Transcript
Speaker: Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Thrills, Chills, and Spills, where we spill the the tea on all things theme parks, is special events, and, of course, the spooky season. I'm Rafa. I'm Tyler.
Speaker: I'm Joey. And I'm Kelly. and spooky season is here, guys. That's it. I think we're like officially done with spec season. like It's the week of... HHN Orlando. We're a little over a week away from HHN Hollywood's opening night, so...
Speaker: And people have already been through the houses. What was that? And people have already been through the houses. Yeah. Previews are happening. I've been like dodging all of same the. Trying to dodge everything. Yeah. It's every third reel is something spoil spoilery and I have to just skip it and it kills me. yeah Yeah. And I'm surprised. I mean, well, maybe I've just been dodging them really well, but like, I'm surprised I haven't seen like any like meta glasses, like,
Speaker: footage which is something I was wondering if they were gonna like like you know kind of make sure that that people don't have on while they go through the houses but but I haven't seen anything yet but obviously we'll get into HHN soon but of course let's start off with the spills Kelly what what we got um I had a really fun, quick New York City trip this past weekend. I'll talk about one aspect of it um a little bit later, but I was originally there to run a race, which I did Saturday morning, but Scott, our friend and greatest fan, Scott was with me and we had planned to see Hamilton that night. He got tickets in New
Speaker: like the sixth row, which I didn't know. he surprised me. i was literally dying walking in there. and then, um, we also, at um, like the last second before I fell asleep the night before I got tickets to the first shadow. so we did a double feature that day. i ran a half marathon. We saw stranger things. Um, We went and got food and drinks and then we saw Hamilton. it was a jam packed, amazing day. I'll talk about the first shadow later. um
Speaker: But my spill is we went to this seafood restaurant and Scott, Scott loves his seafood as do i and he loves a fancy dinner. um So he was like hyped on this, like he made a reservation, like he was so excited.
Speaker: We got there at our reservation time, which was early because we were going between the shows. But we walked in and not a single soul was there. We Zen Road, the seafood restaurant, there were like 20 staff members lined up across the wall. And then like where they sat us was like right at their station. So they just like stood there and watched us eat. It was so awkward. It was so fancy that they put my napkin on my lap for me and nothing pisses me off more. I have arms and hands. I can put my napkin on my lap if I want it there.
Speaker: I can't stand that. If somebody at a restaurant is touching my napkin before me, you know how I am about germs. No, I don't like it. It's too fancy. Take me to Chili's. Hell yeah.
Speaker: Give me that triple dipper. but I am here for chilies. yeah it was it. My food was good. Scott was displeased with what he what his like sauce on his fish was. It was very lemon buttery and very lemony. um But I just couldn't get over the fact that like I'm trying to have a conversation and they're standing like two feet away from me, like all the staff because we were the only people in there. It was so weird and awkward.
Speaker: um But it was a great time and ah a crazy day. Yeah, I just don't care for fancy restaurants. Like I'll take a good quick service place over somewhere fancy 100% of the time.
Speaker: Yeah, unless something like really catches my eye at that restaurant, like I'll go for something a lot more casual. I don't get, i mean well I mean, I do get why they would put your napkin in your nap and on your lap and all, but I don't know.
Speaker: From like a germ perspective, I feel like I wouldn't like that either, honestly. Yeah. Also, like, no, you're just too close to me. You guys know. I just like, i only want you touching me if I'm like friends with you. Like, I don't, I don't like strangers touching my stuff or me.
Speaker: I agree. I agree. But Tyler, what you got? Unfortunately, Dolly Parton passed away today. We are filming this on Tuesday, so we got that news a few hours ago.
Speaker: And normally, like, i don't really know that many celebrities. I don't follow celebrity stuff. So, like, when people pass away, it doesn't really affect me much. But I feel like she's just, like...
Speaker: She's for everybody. She loved everybody. Doesn't matter race, sexual orientation. She supported everybody. She did so much philanthropy work through her literary foundation, through the bald Eagle Foundation. She just so much of her money went towards charity and she was just such a good person to look up to.
Speaker: um So yeah, it's just sad. I think I saw like she gave an interview four days ago and she said, I still have so much that I want to see you do in this world. So it's just sad. She's an icon for sure.
Speaker: Yeah. And I love that. They like I love that we got the announcement through her basically and not from a TMZ article or yeah that like that, that I really like I love that they kept like had that level of like privacy when it came to this whole thing. And like you said, I mean, we saw that interview four days ago and, you know, she was saying she had so much more life and so much more she wanted to give.
Speaker: um So it was definitely a shocker to everybody. But I do like that she was able to do that herself instead of having like the tabloids, you know, blowing up the Internet with it.
Speaker: Definitely. And I wonder if she actually passed away a couple of days ago and they were just kind of getting everything in order to do that before they announced it. Yeah. Yeah, it's really sad. It's sad. There's not a lot of...
Speaker: ethical multimillionaires. yeah um And she was definitely one of them. And um I'm sure that, you know, I've seen Dollywood, the park finally posted about it.
Speaker: um I was curious if they were, um but they, they were basically like directing people to, if they wanted to send gifts to donate to, um, Her. Oh, I forgot the name of it. I just forgot the name of it. But her foundation that sends the free books to kids, which is super cool. So it sounds like they're, you know, clearly invested in continuing that, which is nice.
Speaker: I think it's just called the Dollywood Foundation. It might be. I think the the book program has a specific name. I just can't remember it. Yeah, I saw a dollar city posted about it too.
Speaker: She's just, she's just a a part of so many communities. Like, like we obviously have the special like Dollywood connection, but you know, in music and in philanthropy and in like local communities, like she was just everything. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: Bummer. Yeah, but yeah, unfortunately, Joey and I don't have any spills, but on the topic of Dolly, Joey, I know that you went to Dollywood.
Speaker: Yeah, it's kind of wild um that I was literally just there this past week. Yeah. um It was a good time. um I went on Friday afternoon from about five thirty to eight p.m.
