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Dave and Erik go to Disney World: A Theme Park Visit Review
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If there's one thing we love more than toys, it's movies and sports... and THEME PARKS. It's been a long time since Dave and Erik went to Disney World together, and over 6 years since Erik has been there at all! In this episode, they unpack their trip, talk about the rides, attractions, and experiences, and talk all about that sweet sweet merch... and mostly Galaxy's Edge!
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Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
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Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
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Transcript
Introduction to Adventures in Collecting Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Are you ready, kids? Get your parents' permission, check your mailbox, and grab your shopping cart. It's time for the Adventures in Collecting podcast.
Hosts and Podcast Focus
00:00:14
Speaker
I'm Eric. And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and halls, along with our journeys as collectors.
Clarification on Magic Discussion
00:00:27
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting.
00:00:33
Speaker
Hello. i It is a great, big, beautiful today. Yeah, we're going to be talking about magic today.
Podcast Now on Video
00:00:42
Speaker
Yeah, and not the type that you gather around, but the type that you gather for. And not the magic from Mattel.
00:00:52
Speaker
um But shout out to magic. Hi magic. Hi magic. I don't know if this is video today or not. It is. It's oh it's always video now. Oh, it's always video now? Alright, hi
Trip to Walt Disney World
00:01:01
Speaker
magic. um Yeah, so we are going to be talking about our recent trip to ah to to the happiest place on earth, Walt Disney World and in sunny Florida.
00:01:13
Speaker
yeah And a lot of people, um you know it's but Disney World is the whole thing. The Magic Kingdom is what you think Disney World is. Yeah, yeah that's actually a really good point. yeah We're going to talk all a little bit about all four parks.
Instagram Giveaways
00:01:29
Speaker
ah in our in our conversation today, but before we hop into that a little bit of housekeeping so ah We have currently on our Instagram ah We have two giveaways that are currently underway. We have our our normal monthly giveaway which ah if you're not following us ah at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram make sure you do that and because not only are we gonna keep you up to date on all of the toy news and all of that fun stuff, but we do also do ah monthly giveaways. And this month's giveaway is for a pair of figures. i Dave, do you wanna tell our our listeners what we're giving away this month? I'll tell them what time it is. It's time. It's time. It's Vader time.
00:02:24
Speaker
It is. ah we We are giving away a pair of Ultimate Edition, Legend, ah w WWE Ultimate Edition, ah Legends, Vader, both the... Target Exclusives. Target Exclusives, both the standard... Hey Eric, why is it two?
00:02:39
Speaker
Oh, you were just there. Yeah. Yeah. There's a standard and a chase. So, um, both you get both one winner will get both ultimate edition figures. So, um, yeah, that post is pinned to the top of our page.
Toys for Tots Toy Drive
00:02:55
Speaker
along with our second giveaway, which we just launched. This one is a twist on something that we do every year with our good friends at Chubsy Websy Toys in Little Falls, New Jersey. Amazing mom and pop toy store, ah family run.
00:03:11
Speaker
absolutely awesome place to to shop, hang out, talk. ye absolutely we We do a toys for tots, toy drive with them every year and um you know we always ask people to visit their website and and one of the things that's tough about donating toys A lot of times is, one, you got to go out, you got to buy it, you got to find a Toys for Tots drop-off box. um We get that all covered for you. So you go to Chubsy Wubsy's website, which is ChubsyWubsy.com, C-H-U-B-Z-Z-Y-W-U-B-Z-Z-Y dot.com, ah and you make a $9.99 or more purchase, i and write in your checkout experience in the in the ah
00:03:58
Speaker
special instructions you put donation and your Instagram handle and for shipping you select in-store pickup and then that way we know you have made a donation we'll take care of the rest for you from there and on the plus side the special thing for this year is if you do that ah and you'll see this again in one of our pinned posts on ah on our Instagram page We are giving one lucky donor a ah Hasbro, Haslab, Marvel Legends Giant Man. It's time. It's Giant Man time. We wanted to make this year's donation larger than it's ever been. So we figure ah why not sweeten the pot a little bit and ah and give give you guys ah some incentive to to donate. And like I said, it'll be one random ah donor.
00:04:50
Speaker
Again, like the the rules and everything and you know what you need to do in order to be part of it i is in that pinned post. but but What are the rules, Eric? so the Most importantly. so The rules, like I said, that doing that donation, putting your Instagram handle, ah donation of $9.99 or more. um You have to follow both us and Chubsy Websy on Instagram, and you have to comment and tag three friends. That's that's that's all you gotta do. ah It's pretty simple. um you know Again, the goal here is to help kids in need and ah kids that that you know don't have gifts for ah the the upcoming holiday season ah for one reason or another, and Toys for Tots is an amazing organization that we've donated to for years and years and years, even before
00:05:39
Speaker
Uh, you're doing this podcast, but obviously being in, in the toy world, um, they're doing something great that is very much so connected to things that we care about. And there is this amazing, uh, organization that works with toys for tots called operation toy train. And they work with local Boy Scout groups. They local work with local organizations to restore and repair.
00:06:05
Speaker
ah old train cars and they take that train kind of up and down the the northeast corridor here in in the United States and they make stops and do pickups for Toys for Tots. ah yeah They've got Santa Claus on the train. It's always a really cool experience. um I think last year they had a bunch of old decommissioned train cars from the w Ringling Brothers um that used to actually transport the the the animals back in the day for the circus. so it's It's always really cool to see that train come up and and do the donation in person.
00:06:37
Speaker
and That's what we are going to do this year as we do every year. So yeah, if you do um Donate make sure you do it before December 12th.
Giveaway Deadlines and Holiday Teaser
00:06:45
Speaker
That's when the cutoff is And then we will like I said, we'll do the donating for you So we'll take we'll take all of those toys that you guys purchased at at Chubsy Wubsy and we will personally ah hand them over to Mr. Tots ah We'll give them to the big man himself Santa Claus is on that train every year I'll actually be able to get there this year too. Yeah, I know Last year, I think I was sick and the year before I was injured. so yep and if you and If you want to see the really cool you know a kind of piecemeal conglomeration of a train that Operation Toy Train is, ah you can follow them on Instagram as well. It's Operation Toy Train. ah and ah You can see their schedule. and if you know If you got little ones and you want to see a really cool train, ah take a look and see if they're stopping anywhere.
00:07:31
Speaker
in your area. But, uh, yeah, so that's, that's kind of it for the housekeeping. Again, uh, those two giveaways are but the, the one for the two Vaders will end, um, 30 days has no, we'll end hot on, on November 30th. I had to do the and mnemonic in my head.
00:07:48
Speaker
It will end on November 30th and we'll announce that winner on December 1st. And then the ah the the winner for the Giant Man um will be announced on December 14th. And then stay tuned for our, of course, we're going to end the year with our our annual um Holiday in a box giveaway in December. We've got a whole Huge massive box of toys that we're gonna be giving away as well on top of the donation So it's it's always always got something cool going on on on our Instagram page. So yeah, um definitely make sure you're following us every month Always a good giveaway. Make sure to check it out. Yep and enter you never know you never know I
00:08:27
Speaker
It's like, it's like pro wrestling. You never know. It's like ah the lottery commercial. All you need is a dollar and a dream, except all you need is an Instagram handle and a dream. Yeah. And a US mailing address. And a US mailing address and to tag three friends. Be 18 or older usually too. ah All the rules are on the post. Go look at the posts. That's, that's what you need. All
Disney World Experience Post-Pandemic
00:08:53
Speaker
right. So from ah the magic of giving,
00:08:57
Speaker
to the magic of Disney. yeah we It's been a while since I've been to Disney World. ah So it was cool to go back. um Yeah, me too. A liar. Who didn't since May. A liar. So yeah, the last time I went was pre-pandemic. So 2018 was the last time I was there a lot. A lot has changed since I was there. Yeah.
00:09:24
Speaker
um My oldest niece was a mere three at the time. Yeah. Yeah. Three. You only, you only had one niece at the time. Um, yeah. it So I, I, you know, went all the time, you know, from when we were kids going together, but, uh, also as an adult, we went every year. Yeah. Usually. Um,
00:09:48
Speaker
our parents fell for that old timeshare trap and Florida timeshare trap. And not DVC, unfortunately. No, no. Um, but, uh, yeah, so we went every year as kids, uh, and then, you know, as adults, you know, uh, we started going every year. It's, we went on a honeymoon there and then kind of went every year after that for a while, uh, leading up to the pandemic. Uh, and we had a really big, nice trip planned for, for, I think it was 2020.
