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Episode 001 - DVC News, Tron, Dinosaur, Abu Dhabi, and New Beginnings
103 Plays1 month ago
Hosts Blake and Damon introduce their new podcast, setting the stage for what to expect. They mention that they will be doing things a little differently, including discussing best vacation experiences and re-telling old stories.
In addition, they discuss DVC News and Tips like using your points over the lifetime of your kids growing up, DVC Refurbishments, and New Construction. They break it up with a listener question on what price point would you sell your contract and then get into Disney News.
Also, there's talk about Disneyland Abu Dhabi and water as its major theme, Carousel of Progress updates, the last days of Dinosaur and Restaurantasaurus, as well as the overlay for Tron in Tron:Ares that will include Nine Inch Nails that will start in September. Construction is visible on Monsters, Inc. at Hollywood Studios and it is huge as we decide on what sort of ride we would like to see here.
In the Aftershow, they discuss Dollywood and the new coaster arriving 'sometime soon' plus some of the houses at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights.
This episode sponsored by DontResisttheTravel.com
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Transcript
Introduction to Rhubarb Travelers Podcast
00:00:13
Speaker
Hey folks, welcome to episode 001, the inaugural episode of the Rhubarb Travelers podcast. I am Blake.
00:00:24
Speaker
I'm here with Damon. But what hold on a second. So if it's 001, there's only going to be 999 episodes ever? I mean, you're already setting us up for failure from day one, and right? i I don't know if I like that. All right. but but I guess with every two weeks, right? So it it that would be a very long time.
00:00:43
Speaker
Yeah. I'll just say one. I'll just say. All right. I'll go zero zero one. All right. Okay. We can go zero zero one. I'll probably just from then, ah from now on, just say two, three, four, but I just. You wanted to feel official. You wanted to feel very mathy.
00:00:55
Speaker
Yeah. All right. That's fine. I mean, so yes, this is our new podcast, ah Rhubarb
Podcast Format and Community Engagement
00:01:02
Speaker
Travelers. ah It came about in an interesting way. I'm just going to say this once.
00:01:07
Speaker
It's more about how the way the situation was handled. Think about it like this. You go to way of college. Yeah, you talk to your parents occasionally. Yeah, you kind of feel like some things are different, but you really can't put your finger on it, right?
00:01:19
Speaker
Right. Come home for Thanksgiving, go to put your key in the front door. Guess what? It doesn't work. You call your parents. They tell you, how yeah, we moved. We forgot to tell you. Sorry. Oh, and by the way, we sold all your stuff and kept the money. you You're on your own now. Good luck.
00:01:31
Speaker
how So we'll leave it at that. um But, you know, on bigger and better things. This is kind of what we're doing. There's going to be a lot of the same. Right. This is a DVC podcast at heart. We are going to give you more real world tips.
00:01:46
Speaker
Again, I've had DVC now for the whole extent of my kid's life. And my oldest one is now almost 22. So I've been through all the different stages of DVC, so I think that's a good thing. You know, we are going to talk about regular Disney news.
00:02:03
Speaker
We're going to talk about other things in our after show. So we decided to separate this out a little bit so that if you really are only here for Disney, that's okay, right? You can listen to the beginning part of the show and when it gets to the after show, which think there's going to be like music and a cut, I'm hopeful,
00:02:19
Speaker
That'll be a post. Yeah. And you can kind of just tune out if you want, or if you want to listen to things about Universal or Dollywood or some other, you know, kind of things that are going on, yeah you're more than welcome to do that as well. We just felt like that was a little bit better for our listeners.
00:02:33
Speaker
The other thing we're going to do, think about this. It's funny when, you know, Rhubarb, we'll go over the story at some point, probably not this episode. But the other thing it makes me feel like is it makes me feel very Fraggle Rock.
00:02:44
Speaker
sort of, right? traveling like matt right they That's what it makes me feel like. So the one thing we are going to do, if you join our group, right, we do have a Facebook group, Rhubarb Travelers, and then there's a page for the podcast rhubarb travelers podcast if you join them we will be handing out pins at some point when we make pins for like who's had the coolest vacation in the past couple months we're gonna have swag so we will have swag right i mean our goal it really is just to kind of give back to everybody and make sure that we have some cool stuff so that's what we're about we'll kind of you know go over some of our
00:03:20
Speaker
other stories that, you know, kind of need to be brought back
Disney Trip Planning Challenges
00:03:23
Speaker
up. But I think the first thing I want to talk about is my parents are going to Disney next week. All right. So are they going, are you going with them or is No, no, no, I'm not. So they're going yeah on their own with some of their friends and it's been interesting, right? Cause things have changed a little bit.
