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Episode 013 - Josh D'Amaro pauses Villains land (for a good reason!), Smuggler's Run and Toy Story Midway Mania are getting overhauls, and Dollywood is running an airline for a day!
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In this episode, a massive shakeup at Walt Disney World as new CEO Josh D’Amaro reportedly pauses Villains Land to demand something bigger, darker, and far more ambitious—potentially redefining the future of Disney expansion. We break down rumors of a Forbidden Mountain coaster, next-level trackless ride tech with “panic mode” vehicles, and a Fortress of Evil centerpiece designed to compete directly with Universal’s Epic Universe. Plus, Smugglers Run gets a Mandalorian-powered overhaul, Toy Story Midway Mania closes ahead of Toy Story 5, and Olaf joins Animation Academy with brand-new dialogue from Josh Gad. Plus, Damon talks about his kid's upcoming DVC Spring Break trip to HHI.
Beyond Disney, the competition is heating up with Mattel filing plans for a $3 billion indoor-focused Orlando theme park, Universal rolling out aggressive ticket deals that slash per-day pricing, and Jurassic Park props appearing backstage at Universal Hollywood. Plus Dollywood’s wildly creative themed airline experience tied to Smoky Mountain Christmas.
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Transcript
Episode 13 Superstitions
00:00:13
Speaker
Hey folks, welcome to episode number 13 of the Rhubarb Travelers podcast. We are recording this show on Wednesday, February 25th, 2026. I am Blake and with me as always is Damon. How are you doing, my friend?
00:00:28
Speaker
Are we supposed to record an episode 13 or is that like we're supposed to skip it? Do we skip it I don't know. It's like a hotel. Do we just skip it and go to drink? I think we're going to just say we're doing 13. Going to keep the number. Okay.
Disney Trip Dilemmas
00:00:41
Speaker
So how you been doing? that's I've been doing okay. um Yeah. So again, we, I kind of posted this on the group, but you know, i had asked my oldest son, it's his senior year. He had asked me about going, you know, Oh, you know, might go with some of my friends to somewhere for spring break. We're like, that's fine. Didn't really hear anything about it. And then, know, a couple of months ago I'd said to him, well,
00:01:06
Speaker
You know, you can always go to Disney because we have points. And again, we're not using our points for a while, right? Like I'm not worried about this year's points. So he was like, all right, you know, thanks. And then didn't hear anything until yesterday. Hey, so can we get something for next week?
00:01:23
Speaker
Typical, typical college student. Yeah. But what was interesting is, is like, you know, I said, you know, i was telling my wife, like, well, what's cheaper? Because, you know, he's going to go with four other people. Right.
00:01:35
Speaker
I'm not asking them for any money. We're just, you know, kind of doing it. i I said, I hope like they pay for his food, but whatever, that's a kid's thing. You know, they they don't understand how much the hotel would cost if they went there themselves, but neither here nor there.
00:01:50
Speaker
So I said, you know, it doesn't really matter Disney World or Hilton Head. I said, you know Hilton Head's a little closer for us. And then I looked, i was like, oh my goodness, like Hilton Head's like 45 degrees. Like, that's cold. Like, what are they going to do? I said, no, let's do, send them to Orlando. And then I looked at Orlando, it was like 25. And I was like, oh I guess it doesn't really matter.
00:02:09
Speaker
So now have they, they haven't gone, actually gone yet, have they? They haven't what? They haven't gone yet, right? they had to so they They go on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and I think they're back here Wednesday. Like, originally, we were going to send them for four days. Well, my wife would have sent them for four days, and I'm like, it's a bunch of college kids. Like, they can go for three days. Like, I don't want to have to, like, I don't mind spending the points, but I'm also not wasting points for no reason. Luckily, I mean, you know how hard Hilton Head is to get into, and we're talking spring break.
00:02:39
Speaker
Like they had a two bedroom and I was like, oh, like, you know, it's five of them. I would have sent them to a one bedroom, but they wasn't even available. So it wasn't bad. It was like 70 something points.
00:02:52
Speaker
So not terrible. So yeah that's and then we're going next month. We're in a two bedroom for the first night and in a three bedroom for the second night. um We're there for my daughter's 16th, and she's bringing some friends. up So go ahead two times.
00:03:06
Speaker
So a two-night stay, and you're going to be in a different room each night. Yeah. like i don't and It's funny because, again, like how my my son got this two-bedroom for the whole time, and like we had to split ours. Originally, actually, what had happened is we only had the three-bedroom.
00:03:22
Speaker
Right. And then we had a wait list the other night because we're going for two nights. What we did because we knew we wanted to go regardless is we booked at another hotel. Right. You know, just so that we could get through to the, you know, the two nights. And then we ended up getting our wait list. But it was a wait list for a two bedroom, not a three bedroom. But there's going to be four of us. So I think we'll be fine in a two bedroom and a three bedroom.
00:03:47
Speaker
Well, cool. Well, I i took...
Olympics Ticket Lottery Inspiration
00:03:49
Speaker
I took a cue from you and I actually signed up. this you know This is based off of our last show's discussion. I signed up for the LA Olympics ticket lottery. So we'll see.
