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Episode 308: DVC Rental Rules Update, Piston Peak National Park & Disneyland Expansion
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On This Episode
Tom discusses his recent trip to his local theme park, Carowinds. DVC revealed new rules around renting points. Disney revealed when Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will close to make way for the new Muppets themed version. Disney releases ‘Haunted Mansion’ themed Halloween decor…in June. Disney announced new details and a name for the upcoming Cars expansion at Magic Kingdom along with the closing date of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. Disneyland Resort provided new details of the new attractions and other improvements coming to the park.
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Transcript
Welcome & Introduction
00:00:06
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, broadcasting on the DVC to all voice unknown. If you're within the sound of my voice, you're listening to Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
00:00:25
Speaker
Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
00:00:30
Speaker
Hello and welcome home. This episode of Welcome Home is brought to you by DVC Resale Market. Thank you for joining us on episode 308 of Welcome Home, a Disney Parks and Vacation Club podcast. I'm Tom, here with Trevor. How's it going, Trevor? Hey, I'm doing all so don See, youre we're laughing already because I screwed up the opening and Trevor wants me to leave it in.
00:00:48
Speaker
i I think, okay. You know what? going to say it Put it on Discord. So for the Patreon people, they can hear the opening on Discord. Just hear how bad it was.
00:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, I think that'd be fun. All right. All right. Well, yeah. So anyway, I screwed up the
Tom's Carowinds Visit
00:01:06
Speaker
opening. But it's okay. That happens. Like, listen, there are this actually segues nicely into talking about what I did yesterday.
00:01:13
Speaker
ah All right. I'm still tired from yesterday. and Really? Oh, my God, man. Okay. So I talked about this on the show. guess it was a last week, maybe or two weeks ago. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was. a lot I think you mentioned it last week that you were going to Carowinds, right? Carowinds. Yes. So ah for those that had didn't listen to last week and are listening to this week, Carowinds or don't know what Carowinds is, which i you listen, I don't expect everybody to know every regional amusement park. Right.
00:01:39
Speaker
ah So Carowinds is a it's ah it's an amusement park. You know, it's Six Flags. ah Well, it was Cedar Fair, but Cedar Fair and Six Flags are now one gigantic entity of theme parks. And so everything is Six Flags now, um unless it's, you know, like Dollywood or that other group of things. But yeah, yeah anyway, yeah there's there's few there's less exceptions now than there is.
00:02:02
Speaker
Yeah. And and so Carowinds is like generic theme park. Yes. Basically. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, and that's, you know, it's generic theme park and listen, I, it's, it's a very cool park because first of all, it actually straddles the line between North and South Carolina. So sometimes when you're on one side of the park, you're in North Carolina and then other times in South Carolina, and there's actually like a little sign that tells you where you are. Right. Which I mean, it listen, it's a novelty, but it's kind of, it is kind of funny.
00:02:28
Speaker
Yeah. that's That's funny. That, that would be a weird thing in a theme park for sure. Yeah. Carowinds is also known for Fury 325, which is ah is is ah is ah consistently a top roller coaster.
00:02:42
Speaker
um Also, though, last year, think it was last year. that was the one that the ah the support on it broke. Yes. Yeah. I think that's what a lot of people probably know for if you're three 25 from is that last year there was some, ah video of the track, uh, separating from the pylon supporting it.
00:02:59
Speaker
Uh, I think that went pretty viral at the time. So, uh, yeah, but anyway, that is like their, their flagship coaster. And, and I mean, if you go look at coaster ratings, it is, it is a very highly rated coaster. It's 325 feet tall and goes like a hundred miles per hour. it's So it's it's pretty, and a pretty incredible looking ah roller coaster. And obviously we didn't do that. We were there for my daughter. Right. So let say you didn't ride it, though. No, that didn't happen. No, no, no. That didn't happen.
00:03:26
Speaker
But it was so it was it was 90 degrees out yesterday, though. And I, you know, listen, I don't let me let me translate that for our friends. I can figure it out.
00:03:36
Speaker
ah Yeah. So it was ah it was 32 to go. OK. Yeah. So that's a hot day. Yeah. It was hot. It was hot. It was humid. And, you know, the nice thing, though, about Carol Wins, I will say. So, first of all, they don't open till 10 a.m. m So it's not like Disney where you you know have to wake yourself up early and get yourself out, you know, and get yourself together. I mean, like I got an oil. It's more like an morning. so they got there You know, it's more like an F hot day than a Magic Kingdom day is what I would compare it to.
00:04:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So, you know, we got there like a little bit before 10. Part of the reason why we're going is we, you know, we, when I was a kid and I don't know, Trevor, if you had, I don't remember if you mentioned this or not, but you know, when was a kid, I lived pretty close to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, which ah also was, was known for ah the ride Kingda Ka, which was at one point the fastest, tallest roller coaster in the world.
Theme Park Comparisons
00:04:24
Speaker
ah They recently imploded that though, and it doesn't exist anymore. So, ah but I used to, you know, when i was a kid, we would have season and passes and, you know, you would just, you know, Summertime, you just pop in for an afternoon for a couple hours, right?
00:04:36
Speaker
Especially like if it rained in the morning, please rains in the morning. Park is dead at the end of the day. Like literally not a single. There's nobody there. You can walk on every ride. So, you know, I kind of always want to do that with carowinds. It's only a half hour for me.
00:04:48
Speaker
It's a nice park. You know, let's but I never take my daughter. Right. So we, do you know, this is our first trip taking my daughter there. And, and you know, we we also try to explain to her, like, listen, this isn't going to be the same as Disney.
00:04:59
Speaker
Right. This is this is this is different. OK, this is, how you know, they have rides and stuff, but it's not the same thing. And I was like, it's more it's it's more Legoland than it is Disney. Like, let's, you know, we'll go. Yeah, that's like that's a fair comparison. It's yeah not as nearly themed and detailed and all that. Exactly.
00:05:16
Speaker
Like, as nice as the Peppa Pig land is at Legoland. I mean, it's it's pretty much what a Six Flags would do with Peppa Pig. Right. It's they took off the shelf rides. They printed out a couple poster boards that have Peppa Pig stuff on them. And boom, it's a Peppa Pig ride. You know what i mean?
00:05:30
Speaker
And like, that's typically what they do at these parks and and what they did at Carowinds. Now, that being said, they their kids' area is themed to Charlie Brown, which I don't know if Charlie Brown's really relevant to children anymore. My my daughter knows who Snoopy is, but she knows nothing outside of that.
00:05:47
Speaker
There was a Charlie Brown movie back when my son was younger. That's right. They did an animated movie, right? Yeah. Yeah. and and So, yeah, it's it's not completely irrelevant, but definitely not like in the...
00:05:59
Speaker
the current lexicon of your property of of kid shows yeah yeah no no but it's not like like yeah its people know people charlie brown yeah yeah like you you know snoopy right like yeah everyone's a no snoopy right so uh they they have a new roller coaster there that is actually ah it's a kid's coaster first of all carowinds amazing for the fact that they have like four kid coasters which is like crazy smart Yeah, they have a lot of kids. absolutely. Right. So it's I was just like, wow, that's I think it's maybe three. I might have exaggerated and said four. I think it's three anyway.
00:06:32
Speaker
So they have a new one that just opened. It's a multi launch coaster. Right. But nothing more than like a Slinky Dog kind of thing. Right. It goes like zero to like 30 miles per hour.
00:06:43
Speaker
Uh, and so we went there first, we, you know rope dropped that cause it was going to be you know, it was the just open two weeks ago. Right. brand spanking new. Right. And, uh, so, but we only waited like 15 minutes. Right. So that was fine. And that was a lot of fun. It was, it's a very cool ride. It's well done again though. You know, the theming is sparse, but fine.
00:07:01
Speaker
Um, I'm watching the video. It's, it's a coaster. Yeah, it's, it's a fun little coaster, honestly. And and my daughter had a great time on it. Right. Well, they also, you know, the whole land is nice. it's It's well done. They're also building this boat ride, too. We talked about the boat ride, too. It's the same one that's at Legoland. It's the same one that's it's going to be at, and well, that's at Isle Burke, right, at ah ah Epic. It's a meaning like the same kind of ride system. It's just a raft. It's got water guns on it. You shoot people and targets and stuff.
00:07:27
Speaker
That is not even close to open. Yeah. That they've been advertising that this is going to be open for 2025. And I we walked we saw it. we You could just you know, it's not like Disney. They don't put up like real walls. It's just like a fence there.
00:07:39
Speaker
So like I'm watching the construction workers work on this. And I'm like, dude, this isn't even like a month away. This is three months at least like they are far away, which is stupid because you want to have it for the summertime. Like you want a water ride ready for the, you know, 95 degree heat that's here.
00:07:55
Speaker
But, you know, regardless. Yeah, but anyway timing and budget is you can't always. I get it. I get it. I get it. But a lot of the kids coasters are like old, like really old. Right.
00:08:06
Speaker
So like one of them, like one of the kids coasters is, I mean, I don't even know how old, but it's it it looks like they took one from a county fair and just like made it permanent. You know what i mean? Yeah. ah Yeah, it's one of our deals. Our local place did that, too, where they yeah they they designated a yeah ah county fair coaster as the kids coaster next to the big proper coaster that they had. Exactly.
00:08:28
Speaker
Now, the one thing they do have there, which I and I think I mentioned this last week was they they have a kids wooden coaster, which I don't think I've ever seen anywhere else before, um except for maybe Legoland. Legoland head does have a kids wooden coaster.
00:08:39
Speaker
um Which I did not go on. I wanted to. However, the ride before that, we went on this thing. It's like a I don't even know how to describe this. It's like the the the it's it's like the Music Express or the Himalaya. Right. Like it kind of follows that kind of same circuit. But it's a gyro force.
00:08:57
Speaker
No, it's it's gosh, it's it's i you're looking at all the rides of Carowinds right now Yeah. Yeah. yeah help i'm trying to help you out and i appreciate that no i so it's it's it's kind of like that but instead of having like roller no so that is the the himalaya ride that they have this one it's individual cars and you're sitting in like it's like a boat it looks like a boat but you're not in water but it's following that same kind of thing well here it is peanuts pirates okay peanuts pirates is what it's called
00:09:29
Speaker
okay so this thing looks you know tame and all right like it spins in a circle it does like the up and down thing but in the middle of it the thing turns like each individual ship turns forward or backwards well which is fine it was lots of fun but it destroyed my back just destroyed my like absolutely that was the second thing we did and i was immediately like oh god i can't do this anymore like And of course, you know, because my daughter, you know, has my number. I, of course, went on a second time with her because she really wanted to go again. And I was like, all right, fine.
00:10:02
Speaker
ah You know, and of course, the cars are not made adult size, you know, but so just like squished in there. ah But listen, it was fun. i just, you know, i it didn't start the day out great because I, you know, end up hurting my back.
00:10:16
Speaker
But anyway, so, you know, we went around. There's lots of little kids rides. You know, they have like a version of the whip. But again, it was one. It looks exactly like one we saw at the fair last year. um And, you know, they had like the, you know, this the typical stuff like they had like the the Dumbo type ride, but it's, you know, planes instead. Right. And they do be versus Red Baron. Yeah. Yeah. You know, OK. You want to know what made me the maddest about this, Trevor? And I don't know if this is a new trend in theme parks or and or maybe they're just doing this in the kids area.
