Transcript
Speaker: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Thrills, Chills, and Spills, where we spill the tea on all things theme parks, special events, and especially spooky season. I'm Kelly.
Speaker: I'm Rafa. I'm Tyler. And we are missing Joey today. he is over in Europe. Tyler and I just got back from Europe. We don't really know what time it is, but here we are back with another episode. We will have a part two to this episode coming out shortly after this one. um So stay tuned for that. But today we are going to be covering mostly um all things Disney. So before we all went to Europe a couple of weeks ago, i took my now what seems to be annual family vacation to Disney World. So we'll cover that. We'll cover Disneyland Paris Resort. And then, of course, we have some exciting events.
Speaker: HHN updates for everybody but as always we will start with our spills Rafa why don't you take it away yeah so unfortunately I won't have as much to talk about so this will probably be the most you get out of me today but um but yeah I mean one thing that I do want to talk about is this first off just the awful merch that Universal has been releasing and this has been like A yearly thing at this point. I feel like those initial shirts that are released when they announce a house for HHN are just so ugly. Like they don't look good and everyone goes crazy over it. Like you have lines piling up outside of these gift shops. The moment that a house is announced, it's,
Speaker: um and And when you see the shirt, like it's not even like this grand reveal. It's awful. And then most of the time, there's always you know a piece of merch that has the never go alone thing. And I just, I'm kind of over it. I don't think that needs to be on every single year's show.
Speaker: I don't think it needs to be a thing. Like I get it for like a commercial standpoint. I get it for the promo, but for the merch, I don't think we need that. It just, it's just a new variation of never go alone and like different styles. Like you'll have it in a very ghost kind of font or you'll have it in like, like a, like a pumpkin kind of pattern. like It's just, it, there's not much to it. And just, it's kind of getting stupid to me. yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't know. That was just one little thing I wanted to complain about because it's just, I don't know, it's just tacky to me. And just the initial merch for these announcements are just ridiculous. Yeah, it just blows my mind because there are so many talented people and like graphic designers out there that like this is what a place like Universal puts out as far as merchandise on things that people are going to buy to wear.
Speaker: Like... I also think the same thing every year, but then i see people buying that merch and wearing it around the event all the time. So I'm thinking like, maybe I'm just out of touch. Maybe I don't know what people like because people seem to buy it. It jumps off the shelves. But the one thing that blows my mind.
Speaker: is for example we had an announcement today we're not going to talk about it um until tomorrow or until the the next episode but there was an announcement today and within 20 minutes of the announcement people are posting the merch which means they are at the parks waiting for them to unveil this new merch like oh yeah what kind of time do you guys have on your hands i know and it's like it's a tuesday I guess not. Or they could be those people that like take their laptops to work at the park. Yeah, I get it. People work from home. People work different hours. But still crazy though. Like it's fine. But like it's always the same people that are there like dropping the info first. Like –
Speaker: Yeah. I'm always wondering the same thing. I'm like, how are you guys so available this? I had the question. But thanks for doing the work for the rest of us, honestly. Oh, yeah, absolutely. had the question earlier, like, how do they even do that? Is their merch, like, behind scenes and then they wait until the exact minute for the announcement and they just, like, bring it out right then and there's a whole crowd just, like, watching them bring it out?
Speaker: I have no idea. I've never been involved in that situation. Yeah. I know this is not how it happens, but I picture there being like a central stand with all of the new merch with a big black blanket over the top and somebody is going whoop.
Speaker: Yeah, that might be how it happens though. I have no idea. But I feel like we would have seen it by now. I feel like we would have seen a video by now of them doing that. Yeah, and it's just, it's never that. I mean, I don't know. I don't think so. Or maybe they just opened the shop.
Speaker: Like, and then like, boom, there's your reveal. Like, but that's about it. i don't know. I don't think there's any grand reveal for this awful merge, but everybody seems to love it. So yeah.
Speaker: Interesting. Yeah. tyler What is your spill? I have a little bit of a positive spill today. So I just wanted to clear the air on a stereotype, rumor, whatever you want to call it about France.
Speaker: I was expecting to hate France and Paris from everything I've heard. People say it's dirty. People say all the people are rude. They hate foreigners. That was not my experience at all.