00:04:01
Speaker
Maybe Damon and I will do a live report from out there. Yeah, well I mean, i I'll have, it's going to be interesting because when I go on this trip in June, it keeps getting longer. So we just had to rebook it all because of these World Cup tickets.
00:04:16
Speaker
This is the text the Texas trip you're talking about. Well, it's really Grand Canyon. Oh, yeah, Grand Canyon. Okay. um But we're going to be in Sedona an extra day and Dallas an extra day now because of these World Cup tickets.
00:04:27
Speaker
And um I'm going to be like, it's like over two weeks. Like, I think I'm going to have to like check in and do stuff like in the middle. like Yeah. Because it's a long time. Like, it's going to be a long time. You're to have to bring your gear with you so we can record. Yeah, I mean, I might.
00:04:45
Speaker
Can I i going to tell you, you should do one thing that my wife and I did when we went to Dallas, which your kids are not going to appreciate, but you can go to South Fork, you know, from the Dallas TV show.
00:04:58
Speaker
Have you ever been? have no idea what that is. What? You don't remember J.R. Ewing? mean, I've never watched the show. Okay. Well, we went to the South Fork, which is the the house that they...
00:05:09
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I have zero interest in that. We're going to the we're going to the Netflix house. We're going to Peppa Pig land. And we're going to um some water parks.
00:05:20
Speaker
So... All right. All folks. Well, look, we want to take a moment to thank our Patreon subscribers. Thank you so much for donating your money to us. It helps us quite a bit with the expenses related to this podcast. So if you are interested in becoming a Patreon, it is only $5 month.
00:05:39
Speaker
head on over to patreon.com and do a search for rhubarb travelers and we will come up and we would appreciate it if you consider becoming a Patreon subscriber. And as part of that, you get priority on listener questions. So we have two listener questions.
00:05:55
Speaker
both from current Patreon subscribers. The first one is from Jeremy, longtime listener. Hey, Jeremy. His question is, what upcoming new thing has you the most interested in visiting a Disney park?
00:06:12
Speaker
What about you, Daniel? So I was hearing the rumors of some of the Villainland stuff. And again, these are just strictly straight rumors. Right. And that they would use like the same ride system as Harry Potter and that, um...
00:06:30
Speaker
Monsters Unleashed, the arm to like do a villain's thing. If that happens, I'm going to be the most disappointed person because i just will be very disappointed. So I think for me, it's going to be the door coaster, even though like I'm not a Monsters, Inc. fan.
00:06:49
Speaker
Like, I don't like Billy Crystal. Like, I just, i'm I'm not really a huge fan of um any of the characters. Like, I just, I'm not a fan. But I think that because it's going to be such an interesting concept for a coaster,
00:07:08
Speaker
I'm hopeful that it will be something new and different. So I think that's probably what I'm most looking forward to outside of Lakeshore. I mean, I heard the rumblings of the Lazy River, right? There's a couple new pictures for the Lazy River and the bridge that's going to go over Lazy River. So yeah, I would say that that's probably...
00:07:32
Speaker
Yeah, for me, or most for me it's going to be Villain's Land, especially given what we've heard recently from Josh DeMar, which we we we will be talking about here in just a minute.
00:07:43
Speaker
I think it's going to be something to behold. So I am looking forward to Villain's Land, so. all right all right. Our other question is from ah Kevin L., who is also a Patreon subscriber. Thank you very much, Kevin.
00:07:57
Speaker
His question is, you are given the option to double the amount of years left on all of your DVC contracts, but you have to cut your point totals in half.
00:08:11
Speaker
And so at this stage of your DVC ownership, would you do it? And then on the flip side of that, what if they doubled your points, but the years you have left are cut in half? So what's your opinion on that?
00:08:25
Speaker
that' that's and That's an interesting one because like for me, I feel like on my Saratoga contract, um I would ah probably just leave it alone.
00:08:39
Speaker
I think my Riviera contract, I would double the points, but the years left are cut in half. That wouldn't be bad for me. Right. I don't know how many points I need, though. It's like, I don't need any points until I need points, and then I don't have enough points, but I don't really need any points. Yeah, yeah like that's kind of my problem. like I won't need any points this year. you know so Okay, so they're going to you know we're going to take some for Hilton Head. Right.
00:09:05
Speaker
You know, and even like, so if my son's you know taking 70 and we're taking 90, Marty at 160, like they go quick. Yeah. And then when we go to Disney, I don't know when I'm going to Disney yet.
00:09:18
Speaker
it's just It's just like this weird thing. Like, what am I waiting for? And when you say Disney, do you mean the parks or just the resorts? in The parks. yeah What am I waiting for? Am I waiting for Villain's Land? Am I waiting for Cars Land? Are they both going to be done at the same point, like the same year? Like,
00:09:36
Speaker
I don't know what I'm waiting for. at I'm not, in none of the refurbs have me pushing my Disney timeline any closer. Right. Right. The only thing that really gets me there at this point is one of those two parts or is it both parks, right? Like that's the question once the dates come out, but I don't think I use points until 27 at the earliest.
