Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 003 - DVC 2026 After Hours Dates and GotG queue line changes. Bye Bye Mythos Restaurant at UO. Royal Carribean has a private beach club and special breaking news!
79 Plays19 days ago
Blake and Damon go over a lot of DVC related news this show including 2026 After Hours dates, Member discounts for Jollywood Nights and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, DVC exclusive Hoop Dee Review dinners, and special Meet and Greets at the Epcot Lounge
In Park news, queue line changes are being tested out in GotG: Cosmic Rewind in Epcot, Holiday overlay is coming back for Living with the Land, and Spaceship Earth is reopening in three weeks!
The Aftershow dives into news from Royal Caribbean Cruises launching a new ship geared towards families and a soft opening of their private beach resort in the Bahamas.
PLUS, we get some special late breaking news from Las Vegas!
This episode sponsored by Dontresistthetravel.com
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Hosts' Update
00:00:13
Speaker
Hey folks, welcome to episode number three of the Rhubarb Travelers podcast. We are recording this show on ah October 7, 2025. I am Blake.
00:00:25
Speaker
With me as always is Damon. How are you, my friend? Good. Yeah, we had record a day early. I forgot i have to go fall break in college. I have to go pick up one of my sons tomorrow. So that that's why we're recording a day early. I put it put it on Blakey how to do a little bit of extra work today.
00:00:39
Speaker
Right. um And my boys will be back next week as well for their fall break.
Haunted House Adventures
00:00:45
Speaker
We are going to a new haunted house. Oh, you told me about that.
00:00:50
Speaker
Yeah, the one that we wanted to go to, unfortunately, I guess there was some damage during you know the storms last year and they were not able to open. So we are going to try that hopefully around Christmas because they do a Christmas thing as well.
00:01:03
Speaker
So we're going to try this other one called Scream Dreams. We'll see how it goes. but We'll talk about it on the next show. Fairly local to us? South of Winston-Salem. Ah, okay. All right. So, yeah, we'll
Rhubarb Traveler Merchandise Discussion
00:01:15
Speaker
see how it goes. Let's see. I got a rhubarb traveler shirt.
00:01:18
Speaker
i Yeah. That's right. We got our first piece of swag. We're going to decide whether we want to make that official, I guess. Right? Are going to look at that? I mean, I don't know. It's pretty official to me when I was wearing it. So I feel... You didn't get me one? Come on.
00:01:33
Speaker
Come on. What's up with you? was surprised at like how much... it like If you don't like get a big order of shirts, like it's kind of expensive to get one shirt. Yeah. It was kind of exciting, but it's nice.
00:01:44
Speaker
Sometimes the shipping alone is almost as much as the shirt's. Yeah, exactly. So I think once we get some ah time, what we'll think about getting some store front up or something along those lines. yeah and Okay.
00:01:56
Speaker
Now, to make that swag official and to get that store up, that means we need some more Patreon subscribers. And we want to take this moment to thank one of our Patreon subscribers, Michelle D. She has been a subscriber since almost the first day.
00:02:11
Speaker
ah But she's also a Facebook group member and she contributes regularly in those discussions. So, Michelle, thank you so much for being a Patreon subscriber. And if you are interested in becoming a Patreon subscriber, please go look up on Patreon.com, Rhubarb Travelers Podcast. We are there.
00:02:29
Speaker
And please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber. We are working on getting some benefits for you folks. I promise it will be coming soon. So. And I feel like Michelle travels like I travel.
00:02:41
Speaker
So like i feel I'm always like looking forward to kind of what her thoughts are because she kind of always travels. We need to get her on the show. There you
DVC Perks & Announcements
00:02:48
Speaker
go. he works um Let's see. So I do have my robo-Jeffrey tip. I didn't love a lot of them. So this is this is a tough pull. there there was And because it was a day earlier, it was tough for me because I didn't have time to really delve into this. This is kind of ah laundry sort of situation, right? So, and again, this is good because I've been wearing the same shorts today for three days in a row, which seems about normal.
00:03:12
Speaker
Again, I don't understand. Like, I mean, it would be it's kind of like jeans. Do you wash your jeans after you wear them? You know, they have this new technology now called washing machines that you yeah but you don't have to do it by hand. but But what I'm saying is if you have jeans, do you wash them every time you wear them?
00:03:28
Speaker
I just need to know what sort of person you are. It depends on what I've done. You know what sort of person you are then, right? So, you know, you're not going to agree this. But again, I've been wearing these shorts. I haven't really done too much for the last three days. Like, you know, the underwear gets changed. It's just not the shorts. Like, I don't get it.
00:03:47
Speaker
If I'm going to work out in them or like work in the yard. Yes, of course. There we go. But if I'm not anyway, so the the tip is is just remember you can do laundry at DVC villas. Right. So that's always a big thing.
00:04:02
Speaker
I think it helps, especially if you're traveling. You know, again, I get caught up bringing too much stuff. But when I go to Disney, I tend not to bring as much stuff because I know that the laundry is there. And my wife actually doesn't mind doing laundry.
00:04:14
Speaker
When we're there, I don't know why, maybe it's like a comfort to her, which would feel like we're home. But as long as it's not a ton of laundry, it's not so bad, right? So you can save a lot of luggage space. You know, we usually bring enough underwear and socks and then outside of that, like if you need to wash stuff, you need to wash stuff. But you know, having DVC and having the in-room laundry has been a game changer.