00:03:40
Speaker
So, you know, they went to get their ride passes, you know, and it was just turned into a disaster. They tried to get into, what is that thing called? Beacon barrel, whatever that is.
00:03:51
Speaker
That was a no go. The new bar. new bar Yep, that was a no-go. They couldn't get in. So they'll try to like swing by and see if they can get in. um But they couldn't do that. But they did do that $99 thing where, what is that like the, where like you can kind of get some special um access to things. I forget what it's called now.
00:04:10
Speaker
See, this is where we need Blake to be just, you know. Wait, do you even have DVC? That's the question. I don't even think you do, do you? Not yet. Not yet. He said not yet.
00:04:21
Speaker
Yet. This is terrible. and just You know what? I have to await permission from the queen. so yeah i'm I'm working on it day by day. Trust me. and Okay, there you go.
00:04:32
Speaker
So, you know, again, they're going for a couple of days. They can't ride the rides that they used to, you know, just health reasons being older and things like that. So they kind of plan their trip a little differently. But, right you know, I'm kind of curious to see how, you know, they enjoy it.
00:04:46
Speaker
They focus a little bit more on food and shows nowadays, which I don't think is bad, right? As you get older, that's okay. you think they could have ah benefited from a travel agent helping them out?
00:04:58
Speaker
This is called foreshadowing photos. Yeah, you know, i'm not I'm not sure because they, you know, when you have DVC, you're you're kind of good, right? Like you don't necessarily need a travel agent when you have DVC. Now, if you don't have DVC, that's a different story. i mean, I use a travel agent as well for, you know, our upcoming trips as well as our cruises, just so everyone's aware.
00:05:18
Speaker
So again, you know, I'll kind of get some interesting information when my parents come back. So figure by next show, i'll I'll have an update on, you know, what they did. I know they want to ride Dinosaur, though.
00:05:29
Speaker
I know that for a fact. I tell tell them, say, I think you forget how rough that ride really is. um i have to go to the chiropractor every time I get off that ride. Yeah, so so we'll see. But I think that there's just some nostalgia there for that ride in general, right? Because that was a big ride when my kids were growing up. And, you know, it kind of in the beginning stages, we went without my parents. And then in the middle stages, like where my kids were like, you know, somewhere between, let's say my oldest one, maybe it was like six to 12. We kind of went with them. And then as they got a little bit older, you know, we we went by ourselves again. So there's a lot of dinosaur trips with the whole family. So i think there's some nostalgia there.
Support and Monetization
00:06:07
Speaker
Yeah. ah So I think for everyone else, the other thing, too, is, is you know, if you we do have a Patreon link, we are looking just for some really just funding to help us get the show going.
00:06:19
Speaker
That's it. right Right. That's all we're really looking for. You know, hosting hosting the show isn't free. So there is a small a small fee associated with that. So anything you folks could throw our way, we would definitely appreciate it.
00:06:31
Speaker
um And, you know, eventually we'll offer some exclusive things. Like I said, we we need to get some shows under our belt here. yeah So, you know, we will kind of tinker a little bit with the show layout as well as, you know, kind of what people think.
Maximizing DVC Points
00:06:45
Speaker
But I think the first thing we're going to do is start with DVC News and tips.
00:06:49
Speaker
i I think that, I don't know what tips Blake can get, obviously, since, you know, he's going to have to look them up. He's going to have to ask Google for tips. It's called research. So for me, the one thing I do want to say, I think this has always kind of been at the forefront of my feeling about DVC. I know some people don't necessarily think I love Disney. And, and you know, I definitely loved Disney while the kids were growing up. We're at a different point in our life.
00:07:13
Speaker
I will tell you this, though. Buying into DVC doesn't necessarily only have to be about Disney. There's other things that happen. So for us, it was, you know, this upcoming year and last year, my daughter had tennis camp.
00:07:25
Speaker
We stayed at a Disney resort when we wanted to go to Universal. Because here's the other thing, too. When you head to Universal and you're like, oh, that first night I'm going to be paying for a hotel and I'm not even going to be going to the parks. Don't do it.
00:07:37
Speaker
right Stay in your DVC the night before, which is what we did. Right. And that was great. I think the other thing is you're going on a cruise. you know, you have to be there the day before the cruise, right? You don't wanna be driving up to the port, and you know, get flat tire or something happens.