00:09:58
Speaker
And then ah I mean, I can always borrow points. That's the other thing. Like, when we went to Epic Universe, like, don't need to go again. for another couple years. I think it's going to be the same way for Villain's Land and for Cars Land. I mean, I'll pay to make sure I ride everything.
00:10:17
Speaker
And as long as I ride everything, I don't think i need to go back for a while. So how this all relates back. So I would take my Riviera. I would double the points, even though I don't know if I need them, but I would cut the years in half because i just don't know how the kids are going to break up our contracts.
00:10:33
Speaker
You know what I mean? So I'm not really sure. So I would do that. yeah You have no points. You have no point reason to answer this. and Well, you know what? If I did, would. Which you don't. Which I don't yet, yet.
00:10:46
Speaker
I would do that. Here's a better question for you, though. Like okay at this point in your life, is it worth buying DVC points? Absolutely. Yes. I'm going to do it. I will do it.
00:10:57
Speaker
i mean I know my wife listens to this show and she's all kind of on board with it. But we are going to get it. And the way I see it is I'm looking at this as generational, if that makes sense. is This is going to be something that I pass on to my kids. In fact, I've thought about it is when my time nears, right, which is hopefully a very, very long time from now, right? But when my time nears, I would actually think about buying a brand new contract And just going ahead and putting my kids' names on it so they've got another 50 or 60 years ahead of them, plus their kids can can use it. so Yeah.
00:11:36
Speaker
So, yeah, I would do the double points, and but cut the years in half just because, you know, you can always buy another contract when not when that contract's over. Yep. yep All right, let's move on to Disney news.
Reimagining Disney's Villain's Land
00:11:50
Speaker
And the big news coming out of Disney over the last two weeks is we have not even entered into officially Josh DeMauro's tenure CEO. And he is already making his mark on the parks. And he's doing it.
00:12:08
Speaker
by pausing temporarily construction on new Villain's Land. And he's doing it because he has instructed Imagineers to go back and reevaluate everything that they've designed for Villain's Land and the entire Beyond Big Thunder expansion in that part of the park.
00:12:29
Speaker
And he's reportedly, now this is nothing officially official, but the the rumors coming out is that he has scrapped the safe, quote unquote safe, initial concepts to this area. And he wants something bigger, something darker, and something more technologically ambitious. Now, the initial concepts, they leaned heavily what what they're calling atmospheric walkthroughs and a single high capacity boat ride. So nice things, but not a wow things, right? So DeMauro has tasked Imagineers to go back and let's look at this and do something that has an e-ticket punch to it, right? So, and let's face it there, he wants this partially because
00:13:19
Speaker
to compete against universals because they've got the dark universe. Yeah, because he has to, right? the Epic universe is right down the road and they've kind of raised the bar on on what a land can do. Now, some of the rumored new elements.
00:13:35
Speaker
there's going to be a forbidden mountain coaster, which calls for a record-breaking launch system. So think so saying rock and roller coasters, soon to be the Muppet coaster, that weaves through the massive practical show scenes,
00:13:50
Speaker
which is moving away from the screen-heavy designs. And if I could pipe in some applause music, I would do that right now. mean, you could if you actually took little into this. I'll that post. Yeah, I'll do that post. But to me, like this record-breaking launch system, I don't think that necessarily has to mean fast. And I don't think it would.
00:14:09
Speaker
um for something like this. i think we're going to get something a little bit different, something maybe just different than you know what we've seen in Lawrence Sistence. To me, this feels like it's going to be kind of what Dollywood is doing in terms of their new a ride that's coming.
00:14:30
Speaker
Right, night flight. Yeah, I think that we're looking at something like that, right which will be interesting, right? like I mean, I can be on board with that. Right. Yeah, absolutely. Also, it's going to include a trackless ride system. So this would be a case where you are going through and attraction and depending on which villain controls the the room you might be in, it will dictate what happens the the cars So they're not going to follow the same track every time. This leads into replayability factor, which is something that's very important now for rides. So you don't experience the same thing every single time. It gives you a reason to come back and experience it again.
00:15:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, this this could be interesting. it's This is one where it's really going to depend on what what the rooms look like. like yeah and How in-depth do the rooms look like, right? like When I think about Mickey's Runaway, it's okay. like It's good, but like the replayability factor is not there.
00:15:38
Speaker
And it does seem sparse in areas, right? like I want a little bit more. Right. I think this is also going to be where they will kind of lean into the, I don't want to say super scary, but maybe darker. and that I just don't see them doing you're I think they've learned their lesson. Like, what can you do? You can't stop kids from going to rides at Disney World or Disneyland, right? You just, you can't, unless they're not tall enough, unless you make a trackless ride and then you just like up the height requirement just cause.
00:16:12
Speaker
Right. That's an interesting concept. Could, could you up the height requirement? Right. Which, or the scare factor. Right, which automatically ah prevents younger kids from going to world. Unless they're super tall, but I mean, yeah you're trying to control the control system. Interesting. I mean, it's an interesting one.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yeah. They're also looking at designing a central fortress of evil. So think about this as a castle within the particular land, not just... I don't like that it's for a dining and theater show, though. Like, I don't know.