00:04:36
Speaker
You know, it's a great perk, especially with younger kids, but I will tell you, even with kids that spill things, which I would say, get a lot of that with my kids. It's not a bad thing either. And folks need to realize that studios do not have the in the in room laundry. That's only. But they have shared facilities. right They have shared facilities. Yes. But it's just. just Yeah. Not so bad.
00:04:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. All right. All right. So moving on to more DVC news, Disney has announced, ah where where are we? Yeah, there we are. Has announced After Hours for DVC members exclusively um for 2026.
00:05:14
Speaker
You can go check the DVC website for that. Have you ever done After Hours? At the parks? You know, I don't think I have. It's just, you know, that's that's late. You know, I usually don't do late in general. Right.
00:05:27
Speaker
right so You're usually asleep by 730, aren't you? You know, I'm at least out of the park. Like, it's funny. Like, now that, like, the kids are a little bit older and stuff, like, we're usually out of the parks by, like, four.
00:05:39
Speaker
Right. Maybe we hit dinner. Yeah. Maybe we hit dinner and then go back. But like, we're kind of done at that point because we've been there so often. Think if I was taking a trip somewhere where I hadn't been in a while, maybe. But again, we've been there so often. So I don't know. I mean, cool for people. Right. I always like perks.
00:05:58
Speaker
Right. the main then you know The main draw with this is lower crowd levels for sure in the after hours. So if there's a ride that you've been wanting to do, that's usually the time to do it. You know where you can basically walk off and walk right back on.
00:06:13
Speaker
I'm looking at there's a lot of dates too. There are. If you go look at the dates, every park has at least two dates in every month between January and July. so Yeah, that's good.
00:06:25
Speaker
Lots of choices there. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. So moving on, DVC has announced member discounts for a whole lot of holiday items coming up. So first off is DVC discounts for Jollywood Nights over in Hollywood Studios.
00:06:46
Speaker
ah Those are running on select nights between November 8 and December 22. You're going to save $10 on individual tickets, plus get some other perks along the way.
00:06:59
Speaker
have I guess Jollywood Nights only started about two years ago, I think. so Yeah, i haven't I haven't been to that. I've been to the Very Merry Christmas Party, right right which I guess we're going to talk about next. But no, I have not been to Jollywood Nights.
00:07:11
Speaker
Right. I have not either. i I heard the first year they had. Well, you first have to be a DVC member, Blake. Let's be honest. Bringing that up again. Okay. Yeah, I get it. I get it.
00:07:22
Speaker
All right. So, Jollywood Nights, $10 discount, some other perks. ah Consider going to that if you're going to be at Disney Hollywood Studios. Staying in the holiday theme.
00:07:33
Speaker
Discounts have been announced for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Again, $10 off on tickets. Other perks, you get some, I believe what they call keepsakes, special DVC keepsakes that you get to go home with, along with all of the other goodies.
00:07:49
Speaker
I have not done a Very Merry Christmas Party yet. We did the Not So Scary, but... i like I like the Christmas party way better than the Halloween one. I just thought it was better done. There was kind of like the projection stuff was really cool. I enjoyed going.
00:08:04
Speaker
I've only been once, but I thought it was well worth it. Now, is it is it one of those things where, like when we did the Halloween party, I said, this is great. I enjoyed it, but I'm not going to do it again probably until grandkids come onto the scene. Yeah.
00:08:17
Speaker
I kind of felt it was packed. I mean, that was the thing. Like, it was pretty packed, especially when you're watching the projections and stuff. Right. I thought it was enjoyable. But, yeah, I mean, to do it again, you know, the way I feel about vacationing in general I don't mind going to the same place but doing the same things over and over again at Disney. Right.
00:08:34
Speaker
No, I don't think I need to do it again for a while. So, I mean, but it was enjoyable. I could see people wanting to do it more than once, but just, you know, not for me, but I guess there's also a free magnet or something. Right. Yeah, that is. I love free magnets though.
00:08:45
Speaker
the The special keepsake you get to to take home with you. Magnets are just such a thing. where where Well, I don't know. Do you have magnets? Like ours are on the garage fridge. I do. Actually, I moved mine from the the vehicle to my garage my garage fridge as well, just because they were starting to crack and I didn't want them to fall off while I was going down the road. Yeah, I have a pretty solid fridge situation going on, right? It's pretty covered at this point. So that's a good thing.
00:09:11
Speaker
Right. So dates for the Very Merry Christmas Party for DVC discounts, ah there's usually one a week between November 7 and all the way through December 19.
00:09:22
Speaker
teen So if you are going to be at Magic Kingdom during those times, consider going during the DVC discount night. ah Let's see, what else in DVC news?
00:09:33
Speaker
Hoop D Review will get its own DVC exclusive showing. um There's going to be two dates. what It will be either Tuesday, December 9 or Tuesday, December 16, where you will get priority reservations for, and by priority reservations, I mean it will be exclusive for DVC members.
00:09:53
Speaker
Have you ever been to Hoop D Review? I have. I have not. not don yeah man was it was all right. That's over at Disney's Fort Wilderness. So you actually you have to take the bus over there, I guess. I think we were staying over there.
00:10:08
Speaker
I've heard great things about it. Yeah, it's okay. I mean, it's okay. I wasn't as impressed, I think, as some people are. i mean, it was you know kind of funny-ish.
00:10:20
Speaker
Right. But you got to take, I think if it's one of those things where, again, I would think that as your kids are younger, I think it's better. Right. think as they get older, it's not as, well, I mean, I don't know. um yeah For my family, as they've gotten older, I don't think it would be as much fun. That's what I would say.
