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Episode 012 - !Habemus CEO! Also, permits, permits, and more permits. Lightning Lane Premier Pass is crazy expensive and Royal Caribbean announces a new class of ship
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On this episode, we unpack one of the biggest leadership shifts in Disney history as Josh D’Amaro is officially named the next CEO, reshaping the future of Parks and Entertainment. We break down what that means for the company, plus Lightning Lane Premier Pass selling out at a staggering $449, new ride system patents that could power Piston Peak in Cars Land, and the revealed building layouts for both Cars Land and Villains Land at Magic Kingdom
We also dive into major attraction updates across Walt Disney World, including Frozen Ever After’s refreshed animatronics, new permits tied to the Muppets takeover of Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster, a Walt animatronic coming to Carousel of Progress, and significant enhancements planned for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. Add in DVC 35th Anniversary incentives, Tropical Americas expansion details at Animal Kingdom, and even Royal Caribbean’s bold new Discovery Class ship announcement, and this episode is stacked with future-focused news for serious theme park fans.
This episode is sponsored by Dontresistthetravel.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Lottery Excitement
00:00:13
Speaker
Hey folks, welcome to episode number 12 of the Rhubarb Travelers podcast. We are recording this show on Wednesday, February 11th, 2026. I am Blake and with me as always is Damon. How you doing, my friend?
00:00:30
Speaker
have World Cup tickets. What? Yeah. I got into the lottery to purchase tickets, won the lottery, and now I have three World Cup tickets.
World Cup Trip Details
00:00:41
Speaker
Oh my God. what So which city?
00:00:43
Speaker
Dallas. So what I did was we're going on that trip where we're going cross country. We're kind of Wally worlding it, but we're not going to Disneyland. I'm going to see Grand Canyon and we're going to do a few other things, but we're stopping in Dallas.
00:00:59
Speaker
And I was like, Where else am I going to go? Like, I'll go to Dallas. That's fine. So I didn't think too much of it. The tickets are like, we're supposed to leave. And then tickets are for two days later. But I was like, if we get World Cup tickets, we're just gonna go.
00:01:14
Speaker
Yeah. um But just the three of us. So just my oldest. And then my daughter will like, she'll she's excited to go, but she's not a soccer person, but she's driving with us. So she's going to have to go. The other two are flying. Yeah.
00:01:27
Speaker
So, so you're, wait minute. So your whole family is going, it's just some of you are driving and some of you are flying. Correct. And they're not going to the World Cup. Oh, okay. Yeah. The three of us are going to the World Cup because we have to stay two days later than we originally had thought. So I'm going to be out for like three weeks.
00:01:47
Speaker
but Oh, my gosh. Do you know what it seems do you know what teams you're going to get
Teams and Venue Discussion
00:01:50
Speaker
to see? I do. um So the thing is, this is like the the way the lottery system worked for the World Cup is like this is like so far in like i've done many other lotteries and got nothing this one was one through visa okay and um i was able to put in for the game i wanted so i would like to see italy play but we don't even know if italy's in the world cup yet right okay um because they play their matches in march but i decided to say okay well
00:02:22
Speaker
you know I would like to see them if they do make it. So in theory, it's Japan, Italy, or Japan and whoever wins the you know pre-World Cup thing that that group is doing.
00:02:33
Speaker
Okay. Are they playing it in the in the Cowboys stadium? They are. Nice. Yeah. So it will be fun. Nice. that sounds You know what? Every year I put in my name for Masters tickets lottery, and I still haven't won it yet. I'm holding out. Wait, where's the Masters again?
00:02:52
Speaker
What's the Masters? No, where? I said where? Oh, Augusta, Georgia. Okay. i I went to whatever's in New Jersey, the big one in New Jersey. Could have been the PGA Championship or... I don't know. We had we had tickets um from a vendor.
00:03:09
Speaker
So we ended up going for the day in the booth and the tents and all that. um it was It was pretty cool. I'm not a golf person, so... Well, very nice. You should put your name. You know what? Next year, I'll put my name in for World Cup. You put your name in for Masters, and if we win, we'll just we trade. Well, I just put my name in for the Olympics. Oh, okay.
00:03:29
Speaker
I'd like to go see that. So we are in for the Olympics. We'll see if we get tickets. There you go.