00:10:17
Speaker
Yeah, it was right after I had come back and you guys were gonna go I Feel like it was like March. Yeah, we were gonna do cruise for april and then the parks right after it we were gonna do the one-two punch there, but uh, the world had other things in mind and then you know Like a lots of life changes happen, so it's taken a while for us to get back there But it was it was worth the wait. I mean cuz it honestly in a way like without sounding hyperbolic, like it almost was like going for the first time again. So much had changed just in protocol and like obviously like the general layout was still familiar. It's not like it was like completely upended.
00:11:02
Speaker
but like And just think if you were, it was, if you were coming back in that like 2021, 2022 timeframe, like when the first time I went back, yeah you would have been, it would have been even more different. Yeah, yeah, with all like the social distancing changes and like the- No photo ops, like things like that.
Tron Ride and Night Experience
00:11:25
Speaker
Yeah, so I it's so i mean, we we we visited every park, we were there for a week, which was awesome.
00:11:32
Speaker
um kind of i I mean, let's let's let's start with Magic Kingdom, right? Let's start there. um I think that was the least different for me, you know, in terms of of stuff that was there. I mean, obviously with the one exception being Tron. Tron? um was Yeah, ah Mine Train and all that was was there. yeah Yeah, because Gaston was there when you were there. Yeah, we were actually there when the year that that new new fantasy land section opened.
00:12:03
Speaker
we We were there for the soft opening for that. like We kind like let in early. um they they They were like the Disney survey people were standing outside. It was very funny. The whole park, obviously the park was built. right They had these like shrubs on wheels.
00:12:22
Speaker
they They looked like fake shrubs planted in wheelie boxes, like almost like ah like like ah equipment crates, but like no kind to look like wooden crates with like shrubs in them. And there were the Disney survey people standing outside. And if you've ever been to Disney World, like you always want to go...
00:12:41
Speaker
Disney Research. Yeah, you always want to go talk to the Disney Research people because usually there's something cool going on if they're if they're standing around. um They're usually wearing like a gray or they just want to know if you're having a good time. Yeah, but still definitely worth ah worth worth chatting with them. If you ever see them standing around then and then they have like a different cast member get up on it's usually like a gray with like yellow stripes and stuff. um And we walked up and we we're like, hey, what's going on? You know, kind of like trying to look over their shoulders and they're like,
00:13:10
Speaker
Oh, we're actually ah looking for people to have some kind of new experiences. Would you be interested in going and seeing the new Fantasyland? And we were like, yes. um And we got to go and do everything. We did Enchanted Tales with Belle. We did, ah what what else was like new in there at the time? We got to eat at Gaston. Mermaid. We went to Mermaid. um Yeah. Mind train. Yeah. um it was It was a very, very cool early experience. So it was it was fun to go back to that stuff, but Tron.
00:13:40
Speaker
Um, oh my God. Mm-hmm. Like I don't know if there's other than the other Tron ride that is like a, ah that this is a clone of. I don't think there's another ride quite like it. No, I would say no. Um, it's just, it's amazing that it's right next to space mountain, right? Cause like space mountains, one of those,
00:14:09
Speaker
stalwart rides, like it does what it does so well and has done it for so long with like the simplest technology. It is a raft nest of a crazy mouse roller coaster in there with minimal set pieces and just like lighting or lights lack thereof and some sound effects, right? And and the darkness is what kind of sells the experience. It's very simple. Next to this like complex, immersive ride that like really makes you feel like you have you you were sucked into the grid. hu um you know down You're on a light cycle. like And and it's it's funny too, because like usually with like the really immersive rides, and we'll we'll talk a little bit about
00:15:02
Speaker
rise of resistance later. but now did you do the you did the regular Did you do the regular line or just the lightning lane? We did both. we do both okay um so i only That was the first time I had ever done a lightning lane, but I had seen the regular line. so like so Going through that maze of grid yeah was unreal. Yeah, it was very, very cool.
00:15:23
Speaker
um What I was going to say is like usually with the Disney stuff that's like really immersive, you don't get to see a whole lot of it until like you're in it. And even though you get to see the light cycle run happening outside like around you and that really cool like canopy canopy bonnet thing that that like lights up at night. um Even though you get to see that and you can see people, you know,
00:15:50
Speaker
stro like you know zipping through on the track, getting like digitized and the way that like the first time you see that in the launch area and just kind of the inside and that Daft Punk score hits, like that my my hair's standing up on the back of my neck. I'm gonna do the rock thing. It's standing up on the back of my neck again, you know, just thinking about it, because it really like, it's like you're there. It's it's really cool.
00:16:20
Speaker
As far as like theme park experiences go, um it's it's definitely, I would say at this point, probably number one for me. um As far as like you know from kind of beginning to end experience, um as far as like a ride goes. Yeah, i think it's I think it's still number two for me.
00:16:49
Speaker
but Mine is number one because I just have such a like I love Tron yeah like I have yeah I have the I don't know if you could see it yeah there it is the Tron legacy tattoo um last Sion so like Yeah, they they nail the whole experience. And then like the part of the ride that you can't see from the outside, like the the inside stuff with the screens are utilized, like you feel like you're in a light cycle run. like And I know what you're going to say number one is, and it's kind of like a 1A for me, that one. Yeah. But like as far as like it's too nostalgic like hits you the right way. Oh, yeah. um
00:17:31
Speaker
But for me, like, I never thought, like, this weird movie that I love so much was gonna be a theme park ride, let alone one I get to go on. I thought it was just gonna be like, okay, I guess I have to go to China, like. Yeah, yeah, and and it the other thing- That's in only in Shanghai, otherwise. Yeah. the The other thing that's really cool about the ride is- Or is that in Hong Kong? I don't remember. It's in Asia. I think it's in- It's in one of the- I'm gonna look that up real quick.
00:17:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely not in Tokyo Disney Sea. It's in either Hong Kong or or Shanghai. um While you're looking that up, the other thing that's really neat about this ride, too, is it's kind of you get to... Yeah, it is Shanghai. I was right. You get two very interesting and different experiences depending on the time of day you go on the ride. Because when you go on at night... I've not been at night. So we we had the opportunity to do both. We did get on it at ah at night on the the Friday before we left.
00:18:27
Speaker
so um On the Friday before we left, it happened to be the first day of the Mickey's Christmas party, um which, if you if anyone is not familiar with the way that this works, is on certain days during the year, they have these kind of after hours um Holiday parties. Holiday parties, yeah. Halloween and Christmas, usually. So they are ticketed events, but it also means that the park closes early. So in this case, the park closes at 6 o'clock, and what they do is at 6 o'clock, they start to kind of filter everybody that does not have that that um evening party ticket out, because the party technically starts at 7. So there's this weird dead zone time between 6 and 7,
00:19:19
Speaker
where the park is open, but nothing is updated. so like yeah When you go to Disney World, you get the my you can use the i ken you have to use the My Disney Experience app on your phone. and and um If you're ever curious, you can download it, sign in for free, and you can check wait times for things. for whenever you'd like. If you're, if you're a Disney person, you probably do. Yeah. i So what ended up happening was it was fun to be like, yo, do you see, do you see a smuggler's runs only 20 minutes today? I actually sent the text message out today earlier that Tron was only a 40 minute wait. um But what ends up happening is it still costs because the entire state of New Jersey is not there in this week. Correct. um The
00:20:07
Speaker
the The park still costs a full day. like if you If you bought a ticket to Magic Kingdom on the day of a Christmas party but did not buy the the additional Christmas party ticket, you still pay the full price of a day's worth of park, but you get significantly less time. Correct. So unless you're an annual pass holder,
00:20:28
Speaker
most people do not buy park tickets for Magic Kingdom on those days. We're doing double duty like you did. Unless they have also have the holiday party as well. So the lines were very short that day, but also during that dead time or that dead zone time between six and seven, none of the ride time wait times were updating. So everything was at like 90 minutes, 70 minutes, but it really wasn't. Everything was like 15 minutes. So it was already dark at that point. So we just walked right back up on to Tron walked in and got to ride it at night, which is, it was, it was awesome. Getting, getting to ride that ride at night is awesome. Um, something else that,
00:21:11
Speaker
we kind of learned, uh, just from going this time around, having a little one that wasn't tall enough to ride stuff is the rider swap program. There is unbelievable. It is, it is so easy to use. It makes so much sense. And, you know, this is a perfect example. So there are four of us. One of us is not tall enough to go on it. You walk up to the ride, you scan the wristband or the magic band of the person that is staying off the ride.
00:21:37
Speaker
with the the too small child. And then the child that is tall enough to ride the ride gets to ride it a second time. So you scan their wristband as well. Then the child that's tall enough to ride rides with one parent or adult, they go on. We waited the 15, 20 minutes to get on Tron. We got off.
00:21:57
Speaker
She gets right back on with my wife and then I take the the little one and go for a walk and go on the people mover, Buzz Lightyear or something. right ah Really cool program. It works on literally every ride that has a height requirement.