00:10:36
Speaker
Well, there's ah there's this weird level of like kid embarrassment. Exactly. That's where i was going. Yeah. And it's I was talking to my daughter about something recently that,
00:10:49
Speaker
Oh, about this this whole situation, something at at school, and she was talking about how, like, somebody from the back of the class yelled up to her, like, if she wanted a piece of gum or something. And, like, that was embarrassing. And, like, she was like, I can't believe for that girl did that.
00:11:02
Speaker
she asked for a piece of gum from the back of the room. um yeah So there gets to be a level where, like, embarrassing stuff can kind of, you know, flip over to the other side. Definitely, yeah I've noticed there is this, um what are we going to call this, like a valley of enthusiasm where as kids, they're really excited.
00:11:22
Speaker
They get to the teenage years and that dips down, right? Yeah. but But then as you start to get a little bit older, I think that that enthusiasm of the parks starts to go back up.
00:11:33
Speaker
I'm starting to see that already ah in our oldest son's. Yeah, I don't think I have that just yet. My oldest is more about new experiences. I realized this recently. He he was must have gone to the Virginia Fair last weekend and had a surprise. And he was kind of just like, you know, I think he's about doing new things. Because when we had talked about this year again going on a cruise versus going on this cross-country trip, I was kind of under the assumption that everyone everyone would defer to this cruise because who wants to drive this cross-country trip? And he was like, nah, I want to do new stuff.
00:12:04
Speaker
Right. Okay, I get All right. What else? Let's see. At the lounge at Epcot above the Imagination Pavilion, Mickey and Minnie will be doing some exclusive character meet and greets for DVC members. They're going to be in their travel attire. And from looking at the picture, Mickey looks like a straight up flight attendant on some airline.
00:12:28
Speaker
If you're looking yeah are you looking at that photo right now. Yeah, yeah, I would agree. But it's it's always, again, we've we've been through what I feel about character meet and greets. So I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back, to be honest with you. But I have, you know, my my own opinions on them. But I don't think this is necessarily a bad spot, especially for an exclusive character meet and greet. I think that's right that's actually a good spot. And you know what? That is important because to get this exclusive meet and greet for DVC members, you actually have to be part of the membership magic beyond tier of DVC, which is that extra added tier.
00:13:08
Speaker
um that My parents purchased that this go around. Right. Right. And they were excited because they got into the, ah you know, the. That place in Magic Kingdom, the lounge in Magic Kingdom. No, they did not get into that one, but they were just they wanted to go to the Epcot DVC lounge, and they were able to get right in when there was like a line of 40 people or something. so And that is one of the major perks of being in a membership. Yes, absolutely.
00:13:33
Speaker
so Wait, we have a tip from
DVC Points & Cruise Insights
00:13:35
Speaker
Blake? Yes, got a tip from me. It's kind of a story slash tip. Okay. So I had a friend, Angie, who went on a Disney cruise probably about two weeks ago.
00:13:45
Speaker
And she got back and she said, Blake wanted you to know, I bought into DVC while we were on the cruise. So I was like, great. Does she listen to the show? She does listen to the show. Okay, well, that's good.
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah. So she, so I asked her the details about said, well, what'd you buy? Where'd you buy? How much did you buy? Blah, blah. And she bought at Polynesian. and Okay. She bought 150 points at Polynesian.
00:14:09
Speaker
And the deal they gave her was that she got not only 20, 25 points, a full 150, 20, 25 points. They gave her 150 points 2024 points. they gave her a hundred and fifty points for twenty twenty four So last year's full points, this year's full points, her use year is in December.
00:14:29
Speaker
you So in two months, she's going to get another 150 points. So 450 points total. And she's only been in for two months at this point, which is a great deal. The tough thing is, is you got to burn those points rather quickly, right? Like,
00:14:46
Speaker
with your use year. So we also sat through the presentation while we were on a Disney cruise and got offered the same deal. We were very close to buying points while we were on the cruise. And then we're just like, man, I spent so much money on this cruise. Like I'm good.
00:14:59
Speaker
Right. And we already had points. So it was more of actually, you know what the the issue for us was, is we wanted to buy Saratoga points and they didn't have any at that point.
00:15:10
Speaker
Really interesting is, is that the day later they were like, oh, by the way, we happen to have points now. So they definitely did a right of first refusal on somebody get points for us. And then we were just like, nah, we're good. But yeah, I did sit through the presentation. It was actually very nice.
00:15:29
Speaker
um It was well done and you're on a cruise. So it's not like you feel like you're missing out on a ride or something. Right. Right. So it wasn't so bad. So, yeah, I did do that as well. It's definitely worth doing. And I think and ah the other thing is, is that, you know, there is a DVC meetup.
00:15:47
Speaker
Yeah. on the cruises and the first time i was on a disney cruise i had a one like so much ship credit at that there was like giveaway and like hundreds of dollars a ship credit so definitely make sure you're checking that out when you get on these cruises because again i want couple hundred dollars of ship credit by going to one of those nice very and All right, let's move on to some listener questions.
00:16:12
Speaker
We actually have two questions. We had a lot of questions. These are the ones you pulled? Yeah, these these are the two. I don't want to use use all the questions at one time. We've got um let them space out a little bit. and Okay. I mean, you know this is only once every two weeks, but okay. I know.
00:16:26
Speaker
All right. So ah both questions I have here actually are from the same person, a friend of mine, actually, Greg. So Greg wants to see how this works. We got Angie's story. We got Greg questions. Everyone listen, hear how that goes. Yeah. Connections matter. Come on. all right.