Speaker: and or Saturday. don't know where I got Friday from Saturday from five thirty to eight. And the park was shockingly dead for a Saturday. Pretty much everything was a walk on.
Speaker: Um, night flight expedition had closed at three 45 and for the rest of the day. So i kind of figured I wasn't going to be able to get on it. Um, but I rode every single other coaster in the park. Um, some of them multiple times, the the drop tower and everything. Um, I think late August, you know, and like now that kids have gone back to school, I think just like the vacations have slowed down and everything. um It was Jeep invasion that weekend, which is hilarious. Like there were so many Jeeps driving all over the place in Vision Forge, um but they didn't wind up at the park for whatever reason. So um it was, it was very chill.
Speaker: And then the next morning I went to rope drop night flight, ran all the way to, back of the park, Wildwood Grove, and ended up at a sign that says, oh, we're opening at 12.
Speaker: ah um So it was a real struggle to get that ride. So i basically, it was still just as quiet on the Sunday. So I just killed time and rode basically all of the other coasters in the park one more time again.
Speaker: Uh, I got some cinnamon bread and I camped out at like 1115 because the line was already starting to build out the front, um, of night flight, sat there with my cinnamon bread and ate it it gave me a way to kill time. It was delicious. Um, and then around to like 1145, they started letting us in and, um, they kind of preloaded the outdoor queue. And then at 12, they started letting us in the indoor queue. And I was like, yes, thank gosh.
Speaker: Um, There's a lot of indoor queue. There's like four switchback rooms, I think. um And we were all just like, you know, just all of these people winding and going through all of these rooms. um Luckily, I ended up in the last of the switchback rooms, which has like the heaviest theming in it. So it was like okay to spend some time in there like not to give away spoilers but like there's uh like a routine audio like lighting sequence that plays in there and stuff um which is more entertaining and like things on the walls to look at and stuff like that then after that switch back your room you basically go up i want to say like two to three stories on this staircase it's a pretty big staircase and then you wind up at the station to load um
Speaker: They were not loading the fifth row of any of the boats going through the station, which is very curious. I don't know what that's about. um And it is a moving platform, which is also kind of interesting. I think that's especially why they have like one of those ah sliding tracks to load ADAs off to the side and they can slide it in and it goes through. um i think that's because of the moving station kind of can make it hard for for some people to get on.
Speaker: um Without giving away too many spoilers, I would definitely consider the ride like to go into the ride with expectations of a dark ride, not a roller coaster or like a thrilling water ride.
Speaker: um That being said, as a dark ride, I think it's really, really cool. um There is some really beautiful scenic design in there, um lighting design. There's some video elements, but not so heavy that you feel like the whole thing is just watching video screens. There's a lot of physical sets and stuff in there as well. And then the way that the vehicle transitions from kind of like a coaster track section into the water is quite cool as it just suddenly becomes like this free floating, bobbing up and down boat in the water. It's kind of wild, like how high the water gets on the sides of the boat. You're like, oh, dang, we're in this. um
Speaker: So, yeah. And it does feel like a um appropriately long ride. Like there's a good number of scenes when they were describing it with in the marketing, i almost felt like it sounded too short. They're like, Oh, it's just four sections. And you know, you go through the air and then the rapids and stuff, but writing it, it did feel pretty complete. And like you could understand the storyline and and all of that stuff.
Speaker: um They are definitely still refining it. There were some transitory moments that were awkward, just kind of like left in the dark without audio or anything, just like hearing the sounds like mechanical sounds. So I'm hoping that they kind of work on um kind of smoothening some of those transitions out with either audio or like just some additional little props and things. But overall, I i really liked it.
Speaker: um Obviously, um earlier today, we found out that it's going to be closed all week. as they do some further refinements to a turntable that's part of the ride.
Speaker: Um, and so they're still working through a lot of teething issues on it. Um, and so hopefully they can kind of figure that out. I think they opened it early just to try to start getting people on it and it's kind of biting them a little bit just in terms of not quite being technically ready for it.
Speaker: Um, But yeah, I think it's going to be a super popular ride. um It's always going to have a long line. It's probably going to be the rope drop play once it starts operating reliably and opening on time.
Speaker: um it It'll definitely have a line all day for sure. um But yeah, it was really good. Good time. Parked looked clean and they were starting to put up the spooky season decorations. It's just the harvest festival there, but they had pumpkins everywhere and they started putting up like bats and like hay bales and all that stuff was was going up. So that was cool to see.
Speaker: Thunderhead still is the best coaster in the park. That didn't change. by a lot yeah my yeah um but like night flight is hilariously better than blazing fury because that thing is showing its age pretty badly nowadays that thing actually hurts the base of my skull i'm not really sure where or how but i don't like it ever anymore ah yeah Yeah, you know.
Speaker: That mystery mine was the one that beat me up this time. um I got on a train and it must have had a bad wheel or something because like every time the train turned, it was like... was like, oh no, this is not good. And it was going like slower than it normally does because I think the wheel is like causing it to go slow. So there were times where I was like, oh God, please don't valley. Please don't valley. But yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm hoping to go visit sometime next year. I still haven't been to the park, so I need to. Oh, yeah, you definitely need to get over there. I got to get there. Our friend Braden was there yesterday and he actually managed to get on it, but he said it only operated for like 40 minutes the entire day. My day it operated for two and a half hours and then he only got 40 minutes of operating time. So it keeps getting less.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. It's ah hopefully they'll figure it out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'll definitely I think I'm going to be back again this year at some point in the fall or or for Christmas.
Speaker: You got to pass, right? Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. You got to go to the harvest festivals. You can tell us what spooky stuff. It's not going to be that spooky, but. Yeah. I might end up going back for that. At least let's see what it's pumpkins. Ooh, spooky. For real. Pumpkins. Oh, we are. Real spooky. That's a lantern. I mean, but right now, like, the park is not even operating into the night. It closes at 8, and it's still bright out. So I think during the harvest, it'll be kind of nice to see the park at night.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. And during the holidays too, that that must be really nice. Yeah. Yeah. The Christmas event is, is nice for sure. All right. And Kelly, I know we talked about New York earlier, but um let us know how was foreshadowed.