Tron Merchandise
00:22:09
Speaker
You just got to do it in the beginning. It's not something that's advertised. like they don't like It's not like in the app. It's one of those things where if you know about it, you know about it, or if you don't, you don't.
00:22:19
Speaker
so what i What I like about what Disney does that I've not seen other theme parks do is like, usually it's like you're waiting at the exit. Oh, you could just you can wander around, you can go do whatever, it like go take the other one on the other kid on a... Like I think Six Flags does that where it's like, yeah all right, you're waiting at the exit and then now we switch. So so unless you have the flash pass, if you have the flash pass at Six Flags, they could do the similar thing. But yeah, otherwise you just gotta to wait. So, which kind of defeats the purpose.
00:22:50
Speaker
But um so ah Tron, obviously we both love it. Awesome. Some crazy good merch too for Tron. They have a whole gift shop, which is also one of those things where it's just mind-blowing that like this movie has a dedicated section of a gift shop with a pretty cool experience that you did. Not this trip. Yeah, last trip I went.
00:23:15
Speaker
um I got, you can do the identity program, which you go into a booth, you record some lines, it takes your photo, and then you get yourself put into a Tron action figure. You get, it's a larger, think like shampoo bottle figure, but with a bit more articulation. And it's pretty great. That's got a little digital screen for a face. You press the button and you see your face like, ah like
00:23:48
Speaker
It mouths the words crudely, but it's great. I thought about doing it. It was unfortunately not available this trip. I think they were having some oh there was there are technical difficulties with it. Yeah, there was a really cool thing where like, so you go, you do your part. um They give you a little card, which I still have. I don't have it on me at the moment.
00:24:09
Speaker
um you Everything is scanned onto the card. and then you put your card in, you come back in an hour, you put your card in and like the figure rises out of like the computer and it's in a little, it's in a arcade cabinet. It's great. It's fantastic. That's very cool. Yeah. And you can also get the identity disc which will like do pick whatever color you are. You get to pick a couple different options for the figure as well. um Like I made mine purple. um You can do like, make you have a little chip that's in there. and You put it in the identity disc and then that's your manual like identity disc, which is also cool. um Yeah, it's great. I have a lot of cool t-shirts. The Super 7 reaction figures are all there.
00:25:05
Speaker
Yep, the diamond so Diamond Select Arcade Cabinet Tron figures, which is one of my favorite pieces in my collection. I love that arcade cabinet. I still have not opened it and taken the figures out, but... You have a glass replica like Marquis, the Arcade Cabinet Marquis, lots of mugs and t-shirts. There's a really cool fleece that I got last time because it was a little chillier than I remember it being. um Or actually, no, that was the time before.
00:25:34
Speaker
but Those had like a cool track jacket hoodie that like looked like the Tron... Armor? I don't know. Oh yeah, that's new. Yeah, like it looked like the... The body suit. Yeah, it looked like the racing suit.
00:25:49
Speaker
Um, from the film, which is really cool. So, you know, it's the only place you can get the, uh, the super seven figures and the light cycles too. Yep. Yep. And they still had all of those that are really nice, uh, display of all of all of them. Um, yeah. Uh, speaking of super seven, we also saw some new, um, haunted mansion holiday figures. So I want to mention holiday, yeah not something that's in, um,
00:26:19
Speaker
the Magic Kingdom in in Walt Disney World. It's something that that's exclusive to Disneyland, but it was still cool to see those figures. So there's three three two-packs. um Each come with a hitchhiking ghost and a Nightmare Before a Christmas character in holiday gear. So it was Jack, Sally, and Oogie Boogie, right?
00:26:36
Speaker
yeah um With the the three hitchhiking ghosts in ah in a little doom buggy So those they had those three sets too You know always cool to see kind of new stuff from from super 7 You know in person It's just it's great to see those retro cards hanging on pegs places that aren't you know like Target and that original hitchhiking hitchhiking ghost set is great, too I have that yeah, yeah those ah that's where like For me, like that's like the sweet spot for those those reaction figures, like those figures that can be boiled down to that really simple format without losing character. And like you know the Tron figures, obviously, like are almost like made for that. And the Hitchhiking Ghosts are great. It's a great way to encapsulate those those three characters. Yeah, with Tron Aries coming out, hopefully... ah Fingers crossed. ...to get that in some legacy. Yeah, I would love some some
00:27:36
Speaker
legacy figures. I think Diamond Select made legacy figures at one point, um but I wasn't paying, unfortunately was not paying attention to them at the time, so. I don't know who made, there were definitely like retail, it wasn't Diamond. No, I think Diamond Select had Tron legacy figures. This is gonna make for excellent viewing as I look up Tron legacy figures and try to keep talking at the same time.
00:28:04
Speaker
wasn't there Wasn't it like a Mattel vehicle or something, I think? ah Or Hasbro? Maybe. You know, Tron Legacy did not... Okay, so it was there was no... Alright, so Diamond Select never did the Tron Legacy ones. Yeah. Tron Legacy... I thought that they did. No, the only thing that...
00:28:29
Speaker
Let's see. Diamond did was the Kingdom Hearts figures. Oh, that's you know what? That's what I'm thinking of. um Which is just Tron and Goofy, isn't it? Yes, maybe. Spin Master. Oh, no. Spin Master. Yeah, Spin Master had Tron Legacy. Yeah.
00:28:48
Speaker
um Diamond Select just did Tron, the original movie. Yeah, proper. Tron, Tron original. ah So let's let's let's park hop,
Tiana's Bayou Adventure Review
00:28:58
Speaker
Dave. Let's let's park hop from... Oh, well I was going to say anything about ah Tiana that was... you went on Tiana's... Yes. So I did get it on that.
00:29:10
Speaker
um
00:29:15
Speaker
i't had to I would have liked to. i I'm not a big Splash Mountain fan. I don't love getting wet on rides. all right so Not my favorite. Let me put it this way. Splash Mountain was a fine ride. like It was fine. It was it was just okay. like I think it's an iconic piece of like Disney. right like it's like the Seeing the log flume come down, the the the animatronics. right like it it's It was an iconic piece of Disney World, but I didn't have any sort of like emotional attachment to it. It was fine. I love Princess and the Frog. like I love that movie. Yeah, it's a great movie. I love those characters. I love the music. I love everything about it. um it is Yeah, the fact that it was like a return to traditional animation, like just fantastic. for yeah
00:30:04
Speaker
um Love the characters. Tiana is and an incredible princess. Louis, the alligator, is one of the funniest modern Disney characters. Dr. Facilier is a great villain. The mama OD makes me laugh my my pants off every time she opens her mouth. um all All of that being said, this felt a little shoehorned. gonna like To be honest, like I felt a little forced. And some of the animatronic choices that they made,
00:30:34
Speaker
even bugged out like a nine-year-old so like at one point like Lewis looks like an alligator like he's got like smooth or like scaly looking alligator skin sure then there's one animatronic where all of a sudden he looks flocked like he actually looked like plush and fuzzy like texture lines and it's like That's not what an alligator looks like. Yeah. And he's like standing next to like bears and stuff. And it's like, we've seen, we've seen better, like, and it like was already kind of felt like it was moving a little janky. And like the, the one that the couple of Tiana animatronics looked like they were moving a little janky. It just was like, not to the level of which I would expect. Like, look let me put it this way, right?
00:31:28
Speaker
So like they did an overhaul, like a full overhaul, re-skinning, re-theming, new music, new costumes for that that new Country Bear experience, which was sure an amazing improvement over the original. It was a thing that I sat through. Those animatronics were better, like considerably better than what was on that ride.
00:31:53
Speaker
And then I think and part of it is just. There is a lot of show pieces on like I, it had been a long time since I'd been on splash mountain, because again, like it's just one of those things where it's kind of to your point, like I'd rather not go on. I just don't want to get, I don't want to get wet and walk around wet all day. Or the time of the year that I was going previously was when Florida still got a little bit chilly and like, I didn't want to get wet and cold.
00:32:20
Speaker
Um, you know, cause I, we weren't going in like July and August anymore. and If you're going January, February, it's still chilly, yeah especially at night. Um, I, I didn't, I, I ah usually skip it. I usually skip that ride. So I had forgotten how much time you actually spend in the vehicle, like just kind of going through set pieces and going through. It's an incredibly, ah it's an incredibly long ride, right? Yeah, there's a lot. And when the animatronics are not great and the story is At least with like Splash Mountain, the story made absolutely no sense. It was just like... Well, there was a lot to cut out. yeah Basically, they're after this rabbit, and you're following them through the story, and because you're following this rabbit... And why is there racism? like But like the story didn't make any sense, so you didn't really sit there and think about it. You were just like, oh, look, it's a fox and a bear chasing a rabbit. Oh, look, there's gophers. Oh, the crows are trying to scare me. like
00:33:17
Speaker
Like you just kind of were there. This there now is a story and because the story kind of doesn't make sense and it's using characters that I really like in a way that I don't think is using them to their best like features. It just felt like a miss to me. um Not to mention they can't do It's amazing that they were able to do what they can on Frozen. And I don't know if it's that new animatronic style that's on. No, no, it's not the face projection. They went back to like the old, which I actually prefer. Oh, so they just literally reskinned everything.