Support and Community Engagement
00:03:35
Speaker
All folks. Well, we want to send a great thank you to our Patreon subscribers. They help keep this show going.
00:03:42
Speaker
We ask that you please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber right now. It is just $5 a month and it helps us with our server fees. It helps us with our recording fees.
00:03:53
Speaker
And we are working on getting some extras for you folks. All right, let's get into some DVC
Disney Vacation Club Offers
00:04:02
Speaker
news. So if you didn't know, DVC is celebrating their 35th anniversary. It seems wild that it is already. And I'm not going to, don't think I'm going to be there, which is disappointing because I'm sure there's some good stuff to get. I bet they're going to have lots of goodies. And and along with this 35th anniversary, they are offering some deals if you are already a member and you are looking to add on to some points. There are savings that Disney is offering up, and it depends on the resorts you would like to buy at and, of course, the number of points you would like to purchase
00:04:35
Speaker
And they are ah offering up to $6,250 in savings when adding points. Now, to get this deal, you do have to do a tour, right? So it's got to be either in person or online. I didn't even know they did online. I didn't know they did online either. I remember, though, when the tour, like you went on the tour and you got three paper fast passes and ice cream.
00:05:01
Speaker
Those are the good old days. Yeah. So you do have to go on the sales tour and you have to make the purchase within seven days of taking that tour. So the offer expires on April 27th.
00:05:15
Speaker
Now, depending on where you would like to buy, some deals are better than others. So for instance, there are better deals at the Polynesian, believe it or not. Damon is just like his phone is blowing up right now. The problem is it's like my kids have, i'm going to just turn off my phone, but like my kids have the ability to text me no matter what's going on. Like even if I want do not disturb because, you know, they're college. I kind of yeah want them to have that ability. So yeah, but I turned off my phone.
00:05:45
Speaker
All right. So stronger deals are at Polynesian, not the new towers. So this is OG Polynesian DVC. Riviera, Alani, ah you know, obviously I don't think Alani is ever going to sell out. And the Fort Wilderness Cabins. So now there's also one extra deal they have announced. It is a limited time add-on offer for Saratoga Springs. I love me at Saratoga Springs. Yeah. So there are tiers that you can get up to $45 off per point when you purchase up to or over 200 points. So if you are considering adding on points to your DVC contract, now would be a very, very good time to do it.
00:06:32
Speaker
I know you've been talking about it. i'm not Yeah, but I'm not adding until Lakeshore is open. Yeah. ah you're you're like committed to getting into Lakeshore? ah Committed is a strong word. i mean, our problem is, is like we were talking this year, like we're going to Hilton Head, but outside of that, like I'm not going to Disney this year there's There's nothing new to go for, right? So i don't know. Sometimes it's tough. Like, do I want more points to not know what to do with?
00:07:03
Speaker
don't know. You might want to start banking them up for Cars Land and Villains Land. Yeah, but I mean, I'll have more than enough of that. That's not going to be a problem. That's right. you got You got points coming out of your ears, man. I know. Yeah, so. All right, let's get into some disney new Disney news. Hey, is there any news for Disney that's happened over the last two weeks? I can't. I've scoured the internet. I just. i See, like, i just don't care about this.
00:07:32
Speaker
Like, not in the least a bit.
Leadership Changes at Disney
00:07:35
Speaker
All right, let's get it let's just look at the elephant in the room here. All right, Josh DeMauro has officially been named as the new Disney CEO. He was elected unanimously by the board of directors, and it becomes effective on March 18th during the Disney annual meeting. So...
00:07:55
Speaker
James Gorman, who is the chairman of the board of the directors, had this had this to say. Throughout this search process, Josh has demonstrated a strong vision for the company's future and a deep understanding of the creative spirit that makes Disney unique in an ever-changing marketplace. He has an outstanding record of business achievement, collaborating with some of the biggest names in entertainment to bring their stories to life in our parks, showcasing the power of combining Disney storytelling with content cutting-edge technology.
00:08:26
Speaker
And the board believes he is exceptionally well-prepared to guide this global company forward to serve our consumers around the world. So, now, go ahead, Damon. you were go to say and then Now I just don't really care. you don't like I really don't.
00:08:44
Speaker
You don't think it really matters who's in charge of Disney? Let me ask you that. I don't. No, I really don't. I said it okay I said it. I don't think so. I think that television and IPs drive Disney.