Speaker: You guys, First Shadow was incredible. It blew my mind. It looks so good. Like, I've always wanted to see it. Okay, I don't want to give, like, specific spoilers or anything because I really want you guys to go if you get a chance to. um But basically, like I said...
Speaker: I had forgotten that this thing even existed. I know we talked about it a little bit when we were reviewing season five way back when, but like Scott and I were literally just like listening to an HHN podcast and it like triggered the thing. Cause we were talking about like, Oh, what are we going to do between the race and like dinner tomorrow? Like all afternoon. And I was like, Oh, I won. I wonder how long like the stranger things,
Speaker: play is going on for like, I don't know if it's closing, which by the way, it is closing in January, early January. um I was like, Oh, like, I wonder how expensive it is to see that I'm just going to pull up the tickets. And we got like decent bottom level seats for like, I want to say 140 a piece, which for Broadway the night before is like, kind of good. Yeah. Oh, I was like, it was a matinee. But I was like, I'm buying these like, we're gonna go see this. And we weren't like, I guess we just went in like kind of like under hype. Like all we really knew about it is that it's the story of Henry Creel and like a little bit more of, um you know how like in season five, they had a ton of flashbacks with like the parents and,
Speaker: So it involves a lot of like their story in Hawkins when they were the Stranger Things kids like age. um But what really did it for me was like the sound design and special effects. Like I was completely blown away. I'd never seen anything like that before. They have like an opening little prologue.
Speaker: Um, and all I'm going to say is Scott and I, within the first like two minutes of this show, we're literally looking at each other jaws agape. Like we were like, what the hell is going on here? It was so well done. So good. I'm so excited to rewatch season five. I started it today in preparation for HHN, but this like reinvigorated it. Cause now I feel like I have so much more,
Speaker: knowledge of like what I'm watching and why a lot of things happened in season five. um So yeah, I would highly recommend if you can get up there, if you're going to be anywhere in the area before January, you guys should go see it. It was, it was so good. I haven't, I'm not going to say it's the best thing I've ever seen on Broadway, but it was the most shocking thing I've ever seen on Broadway. Like I love my singing and dancing, but you know what you're going to get with wicked, you know what you're going with Hamilton. Like,
Speaker: those things don't blow me away. The performers are very talented, but this show like literally blew me away. I left there and I was speechless. So highest praise. I think i'm going to try to make it up there for that.
Speaker: Yeah. yeah talking Now knowing that it like closes in January. like that I don't know like how middle of the week ever works for you, but Tyler and I are looking at a Wednesday in December.
Speaker: If any of you guys want to go then. see how the PTO looking probably don't have enough but yeah and I definitely want to check that out it sounds incredible and I feel like I mean i remember hearing a lot about it like during season five like everybody was saying like oh like well you know they didn't say this part they didn't explain this part about Henry or or whatever you know like all these like additional details that we just didn't get in the show so that that definitely seems like like a good enough reason to go check it out just to get some of those questions answered I guess
Speaker: Yeah. And it was so fun. Like the audience was like, you could tell they were equally shook because like things would happen and everybody would be like, Oh, it was crazy.
Speaker: And Scott was so hype. Like he didn't have expectations, I think. And you remember how much he loved watching Strangers in all of like a couple of days. He was just like audibly so thrilled by it. It was just such a good time.
Speaker: That's awesome. It was long. It was two hours and 45 minutes. So like a full length show. oh I hope I can make it up for that. That'll be my first Broadway show if I do. I didn't know that. Oh my God. let's go be really cool like Tomorrow you're going.
Speaker: All right. But moving on to Hollywood, Joey and i well, Joey, I hope you did. We came up with our hype lists for HHN Hollywood since we haven't really talked about that.
Speaker: um But we are going next to week. So we wanted to go over that just so we have something to compare, you know, once we have our rankings after our visit. ah Next week is crazy. It is crazy that it is next next week. i I can't believe it.
Speaker: You guys, everyone listening, this is our last episode before we go to HHN. There are people going through houses literally as we speak right now. That is true. That is true. Yeah.
Speaker: So, so, so excited. But um yeah, we can go ahead and I guess start with the houses. Well, that's all I did. Oh, okay. Okay. All right. That's fine. i did I did the scare zones and then I just wrote down a couple of food items that caught my eye. but Yeah, I have some food too. um So i'm sort of I'll just read it from the bottom up. um I did not. I went and looked at my other hype b list and to be consistent, I kept the IPs that are copied from coast to coast the same and then just like intermingled the other stuff in there. So starting from the bottom, Stranger Things, ah Evil Dead Burn, Terror Tram, Ozzy Osbourne, Killer Clowns, Kill Signera, Dead Dead or Deadest, Hellraiser, and Sinners.
Speaker: So basically after sinners and hell raisers, I have all of the IPs that are unique to Hollywood and the rest and then territory. I'm just kind of throwing in there because I don't really know what to expect with that, to be honest.
Speaker: Yeah, no, I yeah, with me, like I did. i mean, I didn't I mean, I kind of not really i didn't do the same for the last two, but nine I have Stranger Things five, which I have Evil Dead Burn as my last one in Orlando. um I think it's just because I just really thinking back, I don't I really don't care for the Stranger Things house and I hope I'm surprised. But I think just in you will be.
Speaker: I hope so, Tyler. I really do But yeah, have Stranger of Things 5 as 9. Then I have Evil Dead Burn. Then I have Dead Deader and Deadest.
Speaker: And then I have Killer Clowns. And then this is where I switched it up because I didn't do the same as you where I kept the IPs just because, i don't know, I feel like because h hn Hollywood is so...
Speaker: IP focused. I have higher hopes for some of these IPs in the West Coast. So I have ouss as number five. Then I have Hellraiser at number four.