Speaker: Paris was so pretty. i did not it was as dirty as any other city. I didn't think it was overly dirty. And the people were so nice. a couple people even went out of our way during a major debacle we had, which I think Kelly is going to talk about in a second.
Speaker: But Parisians went out of our way to help us without even asking. As long as you say bonjour when you walk in the store, like everybody is very helpful and nice.
Speaker: I don't think we experienced one rude person the entire time. so Yeah, I agree. i was pretty I was pretty surprised at how much I liked Paris. I would say it's cleaner than most American cities I've been to. um There's obviously like areas where you can tell it's like not as nice, just like with every other city.
Speaker: And I agree that people were... So kind, like if you are just kind to them, they're kind to you. So hopefully that wasn't just like a one off experience that we had. but I would be happy to go back. I really enjoyed it. It was actually probably like the nicest people that we encountered on the entire trip, like country wise. yeah.
Speaker: yeah I've never been and I've always heard that and I've always like worried like, oh, when I go, like are people that bad? But I mean, i mean that's that's nice to hear though because that everyone makes it sound so bad. I don't i don't get it.
Speaker: yeah i was just fully expecting to dislike the entire country and it was yeah absolutely lovely. I loved it. Yeah, it was great. um But we'll talk more. We'll talk a little bit about France today because we're talking about Disneyland Paris, but we'll talk more about France tomorrow. But for the next episode, we're going to probably keep saying tomorrow because we're recording back to back. Sorry, this timeline is probably going to make no sense to you guys that are listening. I don't know how they're going to be released, but.
Speaker: Anyways, my spill is about one of our most infamous characters of this entire trip. um So a little background. We started planning this trip earlier this year. it was a multi-city trip. I think it was the eight nights. We had a variety of different accommodations. Sometimes we stayed on property of...
Speaker: um like the park we were going to. We also had like some random hotels. We had like a hostel hotel, like, like kind of in-between type thing. And then we had Vrbo and i use Vrbo literally all the time. Like I barely ever use Airbnb. I've used Vrbo for years, literally never had a problem. Okay. Okay.
Speaker: I booked this Verbo apartment that was supposed to be, it was like in walking distance of the Eiffel Tower in like a good area of Paris, did a lot of research. We all agreed. We liked it. It looked really nice.
Speaker: um It was relatively affordable. We were supposed to stay there for the first two nights when we arrived. um And payment, everything with Verbo had been good. I was getting like regular updates from the host about like,
Speaker: the payment schedule. And then like a week before I got this whole welcome packet with photos of like how to find the apartment, like what the door code is going to be like, she'll contact me with more information sooner, blah blah, blah. So by the name, your girl's name is Olivia. Okay. So we're going to call her by her name now because we got some beef. So we land in Paris and I'm like, oh, it's interesting. I haven't received the rest of the instructions for the Vrbo from Olivia yet.
Speaker: And I'm like, maybe it's just because it's before a check-in time and like the rest will come at 3 p.m., which is check-in time. So we're like going about our business. We went to our first little park, which we'll talk about tomorrow.
Speaker: Check-in time passes. I'm like checking my email, checking the Vrbo, still nothing. So I'm like, okay, maybe it'll make more sense when we just get there. So we park the car. Um, well, we're trying to park the car. We can't find anything nearby. She gave us instructions of a parking garage that didn't seem to be as close to the Vrbo as, as it was, you know, intended to be. So Tyler and I got dropped off and Tom and Scott went to go park the car. So we are walking a couple of blocks. We finally get to the Vrbo and it's like a big outside door.
Speaker: And it's exactly how it is in the photo. So I'm like, oh, this is good. This is good. We go to put the code in and it doesn't work. And we tried like numerous times. Tyler tried. I tried. it wasn't working. I'm like already getting frustrated because I'm like, this is the only code we have. Like she's not even been responsive about anything else.
