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Episode 293: DVC River Cruise, Skywalker Meet and Greet & Hong Kong Disneyland Anniversary
822 Plays1 month ago
On This Episode
DVC announces a members only river cruise in France. Disney teased a new meet and greet with Luke Skywalker for the first time ever at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It’s Tough to Be a Bug will be closing soon so construction can begin on a new Zootopia show, debuting in late 2025. A new playground is under construction at EPCOT. Hong Kong Disneyland’s 20th anniversary celebration starts this summer with new shows and parades.
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Transcript
Introduction to Welcome Home Podcast
00:00:09
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, broadcasting on the DVC to all points unknown. If you're within the sound of my voice, you're listening to Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
Episode Overview and Hosts
00:00:30
Speaker
Hello and welcome home. This episode of Welcome Home is brought to you by DVC Resale Market. Thank you for joining us on episode 293 of Welcome Home, a Disney Parks through vacation club podcast. I'm Tom here with Trevor and Damon. How's it going, guys? Hello. I actually got my voice back this week.
Hosts' Health and Weather
00:00:44
Speaker
I'm not Basie anymore. There you go. I miss my Basie voice though. I liked it better. Don't go getting sick again though, just for that.
00:00:52
Speaker
I mean, I would prefer not to be sick. I'd prefer not to have the basic voice and not be sick so because the rest of my house is sick now. so yeah It's that time of the year. Yeah, as I was as patient zero on that one, I think. um but yeah it's You know, like you said, it's that time of year, you know, I went to pick my daughter from daycare the other day and they're like, yeah, we sent three kids home today. We flew like symptoms and one of them was throwing up. And then I asked my daughter, I was like, who threw up? And she was like, oh, my friend, I sat next to her on the bus. I'm like, great. Good, good, good to know. So yeah, yeah i'll always fun. Right. um But yeah, so what's going on with you guys?
00:01:32
Speaker
Um, nothing much, just shoveling because apparently this is the time of year where we just get all the snow that we didn't get for the last three months. So, meanwhile, Trevor, and this is not to, I want to be dizzy. Let's just, wait I'm going to put that out there right now. I was going to say meanwhile here, uh, by me and I assume it's the same for Damon. I'm where I think we're hitting a record high today for today and for the day. today time We had it yesterday. It was 70 degrees. Today's kind of cool.
00:02:00
Speaker
I mean, it's like 74 in here. So yeah, yeah, not raining yet, but that's like perfect Disney weather for me. like oh sad yeah oh Yeah. Like I do it. This is why I usually go this time a year when I can, because it's like, we went this time last year and it was fantastic. So yeah, it's a good time to go when it's cool like this. Yeah. When it's not like really cold, but not that it gets, I mean, it does get a little bit warmer just for the water parks, but Well, yeah definitely for water parks, if we're going to do that. Yeah. It's still fine for us. Not that cold. Trevor doesn't care. That's it. Doesn't bother him. The water parks open. He's going. I think we could go as low as like 60 before I would consider not going to the water park.
00:02:46
Speaker
Yeah, that I get that. that would That would be chilly though. I mean, I think I've probably swam in temperatures like that before because we went to Hilton head one time in the winter and we, we swam, but it was like, it was, you know, heated and stuff. It was just the getting out. That's the hard part. Yeah. That's always the worst part. Yeah. Being in it, if it's a heated pool is fine. It's just the getting out makes it a little challenging. So, um, yeah, yeah, yeah. So.
00:03:12
Speaker
but Anyway, uh, yeah, I mean, we can, we can dive right into stuff if you guys want to talk about this thing that we're talking about this get together, just let people know
Live Episode Planning and Logistics
00:03:20
Speaker
early enough. So we're looking to do our 300th.
00:03:23
Speaker
In a Charlotte area, hopefully Optimus Hall, if not somewhere in pretty immediate vicinity, it will be March 29. The fall goes well during the day afternoon-ish. We'll have food and stuff for people and it'll be a live show and we're going to try to get a big monitors. We have Trevor's head in the middle of us. and let see how goes I'm just excited to have Trevor's disembodied head there. It's going to be fun. ah Yeah, no, it should be a good time. Well, I'll bring some, you know, I'll bring hats and pins and all that fun stuff, too. I've got, you know, we still got giveaways floating around, so absolutely we can do that. And so, yeah, I mean, if you're in the area and you want to join us, yeah, like like Damon said, Mark your calendar. Whoever comes from the furthest definitely gets a hat, though. like Oh, yeah, of course. yes Yeah.
00:04:11
Speaker
Yeah, whoever has to drive the furthest, you you definitely will get something, right? so and And we're coordinating with the North Carolina Disney fans Facebook group, so it we will be fun. We'll talk more about it once we get a definitive date in place, but just letting everyone know, right? Like the save your save the date for your wedding, like save the date for the 300th, right?
00:04:32
Speaker
Yeah, and we'll put something out on the Facebook page slash group for people to RSVP if you're going to comment. Once we finalize the details, we still don't really 100% know where we're having it, but we know it's going to happen the 29th, hopefully. There's two places that we're looking at, or I say we, I actually have any control over there. Either way, you're going to be a disembodied head. Yeah, there's two places and we're just figuring out the final details on which one's going to make more sense for us.
00:05:02
Speaker
Yeah. So what we'll figure that out, but we are going to do an event. It's going to happen. So just a matter of where and, uh, I mean, I think we got the wind figured out cause that is going to be when our 300th is, is that weekend. So yeah I think it's just a shame that we've had two get togethers and never had the three of us still. Yeah. I wish it wasn't quite so difficult, but also, you know, being as far away as we are, it's just, it's just reality.
00:05:29
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean, listen, we could fly Trevor in, but that's a lot for him to fly in and fly back out again for just like ah a couple hour event. So yeah, it actually ends up working out that I would, I would spend two days traveling for like maybe half a day of of interaction, which is hard also. Like I, and I, you know, work and stuff is hard to balance with that.
00:05:52
Speaker
Yeah, it's a lot of traveling. It's a lot of traveling. So yeah, we're not going to make you do that. Thank you. I appreciate that. Technology allows you to be present, so. ah Exactly. All right, cool. All right, so let's let's let's start talking
DVC River Cruise Announcement
00:06:07
Speaker
about a few things. and Not a ton of news this week. So we can, you know, we don't, we don't, this is not going to be the longest episode. But I kind of put this on here for you, Damon, just because I wonder about your interest in this. And plus, Trevor, you know,
00:06:19
Speaker
I looked at stuff and now I don't have it up in front of me though because I guess I i should have. I guess I always have to do that. I wish there was a way where like I just. We could, like, Zencaster could share a screen with stuff and... That'd be kind of... Come on, technology can't touch up a little bit, man. we could We could if we were doing video, but we're not doing video. So, I mean, we technically do output a video, but it's just a video of our logo. If we did it with, like, our actual, you know, faces, then we could also, we could share and stuff like that. All right, so I'm opening it up because now I'm curious to what you think that I want to talk about.
00:06:52
Speaker
so So DVC announced plans to host its first ever member exclusive river cruise in 2026 traveling through the south of France. I don't know. You just feel like a river cruise person to me, Damon. I feel like that would be up your alley because it's but you don't get like a lot of the riffraff. you get you know It's like an older crowd. It's not no kids. you know i mean But I don't go on vacation without my kids. so Yeah, but i mean as they you know as your kids get older and all are in college at some point, you probably won't be able to you know help that, right? Well, then I have probably have grandkids though. Yeah, maybe. I don't know if there's going to be really this lengthy amount of time just based on what I'm feeling between my daughter being out of college and grandkids. I think see three seven the oh i think we'll even be before that. I don't think there's going to be any crossover.
00:07:42
Speaker
So hi um this looks interesting. I don't like rivers in general. I had a whole big blow up at work with somebody about like the great lakes in the ocean. I don't do fresh water or anything. Wow. Interesting. Don't do it. Chlorinated or salt. That's it. I don't. So a river crew seems like, okay. What's your issue with rivers? I mean, you're not swimming in a river. Just don't mess with it.
00:08:08
Speaker
Because I know you like don't typically like the ocean because of, you know as you say, getting sharked. I mean, you don't have that in the river. Sure, but if you're forcing me to, yeah, I they just don't do rivers. So yeah they're gross. ah Well, yeah, that's true. But it also is mentioning here, too, during this DVC-exclusive cruise, Disney artist and voice of Mickey Mouse. And I never forget it. I remember how to say his name's Brett Eywin, I win ah believe, is scheduled to sail with members. So that should be pretty cool. to see Yeah, you know the more you think about that, though, it just seems weird.