00:16:47
Speaker
Well... They're looking at the Beast's castle, right? And understand this, Be Our Guest is the number one rated and best money-making dining experience at Disney World. Pretty good food.
00:17:04
Speaker
Yep, and pretty good food. They are trying to replicate that. By the way, can you just even imagine a character dining with villains? that People would be throwing money at Disney to be able to do that. Yeah, but like,
00:17:18
Speaker
Again, i don't think, I think you end up bringing kids that are going to be scared while you're eating like and crying. like I don't think that's a good thing either. They have to be very careful with this. They have to figure out like yeah what they can and can't do and where they can and can't do it right like to make sure that you're you're not causing drama.
00:17:40
Speaker
like This is the biggest problem that Disney has. Universal doesn't have to worry as much about that path. ah Disney has to worry about that a lot more. So I don't know how they're going to accomplish that.
00:17:51
Speaker
That's going to be the interesting and the hard part. Like, is it scary enough? Is it not scary enough? Like, what are we doing here? Yeah. You know, I think it's possible to be dark without being scary.
00:18:05
Speaker
Right. Does that make sense? No, because right when it's you're dark, you're kind of scary. It can be mild scary. Yeah. It's not going to be an alien encounter scary like it was back in the day, but... Yeah.
00:18:19
Speaker
ah Anyway. All right. So the big question here, obviously, is this going to delay the opening of Villain's Land? So... I mean, obviously it's going to delay. I didn't realize the timeline was already out to 29 from the jump.
00:18:30
Speaker
Right. Yeah. So originally. easy So like yeah I don't need to go to Disney for a long time is what you're telling me. Yeah. Right. So originally Villain's Land was supposed to open in 2029. However, now, first off, the it's important to note that they've done a lot of land clearing out there be behind the um oh gosh, why am I blanking on Haunted Mansion, right? And where Rivers of America used to be. But the important thing to note is they haven't done any vertical construction yet, which is great because that still allows them to make changes without too much expense. Now it'll depend on the building footprints, whether they need to be changed, because that will change obviously drainage and water lines and electrical lines and things like that. But
00:19:19
Speaker
Again, the original timeline was suggested in 2029. However, with these with these changes that DeMauro is requesting, it's looking like now i don't see how they can get out of making it into 2030 or even 2031. So now to help offset this, it's reported that DeMauro is looking at moving to a 24-hour construction timeline to help you know keep us on the original date.
00:19:48
Speaker
So if this works, it could you know it could be a two new paradigm for how Walt Disney World builds new attractions. you know They kind of have this reputation for being extremely slow in building new attractions. I think 2029 is extremely slow. Well, yeah.
00:20:07
Speaker
Well, you know if you think about it, that's three years off for an entire land. Tron itself took four years. How long did Epic Universe take? yeah I want to say two and a half. Yeah.
00:20:23
Speaker
so i So I'm saying, I'm hoping that this is Disney moving into a new phase of let's not take forever to put something in place.
00:20:36
Speaker
We shall see. We shall see. So now the other question is, is this a insight into how tomorrow is going to lead Walt Disney World? So what I mean by, I hope so too. So think about what Bob Iger did during his tenure. He acquired multiple IPs. He bought Star Wars. He bought Marvel.
00:20:59
Speaker
He, he bought something else recently that I cannot remember what it is, but He spent all of this time acquiring all of these IPs and content. Now, I'm hoping that DeMauro is the one that's going to be able to capitalize on all of them in the experiences and the parks. So...
00:21:20
Speaker
Like we just mentioned, we i hope this means that we are moving away from the quote-unquote safe experiences where, and by safe, I don't mean non-scary. I mean safe as in we know this formula works. Let's just rebuild another one of these with a different layover on it.
00:21:38
Speaker
I'm hoping this means that tomorrow is going to to continue to encourage a man Imagineers to think big, to think bold, to come up with things that we've never seen before. now All of this aligns with DeMauro's recent comments, if you've read recently, on the Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run ride, where he said that we've done polling on it and guests like the ride, but they don't love the ride.
00:22:05
Speaker
And not loving an attraction is really just not acceptable in today's theme park market, especially, again, with Epic Universe right down the road. And DeMauro, I think, understands that guests have to love something for it to be a success. And I think that's why he's telling Imagineers, hey, let's go back, let's look at this again, and let's plus it, as Walt used to say, right?
00:22:35
Speaker
So interesting things coming out of how to villains land. All right, let's move on to Disney Hollywood studios and Olaf. If you remember a couple of shows ago, we talked about this new Olaf animatronic that was free roaming.
00:22:55
Speaker
It seems now that Olaf might also be coming to Disney Hollywood studios and in the new Animation Academy that is being built as part of the redo of the Animation Courtyard at Disney Hollywood Studios. So Olaf is going to be leading guests through drawing their favorite Disney characters by introducing animators who have pre-recorded some...
00:23:19
Speaker
Drawing instructions. So I don't know if you remember, but there used to be something similar to this over at Disney Springs in the old Disney Quest building. There was a cast member. that used to be in Hollywood Studios, too. Right, yeah. So Disney cast members would lead guests through drawing their favorite characters. And now it seems like they're going to replicate this to some extent at Animation Courtyard with Olaf doing it.