00:09:05
Speaker
And I don't think that somebody at that level has as much input It doesn't need to have as much input into that, right? Like, and take something non-Disney, like K-pop Demon Hunters or Sony, right?
00:09:19
Speaker
Right. Like, that just was crazy. So I think, like, an IP can drive a lot more. and That's just me. I don't care about politics of parks, you know? It's just not my thing.
00:09:32
Speaker
Right. Well, now, it's interesting that you talk about television and IP because along with the announcement of Josh DeMauro, Dana Walden, who many consider to be the number two candidate for the CEO job, was also named president and chief creative officer.
00:09:49
Speaker
And she will be in charge of the entertainment, media, news and content business. And that's, see, that's a totally, like, to me, that's more exciting.
00:10:00
Speaker
Right. Like, that's more exciting to me than I would say the other one. Right. And it's it's important to note that this is not a co-CEO, right?
00:10:11
Speaker
ah situation. So Walden, Dana Walden, will report to DeMauro. And you need to think about this more along the lines of the Michael Eisner-Frank Wells partnership, where Eisner was the CEO, Frank Wells was the chief operating officer, and they worked pretty well together. Now, along those lines, DeMauro, his strengths are in the parks, the experience the experiences, while Walden is experienced in the media, the entertainment. So those two will be able to complement each other.
00:10:45
Speaker
What we need to hope is that they can work well together. so Now, the only other part of this is that now a replacement needs to be found for DeMaro as head of Parks and Experiences. So hopefully we will be hearing something about that within not too long of a time frame. Yeah.
00:11:05
Speaker
All right, let's go to a patent that has been submitted by Disney that possibly points to ride systems that are coming to Cars Land in the Magic Kingdom. So the the information on this patent is that it details a ride system with an arm attached to the side of a ride vehicle. So what I want you to know- There goes our Quidditch stuff then. Right, I know, yeah.
00:11:33
Speaker
So imagine if folks, if you want to imagine this, think about right now, just think of how like Dumbo the ride, you have your Dumbo vehicle and you have that arm attached to the side of it. So imagine the car, imagine the arm, but you're not attached to a center spike. This arm is just going to be, you know, attached to the ground. And this arm, not only will it be able to go up and down, but that arm will be able to go in and out. So it will give you,
00:12:00
Speaker
four directions of movement instead of just an up and down. Yeah, I think that we talked about this over at the Spitecast a bit, um that this is like for off-roading sort of stuff, which would be interesting.
00:12:13
Speaker
Which is going to tie in to a ride that will probably come to Piston Peak. It will make sense as far as Cars Land and the the area that those those characters live in. Yeah.
00:12:25
Speaker
So, and Disney has promised an off-road type experience that this ride system seems tailored to provide. So really interesting. And by the way, if you are a Patreon subscriber, we have entered, we have inserted a picture of the patent into our show notes. So yet another reason to become a Patreon subscriber, you get all these extra goodies.
00:12:47
Speaker
All right, let's move on Epcot and Frozen Ever After. So Frozen Ever After has been due in a refurb, but it opens today, the day this podcast episode drops, it February twelfth And as part of this refurb, we're going to have our updated animatronics for Anna and Elsa. It has the improved facial animations for the ah from the previous project, so we won't have that.
00:13:17
Speaker
I won't say it's backlit, but it's more of a projection facial. yeah yeah Now we're going to have better animations. It's going to be mimicking what they have over in Disneyland Hong Kong. so That's good.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, i'm I'm excited for this to to be able to go see. I mean, it doesn't make me want to run and get on Frozen, but like when I do get on Frozen, like it will be good. Again, like refurbs are always good, but I've been on it. like This is not dramatically improving my experience, but I think it's great as I move forward.
00:13:49
Speaker
Right. All right. let this This is the big one. Yeah, so... If Lightning Lane Premier Pass. So first off, let's talk about what Lightning Lane Premier Pass is. It is Lightning Lane Extreme, where you will be able, you can purchase one Lightning Lane for every ride in a park that has Lightning Lane capabilities.