00:08:38
Speaker
Because and and you have somebody that's like, you know, a famous person, and I'm sure for them, it's got to be like, are they walking around with like handlers or not? Like, are you just stopping them? Like, are they just stop talking to everybody on this cruise? I mean, I guess this cruise wouldn't be that big. But then again, I don't have a huge interest in going to France either. So there's that. Yeah, I mean, it's okay.
00:09:03
Speaker
for bread. That's like, that's like, you know, a week and a half straight of work, really, because like you said, you know, even, even if they're not like doing the same conversation 100 times, yeah yeah, you know, there's like the meet and greet stuff, but then it's like, you're stuck on a boat with the same people, which means you're just going to run into people and you're gonna like,
00:09:22
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, how many people are going to be just like, do the voice, but like just do make the voice. Maybe he's, maybe he's not on it for the whole cruise too. Maybe he shows a helicopter. at the mountain and yeah well Well, these things do stop late. Like river cruises do have multiple stops too. So it it It does say in here that he will join members in the Voyage's guided adventures at each port and spend quality time adventuring together with some of the best Disney fans on Earth. Oh, there it is. so he's said He's not actually on the boat. he He shows up when you get off the boat and then that way he can not be on the boat with you. not have to be Not have to have awkward dinners at the buffet with random people. Yeah. yeah
00:10:05
Speaker
I mean, it's always good if there's more cruises, you know, I wonder if there'll ever be an American River cruise.
00:10:14
Speaker
yeah I mean, um I'm surprised they're, I mean, I know they kind of had some adventure by Disney River Cruises, but it is interesting to me that they're doing river cruises and and not, and they have a cruise line themselves, but they're not doing the cruise line, you know, they're not using the cruise line, obviously, for the river cruises. So, um yeah, I don't know. They're so much smaller, so. They're so much smaller, yeah.
00:10:35
Speaker
We have friends that are doing a river cruise, actually, and and there they were talking about how much, you know, how there's so, but so fewer people there. And like, it's, I think it's, I like that though. Really? No. Like, what if I just don't like somebody? but the bon stroke ability ah like You can, you can avoid people if you want. Yeah. the parents are big though I mean, I see the same people on the on the other reaches the cruise ships. Like I'm looking at this boat now.
00:11:06
Speaker
I don't know. Maybe it just sounds like you'll just need, if you don't like people, you just need to get off and let the boat sail away and figure out how to get home.
High Costs of Disney Adventures
00:11:15
Speaker
That's the problem. How do you get home then, right? I mean, it looks pretty cool because there's a lot to do. Like I'm looking at the highlights of the trip. I mean, it's pretty cool.
00:11:23
Speaker
Yeah. Probably super expensive too. Oh, it's going to be super expensive. Yeah. And it's all through France too. So it's, it's ah completely in France. So, which, you know, is, is interesting too. So you, it seems like the river cruises you make maybe make a lot more stops or is it just, I don't know. I haven't done one. So no, I haven't either.
00:11:44
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I know there are a lot more, uh, geared towards adults and most of them I think are, are don't even allow kids. Right. Well, that's the thing. So I'm looking at the adventures by Disney North America. And it's funny. It says like six trips, adult exclusive six. Yeah. They're all adults exclusive. Yeah. okay Wyoming does seem interesting though. Okay. i'm I'm reading all the stipulations on this now. Yeah. So, okay, let's listen to this. All right. Each passenger must be paid in full in cash, in either cash or DVC points. Okay. For this door voyage, DVC has waived the member cruise policy, which requires at least one passenger to be paid in DVC points. So it seems like they're, they're making it a little more flexible, but then they go on to say owners must qualify for membership extras in order to participate. like And any DVC points must be used, must qualify for the exchange collections.
00:12:41
Speaker
So basically if you're going to use points, it has to be direct points. Yeah. And yeah, membership extras as well is, uh, or so, sorry, is membership extras? Is that blue card? That's blue card. That's not a membership magic.
00:12:54
Speaker
No, no, that's just blue card. That's just, yeah. that's just So it's, so it's blue card only. And you can pay for it with DVC points, but it can't be, you can't like go and rent points and use rented points to pay for this. it Yeah. It's kind of seen, I mean, unless they, well, are transferred points eligible to be using the collection? Like if you, I don't think, or if you transfer points, yes. But I think if it's rented points, I don't think you can.
00:13:22
Speaker
I mean, but theoretically couldn't you rent from somebody and then they just transfer you the points? But you can only do that once per year though. So that means you would only be able to get enough for one transplant. I'm just looking at the money involved in this. I'm looking at the Wyoming one and dude, it's like crazy. Adventures by Disney is crazy expensive. If I wanted to go, it's like $35,000. That's not shocking. That's not surprising to me. You're not getting enough rental points to Yeah, over 35,000. No, not really. Yeah. I mean, you'd have done a lot of points. I feel like to pay for this thing with points. um Yeah. did Are you looking at any of the river cruises that in the I'm just looking at the Wyoming one um in the U.S. Gotcha. But it says it says, you know, adult and then it says, but the age requirements are minimum age five suggested age seven plus. Like it's just there's a lot of confusing information. That's that's kind of strange. Yeah.
00:14:19
Speaker
The rates though are just brutal, children 11 and under from 6,800. Oof, yeah. That's if you you know just have a lot of money to burn. I would do something like this, like retired trip, like retirement trip.
00:14:36
Speaker
But then I look at like shooting the rapids and keep a watch out for Eagles overhead. like I don't know if that's a 62-year-old trip. I don't know. Maybe. I might have to like work out before then because that seems a little crazy. That does seem a little crazy. An adventure-filled day on horseback, fly fishing, canoeing. yeah i seemed I'm tired already.
00:14:56
Speaker
And 50, I'm tired. I don't know what I'd be like at 62. I mean, so the the the one river cruise they have that's that's France, it says starting at eight days starting at 56.99. Per person. Yeah, per person. Yeah. Which, I mean, that's not, I mean, my friends that are doing a river cruise are not paying that much. like Yeah, that for you, yeah, that would be challenging. Yeah. But my friends that are doing the river cruise, they're not paying all that much less than that. So I mean, and I mean, it does include like the, I don't know if the Disney one includes all of the excursions and stuff, but like they get one excursion included per day as part of their, like what they're paying. So they, you know, they just get to pick one every day and that's, that's included as part of their price. But I don't know if that is how it works with adventure by Disney too, but
00:15:46
Speaker
But anyway, we don't do listener questions anymore, huh? We should do some more. like I was actually thinking about that the other day. Like we haven't done listener questions in a while and I feel like it would be kind of but cool to get listener questions. Yeah. we I mean, we stopped for a bit because i we haven't been asking in the group, right? You know, we should start. I mean, we do ask every episode, but um you know, at the end of the show. but But yeah, it's fair that we should be posting in the group again.
00:16:12
Speaker
ah They do have tours included as part of the price. So there's that Damon there too, right? So yeah that's no problem. that sure you pick me pick aur Yeah, you just, you have options. ah can Can we just, can we just talk about this Luke Skywalker stuff, please? Cause it's, it's really getting to me.
00:16:26
Speaker
Oh, getting to. OK, I didn't know if this was going to elicit a response or not. So um for the longest time, Galaxy's Edge did not have a Luke Skywalker. And they should never book ahead. And and now they're going to. They're going to start.
Galaxy's Edge Character Additions
00:16:41
Speaker
So they're going to start, ah what is it, February 10th? It's saying now or it says more details are expected expected on February 10th, not necessarily that theyre it's going to start on the 10th. But, um you know, you could see this being a May the 4th Kind of thing, but I don't know. He's really caped up and they will not show a picture of him in the front, huh? ah Yeah, they have him all caped up without a picture. Yeah. You can kind of see his face in the video. Like ah they do tease it slightly, which I mean, you know, it's it's a reasonably close look alike of the. And that's Mark Hamill showing every single one of these.
00:17:20
Speaker
then no thank you. went for real it's It's a return of the Jedi era. um ah Luke Skywalker is what they're going for, which yeah, the problem is, is that that was a young Mark Hamill. And you're right is this is the hard part is do I need like, it's like saying that I need to meet Indiana Jones, which I don't need to meet Indiana Jones, because Like, that's Harrison Ford, and you don't have someone. That's what I'm saying. Like, to me, this is, I don't like this. Like, you can give me, like, off-brand characters. You can give me masked characters. You can give me a lot of that, but you can't give me Luke Skywalker, dude. So this is where you draw the line as Luke Skywalker. You don't care about, like, I mean, because honestly, when I- Give me another one. Every time I see, like, them trot out, like, Star-Lord over at a Disneyland, I'm like, that dude doesn't even look like Chris Pratt, man. Like, doesn't even look like- I don't know who Star-Lord is, so to me.