00:33:58
Speaker
No. like see I wish I had been on it more recently to have a better idea of like what the set original set pieces were. Yeah, I couldn't honestly remember. They seemed like all new animatronics. like I don't remember them... like i mean Mama Odie is a very specific shape and her animatronic looked like she walked off the screen and became an animatronic. Her was great. um And you see it at the end of the ride.
00:34:24
Speaker
Uh, this, though the one showpiece I will say was phenomenal was at the end of the ride. So after you do the final splash and you, you come back around to like the final showpiece, um, is the exterior of Tiana's Tiana's restaurant. And like every character from the movie is there like performing and like having a party.
00:34:48
Speaker
that okay That was like coming around the corner and seeing that was like, whoa, like this is really cool. It's a shame the whole ride wasn't this good. But yeah, it was a ride.
00:35:02
Speaker
Yeah, it's one you kind of wish was, I didn't go on it. um I will probably go on it once. The queue is great. um Like going through the restaurant and like seeing like Tiana's kitchen and all this, stuff the awards that she's won on the wall and like. And again, me only going on it once has no, is not anything against Princess and the Frog. I love Princess and the Frog. If it was not a log flume, I'd go on it and multiple times every time I go.
00:35:31
Speaker
I will say the setup for it is awesome. so like She builds her restaurant on a salt mine and there's there's lots of um puns about like seasoning.
00:35:44
Speaker
as you're going through the queue. I do like a good food pun. That's why that's why you're in a in a log flume, is because her restaurant is is attached to a salt mine and she's minding her her own seasonings. So so it's it's it's a new story. yeah yeah okay oh Yeah, this takes place after the film. okay so she she The restaurant is open. she has it's She's won awards. She's trying to throw a party.
00:36:14
Speaker
at her restaurant, and she enlists Lewis to put a band together to play at the party. It's the one thing she's missing. And Lewis is like, oh, I'm going to take these people to help me. We're going to go through the bayou, and we're going to find the best musicians at the bayou and put a band together. So you''s a fun idea you're collecting animal um band members. Musicians? Yeah, animal musicians. So that part of it is like fine. But then there's a part where you apparently get shrunk down to the size of like a firefly, but I kind of missed that. Like I had to look it up afterwards because it won't put my load. He's like, we're going to make you big again. And I was like, I was small.
00:36:58
Speaker
Um, yeah, but it, again, great music, the rides, the ride, if you like splash mountain, all the parts to like the exciting parts of splash mountain, none of that has changed. All the drops are there. And then the big drop is still the big drop and it's an exciting big drop and um yeah Yeah, great merch too. They had an amazing um spirit jersey. I'm wearing one of the spirit jerseys that I picked up. ah Which I was so annoyed that I got wet on that, right? Like, dude, of ring so we went to Animal Kingdom and it started raining. We'll talk about this real quick. This will be our one Animal Kingdom piece.
Animal Kingdom and Future Plans
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah, because Animal Kingdom unchained. Yeah. Unchanged, sorry. Yep.
00:37:44
Speaker
um Animal Kingdom completely unchanged. There's... Nothing new. Nothing new about it. Dinosaur is gonna be out soon for Indiana Jones. But that's not yet. And Dinoland's getting replaced with Encanto. Yes.
00:38:03
Speaker
but nothing new to report there because they're still open. So um we go on Everest. It was the strangest ride experience on Everest. it was It was bizarre, but it just goes to show how much I hate being like soaking wet.
00:38:18
Speaker
um
00:38:20
Speaker
As soon as we go on, like the group before us that boarded the ride, it started raining. yeah We get on, it starts raining a little bit heavier. we at which point like I can't see anyway because I gotta take my glasses off but now I definitely can't open my eyes because I'm getting like hit in the eye with rain yeah if you've never been on a roller coaster in the rain it's not it hurts it's not a it's not fun it's really it's really not I mean I was laughing my ass off on it because I was I was laughing because it had was happening yeah yeah
00:38:55
Speaker
And then we, so Everest is a mountain like in real life and in Disney. On the other side of the mountain, it was not raining. yeah So the part where you- Bright and sunny. Yeah.
00:39:08
Speaker
So I'm like, what is going on? And then we get off the ride and it's raining. Like, I'm like, what? This isn't beyond even the Florida Orlando daily 15 minute rain. Like, it's literally if I step to the left, it's not raining. If I step to the right, it is raining.
00:39:29
Speaker
make this stop. it It was very, very strange. It was very, very strange. I'm wearing a soccer jersey. It's like stuck to me. It was also the worst hour and a half. It's also very strange because you're riding a ah ah ride called Expedition Everest. And like there's snow features on the ride like to make it look like you're on a mountain. And it was just weird being like rained on while there's snow and you're thinking about yetis and you're like, it just it none of it worked. It made for a ah you know very unique ride experience.
00:40:07
Speaker
um I still love that ride. I got the Spirit Jersey from it because I love that ride. It's a great ride. I love that ride so much. Love it. Hated that time on it, though. Yeah. I mean, liked it, Kazoo of Fu, I was on it with, but that was the least fun version of that ride I've ever been on. Which, by the way, I've mentioned it twice now. We are not sponsored by Spirit jerseys, but if I could replace my entire wardrobe with just Spirit jerseys, I probably would. I'm a full convert. I have three of them now after this trip.
00:40:37
Speaker
um and No, you have more than I do. and I was on their website looking at their non-Disney spirit jerseys today and nearly ordered a few more. so i ah yeah um'm so like I've gotten the track pants, you've gotten the spirit
Spirit Jerseys Praise
00:40:50
Speaker
jerseys. yeah i i Honestly, like I don't know how people are wearing these in Florida. like I need to be short sleeves or shorter when I'm in that kind of weather, but like we're in, as you can see, we're in like you know, that that like fall leaning into, starting to lean into winter. It's finally cold in New Jersey. Yeah, which is which is great. And theseirator these spirit jerseys are just super comfortable and they're just obnoxious enough to to fit my personal aesthetic. um Yeah, I got, I have one from Disney World and I have one from France. I don't have,
00:41:30
Speaker
Any others. I have a Disney Cruise one. I have this exhibition Everest one. And I have the Haunted Mansion one, which glows in the dark. And that's even and that's perfectly obnoxious. I i love and love that. I think my France Phantom Matter one glows in the dark too. Yeah. ah But i'm I'm fully... And they had some... I had to stop myself because they had so many cool spirit jerseys. like That new Haunted Mansion one's cool. Haunted Mansion one was great. I loved the Tower of Terror one that they had. I yeah i loved the Nightmare Before Christmas Jack one that they had. They had an amazing one in the Coca-Cola store in Epcot that had polar bear arms. like they were Oh, I thought you were going to say it was Beverly. No, they actually had like furry white polar bear arms. like It was like a red Coca-Cola with like white polar bear arms.
00:42:22
Speaker
um Yeah, no, but still, I still don't know why Coca-Cola doesn't just make it for Epcot. That's all you have to do. Like, I mean, granted, like my homemade Beverly shirt rules, but like, real how is there not official be Bev merch? And now a word from our sponsors.
00:42:47
Speaker
This segment is brought to you by our friends at Chubsy Wubsy Toys. A traditional mom and pop toy store in Little Falls, New Jersey, Chubsy Wubsy Toys brings you the best new toys from the brands you love without the hassle of pounding the pavement searching for them at larger retail stores.
00:43:04
Speaker
Visit them in person at their brand new home at 101 Newark Pompton Turnpike Suite 1 in Little Falls, New Jersey, or online at ChubsyWubsy.com. That's C-H-U-B-Z-Z-Y-W-U-B-Z-Z-Y dot.com. And tell them Adventures in Collecting sent you.
00:43:28
Speaker
And now, back to the show. So before we get into Star Wars, because I want to spend some time, well, we'll end with Star Wars, because there's a lot to talk about there. um Guardians of the Galaxy. Cosmic Rewind is fantastic. Cosmic Rewind. Speaking of things that don't have enough merch, I need a cake toast shirt, and I need an every person comes out tired Epcot shirt. Like, both of those things should should exist. but Although they had a new shirt that was fantastic.