00:07:51
Speaker
So using it there and maybe even after the cruise. So when you come off a cruise, you're coming off at like, gosh, I think we were off by seven. Nine o'clock in the morning. It was 7.20 we were off the boat this time. It was very early. like And maybe you don't want to drive home right away.
00:08:06
Speaker
You use your Disney hotel. you know Those are all things to use it for. And I think the other thing that people don't necessarily think about is sports. So again, i kind of mentioned tennis, but there's cheer, there's volleyball, there's so yeah even, you know, swim for us, you know, to go to down there and stay there. If you have to go to one of these events, it's also very helpful in terms of money. So I think that, you know,
00:08:33
Speaker
People can't think it's just necessarily about going to Disney. It has to be a little bit more. I mean, if you've ever tried to stay somewhere else in Orlando, you know it's expensive. This is something that's nice. You know what you're going to get. Not like the last time we went to the neighbor hotel and it was not what we expected.
00:08:50
Speaker
You know, there's something that kind of as, you know, people will say keeps you in the bubble. So right I think that was it. Hey, have you ever, speaking of sports, have you ever been in the parks when there's been ah cheerleading event?
00:09:02
Speaker
I have been. Yeah, that's an experience yeah all to itself. Yes, it definitely is. um so So i guess Blake is going to tell us a little bit here about some of the refurbishments that are
DVC Location Updates
00:09:15
Speaker
going on. Right. So the main thing going on with DVC right now is, of course, always refurbishments.
00:09:20
Speaker
ah The Grand Flow has their main lobby. It is slowly but surely getting completed. um The walls are still up right now, but they hopefully will be coming down soon.
00:09:31
Speaker
That is, of course, to make way for that new bar ah that is coming into the lobby. um The other refurb news we've got going on is Copper Creek over at Animal Kingdom Villas is almost finished. And I've thrown a picture,
00:09:47
Speaker
don't know if you. What is Copper Creek at Animal Kingdom Villas? but Oh, did I say that wrong? yeah I think so a little bit. and All right. Copper Creek is almost finished. okay um I've thrown a picture of one of the new rooms into the show notes. in folks, we're going to be posting the show notes you so you'll be able to see this.
00:10:07
Speaker
What do you see? Does something to like jump out at you about that that room, Damon? I'm just curious. It jumped out at me immediately. No. Okay. So here's what jumped out to me.
00:10:18
Speaker
If you change out a little bit of those furnishings, you have the Polynesian studio room right there. Like it literally looks exactly the same, except without all of the Polynesian furnishings. So...
00:10:32
Speaker
In a way, i think that's you know a little concerning because right yeah you know they're making cookie cutter rooms, it seems like. and yeah i don't necessarily mind that. Like I said, I mean, as for me, I'm not too concerned about that. I am, though, looking at your notes where we have some Lakeshore Lodge construction still going on.
00:10:56
Speaker
Right. And there's another picture that. Yeah, i I don't know. i think i'm going to feel I feel like I'm going to have to buy there like just because Haunted River Country.
00:11:08
Speaker
Another one of my great ideas. um But I think I'm just going to have to buy over there just because. i don't know how many points need. Right now I'm at 450. I feel like I could use a little bit more.
00:11:20
Speaker
Um, just because, you know, it sounds like a lot, but then we were talking about like going somewhere for a week. And as you know, again, my kids have significant others.
00:11:30
Speaker
Well, all of a sudden you're at a three bedroom and then it's like, Oh, four 50, not really enough for a week at three bedroom at some places. I was just getting ready to ask how with your current staying style, how, how much can you get out of 450 points?
00:11:45
Speaker
Oh, I mean, it it really just depends. Like, it depends what we're doing. You know, again, if I go down tennis this year, I think what we'll do is we'll probably do a two bedroom because we're going to do over 4th of July and me and my daughter will go down first. And then my wife and my two boys will probably come down for a short stay.
00:12:04
Speaker
So we'll just kind of jam into it into a two bedroom, which is fine. But if we were to stay all week and and kind of do stuff, I would say that we would probably do three bedroom. Well, we typically are doing three bedrooms at this point. So it just depends where we stay. I mean, some places we can't even stay a week on that.
00:12:20
Speaker
I mean, some of the other places I think are like 300 for, you know, 300 and something for Saratoga or, know, Key West. Yeah. So it really just depends. um it It's enough for now, but I feel like as more people become, you know, come into the family, it will be time for some more.