00:18:13
Speaker
and It's Guardians of the Galaxy. wow Yeah, I've never seen it. time Yeah. Well, every it's it's Chris Pratt. And every time I see somebody doing it, I'm like, that i mean very barely looks like Chris Pratt. The silly thing about Marvel Universe is that because of Loki, you can actually justify variance yeah across any character now. So Marvel kind of, it sort of gets the past because canyically it could be a thing in the universe. but Yeah, like you said, yeah, it's usually like, you know, when you see like a somebody trying to be Star-Lord when yeah it's clearly not Star-Lord, it's a little, it takes you out of the yeah the immersion. And this is the same problem with Luke Skywalker is that it's like, yeah, I'm sure that, it you know, you know the the cast member will do a great job with it. But
00:19:04
Speaker
I'm not convinced. There's no there's no yeah extended universe for Star Wars until somebody opens up a rift like now. What about, I mean, what what if they did that though? What if that happened? What if, what if they riffed out Star Wars, like they've done to Marvel and then and the multiverse thing and they just, yeah, they multiverse out. Star Wars, like because Star Trek is the same thing, right? Like Discovery and all that is right. There's different timelines and universes and and even in, uh, what's the other one? The super awesome one that I liked the cartoon one. That one also has it. So that's, uh,
00:19:41
Speaker
I don't know if they do that with star wars like i made at that point like i truly just may have to be out. Yeah it doesn't yeah it doesn't need it is the problem right like not everything is big.
00:19:54
Speaker
Yeah. and And, you know, to your point, theres there's so many other characters that they could have looked at for a meet and greet. like And I guess, you know, that there is always, you know, people people think that they want to meet like, you know, Luke and Han Solo and whatnot. And it's like, you don't actually. No, because what do you say? You meet Luke, right? You take a picture with Luke, you bring it home. Like, oh, who's that? That's me and Luke Skywalker. That's not Mark Hamill. No, it's not.
00:20:20
Speaker
So you're saying it's different when it's like the Mandalorian and he has a helmet on, right? Yeah, absolutely. Well, of course it is. It's 100% different. It's like our favorite Star Wars picture, I think, is the Jawa. So do they even do them anymore? Oh my gosh. That was a fun one. I was scared. Jawa's were good. Because that was at Launch Bay, they were doing that, right? Yeah. This just seems to me, like I said, I mean, no.
00:20:45
Speaker
Nope. I mean, what if R2-D2's there too though? been What does that matter though? Does that all of a sudden turn him into Luke Skywalker? But then I would rather have R2 and 3PO if it was going to be... Yeah. Yeah. Right? Like... I'd just adjust them and not Luke Skywalker too? Okay. That's what I'm saying. There should never really be Luke. Like, he shouldn't be there. But there is Rey, I guess, the same thing. There's Rey. Yeah, they have Rey's out there. And people are seem to be okay with that. I feel like the Rays are usually pretty decent, actually. yeah But... Yeah, I get what you you what you guys are saying. But I mean, i I mean, if you're just doing it, though, for a picture with R2D2, would you do it? I mean, what do you mean? Is Luke in the picture, too? I mean, he is a loop to move so you can get. you look Not yeah off to the side for a second look like.
00:21:33
Speaker
Yeah, um that's pretty funny. Yeah. Move out of the way, Luke, when no one wants a picture with you. here Here's the thing, too, if he's holding a lightsaber and I also happen to have a lightsaber, I'm going to want a lightsaber battle to be, you know, on on camera. You know, who know you don't have a lightsaber and you're not going to fight with it with it. You know, you're not going to not do that. And by the way, this is also they're indicating that this is only going to be at Disneyland, by the way, and they're not going to do it at Disney World.
00:22:00
Speaker
Which, why? They keep doing this, which annoys me. Huh? Yeah, we don't even know why I'm talking about it, though. To be fair, i when I put it on the list, I didn't see that it was going to only be Disneyland, but still. I'm going to be there next year, though. Yeah. I'm going to be there, so. So does that mean you're going to start sticking around for our Disneyland topics, or?
00:22:18
Speaker
Um, after I go i'll see how much I like it, there was, there's been a lot of family discussion about like, I'm trying to tell them that it's different and no one believes me. And they're like, dude, it's the same thing. I'm like, it's not the same thing. really different for You, yeah, you, you don't understand how different Disneyland is until you, I mean, I the do, my kids don't. And I think that they're like, whatever I did. Yeah. I think even you'll be shocked at how different it truly is from like,
00:22:46
Speaker
Magic Kingdom and I just need i'm going to need a lot of help like planning this trip like I'm it's we're doing it's gonna be a big trip It's gonna be a big trip. So we'll see but yeah after I go there Then I'll let you know if I want to talk about Disneyland stuff All right. That's fair. Um, I saw, I mean, like what Star Wars character would you like to see as a meet and greet then? If you don't want Luke Skywalker, like who do you want? I know you said the, the Java's, but like, who else? Nah, dude. What's his name? Boss? Like what's this? The super cool dude from, uh, the bounty hunter. What's the dude's name? I don't know. If you look him up now, he had the, he had the figure that was like, um,
00:23:26
Speaker
you me like actually like is it's bosque b o s s k that's what i was here to yeah i'm not the d you know that dude no i'm i'm not I'm like a casual Star Wars fan. I don't i don't know who that is. Yeah, I had to step away from Star Wars as well because- Yeah, but this is like OG Star Wars. So it's not like it can be like new Star Wars. This is OG Star Wars. Okay.
00:23:48
Speaker
So, you don't know this dude. i don't know You said look you said a guy in the bounty hunter. He's a bounty hunter, dude, yeah. Oh, he is a bounty hunter. I just always think of the Mandalorian series. No, dude, this is this is actual real Star Wars, not Mandalorian extended universe garbage. This is real Star Wars. man This is the OK, yeah, the he's he looks like a lizard. Yeah. And the thing is, he was like a special like figure, like he was hard to get or he was one of those. Was he one of the ones that you had to like um mail away for? I don't think so. But he was he was a hard figure to get, I think, at the beginning. I don't remember. But he was cool. That's who I would want. There you go.
00:24:26
Speaker
What about like a Jabba the Hutt one? No. No, do you can't make it good enough. Like even like so Lucas couldn't make it good enough, he had to go back in and CGI it, you what I'm saying? Not that the the CGI one looks better. No, but he he he wasn't even happy. So what are you going to do in a park? yeah I mean, i you know, you I feel like they could probably pull it off. No.
00:24:49
Speaker
and I mean for a lot of money and like it would have to be static that you know yeah I mean and maybe you roll them around but I don't even think so I think the amount of like stuff you need attached on. Would be a lot it it becomes you know you have like the princess meet and greets in in.
00:25:06
Speaker
Yeah, or you put job of how they did. Yeah, those things that's going to be the longest line ever. if you It would it would be the same thing. There would have to be like, like, it would be like a it would be the equivalent of the princess meat, but it would be in Galaxy's Edge, which, yeah, again, like, to your point is that it becomes a static thing and, you know, becomes a huge lineup and also.
00:25:26
Speaker
I mean, I don't I don't like that either because and I'll still stick by this that, you know, Disney keeps trying to bring back like roaming characters and stuff like that. And Java is like the opposite of that. Like that I feel like yeah I feel like they need to, you know, you're right. They they need to look at some of the more um ah not lesser known characters, but like known characters in the universe that aren't the main character.
00:25:53
Speaker
Like whatever that was. Like Leia is the same thing. oh You're not going to do Princess Leia the same way you know it's going to happen. It shouldn't be the main character all day. And and especially like, sorry, Luke is kind of transcended from, you know, just like you're saying like how Rey is, you know, that's fine. But Luke is kind of on another level because it predates like even Disney having any thing to do with it. like it's yeah I feel like you know you can leave the classic stuff alone and then do current stuff and and you know do expanded universe stuff. And I think that's more interesting to me than like, oh, I met Luke Skywalker. Well, who's Luke Skywalker? Well, he's from you know he's from the original. and like yeah and it's like but But it's like he he's like from the original ones. Well, is he in any of the current shows? Well, no, other than the Mandalorian. Yeah, they they keep trying to do the force cameos, which again, I don't agree with that either. So it's like maybe, yeah, maybe drop that. And, you know, you know, the the same way that like, you know, the Avengers yeah before the Avengers was a thing. Iron Man was not a main character like yeah like it was really because of Disney and the Avengers that
00:27:11
Speaker
Are you know all those movies that iron man became main line and popular and all that like disney can do that they keep trying to do that but they keep going about it the wrong way i feel like they keep trying to to force feed it instead of.