00:23:48
Speaker
where he will introduce animators. So some of the characters you'll be able to draw are the standard Mickey, Minnie, and Donald. They'll be adding in Genie and Moana. Also included will be Stitch, Olaf himself, Ursula, and then Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, of course, to play off. don't none of them.
00:24:08
Speaker
I love that list. Who would you draw? who would you be a Well, I mean, it's never going to be. i mean, Darkwing Duck would be the key. Darkwing Duck. Yep, I can see that.
00:24:19
Speaker
So anyway, um Josh Gad has been brought in to voice original dialogue for this. So no timelines yet on when this is going to go live, but be on the lookout for this new attraction over at Animation Courtyard.
00:24:36
Speaker
all right, let's move over to the West Coast over at Disneyland. Toy Story Midway Mania over there is going down for a refurb. Now, this is going to close on April 6th of this year. Currently, there's no reopening date that's been announced.
00:24:52
Speaker
This, of course, coincides with Toy Story 5. Why does Disneyland, though? Like, I've never been jealous of anything at Disneyland before this. Yeah, I don't know. It doesn't say... Well, it does say that... ahead. If they have new elements of the new movie, then I'm going to be upset.
00:25:11
Speaker
Yeah, well, that's probably, we're not going to say probably. We'll just say that this refurb coincides with the Toy Story 5 movie premiere that is going to be released on June 19th. So let's just say there is a high probability that there will be new elements included that... I just don't know. Like, you just do just new elements at Disneyland? Yeah.
00:25:34
Speaker
Well, it does say that there's nothing is going to be occurring right now at Walt Disney World or the version over. If there is new elements, that's going to be hurtful. That's probably one of my favorite rides. I have not ridden. First off, I've not been to Disneyland yet, so I can't compare the two rides. So I don't know if they're completely identical.
00:25:54
Speaker
You haven't been out to Disneyland. I haven't been out to Disneyland. I have no interest. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's a bucket list. I kind of want to do it. just a just Maybe when I go out to the Olympics. There you go.
00:26:06
Speaker
All right. Let's go to Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run. So it is going to be getting a new name and some new show elements. So the new name is going to be, and here's a mouthful, Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run a New Mission.
00:26:23
Speaker
Right. So this is this is one of those things where they want to let you know exactly what's happening in the title of the ride. So what's happening here is it's going to add the Mandalorian and Grogu to the ride, and you're going to be helping them track down ex-Imperial officers throughout the galaxy. So now this aligns actually with the plot of the upcoming movie. So they just dropped trailers. Why are you in the Millennium Falcon?
00:26:52
Speaker
Because you are helping the New Republic hunt down ex-Imperials. They got to shoehorn it in somehow. Yeah. You're going to again, that you're going to be helping hunt down ex-Imperial officers. So in addition, guests are now going to be able to kind of choose their own adventure. And that means they're going to be able to control the ride more about locations that you go to. There's going to be new things you have to do during the ride. So some of the new locations that are going to be added.
00:27:25
Speaker
chorasant So for the first time, you will be able to go to the home planet of the Republic, you know, the home planet of the Empire. And to me, that sounds like you remember from Attack of the Clones, the second episode. Not too interesting. Yeah. The other three are though.
00:27:42
Speaker
Yeah, you'll be able to fly also to Bespin City, the Cloud City from Empire Strikes Back. The Death Star 2 remains that are floating over Endor from return Return of the Jedi. I could absolutely get on board with that. Yep.
00:27:58
Speaker
This last one, Tatooine. man why do we keep going back to Tatooine? It's the center of the universe, man. yeah Thousands of worlds in this universe, and every time we go back to Tatooine. Go back Boy, I just hope it's not a pod race thing. Man, just don't do a pod race.
00:28:19
Speaker
Because they already do that, I think, on Star Tours, right? Yeah. So hope it's not a pod race. Anyway, ah in addition, they've announced that they're going to give more activities, let's say, to the engineer and the other the other position that I can't remember the name of.
00:28:40
Speaker
Besides the the pilot and the gunner. So because one of the things that DeMaro mentioned during his guests that like it but don't love it is that there weren't enough things to do for people who are not the pilot and not the gunner. So.
00:28:56
Speaker
They will be able, people who are in those two positions, the engineer positions, will be ah have more things to do and more interactive elements that actually shape how the ride occurs. So those are all coming as part of a refurb of the Smuggler's Run. No dates yet, so be on the lookout for that.
00:29:19
Speaker
Okay, let's move to Disney Cruise Line.
Robert Downey Jr. & Disney Adventure
00:29:24
Speaker
And Robert Downey Jr. has been named the godparent of the new ship in the Disney Cruise Line line called the Disney Adventure. This is the new the new huge mega ship that was purchased by Bob J. Pegg's term at as CEO.
00:29:43
Speaker
So this is going to be for... The ship begins three and four night cruises from Singapore in March of 2026. I didn't realize it was that close, to be honest with you. Yeah, that's quick. Yep.
00:29:57
Speaker
So anyway, Robert Downey Jr. has been named the new godparent. And as part of being the godparent, he will be there present when you know there's that centuries-old maritime tradition where you come in and you name the ship and you break the champagne bottle across the bow. He will be the person to do that.