00:44:01
Speaker
um Which was the wonders of Zandar. Yeah, it's modeled after the wonders of life pavilion ah Super cool the the ride is very meta as you would expect something Guardians of the galaxy to be um So is the the stuff on the queue? I don't you only went the one time correct we got to know we got to go on in a second time so I got to see the the videos that you were talking about the With the interviews from Zandar TV while you're going through the queue and see all like the cool ships and stuff yeah Yep, and the map the model of Zandar and Peter talking about wanting to go on horizons and stuff um Yeah, very very very fun ride um Yeah, I just again like Marvel of engineering how that ride works pun intended I
00:44:54
Speaker
um Well, if you notice, no Marvel logos anywhere to be found on that ride for obvious reasons. Nope, not allowed. And also, I'm a- No Mantis. No Mantis, because she is in an Avengers character.
00:45:08
Speaker
um
00:45:11
Speaker
So we have a future guest coming on ah that works in the law field.
00:45:24
Speaker
mostly in like licensing.
Marvel's Licensing Issues
00:45:26
Speaker
i And he one of one of the things that he worked on i was kind of convincing Disney to go after the Guardians before Universal was able to do it. So like that's like one of his favorite achievements. He he he saw that we we were in Disney World, and he was he was sending me messages on the side, and he was like he said that very thing. He was like, you'll notice no Marvel logos anywhere.
00:45:53
Speaker
Nomantis. But yeah, very, very, very cool. It's ah that we'll save that story for another day. But if you if you aren't aware of the absolutely insane contract license issue that that exists between Universal Studios and Florida, to make a long story short, Disney World is not allowed to use Marvel characters from the same families.
00:46:20
Speaker
in which Universal has used in their islands of adventure east of the Mississippi. So that's why you can go to Disneyland and you can see Avengers Campus and all Spider-Man and all that good stuff. but And all the yeah rides internationally as well. Yep. And even the cruise stuff, um when they do Marvel Day at Sea, it has to be ah in international waters. you know um Yeah, it's very very fascinating. But ah Guardians of the Galaxy do not exist they they Their origin is them, like Guardians of the Galaxy, that's their origin family. and So, since they are not from Fantastic Four, they are not from the X-Men, they are not from Spider-Man, they are not from the Avengers, or they are not from... No, that's it. Just those four. Or they are not mentioned in the park at all. Yeah. Holst. I mean, he's an Avenger.
00:47:13
Speaker
yeah but So, like, there is a Ghost Rider reference in Universal Studios. Ghost Rider cannot be in disney in disney in a Disney park in the eastern half of the country. Yep. Until that contract is given up. Up, or, yeah, i'm more like given up, because yeah I think it costs them less to renew than it does to operate, like, than they make operating.
00:47:38
Speaker
so Guardians of the Galaxy, that's that's why they're allowed to be in. But supposedly, Simpsons is coming up. Supposedly, yeah. um Which is interesting. but Yeah. yeah that ah But now it works the other way around, too. Universal can't do anything with Guardians, because Disney got to it first.
00:47:56
Speaker
who um then ah ah Which is supposedly like also the rumored reason why Doctor Strange was an unadvertised appearance in Parks yep in Hollywood Studios back in the day. you And like and when they did baby when they did the Baby Groot. And I think, didn't they do Captain Marvel? Meet and Greet? It might have. I don't know, because I think she's an Avenger.
00:48:27
Speaker
She is, but I think they did do a... I don't remember now. um But anyway, too, Outside of Guardians, really cool merch. Again, um there the the gift shop, Outside of Guardians, had some really cool stuff in it. Like you you mentioned that shirt. They had some Marvel Legends, which was really nice to see.
00:48:47
Speaker
Um, and they weren't like marked up either. Initially I thought they were, but the the more I looked at it, I realized that the the one that I was looking at is just that price. So, um, yeah, they had superior Spider-Man, um, from the 85th collection car scar from the 85th collection. And they had, um, the retro wave with, uh, that the Spider-Man retro wave with, um, uh, Hallows' Eve, hall and Hallows' Eve and Tombstone.
00:49:17
Speaker
um andnna And and jack-o-lantern so that was it was cool. Just to see Marvel Legends there is that's but they had this really cool like relic section too where you could get like the tesseract and you can get the orb and you can get loki staff and you can get the individual infinity stones and they had like an iron man style gauntlet and they had like the fano style gauntlet and then they had a black panther style gauntlet which was like a super what if situation but it looked really cool like seeing it like the purple and black um
00:49:51
Speaker
But yeah, they had tons of cool stuff um like that. And something that I always loved when I was ah but i was little, I loved pullback cars, like pullback racers. They had a really cool pullback racer of the the the ride ride vehicle with rock and grout in it. So that was that was really neat, too. um Also, we need a Terry Crews as a Marvel legend. I would buy it. That would make an amazing um park exclusive.
00:50:21
Speaker
part-exclusive Marvel Edge. It's just one of those ones that's like permanently there. Yeah. Yeah. Doesn't need to be a deluxe. No. Just, you know. You just got a sculpt. They don't, they don't have, um obviously don't have his likeness. And they haven't done a Nova Corps body yet, but like, it's pretty close to the the Guardians of the Galaxy suit from the newer movie. Mm-hmm. Maybe get away with that. And, you know, just give them, give them like open hands, closed hands, and away we go.
00:50:52
Speaker
Perfect. Alright, so let's let's jump right right into Star Wars now. um This was the first time I got to experience Galaxy's Edge and i i opened I opened my heart to to the entire experience and just kind of like Loosened the bolts on that were holding my bank account closed Just let it drain We did every had you seen the Toy Story land. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, we had okay So that was not new for you know that at the end of Toy Story land was a wall. Oh Yeah, so I actually have some things ah so first and foremost I'm gonna I'm gonna bring this into into shot here
00:51:41
Speaker
I had to do the lightsaber. So building the lightsaber at Savvy's Workshop was one of the... And you hit the button. I heard the why i know i took the ah i took the blade no blade and um the no blade sound. i I absolutely had to do this. This was like on my list of non-negotiables for this trip. Something that I have wanted to do since they announced that this was a thing. As you can see, I built the um the High Republic era, they call this the protect and defend ah style of lightsaber. This experience, i don't I don't want to rob anybody of the experience. So I'm not going to tell you like what it was like on the inside. And like if you really want to, you can go and watch a YouTube video about it. but
00:52:26
Speaker
If you are at all looking to do this yourself at some point, I highly, highly advise against spoiling anything. um The one thing i I will say that you should do in advance is just take a look at the menu. So like if you look at like, if you Google Sabi's workshop, or build the lightsaber galaxy's edge,
00:52:46
Speaker
you can look at the menu. So the way that it works is there's four- And it's pretty unchanged as far as I could tell. They've only made one change since the beginning. So there's four categories. There's like a classic looking lightsaber, a Sith looking lightsaber, an elemental looking lightsaber that uses- Which is what I have. Wood and bone and leather looking textures. um And then what you're seeing here, the the protect and defense.
00:53:12
Speaker
and Because that had the coolest end of the hilt on it, which was the tooth. The bone. The tooth. Yeah. No, it was a bantha tooth. When you go to do this, you have to pick one of the categories. And then within the category, you have customization options.
Building a Lightsaber at Disney
00:53:30
Speaker
So in this instance, you had two different um two different hilts. You had two different emitters. You had four different midsections to choose from and two different types of switches.
00:53:43
Speaker
And you can you can mix and match any i which way. They'll all go together yeah win the that within the category. But you need to select that category before you you go in. um They have that kind of preset for you. So I do highly recommend, just so that way you're not panicking on the on the spot there. Because I did see some people go through that experience, which probably added a little bit of unnecessary stress. But um definitely take a look at the menu.
00:54:12
Speaker
These are heavy. They're they're metal. um they're They're substantial. I have a couple of the um Black Series or or Force effects are actually going back to um master replicas of of the um like the the official licensed lightsabers. These are above and beyond heavier like I would say like this hilt is heavier than two maybe even three of of the other ones and that and those are metals but all but shockingly balanced yeah this is heavy um it does have a removable blade which goes in pretty easily it's like a spring-loaded situation and then and it'll make a weird noise if you don't have it incorrect yep and it's not seated and then when you turn it on it will do
00:55:01
Speaker
via the light, the the like ah build up with the LED. um When you build it, you get to select, excuse me, one of four Kyber crystals. So you saw that mine there lit up yellow. You can buy additional Kyber crystals in the store, in Doc and or Doc and Dars.
00:55:30
Speaker
um The four crystals that you can choose from in the experience are red, blue, green, and purple. So I chose purple when I built this only because I have green, red, and blue lightsabers. I wanted to, you know, diversify. But since I was building that High Republic era style saber, i I instantly just thought of yellow. So I went to the store afterwards and got a yellow crystal. And I think Dave- Which character did you get from your yellow? Like what was on the slip? I don't think I actually looked at that.