Speaker: Finally, after a couple of minutes of standing there with like literally our luggage, like oh i was stupid this French man comes up and puts the code in and like walks in. And it's after this door, it's like an interior, but outdoor courtyard with more doors. So I'm like, I watch him put the code in and I'm like, that's not the code we have at all. And he sees us like looking at my phone and looking up at the code. And he's like, looking at us, like, do you need help? And we're like, look, this is the code that we were given. And he understood like our English and,
Speaker: He's like, that's not the code. This is the code. And he literally typed it into my phone for me so that we would have the code. I'm like, that is so nice. He doesn't know what we're doing here. yeah Clearly, we look like tourists because we looked confused and we have luggage. But OK, so we get into this indoor but outdoor courtyard. The next set of instructions is another door with a different keypad that we're supposed to get into. This is like the second of like three or four doors that we're supposed to encounter. Okay. But we have no further instruction on what code to put in to get into this next door. So we try the code from the first door that doesn't work.
Speaker: Now I'm frustrated. So I send some messages on Vrbo to Olivia, like, Hey, we never received the private message with the the other codes. Like we can't get in. The first code wasn't even right. Like, please help us.
Speaker: So 10 minutes goes by, no answer. we start looking up the phone numbers of her, her assistant, like the company she does the Vrbo through. I'm calling all these numbers. Some of them don't even go through.
Speaker: um One of them, we were able to like leave a voicemail. It was just, it was just a disaster. half hour later, Scott still aren't there. So we're like, oh my God, where did they park?
Speaker: um Finally, I decided to call Verbo because I'm like not getting response from her I don't remember how long it's been at this point, but it's like, we literally can't get in. We're standing here. So I'm on the phone with Verbo. I know how long I was on the phone with them. It was 52 minutes because I was put on hold 5 million times. I was asked to share screenshots of like my payments to her for this Verbo, like this whole process I had to do while we're standing here. And meanwhile, we're all missing time that we were going to like do sightseeing of Paris.
Speaker: Finally, they get back the and back on the line and they're like, oh, she's not responding to us either. It's like, no shit, Sherlock. Like, we haven't been able to get hold of her via any of the 10 methods we tried.
Speaker: So, basically... I think we got duped or screwed over or ghosted. I don't know. The weirdest part was in this packet of instructions was the wifi code and Tyler was able to log onto it with the password and it worked. So like, this was a real, like it was a real location, I think.
Speaker: But um yeah, just never got a hold of Olivia. The next day, Olivia fucking lives. And she's like, she's like, we sent you the information to your email and your cell phone number and to WhatsApp. And I'm like, I don't even have WhatsApp, you freaking psycho. Like, what are you talking about? I didn't get anything. So I'm just like,
Speaker: No, it didn't work. Vrbo is contacting you or has contacted you to refund me. So we went through this whole process of Vrbo. We ended up in a hotel, which was lovely. It was like beautiful, like in the French countryside, like just outside of the city, like easy parking right on site. Like it was great. Had air conditioning, which That was a luxury, might let me tell you.
Speaker: But end of the day, the only other messages I've gotten from Olivia the whole time we were on the trip was automated messages. We hope you enjoyed your stay. It's like, are not in your apartment.
Speaker: Like we couldn't get in there, okay? yeah she was not responsive to us, not responsive to Vrbo. So then there's this whole thing where I had to like contact my bank and request the funds back and all this stuff. And then all of a sudden today,
Speaker: Olivia surfaces. She is alive. She said she sent me the refund, but the refund still doesn't exist in my bank account. So we will see how this plays out. But freaking Olivia, she ruined my like first couple hours of being in Paris.
Speaker: I've never been duped on a Verbo before. Damn. Damn Olivia. Just to clarify the timeline here, we were trying to check in. I think it was like, what, five something?
Speaker: It was probably like 4.30 when we arrived. Check-in was at 3. Okay, 4.30. Yeah, so we're well past check-in. She didn't respond until 2 a.m. And it's like... Like woke up in the morning to the message. Yeah. What?
Speaker: It's like if If I'm making over $1,000, this was like 990 something euros was what we paid for two nights here. Like this is not a cheap place. If I'm making that much money on a transaction, I'm sitting by my phone and making sure these guests get into my property properly. Like what are you doing until 2 a.m. that you did not check any of your phone numbers apparently? That's just absolutely crazy to me. I couldn't believe it
Speaker: Insane. Sorry, that was a long spill. That would have pissed me off. Oh, I was mad. Because we're like, we finally are like, okay, like we're gonna have to find somewhere else. We like went, sat down, ate some food and like decided where to go, which again, ended up being like great. Like it worked out probably in our favor, honestly, but we're walking like along the freaking river and supposed to be enjoying the sights of Paris. And I'm sitting on the phone again with Verbo because they're like, we need to contact you ASAP. I'm literally on hold. Like I hear the hold music while I'm like walking around wanting to like look at Paris.
