that, we're going to have this word from our sponsor.
00:19:45
Speaker
We'd like to welcome our inaugural sponsor to the show. Don't resist the travel dot com. Folks, vacation travel should be exciting, memorable, and most importantly, completely stress-free.
00:19:59
Speaker
Ha! Right. However, as we all know, planning that perfect trip for you and your family can be anything but that. And that's where the folks at Don't Resist the Travel come in and save the day.
00:20:14
Speaker
Whether you're traveling with your family and want a vacation that's fun, effortless, and full of memories, or you're looking for a luxury escape with VIP experiences, private tours, and hand-picked resorts, the folks at Don't Resist the Travel handle every detail just for you.
00:20:33
Speaker
When you work with Don't Resist the Travel, you don't just book a trip, you build an experience that's truly tailored to your personal needs. So don't resist.
00:20:43
Speaker
You know you want to travel. Visit DontResistTheTravel.com and start planning your next unforgettable getaway today. And make sure to let them know the guys at Rhubarb Traveler's Podcast sent you.
00:20:58
Speaker
That's DontResistTheTravel.com.
00:21:06
Speaker
And we're back. All right. So first piece of news of the week is something. Yeah. So let's let's talk about this. So we are a two week show, right? So just keep this in mind. We, when we record, we're going to have news for at least two weeks worth. So this is some news that may be talked about, but you know what? That's not a bad thing because our opinions are always so good and always so different.
00:21:29
Speaker
Why would we not want to talk about these? Exactly. And this first one is quite frankly, one of the weirdest things I've ever heard happening. at Walt Disney World. So someone swam up to the paddlefish with scuba gear on and robbed it. They hopped out of the water, spray painted some security cams, stole some money, hop back into the water and swam away. And to my knowledge, they still have no clue and no leads on who did this.
00:21:59
Speaker
I just, I find it interesting The amount of money didn't seem like it was worth this effort. It was around $30,000, I thought. Yeah, I just, I don't see that as like a ah being, I'll be honest with do you, think the bigger question for me would be, gosh, if I was banned for Disney, like who would want to be banned from Disney for life for $30,000? I know, for $30,000. I mean. Not me.
00:22:22
Speaker
But you got to think, man, the whoever did it, put some thought into it. It's not just something they did yeah They woke up one morning, oh, I'm going to go rob the paddlefish, right? And and then went and rented scuba gear. It's not like you can do that, but you could, but there's going to be a trail for it. So that is wild. Yeah, that's definitely interesting.
00:22:44
Speaker
and We also have some, theres there's see there were two weeks, there's always a lot of news. So we've got to get through this news. This is going to be one of our longer episodes. I hate to say it. mean, I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing. So this one is Something that I didn't really know too much about, right? So there's a new Avenger-themed area coming to Hong Kong Disney.
00:23:03
Speaker
It is coming to Hong Kong Disney. the It's going to be a new area within their version of Tomorrowland. it's goingnna Here is the quote from Disney Parks. It's going to bring to life the brilliant minds from the Avengers and their friends, including...
00:23:17
Speaker
And all new attraction, entertainment, shopping and dining. And if you follow the link from the show notes, it's going to show you some pictures. It almost looks like a drop tower from from like Hollywood Tower of Terror. Yeah. I mean, looking at it, kind of does look that way, which.
00:23:35
Speaker
I don't know. Do they have a drop tower out that way? I don't think so. I don't think this is a Blake thing. We got to get him. We got to get Blake more ramped up now. he's goingnna have to start doing homework and taking exams and things like that. yeah You know what? I do have a life. I got to do some things other than research, but it looks like it's going to mimic kind of what they have on the West coast.
00:23:56
Speaker
Yeah. So I think essentially what Hong Kong is going to be getting their version of Avengers land. Yep. Yeah. then The next thing is interesting. So advanced projection mapping and AI animatronics coming to Disney parks.