Speaker: Sinners at three. And then I'm actually kind of excited for Kill Signera just because the story sounds absolutely ridiculous. And then I only put Terra Tram as my number one just because I've always wanted to experience it and I have no idea what to expect from it.
Speaker: So I think I'm just very hyped about it just to see what it's all about. It's different. Yeah, it's different. Yeah, it looks very different. So I'm just excited to see how that is as an experience and comparing it to like the haunted houses.
Speaker: think you'll be a little disappointed with it probably. I'm sure I will. I'm sure I will. But I think I've always wanted to do it. So I'm like, all right, well, I'm pretty excited for it. But I'm not really expecting it to be the greatest. I love it. We have Tyler underhyping Hollywood while Scott is overhyping it. So maybe we just end up in the middle. I love the uniqueness of Terror Tram. And the Daytime Tram is one of the best attractions that they have.
Speaker: But yeah, it's just, I mean, I won't say anything. I won't spoil anything for you, but I feel like it's not really what you're expecting. Okay. Well, we will see and we'll compare the rankings once once we have our official ones. And then for, I know you didn't do scare zones and street experiences. Um,
Speaker: But I'm very interested. I didn't know how to rank them. I'm not going to go through the rankings, honestly, um because I have. ah It's there. But I just there were street experiences and scare zones. Like there was like a good mix of the two, like equal amounts, which I found to be very interesting. I'm like, huh. was like, how do they like like how different are they compared to the scare zones, like the street experiences? um So Yeah, so i'm I'm excited to check that out as well. And then as for the food items, what what caught your eye, Joey? Because I got a good li I got like seven things here that caught my eye. There's probably gonna be some overlap. um
Speaker: Just speaking broadly, like we'll go through some of the Orlando stuff as well. There is a lot of carryover between the two events in terms of especially with the IP houses, they've kept yeah the same food items. However, there are some unique ones even within the IPs like um I don't believe that um Orlando has remix burnt ends with jalapeno cornbread for the sinners house. And that sounds really good.
Speaker: um They also have ah one called Bark at the non, which is a non taco with chicken tikka masala, pineapple and lime crema. That sounds delicious.
Speaker: yes And then they also have ah beef birria tacos that were on the list as well. And there's a bunch of tacos, honestly, and they all sound good. And there's more like different types of them.
Speaker: um And then this is actually on both coasts, but I only noticed it for Hollywood. they There's like a pean and whis or pecan and whiskey bread pudding for sinners. And that sounds... That's my number one anticipated.
Speaker: it looks so good. love it. bad for you. and you're not energy i love bread pudding too it looks so good i wonder um what their reasoning is for the different foods like do you think it's just regional tastes because i'm assuming the burnt ends and cornbread replaces the catfish and grits in orlando yeah i would guess that probably most people in california have never even had grits before Probably. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I was thinking that because there is a difference between the two. Like they, yeah like and they're big differences. Like they're not even like comparable with like some of these items.
Speaker: Kelly being from somewhat the North, did you ever have grits growing up? Cause I had them all the time. Yeah. I figured you did. I had grits for the first time, like two years ago. Oh my God. Yeah.
Speaker: But like, I think also probably it has to do with like what, what food availability they have in like mass production too. Maybe. I definitely think it's more of like, what are people going to buy? Because like, the fact that there's so much like Hispanic food in the LA basin area, I mean, that makes sense. Like they're definitely playing to the demographic. And then as well, like some of this more like internationally type food that also seems to be more the LA side versus yeah Orlando.
Speaker: Yeah. go say You can see a lot of that LA like, influence when it comes to their food. Like even the fact that some of the vegan and vegetarian options are not like at the bottom of the list are like mingled in with the main items for them. Like that seems very LA as well.
Speaker: Yeah. totally Yeah. And a couple of other ones that I noticed here. um They also have bloodbath brisket fries, um which that caught my eye. What else? um One of the cocktails, I think they, this one might be in Orlando as well. I'm not 100% sure, but it's called the I Lie to You, I Love the Bluesberry Cocktail. Blueberry vodka, ginger ale, white grape juice, lemon juice, and blue carousel.
Speaker: That sounds good. It does. Yeah. It sounds really good. And then they also have the juke juice cocktail, which is blackberry moonshine lemonade, blackberry puree, maple syrup, ah bitters and a black sugar rim with dehydrated blood orange and fresh blackberries, which huh that is an interesting one. And then I saw a spicy margarita as well, which has spicy watermelon hibernero.
Speaker: It's a spicy watermelon habanero margarita with chamoy and tahim, which sounds very l a as well. Yeah. So I don't know. i saw a lot of like variety when it came to their food options. And I'm actually a little more excited for the Hollywood food compared to Orlando. I don't know. I feel like Orlando, not as much, not as many food items caught my eye in Orlando. Hollywood definitely has a little more variety. Yeah.
Speaker: And maybe it's my, my Hispanic background too, where I like some of these food items. I'm like, Ooh, I'm like, this sounds pretty good. so yeah, I'm very excited. I mean, it all looks really good.
Speaker: One thing that i probably shouldn't eat and it's probably going to sound gross to most people is the battle bus dog. I do not like that. That is 22 inch hot dog. Oh no. oh With Tostitos, nacho cheese sauce, coleslaw, sriracha aioli, banana peppers, and crushed hot Cheetos. Why are we putting hot Cheetos on everything? everything Okay, well, kind of want it. I got tummy issues already, so why not? like Everything else is going to mess me
Speaker: But it's wild. it is a aware It's a very wild. What is that combination of flavors? I like hot dogs, but not with all that crap on it. It is. Cheetos on their aloques like why why I get that they want to add some crunch, but like it doesn't need to be hot Cheetos.
Speaker: It's crazy. It won't be crunchy after it's sitting in that nacho cheese. Here's the thing, guys. Remember, this is one of the Fortnite nightmares food items.