Speaker: And that was the only day we had for sightseeing. I was just like, and then i was i i said to the person at Vrbo, I'm like, listen, I know this isn't your fault, but I can't spend any more hours on the phone with you people. Like I started to get a little nasty because I was just mad. Yeah. The best thing was they emailed you and said, hey, we need to talk to you. The supervisor needs to talk to you. It's important.
Speaker: So you call them up and then they're like, yeah, what did you need to talk to us about? Yeah, I'm like, you tell me! What a mess. Freaking disaster. So that's how the vacation started, but it it all ended up being okay.
Speaker: Well, I still don't have the money, but I will get it somehow. Yeah, you'll you'll get it back. You'll get it back. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, let's move on to our thrills. So i hopefully will not just be talking by myself for a while, but I think that's probably what's going to happen. um i went to Walt Disney World for five full days um and came home on the sixth day with my children and my parents and
Speaker: And um I actually broke up. I'm going to kind of do this instead of like reviewing the trip like day by day and like what I did. Nobody wants to hear that. It's like not that exciting. So I'm going to hit the high points, just like things that I thought about when I was there. I know that.
Speaker: You guys have heard me talk about Disney and how much I love Disney and strategies about Disney. So we'll just talk about some things that I thought about when I was there that I experienced. I actually split my thoughts into thrills, chills, and spills segments. to help me organize it. So we will start with the thrills. So these are basically the high points of my trip. So the first one is the resort that I stayed in. We stayed at the boardwalk in end resort. Um, it is a deluxe resort that we got a discount on. Um, so that's really the only reason I could afford to stay there, to be honest. Um, I'd stayed there once before back think like 2017. So almost 10 years Um,
Speaker: Other than that, I mostly stay in the moderate resort category. um But the boardwalk is so nice. And like, I really appreciated the value of the deluxe resorts. It's got like, a much friendlier and like upscale atmosphere without being too stuffy at the boardwalk. um I've never stayed at Grand Floridian, but I just get the vibe from even like riding the monorail near there that it's like really hoity floity and like that's not my vibe but the boardwalk isn't like that like it's nice but it's still like cool and um people are super friendly um the rooms have been renovated since I stayed there a last so they're really like fresh and um
Speaker: Like the theming is still really nostalgic. I grew up going to the beach and boardwalk on the East Coast and that's kind of what the rooms are styled toward. um The boardwalk outside of the boardwalk, like there's a physical boardwalk, is always really fun to hang out on. None of the other Disney properties aside from boardwalk, yacht, and beach are on the boardwalk. um And none of the other, like there's there's walking paths around the other resorts, but I really love how the boardwalk really truly feels like a boardwalk and like a place to hang out. Like they have multiple restaurants, they have souvenir stores, they have like little stands with ice cream and corn dogs and pizza and margaritas. And um it's just like really lively. They have like nightly entertainment. They'll have like some people come out and dance or some jugglers come out. Like it's just really fun. um And then outside the boardwalk on the lawn, they do a Disney movie every night, like on a big screen, which is really cute and fun. Um, so I really love the boardwalk. I definitely recommend, um, staying there if you're able to, um, afford it. It's crazy, crazy Disney pricing, but, um, it's also great cause you can walk to both Epcot and Hollywood studios from there, which is nice. You don't have to worry about any of the Disney transportation. and There is transportation if you want to take it, but they're walking distance, which is, it's great.