00:16:41
Speaker
So Greg wants to know, is it a good idea to use DVC points to book cruises or other tours? And you have done this. so I'm going to let you. It depends on what you mean by a good idea.
00:16:53
Speaker
Is it cost effective? No, probably not. Is it easier? i think so. Listen, I've sold points. i've I've done all that. the The problem is, is that it can be a little frustrating because you have to manage the reservation.
00:17:08
Speaker
Everyone will tell, me oh, it's so easy. No, you still have to manage the reservation for that person. And, you know, maybe you just don't want to do that. I didn't want to do that. Like, I didn't want to have to be, you know, doing that and then pay for a cruise.
00:17:19
Speaker
But is it more cost effective? to do it the other way. Absolutely. But I did book with DVC points, uh, for a cruise. And I think we had kick in like 250 bucks, 300 bucks or something.
00:17:31
Speaker
And that was it. But yeah, I mean, it was fine for me. Now, did that, did that bottom out your points? It did. It bottomed out my points for like three years. So it was like borrowed, normal, and you know, bank banked points. Yeah. So it definitely did. So, but we knew we weren't going.
00:17:49
Speaker
So this year actually is funny because we were on the cruise a few years ago and December is when we'll actually have points again. i mean, we've been like a one day here and there. We went to Riviera before our other cruise last summer. like We're going to use it for something else. like But in general, a full-on vacation, yeah, it took us out a three years' worth of points.
00:18:11
Speaker
right So not necessarily the most cost-effective, but definitely the easiest to do. And again, by easy, like that's just my opinion. It's not really that hard, but...
00:18:23
Speaker
You know, ours was a little bit like when we did it one time, like when we sold our points, like it was a little bit of a pain. Like my wife was frustrated. i'm like, oh, dude, for her to be frustrated, is it worth the effort?
00:18:34
Speaker
You know, really wasn't for me. Yeah, i've I've always heard from ah sheer dollar standpoint, it's better to rent those points out. And then take the cash and pay for the pay for. the Yeah, I think they have some sort of swap now, too.
00:18:49
Speaker
Right. I mean, they're not a sponsor. Directly through Disney or do you do that through? No, I think you do that through them. Through the rental folks. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Next question that Greg has is meal plan.
00:19:02
Speaker
Yes or meal plan? No. Do you do a meal plan? I've you know been with my friends who've done the meal plan the same time we didn't do the meal plan. Right. I don't know who spent more money, but like they had to run around and get snacks all the time. Like, I don't want to have to be forced to eat snacks.
00:19:19
Speaker
Right. Like, I mean, I know that sounds crazy, but one of the things is, is is I go on vacation as I've been older now. Right. It's not so easy to take off that weight. I mean, I know you are walking a lot and things like that, but I don't want to do all that. So for me, it's just a no, just based on that fact. Right.
00:19:34
Speaker
Like, I don't want to have to eat if I'm not hungry. Right. But I mean, I guess the one thing that's nice about it is, you know, you've already paid for it. So yeah're there's no extra expenses to kind of have as you go through the parks. And some people like that. Like some people, and again, normally as a person, I like that, right? Like like not having to worry about it again. Right.
00:19:55
Speaker
And the meal plan, like I said, for me, it's just tough because I don't want to be forced to eat when I don't want to eat. And maybe one day I just want to go and eat a whole bunch of stuff at Epcot Food and Wine and nothing else that whole day. You know what I mean? like I just don't. I mean, I know you can use some of the points there, but like, I just don't want that hassle.
00:20:12
Speaker
I don't like being. Yeah. Yeah. our So our family has always done it, um mainly especially because the kids were younger and they were eating more. I will tell you, regardless, um a slam dunk case for the meal plan is if you are like us, where every sit down meal, we schedule it as part of character dining.
00:20:34
Speaker
So if character dining by default is more expensive. So if you do character dining every meal like we, well, not every meal, but every sit down meal like we did, it absolutely is worth it because character dining can be quite a bit more expensive than regular sit down dining.
00:20:53
Speaker
Yep. So. right. So folks, if you have any questions, please post them on Facebook.
Travel Sponsorship & Epcot Updates
00:21:00
Speaker
We would love to listen to them. We will love to answer them. need a few more people in the group. Can we get to triple digits, please? Yes.
00:21:06
Speaker
Yes. If you're listening to this. Invite and friends. Right. If you have not joined our Facebook group, please do so. There is the Rhubarb Travelers group and then the Rhubarb Travelers podcast group. So make sure you join both of them. Okay. One's a page, one's a group, right? Right. One's a page, one's a group.
00:21:24
Speaker
right, folks, ah we are going to be right back after this word from our sponsor. We'd like to welcome our inaugural sponsor to the show, Don'tResistTheTravel.com.
00:21:36
Speaker
Folks, vacation travel should be exciting, memorable, and most importantly, completely stress-free. Ha, However, as we all know, planning that perfect trip for you and your family can be anything but that.
00:21:52
Speaker
And that's where the folks at Don't Resist the Travel come in and save the day. 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.
00:22:16
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.
00:22:27
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 Travelers Podcast sent you.
00:22:42
Speaker
That's DontResistTheTravel.com.
00:22:48
Speaker
And we're back. All right. So news from the Disney parks. Disney is testing out changes to the queue line for Guardians of the Galaxy over in Epcot.
00:22:58
Speaker
If you've ever been on that ride, you know, there's that mad dash to get over to the right side of this big room. I just, I hate that so much. I mean, we have that on Rock and Roller Coaster. We have that on multiple rides and I just don't enjoy it because it creates this level of distress and just, I don't love it.