00:10:45
Speaker
And I mean, i don't know, maybe whatever it is, but they had some games, right? You know, they had the game like the typical games, you know, you throw them. Yeah. Yeah. Carnival games. You throw the ball through the basket. You get a prize. You they had a duck game where, you know, there's ducks going around in water. You pick up the ducks, you match the colors, you get a prize.
00:11:01
Speaker
The thing is, they don't... There's no skill involved in these because you what you do, the price you pay determines how what size stuffed animal you get. What? matter what, the kid wins.
00:11:12
Speaker
no matter what the kid wins And you just have to determine what size stuffed animal they want. So it's like you pay 10 bucks for a small of 12 bucks for a medium and 20 bucks for a large. And that's it.
00:11:24
Speaker
Like you predetermined what you're getting. And I was like, so this is ridiculous. I was so mad about it. Okay. Okay. i don't forget I'm going to, I'm going to devil's advocate this for a second. Okay. Because I get, if you look at the current, um,
00:11:42
Speaker
climate of how people behave. um sure I can see,
Disney Vacation Club Rules Update
00:11:47
Speaker
you know, from a management standpoint, if there's somebody that sorry, but there's somebody that sucks at games in general and they're yelling that they're yeah depriving their child. Yeah, so exactly. So so you you you get these situations where there's somebody that, you know, it's sorry, you're you're just bad at carnival games. or Your kid, you know, your kid doesn't understand it or whatever. Like it yeah that happens.
00:12:11
Speaker
And that happened all the time when I was growing up is, you know, yes, you lose at carnival games. But if the parents are coming and arguing with the management too much that, you know, you know I spent, you know, years working I spent 15 bucks or 20 bucks and my kid didn't get anything. You know, you guys are ripping us off.
00:12:26
Speaker
They probably looked at it and okay, well, instead of, you know, This way, you know, the kid still gets to play the game, but they get, yeah you know, it's sorry. it's It's basically giving them a participation trophy, which it is. it is I do not agree with this. i'm I'm just arguing for the sake of this is probably why they did it.
00:12:45
Speaker
And it sucks. But I feel like, you know, actually winning your prize would be a lot better because I know when I was a kid that made me want to get, you know, yes, I was learning to play those games. I wasn't just like, oh, I, you know,
00:12:58
Speaker
I threw the ball and i don't care where it lands. It's like, no, I'm want the red cup. Like, yeah, you know, better you yeah, exactly. Like it it motivates you. So yeah now, given yeah I do think this was only the kids area. And I do understand that point of view.
00:13:12
Speaker
i just, it just annoyed me. Cause I walk up there and I'm, I'm looking at the prices and I'm like, so wait a second. Yeah. So you're just paying for the plushie and you get to play a game on the side. I'm buying a tiny little stuffed animal for $10 that I could buy in the gift shop.
00:13:29
Speaker
And my daughter is going to play this game. Your kid plays a game. So, okay. Well, the best part was my daughter decided to do the duck game, you know, where you pick up the ducks and match the colors and she immediately matched two colors. She picked up two ducks.
00:13:40
Speaker
yeah So two ducks, $10. Great. Anyway.
00:13:45
Speaker
Oh, gosh. What else? Okay. I had a couple things on Carowind. So um the other thing was... and I talked about this in discord, dude. I, so everyone always complains about Disney being expensive, right?
00:13:59
Speaker
Like, you know, Oh, Disney so expensive, blah blah, blah, blah, blah. I go to get a quick service meal. Four of us, I spent, you know, $60, whatever. All right. So I just popped my head into one of like the food stands and I happen to see a chicken finger basket, right?
00:14:14
Speaker
Two chicken fingers and a bunch of fries, $17 Trevor, $17 for two chicken fingers and fries. Not even a drink. Two chicken fingers. Yeah, two chicken fingers in ah and fries.
00:14:28
Speaker
And I was like, are you kidding? Because, like, i mean, listen, Disney is expensive, but I was just there. I mean, i we did quick service, and it's not. It's like $12, $13, know, at the most. You know, and at least the food is good. This food was terrible.
00:14:43
Speaker
It was literally the worst food ive I think I've ever had anywhere. It was so bad. Yeah, like that that that's theme park food. I know, but du like at least, you know, somewhat decent, like, you know, for that much money.
00:14:56
Speaker
I've had bad theme park food, too. i yeah I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah, there's there is there is a seat or there is a there is a low of entry to what classifies as food. I mean, I just like, i ah you know, if I'm going to pay that kind of money, like I want it to least taste like something, you know?
00:15:16
Speaker
It's true. um Yeah. but Yeah. i Listen, I just, it is what it, I haven't been to like ah a regular non Disney theme park in a long time. So, and I feel like whenever you do these things, it always gives you more of an appreciation for the way that Disney does things and goes about things, you know, like you just always get a, you know, just even like little things like, you know, of course, like the detail stuff, of course, but also just like the customer service piece and like, you know, the food and, and all of that kind of stuff. You just, you remember the differences when you go to a place like that, you know?
00:15:47
Speaker
Yeah, but I'm so sorry. Continue thought. I'm just bringing up ah the menu at Cosmic Race to see how much chicken fingers are. Yeah, find it. Find it. It's not seventeen dollars, I don't think.
00:16:01
Speaker
OK, so so for the kids meals. Yeah, they they don't have chicken or no. Oh, no. Here we go. Kids kids chicken strips to two strips served with two sides and choice of small low fat milk or bottled water. Eight forty nine.
00:16:15
Speaker
Yeah. Now, paid $17, $17. And that didn't even include the drinks. and and that And you just got fries on the side. You didn't even get to pick your... No, just fries. The sides are always like like you can choose like oranges. or Oh, no. There was no choices. Please.
00:16:33
Speaker
Now, what I will say, Trevor, is something I did like that they had is they had a thing. And you were just talking about this with Universal. And I i do like this. They had drink stands everywhere. And what you could do is you could buy a a refillable cup.
00:16:48
Speaker
And you can either do a season long one and it was like 35 bucks free refills for the entire season. Or you could do a daily one and it was like 18 bucks free refills all that day. And then when you come back, you can pay seven bucks and get ref free refills that whole day.
00:17:02
Speaker
That's great. I love So much better, isn't it? Like, yeah yeah it's such a better system than what Disney's doing. I mean, I'm sure there's a reason why they wouldn't do it because you think they'd want to do it because it would probably make them a lot of money. And I mean, they do it at the resorts, but why there's probably a reason why they have not brought that to the parks.
00:17:18
Speaker
i' I don't know why. I can tell you at Universal, all of the rides had dump stations where you could you could dump out your your you refillable cups because they, I mean, the the thing that Disney would have to figure out on this. it like So Universal, they have the lockers where you would put your refillable mug, right? yeah So they don't have to worry about being on the ride. The problem is at Disney,
00:17:43
Speaker
You got refillable mugs and then you got people who are on rides who, you know, they will tell people all all day long not to eat or drink on the rides, but there will always be people that doing that. Right. Or, you know, somebody dumping their, their cup into Pirates of the Caribbean or trying to fill up their cup in Pirates the Caribbean. Weirdos. yeah Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So I can see, i see where logistically like, you know, it's, it's a great thing on the surface, but there is some back end logistic stuff that needs to happen if Disney is going to do it.
00:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. and And they also have like meal plans and stuff. But again, I'm not paying for a meal plan for garbage food. Maybe there's better. I saw there, but there's a dining plan. I'm like, what do you. They an in park dining plan where you can pay and have unlimited food all day.
00:18:25
Speaker
Hey, there's there's Panda Express. There is Panda Express there. And there's a couple of different chains there, too. Yeah. So like they do have some chains within the park, which is interesting. um But anyway, listen, maybe I just need to find better food there.
00:18:41
Speaker
But again, know it's it's good that you got some perspective on it, because I think it's good for us to all remember that, you know, as much as we get into the mode of like, you know, not hating on Disney, but, you know, you know, criticizing stuff Disney does.
00:18:56
Speaker
this does This doesn't mean that everything Disney does is perfect, but it means, you know, it could be worse, right? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. ah Let's see. Last thoughts on this. So we actually decided to, we we were able to upgrade our day passes to season passes. Season passes, yeah, because their season passes are only like $100. Yeah, they're cheap, man. Yeah, that's the thing. They're cheaper than day at Disney. Well, even that, but like the parking, paying for parking was $35. Yeah.
00:19:25
Speaker
thirty five dollars $35. Right. So like, but then if I get an annual pass or a season pass, I keep saying annual pass because i'm used to Disney free parking. Right. So like it, it pays for itself like right there. Yeah. So like, you know, it's like really, yeah. Really. If you go like more than twice in a season, usually ah season's pass pays for itself at a local theme. Exactly. That's what I found at least. Yeah.
00:19:46
Speaker
Exactly. So, yeah so i i yeah yeah. So, I did that. And, you know, that process was ah another place where we see some gaps in the customer service. There was gigantic lines to do the same thing that I wanted to do. And there was one person working, which, you know...
00:20:04
Speaker
Not great. I feel bad for that person that has to do parking. Yeah. Yeah, you do. You do. you Well, this was for the upgrade. This was for just to do the the upgrade. at Oh, oh this this this wasn't for the parking. This was just the person at the ticket booth. Yeah. This is at the get this said guest services.
00:20:19
Speaker
Oh, dude. um But anyway, yeah. So listen, I had a good time and it's it'll be nice to fill in the gaps with that. i'm I'm looking forward to doing some like afternoon trips and stuff like that. But ah yeah, listen, we had a good good time.
00:20:31
Speaker
Like i said, it's a nice park. it's it is it's It's well maintained. It's kept pretty clean. They have some really cool old rides there. And the people were mostly nice.
00:20:42
Speaker
Mostly. you know But and you know you always run into one person here or there. But yeah. And, you know, for the food situation, like when we were so when when my son was was your daughter's age, um we we were doing the same thing. We were hitting up the local amusement park and, you know, we we didn't go a lot because I think we only went for like one season because our son kind of looked at was like, you know, I'd rather just wait and go to Disney.
00:21:05
Speaker
is what he actually told us at that point. But, um, when we were going though, we, we figured out, you know, for, for the food thing, um we actually would just pack a lunch and a cooler and take that instead because, um I, cause I assume, you know, you know, if Carol wins is anything like, like the, uh, um, theme park near us, um, um,
00:21:26
Speaker
they you know They didn't care. or And even like Disney, they don't care if you bring your own food in. so Oh, so they actually don't let you bring your own food into Carowinds. Oh, really? think that's Flags policy. so Because we looked it up ahead of time.
00:21:37
Speaker
They don't let bring food in. Although, listen, they weren't checking bags. You could have brought in anything, pretty much. I mean, i mean because the thing is, like I've seen people walking around Disney with coolers before. I'm surprised that that Six Flags is so...