Speaker: Fortnite, the kids are playing Fortnite. They all love hot cheetos love their hot Cheetos. They love their hot Cheetos. This is for the children. That makes a lot of sense. Also, i hate the nacho cheese on stuff like that fake nuclear like... It just makes it messier for no reason. Just melt some real effing cheese. Yeah, I don't need that nuclear chemical stuff on it.
Speaker: But yeah, it's that, that sounds pretty wild, but. I haven't looked at ah a lot of the Hollywood stuff, obviously, cause I don't want to have FOMO, but like, that sounds really good so far. i have Yeah. They have a very solid collection of of food items. So I'm really excited for me. I think sinners in general just seems to have the best menu.
Speaker: and They had a lot of good stuff. What they have besides the ones that we mentioned? They also have chicken wings in a black garlic whiskey sauce, which is also pulled from Orlando. Yeah, they do have that.
Speaker: Yeah. there is There's also one called, it's like Roadkill something like that. Now I can't remember. Yeah, I'm like i'm trying to see. Is the Roadkill with?
Speaker: oh No, it's actually not. It sounds like it would be, but it's it's at a different booth. So that's why it's I got confused. Yeah. Yeah, they have... I don't know. But I mean, all in all, i mean they have a pretty solid um you know menu for for food over there. So I'm really excited for that. So obviously we will let you guys all know about our thoughts on that. But we can move on to Orlando's food menu. Kelly, I don't know if you want to take it from here. Some of the main stuff. um I think in general, and you guys let me know what you think, I feel like...
Speaker: The main food items this year are a little more enticing than last year. i feel like the the desserts are a little bit lacking and I feel like the drinks have a little bit more variety this year, which excites me. Like I feel like last year there was just so much tequila based drink and so much vodka and like nothing else. And I'm happy to see some rum drinkies on the menu this year. So I'll just go through some of the main stuff. Evil Dead Burn booth. They have severed and smoked chicken.
Speaker: um which is like a chicken leg. They have lasagna burn, which is port pork potsticker lasagna. And then their dessert item. Oh, no, they don't have a dessert item. See, this kind of weird. Their drink is called Frostbite. And that's a tequila drink with blue curacao, lime juice, simple syrup and liquid heat bitters.
Speaker: So that's that one. Obviously all of the booths have their like normal, like beers and like, you know, mixes or whatever. The Stranger Things booth has Elle's Battery Jerky, which is a creamy mac and cheese but with garlic bread and battery jerky pieces. The upside down chicken and waffles, that's self-explanatory. And then this sounds good. Steve's Smuggled Peanut Butter Bites, which are smuggled chocolate covered peanut butter snacks. Yum.
Speaker: Love that. Love that. And a little Q line, some chocolate peanut butter bites. And then they have their drink is Hopper's Recharger, which is vodka, mandarin orange, yuzu juice, Powerade, lemon lime, and Monster Energy Zero Ultra.
Speaker: And I saw Tim Tracker try this and drink and they said that it tasted like good Gatorade. So... And he doesn't really drink much. i don't think so. Yeah. They had it without the vodka. It was like the mocktail version. But yeah. um And then at the Hellraiser booth, they have. Okay. and You guys tell me if this happens to you. When they name stuff gross. I don't care what the item is.
Speaker: i feel gross about eating it. Okay. Pinhead skin and meatballs. It's torn pasta, spicy pork and beef chunks with marinara. Skin and chips nachos, crispy pork rinds served with Tocitos cheese sauce and Jack Link's peppered turkey.
Speaker: And then pleasure and pain brain, brain custard with ripped teeth and skin, vanilla cake pieces and strawberry sauce. All of these sound things sound like they would be delicious, but I can't get over the thought of them being and and brains. I just don't like them in general. Yeah, i don't think any of those as food are great, to be honest.
Speaker: custard brain i think they sound delicious except for the nachos because they have the stupid nacho cheese on it but like pasta with pork and beef that sounds delicious custard with vanilla cake and strawberry like yeah the custard sounds good i do like i do want to check that out they also have centibites kiss for their drink that's a tequila drink with lemon juice lime juice huckleberry syrup and liquid heat bitters no tequila for me my guy think the problem with their tequila drinks, because I do like tequila, but like I, what I, I don't know. There's something about the way that it tastes when it's like pre-made already. Like it just has such a nasty taste. It's too bitter or something. It's too bitter to have in there. Like maybe if it's like, maybe if it were like mixed and like they made the drink there, like without it being pre-mixed, like maybe it would taste better. But like when it's pre-mixed and it's in that, you know, that little like dispenser, like it's disgusting. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: i agree. Don't like them. um At our centers in Orlando, we have the Juke Joint Catfish and Grits, the Chow Southern Barbecue Egg Rolls, and the Pecan and Whiskey Bread Pudding.
Speaker: The drink is a Slide Guitar Smash, which is corn, whiskey, lemon juice, ginger syrup, simple syrup, and mint essence. I would like that drink. I literally thought of you and I was typing it out. And I'm like, that's a Joey drink. That one does sound good. I actually do want to check out, I want to try out the the egg rolls too. That looks. Yeah, that does sound good.
Speaker: Sounds good. Over at Ozzy Osbourne, Prince of Darkness, which is like strangely on the San Francisco like dock. um It doesn't they don't have any food. They just have drinks. They have Black Rain, which is tequila, ruby port, cold brew concentrate and agave syrup.
Speaker: Bat tea, new Amsterdam vodka, lime juice, unsweetened tea, grenadine and ginger beer. and the ultimate cinnamon, fireball, lemon juice, apple juice, sp spiced brown sugar syrup and red beet powder.
Speaker: You had me until the red beet powder, my God. Why are we putting, we're going to poop red. Yeah, it probably doesn't even taste like anything, but yeah, they just want it as the as a colorant.