00:56:08
Speaker
Yeah, it'll end here. The reason why that's important isn't because of the lightsaber, it's for the holocrons. If you put that... How do I tell? Oh, in Deira Stokes. Okay, so that's whose crystal you have. Interesting. Okay. Um, when you put the crystal in the... What he's talking about is this little, this little slip. I honestly thought, just looking at it quick, I thought it was written in an arabesh, so I didn't even bother trying to read it.
00:56:37
Speaker
but it does say in dearest stokes. So we're on series two and series two has the new packaging which is this thicker kind of yeah I'll say more to it packaging. yeah the The crystal packaging is is really neat like it's got again like it's got metal in there it's Yeah, the series one, um and I lost the top to it, but if you've done this before, you know, like the series one packaging has a little thing that you do here, and then the crystal comes out and it's just a crystal. Like you have no clue what character it is until you put it into the holocron and it talks to you. um And then there were different options and there was a whole chase game and whatnot. um And then there was one black crystal in it.
00:57:21
Speaker
that was Snoke. Okay. So um they've now done, so I have both holocrons, like I have the original Sith and I have the original Jedi. They have now made new ones, series two ones that will use the old ones, but also use the new ones. Like if I put this into ah new one an old one, I just get um for all in intents and purposes, either like Luke or Obi-Wan. Okay. For Blue.
00:57:55
Speaker
um So mine, but i as a collector, I am on a chase hunt. So I saw that there was a new, I didn't want need black again. If I got black, I would have given it to you. um But i if I saw that there was a new chase that you can get. um And this one is for red, you can get red with a blue core and you can get blue with a red core and it's Ben Solo Kylo Ren. Oh, that's awesome.
00:58:26
Speaker
Yeah, and like the little slip of paper is half and half. Oh, so you got the chase. I got the chase. Very cool. Completely, like, I was just like, all right, I'm going to get two just to see if I get it. Like, if you want my extra red one, you're more than welcome to it. maybe I might take it, might take you up on that. Because it's Asajj Ventress. I have a red one. It's not going to do anything different in my Holocron, so I don't need it. Okay.
00:58:55
Speaker
well it's it's go to It's probably going to be like Darth Vader if I put it in the hologram. It's a very cool process. The piece is beautiful. um my own It's easy to like change the crystals. like and It's fun, like unscrewing it and like everything everything threads together. The thing I would recommend, and you need a jeweler's screwdriver for it, is if you're going to let it sit, take the batteries out. Okay.
00:59:22
Speaker
yeah Because the la it rips through batteries, and the last thing you want is those things exploding in there. Yeah, that's a that's a good point, because it is going to go up and be displayed. And I do have a driller's screwdriver, so we're good with that.
00:59:35
Speaker
My one piece of feedback for the entire- Or like computer screwdrivers that'll work too. You just need a Phillips head. my My one piece of feedback for the entire experience is they do not sell a wall mount for it. So I did find a really cool one on Etsy that I ordered and is coming. So that way it can join my other lightsabers on the wall.
00:59:53
Speaker
Yeah, mine is leaned up against my closet door. But it would have been awesome. It's still in the bed. They do sell a mount for it, like a desk mount um that apparently lights up. Like you can put the crystal or like extra crystals or something in the base or so or something like that. But um it would be really cool for them to sell like a wall mount for it. that's That's one thing. I don't think they ever have. I think they had like a desk or a mantel piece. They do. But that's about it. Yeah, they still have that.
First Experience at Galaxy's Edge
01:00:22
Speaker
um The thing for me overall, so like Rise of the Resistance, absolutely incredible experience. Also. Water ride. Got this little guy, I got a new porg for my porgs, porg key chain. Porg. Porg lives on, porg lives short. Lots of porgs. But this is the newest porg that I don't have yet. I got two because one is on my key chain. The other one goes with the rest of the plush porgs that I have. Nice. Porg son.
01:00:51
Speaker
um the Well, that's my, that's the big pop. The big pop is porg sun. um the thing orrk sun porkg The thing that blows my mind ah about Galaxy's Edge, having seen it for the first time, is just the level of immersion. Like, one of my favorite things that I brought home was this, which is a Coke bottle. And it is unlike any other Coke bottle you have ever seen because it looks like a thermal detonator. ah and Meanwhile, dude, how,
01:01:23
Speaker
Great is the TSA with that stuff um like they know amazing They know you're coming back with weird stuff from Disney. So I got a like I got on the plane We were the last people to get on the plane. So although we had to gate check our bags All the overheads were filled the flight attendant was like what you need to do is take the blade off of your off your lights here, put your hilt in your backpack or just hold it with you. And she was like, and we'll put the blade up, to we'll fit the blade up top. like She was she like walked me through the whole thing. And she was like, do you need help taking it apart? I'm like, no, no, I got it. they know yeah But she was like, if you take the hilt off, we you fold the one side of the bag over, because it comes in, I can't reach it, but it comes in like a little carrying case. And um it's padded. And she was like, the padded part for the blade will keep the blade safe.
01:02:09
Speaker
and it'll fit in the overhead without a problem. Just keep the health on you. And that's how I flew it home. It was awesome. But yeah, like it's just it's amazing because Disney does such a good job of making you feel like you're immersed in whatever land you're in. like So whether you're at Magic Kingdom and you're in a frontier land, when you look around, that's pretty much all you can see. You have to really, really try to like see out of that land into a new area.
01:02:35
Speaker
to the point where like when you're in Epcot, they realized that sight line was if you were looking into Morocco, you would see the back of ah Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios. So they designed Tower of Terror aesthetically in a certain way. So that way it fit into like the Moroccan skyline in in Morocco in in Epcot. So like,
01:03:00
Speaker
They really pay attention to that stuff. But when you are in Galaxy's Edge, I cannot stress this enough. It feels like you are in a completely different theme park. Like you have exited Disney and you are now just walking around the set of Star Wars. The characters act differently. there' is no There's very few to no lines to meet a character. They just wander around. Like Kylo Ren literally shoulder-checked me.
01:03:29
Speaker
I tried to take a selfie with him and he shoulder checked me and then got up in my face and told me that I was a filthy spy and that he'd be back to deal with me later. like it It was amazing. like You walk around the Black Spire outpost area of Batuu. Batuu is the name of Galaxy's Edge. The the the fictional planet that you're you're on is Batuu.
01:03:55
Speaker
you walk around the black spire outpost like trading area and like gift shops and it's not like the same kind of gift shopping stuff you would find in like the gift shop attached to Star Tours somewhere else in the park. like You're not gonna find Black Series figures. You're not gonna find um you know like tsh like regular looking t-shirts. You're gonna find clothes that look like they're out of the Star Wars universe. They do have regular t-shirts, but they're like Black Spire Outpost shirts. Yeah, and you have to- So it's like you're going, you're at the Black Spire Outpost. Yes, and like the toys look like they're all like
01:04:33
Speaker
Like the toys that like Jyn Erso has in, in row one, like the way that the stuffed animals look like they're, they're handmade. The, the action figures are like these wooden statue like action figures that are very rudimentary looking. Um, it's just, yeah, like stuff that looks like it's hand carved.
01:04:52
Speaker
Mm hmm. Which by the way, this is also for the lightsaber. Yeah, that's that's your hilt replacement, right? Yeah. Mm hmm. They I could the food is delicious. All food is cannon, but also weird enough. Like, ah you know, we we we did the cantina we ate at at Ronto Ronto Roasters, which is a Ronto rap is there effectively like a Star Wars hot dog.
01:05:18
Speaker
Um, we ate at their, uh, Hanger Bay restaurant, which was, you know, like a Disney quick service restaurant with like, again, all familiar foods just presented in ways that are just weird enough to make it feel like you're eating something far, like truly alien. Um, being able to see a one-to-one scale Millennium Falcon parked in the middle of the, of, of the.
01:05:43
Speaker
the area is or an x-wing or an a-wing or yeah I mean it's just there's you look around and there's just so much stuff everywhere it's almost it's overwhelming in a good way because you if you really love Star Wars and I I'm sure I'm coming across as somebody if you don't if you have not been listening to the show for very long and um you know you Star Wars is my favorite franchise in existence. Like it's almost like saying as a theme park experience it's the greatest is almost unfair. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
01:06:18
Speaker
um yeah Like it's, and Universal's so close with the, the um and i I am not very familiar with Harry Potter. Yeah, with the Wizarding World stuff. Like this the newest Wizarding World stuff over in Universal? the ah The one that's in Islands of Adventure is the better one. Yeah, what's I forget which one is which. That's the... That's Hogsmeade. No, Diagon Alley. It's the one with the candy store. That's what I can tell you.