00:24:11
Speaker
yeah Again, i'm always about... you know, holograms is kind of my next thing. But outside of that, I think that AI animatronics and advanced projection mapping is also thing.
00:24:21
Speaker
You know, look, does Disney do a great job currently with projection mapping? Absolutely. Some of best you've ever seen. But is there more to be, you know, done there and more advancement to make it look even realer?
00:24:35
Speaker
Like, yeah, some of the characters seem like their faces are a little too round, right?
Innovations and Future Plans at Disney
00:24:40
Speaker
Like things like that. but Well, actually, that so that's actually part of the patent application that they they were talking about. So what what they're saying is that this patent is for having multiple projectors on one surface and that you have computers controlling all of that. So you're going to get a blended projection onto one surface from different angles, which should help out with the realism of it.
00:25:09
Speaker
I think so. Yeah, and they're going to be adding in AI. And here's where I think it's really going to get cool because if they add in AI and they plug it into all of Disney's data, you can absolutely see where they're... Westworld.
00:25:25
Speaker
I'm sorry. It's funny. I just happened to see... I love the original Westworld. For anyone that hasn't seen it, like it's well worth watching that it is adult-oriented, though. Let's be absolutely honest.
00:25:36
Speaker
But the original Westworld you know And for a while, you couldn't watch it. It was nowhere to be found. was very hard to actually find it to watch. but now it is out there. And anyway, go ahead. I'm i'm sorry.
00:25:50
Speaker
No, that's right. And what else is going to happen, I think, is you're going to go through a ride. Let's say it's going to be frozen ever after, right? You're going to get through that ride. And when you get to Ana Elsa, once they add in AI, they're going to be able to say, look at you and say, hey, Damon, thanks for coming. And it's going to personalize that even more. Well, that's not even AI. They're going to be able to interact with you in terms of more like,
00:26:15
Speaker
Hey, you know, it looks like you're wearing a sweatshirt. It's warm out. Like you sure you're okay? Or like things like that. Right. Like that will be cool. I'm excited for this. I mean, I think it's, it's going to be coming soon.
00:26:27
Speaker
Yeah. It's the next step. Well, don't know. Holograms. I don't even, but the here's the thing. If you have AI animatronics, maybe I don't need holograms anymore. Right.
00:26:38
Speaker
Ooh, that's bold. That would be. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's see. Moving on now in Disney Hollywood Studios, Animation Courtyard today, the day we are recording this, September 24th, is the last day that Animation Courtyard and Star Wars Launch Bay are going to be open.
00:27:00
Speaker
After that, they are going to do some reimagining. It is going to turn into the magic of Disney animation. So they're going to be opening some different things there. the hat coming back?
00:27:10
Speaker
The hat is coming back. i dare I doubt it's going to be as big and ostentatious as it was in front of the Chinese theater, but it's going to be there. I always liked the art of animation. don't know if anyone else took drawing classes there, if you're that old to have done that. You're talking about a Disney quest?
00:27:29
Speaker
No, I'm talking about Animation Courtyard. Oh. Animation Courtyard had drawing classes, and you could go there and take those classes, and and we were able to do that a few times with the kids.
00:27:40
Speaker
and They do this similar thing on Disney Cruises, but it was always very nice to kind of take that as a break to kind of do a drawing class and things like that. So and I'm glad they're kind of...
00:27:52
Speaker
you know, paying homage to that with the Magic of Dinnia animation, but I would love drawing classes again. But I don't know. The park is so crowded, I think it would be tough to do that. I mean, there's definitely things that they just can't do anymore, but that was always fun.
00:28:05
Speaker
And it also says we're going to find a fresh new Disney Junior show, which I is great. There's a lot of new Disney Junior shows, and I think it will be time to kind of, you know, move on. And we have, remember, Sophia the First is coming back.
00:28:21
Speaker
Yeah. Right. Oh, well, I remember that when my kids were young. ah Yeah. And then we have teenage Vampirina. So I wonder if anything will be done with that in the park. That's a new show that it's interesting. That was one of those things where.