00:12:40
Speaker
okay um The only other piece of DVC news that I have today is about average resale price. And folks, if you don't know, Damon kind of looks down on the whole resale thing. So this is just from me.
00:12:53
Speaker
okay So for average resale price, it's increased now for the third consecutive month in a row. um yeah There is his historically low inventory on all of the resale sites.
00:13:05
Speaker
um And for the first time ever, Disney actually executed a rofer on a Riviera contract. So I don't know what that says about ah the resale market, but if they're executing on Riviera, um it's interesting.
00:13:20
Speaker
Riviera is nice. Like I understand it has stipulations around it, but it's so nice that sometimes you kind of got to look past that a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. All right, folks, we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back after this word from our sponsor.
00:13:34
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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New Sponsor Introduction
00:14:31
Speaker
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00:14:42
Speaker
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00:14:54
Speaker
And we're back. All right. So at this point in the show, we're going to do some listener questions. We only have one. This is from Chris R. Congratulations, Chris. You are the very first person with a question ever for the podcast.
00:15:08
Speaker
You can hold that badge of honor forever. So Chris R. says, if you were to sell your contract, is there a price point that you would not go below or would you be willing to take what you are offered if it seems fair?
00:15:23
Speaker
Well, in my mind, there's always a price where you say, no, I'm not doing that. So the question is, what is that? What is that for you? I don't, you know, it's it's very difficult because,
00:15:36
Speaker
the The problem is, is I like having it, right? Like, and I don't necessarily need the money. So I don't know if there's really a price point.
00:15:47
Speaker
I mean, yeah listen, if you start offering me more than it costs to buy new, yeah, obviously that's crazy talk, right? But like, even if you're offering me close to what it is to buy new, like I'm still not selling. it So for me, as crazy as it sounds, it would have to be over the cost of a new contract at this point.
00:16:06
Speaker
Right. For me to want to sell. And, and historically, if you look at it over the years, prices have gone up on your contract. So the longer you keep it, you know, there's a good chance that could happen.
00:16:19
Speaker
Right. So, well, I mean, I'm sure it's worth I could sell it for more than I bought it for, but it would have to be being sold for more than what new contracts are for, which is not going to happen. Right. That would make no sense. So really, the short answer here is, is I don't think there necessarily is a price because it just doesn't make sense for me. I just utilize it too much.
00:16:41
Speaker
Right. Again, like we're out of points, like I'm waiting, you know, for December for my yearly points and we're going to use them again. So I get, I get used out of my points. they Remind me, do you have all of your points at the same place or they spread? No, I have, um, Saratoga and Riviera.
00:17:00
Speaker
Okay. Okay. 250 and whatever is on that. Yeah, something like that. I feel like more, though. I don't know. I might have more than that. I might have 250 and 270.
00:17:12
Speaker
I don't know. I don't even know. Like, I don't even pay attention. You've got a ports coming out of the ears, man. I got four contracts. Oh, my gosh. Listen, not as not as much as a lot of people have, so...
00:17:24
Speaker
I'll be honest with you, but that's okay.
Disneyland Abu Dhabi Innovations
00:17:26
Speaker
But again, for me, this is just, i like my points. I use them a lot. I don't think there'd be any time where I'd be willing to sell them. Yeah. Okay. All right. ah Let's move on to some park news. All right.
00:17:38
Speaker
um The only thing we're going to talk about really from last week and folks, like we said earlier, this is going to be a show that happens every two weeks. So we're going to have some news that occurred the week before always. And so this part is there.
00:17:51
Speaker
Um, the only thing we're going to talk about right now is the Skyliner is going to be undergoing some brief maintenance. It's not going to happen until January. So you've got some time to plan for that. It's going to be January 25 through January 31, which is traditionally one of the lower attendance times of the, of the parks. So you should be able to mitigate that quite a bit.
00:18:12
Speaker
So. Let's move on to breaking news. ah This was just announced yesterday, so the ink is still wet on it. ah Disneyland Abu Dhabi.
00:18:23
Speaker
That castle is going to incorporate water as one of its major themes. And Zach Ridley, one of the Imagineers, got on, I believe it was Instagram, Instagram.
00:18:34
Speaker
um And said that though for the first time, water is going to be used in the design of the castle itself and not just an extra feature like the moats around the other castle or things like that. so I like this.