Speaker: Yeah, so sounds festive, but probably not for me. um Over in Gramercy Park, they have two small, they have a death tank, which has, bringing it back, the death by cheese stick, giant cheese stick with spicy mara and the jack and odd dog which is a beef footlong hot dog with peppers onions tostitos cheese sauce and flaming hot fucking cheetos but in a ube bun in a ube bun so same thing just not 22 inches i guess yeah it's purple for odd glow it is
Speaker: And then um we also have Devilish Delights, which is right next to it. That has fried pickles and twisted taters.
Speaker: Jack's Food Booth, Jack's Circus Surplus, has the Carn Evil Smash Tacos. These sound really good to me. Smash cheeseburger tacos with American cheese, shredded lettuce, pickles, secret sauce, and toasted sesame seeds.
Speaker: Yum. love a taco and I love a burger and we're putting them together. um circus peanut forever is their drink that is tequila lime juice agave syrup um and black walnut bitters oh that's interesting And then they also feature their Phantom Punch there, which is at many of the other booths. But that's like their classic vodka punch. It has vodka, Sorrento lemon, triple sec, lime, orange, cranberry juice, dragon fruit syrup, and simple syrup. Just the the sugary mix that makes you feel full when you're standing in line. Yeah.
Speaker: The sort of, I mean, the, ah I know what the word is, but just like the main cocktail of this year, I think. Yeah, you can get multiple places. Yeah. Yeah. um At Oddfellows, they have the Deathbringer tempura shrimp, which is tempura shrimp roll with sriracha mayo and eel sauce. I don't know what eel sauce is.
Speaker: We'll not be eating that. I am excited except for the unknown of the eel sauce. So I'm going to look that up. Eel sauce is like, it's almost like a sweet and like thicker soy sauce.
Speaker: Okay. yeah I probably like it. Burnt Sando, a chris ah crispy... um This is like a pastry. i oh I lost where I was. But it has like a burnt sugar outside, so it's like crunchy.
Speaker: That sounds pretty good. Crosshairs Coop, which looks like it's in Sting Alley, has the Twisted Philly, which is a Philly cheesesteak stromboli with spicy Italian sausage, peppers, onions, and cheese sauce.
Speaker: Yum. And... Fried PB&J Bites, baby. Battered strawberry, peanut butter jelly, powdered sugar and strawberry jam. Is this an Uncrustable cut up?
Speaker: What do we think? maybe yeah Probably. hope it is. hope it is.
Speaker: Um, meats, meats, barbecue, as expected, has some meat. It has bloody bones, smoked and charred barbecue ribs with crispy jalapeno bits, torn to shreds pork sandwich, a barbecue, smo a smoked and shredded pork shoulder with jalapeno slaw on a pretzel roll.
Speaker: And they have another Joey drink there. The bloody limeade. um it's gin, um, lime juice and simple syrup. yeah ah ahhuh yeah ah Over at Dia de los Muertos, they have their classic walking tacos in the non-vegetarian and the vegan varieties. They have Eddie's Revenge Drink, which is bourbon, blue curacao, blackberry syrup, and lemonade.
Speaker: Sounds good. Howling Storm, rum. They have Bacardi rum and dark rum and passion fruit syrup and lemonade. And at the HHN bar, they have their classic drinks that they have everywhere.
Speaker: um at the Music Plaza Fanta bar, there was a drink that stood out, the Strawberry Scrambler, which is gin, lemon juice, lavender syrup, club soda, and Fanta strawberry. Um, they have an orange bumper car blast at the San Francisco Fanta bar, which is vodka, vanilla cream, coconut milk, and Fanta orange.
Speaker: They have the pineapple tilt-a-whirl at the world expo Fanta bar, which is rum, cupcake syrup, coconut milk, and Fanta pineapple. i will be drinking. I was going say that. Yeah.
Speaker: That's my most anticipated drink right there. I really like that one. Yes, I will drink that waiting for Nightmare Fuel since you have to get there so freaking early. And then they also have the Caramel Apple Splash Punch at the Club Horror Bar, and that has rum, Granny Smith, apple syrup, caramel syrup, and lemonade.
Speaker: Also yum. That's my most anticipated. That sounds good. i hope it's not too sweet, though. It will be, but we will. Yeah. At Maloney's, which is over across from Mel's, they have fish and chips, a beer and cheese soup, and shepherd's fries, which is basically shepherd's pie on a fry.
Speaker: Um, what else? They have some new beers over at the beer trailer that i don't really care about. Clown Town Cider, All Ale Pumpkin Lord, Zombie Killer.
Speaker: They have Florida Ave Brewing um Luminescence Hazy IPA, their Crooked Can Three Daughters, their normal breweries that they work with. Um, They have a Frank's Fizz at the Keyholder Bar. That is vodka, blue raspberry syrup, Sprite, and Fanta Orange.
Speaker: The Bleeding Eye, which is tequila, um lime juice agave, nectar, and ginger beer. And then they have a Lottes back again at Parkside Fair. They have fried dough there.
Speaker: um at DreamWorks, they have their regular pizza fries, but they also added Birria pizza fries, which sounds... I'm excited for that. I'm very especially last year I tried pizza fries again and I normally love it and last year I was like I think it's reaching the end of they need make that um they had to they had to switch it up like it was getting it's kind of getting boring like there wasn't that there wasn't anything exciting about it at this point so yeah i needed to do that you got to get the pizza fries fresh yeah yeah
Speaker: And they have various pastries at the different like cafe locations. There's like a Prince of Darkness chocolate cream cheese cake. There's a sour lime tart, various cupcakes, pumpkin cheesecake, just kind of their normal...
Speaker: um varied dessert options. um They have that rigatoni ritual pie at Louie's. That's a garlic butter cheese pizza with baked rigatoni, all vodka, crispy sausage, and pesto. That's kind of their bringing back the pizza pasta thing from um five nights last year in a different way.
Speaker: Guys, Central Park Crepes is open and it's serving a crepe that is strawberry cream, Oreo cookie crumbs, and strawberry sauce and a cocoa crepe. Ooh.