00:28:35
Speaker
I always loved the books. I got to talk to the author as she was actually working on the original OG Vampirina for you know the kids show. And it was an animated show. And now there's a live action Vampirina as she's a teenager. So I just think that's kind of cool that they're able to like baby books, kids show, teenage show.
00:28:54
Speaker
Right. Yeah. but If you look at the pictures, there's also going to be some more trees and foliage there. Which is going to foliage. Foliage, you know, plants, man. Foliage, you know what I mean. You know what I mean.
00:29:09
Speaker
Trees, man. Leaves. trees Shade. Shade is what it's called, right? Because it needs some. I will tell you that Universal's Epic Universe does not have. Really? i thought they were not even the center It's so hot thought there. It's so hot.
00:29:23
Speaker
No, there's like no shade. Super Mario World is just like blazing. It's like it's like you're getting fireballs thrown at you. It's so hot. Surface of the sun hot. Yes. Okay.
00:29:34
Speaker
All right, moving on. ah Level 99 at Disney Springs. I don't even know what this is. Level 99 is what is taking the place of the Disney Quest slash NBA Experience building.
00:29:47
Speaker
So it's going to be like, it's not an escape room type place, but it's adventure room. So they've got some signage out now in front of the building. It has, I believe, a two minute loop running, talking about very vaguely what you're going to be doing.
00:30:02
Speaker
It looks kind of cool. Not going to lie. I think. Yeah. Thousand players at once. That's, that's definitely. Yeah. I hope sir whatever they put there finally works. Cause man, they've had a good time. was, the void was so good.
00:30:15
Speaker
Um, but it just, it got COVID, you know, like once COVID came around to kind of, and we had free passes to it. That's what kind of stunk. Like we had gotten free passes and we never got to use them because it all fell apart.
00:30:26
Speaker
Yeah. But I did enjoy the void. Yep. So hopefully this is something even better. All right. So last bit of old news, we'll say turnstiles at Disney parks are no longer showing special colors for different entry types. So what this means, if you aren't aware, if you are DVC and you used your magic band to get in, the turnstile would glow a particular color.
00:30:51
Speaker
May. May glow a particular color. My wife was the only one that was able to get that out of our contract, not me. I was never able to get the special color. And also, if you were an annual pass holder, it may glow a special color. But anyway, that is all seems to be phasing out from what people are saying. It's all just showing. We don't know. That is still up for debate. There's been nothing official about that.
00:31:13
Speaker
Right. But I think the biggest piece of Disney news this week is the candlelight procession narrators are announced. Yes, they have just announced the schedule and the narrators for it for all of the weeks of the Candlelight Processional.
00:31:29
Speaker
The big news here is that out of the 15 total narrators, eight of them are new, which seems to be pretty high. And there's some good names here. I didn't realize that Rolf Macchio had done it previously. Yeah. But that's awesome.
00:31:45
Speaker
Yes. no Constant Wu, is is that's a great a great grab. um And it's funny because I know most of these people. used to be that like I didn't know a lot of them, but Brie Larson, that's cool. like There's a lot of good people. And the Fonz.
00:32:00
Speaker
Yes, Henry, that's where I was going. Henry Winkler, I'm going to be honest, I'm shocked that he's never done this before. He just seemed like a natural. Yes, but that would be a person to go to see for sure.
00:32:11
Speaker
Yeah, and my wife is going to love that Lauren Daigle is there. My wife is a huge Lauren Daigle fan. Okay. okay Yeah, so I think this was definitely a win all around. All right. Yes.
00:32:22
Speaker
Well, folks, that is going to wrap up the Disney related portion of the show. Gosh, there's so much after show this go around. I know. We haven't even gotten to the after show yet. So before we get there, we want to thank our sponsor.