00:30:18
Speaker
And that is coming very soon. So good for Robert Downey Jr. Yeah. It is good. All right, folks, that is it for our very long Disney news. So with that, we are going to hear a word from our sponsor, and then we will go into the after show.
00:30:41
Speaker
Folks, are you looking for help planning your next vacation? Then look no further than our sponsor, DontResistTheTravel.com. DontResistTheTravel.com is there to help you regardless of what type of travel you're looking for.
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00:32:16
Speaker
And we're back with the after show. So first off, let's head on over to Orlando where there is a new $3 billion dollars theme park. Plans have been filed in Orlando for something that is being done by Mattel, the toy company.
00:32:36
Speaker
They filed plans for a tourist commercial resort that will serve as a new flagship for a new national brand that they are developing. And they're doing it with, if you think about Florida, there are two big things that come into mind when you are at theme parks that might sour your day there. And one of them is that it gets incredibly hot.
00:33:01
Speaker
in Florida during parts of the year. Or incredibly cold if it's this yeah this year. or Or the once every decade ah event where it actually gets below freezing in Florida. so it could But most times it's incredibly hot. And you also have to deal with thunderstorms that can pop up unpredictably at any time during a typical Florida afternoon, especially during the summer. So what do these plans include?
00:33:33
Speaker
There is a 90,000 square foot indoor water park with a retractable roof that is being developed. I like that. Yeah. So they are going to be able to, let's, ah you know, most of the time that roof will probably be open during the summer, but they will have the ability to close that roof they thunderstorms are are coming near so that they will be able to continue operations without without you know pausing them. Because like Disney and the outside Volcano Bay at Universal, whenever you have a thunderstorm that's within a certain range of the parks, they have to shut them down.
00:34:13
Speaker
So with Mattel building this, they will not have to do that. So they will not lose out on any possible revenue of people not coming. Now, other things that are being planned for this part. There is, there's going to be different areas. So one of them is going to be a Barbie area. And one of the big things there is going to be a Barbie beach house.
00:34:35
Speaker
And it's going to be using, ah go ahead. The favorite part about this is? A hologram? Right. It's going to include hologram technology to bring Barbie to life. So I can imagine that. can see what that means. That's going to be interesting if it's what I, you know, again, holograms are what I've been looking for. So let's make sure you don't drop the ball here.
00:34:58
Speaker
Right. Do you think it's going to be the traditional show or something? Yeah. Do you think it's going to have, do you think Barbie is going to be the traditional Barbie look or is it going to be the Margot Robbie?
00:35:10
Speaker
Barbie.
00:35:13
Speaker
Wow. it's it's an I think it's going to be the traditional Barbie look. See, I think so too. I, Especially if we're doing a hologram. Right. it It would be easier to design that, I think, yeah then than the Margot Robbie lookalike. It's also going to have a rooftop restaurant. No details yet on that, but i I can almost imagine them having almost like a character dining experience there. Yeah, top of the dream house or the beach house. Yeah, something like that.
00:35:42
Speaker
What else is coming there? They are planning a, to me, this is what I'm excited about. A Hot Wheels Twin Racer, both indoor and outdoor section roller coaster. So it's going to mimic the iconic loops and drops that you know from Hot Wheels sets where you can shoot those cars out and they will ride along the track. I can absolutely see just... It'll be interesting to see how like crazy they go here.
00:36:12
Speaker
Right. Now, again, this is going to be indoor and outdoor, so this will be somewhat reliant on weather, but this one looks really cool. And then other than that, they will they are planning on a Masters of the Universe He-Man versus Skeletor laser tag.
00:36:29
Speaker
yeah And this is interesting because i didn't realize how big of a push Mattel is making with yeah the new Masters of the Universe movie. um Again, you know, doing stuff at BSC Kids, Mattel reaches a fair amount. and And I was surprised at how much they're doing. They're doing book publishing. They're doing a lot of stuff. So this is going to be one of their bigger IPs.
00:36:51
Speaker
And what's kind of nice about it is that like it plays the whole family angle. like You can kind of go any age with He-Man and Skeletor. Right. I mean, and this is... I don't how they're going to do this like laser tag, though. See, here's what I... So there's two ways they can go with this.
00:37:09
Speaker
It's either team versus team, like your traditional laser tag facility that you have. Or I wonder if they're going to do something similar to the um Minions...
00:37:21
Speaker
Minions, villain con that they have now at universal where you're riding along that, uh, moving walkway and, and shooting things. I wonder if it's like it. I mean, this is just an arena, right? Like, so I think it's the, the prior. I think that's what we're looking at. Yeah. I, I, I think so too. My, my concern. there Definitely going to be worth a trip for me. Like I'd definitely go here.
00:37:48
Speaker
i I'm going to be interested to see how Universal controls that because whenever you get into team versus team, i mean, people are going to people, right? There's going to be some people in there that just get way too over the top involved with that. don't think it's going to matter. There's going to be so many people that I think that's kind of how you stop that. Where like really at the end of the day, one person's ability doesn't necessarily matter.