00:27:25
Speaker
letting like you know, worry about building a, you know, a character with a good, yeah you know, a good personality and like, somebody that, you know, people can rally around instead, they're like, Oh, you know, hey, yeah, they're like the Mandalorian, I guess was, you know, that's probably about as close as they've gotten. But then, like you said, you know, they've they've kind of like, Oh, and, you know, Luke Skywalker's there against like, what, i on what else what about like, ah animatronic Yoda, that you would go take a picture with?
00:27:53
Speaker
Like, you know, they did baby Yoda and that was like walk around animatronic. That was pretty cool. Yeah. Again, that that's. That's still the problem with that too, is that, you know, when you get to see things, the seagull song, no. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. this The seagull song would have to be in their summer, but that would never happen. It would be amazing. But I would say I would take a picture with a really cool, like that would be a huge meet and greet. If you did a like Yoda hanging out in like one of the buildings and you did a meet and greet, you know, like that would, I think if, it's especially if they could do like it talking to you live, you know,
00:28:31
Speaker
But I don't know if you could do that or not, but I'm sure they could. They could. It's just, I mean, it's, it's really no different than doing turtle talk with crush. It's just the same thing. Yeah. Yeah. You just need someone that can do the voice. I guess. I don't even, I don't even think we need that anymore. I think we could do this right now today with some sort of LLM and some of. That's true. Yeah. I mean, I think we're we're there already. So it would be interesting how Disney will utilize that because i it's very possible to give us a Yoda right now. That talk. I mean, they kind of did it at was a D23 where they had a chink. They had. Yeah, no, what no, they had a they had a ah Mickey that was doing it where you could go and just ask Mickey and it would autonomously answer questions. Yeah, yeah they like they already kind of have the technology for this.
00:29:16
Speaker
um i Did you not see that one, Trevor? I don't think we talked about it on the show. I didn't see that, actually. I saw the Tinkerbell one where it was like... ah the mickey ones it's not I think it was an earlier iteration of that. No, no the Mickey one is not that new, it's but it is it's like an LLM like kind of situation where they you could just go up to him and ask him questions. And from the videos I saw, he did a really good job answering questions. yeah Even when people threw him like curve balls, he did a pretty good job.
00:29:40
Speaker
that That's fine and all, but I guess my only thing with doing doing ah like an automated response thing is that it does kind of take some of the ability for unusual things to happen out and for like that human interaction and reaction that sometimes happens. and I guess it kind of feeds into those moments that you get when you know that like when gasing makes fun of you and like Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah like the the way Gaston handles guests or the way that like Cruella de Vil handles guests and whatnot that, you know, it takes some of that away, right? Like you you can't, it's great that they can answer questions and keep in character, but you'll never truly get like, Absolutely. It depends what you're looking for out of the experience. If you had a Mickey sitting around all day, then it's not so bad. But if you had one-offs where you want to make something special, then absolutely. Gaston's still the best. I mean, well, used to be the best. I think he's been...
00:30:37
Speaker
i I mean, he doesn't do as much now. I mean, they still have him out every once in a while, I think, right? But they they don't... are Actually, I haven't seen something for a while, but... Yeah. ah Yeah. So I just sent you guys some... ah some I sent it for youtube you so you could see what I'm talking about. But yeah, this was at D23 last year where they had They basically like there were people just interviewing him. It was real time. Uh, it was, it says thanks to a blend of motion capture technology, real time animation, and, uh, and, uh, the official voice of Mickey mouse, they did like, uh, they have a talk to you. They do a whole interview. And so, I mean, they could do it with Yoda, right? Like, why can't they apply the same thing to Yoda? No reason why they couldn't. It's true. Yeah.
00:31:18
Speaker
I think it'd be cool. you know That's just me. Anyway, ah let's go ahead and do our ad and then we'll talk about a couple other things and we'll get out of here this week because there's not a lot going on this week, but ah certainly going to be more in the coming weeks for sure. so
00:31:36
Speaker
The sponsor of this episode is DVC Resell Market. DVC Resell Market, a world of DVC company, is the leader in the DVC Resell industry with 13 former Disney Vacation Club guides and three former Disney Vacation Club quality assurance managers. If you're thinking of buying DVC, browse the largest selection of DVC Resell listings anywhere with DVC experts on hand seven days a week to answer your questions. If you're thinking of selling, turn to the friendly professionals at DVC Resell Market or over 98% of listings sell within 30 days.
00:32:03
Speaker
In 2023, DVC Resale Market helped over 4,400 families join or add on to their memberships. Go to DVCResaleMarket.com slash Welcome Home or call 1-844-DVCPROS. That's 1-844-382-7767. And when you speak to them, be sure to let them know that Welcome Home sent you.
00:32:20
Speaker
I actually just ah closed on my ah the contract I'm selling, so that that's already done, like which I feel like moved really quickly, although it's been a little over a month, I guess. yeah ah But the one I bought is still pending, which is probably because the people that I'm buying it from are in Australia. I'm sure there's probably some sort of extra time it takes to do the paperwork there, you know um especially because you know you're I don't know how you did it, Trevor, if you when you bought, but you know i we went to a notary and they did all the notarizing and stuff and then we sent it via FedEx. and you know so yeah we Yeah, we had to package everything up. So yeah, I'm sure that there's some delay in shipping of yeah documents and all that.
00:33:06
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, at listen, it's not a big deal. I'm out of rush, but like i'm I'm glad the other one sold and you know I'm pretty much done with paperwork at this point. I'm buying and selling. it's that Like I said, they make it really easy and you know you can even do a virtual notary with them if you want to. So you don't you just do like it over ah over Zoom or whatever. so Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:26
Speaker
Anyway, so but let's, uh, let's talk about thing. I know this is Damon's least favorite thing to talk
Disney Attraction Updates
00:33:34
Speaker
about. we talking about have to So Disney has filed permits for it's tough to be a bug demolition at animal kingdom, which is making way for the news utopia show.
00:33:44
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I don't like that. The last day is March 16. They've announced a closing date, so it's it's terrible. How many poor parents miss out on kids' crazy reactions? Unterrifying children for the rest of their lives? Yes. I mean, terrible. Take away that joy.
00:34:04
Speaker
I've said this before. I don't think there's ever been a time that I've gone to that show where there hasn't been crying children afterwards. ah Oh, yeah, every single time. yeah I mean, even not man tough Even adults come out of that i way unsettled because, you know, anybody with any level of arachnophobia definitely is not a fan of that show. To be fair, they turn the lights off and while the lights are off, they have spiders to send giant spiders to send from the ceiling. I mean, awesome.
00:34:32
Speaker
like Listen, I think it's awesome, and i think I think it's a great show. Honestly, I always thought it was a really great show, but I i understand why people are scared of it too. um you know My wife is not a big fan of Bugs and and things like that, and this show has never been something she ever wanted to do. We still did it, but we never took my daughter to this, um probably because we felt like she would be like freaked out by it. but Um, yeah, I mean, listen, I'm, this is, this is an opening day attraction. It's been there since 98. So, you know, let's bring on a new show. I'm fine with that. I, and I like Zootopia. So, you know, I think it'll be, there'll be some cool stuff there. Um, it'll be interesting to see only cursory watched Zootopia. Like I don't remember like watching it, like
00:35:17
Speaker
I don't know. Maybe I watched it and didn't enjoy it. Maybe I watched it and thought it was silly. Like, I don't even remember. And sometimes you got to be in the mood too, but yeah it catches you at the wrong time. You're not going to watch it more than once. I have watched Zootopia more than once because I mean, my my son liked it, like yeah it it kind of hit us at a point where he was at that he was at that good age where like Disney movies were like, you know, he he could watch certain Disney movies like three or four times and be good with it it. And I feel like Zootopia was one that it had enough interesting stuff going on that and to your point, you know, you know it was
00:35:54
Speaker
you know, maybe you didn't like the, the story behind the show, but I feel like the, you know, just watching how they did the city and and the different areas of the city that alone to me is, is super interesting. like Like so many stories to tell because of all those different areas, you know? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, listen, this'll, this'll be interesting to see how this new show shakes out. Um, this is, it's interesting that this is a, such a short, uh, timeline to redo this whole thing. I mean, I guess it's,
00:36:24
Speaker
not that much work, right? Because they're they're tearing out a lot of the stuff, but I'm sure the seats are staying in there. I'm sure you know a lot of the decor is staying in there. They're just you know swapping out animatronics and changing signage. and I'm sure there's more to it than that. I'm sure they're going to upgrade all the technology and stuff. But the fact that it's closing March 17th and is supposed to open in winter 2025, I mean, so at the end of this year, you're talking you know, eight months that they're they're going to be doing this in, which is, I mean, impressive that they're moving that quickly. I mean, yeah, I wonder if this is a ah case of like, um you know, they probably have been developing a lot of this stuff elsewhere. Oh, yeah. And it's a matter of like, like, yeah I know you say like the seats and everything are going to stay. I actually I get the feeling like I'm actually looking at the the picture right now of the the theater. You know, it's it's very much that like
00:37:16
Speaker
root system under a tree thing. yeah That's all going to be ripped out. And I feel like even the seats, I can see them redoing the seats as well to fit something more to Zootopia, although although like these could probably work. But it feels to me like they probably got everything manufactured somewhere and just gotta deal it they're like yeah they're you know they're they're past 50% done on on building this stuff. And it's a matter of, like you said, you know they come in,
00:37:42
Speaker
They do all the installation and then, you know, it makes for, it makes, it's it's actually the best way to do it is, you know, you don't take the original attraction down too soon, but you can, you can get everything ready to go. And then it's not, you know, sorry, we got to close for a year and a half while we build everything from scratch. Right. Like, yeah. Yeah.