Speaker: Um, they also had a really nice gym. This is the first time I've gone to the gym while I was on Disney world vacation. i used the gym a couple of times to work out. It was very cold in there and super nice. Um, and they also have a really nice,
Speaker: pool, their slide, all the deluxe resorts at Disney have like us a themed slide into the pool. And there's a theme to a roller coaster, which is so fun. um and they also have a restaurant attached to the boardwalk and to the hotel called the flying fish, which I, I think this was my first time eating there. I can't remember if I ate there when I was younger, but it was excellent, excellent seafood. So, um, highly recommend that. Um, Moving on, another high point of the trip is the availability of Disney transportation. Like there's just so many options. I love the Skyliner and always recommend if you are trying to get to parks easy to stay at a resort that you have access to the Skyliner. Technically, the boardwalk doesn't, but Epcot does. So you can kind of like walk partway to Epcot and get on the Skyliner from there. Um, but I love taking the Skyliner, the Disney buses, the system is really great. Now they kind of share updated times of when you can expect the buses to arrive, um, at the boardwalk, there's boat access as well. So, um, just kudos to Disney transportation being so great. Um, they, um, start that thing where they're checking resort, like reservations before you can ride the transportation or has that not started yet? Mm-mm.
Speaker: Oh, I did hear about that. i mean, maybe they just started it over at Springs because I know that that's where a lot of people are parking for free and then taking the shuttles to the parks. Yeah, I think that's problematic because you don't have to make park reservations anymore unless you're an annual pass holder. So like for I'm an annual pass holder, so I had reservations, but like my family didn't like they just had their regular park tickets. I don't know if that's what they would scan.
Speaker: Um, yeah, but I mean, like they kind of from what I read, we're getting rid of resort hopping where if you were taking transportation to a resort, you have to have a reservation there that you're staying there or like a dinner reservation. You can't just hop on from Disney Springs and go to whatever resort.
Speaker: Yeah. I'm not surprised by that. yeah A lot of locals do that, but no, they, they, I didn't see any of that happening. yeah. Another high point, um the photo spots are always great. I've gone to Disney so much. I like know where all of them are now. So you can always expect like where certain photographers are going to be set up. And I love having those pictures and comparing them like year to year, like how different my kids look. It's just crazy. So I love I love that Disney offers that. Yeah.
Speaker: Another one is a quick service food location in Epcot that I try to get to every time it's in the Mexico um part. It is called Cantina de San ah in hell, I think. And it is um just like a quick service Mexican. They have rice bowls. They have different tacos. And it's just so good. Like every time I love it, they have a little seating area out over the um lake there in the middle. So highly recommend that place. That's the first spot like to your right, right? Your right. Yep. So the margarita cart is to the left and the quick service is to the right. Yeah, that food's really good. Yeah, I've eaten there before. It's good. It's good. It's good.
Speaker: It's so um I did experience the new Soarin'. So it's Soarin' Across America, um which i my favorite Soarin' of the other two was the original Across California, more than Soarin' Around the World. I just, that was nostalgic for me. So i was like, oh, it'll be interesting to get a new one. I thought it was really well done. It's obviously the same, you know, everything's the same except the the pictures and um some of the scents that they use but I enjoyed it it was nice to kind of have a refresh after they've used the same around the world for a really long time. um Crystal Palace is a restaurant in the Magic Kingdom that this was the second time we've done it they do a buffet character breakfast my kids are getting a little old for like caring about the characters but um the breakfast I just remembered it being really good and the characters are the Winnie the Pooh characters so they're like so cute and like fuzzy I was like okay we have to try this again so we did that it was so great it was such a good way to start like our day at Magic Kingdom we didn't officially get to rope drop because we were like eating the breakfast obviously but um definitely highly recommend that if you're looking for a cheaper character dining option at Disney I i think that's a really good one to do
Speaker: um I rode Tiana's I'd ridden it a couple of other times I think this remake of Splash Mountain is so well done i just like don't understand the hate for it like I get that people have their nostalgia and feelings about original Disney attractions but like times change and political climates change and kids grow up and, and, uh, you know, are, are into new things and new movies. And I feel like Disney could even do a better job of refreshing things. I really enjoy the attraction. The, the thrill part of the attraction is exactly the same. Just the theming is fresh and different. Um,
Speaker: So I love Tiana's. um I rode New Big Thunder Mountain. I guess the whole thing was retract. um I was convinced to count this as a new cred. So don't come at me. I counted it. We are coming at you. We are.
Speaker: Okay. Well, everybody else is doing it too. So who who's everybody else? I guess Tom and whoever else he said did it.