00:21:51
Speaker
yeah But I guess but guess that's because they're clearly trying to sell this stellar food. they're so They're probably... Well, see, I think this is really why that there's a difference, right? It's because I guarantee you Carowind slash Six Flags is far more reliant on making a profit through food than do plus disney can buy it bulk a lot easier and absorb any of the inflation from that stuff a lot easier because of how large they are just simply how large they are i know six flags is large but like you know it's it's disney's just a gigantic entity right i mean i don't yeah know it's a yeah level of scale different than yes yeah exactly
00:22:29
Speaker
Exactly. So anyway, yeah, I think that's probably plays into it. And I think, you know, it just is one of those things where they need it, need the profit from it more than Disney does, you know, but who knows? I could be wrong.
00:22:41
Speaker
Fair. Yeah. yeah I think it just sounds like you have to go and investigate all or figure out what the best options are. Cause yeah, the the chicken fingers are not it. It sounds like. Yeah.
00:22:52
Speaker
They also, by the way, they have like their own version of FastPass, too, which is completely and totally unnecessary because every ride is like under 15 minutes. it's but But it's a FastPass. Yeah, I mean, it's just I had to laugh about it because it's it's it's more expensive than the tickets. It's it's like Universal. It's pricey, right?
00:23:09
Speaker
so like it like it starts a right but like yeah But we're walking around. I mean, we didn't wait longer than 15 minutes for anything. and Even like Fury 325 had like a 15-minute wait. right like It's not it is not like Disney. you know You were there on a Saturday, too.
00:23:27
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I was there on a busier day. Well, what should be a busier day, I think. Yeah. Anyway, I had a good time there. But let's talk DVC, Trevor. Let's talk about DVC.
00:23:39
Speaker
and because Let's move over to DVC. okay I'm interested in this. It's... Yeah, I don't know how I feel about this. right. So so let let's start by by prefacing this. So so DVC has ah updated their rules and regulations around renting.
00:23:57
Speaker
um And correct me if I'm – or okay, I'm going to paraphrase this. I'm not going to quote it directly. But basically what they're saying is that when you rent something, you agree that you are renting it for yourself or or when you're when you're renting out ah points on a contract, then it's for personal use and not for commercial purposes. Basically, what they're alluding to is that there are entities out there that rent rent points out as um you know in bulk and it's owned by a company, and that's against the the rules of DVC.
00:24:33
Speaker
So yeah it sounds like that this update to their rules is that they Disney is aware of the fact that there are... Some people out there that have bought up multiple contracts for the purpose just of renting, because really, if if you set it up right, you know, you can you can rent out a contract and it pays for the dues and you have money left over on top, which, you know, I can see where it becomes an appealing business.
00:25:00
Speaker
Right. Yeah. You know, it's. it's You're basically just a a middleman for renting out but hotel rooms to people and you collect money. So I get why Disney is revising this. And it's probably also coming from... um or so this is an assumption. I don't have any hard data on this. And you know if anybody...
00:25:20
Speaker
um If you want to come for us on this, you know you know we're we're not like super into the accounting side of this, but I assume that ah you know based on just what I've seen from ah you know people commenting and on various social media platforms is you know there has been a perception of you know getting getting certain reservations, getting getting rooms in particular areas seems overly difficult. And you know people are asking the question, if there's no way that you know all of these...
00:25:49
Speaker
that everybody is renting out points for specifically like this one week, right? Like it seems like there, there's another There's another level going on there of somebody is playing games. And just to also um give context to this, this isn't this isn't going after people like or so like DVC Rental Store or David's Rentals, which are are two of the bigger DVC rental sites. Those sites are set up as brokers.
00:26:16
Speaker
So they're they're not the ones actually renting the points. they' They're a broker working on behalf of people who want to rent out points and then connecting them with people that want to rent the points.
00:26:27
Speaker
Right. So so this is targeting. It sounds like more you've got somebody who has bought up a bunch of of contracts under, you know, a a corporate entity and they're renting it out as like a vacation something. I or i guess would it be like a time? Yeah, I guess like a timeshare.
00:26:47
Speaker
like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. i What I think is interesting about this to me is that it's like members have been complaining about this for years, right? Like they a lot of people will say that they're the it perceived abuse of the of the rental market or you know or commercial renters is what causes limited availability, right? Yes.
00:27:11
Speaker
That might be true, but I don't know if it's true. Like, I really don't. It's hard yeah because we don't have Disney's visibility into who's actually renting out these properties, right?
00:27:24
Speaker
Yeah. And and i yeah so to me, like I don't even know if DVC actually knows if that's the problem or not, right? but i mean, they can look at just contract ownership and, you know... They could, yeah.
00:27:37
Speaker
You know, if if somebody has like, you know, 30 or 40 contracts, like it's got to be weird. i yeah I mean, probably. Yeah. But at the same time, they're probably like, yeah, buy more contracts. Right. Like, I mean, but the, I guess what I'm saying is that this is great that they're doing this. Right. And, and listen, there also, there's a checkbox now at the end here too, that when you book a reservation that says you agree to the terms and conditions and you attest that this reservation is for personal use only.
00:28:04
Speaker
Yeah. I guess my problem with this is that I feel like they're doing it really to placate people more than to actually stop the practice. You know what I mean? air what I mean by that is it's, it's like you can make ah an argument for anything being personal use, right? Like it's ah where do you draw the line of, you know, this is commercial use or this is personal use. I mean, I, you know what I mean? it's I mean, I guess if all you're doing is use, how do you tell, I guess is the question, right? But if you're, and I saw a lot of people on discord talking about this, like, well, if you haven't booked a reservation for yourself in five years or whatever, right? Well, maybe, maybe those commercial people could just start booking a reservation for themselves every month for a week. I mean, every year for a week. And then, you know, they get around it. Like, you know, like, I guess the question is what constitutes abuse, right? Like we should be able to rent out our points. If we want to, we own the points. We should be able to rent them.
00:28:59
Speaker
And they're not stopping that. They they don't they don't have a problem with that. And no one I don't really think does have a problem with that, you know. um And, you know, they they they said here, too, they they actually tried to clarify this and said, personal use may include enjoying the benefits of a DVC membership with family or allowing any reserve vacation home to friends and family on occasion.
00:29:19
Speaker
Additionally, but like, what does occasion mean? Is that, you know what i mean? Like it's very broad. And then additionally, personal use means that the member does not regularly or frequently rent, sell reservations booked using their membership. But again, like what is frequently, you know, it's ah ah open to a lot of interpretation, which is why I don't feel like it's,
00:29:40
Speaker
like a hard and fast thing. You know what I, it feels very, um, just kind of like we're trying, you know what mean? Yeah. But like you're, you're right in that. Yeah. it seems like, you know, it could be very loose, but like, like I said, you know, Disney, that they have all the booking information on their backend. They can definitely do some correlation between you can figure out patterns of how people are are using their contracts.
00:30:06
Speaker
So, i yeah But I guess the the question is, Trevor, what's to stop somebody from just doing what Walt Disney did when he bought all the land up in Florida but and starting a bunch of random LLCs that are just ghost companies and buying one contract with those? And then there's no way they're going to be able to figure that out.
00:30:21
Speaker
You know what I mean? like Right. But unless ah but again, that that's where you know if if the behavior of these LLCs is that they're never actually using it for themselves or it's, you know, again, there are patterns that can be drawn between it. And also, um you know, i I don't know actually if this is true or not, but I thought that when you did a or when you bought a contract, like you couldn't, I thought you had to provide like an owner's name. It couldn't just be like a company name.
00:30:53
Speaker
Like I thought somebody's like actual name had to be on there. So that means that unless you're making a bunch of fake IDs to to like to buy up contracts. But then that's a whole other thing.
00:31:05
Speaker
Right. I know. i I'm pretty sure you can buy it up with an LLC. Yeah. I actually just Googled this. Yeah, you can. Oh, you can. OK. Yeah. So DVCD can be titled in the name of an LLC. Well, then again, I guess if if somebody wants to go through all that work to to do that. then I mean, but if that's your business, you're going to do that, right? Like you're going to find a way around this but But the thing is, is that, you know, at this point, though, anybody who has been doing that, they're they're certainly not following that, you know, making a bunch of of of ghost companies. there They're all going to be under a single LLC.
00:31:39
Speaker
And, you know, they they even they did bring it up also at the 2024 Condo Association meeting. did they They said, you know, we're reviewing owners who seem to own a large number of points just to make profit. DVC is actively figuring out ways to go after that.
00:31:54
Speaker
And stop that to the best of our ability. So, so, you know, again, back to the point of, you know, you know, Disney's rewarding this stuff. So, you know, it seems like, you know, they're, they're just giving themselves the blanket ability to do stuff.
00:32:06
Speaker
Yeah. That's probably the case right now, but this is setting themselves up so that, you know, you know, Because this becomes a legal thing, right? You know, if they if they're if they're going after people saying, hey, you can't you know do rentals anymore, ah people who are doing it will immediately come back and go, well, where does it say we can't do that?
00:32:24
Speaker
Right? so So changing this wording is giving them the ah the umbrella to say, legal co yeah, we we can we can we can actually do this as part of your contract. And and the thing about is that it doesn't hurt...
00:32:38
Speaker
the, the vast majority of people who are using DVC because we are all using for personal use or, you know, like they said, for, for the occasional renting out of points and stuff like that, or, or, yeah or, you know, booking stuff for, for family members. So, yeah. Um, so I, I don't see, i can't imagine how this is going to impact, um,
00:32:59
Speaker
The majority of us, like I said, unless unless you're somebody that um like they said, you know, somebody that has a large number of points, but it's it's very clear, like if you got a ton of points and you've not actually been to Disney in like five years, like, mean, that's red flag.
00:33:14
Speaker
Number one. Yeah, but no, I agree. I agree. Yeah. I listen, I listen. These are good steps. I just wonder how effective it's actually going to be. And if they're actually going to do anything or if it's just really just like, like, look, we're trying.
00:33:28
Speaker
You know what i mean? I feel i feel the the thing about this, too, is that, you know, it's this is on the surface and we're going to see this. For the people who this is targeting, you're not going to hear about it in any kind of public space.
00:33:41
Speaker
and and No, no, no, yeah you know if If somebody who's renting out points wants to make a big deal about it, you know they they can try. But you know we we all know how that's going to go because – you know If you suddenly come around and say, Hey, it's not for... i you know I've been renting out my points to make money for the last 5 years, people will come for you online, right? Oh, sure. Yeah. you know you know the the thing about it is that it's probably going to push those people who are abusing rentals into ah into a place where they have to decide if they want to figure out more loopholes to keep this going.
00:34:15
Speaker
Or it may, it'll push them far enough that they'll go, it's not worth it. We'll go look at other things to rent out, you know, you know yeah different timeshares whatever. it It just kills ah DVC as a as an avenue for revenue for them, right? so Yeah.
00:34:30
Speaker
Yeah. Well, listen, it's, you know, well, we'll have to see how this shakes out. It's, it's really hard to really know what, what's actually going to happen. Right. Yeah. I, like i said, I feel like, you know, I'm, I'm not going to care about this because I'm never going to have enough points to care about it.
00:34:48
Speaker
um So, so there's that. And yeah, it's, I mean, I'll be curious if any more news comes of it, but I, like I said, I feel like this is just them setting up to do some stuff behind the scenes.