00:18:48
Speaker
First of all, love water just in general. he like So anything that incorporates water, plus you can do so many cool things with water. I think that you know you you know there'll be a lot of... like sort of shooting water is my guess, things like that. But I think this is is pretty awesome. I mean, and at night um at nighttime, the the ability to project on those screens of water, kind of like phantasmic. I'm sure they'll do something like that.
00:19:14
Speaker
i I wonder if they're going to have something where there are, i don't want to say clear walls. Like, I feel like somehow the water will be inside the walls.
00:19:25
Speaker
Oh, just that's interesting. Yeah. but I mean, if you look at the kind of the drawings they have around it, man, it does look interesting. Yeah. It's going to be ah bucket list. you know And also people think, well, Abu Dhabi, it's the desert. you know It's over there. Why would they waste water? Abu Dhabi is actually on the coast.
00:19:47
Speaker
It is a city on the coast. So it's not out of place to have a water element there. So should be. Pretty interesting. When is this park even, is there any dates for this? Oh.
00:20:01
Speaker
I don't think so, right? I don't think so. They're not even close enough to to be able to. That would be interesting, though. I look forward to that. I don't know if I'll ever make it there, but I'll see pictures. I'll see video. It'd definitely be a bucket list item.
New Animatronic at Disney World
00:20:15
Speaker
ah Let's see. What else? d twenty three announced that the Walt Disney World will be getting its own ah Walt Disney animatronic. It's going to be put in Carousel of Progress.
00:20:28
Speaker
It is going to be in the introductory scene that you see at the very beginning. um And with all things Disney, it will take two years to do that. it Right. its it's or Or as we say, a half of a Tron.
00:20:40
Speaker
Right? Yeah. measure things in Tron timeline. Yeah. I mean, i this is definitely good. I think it's needed. i just i just don't know why it's going to take so long. I mean, I guess they're going to do some updates in general.
00:20:52
Speaker
Right. Well, they've announced it's going to be in 2027. You can't see me, but my fingers are doing the air quotes. 2027, right? Yeah. It could be the beginning. It could be the end. You know, obviously, they're going to have to install Walt.
00:21:05
Speaker
They will. I mean, that entire first introductory scene is going to have to be reconfigured. Mm-hmm. I don't even go that often to Carousel of Progress. You know, I've, ah sorry for the dad joke here, but I've come around on that, right? So I used to like, oh my gosh, why is this still here? And now I kind of enjoy it.
00:21:25
Speaker
The song gets stuck in there. It's a place to relax. It's a place to sit down, right? Good old air conditioning for 20 minutes. Yeah. Can't beat it. ah Let's see. Moving on. outside and This is hurtful. I know. dinosaur i know and your folks are I hope your folks make it there in time.
00:21:42
Speaker
Yeah, they're going to be there next week, so they'll be covered.
Dinosaur Ride Closure
00:21:46
Speaker
Final day for Dinosaur the Ride is going to be February 2, 2026. twenty twenty six so If you want to get that ride in, you need to go make your reservations now.
00:21:58
Speaker
um also the last day for character meet and greets in Dinoland in their Dinoland costumes is going to be the day before February 1 so I believe it's Chippendale. I think Minnie is there.
00:22:11
Speaker
um think Donald Duck also. Can't remember. and And so we're getting Indiana Jones, right? Correct. And also the Encanto house. Let's just talk about Indiana Jones for second. This is so funny to me. So, you know, I go up to visit my son for soccer and he's taking a film class, okay?
00:22:32
Speaker
Okay. And in his film class, they have to watch Indiana Jones. I think they watched the second one. Right. Cool. Okay. No problem. Right. He's, we're kind of talking about how did you like it? Yeah, it was good. It was good. But here's the thing.
00:22:44
Speaker
So if he hadn't had a film class, he never would know anything about Indiana Jones. What? yeah Yeah. You didn't make him watch that as a kid?
00:22:56
Speaker
No, Goonies had to take precedent, right? Like my kids were getting to the point where they were like, listen, it's different from when we were growing up where there wasn't a lot to watch. So you could say, hey, go watch this. Like I tell my kids to go watch something and they'll be like, nah, maybe like, because there's just so much out there, right? For them to watch.
00:23:13
Speaker
So no, they had never seen it. So that's the thing for me. Like, I just don't love this. Everyone loves dinosaurs. Yeah. I mean, listen, in Indiana Jones is a great series, but like, you know, a series of movies and and some of the shows. But like, man, I don't know. I just thought it was funny that like he really wouldn't have known anything about it unless he had this film class.