00:23:17
Speaker
Well, now they have cast members who are directing traffic within that room. And from reading over the the the news about it, it looks like they are giving priority to those people that have the Lightning Lane, have purchased Lightning Lane. well they should.
00:23:32
Speaker
As well they should. Exactly, right? If you're going to do that, you need to be one of the first ones out of that room into the other line. So. Yeah. Like I said, I never liked that. I think rock and roller coaster is kind of where it started. And it just was always like people just hovering at the doors, you know, pushing through you so they could get to the doors. quickly Like, man, just stay where you are. It's not that big of a deal. Everyone's going to get to ride. Everyone's going to get Exactly. Exactly. So hopefully if these changes work out, they will push that change out to other rides, kind of like rock and roller coaster when it opens back up with the new Muppet overlay. So,
00:24:09
Speaker
Other news this week, holiday overlays, speaking of holiday overlays, is coming back to living with the land over in Epcot. I have never done the living with the land during the holiday. Hold on. First of the Muppet is not going to be an overlay, so we're not speaking. Well, you know what I mean.
00:24:26
Speaker
ah But go ahead, Blake. You know what I mean. All right. Have you ever done living with the the boat ride while the holiday overlay i have not i've done behind the seeds tour which i think was fun it was different it was during covet that we actually did that but no i have not done that but i do like living with the land that's always a ah fun little excursion so that would be cool Yep. It's part of the greater ah festival of the holidays in Epcot.
00:24:53
Speaker
It kicks off on November 28th. So if you are interested in that, make sure you get on over to Epcot and ride Living with the Lamb for that holiday over later.
00:25:05
Speaker
More news in Epcot. like All of our park news and is actually in Epcot this week. I just realized that. So, Spaceship Earth thanks for goodness is reopening on October 25th. We get to thank the Phoenicians once again. or might not My mom was pretty upset that it wasn't open during our trip. I'll be honest with you. i was surprised at like how upset she was. I mean, that that is ah is a favorite ride for some of us. I enjoy it.
00:25:31
Speaker
Is some Dame Judi Dench still the narrator, right? I don't know. She's the wrong person. Yeah. Anyway, they they have updated some of the LED lights in the Starfield. You know, when you're going down and you're kind of leaning back and going down, they have fixed some of that.
00:25:48
Speaker
So hopefully they will be making some other ah ride enhancements along the way. Nice. All right.
Cruise & Theme Park Changes
00:25:57
Speaker
Believe it or not, we are at the end of all of our Disney news. I'm excited for the non-Disney news, though, this week.
00:26:06
Speaker
And of course, you know what that means.
00:26:18
Speaker
All right, folks, we're here in the after show. Of course, this is all talk about non-Disney stuff. And we are going to now talk about the Royal Beach Club that is part of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. It's going to be their own little beach club on Paradise Island down in Bahamas.
00:26:34
Speaker
That is on the same island that the Atlantis is on on that I just went to a couple of weeks ago. so Yeah. So I think this is great news. I said, we've turned into a little bit of a cruise family. I just, I'll call out Dan. I still don't get why he's not a cruise person, but I mean, he explained it to us. i don't know. I happen to to love this cruise situation. So that's kind of the area we've been going, but again, from a Disney aspect, right? We still use our Disney hotel to make sure we're staying by the port the night before.
00:27:02
Speaker
Okay, cool. So anyway, so this is a beach club and it's funny because we're When you go to Nassau, unless you're taking that trip from the cruise to the Atlantis, which I heard, again, i I'm only speaking on what I've heard, is that you don't really get a lot of time there because the trip over, the checking in you know, all of that takes a fair chunk of time.
00:27:21
Speaker
Right. so So people don't like that. i Saw the Baja Mar, where it was kind of like one of the things that we were probably going to try next time. But now with this, I think this is what I'm doing. This is, you know, you get the beach.
00:27:33
Speaker
And it's it's interesting because my daughter, you know I don't remember if I said this last time, but she's kind of been like, you know, miss going to the beach so much. and Okay, we'll go to the beach as many times as we can now. So this is a good one because you can kind of get office all within the Royal ah Caribbean bubble, which is nice.
00:27:49
Speaker
And it's not that far. So I'm excited about this. I wish... I wish there was like a little water park there, something, but I get it, right? Right now, it's just this beach club.
00:28:01
Speaker
So hopefully in the future, we get a little bit more, but I am excited for this bit of news. I think it makes it easy for something to do as you hop off the boat. Right. And this brings it in line with some other cruise lines like Disney has Castaway Cay. No, so this is not like that. Well, it's not a whole island, right? But they already have their whole island, right? Right.
00:28:19
Speaker
So they have perfect day. So that Cocoa Key. So this is not that right. This is the nice part about this is, again, because when you're in Nassau, what do you do? Right. When you're Cocoa Key, you're, you know, any of the places that the cruise ships have their own islands, like you already know what you're doing that day.
00:28:36
Speaker
But this was just like, do you stay in the boat at NASA? Right. Because we weren't yet off. And this is something to do. Yeah. If you're not interested in walking down the streets in NASA getting offered fake Rolexes every five minutes. Yeah. If you're not going to the straw market.
00:28:49
Speaker
Yeah. This is a nice thing to kind of do. Yeah. And it is already started soft openings, according to news. Right. So we get some news on it and kind of understand what it is and things like that.
00:29:00
Speaker
Right. And speaking of this, folks, all of the links that we are talking about, they are in our show notes that are available to our Patreon subscribers. I'm going to put in another Patreon plug. Go join us over on Patreon so you can get these links.