00:35:00
Speaker
So, yeah, no, that totally, totally makes sense. Well, I mean, what we're going to, like I said, we'll see when we'll see how it shakes out. But I mean, the vast majority members, it's but here's the other thing, Trevor. I don't really, truly believe that them cracking down on this is going to make availability better.
00:35:16
Speaker
I just don't. I just don't think it's going to help. thats That's a fair statement. ah But I guess The interesting thing is is that so there are those times of year that it's just like you're never going to get what you want yeah exactly at Disney.
00:35:33
Speaker
The thing that I'm wondering, though, is will you know it's probably not going to make those kinds of the scenarios better. like like you know how they How Disney does their points and whatever is tuned at, there are popular times when people go, I don't think you're going to see a change there.
00:35:48
Speaker
I'm wondering, though, if outside of there, you may start hearing more stories of, you know, people going like, hey, I i got a waitlist at the Grand Cali or I got a waitlist at, um you know, Boardwalk or something like that. I'm wondering if maybe you'll start hearing more of like waitlist stuff coming through and not necessarily...
00:36:08
Speaker
Yeah, that that, you know, all of a sudden it's like, oh, everything's available everywhere. Right. yeah Exactly. Yeah, because I don't know if renting is fully the problem. that I mean, there's just only so many rooms and there's so much demand. I mean, it is what it is.
00:36:21
Speaker
and And again, certain resorts, its I think, you know, there are certain resorts that are just they're at capacity and there's nothing you can do about it. ge yeah Yeah, I would agree with that.
00:36:34
Speaker
all right. So right but's let's talk about the sad thing in the room that I, I know you don't go on social media very much, but I've been on Facebook and it's funny that, you know, for, for so many months I've not, you know, Muppets has not been on my radar for a long time.
Changes in Disney Attractions
00:36:55
Speaker
And this last week I have seen so many people posting about Muppet vision 3d and this past week. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, everyone getting like their last moments and stuff, which, you know, it's very not to say that I hate seeing it. It's just it's funny how like every time an attraction closes, this is what happens.
00:37:16
Speaker
Right. Is yeah there is the hype that lasts like. hype around like, oh my gosh, this is going away. And and then and then you see like, you know, um there was like the lines for Muppets went all the way into Galaxy's Edge the other day, which yeah people equate that to, well, it was so popular that they had lines on the last day. It's like, yeah, because no it was the last day. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, like, it's, listen, I, and I know you'll you'll probably disagree with this, but it's, the maelstrom is the same thing, right? It's like, that you went to the Epcot at any time and the maelstrom had a 15 minute wait, right? But as soon as you're like, well, it's it's going to go away now. It's like, it's my favorite ride ever. Then why did you never ride it?
00:37:55
Speaker
I liked Maelstrom and I rode Maelstrom. I enjoyed Maelstrom. So I'm not, I'm not in the, the, the camp of, you know, I never saw these things, but, yeah but you know, the last couple of times I went to Hollywood studios, we didn't, we didn't go and see Muppet vision 3d. I, you know, I, I think the last time I actually saw it was in 2022.
00:38:16
Speaker
So, you know, it's been, it's been a couple of years and Actually, oh, no, it actually, it was even before. No, it was 2019. Now that I think about it. So so yeah that that brings up the point of, you know, it wasn't it had its you know following, but it wasn't a popular ride.
00:38:35
Speaker
No. Or popular attraction, I guess. And they're anymore. Yeah. and And, you know, you know, it was also kind of in a weird position where I don't I don't think it was feasible for them to update it.
00:38:46
Speaker
No, no, no. I agree. Well, listen, and and so with that, we get the announcement that Rockin' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, which for you kids out there, Aerosmith is a band that hasn't been relevant in 30 years.
00:38:59
Speaker
Mm-hmm. go Go watch Armageddon and and or ma don't watch Armageddon. Don't watch um But no I sorry. i' Sorry all the Aerosmith fans out there. and but I'm just i'm I'm being I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
00:39:14
Speaker
But um listen, it is true that Aerosmith is not really relevant to today's kids. they they And if you've been on Rock and Roller Coaster, it's incredibly dated. yeah it And so with that, we have that Rockin' Roller Coaster in its current ah form is set to close sometime in early 2026, which, again, is not really unexpected. I kind of thought that it would they would maybe start work on it sooner, but you know obviously they're probably still working on plans and and getting things going. But they're also saying that it's going to close in early 2026, but also reopen before the end of 2026, which...
00:39:45
Speaker
but you know i mean it makes sense because they're probably not gonna like they're not like trashing the track gutting it yeah yeah it's it's it's a change to the layover and a change to the pre-show and everything so yeah yeah it it shouldn't be that big of a thing but i i know people are are concerned are concerned about it you know but it's i you know so listen if you want to ride rock and roller coaster get it in in the next six months here you know andm i'm good thanks but yeah you ready ready ready to move on to a Muppets thing.
00:40:15
Speaker
Listen, I think this is, and I've seen people speculating on this, right? Like that villain show that they put in the theater that's right next to Rock and Roller Coaster, you know, that could eventually end up being the new Muppet Vision 3D, you know, like that theater.
00:40:29
Speaker
Like, I mean, they could run that villain show for a year or two. And then once, you know, once, because you think about it, this isn't happening until the end of 26th. Like we have a year and a half until we have the Muppets in rock and roller coaster.
00:40:42
Speaker
They could run that villain show for a couple of years and then, you know, magically move Muppet vision 3d to that theater. That's right next door and make a whole new Muppets courtyard, you know? Hmm. That's, yeah, that's actually entirely feasible.
00:40:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I didn't even think about that. But the the other thing too, we should talk about with this is, so I don't know if you saw this, but they they had Kermit announce that this was coming and ah god okay. We we've, we've touched on this before. and And I know some of our listeners are, are much more passionate about this than I think we are, but yeah,
00:41:18
Speaker
They need to really look at who's doing the voice of Kermit because yeah that did not sound like Kermit. i The new Kermit is terrible. We've talked about it. Yeah. It's set he sounds like somebody doing an impression of Kermit.
00:41:33
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, Jeremy, who's done Kermit on our show many times. Yeah. better kermit yeah Jeremy does a better Kermit. Jeremy does a better Kermit than the new Kermit does. and and And that like Jeremy, like that that that's.
00:41:46
Speaker
Like, seriously, you do a really good Kermit. Like, that's not. Yeah, that's like not. and That's not in any way. Like, we we're yeah, no we're not saying like like that you're bad at. You're actually really good at it. It's yes. yeah But like this guy is terrible at it. So bad. Yeah.
00:42:02
Speaker
Yeah. And actually, Jeff, ah messaged a listener Jeff messaged us this morning and said, and with that with that video and said, can you imagine having to hear the ah this terrible Kermit voice for the next 20 years in the pre-show?
00:42:15
Speaker
And I'm like, oh man, it's got a point, dude. it's it's They got to do something with it. I don't understand. Does Disney have a choice in that? Or is that is that the Jim Henson videos that gets that? I don't know. that Yeah, I don't know who made that decision is the thing. Like, it's... He's so bad.
00:42:34
Speaker
he Although I will notice he's gotten better. It's less bad than it used to be. Like... like Yeah, but it's still like like that announcement just really like... I know. like he It like he was having an off day or something. i don't know. You know what the voice sounds like? It sounds like regular Kermit with a cold.
00:42:53
Speaker
like That's what it sounds like. It sounds like Kermit has a cold, and that's but it's perpetually just that. It just always has a cold but for for the rest of history. ah Yeah. so Before we move on to our next topic, I remembered there was a couple of things that I needed to bring up at the beginning of the show.
00:43:11
Speaker
know you hadn't. OK, I forgot about which. OK, we should cover these things off from from a previous show um just just to get it out there. Okay. um So, so, you so you mentioned Jeff was talking about, about Kermit, but so a different Jeff. So, so we have a couple of different Jeffs. um Multiple Jeffs.
00:43:30
Speaker
Yeah. One of the other Jeffs that listens to our show mentioned that back in, I believe it was like 2023. um He brought up that the Skyliner line that we talked about last week.
00:43:42
Speaker
Oh, did he actually, yeah, he proposed that and he, he linked to it. I, you probably didn't see it, but he, he linked to it on, on Facebook. that he had actually drawn a diagram of what did he talked.
00:43:52
Speaker
Yes. ah So, so we need to, you know, I know we, we theorized and we were all excited about it, but Jeff talked about it first. Okay. Got to put it out there that, yeah that yeah, yeah. had Jet, you know, you know, you know, props to Jeff for thinking of that well before we did apologies. We are very stream of consciousness on the show. So ah I thought about this for while.
00:44:12
Speaker
Well, okay. But, but you say that, but really like, you know, after about like two or three weeks, we kind of forget. Oh, yeah. What's happened or what was said. So, ah so yeah.
00:44:23
Speaker
You know know, sorry about that, Jeff. we didnt We didn't mean to take your thunder from back then. But, you know, you know Jeff did did diagram what we talked about. Listen, give credit where credit's due, man. Exactly. I did not mean to steal your take, Jeff. I honestly... Yeah.
00:44:38
Speaker
Do not recall that. I don't i don't actually, i mean, Trevor can attest to this. I don't use social media at all. so Yeah, which I assume that's probably why you didn't see it. yeah I just happened to see it linked or he he he pointed it out ah to our our yeah Facebook page. And I was like,
00:44:53
Speaker
Oh, okay. I should probably correct us on that. Well, let's hope we're both right, Jeff. Yes, exactly. Yeah. um The other thing that I just need to quickly touch on was, you know, we talked about that stitch...
00:45:07
Speaker
um Dole Whip Sunday with the Powerade last week. so so I, I, yeah, I did food time at home and I posted on Facebook and on the discord and, um, I didn't know how I was going to feel about, Dole Whip and Powerade mixed together. And it's actually way better than you think it would be.
00:45:25
Speaker
Um, the, the, the, specifically the berry. So, so the, the blue, the blueberry, uh, power aid is what, what I used. So, um, so the, if anybody wants to do it at home, like, you know, if you have a creamy, you can, you can buy Dole Whip mix and make it highly recommend it.
00:45:43
Speaker
Um, the funny thing too, is that it, when you mix the two together, you get, it looks like the green milk from galaxy's edge, but it tastes a hundred times better. Nice.
00:45:55
Speaker
so So I'll just leave that out there. So Food Time at Home did happen from our our conversation last week. And by the way, we i know we did one Food Time episode and we haven't done one since. It's only because of what happened. like There were some food things that happened during our vacations, but by the time we got around to doing more shows, it was pretty stale at that point.
00:46:15
Speaker
So we're just waiting for more food news. As soon as we get a menu for Food and food and Wine Man, we are all over that. so Yeah, Food and Wine Man. Yeah, food and wine will probably be the next big one. So I would keep an eye out for that.
00:46:26
Speaker
I would think. Okay, sorry. Maybe they'll do something else. Father's Day thing. Who knows? yeah Yeah, I'm done derailing the show. Now we can get back to what we actually had on the rundown. By the way, like i this is why I don't listen to other Disney podcasts because I'm always worried about like subconsciously stealing somebody else's idea or thought. or You know what I mean? and i Listen, maybe I saw Jeff's thing and I subconsciously stole it. I apologize, Jeff.