Speaker: Anyways, it smooth as heck. Like, and almost like I love a smooth coaster. Don't get me wrong. But I feel like part of the joy of Thunder Mountain and those like older Disney coasters is that there's a little bit of jank to them. and that's what I'm going to ask. Like that, that that's like what I feel so nostalgic about when it comes to like, why is this so ridiculous? about it's so smooth It is so weird.
Speaker: That's interesting. It lovely, and enjoyable, but like it just wasn't the same. It was just interesting. I really need to get back over there and rewrite it just because that's my favorite ride at Magic Kingdom. Yeah, it's so good. Yeah, it's my favorite there. And now I'm like interested to like see how it is. Like because I'm so used to the jankiness. Like I feel like that's what adds so much character to the ride. So yeah, it's definitely a different vibe.
Speaker: Yeah. I also rode the new rock and roller coaster with the Muppets theming. And I going into this was a hater because number one, I don't like rock and roller coaster. It hurts my head. There's so too much headbanging, even though I know exactly what it does. It gets me every time. And I hate the Muppets.
Speaker: I know this is an unpopular opinion amongst the crowd, but I don't like it. And let me tell you, i admit i was wrong. It was so good. It was so well done. They still played rock music like while the ride was going on um The theming was really bright and fresh like you would have never known it was anything different.
Speaker: And i don't know what they actually did to the ride, but it was also smooth and enjoyable. And I didn't hurt myself at all. Both my kids wrote it and loved it. Ben actually wrote it again another day because he loved it so much. Nice. Yeah. Wait, why do you hate the Muppets?
Speaker: I just don't like it. I don't like the voices. it it's it i just don't. I just i'm I never liked it. I never liked it. Who's your least favorite Muppet?
Speaker: Miss Piggy. i can't stand that voice.
Speaker: Not like the most popular one. i know. I like Kermit the Frog because I had like a frog obsession when I was younger.
Speaker: But anyways, um tried a new place for dinner. A couple new places, actually. a Skipper Navigation. It has a long name, company, something, something, something. It's in Magic Kingdom. um really good food there. had like a noodle bowl um and it was delicious.
Speaker: I also tried Ohana for the first time, which is a family style dinner at the Polynesian. this is my first time like in the Polynesian. i have wanted to stay there forever. If I win money in any type of lottery that I don't play, i will be staying at the Polynesian. It is beautiful in there. It is so beautiful. And Ohana was so good. Like, unfortunately, I got full too fast and couldn't try everything because there's just so much food.
Speaker: um But damn, that was so good. I can't wait to go back. It's going to become a staple of my Disney vacations, I think. It's so good. We went for the first time in March and we loved it. Those noodles. ah Noodles are so good. So good.
Speaker: Yeah, it was great. um Space Mountain was so good, you guys. i don't have this ride like ranked very high the past couple of times I went there. It was like painful janky. This time the jank was so good. Multiple times on multiple days, i got full ejector sitting in this freaking train. Like so much so that I was holding on to my child in front of me to make sure they were still there. Like it was crazy. Nobody else, nobody else liked it. Like my dad and Tom didn't like it, but I thought it was so good. I don't know what changed, but it was great.
Speaker: Um, I did a new, I guess you could call it attraction at animal kingdom conservation station where you take like the train all the way out to like where they, I just had never had time to do that. And now animal kingdom has like nothing going on. So we did that.
Speaker: Also bluey was supposed to be out there. We, that's a whole other thing, but I got to see the vets working on an animal in like the operating suite. It was so cool. I could have seen work. It's really cool over there. Ever. I was like glued in. My kids were like, this is boring. I'm like, this is like, this is the coolest thing ever.