00:29:13
Speaker
All right. Moving on. We are going to actually go over to Universal where Mythos Restaurant is now permanently closing. That's such a tough thing because it was such a good restaurant. Did you ever get to eat there?
00:29:27
Speaker
I did not. ah it was It was very good. And the theming was really good. That whole area over there was themed really well. So I'm super excited to see what comes out of that area and what restaurant they put there. But they're going to have to really put something good there. Right. it's It's following in the footsteps of, you know, Mythos was voted the best theme park restaurant, I believe, in few years.
00:29:48
Speaker
So it's going to really have to stand up. and There is there's wild speculation rumors that that area could be Legend of Zelda, which would us that would be amazing. um You know, so there are rumors about that, which that'd be something I like to see. Other than that, I mean, I would even take, i'll always take more Harry Potter.
00:30:08
Speaker
Right. Like I'll always take more Harry Potter. I yeah just don't know what they would do there, but I'll always take it. I'm trying to think of my geography. Where is that part? Where is the lost continent? And that's right next to.
00:30:19
Speaker
I feel like it's up and right. I don't know. That's how I kind of imagine things. But yeah, but it's, I don't want to say connected, but it's adjacent to Hogsmeade, I think it is. Which which half of it? can't remember. Again, yeah these are sort of questions I just don't remember. You'd have to bring up a map. But it is, like I said, it is in a pretty interesting section.
00:30:38
Speaker
um I'm curious to see what they do with it. But just make sure whatever you put there that it's just as good as Mythos was, please. Right. That's what we need. No, no, you know, again, just no bad quick service restaurants there.
00:30:50
Speaker
Right. Next piece of news over in Universal, Stardust Racers has reopened. You know, it has been closed recently due to some unfortunate events, but it is now reopened. They have updated the safety regulations on that. They have changed the signs around it.
00:31:10
Speaker
ah the The big takeaway from this is that now to be able to get on that ride, you must be able to independently maintain an upright position and you must be able to stand independently for height verification.
00:31:26
Speaker
um And not only on this ride, but they've actually added this wording to a lot of the new rides over in Epic Universe. I think that's just a prudent ah caution on their part based on all these new rides.
00:31:44
Speaker
Breaking, breaking, breaking. We interrupt this program for some late breaking news.
00:31:54
Speaker
right, folks, we've got some late breaking news, literally about 60 minutes after Damon and I finished recording the episode. This piece of news came across the Internet and Damon and I felt like it was just too great to not go ahead and talk about it. Now, Damon's not here right now.
00:32:11
Speaker
He couldn't he couldn't join me for this extra recording. so I'm going to run this solo. But there is a new theme park being planned for Las Vegas, Nevada, and the name of it is called Retro Escapes.
00:32:26
Speaker
Again, it's going to be in Las Vegas, and the organizers say it plans to transport guests into rides and lands inspired by the decades, the through the nineteen ninety s in the and I'm just going to take a little side a moment here.
00:32:43
Speaker
I went to college in the early 1990s and to call that retro, man, that's just rude. I'm just I'm going to have to get over that. But anyway, so anyway, the organizers say ah they're planning for this to be an outdoor and indoor theme park.
00:32:57
Speaker
That's good because, you know, Vegas gets to be a little warm every now and then. It's going to have rides, restaurants and shows. And at the park entrance, guests would step through a time travel portal to access themed lands based on American pop culture of different decades from the 50s to the 90s, plus a ta tomorrow zone.
00:33:18
Speaker
And if you go look at the concept art that's out there for this, this portal that you step through, you know, it has the vibes of Epic Universe when you are going through those portals to the different lands.
00:33:31
Speaker
But this new ah this new development is being headed up by a social media influencer of all people by the name of Daniel Leo Jr. I have not ah followed him on any of the socials, but he is the self-proclaimed CEO of Las Vegas.
00:33:49
Speaker
ah He and his father are in this venture. They announced this back on September 30th. So just about a week ago. They are teaming up with a group called the PGAV Destinations Group.
00:34:02
Speaker
And this is the the these are the folks that worked on the Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at Epcot. They helped build the Manta ride at SeaWorld Orlando.
00:34:13
Speaker
And they've also built a full park at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi. So we've definitely got a heavy hitter here, right? This is not just some mom and pop organization.
00:34:24
Speaker
trying to build a theme park, they are working with folks that know what they are doing. So if you go look at the concept art, there are some really neat things here. And one of the first things that pops out is there's this big grassy area off to one side that you can clearly see what looks like a woodstock.
00:34:45
Speaker
So that's probably ah going to be the 1960s era. ah There's looks like there's going to be a boat ride. ah that is themed with cars. Let me just kind of go through each decade as the article talks about it. So the 1950s is going to have a boat ride.
00:35:02
Speaker
And based off the concept art right now, it's going to be in boats that look like convertibles, cars. So nineteen fifty s convertible cars, ah There's going to be an Elvis-themed restaurant and bar, a Marilyn Monroe walk-up bar. Lots of bars in these, as you might imagine being in Las Vegas, but all of this will be in the 50s. And then we move on to the 1960s era. And that era, from the concept art, is going to have a lot of grassy area. Again, there is going to be what looks like almost like a concert venue. It's probably not going to be too big, but it would...
00:35:41
Speaker
Be where you could have bands perform ah like like you did at Woodstock. There's going to be what looks like a Volkswagen buses in almost like a food truck setting. So probably lots of restaurants there.
00:35:56
Speaker
Looks really cool. I think that's going to be really nice. As we move on, the 1970s era, not too many pictures, but of course, there's going to be a heavy disco influence in there.