00:23:31
Speaker
Right. i I wonder how much um of the Indiana Jones ride out in Disneyland is going to get copied over. Because, you know, the track for Dinosaur yeah is is the exact same track that they use for the Indiana Jones out in Disneyland. Yeah.
00:23:48
Speaker
I'm more excited for, you know, the America's land, the tropical America's land, to be honest with you. But again, it seems like 2027, there's going to be a lot of stuff cooking. A lot going on in 2020, almost too much. Like I'm going to be interested to see how much of this they actually make out. don't think it's all going to open at the same time. I think it's going to be spread throughout the year, which is going to make it difficult. Like, when do you want to actually go? What are you going to be looking forward to?
00:24:12
Speaker
But I think that, yeah, there'll be, our next trip will be so in 27, I'm guessing. Or 25 now. Yeah, 26. I don't think we have, well, I'll be down there, but I don't think we'll actually be going to the parks. We might, you know, leading into the next thing, we might actually go to Magic Kingdom. We haven't been there in a long time. Like when we have gone the past couple of times, we've just gone to Epcot.
00:24:34
Speaker
Right. um And I think that, you know, Tron, And Tiana's will force us over to Magic Kingdom.
Tron Ride Overlay
00:24:42
Speaker
So Tron's getting an overlay. Right. Wait minute. Before we move on to Tron overlay, ah one other thing about the the dinosaur.
00:24:50
Speaker
If you are a big ah character meet and greet dinner or breakfast person, Restaurantosaurus, the restaurant, they are going to be ending as well. um That will also occur right around that same time of February too. So if you want to see all the characters at in their getups while you're eating, make those reservations now at Restaurantosaurus. There you go.
00:25:12
Speaker
It's a mouthful. All right. Moving on to Tron overlay. So ah we're going to go from the traditional blue-orange teams, and they're going to make one of them the red team. It's going to be red and orange.
00:25:26
Speaker
All right. This is all about ah to support the Tron Ares movie coming out. um From what I've heard, okay, so from folks that have done test screens, um this is actually going to be a good Tron movie. All right. And I'm excited. What does that even mean? oh i think I watched the OG Tron. I played the game in the arcade that had the special yup stick, right right? And then I was out of Tron. I'm done with Tron. I don't think I've seen any other Tron since then.
00:25:54
Speaker
Oh, it's such a great premise, and i'm I really want this third movie to hit. i'd like Tron deserves a good movie. It's a great concept. I hope they get it.
00:26:05
Speaker
The best part is that the overlay is going to include some Nine Inch Nails soundtrack. Yeah. I just saw them in concert about a week ago. So I'm excited about that.
00:26:18
Speaker
That all starts on September 15th, which is going to be about four days from when this podcast released. So you're going down, it's cool. Yeah, I like it. I mean, it's just, I'm not a nine inch nails guy, right?
00:26:32
Speaker
Right. I'm not really a Tron guy, but I think it's still cool for overlays. I think a lot of rides should have overlays. I think that's an easy way to kind of bring something a little different. Spice it up like they do with Space Mountain with the Star Wars overlay every now and then. Yeah. Right.
00:26:48
Speaker
Yeah. Agreed. Let's see. what ah Let's move over to Disney Hollywood Studios.
Monsters, Inc. Attraction
00:26:53
Speaker
They are installing the footers now for the Monsters, Inc. attraction. So that attraction is going to span, believe it or not, 103,000 square feet.
00:27:05
Speaker
square feet It is going to be the second largest building at Walt Disney World in Florida, only behind Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind. And I've posted a picture in the show notes. And if you look at that outline, if you were to kind of imagine that outline of that building and move it over into Star Wars land over there in the upper right of the corner, that building pretty much takes up the city part of Batuu.
00:27:33
Speaker
If that makes sense. Like it's huge. Yeah. I mean, I just hope it's good. and It could be big and not good, and that would be bad. like like I have a good feeling about this, though.
00:27:45
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, the fact that it's a hanging coaster, I think, is going to be nice. It just needs to be different. Again, I i always preach this. It's like, give me something different. Just make it just a little bit different. Something new. Some sort of new technology that is right in your face. You know what I mean? That like makes a big difference. So I'm i'm hopeful that that's what we're going to get here.