Disney's Lightning Lane Demand
00:14:13
Speaker
And you can go at any time of the day, one time, you don't have to make reservations. So Starting today, again, the day this episode drops, February 12th, Lightning Lane Premier Pass is sold out for seven straight days. And this is the worst part. Like, I will not be vindicated by those two clowns that told me this was never going to happen. Like, I told them, and they were like, no, there you know, there's a price there is not a price you can pay that people won't continue to buy.
00:14:47
Speaker
There you go. And the reason Damon is saying that is that this during the seven days, Lightning Lane Premier Pass has reached an all-time peak price of, and I hope you're sitting down, folks, $449 per Lightning Lane Pass.
00:15:08
Speaker
On top of your tickets. On top of your tickets. And that's $449 per person. per person Yeah, so I mean, if I go with five people, $2,500, well, figure and then to it like, like, a day is like something day. the day them is $2,700.
00:15:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:36
Speaker
top of the part so the day for them is twenty seven hundred bucks for one day at the Magic. That's what I keep telling people. Like, you know, this is listen, you want Disney back to the way it was to keep raising the price. Yeah. You'll get there.
00:15:53
Speaker
You will get there. and And the fact that it is sold out for seven days straight means we haven't found that ceiling yet. No. That means Disney could continue to raise prices and they will. For something like that, the ceiling is probably way up there because you don't have to have it And you can just get, if you only like one or two rides, you probably don't get this.
00:16:16
Speaker
And then the question is, is like, is this better than a plaid? Right? Like there's, there's a lot to think about here. But again, as I said, you continue to do this, people will continue to pay, you know, you're, people are going to go to Disney.
00:16:32
Speaker
Doesn't, the price is is almost irrelevant. what sure What's your, what's your, what's your tap out price? it It's very difficult because i like, I can't take Disney into account because I've seen too much of Disney to have, like, ah like, it wouldn't be worth it for me. you You know what I mean? Like, but I can tell you when I went to Universal, now this is with tickets, fast passes, and hotel.
00:16:58
Speaker
i mean, gosh, I think it was close to, o like, it was over $2,000 a day. But when you stay at Universal, some Universal hotels, you get that,
00:17:11
Speaker
I still, I still bought though, but I still bought for Epic. and Like when I tell people I went to universal for three days for six grand, they're like, you're crazy. mean, that wasn't a tap out price for me.
00:17:23
Speaker
Disney's different because I've seen so much of it. And they, again, until I see some new stuff, I don't know, let's just say they villains land is open and cars land is open. What's my tap out price.
00:17:35
Speaker
Um, I'm not sure, but I will tell you, like, I'm not going somewhere just like I wasn't going to Epic to not ride everything. I'm not going on a trip that has, you know, Cars Land and Villains Land and then not getting to ride what i want. Like, I will pay for that.
00:17:51
Speaker
Exactly. I was just thinking, man, if I'm paying $450, going to use every single one of those Lightning Lanes. Of course, of course. Tea cups. I will sit there and puke my brains out afterwards if that's what it takes, but I'm not wasting that.
00:18:07
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's an interesting concept. Like I said, I mean, I'm more of the, hey, the higher you raise the price, the, the, they see, it also creates this thing like, maybe this is just me not thinking about this correctly, but if I'm paying that much money, am I causing problems at Disney? I mean, on one hand, you would say that people are going to argue, well, you know, I paid all this money, so I'm going to make, you know, kind of a badger of myself there.
00:18:30
Speaker
But I think the the flip is is kind of more appropriate. Like, if I paid all this money, like, I'm not trying to get kicked out. i mean, some people are just inherently... a pain so you but in general i think the raising of prices you know you have this investment now so do you act better because you have that i mean i would like to think so i don't think that's the case but then but you know what i say that and then i look at the cruise industry and the higher up you go pricing for cruising the less nonsense you have that's true so that's true very true
00:19:06
Speaker
right, folks, we are getting ready to talk about a whole slew of construction permits that Disney has filed. But before we do that, we are going to listen to this word from our sponsor.
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Speaker
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00:20:38
Speaker
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00:20:45
Speaker
And we're back. All right, let's go look at some permits that have been filed by Disney for various parks within the system. So first off, in Magic Kingdom, permits have been filed for more construction related to attractions and show buildings Magic in connection with Cars Land and Villains Land over at Magic Kingdom. So we have got pictures of the layout in our show notes, and it shows buildings for both Piston Peak and Villains Land. And they are some pretty big buildings. I like that. Yeah. Yeah. And you can actually, you can tell, even though there's not a lot of detail, you can see where, like, there's going to be a mountain for four Piston Peak, right? Everything's going to be centered around that thing. You can kind of see a ah ride layout.