Speaker: A cocoa crepe. I've never had that before in my life. Sounds good. And then they have pizza skulls per use. That's the main stuff. That's the gist. I did want to quickly highlight some of the canned options that Kelly doesn't care about. There is a canned carnival sour ale.
Speaker: So they're doing another like sour beer option that's new this year. And then they actually have... I'm kind of excited about these because they could be good. They have two um canned cocktails that are featured at pretty much most of the the booth locations. One of them is called Manic Mix, and it's a strawberry and blood orange vodka cocktail. And the other one is Oddfellows Elixir, which is a blueberry lemonade spritz.
Speaker: And they both sound good. Yep, yep, yep. yup yu be up Yeah, that was a lot of people were complaining about the um what what's the the cranberry one that they would have? Cursed Cursed wass like gros cranberry i never I didn't care for it.
Speaker: um But everybody, I guess it was a huge. It was fine. was fine I just didn't care. Like, I mean, OK with like new additions. Yeah, change it up. Those are good flavors. hmm.
Speaker: Yeah, they they I mean, overall, I mean, they have a pretty solid list. I think what I've noticed, like after comparing both Hollywood and Orlando, um Orlando is very, i guess,
Speaker: they think of you waiting in line with this food. Everything is very like, it's very easy to just pick at and you don't have to really stop unless you're eating something a little messier. But for the most part, it's very easy to take with you anywhere that you go. You don't have to really stop and eat it. So that, whereas like- More bite sized options for sure. Yeah, and I feel like HHN Hollywood is very, I mean, everything sounds really messy. I mean, it sounds great, but it it sounds like you have to like stop and like enjoy the food and not just like, you know, walk with it.
Speaker: So notice that between the two events, but overall, I mean, it's going to really fun to talk about all of that after next week. and Yeah. I think overall it sounds better than last year. um i think so.
Speaker: I will say, i feel like there's more generic options than there have been in the past. So like, They brought back the cheese stick. It's just kind of a generic thing rather than it being themed.
Speaker: The fish and chips that was last year themed. I don't remember which house it was, but they brought that back. The elotes they brought back. The walking tacos. I feel like those were all themed to something in the past, and they just kind of brought them back to generic booths or restaurants this year.
Speaker: I think carnival theme kind of allows for that. Like you can get any of these foods at any carnival so they can just put them in there and be like carnival food. Okay. Yeah, that's fair. yeah Yeah. And that does seem like the menus look like that, like themed carnival ish. So and yeah maybe that's kind vibe they're going for. Yeah. And they're all like really safe options too. I feel like there aren't like options that like people would be totally turned off by like last year with the, the, like the faux deviled eggs. Yeah.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like the year before with like the toothpaste mint. Yeah. Like, I mean, some of these like are really fun, like creatively, but like most people don't want to try those things. Like, it's just. I just realized that they sold like a billion and one cheese sticks last year and they're like, oh, like this is what makes us money. Yeah, exactly. It makes the most sense.
Speaker: Um, but, but we did have a few questions. Well, we had one question about the food, um, from Dustin and Dex. Both of them asked what are our top three food and drink options that we're looking forward to? Okay. Well, my drinks are easy. So, um, mine are the pineapple one with rum that we talked about. It's like the pineapple tilt-a-whirl.
Speaker: The apple one that we talked about, um I don't know what that, what was with that. It was like apple cinnamon. um I don't know. And the other one is the orange bumper car blast, which is the vodka, vanilla, coconut milk and Fanta orange. That reminds me of the one from the cat lady booth last year, the orange. I was going to say, oh one and it was really good. Those are mine drinks at least.
Speaker: Yeah. I think for me, I pine up the pineapple one is definitely on that list. um I definitely want to try out those canned drinks as well. um Those sound interesting. And as for food, um in Hollywood, I'm most excited for the bread pudding, which it's actually in both. So that's one of my most anticipated for both coasts. The bloodbath, brisket, fries, and ah remix burnt ends with the jalapeno cornbread. I think those are my most anticipated overall.
Speaker: So i'm a little more excited for Hollywood, but both have both coasts have some pretty solid options. I don't really care about the drinks. Honestly, I'll drink whatever. Nothing really sticks out. Except for that apple one. sounds kind of good, but for food, I think it's the carnival smash tacos. Those sound so good.
Speaker: The twisted Philly and the um catfish and grits. Those are probably my top three food items. I wrote down um the tempura shrimp, the fried PB&J bites, and the birria pizza fries.
Speaker: Well, it's because those are also things I think I will actually get. Yeah. That's hilarious because I almost put the exact same thing for my food. i put the birria pizza ah fries, the um peanut butter fried PB&J bites, and then...
Speaker: I put like the chicken and waffles. I don't know. I mean, i could go that. I could go the Philly. I could go the catfish, the shrimp. and All of those sound really good to me. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's a pretty solid collection. So I'm excited for all of it, honestly. But those the ones that I mentioned as the ones that you guys mentioned. I'm sure sure those are the ones that we will actually end up trying and liking. yeah.
Speaker: um And we had two more questions, um both related to Nightmare Fuel. um Zach wants to know what is the best general strategy um for Nightmare Fuel barely starting.
Speaker: Wait, what did he say? ah He's still trying to figure out how to work that into it. Yeah, trying to work it out just because it's kind of hard to do within, you know, in one night, I guess, along with all the other houses. I'm sure Kelly has the exact times, but I mean, splitting up your night with nightmare fuel is the best way to do it because you need to sit down at some point. yeah And also like the middle of the night tends to have like the longest queues for the houses. So if you can get into one of those mid event nightmare fuels, that's the best time.
Speaker: And it really depends on like the crowd level too. I remember the the night that we were all there, um you guys had left already, Kelly and and Tyler, but remember with Joey, we waited for five nights and then we left and then you were able to squeeze in a couple of reruns as well as like the final showing of Nightmare Fuel. So it really depends on the on like the crowds, I think.