01:06:48
Speaker
It's the one with Gringotts, right? The bank? Yes. That is Diagon Alley. Yeah. It's cool, and it's the only part of Universal where you can't see anything else in Universal. Yeah. Everything else. If I'm in San Francisco, oh, look, there's Springfield. Yup. Or you're at- And then over there is Queens. Yup.
01:07:13
Speaker
yep Um, but yeah, it's, it's just fully immersive and like there are certain experiences. So like, again, I'll tell you, I could tell you till I'm blue in the face that there rise of the resistance was the coolest ride I've ever been on ever. Period. And technologically it's, it's a marvel. It's insane. It's it's absolutely absolutely insane. The amount of detail and, and just, it's insane. It's insane.
01:07:38
Speaker
And I'm not gonna say anything more than that because I went in, I managed to to to not be spoiled on that ride all these years. If I can do it, doing this stuff. um you It's actually very easy to stay spoiler free for a theme park, shockingly.
01:07:57
Speaker
Don't Google ride through videos on it as curious as you are. If you are a Star Wars fan, please. Tron was open for years and I almost cracked and then they announced they were putting it in Florida and I'm like, nope, not going to watch it. I i beg you. I bet. And they have rise the rise of the rise of the resistance that's in Disneyland is the same as the one in Disney world. Yeah. Correct. yeah do Do not, do not watch ride videos of it. Just wait until you can do it and do it because it it is,
01:08:26
Speaker
it is If you want to be spoiled by a ride there, do be spoiled by Smuggler's Run. Put that up to your heart's content. smuggler Smuggler's Run, I would actually recommend to look it up before you
Rise of the Resistance Ride
01:08:37
Speaker
go on it. I kind of wish I had because i I spent so much of the time trying not to screw up that I actually barely watched what was happening in front of me. I was so concerned about pressing things on time and listening to Hondo that I was actually watching what was happening.
01:08:52
Speaker
an Honestly, the easiest way to like be a part of that ride and get everything is being a pilot. Yeah, because you have to. um But i yeah, don't don't look up anything in Rise of Resistance. But as my youngest niece said about s Smuggler's Run, I didn't press any buttons. I loved it. yeah um it ah and there's there's There truly is no no ride like it. um it's a surprise at every corner. like i'm I truly mean that. like i'm sure i only Unfortunately, I only got to ride it once because the the wait times were just out of control, but um I'm sure there's stuff that I missed that if I went on it again, I would see things differently. and and you know
01:09:40
Speaker
like there's just there's There's so much to look at and you just you only have two eyes, so you can only but your whole the whole experience is from the second you cross that threshold ye to when you go go through the queue. ye Like the second you either tap in with your magic band or just wait on the regular line, it starts. Yep, the the story the story starts and it's it's just- The saga begins. Room after room of of just experience. Of stuff. Yeah, it's it's unbelievable. I actually took video of
01:10:16
Speaker
one part on purpose of you and my oldest niece encountering something for the first time. I might i might post that um because it is it's the one part of the ride that like everyone takes a picture of. like I knew that that part was coming. I just didn't know where it was coming in the ride, so I don't think it's that much of a spoiler.
01:10:42
Speaker
um Plus it becomes you cut it off early it becomes blatantly obvious that that's what's going to happen the moment you get on the thing before it, if that makes sense. The moment the ride starts, yes. That's fair. So I don't think it's it spoils anything really, but it it is It's it's remarkable. It's ah honestly, they spoiled it in the commercial. And there's another thing that's like a shocking spoiler. and That's and that was in the initial commercial that I had forgotten about. um But yes, and then, you know, on the other end of the spectrum, right, you have smugglers run, which is a super fun ride. Again, like really immersive getting the fact that the queue walks you on to the Millennium Falcon and the Deseract table and like the little booth is there and you get a second to like peel off and you can take a quick picture.
01:11:31
Speaker
which we did. um Yeah, they knew. is just it Again, like just really, really cool. They knew what everyone was going to want to do. But that ride is 90% video game, 10% ride.
01:11:45
Speaker
um if you're not on ah like you know We were a full group of six where we all knew each other, but we had two small children with us that were enamored with the fact that they were on the Millennium Falcon and were not paying attention. One of them did good.
01:12:01
Speaker
One of them was doing what she needed to. Once she realized that she needed to and it actually have impacted the ride, yes. She, she, she started paying attention because that's the other thing. Part of that ride is based on your success in those roles that you play in the Millennium Falcon cockcot cockpit. And if you aren't paying attention or don't, or underperform, you get a a different ride experience.
01:12:27
Speaker
Um, and I wanted to make sure we got as much coaxium as we possibly could. And we got two instead of three. I'll take it. We didn't crash the Falcon came close, but we we did come for tank controls. If you're, if you, I, if you're a gamer tank controls. Yeah. Um, I was a pretty good engineer. I got like 93%. So wasn't wasn't on me.
01:12:56
Speaker
I latched those coaxium containers. I did my best. Well, I mean, the other engineer is three. Yeah, the other engineer was three, and ah mom was doing a great job doing double duty for her, reaching behind, hitting stuff. um But again, like that ride apparently gets gets some flack for being you know more of a a video game than a ride.
01:13:23
Speaker
Yeah. So if you don't like that going in, it may not be the experience for you. Yeah. What they really should do is, in the future, maybe once they get another attraction there and it becomes like the third attraction. I don't know if there's going to be a third. Do kind of what they did with Mission Space, where you have half the ride is just like, you know, you you get like the ride through video, you know, where it's like, you get the motion simulator, the ride's doing its thing, like you get, you always get the three containers of coaxium, you don't necessarily have to play, you can just kind of strap in and enjoy the ride sort of thing, and then make the other one, like the other half of the ride, like you want to play the game and, you know, try to get as many as you can or whatever.
01:14:16
Speaker
um Maybe. For people that just want to watch it. you know Because like if you want to if you just want to be an observer and you want to enjoy the ride, you you literally can't. There's no option for that. Yeah, I don't know if that would be any more or less entertaining, to be honest. I mean, it is funny. the the the Jim Cummings, who does the voice of of Hondo, who also does the voice of Winnie the Pooh.
01:14:43
Speaker
bunch of other characters but uh his dialogue always makes me laugh and that's part and yelling at you is great part of the fun because he does it in like that like that kind of like passive aggressive like you know I borrowed this ship from Chewbacca don't worry he won't be that mad you know like um you know and when you mess something up he's like it only blew up a little
01:15:07
Speaker
Yeah, which which is always great um Shouts to shouts to friend of the pod Craig who does an amazing Hondo in person. monndo Yeah Ezra my boy um Mine always ends up sounding like Watto in my auto So I thought you were doing I tried like what I was not on that when I try to do Hondo I just get Watto. Um, but yeah, uh Galaxies edge was everything I hoped it would be and more um I wish I had gotten the chance to do the Galactic Star Cruiser and and stay at the hotel and kind of have that whole experience. But yeah, but rip not to be not to be. um Yeah. So, I mean, my my overall kind of opinion of this trip i was that it was it was awesome. It was nice. As much as I missed going every year, again, it was kind of nice to have that like sizable chunk.
01:16:02
Speaker
in between my visits because I really like everything was fresh. like Even stuff that I've been on a dozen or more times over the years. like had like kind of like a new shine to it in a way just because I missed it so much. um Like even stupid things like, this is the first time I've actually enjoyed It's a Small World in like so long. Just because it had been so long since I'd been on it or like peter' Peter Pan's Journey. Another one where it's like, you know. I finally got to go on the Behind the Seed store for the first time that rolled. Living with the land. Living with the land.
01:16:40
Speaker
um Yeah, I mean it it was just, it was an absolutely awesome trip. I'm i'm excited for my walnut to come for my lightsaber so I can join my other ones. I love my little, I don't know where he is, oh he's sitting over there on the sail barge. Are you your zombie droid? Zombie droid factory droid. You love lamp? I love lamp. I love lamp? Do I love lamp? Are we just saying things now?
01:17:11
Speaker
Loud noises? ah Yeah. um Yeah, no, it was it was it was an awesome trip. um And it was great to go with you. It's been a long time since I've been there. Yeah. that was We haven't been there. it's It's at least been a day. Oh, more than a decade. I would say like 15 years yeah about since we've gone together. Yeah, it was it was great going together. We got to ride some rides together, you know yes was which was a lot of fun. We had to get pelted with rain on Everest together. um Yeah, but it it was a great trip. ah Yeah. Navigating the whole lightning lane and virtual queue thing is a little dicey. But once you- It can be, once you but it doesn't have to be. Once you get into it, so like it it's stressful setting it up, but then once you start actually using it and realizing, like oh, actually, like you can't really make mistakes with this, it's just either- Yeah.