00:38:02
Speaker
That's i see, I tend to think that the the interior stuff is going to stay the same just because you're under the tree of life and like you have all the roots and everything. Like I feel like that plays to the location. But, you know, I could be wrong. Yeah, I I feel like it'll they may keep that, but I feel like they'll probably do something more like the jungle area of the of the city. Like it it feels to me like that there would be some opportunity to not just have it as the root system.
00:38:30
Speaker
but Oh, and also too, by the way, the reason they're doing this too is because Zootopia 2 releases in theaters November 26, 2025. And, you know, Disney never misses an opportunity to cross promote. so That's actually the best way to do it instead of, you know, how long did it take Little Mermaid to get a ride in yeah like 20 years?
00:38:50
Speaker
yeah yeah no They're going to love this to be able to promote the ride and the movie at the same time. That's that's that's total standard Disney right there. so um yeah i Listen, i like i and there's going to be a new original song in this ah from ah from Jennifer Gowan who does the voice of Judy Hopps. I actually think there's a clip online ah about that about her recording that. so yeah I saw something about her in in the booth doing recordings for the show so so for this and for his utopia to yeah she's she's she's happy that she's getting to do more work with judy hops i mean yeah when she wanna you know.
00:39:31
Speaker
but Why wouldn't you want to keep doing stuff stuff like that, right? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So like I said, i this i I'm always sad for things to go. And I think tough to be a bug had a really interesting ah kind of reputation, right? It's, it's almost similar to the reputation of, um, of what do you call it? Uh, the alien encounter, right? Where it's obviously less scary than that, but for a certain segment of people who are really scared of bugs, I mean, it's probably on the same level, right? yeah bit They had so many warnings at the beginning. Like I remember the last, like we went in this with, we went and saw this with my son, um, when he was younger and you know, we were standing in the lobby and they like, like the cast members were like,
00:40:15
Speaker
Just so everyone's aware there are bugs in here like like you know they announced the name of the show is like like yeah it's a tough to be a bug but they were like this is about bugs there is like you know if you're scared you can leave but they would announce it multiple times i remember like they were.
00:40:33
Speaker
I mean, and they probably still do it where they they will while you're standing there waiting to go to the theater. Reminder, this is a very scary show in the dark and young children might be scared like over and over and over. But again, the same thing with alien encounter. You know that people.
00:40:48
Speaker
Ignore that and then get mad later, right? Like that's what happens I'm sure the cast members there even though they say it a million times still get you know yelled at occasionally because of people You know their kids get scared. You scared you scared my child with the thing that you said was scary. Yeah, how dare you? well yeah yeah That's a that's on you that's that's that's a clear have a magical day situation, ah you know with it now the Now, the the other thing, too, is I like I know you're saying like, you know, the the show is unique and all that. But but again, and I will bring this up again is Bugs Life is not relevant anymore. They've not lawyer yeah they've not kept it up as an IP. Like it it could have they could have continued to do stuff with it and they just never did. So it's like I know i know there's nostalgia and all that. But why keep the show around if nobody even understands or knows
00:41:44
Speaker
yeah webp or You know, but you know bringing bringing your kids to it. It's like, oh, you know, I just traumatized my kids with a bunch of bugs on a screen and they have no idea that, you know, it related back to a movie or anything like that. Like you're not buying the lunchbox for it. So like, why, why keep the, uh,
00:42:02
Speaker
Why keep the show there, right? i I mean, that's a good point too, because it it's not a relevant IP anymore. It just not it just isn't. like I actually have never seen Bugs Life. that's stuff I've seen bits and pieces of it, but I've never watched it all the way through.
00:42:15
Speaker
No, I don't know. It's just that it's never appealed to me. And, you know, it's not one that I wanted to run out and watch. But, um you know, yeah, I we've been getting my daughter to watch more things recently. um ah And also realizing that she apparently watches movies at like daycare and sometimes, you know, and that kindergarten and first grade like they, you know, will show some of these Disney movies. And I'm like, wait a second. How do you know this movie? She said one the other day and I was like, wait, you've never watched that movie. I know you haven't watched that movie. She's like, we watched it at school. And I'm like, Oh, okay. Well, how come you watched it there, but won't watch it anything with us? You know, um it got because you're her parents. And that's not how that works. It's the same. Okay. i know So similar, but that this happened to me far more recently with my son. Like this was like,
00:43:05
Speaker
You know three or four years ago see what she was about like you know twelve thirteen. And ah um we we were watching something that we and then or yeah we we're watching something on.
00:43:17
Speaker
YouTube and then like we were flipping through YouTube shorts and then one came up for John Wick. And I kind of said to my son, I'm i'm like, oh yeah, that this show. And he's like, oh yeah, at that point he was like, yeah, I've seen all three of them. And I'm like, you have? What do you mean you've seen all three of them? And he's like, I watched them at my friend's house. And I'm like,
00:43:35
Speaker
Oh, and and that's the things you forget that it's like, yeah, you know, you know, you want to walk experience everything with your kids, but you also have to realize that yeah when they're off at school or when they're, you know, out with friends or wherever, it's like, yeah, you know, they're they're going to find their own stuff that resonates with them. And it's, you know, you don't get to say which shows they enjoy. Like ah I tried to make my son watch or I didn't um I didn't make him watch The Goonies.
00:44:01
Speaker
But you forced them to. Well, we sat down. We were were like, let's watch this together. And he and he was like, yeah, it was OK. And I'm like, ah you must what do you mean? <unk>t You. yeah Right. But yeah but, you know, it's that's not what he grew up with. So for him, it's, you know, he's got different movies that he's into and that's fine.
00:44:22
Speaker
I also just think that sometimes she like absorbs stuff through just you like the pop culture of it. right like ge I've had the Inside Out movies on in the background before, you know and she's kind of like glanced at it every once in a while. But before we even watched those, she knew you know sadness and anger and you know and joy. right like She just, from going to the parks, from just them being in the you know in in culture, right she just knew what they were.
00:44:49
Speaker
You know, so there's also that part of it too. But, um you know, she, every once in a while I can get her to watch something. it's It's just, it's not as much as it used to be. So I wish I remember what it was that she watched that I was shocked by. But yeah. well and But this again comes back to why, you know, you know, anybody that's upset that Bugs Life is going away is that, you know, when we think about from our, you know, our kids' point of view,
00:45:15
Speaker
They don't even know what this show is. And it like it's it's been out of out of pop culture for, you know, well over a decade now. Well, so it's the the the when iss opening 2000 something. Oh, no. Earlier than that, because it was an opening day attraction at Animal Kingdom and it was 98. So it was score like a 90s. Wow. Yeah, that's already 90s at this point. Yeah. Yeah, that's fair.
00:45:44
Speaker
Although I forget how long it's been since some of these shows came out. Yeah. So like it actually, it, the show actually came out before the movie, but it was the same. It was 98. So it was yeah, 1998 at this point, which is how many years 27. Yeah. on This, this show premiered before the actual movie premiered. That's what the article saying. I don't remember that being the case, but that's what it's saying.
00:46:11
Speaker
So so that there's a subsection of kids that were traumatized by this show and then probably refused to watch A Bug's Life yeah yeah because they thought it was going to be the same as the show, which none of the stuff that happens in this show happens in Bug's Life. Like it's mostly about yeah Hopper and and the ants or well, Flick and the you know all that. Yeah. so Like there's there's nothing with spiders or anything. That's funny. but So yeah that is so funny that like yeah the show actually could have turned people away from the the watching watching the movie. Yeah. So the show premiered April 22nd, 1998. The movie premiered November 14th, 1998. That is so funny. I love that. I kind of forgot that that was the case. You know, because i I went to Animal Kingdom the first year it was open and that first year there was not a lot, right? Like you have the safari, you had it's tough to be a bug.