00:36:08
Speaker
It talks about a disco bar. It has an arcade. Arcades turned big because you started with video games in the late 70s. So looking good there.
00:36:19
Speaker
The 1980s, there's only one picture and it's what's called a game bar. It's modeled after Pac-Man. Obviously, the was the decade where video games really ah came came to bear.
00:36:34
Speaker
So there's going to be a lot of um probably video game influence there. If you look at the concept art back in the background, there's a building that has the words back to the future on it.
00:36:45
Speaker
Doesn't really... show what it might be be about, but could be a show, could be attraction. The building here in the concept art is a little small for for a ride, so I don't think it would be that.
00:36:58
Speaker
But you never known you know. This is all just early concept art, so they might turn it into a ride. They might be a show, might be an attraction. We move on to the 1990s. ah The big thing there is that's when grunge music really came into being. So there's going to be grunge clubs. There's going to be rock ah rock bars.
00:37:18
Speaker
There's an open market type area ah based on concept art. And of course, there's going to be more bars. It looks like there's actually a skateboarding park there in some of that concept art. So it could be pretty cool there.
00:37:30
Speaker
And then we end up with the Tomorrow Zone. And if you look at the concept art, if you've ever seen the movie Ready Player One, where the Oasis, where everyone goes online to to go meet up, the concept art looks like the Oasis, right? So it's very heavy.
00:37:49
Speaker
in neon In fact, there's a lot of neon all over all over this place, but the Tomorrow Zone looks really cool. And if you go to other other pictures there, it looks like it's going to have some sort of thrill or coaster ride.
00:38:06
Speaker
There's concept art of single-seater ah What looks like a roller coaster. So one wide. So everyone's right behind the other. And it looks like it's going to be really, really cool. Then all of this is i'm I'm thinking it might be a hub and spoke layout because some of it also talks about the center of the park. There's going to be something called the Fountain of Youth.
00:38:32
Speaker
Based off the art that they are showing here, it looks like you're going to have some nightly shows where if you think about Fantasmic, where they are projecting images up onto a screen of water that they are throwing up.
00:38:46
Speaker
Same concept here, right? So there are showing they show Marilyn Monroe, they show Smokey Robinson on these water screens and a couple of other people. But it looks like the the Fountain of Youth is going to be where you have all of your nighttime shows part.
00:39:04
Speaker
for the part They haven't announced any construction yet, um so they have not turned over the first shovel of dirt. So this is very early in the process.
00:39:16
Speaker
um They haven't announced any opening date. Right now, Daniel Leo Jr., who is one of the organizers of this, he's quoted as saying they are currently in talks on on the land and figuring out the best fit.
00:39:30
Speaker
So that is code word for we are so early in this process, we don't even know when we're going to open. So undoubtedly, things will change, right?
00:39:42
Speaker
and And, you know, there could be a chance this thing never opens. It could just... you know die on the vine. But if it makes it to fruition, this looks really cool. Damon and I are really excited about it. He was like, man, we might need to go out there and and go check this place out. so But given that they have not even started ah buying land yet, boy, we are at least three to four, five years away from seeing this happen. So Anyway, we wanted to get this out in front of you, folks.
00:40:14
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening. And now we're going to go back to our programming. So this next piece of news I've been waiting for for a very long time. World Caribbean and Legends of the Seas. So Legends of the Seas was ah name of an older ship. This is not that. This is an icon class ship, right? This is a new ship, I believe, 2026. So what they've been doing is they've been taking their ships, kind of putting them over to the European cruise season before they bring them to Florida. So I believe the same thing is happening with Legend of the Seas.
00:40:44
Speaker
If I remember correctly, it will have a nice transatlantic Barcelona trip to bring it over to Florida. right So Star of the Seas is what we're looking at for ourselves for 27.
00:40:56
Speaker
And then for 28, we're looking to go on this boat, which again is kind of just our schedule. I, I, I like to go to amusement parks right when they open.
00:41:07
Speaker
Right. I don't necessarily want to be on a cruise ship the year that it starts, the first year that it starts cruising. Because it has to go through shakedown. It has to work out the bus. That's what I feel like. So I'm okay with that. So Legend of the Seas is,
00:41:20
Speaker
is, you know, there's going to be this whole new family experience and things like that. It's going to have the most restaurants of anything in the Royal Caribbean fleet. I think, what was it, 28 or something like that, which is kind of cool.
00:41:34
Speaker
Yeah, 28 options, most dining at sea. It will have the neighborhoods just like we have in some of the other ones. The Royal Railway, which my wife was totally against, which I was kind of interested in,
00:41:47
Speaker
It's this kind of like dinner theater-y sort of thing with screens, kind of like Harry Potter train ride. Right. It seems cool. It seems cool, but it's also super expensive. Yeah. She was not interested in that.
00:41:59
Speaker
But it also will have, you know, the... water slides like they have on some of the other boats, which is great. And I think that the interesting part is this Hollywoodland Supper Club sounds interesting as one of the new areas to eat in. I mean, that is an extra cost, but you have Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The thing is, you're not going to beat Back to the Future on Star of the Seas for me personally, but I think it's nice that they kind of have this. The other thing that's also been a little bit different is, and it started with Star of the Seas, is this Aquadome market, this kind of this food hall, which has all different types of food and that is free.
00:42:35
Speaker
right So I think that's also cool. The other thing I did hear about this, and I think it must have just been a rumor where they haven't really talked about it yet, is the casino. I heard rumors that this might be a bigger casino than what we've seen on other ships. And while I did hop into the casino on Utopia and again, how much did you lose? Go ahead. and No, no, no, no. So this is funny. I don't normally play blackjack.