00:21:37
Speaker
You can see where there's probably going to be a show building. And then if you go north, where it's going to be behind Haunted Mansion, you see a a gigantic building back there. I'm hoping...
00:21:50
Speaker
I can't tell if that's going to be um a ride or or it could be an eat like a show building. Yeah. What if there was no shows at all? Oh, there's, I think. and It was just rides. Wouldn't that be nice? It would be nice a little bit. I think you can't get away from having a show just because. No, because they eat up people for sure. yeah It's a people eater and people love seeing the villains for some reason.
00:22:18
Speaker
All right, let's head over and talk about Muppets taking over the rock and roller coaster.
Muppets Roller Coaster Update
00:22:25
Speaker
We're still talking about this, though? like Yeah, I mean, it's new work. So electrical work permits have been filed by Solotech. This is a company that has worked on Test Track 3. I mean, know when it's open. in Zyktopia, better zoo gather. So this is all electrical work and it's all ah involved with like s sign installation and other things behind the scenes. So because it's moving along.
00:22:49
Speaker
Again, this is coming back online in the spring of this year. So it's not a lot of work to be done. Termits are now filed over at Animal Kingdom for- I just want to comment. I really like the way that they like Did the last day, excuse me, did the last day a dinosaur.
00:23:10
Speaker
Oh. Bringing the scientists back and everything. That was really cool. Bringing Grant Seeker back for one last ride. Yeah, that was very nice. So Tropical Americas permits are filed. There's going to be a play area, much like the Boneyard that already existed over at Animal Kingdom. that was so good.
00:23:27
Speaker
Yeah. And so they are go it's coming again to Tropical Americas. It will be built on the site of Cretaceous Trail. And it's going to be located located between the Dinosaur Attraction, which will now become the Indiana Jones ride, and the former Chester and Hester store that's being converted for Tropical Americas retail. And if you look at the picture, you if you squint your eyes really hard, you can see a faint layout that's been drawn over on an existing picture of the old Dinoland and is giving you some outlines of what's coming for tropical Americas. And then there is another picture of a maquette that's been designed showing you more details about what possibly could be coming. And the maquette is really cool looking. So they are really leaning. a lot of trees. I like trees. Trees are always good. Shade is a very nice thing. As Epic Universe has taught us. Yes. yes
00:24:26
Speaker
All right. Let's go back to the Magic Kingdom. Permits have now been filed for work on Carousel of Progress.
00:24:37
Speaker
And these permits are for fire alarm and an automatic protection system. However, this is a strong indication that work has started on the addition of the Walt Disney animatronic that was announced that is going to be added to the very first scene of the attraction. So.
00:24:53
Speaker
that i mean I rarely go to the Carousel of Progress, but it's good to know that it will be You know what? I used to kind of well heavy what turn my nose up at that. I just forgot about it, to be honest with you. And then one day we're like, oh, my goodness, what is this again? Yeah. it And it's actually better than what I remember. so And it doesn't help. I mean, it doesn't hurt that it's a nice longer-ish attraction. sit down, chill out. Yeah. You get to sit in the air conditioning. so
00:25:24
Speaker
And remember, this is coming back in August of 2020. twenty oh This was announced back in August of 2025, and it will be coming back online later this year.
00:25:34
Speaker
Let's move a couple of hundred feet over in Tomorrowland and look at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. so I'm excited for this because, like I said, it feels like kind of a, I don't know, just changing some of these things makes it feel more than just a refurb, to be honest with you.
00:25:53
Speaker
I think this is going to be, yes. I don't like this always-on lasers, though, to help with aiming. and It'll be different colors for riders. That's cool. But this always-on lasers seems like cheating. Right. So what Damon is referring to. So theyre part of the updates that are coming to this ride is the blasters that you used to use that were permanently affixed to the ride vehicle are not going to be affixed anymore. you're going to be able to pick them up and move them around, just like the ride out in Disneyland.
00:26:22
Speaker
And now they are going to have always-on lasers so that you can actually see what you're aiming at. And as part of this, there' are going to be new targets that have been added. You remember there used to be just the circles with the Z's on them. And now they're going to light up. and They're going to cause other things to happen so that you know that you're hitting them.