00:32:36
Speaker
Don't resist the travel dot com. Please go visit them and let them handle every detail in creating and planning your next extraordinary getaway. want make sure you listen to us on all of your podcast ah streaming services.
00:32:51
Speaker
Rate us on there. Please don't forget to rate us. That helps out a ton. A five-star rating helps us out tremendously. Like we said earlier, we have a Patreon. Please make sure you go visit us there and subscribe there and become a Patreon subscriber. It will help this show live far into the future if you do.
00:33:12
Speaker
And as Damon mentioned, we're on all the socials, X, Instagram, Facebook. facebook Go follow us there. And so with that, we are now going to head into the after show.
00:33:32
Speaker
So this this is where, you know, this is one of those things that I've always wanted to do and was not able to do on the the previous show. So I'm glad that we're able to this. Listen, this doesn't necessarily have to be the focus of our show, but in my head, Dollywood is my favorite park.
00:33:51
Speaker
Disney and Universal are now two and three, and like I think the order just can kind of switch as... rides and lands come and go. So that being said, I want to talk about those other things. And I was never really able to do that in full force like I wanted. So there is a new ride coming to Dollywood night flight expedition.
00:34:14
Speaker
And here's the kicker part of this. is like, it is a new ride. I always will harp on the fact that I think there's certain, right like, look, Tiana's is great, but it's the same ride.
00:34:25
Speaker
Test Track the same ride. Like, no they're all the same ride. Like, give me something different and something new. And now what we've seen is and you have to go watch the video. We have this ride where you're going to go through the mountains, you're going to go through the air, you're going to go down a river, all in the same ride vehicle.
00:34:42
Speaker
And even when you're kind of going down the river, you're going to be on a, On a track. Yeah. It might be an aura. mean, I don't really know. I don't know all the logistics, but it looks pretty darn cool. Yeah, it does. It's, I think it's going to be, right. Yeah. So it's night flight. So it is going to be night themed. I wonder how much if it's going to be in the dark, like inside. Well, I think that, I mean, that the ride is inside in general, right? And I think that what we're going to get is a lot of glowing things. Like, you know, one of the things that,
00:35:17
Speaker
what we kind of see when we go to Dollywood is a lot of that kind of like night life, you know, nature-ish sort of stuff. So I think we're going to get that. I'm just more excited by the fact that it is a new sort of ride. We have not seen a ride like this before. It's like a combination of different types of rides, but even something a little bit newer. i think the water part is what really has me kind of you amped up is to to kind of go down this water ride where you're really not floating on the water.
00:35:49
Speaker
Right. It's crazy, right? But that's how you handle rapids. Yeah. Like, so rides, you know, it's either a not water ride or it's a complete water ride. But this run here, you're going to be going back and forth, all right?
00:36:02
Speaker
Or at least you're going to go from non-water to water and then back to non-water. Correct. Yeah. So, yeah. You know, this is super interesting. We already are booked for Dollywood. I know that Chris, we're hopefully going to have dinner with Chris. We're trying to get Blake to come, everybody. You know, I think that would be a great trip.
00:36:20
Speaker
<unk>s a Way to put the peer pressure on. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, i think, you know, why not? I mean, you just went to Atlantis for a couple of days. You know, Dollywood's ah a short trip. You can come for three, four days. That's it. don't need anything crazy.
00:36:32
Speaker
All right. We'll see. um The other thing is, is there's a Scooby-Doo mini golf coming to Pigeon Forge. And if you remember from that other terrible last show, I did go and do the Scooby-Doo escape room in Pigeon Forge and loved it.
00:36:47
Speaker
Okay. And when I showed the kids, the pictures and video of the Scooby-Doo mini golf, was, They were like beside themselves. So while Hilton Head has some pretty good mini golf, there is no better course than Hillbilly, whatever it's called in Pigeon Forge. yeah There's also Toy Box. But we found that last time that we went, there's a mermaid course, which is made by the same people of Toy Box. And gosh, I forget what the other one's called that they own.