00:43:02
Speaker
So right when I go to casino and again, I lived in an area, there was a bunch right in the beginning. Um, you know, we had things in Pennsylvania and we used to go to Fox woods in Connecticut for years and years and years.
00:43:15
Speaker
Right. But I never played blackjack. I'd always play either Baccarat or I would play roulette, but never blackjack. So, you know, i'm I'm on this ship and there's kind of nothing really going on the casino. And I was like, oh, you know what?
00:43:30
Speaker
I'm just going to play blackjack. Now, here's the thing. I was shocked, but blackjack tables, $50 and That was the minimum? but Minimum 50 bucks. Wow. Yeah.
00:43:41
Speaker
So I was like, oh, okay. So sit down at a table. There's nobody there. And I kind of tell her, hey, listen, you I know how to play, but I've never played at a table before. And she has like no problems. you know She shuffles up the 8 million decks that they have. yeah Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. boom Win five hands in a row.
00:43:57
Speaker
And then I just bounced. And then I just left. took It took her longer to shuffle the cards than it took me to win five hands in a row. And I won five hands in a row that was it. And I was done for the whole entire trip. I was like, I'm not going back to the casino.
00:44:12
Speaker
So it will be interesting to see what the casino looks like. I didn't find the casino packed at all, but you know we were playing basketball. in one of the basketball tournaments. And a guy on the first day was like, he was like, yeah, I'm already down 1500. And wow wow, like that is the first day. like Some people go on these cruises specifically for the... But that's what I'm saying. Why? Now with the fact that there's all these other places you can gamble, right? I don't know why that's such a big draw anymore.
00:44:39
Speaker
But anyway, so outside of that, you do have another Central Park, which is nice. You know, it's kind of cool to see like plants and trees and stuff on a boat. I'm excited, but I'll tell you the truth. I wasn't as, you know, the difference between, I think, Utopia and Star of the Seas, I think is going to be much bigger of a difference than we're going to see on Star of the Seas to Legend of the Seas.
00:45:05
Speaker
Okay. But it will will we'll have to find out, right? I mean, that's that's the thing. We'll have to find out. I'm just excited, like I said, for Star. Let's see how that goes. And then we'll do another one. I mean, it depends on the itinerary as well.
00:45:18
Speaker
I do love Disney cruises, but as as Jeremy will say, now listen, he also goes on the boats that I wouldn't necessarily go on in the Royal Caribbean line.
00:45:29
Speaker
So it is more cost effective for him. i'd like the newer boats with more people and more things to do. But even with the top level boats versus Disney, you're still probably at half the price.
00:45:41
Speaker
Like I couldn't imagine us being. So when we went on Disney cruise, we've always been in one room and they do have five person rooms. But, you know, that was fine when the kid was younger. That seems really cramped. Like not even.
00:45:55
Speaker
Oh yeah. Yeah. It's like, it's like you have these two beds on the wall and then like this thing in the middle of the room turns into something like it's a whole situation, but you can do five person rooms and they were fine until all of a sudden, you know, we had two grown men and, and a lady. Right. And it's like, plus us, I just don't know if we could do that anymore. so when we did Royal, we ended up doing two rooms, which they enjoyed.
00:46:17
Speaker
So I think even with two rooms, you're still at half the price. Did you get a Do they have connected rooms on the Royal? So and you, you, we don't, we did not have one. We, they were just across the way from us. And it's so funny. Like as long as they're within like three doors of us, i just don't care.
00:46:33
Speaker
yeah You know what I mean? Like it doesn't need to be connected. Like I'm, I'm good. Like I'm good in that aspect. So super excited for this. Again, we'll be doing Royal stuff for a while. If you're really interested in a ton of Royal stuff, go check out Matt over Royal Caribbean blog.
00:46:48
Speaker
He's the man. Right. Yep. Yep. All right, folks, we want to remind you to please go visit don't resist travel dot com and let the folks there handle every detail in creating and planning your next extraordinary getaway, no matter where that might be.
00:47:06
Speaker
That's don'tresistthetravel.com. Go listen to us on your favorite podcast streaming service and rate us. If we are not on your service, please drop us a message either in the Facebook group or send us an email. to rhubarbtravelerspodcast at gmail.com and let us know which service you use so that we can get set up there. While you are listening, please leave us a rating and a review if your service allows that, especially if you're on on Apple Podcasts. Please leave a five-star rating. It helps us out more than you can possibly imagine.
00:47:43
Speaker
But we are on Spotify. We are on Pocket Cast. We are on various other ones. So please, just go listen, follow, and leave us a rating. We have Patreon. You can go visit us on patreon.com, do a search for Rhubarb Travelers, and please consider becoming a Patreon sub subscriber.
00:48:02
Speaker
We are on all of the socials, X, Instagram, Facebook. We are posting regularly. Please come join us. And as we say down in and here in the South, mash that like button or follow button and make sure you stay up to date on all of our posts.
00:48:19
Speaker
All right, folks. Well, that is going to wrap up our show today. So we will be back in two weeks. And until then, Damon, I will see you then, my friend.
00:48:31
Speaker
Sounds good. Folks, the Rhubarb Travelers podcast is for entertainment purposes only. We are not employed by the Walt Disney Company or NBC Universal, the parent company of Universal Studios. And as such, all opinions expressed on the show are exclusively our own.
00:48:46
Speaker
Please consult a DVC or Disney cast member or Universal team member for more information about anything we might have talked about today.