00:46:48
Speaker
but but But the thing is, is that it also shows that, you know, we all, yes, we we all have ideas and stuff, but I, you know, we we all kind of have a common line of thinking as well. Right. So.
00:46:59
Speaker
So what you're saying I'm not a creative genius, Trevor. Is that what you're saying? can't believe that. but You are an individual, but you do not always have individual thought. That's, I fail to believe that.
00:47:11
Speaker
um but's What an individual thing to say. Let's do our ad, Trevor. And then we'll we'll talk about a couple other things that have been... ah I mean, listen, I feel like after last week's episode, Disney somehow heard it and was like, all right, Trevor, you want some Disney
Listener Interactions & Feedback
00:47:26
Speaker
news? We'll give you some Disney news.
00:47:28
Speaker
Yeah, they gave us some Disney news this week. They did. so They did. yeah All right. All right. Let's go and do this ad. All right. The sponsor of this episode is DVC Resale Market. DVC Resale Market, a world of DVC company, is the leader in the DVC Resale industry with 13 former Disney Vacation Club guides and three former Disney Vacation Club quality assurance managers. If you're thinking of buying DVC, browse the largest selection of DVC Resale listings anywhere with DVC experts on hand seven days a week to answer your questions.
00:47:53
Speaker
If you're thinking of selling, turn to the friendly professionals at DVC Resale Market, wherever 98% listings sell within 30 days. In 2024, DVC Resale Market helped over 4,400 families join or or add on to their membership.
00:48:06
Speaker
Go to DVCResaleMarket.com slash welcomehome or call 1-844-DVC-PROS. That's 1-844-382-7767. And you speak to them, be sure to let them know that Welcome Home sent you.
00:48:18
Speaker
Trevor, I know we haven't been doing a lot of merch stuff lately, but I had to post this because... Yeah, because... Okay, this this is not Disney merch, per se. or well it it's exactly It's Disney Home. you know disney disney It's officially approved by Disney, but as the title of the article says, but at what cost?
00:48:38
Speaker
yes so So Disney brings Haunted Mansion to early Halloween decor shopping, but at what cost? Lowe's already has Halloween decorations out. Yeah, they're like Costco. they They're like three months ahead of the three whatever season it it is. yeah But the reason I had to post this is because this stuff is really cool.
00:48:57
Speaker
um Cool or okay? You don't like them? I think it's awesome. Okay, the the the hitchhiking ghosts and the the grave the groundskeeper yeah are horrible.
00:49:12
Speaker
You don't like them? See, I like them. I think they look cool. no No, I i don't. like okay The groundskeeper, oh my... like whoever whoever but like i get they're trying to emulate the face of the groundskeeper in the ride, yeah but it just...
00:49:27
Speaker
It doesn't i think look right. i like yeah It looks just it's too goofy. I like it. I think it's very like cartoony, you know. the Also, though, they have this night.
00:49:39
Speaker
the night The night's better. Yeah. The night is holding its head and its eyes glow, but it also apparently sings Grim Grinning Ghosts and moves. As the knight should, because he does in in the ride. Yeah.
00:49:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's true. Oh man. See, I like that. you what do i Do you not like that? the The hitchhiking ghost, like you think they look weird or. They're too, again, it's, it's too cartoony. Yeah. They, they just don't look.
00:50:08
Speaker
And even like looking at the one, ah the one on the left, like the eyes are like, it looks like a kid drew them. like I get that, yeah. if you If you really look at them, and like looks like they gave a ah project to somebody's kid to like...
00:50:24
Speaker
take Take this picture of the hitchhiking ghosts and copy it. Yeah. No, I get that. I get that. I do like all these real these fake gravestones. Yes. the The gravestones are actually the best part of this. I agree that the gravestones are solid.
00:50:38
Speaker
and And like the the picture of Master Gracie and all that, that that stuff is is awesome. Yeah. i i would Those I would buy and put in my front yard. Yeah. i Agreed. They even, they have the kitty statue. They have the, um they have the, they have a couple different ones. they They're cool.
00:50:55
Speaker
I like those a lot. I actually like to the bust ah too, although I don't know what character they're trying to depict in that bust. I'm, I'm not really sure. Yeah. I can't tell if it's, it's not one of the singing busts, is it? No. Cause I don't remember any of them where it must, it must be one of the ones from the library that they're trying to do.
00:51:14
Speaker
Oh, the ones. Cousin Algernon is the name of it. Who is cousin? alren Okay. it is ah No, it is one of the singing bus. Okay. Oh, okay. So I didn't remember him having a hat.
00:51:28
Speaker
Probably one of the ones that we never look at because you're always drawn to the one that looks like Walt Disney. Yeah. Well, there's us. yeah Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's fair. Okay. I don't, I just didn't remember a hat anywhere.
00:51:39
Speaker
and Okay. Yeah. actually, now that i think about cause I have the ornaments of, of the, uh, the singing bus and yeah, one of them does have a hat. So. Okay. Well, there you go. Well, I just didn't remember that small detail.
00:51:51
Speaker
All right. Well, that's enough talk about that. Let's get onto the big news.
Piston Peak National Park Announcement
00:51:54
Speaker
Right. Okay. Here we go. So, um, frontier land is having some major stuff done to it. And,
00:52:04
Speaker
We finally got a name for the new area that is taking over Tom Sawyer's Island, and it's going to be called Piston Peak. National Park. Piston Peak National Park, yes. That's right. which yeah ah um Okay, so so initial impressions of this. So so I'm sure everybody's seen the ah you know, they they've got this great um this great concept art that's going around. It's not even concept art. It looks like it looks like a postcard, right? It's very cartoony. This one is very cartoony as opposed to the other one that that they they released previously that was very like realistic looking.
00:52:38
Speaker
yeah This one is very cartoony. Like you said, it's like a postcard. Yeah, exactly. so So the thing is, is that it's showing like like you can clearly see where Big Thunder and Tiana's is in the background and the the shops and Country Bear and everything kind of going down the side. So it's like this is like facing towards it from from ah Liberty Square or like, yeah like I haunted mansion kind of thing.
00:53:00
Speaker
Um, the, so my initial impressions of this, and I said this to my wife and I know people who haven't been to the West coast, aren't going to get what I'm saying here, but those that have been, um this looks like a cross between cars land and grizzly peak in California adventure.
00:53:18
Speaker
And I'm here for it. Like I, I think it's, it looks great. It it fits very much the theme of, like a, like a national park in like, like anywhere really, or anywhere in the Rocky mountains. Like, like yeah like it's, it's very much giving that like Rocky mountains vibe. And they said that like in the description, it's, it's meant to look like, like Rocky mountains trails kind of stuff, which for me, like I live right on the edge of the Rocky mountains. So, you know, looking at all this, it's like, yeah, they they're, they're definitely capturing what an area like that would, would look like.
00:53:55
Speaker
So i'm I'm excited for it. I think i think the what they're bringing forward looks great. And um yeah, you know, the initial impressions of it are um there better be some very like calm calm ah park or like...
00:54:14
Speaker
I don't know how to describe the music, but it's like, like, it again, if you've been to like in, uh, in California adventure, when you're in those areas, there's like this very calm music that's playing.
00:54:25
Speaker
yeah You'll have to go find Like if you look up, look lookke up like the grizzly peak, um, uh, area music or something like that. yeah Um, there better be something like that playing in here.
00:54:36
Speaker
Like, it just feels to me like it needs to be like somewhere that you can just walk around. And and I know that there's going to be like, you know, a ride going through there and everything, but it feels like it has the potential to be a very chill area.
00:54:50
Speaker
I would agree with that. It feels, i know a lot of people were very concerned about the loss of the free flowing water that we had with, you know, with that whole area, but it's very clear from this concept art that there is going to be a ton of moving water.
00:55:05
Speaker
Uh, it's just, there's waterfalls, there's geysers, there's the whole half of the little rivers and stuff running through it. Yeah. Which really helps. Yeah, it's it's, you know, the kinetic energy you get from that stuff is huge. You know, and that's why Disney does it in a lot of places. But um it really feels like a main feature of this. And and of course, yeah I mean, you're in if you're in a national park, you know, you expect to see that kind of stuff, right?
00:55:29
Speaker
Um, the, the interesting thing I thought about with this, Trevor, it's funny. Cause I said this, I didn't read the article when it was first sent out. I just looked at the picture and I was like, Oh, okay. And then I would start commenting. Right. And then I was thinking to myself, okay, with how this is set up, you're going to be walking through frontier land and you're going to have the wild west on your left.
00:55:48
Speaker
And then you're going to have cars doing a you know, ah rally car. You're going to rally cars on your right, which is not really going to fit in nicely together. Right. Like I didn't, I didn't love that idea in my head. I was like, well, I'm going to have country bears and you know, like ah the Pecos bill over here.
00:56:04
Speaker
And then we're going to have cars that are alive and talking to my right. And I'll be able to see both of them. And that really doesn't feel very Disney to me, but yeah, If you read the article, they actually they actually prepare for this.
00:56:16
Speaker
ah so um And they accounted for this. And and I mean, listen, Disney, they're they're big about sight lines and things like that. That's not surprising to me. But what they've said is from the outside, the tree they're going to have trees. And it's going to be like a big forest of trees that's going to provide a natural barrier between the off-road rally and Frontierland and Liberty Square. So they are going to purposely block your view Of this cars area when you're walking through the frontier land area. And it sounds like through Liberty square as well, which I'm glad that they're doing. And, you know, and again, and it makes sense with the aesthetic of the area, because, you know, if you've ever been out to the Rocky mountains, there are trees everywhere. And yeah, I mean, you do get the occasional views of the mountains, which again, i I feel like it'll be like back towards big thunder. You will have, know,
00:57:05
Speaker
that kind of view. But like you said, you know, you know, cutting off like, um, you know, where, uh, country bears is and, you know, all, it all the way up to, to Liberty, uh, Liberty square. Yeah. You know, if if they can cut that all off that you should still be able to see little bits and pieces of it, I feel. I'm sure you will. Yeah.
00:57:25
Speaker
But yeah, it shouldn't be just like, like, it shouldn't be like test track where like you just constantly hear, the thing going by all the time. Right. Yeah. yeah like this scotts like good that's that right And again, it's, it's also the same kind of thing. um and again, if you look at the way cars land is structured, um, they have a radiator Springs racers there, which, um, it like when you're in cars land, you,
00:57:52
Speaker
You don't know that it's there. And it's not until you actually go past Flo's Cafe that that you only see a small section of it. Yeah. and and And again, it makes sense because they're kind of they kind of do like that Route 66 thing over there.
00:58:06
Speaker
So you see just that one section. But the rest of the ride, they they do a really when they want to, Disney can do a really good job of making sure that you don't know that it's there. Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, I have faith in them that this is not going to be obnoxious.
00:58:21
Speaker
and And, you know, it should be something that you're going to be curious about what it is, but it's not going to be hitting you in the face that there is there's a ride running through here.