Speaker: yeah Yeah. I mean, that middle of the night is the busiest for houses, but I also think it's the busiest for Nightmare Fuel that like, what is it, 9 or 9.30 showing is normally the most crowded. But I mean, really, you just have to just get in line. That's all there is to it. Just get in line early because they assign you your seat. You know, you can't really pick your seats. Yeah.
Speaker: You just have to get in line early enough is the bottom line. I've seen the last show. You're five minutes ahead now. Yeah. I've seen the last show and that seems to be pretty good. I've gotten in line like 15 minutes before and still gotten in. Yeah. But every, every showing these days is going to be completely full.
Speaker: before the show starts. So it's not the only time I mean, it's seen it not full was the last one. Yeah. And so if you don't want to wait, and you can get in line, you know, five minutes before it starts. Yeah. I typically will choose, like Joey said, I'll be watching thrill data, but I'll typically choose a time when it makes the most sense to not do houses.
Speaker: So maybe that will change this year with the addition of the early entry being at 2 p.m. Like maybe the peaks and valleys will be different. But um typically I will choose one of the middle two nightmare fuels because it just makes sense to do them over while you're like kind of doing the tent houses. And in the past couple of years, my strategy has always been like most of the.
Speaker: sound stages and then fast and furious, then the tents and then nightmare fuel, and then go back to whatever is left has been like my general strategy, making sure that I get a food or beverage and get in line like 45 minutes before nightmare fuel. Um, but it does, it definitely does feel good to sit down and kind of take a load off after you've been standing in lines for a while.
Speaker: yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then um Bethany wants to know, will Nightmare Fuel be as risque slash sexual as it was last year? Bethany, I did tone your question down a little bit. Sorry.
Speaker: It's vampires. I feel like that's even more risque. I think so. Yeah. I can't imagine it'll be toned down. Yeah, for sure. I do think so. And then ah one more question from Keith um He says, and NYC really lacks a good immersive haunt attraction that he knows of. The closest thing they probably had was Sleep No More, which they killed a few years ago.
Speaker: What urban haunt would you add to Manhattan? Yeah. Calling me Sleep No More a Haunt is interesting because that was more of like an immersive theatrical production. It was spooky, but like, yeah, that's interesting. i have no idea what that is. I'm glad you just said it was a production. Yeah, I did quickly Google like what's available and it looks like they do, especially during the fall season, have some actual like haunted houses. Like there's one that's in like an abandoned bank. It's like a haunted bank. Um, There are a couple of different things. I didn't get a ton of time to read too much into it. And I didn't think completely through this question, but I think New York having so many high rises and being so vertical, it'd be really cool to have some sort of haunt experience that includes a drop tower.
Speaker: Yeah. Whoa. Okay. but now we just have like Tower of Terror in the middle of That's what want. that's what i want Yeah, I mean, I think the part of the problem is just like real estate. If we're talking like Manhattan, I mean, like that's probably the hard part. But there's probably also a lot of like interesting industrial sites that are abandoned or just like disused that could be pretty spooky just by nature that could be taken over. I would love to see something like that done. Yeah.
Speaker: But yeah, that's that's interesting think about, like in Manhattan, them trying to execute some kind of haunt. Like it would probably be in a skyscraper just because where else do you put it? Yeah. That would be like one thing to make it unique to, I guess, Manhattan. Like, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. I was thinking something themed to like underground mole people or something. Oh, yeah. i got The subway crossed my mind. Like, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it would be really cool if like New York City did like a public one because, you know, there's like some... Some like counties and stuff will do like ah haunted hay bales and hay mazes and things like that. It'd be cool if they did like um there's an area of Central Park that's very like wooded, comparatively speaking, to like not just open grass. That would be so cool if they like built an outdoor haunt into the trees over there. yeah NYPD everywhere. I mean, that would be that would never happen, but it would be cool.
Speaker: Yeah. Max, get on it, bro. yeah
Speaker: All right. So anything else you guys want to add? I didn't have much to share this time. I haven't done much, but next week we have a lot to talk about.
Speaker: um Besides HHN, will be visiting Disneyland for the first time. Joey, I think you're doing the same. i don't know. TBD. OK, yeah, I will be going to Disneyland for the first time.
Speaker: So I'll have that to talk about. and of course, hh je and we'll be going to knots as well. So we'll have plenty to talk about. And I will be going to Disney World for the first time in like four years, i think. Oh, wow. Yeah.
Speaker: yeah we got Disney in both coasts. We got HHM in both. This is going to be a multi-episode banger, you guys. It's crazy. yeah Four episodes worth of content. Oh, God.
Speaker: ah Four parks one day. oh you're doing that. Oh, oh man. Lightning Lane's coming soon. Yep. Empty your wallet.
Speaker: Oh, mine's already empty. Don't worry. Wait, how much is ah is a single day Disney ticket that covers all the parks? Let me tell you, Joey. Funny you ask.
Speaker: It was like $270, I want to say, with with everything. $270? Okay. It's apparently, according to Kelly, it's impossible to do this if you stay off-site anywhere. So we have to stay on-site and pay the Disney on-site prices. Which is what? It is not that expensive. $250 a night at least? It was $300. It was yeah So this is going to be a $500 day once you include food and everything. Oh my gosh. But have a... Individual lightning lanes. Oh yeah, individual lightning lanes. We still got to do that. so Oh gosh. Yeah.
Speaker: Good luck. That's exciting. It'll be fun. I'm excited. It'll be a full day of fun and I haven't been in a few years. so Yeah. And nobody Disney's like me. You guys already know.
Speaker: I'm kind of scared. Which I need your list. I need your list. I need your help for Disneyland. Yeah, and yeah, yeah. I'll send it to you. All right. But yeah, we will have more to talk about next time. But of course, make sure you follow us on all socials. um Twitter slash X Instagram.
Speaker: um And we will be back soon with a multi episode special. I'm sure there's going to so much to talk about, but yes, but we will talk next time. And thank you for listening.
Speaker: Stay spooky.
Speaker: That's tea actually.