00:38:16
Speaker
flip the script right yeah but it will be interesting like i said i'm curious to see how this all goes down i know that there's another mattel park i think there's one and dollywood there's a there's a nerf um i think there's a nerf laser tag over there right which we haven't been to yet but it's kind of been on our list so gonna see how this goes yep i'm excited though oh yeah anytime there's extra stuff to do in Orlando, I feel like it's always good because we have these DVC rooms.
00:38:45
Speaker
And again, now that you're telling me that, you know, Villain's Land is in 29, you know, if I want to go to Orlando and just kind of hit these small things, I mean, that's great. It's kind of what we did at Dollywood. Like, you know, there's so much to do and you know, Pigeon Forge and you don't realize it because you're going to Dollywood. And then it's like, oh, we made two trips where we didn't go to Dollywood at all. We did the other things and that was fun too. so Right. And that's interesting that you say that because that kind of ties in with the plan. So if you look at the plans overall, there's not enough here for Mattel to say, we're going to good just go head to head with Disney.
00:39:18
Speaker
I think what the plans here suggest is just like what you said, this is going to be the offsite day. So where you go to Disney, but you plan for a day to do something else. Like ah originally it was like SeaWorld or something like that, but now there's going to be one more option for you to do where you can go offsite and do something. Now this is going to be located on about 11 acres of land. It's about 10 minutes from Walt Disney World's front gates.
00:39:46
Speaker
So this is custom built and prime for an offsite day. So again, no dates announced yet. This is in the very early pre-planning stages. So lots of things can change, but we will keep an eye out for this.
00:40:02
Speaker
right, let's move over to Universal. Universal has filed some permits for permanent trailers, construction trailers, near the rumored Epic Universe Harry Potter expansion area. So ah the project area is just north of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter land in Epic Universe, and it's part of a backstage complex of buildings that support this newest theme park within Universal's portfolio.
00:40:31
Speaker
Now, the interesting thing here is that these are just not trailers that you roll in and they're not very established. These are more of the permanent where trailers where you have multiple trailers combined into one and there's lots of waterworks. We just get our Quidditch right already.
00:40:50
Speaker
Yeah. say yeah really So this suggests something bigger on the horizon. So, and the fact that it's right next to the Harry Potter land, this is kind of suggesting that this expansion is coming sooner rather than later. So let's hope that we get that. If Epic Universe gets an expansion out before they get Villain's Land on, that's something.
00:41:14
Speaker
and Which is also part of the reason why DeMauro might be pushing this 24-hour construction timeline for Villain's Land. Because they know what's coming down. Well, they have some you know high probability of what's coming down the pipe from Universal. All right.
00:41:30
Speaker
Let's stay at Universal. Universal is offering new ticket packages and they're leaning into grabbing more of that week-long vacation market that's kind of dominated right now by Disney. So what are we talking about?
00:41:45
Speaker
There is a new package that has come out by Universal where you can get two free days when you buy five-day ticket. So we are now looking at a full seven days of Universal. And with this new package, All four parks are included. So that includes Epic Universe, right?
00:42:05
Speaker
If you wanted to, you could just do the three parks that include and include Epic Universe. But you have the ability to add on Volcano Bay for $10 more. So now here is the interesting thing.
00:42:17
Speaker
When you do the math, if you just do the three the three parks without Volcano Bay, that comes out to $65 per day per person, which which when you compare that to Disney, that's a steal of a deal.
00:42:33
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. You can add on Volcano Bay for just $10 more. still haven't been to Volcano Bay. It's so frustrating. Yeah. I've never been to any of the water parks there. Yeah.
00:42:46
Speaker
Well, they don't have Volcano Bay, so. Yeah. So a maximum of $75 per day per person, man, that just again, that seems like a real deal. And it could turn some heads.
00:42:59
Speaker
it It definitely could. i I don't know if you're really talking seven days. I mean, I... I mean, we've been there before, so it's tough. So it's seven days. So I guess you really could Volcano Bay two days, right? The beginning and and then you could five days at the other parks that I could get down with. Yeah, I guess it is possible.
00:43:19
Speaker
Yeah, I think I'd do one day Volcano Bay, probably three, at least three at Epic Universe. I don't think you need three. Really? No, I think two would be the max.
00:43:31
Speaker
Even after they... <unk>re You're talking about adding one ride. That's not crazy here. like you All right. And so in addition to these ticket packages, you are able to combine this with some current on-site hotel offers that are out there of a $300 hotel dining credit. So this is available if you book hotel stays at Cabana Bay, Aventura, Stellanova, and Terra Lunas.
00:44:03
Speaker
And there are some dates, the date requirements on these packages. The valid dates you have to book between February 19, which we've already passed, through May 6.
00:44:15
Speaker
And this is specifically for travel dates of April 12th through September 3rd. So we are looking at the entire summer time at Universal. So if you are planning on going to Universal anytime between April 12th and September 3rd of this year,
00:44:32
Speaker
you might want to think about looking at this package deal because it is pretty good for sure. Now, this does require five-night stay at any of those hotels that we just mentioned.