00:58:34
Speaker
Right. Yeah, I 100% agree. I feel like it's going to it's going to blend in very nicely if they do it this way. Two other things I'm noticing on this, Trevor, and listen, this is concept art, right? So concept art, as you know, I don't know if you saw the article, but they finally put put up the new test track sign, and the new test track sign is completely different than the concept art they put out, which doesn't matter. I mean, concepts change, right? and it's good. This is going to change as we go along. But two of the things I've noticed on this picture.
00:59:01
Speaker
One is that the over to the upper right-hand corner near Big Thunder, it appears that they have in this photo kept the bridge From Tom Sawyer Island, that same kind of like rickety bridge that you walk across on Tom Sawyer Island. Now, I don't I don't know if we're going to call it the same bridge, but it looks like they have that kind of bridge going on there.
00:59:25
Speaker
Interesting. Right. Or I equated that. Or no, I guess that I see where the other bridge is that goes over top of Tiana's. Yeah, you see what I mean? oh Yeah. That's actually my second point, Trevor.
00:59:37
Speaker
Is it me or are they making it seem like the water from there is going to run right into this new land from Tiana? I mean, i guess they could because it's it going to be one big body of water. Is that what they're doing?
00:59:50
Speaker
That would be something for sure. Yeah. Like talk about blending it in. Right. I mean, yeah. The only weird thing with that would be every time that Tian's goes down for maintenance, would they have to drain the entire river around the Valley question peak? Yeah.
01:00:05
Speaker
But based on this concept art, it looks like they have the water from Tiana going right into the water that feeds into this whole water system that they have going on. Now, given it's... Listen, this is cartoony. It's not detailed. It's it's overall high-level concept, right? So it we may just be reading into things based on that, but...
01:00:24
Speaker
i i feel like I feel like even if it doesn't directly go into there, they're very good at creating the illusion of yeah things connecting when they don't. That's true.
01:00:36
Speaker
That's true. yeah the The other thing, too, or I guess something else looking up at where Tiana's is, is that there's going to be a mountain of some sort there. yeah and i don't know. I guess it probably won't block the view, but...
01:00:51
Speaker
that would, that's usually a spot or whenever I've been in frontier land and the fireworks are going off, um, you can kind of stand over in front of Tiana's and it's usually relatively quiet over there because everybody's over watching the fireworks, but it's a great kind of like, you know, it's, you're not getting like the perfect view of the, of the castle or anything, but it's a nice place to watch the fireworks from. But if there's a large mountain in front of that area now,
01:01:20
Speaker
that might not work anymore. But the thing too is that this area is also going to probably open up a bunch of other... I was just going to say that. Yeah. hot yeah like like yeah I'm very curious to see how this is going to all like flow and whatnot. Yeah. yeah Yeah. that That's going to be really interesting to see how that all kind of shakes out because it's funny too. Cause just based on like the way this picture is set up to it, the haunted mansion is nowhere in this picture. Right.
01:01:44
Speaker
So like how they're going to blend that stuff in, I'm sure they'll, again, I'm sure that they've planned for this, but it's, some it's going to be interesting now with all this said, by the way, if you are a huge Tom Sawyer Island fan and you know, Liberty square river boat fan and and all that,
01:01:59
Speaker
you have to, you have a month to get on it because that the closure date is July 7th. So that's when they're going to start really working up on, ah working up on this, you know, starting to, I'm sure fill in the river, ah you know, and, and start removing everything from Tom Sawyer, Tom Sawyer Island. So listen, if you guys really want to do that one more time, now's the time, right?
01:02:23
Speaker
Yep. I mean, I had my fill back when my son was like eight years old. so yeah Yeah. Also, we should mention, too, that the because of this construction, that the ah the bit the um i'm sorry the um train is going to be closed. Not really, but kind of.
01:02:41
Speaker
Yeah. ah So it it's not though. Wait, it's not just the, just the station, just the station. they are Yeah. Yeah. Just the frontier land station. Just the frontier land station. um So yeah, it's just the frontier land station. It's good. They're going to be running in what they call shuttle mode. So they're basically just going to be skipping.
01:02:58
Speaker
They're going skipping that station. so So really you're only getting, you're only going to be able to get it on and off at main street and yeah um Mickey's. uh yeah fantasyland or what yeah what what is that area i i want to call it i almost called it toontown man no it's fantasy it's it's the fantasyland stop yeah the yeah but yeah at the back of mickey's uh circus there yeah right next to tron yeah yeah exactly yeah yeah yeah the hidden path next to tron that a lot of people don't even know exists but i Listen, I took that last time we were there because we were on the Barnstormer and my wife was on Tron. And so we just we went through that. That's a nice little walkway. I like that walkway.
01:03:35
Speaker
Yeah, I did that with my brother. We we were actually yeah we we were we wanted to get across the park over to Frontierland and we were over by Tron. I was like, we're going to take the secret tunnel. And he yeah.
01:03:47
Speaker
yeah if you know if laughed about it yeah exactly and uh but yeah yeah that that so that's still going to be open which is great i was just going to comment that it feels like that there's like a weird curse around the train at the moment where it's like oh it's constantly a problem yeah every every time it's like oh yes it's open you know you know i love using the train and then it's like we're closing it again for a year yeah No, they're not. They're not. No, so yeah no. The train will still run, thankfully.
01:04:16
Speaker
so I will be interested to see what Disney does with the ah with the Liberty Bell. right Because i feel it the Liberty Bell is is a huge part of the park's history. right And i don't think that they can just i don't think that they can just like you know destroy it it you know i think it you somewhere So the thing is is, that in Disneyland, they have both the Mark Twain and the Columbia, yeah which are so so they alternate or that. Well, the Columbia, I think it's definitely used during Fantasmic, but
01:04:55
Speaker
I don't know. They used to actually have it that you could you could go on the Columbia. i mean, anybody who's been there recently, you can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but they might still do that. But the Mark Twain is the it's like similar to the Liberty Bell, right? so Yeah. um I wonder if you know maybe they could move it over to the West Coast and have both of those...
01:05:19
Speaker
you know Or, you know, gives it it gives them the ability to, like, alternate those ships. Yeah. And, you know, it makes it easier for maintenance and stuff that, like, if they need to take down the Mark Twain, they could run the Liberty Bell, stuff like that. So what if they could do that for Phantasmic at Disney World?
01:05:35
Speaker
I think it might be too big for that. That's what thinking. It might be much bigger than that ship, right? Yeah. yeah By the way, I should mention... ahead, sorry. i was going to say, yeah, and in Disneyland. I mean, they don't use it for that in Disneyland either because they use the Columbia specifically for that. Yeah.
01:05:50
Speaker
so yeah but By the way, so we I should mention just for detail here, the shuttle mode that I was talking about, they are going to completely avoid that part of the track. So what shuttle mode means is that it's going to actually go backwards and forwards in between Fantasyland and Main Street. Oh.
01:06:07
Speaker
Yeah. It's not conducting any full loops. it's It's literally going to go backwards and forwards. And so they're actually they're going to be flipping a bunch of the benches to face the opposite direction so that people that don't go backwards will be OK.
01:06:22
Speaker
OK. Yeah. That's that's interesting. Hey, listen, at least they're keeping it open. Okay. We lost it. for yeah Yeah. At least it's something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Totally totally fair. At least it's something, yeah you know, ah the fact that they're just not shutting it down again, it's definitely better than nothing.
01:06:39
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I, one of the things I wanted to mention on this that I thought was actually really cool, Trevor, because I love when they do stuff like this, right? I know what you're. Oh, yeah. You know, I want to talk about this, too. Yeah.
01:06:52
Speaker
Yeah. So there's if you look at the Piston Peak, ah you know, the the concept art, there's a character in it that they're introducing. um And what what was the character's name? His name is Ranger J. Autobahn Woodlore is his full name.
01:07:09
Speaker
ah ranger j autobahn woodlore okay yeah here but the cool thing about this and that's a car that's a car right the cool thing about this is if you go deep dive right like you have to go pretty deep way back there is um i thought it was pretty obvious i i recognized what they were playing on yeah but i mean you're talking about from the 50s and 60s it's obvious yeah i mean if you know the old cartoons yeah yeah i saw the old cartoons growing up so Yeah. yeah Yeah. And so there's yeah ah Ranger Woodlore is a there's a human character named Ranger Woodlore. It's it's um it's it's found in some old cartoons that that featured ah Humphrey the bear.
01:07:45
Speaker
And there was a Donald Duck short called Grin and Barrett where, you know, ah where ah Ranger Woodlore is the ranger at at a national park. So the fact that they decided to do a national park, but then also make, make a character based on that character, like not even a well-known character, I feel like, I mean, somewhat right. Like it's, but it's, a it's still a deep, it's a deep track. Yeah. Yeah. he is hes yeah He's deep in the lore now for sure. I, I feel like he used to be more common back in the like, yeah, seventies and eighties. I, I remember again, you know, Sunday night Disney, he would, he would, you know, they would run those old,
01:08:22
Speaker
um shorts and stuff like that. So, you know, he wasn't he wasn't completely unfamiliar to us back then. But yeah, he definitely is not. Actually, no, that's not fair because he has shown up in um in newer stuff like House of Mouse and whatnot. there There has been a couple of in And it's just more cameo stuff, right? Though yeah he hasn't yeah yeah hasn't been like a main character in anything for a long time. But yeah, the fact that they've done a Cars version of him. And and the funny thing is is that so so his proper or the original character is named Ranger Jane...
01:08:59
Speaker
Adubon. A-U-D-U-B-O-N is the spelling. But then the the new character, they change it to Rager J. Audubon. Audubon.
01:09:11
Speaker
Yeah. So, yeah. you know that that That's such an easy one that... Yeah. You know, I'm sure somebody looked at one. Great. You know, you know, we can do this one. We can, we can play with some words here. And I like the fact that he, like they made him look like a, like a Rangers truck. Right. So, yeah. So, you know, it's just, yeah, like you said, it's a great nod back to, to a classic character. And,
01:09:36
Speaker
you know i'm I'm hoping that but the reason that they're showing him is you know maybe maybe he will be like the one leading us through the ride. He will. like Doing like setup. okay so They confirmed that already. yeah so he will okay yeah so his He's going to be in the queue for the main attraction where guests do the off-road rally.
01:09:56
Speaker
He will appear in a ranger room where he be where he will be an audio-animatronic figure. So like, oh yeah. So while the guest queue, he'll provide story details of why you're there.
01:10:07
Speaker
And then um it seems like the pre-show is going to be an animatronic version of him. So there you go. Okay, great. Yeah. yeah which is it See, I didn't assume that because, yeah you know they kind of teased him and I was like, okay, they love doing this where they'll like slip these things in, but they, they usually aren't so quick to like, be like, oh, this is the main character. Right. So, exactly exactly so so it sounds like they've already, they've already planned and, and thought about all this. So yeah.
01:10:38
Speaker
Yeah. now Now, I guess here's the question is, you know, if if they're bringing him in, are we going to get some kind of nod to Humphrey as well? Because I feel like if he's if he's present, there should be a a Humphrey type character somewhere, I feel.