00:47:14
Speaker
And a couple other things, but it wasn't it. And I mean, still, even to this day, the animal kingdom has the least amount of attractions, right? But it's I mean, it is a different kind of park, though, too, obviously, because you have all the animal stuff. So it's like, well, you don't have as many rides, you still have all the animal stuff. But I remember going and, you know, like ah in the early 2000s, and I remember ah Everest being under construction, like,
00:47:39
Speaker
I remember them building it and seeing it being built. So yeah, it's one of those things. Yeah, it was there from the original time that the park opened. But it is kind of amazing that they built and I feel like they would never do this now where they built something before it even came out.
00:47:59
Speaker
Because like that's risky. right like what have What if bugs life completely and totally bombed, and now you have this ride or show that you built on an IP that no one cares about? you know i mean Never do that anymore. Fair, but I think at the time, um like that this was um like Pixar, right? like like pixar Yeah, Pixar. It's one of those separate company. Yeah.
00:48:21
Speaker
Yeah, but but all this was like peak Pixar, like when when when all of their their big like flagship shows were hitting. I feel like ah this was far enough down the line that Disney probably looked at and went, yeah, you know, you know, Pixar hasn't missed yet. We can probably do this. And to be fair, I mean, this lasted for, you know, 30 years. Well, yeah. Well, it's like the second Pixar movie, though. So they were just doing it based on the success of Toy Story. Yeah.
00:48:51
Speaker
That was the second Pixar movie. Why did I think it was later, like after Cars? for now That's how old this is, man. it's It was literally the second Pixar movie. I guess they all blend together in my mind is the problem, because yeah like, yeah, that this was the thing is that at the time there was like just there was just a constant flow of like Disney and or or well, it was it was like the end of the the or not the but like getting towards the end of the the 2d Animated Disney shows. Yeah, but then Pixar was like picking up with the 3d stuff So i I feel like I feel like at that point even if Pixar wasn't like, you know, five or six movies in it was still like, oh, this is like
00:49:30
Speaker
This is a Disney thing, right? Like, you know, you know Disney couldn't really fail back in the 90s with their movies or with but which are the main movies. like We're not going to talk about this straight to VHS once, but, um you know, for any kids that are wondering what I mean by VHS, ask your parents.
00:49:46
Speaker
and Oh, man. yeah Do you just remind me, Trevor, I went grocery shopping with my daughter yesterday and there was a Huey Lewis in the news song playing in in the grocery grocery store. And I was singing along to it because I like Huey Lewis in the news. and And my daughter was kind of like, you know, pretending to sing along to it and dancing. And I said to her, I was like, you know, I had this song on a cassette tape and, ah you know, but when I was a kid. and she was like And I tried to explain a cassette tape to her and she was just like, not she's just her brain couldn't comprehend a cassette tape. You mean you have to rewind it. Yeah, what do you mean, right? ah Yeah, no, that was a funny conversation we had yesterday. Just trying to explain that because she doesn't even know really DVDs either. I mean, like she's not or CDs.
00:50:31
Speaker
Cause like, you know, she's seven. She has never really lived in a world without streaming, you know, that's yeah not exist, you know, and I, listen, I still have some DVDs floating around and I still have, you know, my giant book of CDs, you know, you had the, the zipper saying that had the pages and, you know,
00:50:50
Speaker
I have a full shelf of DVDs that I will never get rid of because if Netflix is ever down, I still have something to watch. That's fair. Yeah, that's fair. Well, there's also still some stuff you cannot get on streaming, especially if you like obscure stuff. There's some obscure stuff that you cannot get on streaming that I've tried to find before and I'm like, oh, it's a good thing I have the DVDs because otherwise I would never get to watch this.
00:51:13
Speaker
Yes. Anyway, anyway, moving on. Yeah. All right. So yeah. And enjoy your last few months of tough to be a bug. And then I'm, I'm still like, I really want to see how this Zootopia show plays out. Yeah. lay too Yeah. And I also want to be good. Yeah. I think it will too. i'm I'm also interested to see the new show they do at, at, uh, Hollywood studios for, for monsters Inc too. I mean, they're, they're doing multiple shows right now, right? So yeah.
00:51:39
Speaker
ah Yeah, anyway, ah so there's a once I just gonna say but let's change gears and let's so Let's talk about playgrounds because we know we're losing a playground in animal kingdom But it looks like we're getting a playground in Epcot
Epcot Playground Opening
00:51:55
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, and they, that a fair trade i don't know they've had playgrounds there before. Cause when I went, when my daughter was really young, I guess it was like, it was right before the pandemic. It was like nine 2019. They had, they had a playground there. Cause my daughter, you know, ran around there and they, so they've had playgrounds there in the past. yeah There is playground. So like on the towards a test track, there is a playground, but they're adding another one. And this one's actually by the imagination pavilion.
00:52:23
Speaker
but yeah i it said yeah Yeah, because the other one is over by Closer to Test Track, like you said, and ah my daughter's been on that one before. it and and you know i kind of It feels weird to just have a playground floating around, but it feels also very Epcot because it's you know Epcot was supposed to be like a real community, right so you would have playgrounds floating around and you know in in a real Epcot if they ever built a real Epcot. you know yeah But, but also to that and to let like Epcot is also that weird park that, like you said, you know, because it it was supposed to be that community thing, but then and also because of the World Showcase and everything. um For kids, there is not a lot of spaces where kids can just go blow off steep. And and you know, I don't know how much people
00:53:09
Speaker
Realize how valuable that is even when you're on vacation because you can say yeah we've been walking for hours why would your kid want to blow off steam. um I know for myself like with when my son was younger there there was points for like you know we're standing in line and he was getting.
00:53:24
Speaker
You know fidgety because like you know sorry i and i'm not saying that i'm not saying this to be judgy of other parents but i'm not somebody who is like give my kid a tablet or you know you know. You know let him entertain himself with a screen while we were standing in line like i wanted him to be.
00:53:42
Speaker
experiencing the park. But the problem with that was that, you know, sometimes when you're standing in a long line, you know, young kids get, you know, they they want to climb on stuff, they want to, you know you know, burn off some energy. And playgrounds are like, there was a couple of times in Disneyland where, you know, it was, you know, we had been walking for the majority of a day. And then we would go to one of the playgrounds in California Adventure, because they actually they have, they had some fantastic ones in there.
00:54:11
Speaker
And you know it was it was my son was running around. He was you know playing on the the ropes and the you know the slides and everything. And we were able to just kind of, you know as parents, take a break and let our kids burn off that energy, right? like you don't You don't realize how valuable that is when sometimes. And I think this is the positioning of this is actually really good because the you know the imagination pavilion um does lend itself to, you know it's it's very kid-centric and you know there's a lot of stuff inside of imagination pavilion, but it's all the stuff inside is very um
00:54:48
Speaker
It's kind of techie and and not, like it's interactive, but not as much as it could be. And also there's like there's nothing to really climb on or anything like that. It's like you know you know it's like playing with um the like lights on, light up panels on the floor and stuff like that. So this is actually like, You know, somewhere where like I, the the only thing I see in the construction right now is there's there's like, it looks like a plastic dome of some sort, which yeah, yeah you know, it's like a climbing structure. And yeah, you know, it just gives, it gives the kids somewhere where, you know, you can, you know, send them loose in a space and just
00:55:27
Speaker
let them do their thing. you know And because it's also close enough to like a lot of the food and wine and ah you like the booths and stuff, like as a parent, it's like you can go get food and come and let your kid run around while you eat. It's a food. Yeah, exactly. Every time I think playgrounds at Disney, I always go back to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids One at Hollywood Studios that they had for for a long time. Yeah.
00:55:51
Speaker
Because i just i just that I always remember that when ah when I was a kid. you know yeah It wasn't a traditional playground, right? But it was it was basically a playground because they you know you could go i mean you could go and climb on a bunch of stuff. And and it was it was a good way to kind of, like you said, blow up some steam. By the way, when I was going to not to go back to the it's tough to be a bug thing, but I was going to say the fact that they only gave people a month notice on this tells you how little they think people actually care about this attraction.
00:56:19
Speaker
um yeah Cause otherwise they would give more of a runway, right? They just gave you one month notice to go go go watch it one more time. Cause I think they just know that people don't care. Anyway, but yeah, playgrounds at Epcot, great. I always think that this is a really neat ah thing that they do. And when you're in one of the busiest theme parks in the world and there's just a playground there, it's a kind of a funny but cool thing, you know? Yeah. And it's what makes makes Disney parks, Disney parks, you know?