Speaker: um so I really enjoyed that. i definitely want to do that again. um Running wise, Disney is really great about like keeping their paths and sidewalks lit like at all hours because silly me had to continue getting my runs in. So I did my runs at 430 in the morning and it was very well lit. I did get in trouble for trying to cross through a parking lot at Hollywood Studios that wasn't open yet. Like security flagged me down. i was like, you can't be here. And I was like, I just have to, I just need to go over there. Um, so I just like backtracked and fixed my course, but, um, really run happy. Obviously they do a lot of running events at Disney's. Um, so just really runner friendly. And that was nice for me. And then my last thrill and high point of the trip is magic kingdom's nighttime fireworks, spectacular, happily ever after. it is just the best. It is truly the best. I cannot watch it without getting teary eyed. Like there's just no way there's nothing better. um
Speaker: Yeah, those are all the good those were all the great parts of the trip. Truly one of the greatest theme park shows ever. Truly. Yeah, 100%. Like whenever I go to Disney, like I, I have to do it. Like I make sure, like, even though it was super late this time because their summer hours were extended at Magic Kingdom. I think the show was at like 10 something, which is like way later than my kids usually stay up. But I was like, we're going, like, we're going to sit here and watch this show. Yeah. Um, and they were happy we did. So it was great. Um, I have a couple of chills, which are the spooky things from my Disney trip, which are pretty limited as you guys know, but, um, haunted mansion, um always great.
Speaker: Um, for some reason, I think Benny still gets a little scared by haunted mansion. um so he's like asking me questions during it. I'm like, it's, it's like silly spooky. It's, it's not real. Like it's, um,
Speaker: They had some really cool merch in their shop right outside the ride. There was a really cute dress that they had for little girls that I almost bought for Amelia. And then they had, I really wanted something for my office, but I didn't find anything that I could like fit in my luggage well. But their merch, speaking of merch,
Speaker: Disney is on the game with their merch lately like for a little while there it was kind of rough like I would go and like what am I going to get this time and I couldn't find anything there were like so many things I wanted on this trip they're doing such a great job with their merch.
Speaker: um Tower of Terror, which is my all-time favorite Walt Disney World attraction over literally everything, was great as always. I convinced Amelia to try it for the first time. ben had already ridden it when he was three because he was tall enough and he was just so unaware that I was like, come, come on this ride. And sat there and like vibrated in fear the whole time, the poor kid. But I got Amelia to go on and she cried the entire time.
Speaker: Oh, no. That didn't go well. But I loved it. I got a good drop sequence. Only got tried it once, but I know I'll be back. um Pirates, I guess, is a little spooky because Ben was spooked in there, too. he it's like He's so like wary of of things. It's interesting to see how like it changes as he becomes more like aware of what's going on around him.
Speaker: um But he was like paying attention to like the story of the ride and asking questions. I was like, oh, that's cute. And then um Star Wars isn't really spooky, but I guess it could be spooky Um, finally got Ben to agree to go on rise of the resistance again. he refused the last two times we were there and leading up to the trip, he was fighting with me, mom, do not buy me lightning lane. I'm not going on that ride. You're wasting your money.
Speaker: And when I told him I bought it, he's like, give it back. You have to give the lightning lane back. And I'm like, no, Ben, like we're all going to do it. We got there and he's like, I'm brave. I'm going ride it. And of course he loved it. He was scared about the little drop part at the end. Spoiler, if you didn't know, but like, yeah,
Speaker: They did great. So those are all the spooky things I did. Not much at Disney's spooky, but moving on to the couple of things that I'm going to call spills for my Disney World vacation on ride photos.
Speaker: So this always makes me a little mad. So I always purchase the memory maker so that I can download all of our pictures from the trip. And like I said, the photo spots are great. The on ride photos lately, they're They haven't been capturing like all the ones in my party. It's like based on your magic band, I guess. And like we all wear our magic bands. But then I go on afterwards and like only part of the photos are there. and And they're really great. I will say if you like write an inquiry and say like about what day and time you were there on the ride, what you were wearing, they can usually recover your photo and send it to you. but it's just like effort. And I'm sick of doing that. and I'm sick of paying for pictures that I never get. You know what i mean? So that was kind of a bummer. Like the one that really bothered me was Ben drawn for the first time and rode with me and we didn't get the picture. I got the one of my mom and Amelia, but not of me and Ben. So maybe I'll hunt that down if I feel up to it.
Speaker: Um, mobile ordering, mobile ordering at Disney when it first came out and like through the pandemic was so great. Like you could order hours ahead of time, pick your anticipated window, change your window if you need to. tap that you're there and your food was ready within five minutes. There were a couple of instances this trip where we mobile ordered and then ended up waiting like 20 plus minutes for any movement on our food.