01:10:53
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. i That would be cool. There should be. By the way, talking about the sight lines and stuff, I just that additional article about it where they're they're also trying to dull the sound and stuff too. which you know they i they i really think that they're going to do a good job with this.
01:11:10
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's again, you know, like I said, people people don't understand how well Disney can do this stuff when they want to. Like, again, if if you look at Cars Land, it is there is there is the equivalent of test track running there in the back.
01:11:28
Speaker
And you can be standing on in Radiator Springs on the main street and you're not like it's not overtaking anything about.
01:11:40
Speaker
standing on the main street. Like it's, I think the problem is people always think about like things like test track, like test track is such an old ride. And again, just because of how that they built it and everything, like you just, it's so noisy, right? Like you can hear.
01:11:53
Speaker
And actually, I don't think I mentioned this when we, when we were in Epcot a couple of weeks ago, we actually heard them testing test track from, and but we were over by a figment and we heard it. yeah so loud. it's Yeah.
01:12:10
Speaker
so Which makes me think that they've maybe iterated on this on the ride system because it seems like it's going to be the same kind of ride system as as ah both Test Track and and the Cars ride. um But they've i mean they've said here you know and they've they've really stressed that, like listen, you're not going to see this from Liberty Square. like You're not going to see these mountains. You're not going to see all this stuff from Liberty Square. It's going to be blocked. you're not i mean theyre they will i mean Disney does sight lines well, even though Listen, you can make an argument over at Epcot that they don't bother with sightlines, and that's a little bit of a different thing, I think.
01:12:44
Speaker
ah you know Because obviously, there's no hiding the Guardians the Galaxy building. It's massive, and it's yeah there's you can't hide it. it's It's just not possible. And I mean, like even the second Soarin' show building, you can see, right if youre if you're paying attention. But...
01:12:58
Speaker
like In Magic Kingdom, it's a little bit different. You're putting the smack dab in the middle Magic Kingdom and you're putting it where in areas where the theme could conflict with other themes. And i I just think they're going to be very careful about that. I mean, literally, they're talking. They've they've said that here. but They're said to achieve.
01:13:16
Speaker
to to make sure that they don't hear the attraction from frontier land. They're going to employ techniques such as a certain trail pitch for the ride path, landscape buffers, adjusting audio mixes, and also evaluating the material they're using on the track. So like,
01:13:31
Speaker
They're really taking the stuff into account. They don't want to ruin the aesthetics of the classic Disney of the Frontierland and Liberty Square and and the Haunted Mansion for that matter. Right. um You know, all of that can if you don't do this right and you don't block those sight lines, you don't block that sound.
01:13:46
Speaker
It takes it will take you out of the places that are around it. But like I said, i i fully believe they're going to do a great job with this. And, you know, the the thing is, is, you know, people talk about like, the you know, the waterfront of of, you know, the rivers of America and all that.
01:14:01
Speaker
Yeah. I feel that, you know, any, you know, looking at Liberty Square and that whole area, um i find it hard or – it would be very easy to just say, you know how, like, if you've been to like any small town, it's like, Oh, there'll be like and nice building. And it's like right next to like woods.
01:14:23
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Like, I feel like it'll just be like that as it's like, you just feel like, Oh, there's like, you know, you know, Liberty squares here and the woods are over there. Like it it'll just look like, wilderness, right? Like if they, if they do this right, that's exactly what it'll be. It won't be like, Oh, you know, but, but I feel like, you know, I'm, I'm standing in between both of them. It'll be, no, you're just, you know, you're standing on the edge of the the town.
01:14:47
Speaker
Right. So. Yeah. Listen, and they they've got a a lot of experience doing this. This is not like their first like rodeo, right? Like they, I mean, even with Cars Land, like you were talking about, they, they ah you know, do a lot with the sight lines in Cars Land. And I mean, and also if you look at some of the foreign parks too, they they really are careful about sight lines there.
01:15:04
Speaker
And the crazy part, and we'll we'll get we'll get into this in a minute, but right behind yeah right behind um Cars Land is Harbor Boulevard, which if anybody knows what Harbor Boulevard is, there's a ton of um hotels. it is It is a very busy street.
01:15:23
Speaker
And when you're in Cars Land, you don't know that that is there. like it yeah they they can When Disney wants to, they can do really well with hiding stuff.
01:15:35
Speaker
For sure. So let's, let's talk about these. Let's talk about Disney right now. Anything else on this? Cause that's a good segue. Yeah. I'm excited. Listen, I'm excited for this. I think this is going to be great. I think it, it takes an area of the park that is not, um, was nice to look at, but not well, uh, attended ah and does something, ah productive with it, I would say. So, you know, it's honestly, you know, sorry, as much as people like everything else that we've talked about, you know, rides going away and,
01:16:03
Speaker
And all that is, you know, these sorry, but Tom Sawyer's Island, like it's not been a thing for ah um like 20 years. Honestly, it's like I think the last time I saw anything happen with Tom Sawyer's Island was actually in Disneyland.
01:16:22
Speaker
And it was that they added some Pirates of the Caribbean stuff to it. Yeah. So in Disney World, they've not touched it in forever. and And it shows. And again, I get the, you know, it's a you know a classic piece ah of, you know, Disney history and all that. But...
01:16:39
Speaker
there's no reason there's no reason to just keep an island sitting there for no reason. It's a pretty large piece of land. I mean, it's it's a lot of space that they can do this something great with. So let's let them do something great with and if you want to hate it after that, hate it. And I don't think people realize, like, if you like they go, oh, but, you know, the the view across the water, it's like, yeah, but...
01:17:01
Speaker
that that ah Like you said, that is a lot of space. it is like
Disneyland Future Developments
01:17:05
Speaker
like It's a ton of space. And it's again, you know it's bringing it forward into something that i I'm hopeful that this will just...
01:17:16
Speaker
Step up Magic Kingdom. Yeah. Like not to say that Magic Kingdom is in a bad place in any way, shape or form, but this will just, again, bring it, yeah you know, bring something new and better to it that it does need. Like like you do need to replace these things from time to time. so Well, it's it it. Sorry, I know we were going to move on. But I want to go back to just our interview with Deborah Danielle, because I thought she said this very, very well, where she said, you know, that when she went to the new Country Bears, that she saw a bunch of kids dancing and singing along with the show.
01:17:50
Speaker
And then she said, that's why they did it. Right. And that's why they're making this cars. Right. No kids care about Tom Sawyer Island. They don't, you know, they don't even know Tom Sawyer is.
01:18:01
Speaker
They know who cars are though. Right. And that's, that's why they're doing these things. So as much as we as adults are like nostalgic for the things that have been there and the things that we remember from our childhood,
01:18:12
Speaker
These things need to keep being reed reinvented for new generations or else they've just become irrelevant and and underused or unused at all. And that's what it's been. And and you know lets and it turns into carowinds.
01:18:24
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. 100%. 100%. that's I mean, I thought she put that so well, because that is exactly true. Like whenever they do these things, it feels like a cold corporate thing where they're like, let's throw IP into stuff. But it's really let's engage kids in the thing that they understand and know. And I know the Cars at franchise at this point is very old, but it is still extraordinarily popular.
01:18:48
Speaker
It's not you know showing any signs of slowing down. And again, like i I've I've personally seen how Disney can handle this stuff. yeah Yeah. You know, we the the hard part is, is, you know, for for on on the East Coast, people have not seen the I mean, we we have seen things like Galaxy's Edge and all that.
01:19:09
Speaker
um But Cars Land was something different. Like, like you know, Galaxy's Edge definitely has. ah that initial wow factor but cars land has the immersion and this feels like they've kind of gone back to you know not just the initial wow of it but bringing the immersion the deepness though yeah yeah All right. So let's talk about Disneyland. So Disneyland gave us a ah look into some of their future expansion plans. They're just kind of trickling some things in here and there.
01:19:38
Speaker
um Probably because a lot of the stuff is still pretty open up in the air, but they're, they're starting to really make some decisions here. So ah it's funny because Trevor, when I, when I saw this article and I was looking it on my phone, I saw the the concept art and i was like,
01:19:52
Speaker
I don't know. What's happening in this concept art? It doesn't look like anything is different. Oh, this is very different. Yes. Now that I'm seeing it on a computer, I'm like, oh, okay. Now I see. um but So they're going to build a new parking structure and transportation hub on the east side of Disneyland Resort on a cast member parking lot.
01:20:10
Speaker
And it's going to have ah it's a 6,000 parking spot, ah you know, parking garage that's going to have security and all that fun stuff, right? um And dedicated access for traffic off of Disney Way. And this is supposed to improve parking and traffic flow, right?
01:20:26
Speaker
Which, listen, we're talking about parking, not the most exciting thing. Right. I mean, it is and it isn't. The thing is, I should point out. So looking at where they're proposing this parking structure. So the Mickey and Friends parking lot is on the opposite side of Disney Disneyland.
01:20:42
Speaker
Yeah. This thing is way bigger than the Mickey and Friends parking structure. So um in terms of just available space for parking, it is a big thing because yeah they are very compact in the amount of space they have, this is going to make it a lot easier for people getting in and out.
01:21:02
Speaker
And yeah, good. And then the fact that, so in this concept art on the right-hand side, there is this bridge that's going to go over top of Harbor Boulevard, which is, um you know, as we just talked about Harbor Boulevard is, is incredibly busy.
01:21:16
Speaker
And i can personally attest to being one of those families crossing at the lights at Harbor Boulevard to get over to Disneyland from staying at a good neighbor hotel.
01:21:27
Speaker
And, you know, as a kid, it was scary. And I can imagine even now it's it's even more scary because that place has just gotten busier over time. So um so the bridge and everything that they're bringing in, you know, it's it's going to it's going to be a huge improvement to the area for sure.
01:21:46
Speaker
But now let's talk about – there are some hints in this yeah in this concept art of not just the not just the parking structure, but regarding the avatar area that is going in. it's see Because it looks like on the on the far left-hand side of it – if i'm If I'm not mistaken, they're actually shrinking the Esplanade. The Esplanade is the area in between Disneyland and California Adventure. It's like just this like center courtyard that you go through security and you know that's how you get back and forth between the parks. and then you can also go over to yeah downtown Disney and all that. But it looks like they're shrinking the Esplanade, which...
01:22:34
Speaker
Makes sense because it doesn't need to be a huge space. I don't believe because that's like the bottleneck's not there. It's usually with security for people getting in and out. And I can see where,
01:22:47
Speaker
underneath the disneyland resort sign it looks like that's going to be like one of the security hubs coming in and then i assume like on the bridge there will be again probably back towards the uh the parking lot there will be you know security that you come through as well it does it doesnt say it does say the bridge will lead to an all-new esplanade arrival experience it does yeah it does say that in the article yeah Yeah, so but like said, I'm assuming that security, like like they're they're figuring out how to you know get security and everything there so that the Esplanade is not going to be full of people. And then that is, I feel, part of the justification that they're expanding out into the Esplanade for the Avatar land that is replacing the Hollywood backlot area in California Adventure.
01:23:33
Speaker
Yeah. So that's... That's very interesting that they're like, I was wondering how they were going to do that because, you know, we've talked about the avatar area and I, and I could not visualize where it was going to go. Yeah.