00:44:44
Speaker
And you have to add in the park-to-park ticket. So it's just not where you buy the ticket for one park on a particular day. You've got to buy park-to-park, which is you know the universal equivalent of park hopping. So
00:45:02
Speaker
Let's move on two dinosaurs and other They're not the Disney kind. Yeah, not the Disney kind. This is at Universal still. So dinosaurs and other Jurassic World props have arrived over at Universal Hollywood. So we are back out on the West Coast. These props have shown up backstage in an empty lot behind the Revenge of the Mummy attraction.
00:45:27
Speaker
which is not that far from Jurassic World the ride. So what's shown up are some dinosaurs, a T-Rex, and a Spinosaurus. And the N-Gen vehicles, N-Gen was the DNA company that was prominent in the movies.
00:45:45
Speaker
So vehicles like trucks and boats and things like that, and various other props such as crates and dinosaur cages and and trees. So these props used to be part of the Jurassic Park experience on the studio tour at Universal Hollywood. Now there's some speculation about this could be tied to the upcoming FanFest nights out at Universal Hollywood. I think so. Yeah.
00:46:09
Speaker
So it could be similar. Thank Yeah, to the Harry Potter special entertainment from last year's FanFest, where there were some wandering puppeteers that had creatures from the Fantastic Beasts movie series.
00:46:22
Speaker
And so what they're hoping is that this could be something similar for Jurassic World. Now, in support of this, Universal Hollywood recently put out a casting call For dinosaur puppeteers. Man, how would you like to have that on your resume? I mean, that seems like a lot of work, though. Dinosaurs are kind of big.
00:46:40
Speaker
Yeah, right. And face actors that resemble John Hammond and Ian Malkin and Dennis Nedry, who, of course, are the actors from the movie. So it looks like they are going to do something. It's very strong probability probability that they're going to be doing something during FanFest nights.
00:46:58
Speaker
And this, of course, ties in with the anniversary of the release of Jurassic Park 3. Man, it's been 25 years since that amazing. It's been a long time.
00:47:09
Speaker
Yep. All right. Let's move over to our last bit of after show news. We can't break this hour. We got to finish up. I know. Dollywood. Let's go to Dollywood. Dollywood.
00:47:21
Speaker
ah Wow. this is This is cool. Dollywood has announced a new one-time themed air flight from Orlando to Knoxville.
00:47:32
Speaker
Knoxville is the airport that serves the Dollywood area. Yeah. This is going to occur on November 6th of this year, and it is in partnership with Allegiant Airlines. And so for this one flight, first off, they're going to rename the flight number to Allegiant Flight Number 925, which is, of course, in reference to Dolly's hit movie 9 to 5 back in the 80s.
00:47:59
Speaker
And on this flight, passengers are going to enjoy flight. special gate celebrations and live entertainment within Orlando's airport. There will be in-flight trivia during the flight, exclusive merch, and themed food and drinks during the flight.
00:48:17
Speaker
So if you purchase Dollywood tickets in conjunction with this, you will get special park a special park experience on November 7th during the Smoky Mountain Christmas time.
00:48:29
Speaker
And there's going to be exclusive ride time just for those folks. special treats and reserved show seating. So this sounds like something similar to Disney's very merry Christmas party yeah where people will be able to have these exclusive experiences.
00:48:47
Speaker
So there's also a special lodging package that's in association with this where you will get 25% off lodging for November 6th and 7th. There's going to be a $100 resort credit, two Dollywood tickets if you get this special lodging package, and complimentary time savers, which is Dollywood's version of Lightning Lane and and ah Express Pass.
00:49:14
Speaker
Yep. So, and they're going exclude, excuse me, include trolley transportation to the park from your resort. So. Trolley transportation is nice, I will tell you.
00:49:24
Speaker
Yeah. Does it, it runs continuously, I would assume, during the day, right? Yeah, it's not as continuous as you want, right? Right. There's still delays. I i remember there's like two trolleys, right, from the area, but it's not bad. i mean, we've used it and then also driven in just depending on what we feel like doing right So if you live down in the Orlando area and you've never tried Dollywood, now might be the time to go November.
00:49:53
Speaker
All right, folks, that is going to wrap it up for today. Keep it under an hour. Thank goodness. All right. Yeah. So we'd like to thank our sponsor, don't resist the travel.com.
00:50:05
Speaker
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00:50:16
Speaker
And they can ah obviously also help you out with any Disney World trips you want to take, any Universal trips you want to take, or any trips in general that you want to take.
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00:50:27
Speaker
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00:50:42
Speaker
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00:51:11
Speaker
you have any questions or you have any trip reports, please email us at rhubarbtravelerspodcast at gmail.com. Again, we have a Patreon. Please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber.
00:51:22
Speaker
It helps us out quite a bit. And then check us out on all the socials, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. So two weeks until the next show. And until then, Damon, I will talk to you later, my friend.
00:51:36
Speaker
Sounds good. Folks, the Rhubarb Travelers podcast is for entertainment purposes only. We are not employed by the Walt Disney Company or NBC Universal, the parent company of Universal Studios. And as such, all opinions expressed on the show are exclusively our own.
00:51:52
Speaker
Please consult a DVC or Disney cast member or Universal team member for more information about anything we might have talked about today.