00:26:43
Speaker
In addition, there's going to be a new intro scene. So there's going to be a new character added. His name is going to be Buddy. He is going to help you prepare for your mission. And honestly, this sounds just like a tutorial session to teach you how to use the blasters that you're going to be using to fight it. and it sounds like the tutorial for Toy Story Mania, to be honest. Yeah, something similar.
00:27:06
Speaker
Yeah. And the thing is, it's like in Toy Story Mania, the tutorial, you kind of just, after the first time, you you can't use up your wrist energy at that point. Right, yeah. You got to just like, okay, one or two, okay, my thing works, like, all right, cool.
00:27:20
Speaker
You can't really do that. You'd be... You'd be beat on the, once you started to have to do the the mine cart, like you would be lost because you'd be too tired. That's right. And this, and again, this ride is scheduled to reopen in spring of 2026. So you will not have to wait too long to experience this new ride.
00:27:42
Speaker
All right, folks, that is all of our Disney news, which means it is now time for the after show.
00:27:57
Speaker
All right, after show time. And our one and only after show news bit is Royal Caribbean.
Royal Caribbean's New Ship Announcement
00:28:04
Speaker
It has announced its first Discovery Class ship, and it will debut in 2029. Damon, you are our cruise expert on the show.
00:28:15
Speaker
it it's It's interesting. um you know they It was bigger, bigger, bigger. And from what I understand, the Discovery Class is not going to be that big. Right, as big as some of, you know, Star of the Seas, Icon Seas, or even the upcoming Legend of the Seas. And it's going to have cutting-edge technology. It's very difficult to continue to support cutting-edge technology after a few years. So I'm wondering how will they'll continue to keep that up to date.
00:28:41
Speaker
Right. um But it will be some immersive experiences. Listen, cruise ship is the perfect place for this. there's There's all these spots that exist on cruise ships where you really can have an immersive experience. Exactly. And I think this makes a lot of sense. One of the things we were, you know, kind of talking about in the house is you know, again, each cruise line is different for different people.
00:29:06
Speaker
i really enjoy the food at Disney. I enjoy the shows at Disney. nobody does it better. I don't think food or shows, at least from what I've seen, like maybe Viking or some of the smaller ships.
00:29:17
Speaker
But for us, like it's boring. So my parents have a bunch of points they don't know what to do with. I guess they have to go to like Dave's, you know, rental resale place. dbc resale Yeah.
00:29:30
Speaker
Because like, they're not going to go this year. And I said, you should go on a Disney cruise. Oh no, we want to go on Royal Caribbean. And I'm like, I don't know if you do, though. like Royal Caribbean is a lot more do sports, do events, do things, do the slide, like you do the sixth water park.
00:29:48
Speaker
where I think that they're going to tune this down a little bit. So I'm curious to understand what this class of ship is in terms of its audience, right? Like, are we talking about older people? Are talking about rich people? Are we talking about, you know, people without kids, with kids? Like, you know, i don't know where that fits in because if I go, you know, through my list of just, you know, I've been on three, Carnival, I don't think I'd ever go on again. Like, I went on it when I was
00:30:20
Speaker
20 something with one of my friends. Right. don't think I would do it again. But for me, Disney was, you know, the kids were younger. Food was good. i felt safer with them being on the ship just for whatever reason.
00:30:31
Speaker
Cool. You Disney was fine and now we're at Royal Caribbean. um I just wonder what this is going to mean. I'm excited to to kind of hear that Because it is something different, right? Like Legend of the Seas is is just going to be, you know, another star of the seas with just some, you know different show and a few different things. But this is going to be something altogether different.
00:30:52
Speaker
Right. Now, I've only ever been on one cruise and it's it was a princess cruise. Have you penlon have you been on a princess? No. No. the The reason my wife and I chose that just because was because, from the research we did, it didn't seem like a party boat like you wouldt would have seen on a cruise. I'll be honest with you.