01:23:46
Speaker
yeah yeah So, well, so this makes a lot of sense. It should also be noted. So they, they also gave the location for the cocoa attraction, which is going to be over near paradise gardens park and Pixar pier.
01:23:58
Speaker
And that's just taking over ah backstage areas. So yeah you're not losing anything for that. However, this is behind where um the Incredicoaster is for anybody that's wondering. So it's like gotcha ah back back near um the emotional whirlwind in from up or not up um like ah inside out.
01:24:17
Speaker
Inside out. Yeah. Yeah. Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. So that's that's where that's going. which So that's that's good. It's not going take over anything. Now, for the ah for for the Avatar experience, they keep calling it Avatar experience. So I feel like they're being very careful not to call it a land.
01:24:33
Speaker
like Which, i mean if you know how much space they have in the Hollywood backlot area, it's it's not a lot of space, for sure. It's yeah it's it's not enough to qualify as a whole land, but they're they're trying to utilize the space.
01:24:49
Speaker
as well as effectively as they can yeah so to do that they're going to be closing the monsters inc mike and sully to the rescue ride in early 2026 and they're saying construction will uh begin for all this at the end towards the end of 2026 towards the fall did you was that a sarcastic oh no yeah It sure was.
01:25:10
Speaker
Well, listen. Okay. So if you don't know the history but behind that ride, which... Oh, I do. i don't know I know you. i i meant I meant anybody out there listening. I meant people listening out there listening. If you're not aware of the history of that ride... Trevor, do you want to give it?
01:25:24
Speaker
I mean... Yeah. so So this this was originally the... It was called the Hollywood... Superstar Limo? Yeah. Superstar Limo was the original version of this ride. And so it was it wasn't even...
01:25:37
Speaker
um It was the equivalent of like a Mr. Toad's wild ride or like Winnie the Pooh ride. So, you know, you you get in a car and the initial iteration was going down like Hollywood Boulevard and they had like all kinds of random celebrities was the ride.
01:25:54
Speaker
And it, and it was bad. Like, like if you, if you want to see one of the worst rides they've ever built, I think it's the worst ride they've ever built. yes Like it was, it was bad. And so what they did was they, they closed it and then they redid it as monsters Inc. But the hilarious thing was that they reused a lot of the animatronics from the original ride yeah in in Monsters, Inc., but they just turned those like celebrity animatronics into monsters. It's the monsters or to like the a cd what is a CDA or whatever it is? Yeah, the yeah the yeah the the CDA
01:26:28
Speaker
what cdc No, what is the name of it? Why am I forgetting it? Child Detection or CDA. Yeah. Child Detection. is Yeah. CDA. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So like you can actually, can go on YouTube. Several people have produced, produced videos showing the reused animatronics and it's, it's actually pretty funny.
01:26:42
Speaker
um So while the original ride is considered one of the worst ever, And actually, too, there's even more backstory around that where there was it supposed to be about like there was supposed to be like you were you were racing across town and there was like ah trying to get away from the paparazzi. But then, you know, when Prince of Thigh died the way she did, they had to shift. And then it just was not it it was a bad ride. And everyone would say it was a bad ride.
01:27:05
Speaker
So, it you know, it but I assume, Trevor, that this ride was better, but still not an e-ticket attraction. Yeah, it it was it was okay. And and I think the the biggest redeeming quality of it, I felt, was at the end of the ride, there was an animatronic of Ra's.
01:27:24
Speaker
And I'm not entirely sure, but... it It seemed that it like it didn't have just canned responses. It actually like would call out... like Yeah, didn't she like roast people?
01:27:37
Speaker
Yeah, she would like... right Yeah, you it it would call out... like You would sit there for a second and she would be like, hey, nice hat or like you know your glasses look goofy. like and But it always seemed like specific to people in the ride.
01:27:49
Speaker
but like yeah It wasn't like super detailed, but she had a bunch of... like you know, more unique responses than just the, the, the, like just a common canned response at the end of the ride. Right. yeah So, yeah.
01:28:03
Speaker
So so the the Raw's animatronic was definitely neat. and And, you know, the ride as a whole, it was, you know, the Mike and Sully thing was not bad. But, um again, it just showed a, you know, Disney attempting to salvage something that honestly was not good to begin with. Yeah. It was not salvageable.
01:28:22
Speaker
Yeah. so So, you know, it's not... Yes, it was you know it was it was a great kids ride, but i don't think it's going to be missed, especially considering the fact that we are getting a proper Monstropolis. like you know anybody yeah Anybody that's upset that it's going away, like I don't know what you're upset about because we're getting a much better version. Because the other thing, too, was that the outside of the ride wasn't even... like it was kind of tacked into their, their Hollywood Boulevard area. So yeah it wasn't even like, it was like overall, like the, the queue was all themed to Monstropolis, but it was in a weird place where it was like, you're walking down the street and all of a sudden it's, Oh, Monsters Inc. ride. Like it was, it didn't make sense. Right. So, so I'm, I'm not hurt that, you know, this is going away because, you know, again, it's, it's,
01:29:15
Speaker
a remnant of a very bad time at Disney, I think. And, and they're replacing it with something that, uh, you know, it, yeah, it it looks cool. you know You know, if it's just a, you know, a smaller area with, with, you know, whatever, whatever avatar stuff they put into it, I still think that that'll be miles ahead of what is there now.
01:29:38
Speaker
Yeah. and I mean, you don't think anyone's going to be all that sad about this going away. No, I can't see how because like, and especially, you know, if you're arguing, well, I would take my kids there and whatever, like this, this avatar area looks like it's going to have a lot of similar stuff that is in, um you know, Pandora in Animal Kingdom, which, you know, outside of, you know, the rides are one thing, but the land itself is very interactive.
01:30:04
Speaker
yeah and And, you know, there's always kids like, you know, going around and exploring all the different, you know, alien plants and stuff like that. It feels like it's going to be very similar to that, which, yeah you know, you know, if you're worried about, well, what are my kids going to do there? Well, go enjoy the entire space. and Yeah, it's, it's, um you know, that's another really immersive land that they've done. I mean, that one, I i still marvel when I walk into Pandora and see the floating mountains and and all that. It is, it is a really cool place. And,
01:30:33
Speaker
But it's interesting, Trevor, because just looking at, you know, doing what I do and looking at Google Maps here and seeing where this is, like it, this like new Avatar land is going to butt up right against the monorail track.
01:30:46
Speaker
So yeah that's going to be like interesting. Like, are you just going to be on the monorail and you're going to be ah like, see this whole random piece of Avatar? are they just going to, they're going to block it out somehow? Like probably kind of like how you could see the guardians of the galaxy ride. And yeah,
01:31:01
Speaker
And all of that, you like you can see all that from the monorail. its And the again, the the the thing is, is that when you're in the land, like I guess the thing is you'll probably see the tops of it.
01:31:14
Speaker
Yeah. Like how, you know you know, how you do with was like Big Thunder and whatnot. But i don't see I don't see this being something where when you're in the land that it's going to be very... um Or that you'll be distracted by other things. But, you know, from the monorail standpoint, it's actually good that you can see it from the monorail because that is kind of like a preview of what you're going to be seeing, right? So, you know, it gets people built up for the hype of it.
01:31:46
Speaker
yeah yeah exactly it it is worth noting by the way that the coco attraction they are starting to be to since it is backstage only they are going to be start starting construction this fall for that so like that's that's starting soon here that one seems a lot further along than the avatar stuff uh so because they're saying here specifically this project is still in early stages of development so they have some fun concept art for avatar they just don't know what they're doing completely so ah yeah And the other thing to keep in mind, too, is that, you know, I guess for anybody going to Disneyland in the next little while, because of the fact that they're doing all of these changes to the Esplanade and building this bridge and stuff, um I are getting getting in and out of Disneyland on the Harbor Boulevard side is probably going to be messy for a little while.
01:32:34
Speaker
Oh, yeah. So just just keep that in mind is that, you know, if you're um because the way Disneyland is structured is that you have you have the Disneyland or the the Disney hotels on the opposite side ah from from Harbor Boulevard.
01:32:48
Speaker
Along Harbor Boulevard is all the good neighbor hotels, which um you know Like I said, you know I've stayed at the Good Neighbor Hotels many times over the years, and they you know you know people tend to stay there because they are cheaper, and you're literally within walking distance of of Disneyland. So why would you not do that?
01:33:08
Speaker
um the But like said, the problem is, is that because they're going to be doing all this construction, you may find that it's harder to get around the area fur for the foreseeable future. So i yeah so that's that's something that that that I would take away from this is, you know, really pay attention to whatever is going on at the moment if because they may be closing off, you know, walkways and stuff like that. Yeah.
01:33:33
Speaker
yeah It sucks because yeah for the in the interim, it's going to be it's going to be a bit more painful to get around, but I think the end result is going to be pretty awesome. and Yeah.
01:33:44
Speaker
Yeah. And this is really just the beginning of of what they're doing at Disneyland because they um we talked about on the show, they had this whole Disneyland forward initiative that they are... actively developing these are really just a couple of the things that we have from it right so it's these two and then new stuff over at uh at avengers campus so uh yeah i mean this there's there's a lot more to come i think from from this and and a lot more work that's going to be done here so yeah yeah it's good start though so i just noticed in the top left-hand corner of the the picture sure there is something back there and i don't know what it is in the top left-hand corner
01:34:23
Speaker
Yeah, there's like a weird building in the back there. i wonder ah wonder if they're dropping hints for some of the Disneyland forward stuff because that would be kind of... Are you talking do like directly to the left of the Disneyland resort sign? Is that what we're talking about?
01:34:35
Speaker
ah so So to the left. Way back in the picture. Like like way back in the picture. so So like you see how the monorail track kind of goes off into. Yeah, kind of like wiggles. yeah Yeah. so So like up straight up from there, there's there's some odd looking buildings.
01:34:51
Speaker
Okay. I see what you're talking about. Yeah. yeah I don't know, man. And that's definitely not the Disneyland Hotel. I can tell you that.
01:35:00
Speaker
yeah I I'll have to wait to find out, right? Yeah. Interesting stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if they're they're trying to be subtle with their, you know, hey, like you said, they've got they've got things going on.
01:35:11
Speaker
This is just the start of it. Yeah, exactly. all right. All right. Let's wrap this thing up. Yeah. Wow. That i I didn't think we'd talk about Disneyland as long as we did, but yeah, it happens.
01:35:23
Speaker
it's good it's You know, it's good when we get some Disneyland in there. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, I guess, ah you know, if if you have any comments about, you know, anything that we talked about on the show, Disneyland or, you know, Piston Peak or, you know Maybe your own ah um theme park experience outside of Disney as well. You know, after after Tom shared his Carowinds experience with us. um You know, you can always share it with us at welcomehomepodcasts at gmail.com.
01:35:50
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
And also we would love to see if you got a pick of you, you know, sporting merch in the parks, you know, share that with us. We we love seeing that you guys are, uh, our, you know, repping welcome home podcast on on your own vacations. Yes, do that. It's always cool.
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01:37:03
Speaker
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Speaker
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01:39:18
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01:39:46
Speaker
I'm sorry.