00:28:09
Speaker
Right. Yeah. that they So we will try to get guests on the show as well. um We do have opportunity to get different kinds of guests. So we will make that a point. We want to get a couple of shows under our belt first before we start inviting people to the mess. Right. Let's make sure we're in order here and then we will make sure that we get some some guests on the show.
00:28:31
Speaker
Right. All right. So as we wrap up before we go to the after show, please go visit don't resist the travel dot com. Let them handle every detail in creating and planning your next extraordinary getaway.
00:28:45
Speaker
Listen to us on all your podcast streamers and rate us. um If we are not on your favorite platform, please drop us a message in Facebook and we will do our best to get set up on that platform.
00:28:56
Speaker
While you're at it, please go to Apple Podcasts, leave a five-star rating, and review us. Now, in the review part, you can say whatever, but just make sure you put five stars, okay? um It helps out the show tremendously when ah you leave that rating.
00:29:11
Speaker
um Damon mentioned earlier, we do have a Patreon. So please go to Patreon, look up Rhubarb Travelers Podcast. We will be the only one, I promise you, right? Basically, you know how to spell rhubarb. It's harder than you think.
00:29:24
Speaker
I will tell you, I am not going to lie. I had to put a request into Facebook as I created the podcast page because I did spell it wrong myself. And I was like, oh, this is terrible.
00:29:36
Speaker
It's time for the Hapka Show.
Missing Halloween Horror Nights
00:29:41
Speaker
So here's where we're going to talk about some things like kind of outside of Disney. And the first thing we want to talk about is hollywood Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. and You know, I'm so upset I can't go.
00:29:53
Speaker
and And here's my situation. My boys are in college. They just don't have the time to go. Right. And... It's hurtful because like I even said said, oh, what if we went down on a Friday and came back on a Sunday? And they're like, absolutely not. you you know They are not that much about it. But I loved Fallout.
00:30:10
Speaker
And the fact that there's Fallout here, I missed i missed out on Stranger Things. But like Fallout for me was... I think Fallout is, again, I'm sure people are not going to love this, but I think Fallout was better than Stranger Things. i mean, we haven't seen the end of Stranger Things, but Fallout's darn good.
00:30:25
Speaker
Yeah, I saw Fallout, but I never saw Stranger Things. so And I really enjoyed Fallout. i mean, it was good. So it would be worth it. di us Is your daughter into that? We're going to have to get a new host now.
00:30:36
Speaker
ah Whatever. You said you haven't seen Stranger Things? I have not. Yeah, I got to, you know, got to ration my TV time. I got to pick the things that I think will interest me. Oh, I mean, it's good that you saw Fallout. I mean, it's very good. So, yeah, I'm little upset about that. But I know that once my boys are out. So next, let's see, I got two years and then we're going to the Halloween show.
00:31:00
Speaker
Gosh, I can't say it's Halloween Horror Nights. That's easy for you to say. Yeah, we're going to be doing it. Now, is your daughter into the horror thing? No, absolutely not. Nor is my wife, as you know the story. Yeah, you got kicked out.
00:31:11
Speaker
Yeah. So we're actually going to be trying to find a new place this year. The place we wanted to go to had some damage, and they're not going to be open until after my boys are back to school. So my boys both have a weekend where it's um they have Monday off.
00:31:25
Speaker
And we usually go on that Sunday, but you know this place isn't going to be open. So we're in the hunt for something new. Woods of Terror is great. We're just not going to go back. right We've been a few times. So we're going to try something new this year. hollywood hello Hollywood Horror Nights, which is by us. We've also been to a bunch of times.
00:31:42
Speaker
we're going to find something new. Blake put in here holidays at Universal. Right. So it's Christmas christmas time at Universal. It's going to run from November 21 to January 4.
00:31:54
Speaker
ah The only reason I put this in here is because to the Christmas at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I think that would be kind of cool. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think that would be cool as well.
Dollywood Trip Planning
00:32:05
Speaker
Again, I think these are dates that I'm going to start seeing once the kids are out school, right? Because this makes more sense to go during this time when, you know, it's not as super packed and there's kind of different things to do with all the holidays and stuff. So that's cool.
00:32:20
Speaker
ah The other thing to talk about here is Dollywood. So we are... going to be planning our Dollywood trip. Again, I got to bring nine people. So we're going to get like 3,000 rooms or whatever the case may be, but they should have a new ride next year.
00:32:33
Speaker
And there are people are guessing on what it's going to be like, but I'm excited. I think it's going to be something different and new. So we will be going there over the summer. I just have to make sure that we plan it.