00:31:14
Speaker
Even when we went on the Royal car Caribbean ship, and we only went for four days, so it was kind of a party cruise. It was a bigger boat. Again, when we talk about this differentiation of just how much things cost,
00:31:28
Speaker
It was a party boat, but less of a party boat than some of the cheaper cruises. Right. So it wasn't so bad. I think I agree with you. Like, I don't really want to go on a party boat. The kids are kind of do, right? They, they wanted to do, you know, the yoga party and, you know, now that they're, well, the one's over 21. So like he wanted to do more stuff, but Yeah, i I like Royal Caribbean, so I'm kind of curious to see like what this means in terms of like who they're catering to. do you Do you think it's going to be more personalized? When they say one-of-a-kind experiences, do you think it'll be personalized where it's just like you and your wife or you and your family as opposed to you know ah excursions? I'm not sure because that's ah that is a whole different experience.
00:32:13
Speaker
you know, concept and audience, right? Like, do they, do they try to take that luxury or do they just say, Hey, we're going to do a smaller ship. That's got some cool tech and then charge more, which we'll say, listen, I don't, I get it. Right. Like I don't mind the charge more, but like, you know, or are they going to go and try to attack the the luxury end of it? I'm not sure yet.
00:32:36
Speaker
And that's what I'm curious to kind of see is like what they mean cutting edge technology. You know, there's there's not luxury listed in that little blurb. And to me, again, i think that if you were going that route, it would have been in the blurb.
00:32:50
Speaker
So I think it's going to be interesting. But again, technology, like... My, you know, most hated ride at Disney is, you know, Flight of the Avatar or whatever that thing's called. Like, I won't ever go on that again. It looks like a video game from the 90s. Like, I don't need to go on that again. Like, and that's the thing. When you build something that's very expensive, that you build on, you know, cutting edge technology, you're kind of stuck.
00:33:16
Speaker
Right. Let me ask you, would are you going to consider going on the new mega ship that Disney's got, the Disney Adventure?
Cruising with DVC Points
00:33:26
Speaker
maybe like we were kind of talking about this, like I said, with our points, like we would do it with our points if we were to do it. Right. Because again, it's, you know, if we have a year where we don't necessarily use them, and my guess is sometime in between, you know, kids being out of school and grandkids, probably. Right. Um, we'll, we'll do something along those lines, just the two of us. Cause then we could use our points to do it. I mean, it's tough to use points when you're bringing five people. We did, we did it, but it was a lot of points.
00:33:52
Speaker
Um, yeah, I mean, maybe, Especially if it's just us and it's more like, oh, I could just like kind of relax. Again, the kids are not like that. The kids were, you know, they're like I was when I was that age. Like, I don't want to sit around and, you know, I want to do stuff. And they really enjoy the aspect of that at Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean...
00:34:11
Speaker
there's so much to do every hour that like you can't do everything you want. Right. It's kind of a good thing. Where at Disney we're like, why don't we go next? Oh, that's three hours from now. Like, and it's a drawing class. Like, oh, okay, cool. Like, you know what I mean? Because once you're out of those kids areas, like for kids, what are you doing? Yeah, exactly.
00:34:32
Speaker
All right. Well, folks, that is going to wrap it up for us this episode. We'd like to thank our sponsor, DontResistTheTravel.com. If you are looking to head down to Florida, let them help you. If you want to get on a cruise and go experience all these things that Damon and i have been talking about, contact the folks at DontResistTheTravel.com let them help you plan all of this out for your next getaway.
00:35:01
Speaker
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00:35:20
Speaker
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00:35:40
Speaker
We are always welcoming of trip reports and questions. And again, if you would please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber, it is only $5 a month. It helps out quite a bit. Head on over to patreon.com and do a search for Rhubarb Travelers and will pop up there.
00:35:57
Speaker
Look for us on the socials. might see a lot of pie recipes too, though. just yeah you should know Yeah, we'll see a lot of pie recipes. And then we are on the socials, so go to Instagram, go to TikTok, on YouTube, and then on Facebook. Please go follow us on there.
00:36:13
Speaker
We want to add on followers as much as possible. So with all that being said, Damon, I will see you next time, my friend. Sounds good.
00:36:24
Speaker
Folks, the Rhubarb Travelers podcast is for entertainment purposes only. We are not employed by the Walt Disney Company or NBC Universal, the parent company of Universal Studios. And as such, all opinions expressed on the show are exclusively our own.
00:36:38
Speaker
Please consult a DVC or Disney cast member or Universal team member for more information about anything we might have talked about today.