00:56:48
Speaker
One thing I'll also point out too is it look it looks like Disney may have started to learn their lesson about shade as well. Yeah, the shades above it. Yeah. Because yeah, the the thing is is like a a playground in the like in EPCOT One, I mean, this is a larger problem with theme parks in general is that you get, you know, when it's really hot out or when the sun's out, like, you know, you, your kids don't want to go play on a playground that is scorching hot. Like, like, you know, that's one thing is that it gets really hot. And then also, you know, just being out in the sun, but it looks like you said, yeah, it looks like they've they've got some, some canopies that they've put above where this playground is going to be.
00:57:28
Speaker
which, um you know, again, I think is a great thing for, you know, midday, like, you know, you can go to there's like the land and stuff nearby. But again, you know, if you if your kids are, you know, getting fidgety or whatever, you can set them loose in the space and they're not going to, you know,
00:57:48
Speaker
get second degree burns from the from the structure equipment. Yeah. What you mean, like back in the day, like when we were younger and they slides, the slides, yeah, the metal slides that would yeah destroy you if you sat on them in the sun. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, yeah. And I mean, I'm not I'm not, you know, as old as you guys, but when I was a kid, like we still had those. It wasn't like those were gone. You know, all the all the playground equipment was hot metal still. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Those those were around well into like around here, at least until like early 2000s, I was still seeing the metal slides. Oh man. I just, like I can, I can imagine in my head the the burning of that. All right. Let's go to the last thing here about Hong Kong Disneyland's 20th anniversary celebration, ah which is happening this summer.
Hong Kong Disneyland Celebrations
00:58:36
Speaker
And so they're doing a couple of things. They're doing a, ah a show, a special show in front of the castle, kind of like the
00:58:44
Speaker
ah you know the what it What is that show called in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom? I can't even think of it. Mickey's Friendship Fair or whatever it is. yeah yeah ah What's interesting about this one, though, is that it's Mickey and Minnie and i see dot I see Donald, Daisy. i wait Do I even see Donald? I don't even see Donald. I see Daisy. Oh, no, there's Donald there. Just no Daisy. Okay. And then Goofy. And then the rest of them are Duffy characters. Yes. Yes. It's it's very very Duffy heavy. Well, because they love Duffy at Hong Kong Disney. That whole area, they are obsessed with Duffy. and i I don't know where it comes from, but like the whole Duffy and Friends thing is is huge at those parks, and you know which I think is funny, but I don't understand why necessarily. but
00:59:29
Speaker
It's interesting when you see Duffy and friends on the stage with Mickey and Minnie and the rest of them, and you're you're not just not used to seeing that in the US parks, you know? Yeah. And and yeah, you're right. it's It is a very weird thing because it is like there is a lot of like merchandising and stuff around Duffy, but it's still very like centric to the parks. like it's it's not like there's earth i yeah I could be wrong. There may be a Duffy show somewhere, but you don't see like Like it's still very, like all the other media around it is still very like classic Disney, like like it's all the other Disney shows and stuff, but then it's like, but in the parks, it's like, Hey, you're going to see Duffy in the parks, which I mean, I don't, maybe, maybe that's why we don't understand it is because we're, we're thinking about it from like, yeah, you know, I want to see everybody from the shows and everybody tied into the parks, but in Hong Kong and, and same thing in Japan is that,
01:00:24
Speaker
They kind of separated the two that it's like there's Disney shows and then the parks has its own characters and whatnot. So there I just looked this up while you were talking. There was a Duffy and Friends series on Disney Plus. There was a stop ocean ah one in 2023. But I don't think anyone cared about it. I mean, I don't remember hearing about it. So I don't think it aired in because it it wouldn't have aired in like Disney Plus in North America. I don't know.
01:00:53
Speaker
I don't know. It doesn't say. It just says Disney Plus. So I don't know. But you know, for those who don't know, Duffy is Mickey Mouse's teddy bear. Right. So like that's he's supposed to be Mickey Mouse's actual teddy bear. But like, yeah, it's I've seen him and I saw him in Epcot one time. Like it's not that he yeah doesn't appear.
01:01:11
Speaker
and They used to be and have caught a lot. like He did, yeah. I remember that as well. Yeah. Duffy used to be a lot, but I mean, Duffy is, like I said, i ah from what I've read that in the some of the Asian parks, that Duffy is as popular, if not more popular, than like Mickey and Minnie. Duffy is huge overseas.
01:01:27
Speaker
So I don't know. But the thing that really caught my eye, Trevor, and you know where I'm going to go with this, is the nighttime show that they're going to be doing called Mementus. And they just have one piece of concept art here. And again, I'm just mad.
01:01:44
Speaker
I'm just annoyed. The bombardment of color and lights and everything. The drones. No, it's the drones, Trevor. and yeah no it's It is the drones, but i mean it's yeah it's another level of nighttime show. i mean They're doing a thing where they're projecting on the castle and and then it transitions And then it transitions to drones. And like that's incredible i mean the timing just required of that, first of all. I've always been amazed at at Disney's ability. And I know they how how they do this, but it's still amazing to me how anytime you see a nighttime show that the fireworks always explode and at the exact right moment in the music. right like the The timing
01:02:28
Speaker
is always impeccable with these shows. And to pull this off has to be so hard to do this because even in the concept art, just looking at it, like having that look correct has to be so difficult to pull off, you know? Yeah.
01:02:44
Speaker
Cause you're talking, it's basically Mickey. It's a, it's a projected image of Mickey holding onto a bunch of balloons and you see all the balloons ah projected on the castle and then the balloons float off to the left of the castle and become the drones lit up. And so to have that happen at the same, I just, I don't know. that just I have to wonder how much of the show is going to be that, like if if the drones, yeah. Well, so so the interesting, like to your point, the interesting thing about that is if they have multiple like effects like that going on, you actually need, you would need a lot of drones because you you would have to have a set that is repositioning for the next effect while the current effect is going on. Which means that the the complexity of the show gets very intense because you're, you're, you're basically managing
01:03:30
Speaker
groups of drones in addition to the music, the lighting, the projections on the castle. And then I guess in this, they don't show um fireworks in this concept art. They don't. Which. um And it doesn't, it doesn't even mention fireworks. Yeah, they don't even mention fireworks. Yeah. So, so maybe it's um maybe they're, this is their first foray into a nighttime non-firework show.
01:04:01
Speaker
I mean maybe, i like this is i this is the existing show by the way. ah it it is They already have this show, but it's like an anniversary version of it. but But again, that doesn't mean that there has to be fireworks.
01:04:14
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's true. yeah I mean, the current the current momentous does have fireworks, so it it does. So if they're continuing to do it, then um that way, then I mean, they'll they'll probably continue having fireworks. But um yeah, I don't know. I haven't watched a video of this one, but I kind of feel like I need to now. I don't know why I've never watched a video. but Well, I mean, why would you? Because it's like the the overseas parks, unless you're going to go there, like I can understand why you wouldn't be looking at their shows and stuff too much. I don't know if the current version has drones either. I don't know if that's just the anniversary version, but I'm just looking it up here and I i don't see any mention of drones. They talk about 3D projections and ah you know like the the ah fountains and stuff like that.
01:05:00
Speaker
But I don't see any mention of drones. So maybe the drones are are are part of the new version of it. But this one also, they have also like the the fountains in front of the castle to where they do like, you know, they have the fountains come up and they do the projection mapping and all the world of color. But again, it's it's taking they're taking technology from different shows and combining it together.
01:05:21
Speaker
And I just looked and I thought I didn't realize Momentus is a fairly new show as well, which it you know it could have it could have been a drone show because it it started back in 2022. But yeah, but like you said, I would wonder if you're right. You know, there's still maybe fireworks in the show, but I have to wonder if, you know, Disney is going to start taking opportunities to, you know, look at because, you know, we've talked about this many times with drones is that, you know, they're they've partnered with a company that that does this stuff and, you know, they own a piece of it. Yeah. that They could be looking to move towards, you know, just drone exclusive shows because while um I'm sure there's still ah a cost to run or there's definitely a cost still to Ryan drone shows with keeping them maintained and all that. But I mean, fireworks shows like just to run or every night they they cost something like $50,000.
Fireworks vs. Drones
01:06:17
Speaker
Yeah. and So the number is $50 million dollars annually are spent on fireworks by the Walt Disney company, $50 million. dollars Which I mean, I feel like, you know, if done properly, drones could give a similar experience without having to explode stuff in the sky every night.
01:06:36
Speaker
Yeah, and and to your point, you're right. So it's estimated that Disney spends $40,000 to $50,000 per night on Happily Ever After just by itself. yeah And you know, do i would I would hate if they did that because I do love the fireworks.