00:32:44
Speaker
We're going to go in August. So Hopefully it won't like open in October or something. That would be just absolutely terrible. I think that would be good for the summer. So kind of stay tuned as we continue to follow up on that.
00:32:56
Speaker
yeah So they haven't announced anything about this new ride yet? There's some announcements, right? And they're already building. It's an inside dark ride. Oh. Yeah, so it should be interesting. I also saw recently some awards that, you Dollywood won a bunch of awards. So did Universal this year.
00:33:13
Speaker
Dollywood got, if they didn't get the top spot, they got close to the top spot Universal. Best theme park, right? Yeah, it is. It really is such a great place. And everyone that I send there and they're like, no, no, no. I'm like, dude, just go once and then tell me. I love it.
00:33:31
Speaker
I will tell you. So I've told this story today, right? I went to Dollywood about five years ago. And from what... I remember ah Dollywood. I'd actually never been to Dollywood, but my grandparents went to the old school right the old school Dollywood. So my in my mind, Dollywood was for a bunch of old people to go listen to country music. right But we went there, and I have to say I was blown away by their roller coasters.
00:34:00
Speaker
They have some top-notch roller coasters at Dollywood. If you have never been, ah just like Damon told his friend, you need to go one time and and splurge for the the, whatever they call their express pass. All you have to do is stay at the hotels yeah and you get it for free.
00:34:20
Speaker
Time saver, I think. it's cool Yeah. Time something. Right. Yeah. i would it's It's worth it. Mine cart is a different sort of ride. I love that one. a Lightning rod is a little bit of a shell, would of what it used to be.
00:34:32
Speaker
i hate to say it, but still and a great coaster. Wild Eagle, very good as well. Yeah, Eagle is the one where you're you're out on the wings. Out on the wings, yeah. it's just It's such a smooth coaster. Yeah. probably the first magnetic coaster that we rode that was that smooth.
00:34:50
Speaker
really was. The first time I rode that was at night and we went up that first hill, right? And right as we got to the top, they started their nightly fireworks.
00:35:01
Speaker
Oh, that's funny. It looked like the fireworks were right in your face. when it was It was amazing. That's cool. The only thing I miss about Dollywood is they used to have a zipline over the park, which they no longer have.
00:35:13
Speaker
So... Right. That's the disappointment. But there are a lot of great zip lines there. Again, the the whole area is very well done, right? It's not just Dollywood. There's a lot to do there. Last time we went, we didn't even go to Dollywood and we still didn't get everything done that we wanted to. So, you know, Pigeon Forge, Gatlingberg in general, there's there's a lot of fun stuff to do.
00:35:30
Speaker
So. Right. All right, everyone. This is our first episode. Like I said, you'll have to bear with us as we kind of find our footing. Yeah. Blake has never put together show notes before. I think he did okay. I did okay. Yeah. Okay. A little stumble.
00:35:42
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Rookie season. I think we need some more. We need more Disney news next time. Yeah. Which we'll get to, right? well We'll definitely kind of work it in and kind of get some more news. But I think a solid effort on the first, you know, kind of go around. So everyone...
00:35:57
Speaker
Like i said, join the group. I will tell you that in the group, you know, you make a post, people will interact with you. I think that's a good thing in our group. Yes. And i think that, you know, as we continue to grow, things will kind of even get better from there.
00:36:10
Speaker
So... All right, folks. Yeah. If you need anything else from us, you can always find us at, what is Rhubarbtravelers at gmail.com. Right. Rhubarbtravelerspodcast at gmail.com. Yeah. Rhubarbtravelerspodcast at gmail.com. We do have a website that's in like, I'm in the, in the midst of it.
00:36:27
Speaker
So it should be done hopefully soon, but I mean, you can go there and just kind of laugh at, you know, as I work on it. Right.
00:36:37
Speaker
404. No, it's never a 404. It's up and running, but it is not fully complete yet. I am continuing to work on it. So we'll kind of see how it goes. Right. And then in addition to the website, we are on all of the social media outlets. So we are on X or Twitter or whatever they're calling it this week.
00:36:53
Speaker
We're on Instagram. We're on Facebook, obviously. So please go follow us on all of the socials. It helps us out quite bit. Thank you, everybody. All right. See you in two weeks, everyone.
00:37:06
Speaker
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. Please consult a DVC or Disney cast member or Universal team member for more information about anything we might have talked about today.