01:18:07
Speaker
You know, it is what it is, you get what you get, you keep moving. um we did We did that for the first three days, and then the rest of the trip, we didn't we didn't bother with any of the lightning lanes. and yeah we But you also don't have to. that like If there's one thing I would say, you're gonna lean more towards doing than not, it's like getting the individual lightning lane for like Tron, or for um Cosmic Rewind, or for Ryze, but otherwise... if If you're going as an adult,
01:18:36
Speaker
and you don't have little ones with you, and lines aren't a big deal, you don't need the group lightning lane. Like like you said, like if there's like it's been a while since you've been there, and you want to make sure you get on Tron, or you want to make sure you get on Rise of the Resistance, or you make sure you you want to make sure you get on Guardians of the Galaxy. right like Do the individual lightning lanes for those, pay the 20 bucks or whatever it is, and guarantee the fact that you get on that ride that day as long as it's operating. right like Do that.
01:19:07
Speaker
Definitely do that if you have little ones You have the lightning lane the multi-pass was nice because it did shorten our wait time for certain things But like I said, we only ended up but just know that there's some you will not need to use it. Yep Yep, it got to the point where I'm one of the days where like after we use it the first three times we never refilled it because it just Didn't we didn't even bother like?
01:19:31
Speaker
Like, if you wanted to, like, make it where, okay, I can go on Star Tours three times in a row within 15 minutes, like, you could do that, but you probably could do that within 25 without
Popular Rides and Wait Times
01:19:44
Speaker
it. Yeah, the wait time for Star Tours... was minutes. Like, I mean, like... Because there's so many people that can just go through it. Yep, yep. It's never down.
01:19:55
Speaker
um Yeah, so I mean, it's don't get stressed out by it. That's that's my my advice. you know Use it if you if if you have those non-negotiables that you need to absolutely get on. like It's going to ruin your trip if you don't get on those rides. you know i Space Mountain, Mine Train, Buzz, ah maybe the Haunted Mansion, but you don't really have to for that. No, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, like those rides had
01:20:26
Speaker
Minimal wait times the entire but seemss always they're always moving the ones that had the beater pan Peter Pan for whatever reason cuz they're it's so slow and there's like ten ships Peter Pan had an obnoxious wait time almost the entire trip Seven doors mine train same thing obnoxious wait time like guaranteed an hour plus um You don't even differ big thunder out anymore at this point um Tron there were There were points where the wait time for that was down to 20 minutes. They got a lot of people on that ride and it moves fast. and there's and There's a lot of stuff that's right there. yeah It's in a heavily concentrated area where you know the speedway is down to like a five, 10 minute wait and it never was. yeah Adding that extra ride and not taking anything away was it?
01:21:17
Speaker
They almost took away Tomorrowland Speedway for that. I'm happy they didn't because now it gives people four or five things to go to right there. Yep um So as much as and that's not even a virtual queue anymore. You can just go and get on um Tron so Yeah, I mean like I said Lightning lanes use it for those those non-negotiables.
01:21:42
Speaker
But yeah, i you Frozen, you can use it for, like, I wouldn't even get it and for Frozen and Remy, like, I guess that's it. Yeah, the Remy's Rad Itui Adventure, that um that... Great ride. Amazing ride. What a wait time on that, though. Like, that's one that's like, the Lightning Lane is good for. Runaway Railway is another good one.
01:22:03
Speaker
Yeah, that one was down to 40 minutes a bunch of times. Another great ride. As much as I love the great movie ride, Runaway Railway is incredible. Very cool ride. Those trackless ride systems are are very fun. they let they let those They let them do a lot of things. um And you know it's almost time where they're going to um you know drain the rivers of America. Yep. So if you go, get on that. Make that in the cars.
01:22:28
Speaker
get on that ah Get on that steamboat one last time. um Don't get lost on Tom Sawyer Island, because it's possible. I've done it.
Trip Highlights and Epic Universe Excitement
01:22:38
Speaker
As have I. um i think I think with that that, that pretty much covers the trip. um if it If it hasn't already been made very obvious, the highlight for me was definitely ah Tron and Galaxy's Edge. You did a low-key great one, too, that is stick sticking around, which is Swiss Family Robinson.
01:22:57
Speaker
Yeah, so we had dinner, yeah we we we had dinner reservations across the way at Skipper's Cantina, which, amazing restaurant. um If you're looking for somewhere to eat in Magic Kingdom. ah We had a little bit of time to wait, and my littlest one was getting getting a little stir crazy, so I walked her across the way and we walked up the treehouse. Since it was ah Christmas time in the parks, the little Victrola that was up there wasn't playing the normal, like,
01:23:27
Speaker
German classical music. It was playing um Christmas music, which I thought was neat. That was fun. ah
01:23:35
Speaker
But yeah, ah um'm I'm excited to go back and probably give it a couple years, go back and, you know, once I have some of this new stuff open, you know, this villain's land that's coming, this car is tough. India Jones. India Jones, latoncanto lots to be excited about. But um yeah. I would say your next Florida trip will probably be for Dark Universe. Oh yeah, and ah Mario stuff. Yeah, the Super Mario Land. Nintendo Land. pendo yeah Isn't that what that whole third park is called, Dark Universe? Epic Universe. Epic Universe, that's it. Dark Universe is part of that. That's the Universal Monsters stuff. Which, that ride looks unreal. Yeah, I'm excited. And and so and i I love the Wizarding World stuff. you i
01:24:28
Speaker
was the right age for when those books came out. So I'm excited for for more of that, too. um Even though it's weird, because they I think they killed the Fantastic Beasts movies. I don't think they're making any more of those. I don't think they're going to finish that story. So having a piece of that live forever in that land is a little weird now. Oh, that's what's going to be there? that's and That's funny. I think so. I think that's what they had said.
01:24:54
Speaker
um which, so that's that's a little strange. I think it's the um ah Ministry of Magic. You could tell me and I would have no idea. I think that's what they're what they had announced. But i I could have sworn it was like that era, like the ah the Fantastic Beasts era, which is like pre-Harry Potter. um There's a very fun picture of me from the first time I saw that of just sheer confusion on my face and bewilderment.
01:25:25
Speaker
Um, yeah. So yeah, um I'm excited for that too. I mean, Disney holds a special place in my, uh, in my nerdy heart, especially with the, the Star Wars stuff. So did you see the, uh, direct of, uh, super Nintendo world, Japan with Miyamoto going on the Donkey Kong ride? Yes. Adorable. Yeah. What and a, what a, treasure what a treasure that man is. That's that's going to be the same ride too. So the mine, but like minecart man is very excited. Um,
01:25:52
Speaker
Yeah, so i'm I'm going to continue nursing my my beautiful Coca-Cola bottle, thermal detonator, and my lightsaber and stuff. Coca-Cola products, Canon. Yeah. Yeah, Coke, Coke, whatever. what However you say Coca-Cola in... Coke, Sprite, and Dasani. And know and a Diet Coke. And Diet Coke.
01:26:14
Speaker
um Yeah, i think I think with that, it's time to wrap it up. we ah We will have, our next episode, we'll have a guest, so we'll keep it under wraps right now, but ah I think ah think you guys will appreciate hearing from this person again. so Yeah, um so hopefully you made it this far.
01:26:38
Speaker
I think I think we did all right. I think we did all right. Yeah, Dave. ah ah Shout out to the reluctant adult guys who were Yeah, that's rare as well. We didn't get a chance to see ah to see them. They were they were their Orlando natives.
01:26:53
Speaker
ah They were there. and They were in the part in Magic Kingdom the same day. The the stars did not align. It was time. Imagine being in a place that big and not being able to run into somebody. it was like It was time for them to leave and time for us to start the Christmas party. And time for me to leave. And time for me to leave. Yeah, it was it was just poor timing. Poor timing. But as I don't want to misquote them, but as they said, go to Disney and possibly not run into a toy blogger.
01:27:24
Speaker
yeah um But Dave, as as they say, I'm going to set this one up. I'm going to throw the softball. So I hope i hope you you hit it here. You don't say goodbye. You say, see you real soon.
01:27:43
Speaker
Thank you, dear listener, for hanging out with us today. Subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you listen, and then tell your friends to do it. Thanks also to Joe Azari, the golden voice behind our intro. Our music is Game Boy Horror by the Zombie Dandies. Find more about them both on our show notes. Follow us on social media at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter. Stop by and say hi. Show us your toy hauls and share your toy stories. Maybe we'll talk about it in a future episode.
01:28:14
Speaker
don't try this at home void where prohibited in some assembly required each sold separately not a flying toy consult a physician if your toy run exceeds more than four hours
01:28:23
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation, executive producer Frank Kablaui. This program and many others like it on the non-productive network is distributed under a Creative Commons attribution non-commercial no derivatives license. Please share it, but ask before trying to change it or sell it. For more information visit non-productive.com.