01:06:53
Speaker
Um, but you know, I, I, I will be excited to see what they do with drones. It's just bothering me that they do so many drone things everywhere else, but Disney worlds like that. I will, I will say this is that a lot of my favorite nighttime things at Disney don't involve fireworks because um like So Paint the Night and World of Color are both shows done in in Disneyland that um I think that they're fantastic and neither of them have any have any fireworks. And I mean Paint the Night, I know is it's a it's a it's a parade, but still, you know, there's they could they could do, um you know,
01:07:40
Speaker
I feel like they could do a lot more stuff where you know it doesn't have to be using traditional fireworks. Projections, drones, all these things have come so far that Disney doesn't have to keep doing fireworks. And as much as I know you say, you know I like fireworks, it's a you know you know it's it's a classic thing.
01:07:59
Speaker
um It's just like fireworks do come with their own sets of problems and that, you know, they they really aren't sustainable. If you think about it because, you know, ah the material used to make all the different colors, fireworks and stuff like, you know, you can't just keep doing that forever. and So yeah you're you're right. And that's also not to say that, you know, drones do require, you know, maintenance and you know batteries, parts, all that kind of stuff, too. But yeah.
01:08:26
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, to your point, I do think that they're going to start moving towards that. I mean, I think it's going to be a combination of drones and fireworks, at least for the time being. ah But I mean, yeah a lot of the drone shows that you're seeing, I mean, I don't know if you watched the one they did for the treasure, but that one was awesome. Like they just did a one off drone show just for the whatever you call it. And send off or whatever. of the Yeah, whatever it is, christening. Is that that it? Yeah. it's Yeah.
01:08:52
Speaker
So, you know, they just did a one-off for that, but it was really cool. And every time I see one of these drone shows, they're doing really cool stuff with them. I mean, I've seen them now where they've shot fireworks off of the drones, which is cool, and they've had smoke coming off of drones. And I know they've done a bunch... I remember us talking about patents before of drones where they they can ah they've patented technology where they can puppet large things with drones.
01:09:18
Speaker
So, I mean, like there's a lot ah lot of stuff they can do, and I'm interested to see what they're going to do. It's just ah funny to me that it's happening so much in the international parks and barely at all at Disney World, right? Or Disneyland, for that matter. I mean, a little bit. They're doing a little bit here and there. you know They did the Disney Springs thing for a little while there. they you know um But it's just it's there's so much opportunity, I feel like.
01:09:42
Speaker
Yeah. And it sucks because you feel like, you know, everyone else is getting it, but you, right? Exactly. That's what I'm saying. That's what drives me crazy. Yeah. Get bring it to Disney world. But anyway, one last thing on the Hong Kong stuff is the other, the other thing I actually that I really liked in the, in these, um,
01:09:59
Speaker
in the artist concept stuff is the float for the Frantastic parade. yeah it's
Parade Design Importance
01:10:07
Speaker
nice yeah um It does like it looks and looks similar to the ones you see and in the, um and sorry, I can't remember the name of it now, the the one in Magic Kingdom, the daytime parade. um Why am I forgetting the name?
01:10:22
Speaker
What are you talking about? Um, uh, my blanky on it too. Oh my gosh. Um, Oh, I need to look it up. No. Festival of fantasy. There you go. Thank you. eim wolf yes yeah i didn't look at him I just remembered it. Yeah. It kind of reminds me of festival of fantasy, but it's, it's very, um, it looks like they've done or the floats look a lot more, um,
01:10:50
Speaker
organic, I guess is the best way to put it. Like, you know, it's it like, it's got like that flowing wave through it and the flower petals and everything. Like I, I really like that. Like, you know, you know, stuff like that. people People do also, I feel underestimate how much like good, you know, if you're going to have a parade, like designing the floats so that they're, they're not boring is actually a big thing. And, you know, somebody definitely put a lot of work into this float design.
01:11:19
Speaker
Oh, for
Listener Engagement and Support
01:11:20
Speaker
sure. Yeah. By the way, Trevor, if you ever watch it, you should watch the Disney treasure christening because it it is a really cool tri show. did Oh, you did. Okay. it's Yeah. Okay. You did see it. It's awesome. Oh yeah. Totally. Yeah. I just want them to do more of it. So that's all. Yeah. Well, and yeah, I guess you can just, uh, you know,
01:11:38
Speaker
be sad about that while you're going to Disney World. Yeah, that's fair. All right, why don't we go ahead and wrap this thing up. Why are you sad in Magic Kingdom, Tom? Because I can't see the drones. Every time i i my wife and I have a running joke, every time we... Sorry, I'm just imagining you standing with the magic bar, like, just pouting next to the castle. What drones?
01:12:00
Speaker
No, i might my wife had that running joke every time we see a kid crying at Disney World. like It's like, dude, come on. There's no crying at Disney World. There should be no crying whatsoever here. I mean, we saw a kid one time that had an ice cream cone in his hand at at Magic Kingdom and was crying. I'm like, what could you possibly be upset about right now?
01:12:18
Speaker
You know, you have an ice cream cone and you're in Disney World. It's all that I want, but that, you know, yeah, that's I get it. You know, everybody has their moments and you know, I've I've been sad in Disney World, too. But yeah, you kind of forget quickly, though, because it's like you can be sad later. It's Disney World. It's Disney World. Yeah. Be happy. Yeah. Anyway. All right. I guess we should wrap this up. Yeah. Let's wrap it up.
01:12:48
Speaker
Okay. So yeah, as usual, if you guys want to reach out to us, you can always find us at welcome home podcast at gmail dot.com. We love hearing your your trip reports. you know we We love getting questions from you guys. um As we mentioned earlier on the show, we want to start doing listener questions again. So if you want to if you want to you know send us some listener questions by email, you can do so. um But you can also find us on social media. So you can find us on Facebook as Welcome Home Podcast. You can find us on YouTube as Welcome Home Podcast. And you can find us on Instagram as Welcome Home Picks. On Facebook, we have our group, Welcome Home Disney Waitlist, where
01:13:24
Speaker
We talk about all kinds of things from the show and you know just Disney stuff in general. And yeah, you know you know we do post our our listener question threads in there. So you know if you have some questions you want to ask us on the next show.
01:13:37
Speaker
um Make sure you get in the group and and ah and find that because we we should be posting one this week. if Since we talked about it, I don't make any guarantees because we we all have busy lives and sometimes it doesn't happen. but you know even I guess if we don't start a thread, you know we can also you know you guys can start your own threads too and ask us questions. We're more than happy to to to see you guys start stuff like that up. And if you want to help support the show, ah you can go to store.welcomehomepodcast.com and you can check out our different merch. um You know, if you need t-shirts or, you know, maybe a new mug for, um you know, drinking your coffee in the morning. ah And yeah, you know, it just, ah it just helps us keep the show running. Similarly, we do have a Patreon. You can go to patreon dot.com slash welcome home pod and you can check out our different
01:14:27
Speaker
levels of for Patreon supporters, which are also offers an exclusive logo on all of our merch from there that you can't get on the main store. And all of our Patreon subscribers get access to the Discord server, which is yet another place that we talk about all the great stuff that that we talk about on the show and just Disney and and stuff in general. And last but not least, if you're listening on iTunes or Spotify or anywhere that you can leave us a um or leave us a rating, you know give us that five star rating because um you know we we want it to to keep ourselves happy. you know It just makes us feel good. And also, hey, it it helps other people find the show too. you know There's that little side thing about it, but you know that's that's not the main reason. There there are a few things that you that you can do that help the show more than
01:15:20
Speaker
giving us a review so yeah yeah you know it's It's just it's a little thing, but you know leave us a five-star review. It's it's fine yeah It doesn't have to be five stars, but you know we' we'll ask for that when we can and ah You know also if you're if you're on iTunes or Spotify, you know, you know write us a review we love hearing what you guys think about the show and just ah You know, you know hear what hear what you think in general about about how we do things. Yeah Also, you know, really important. Don't forget to subscribe to Welcome Home podcast so you can be reminded every time we release a new episode. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music, just about any podcast app that's out there you can find us. Just search for a Welcome Home and obviously the one that says Disney and DVC, that one's us. Just a reminder to our listeners, welcome Home Pockets. It's for entertainment only. We are not employed by the Walt Disney Company, not such all opinions we express on the show are our own. So please consult a DVC representative or Disney cast member for more information about anything we talked about today. Huge thank
Final Thoughts and Disclaimer
01:16:16
Speaker
you to our sponsor, DVC Resale Market, for sponsoring this episode and continuing to be our good friends and sponsors over many, many years now. So please join us next time for more Disney Parks discussion. Of course, more DVC talk. We hope to see you all real soon.
01:16:32
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, signing off from Welcome Home Podcast on the TVC.