00:37:14
Speaker
But the mermaid and pirates one was probably one of our favorites. We're big mini golf family. So we're excited for this Scooby-Doo mini golf. And i think that there's other things there as well. I think they were talking about like some gem mining and other things along with the Scooby-Doo mini.
00:37:29
Speaker
Right. Now, is it is it in the same complex as the escape room? Is it the same people? I don't believe so. um Yeah, I don't believe so. But everything in like Pigeon Forge and Gatlingburg is like, you just consider Pigeon Forge and Gatlingburg like one destination, and it makes it a little bit easier. yeah like That's kind of how I think about it.
00:37:51
Speaker
So I'm super excited for both of those things, and we already have our trip booked. Good. And we're going staying at the Heart Song. We have not stayed there before, but we were so happy with our stay at the other Dolly.
00:38:03
Speaker
um guys I forget the name of the other one, whatever it's called, but the other hotel. We loved it so much. And so we're going to stay at Heart Song, which I think will be great.
00:38:14
Speaker
Very nice. right, let's move over to Universal. Universal has filed permits for, at the time we made this link, for demolition of an unspecified area. Since then, we have found out that they are finally going to be doing something with the Lost Continent and the Poseidon's Fury area. was so cool. It is a shame because, you know, it's one of those things that kind of stood there for a very long time without you being to see the actual show. Yeah. yeah Made it a little worse because, what is that? It looks really cool because it looked really cool.
00:38:49
Speaker
You know, we were able to see the show and I will tell you it was pretty darn cool. Yeah, I never saw the show, but when we went to Universal the last time we went, they used Poseidon's Fury as part of a queue line, actually. Yeah, right and you see it, and you're like, yo, this looks cool. Yeah, know. I kind of wish they were doing something in here.
00:39:09
Speaker
Yeah. um I also heard that something with Shrek was going on. I thought that they were removing the Shrek... water pad swamp thing but I don't know these could all be rumors I can't speak on them ah but yeah I don't know what they're gonna put here this again is be interesting you know I would the thing is is like do you put like a link land there do you want that away from you know epic universe i don't know and don't know what else you would put here wait a minute do you did you did you mean link as in link from nintendo legend of zelda yeah yeah yeah that would be actually really cool that would be pretty cool but does it go here does it go i don't know you have harry potter everywhere so i guess you could have nintendo everywhere too right
00:39:57
Speaker
right yeah you just have a flavor of nintendo over in yeah so we'll have to see the hard rock hotel has renovated rooms it's interesting because we've been at the two of the three lows hotels now right the last time went to portofino normally our stay was at royal pacific we have not been to hard rock it is the closest one to the entrance But something about Hard Rock just makes me feel like it's going to be a lot of loudness, right? Yeah, yeah.
00:40:28
Speaker
But, you know, so, but there are now renovated rooms at at Hard Rock. That's kind of the big news here, which is good. I mean, they they definitely needed to do some renovation at these hotels as they get a little bit older.
00:40:42
Speaker
To me, I mean, it just looks like a regular old room. hey It looks, I'll be honest, it looks like a generic room right now. So I'm sure it's going to be nice. But other than maybe some vinyl records on the wall, I don't know that you're going to get much. but now The pool is pretty cool, though, from what I hear.
00:40:59
Speaker
have not been there, but from people that have stayed there, they have said the pool is what kind of makes that. Hotel. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we got through it all.
00:41:11
Speaker
Yes. All right. Well, folks, we're going to see you in two weeks. Until then, Damon, have a good time, my friend. Have a good time. Folks, the Rhubarb Travelers podcast is for entertainment purposes only. We are not employed by the Walt Disney Company or MVC Universal, the parent company of Universal Studios.
00:41:31
Speaker
And as such, all opinions expressed on the show are exclusively our own. Please consult a DVC or Disney cast member or Universal team member for more information about anything we might have talked about today.