Speaker: So that was kind of a bummer. Um, Yeah, I don't know what happened there, but not great. um Living with the Land, which is a goaded Epcot ride, is less exciting now that I've seen it during the holidays and during all of Epcot's festivals. Like this was in between festivals, so nothing was going on. It was just like the basic Living with the Land. And I'm like, this is feeling sparse.
Speaker: Like they need to, they need to up the magic even when it's not a magical time, you know? Yeah. I mean, it's still a great ride, but yeah, it, it, it feels very dull. Like it it feels like something's missing and yeah yeah, it needs something for like the off season.
Speaker: Yeah. And I've seen them do like little summer picnic scene. Like I've, it just seemed so empty this time and maybe they were just in the middle of like changing stuff out, but it was just like, Whoa, that's there. Um, guardians of the freaking galaxy. I love this ride so much.
Speaker: If you know the lore, I got five of the six songs in a row. My first five rides, I've probably ridden this thing like close to 25 or 30 times now. And I still don't have the sixth song conga.
Speaker: Why can't I get it? I even wore a t-shirt that said in huge letters, I hope they play conga. Catastro. Cast members were laughing at me, looking at it, laughing. They loved it. Other guests loved it, laughing.
Speaker: Wrote it three different times that I paid for Lightning Lanes. No conga. I got off one. The train coming up on the other side was blaring conga out of it. I'm like, how does this keep happening? Why won't I get this song? It still evades me. So I i guess I'll try again next time I go. i don't know.
Speaker: That is crazy because I get it almost every time that I ride it. I think I've got so many people tell me that. yeah Yeah. I've gotten September. i got September the first time and every other time that I've ridden it, it's been Congo.
Speaker: I get Iran. Very often. Anything else. Very often. Okay. Well, I think the next time I'm going is with you, Tyler. so Yeah. Now, if we don't get it, then it's, it's a hundred percent you. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: not Oh, okay. um What else do I have? Test track. I don't like the new version very much. That's all going to say about that. Stop changing it. Go back to the original. The original was best.
Speaker: It's like creating sequels that don't need to be made. um docking bay seven this was a quick service restaurant in galaxy's edge that we tried for the first time i got like a pot roast type thing my food was good but everybody else didn't really love what they got um so that was just kind of it was a new place we tried that didn't didn't get rave reviews from the group um the weather was pretty hot Nothing else to really say about that. I can't even complain about it after you hear about our trip to Europe. um Animal Kingdom is an absolute disaster right now.
Speaker: There are like four attractions there total. It's just aside from obviously like enjoying the sights and seeing the animals. But oh my God, it is terrible without like the whole dino land being there. It's just like there's nothing to do.
Speaker: When is that re-theme supposed to open? Who knows? Probably years. No, I don't know. um And then my last spill is that in park traffic management, especially in Magic Kingdom, where I know they have multiple cast members in charge of this, is terrible.
Speaker: When you're roping off for a parade, like an hour before the parade starts and you can't cross the path anywhere, it is so frustrating. It gets me every time people are like telling you go this way. Then there's other people telling me like there's got to be better crowd management. And you know who does it well is e j chen Whenever, like before this year, when they had people trying to come in for stay and scream and other people leaving that whole process and how they change the cues over and how they do everything is like seamless. You never have to like worry about like not being able to get somewhere. They have it figured out. Come on, Disney, get it together.
Speaker: And that's all. That's my trip to Disney World. Still love it. I will return. i have an annual pass and I will probably go back for a full vacation next year like I do every year. Nice.
Speaker: Yeah. All right. I talked so much. We are going to move on to our experience at Disney Paris. We kind of did the same thing. Tyler and I talked about like splitting our experience up into thrills, chills and spills again. And I'm going to let you talk through this whole thing and I'll just add where I need to.
Speaker: um I have much less to say than you do about things. Okay, well, I'll add
Speaker: add. So we did both parks, Disneyland and Adventure World, which I did not even realize that they changed the name. You said it was like only a month ago, right? Yeah, it's pretty recent. Definitely recent.
Speaker: I was like, where is... studios I was like, what is Adventure World? Where is Disney Studios? But... um Overall, the vibes I thought were pretty good. Personally, this is an unpopular opinion, I think, but I love Walt Disney World.
Speaker: okay I think that is the superior. Magic Kingdom is the superior castle park. That is the most magical. I wasn't getting the same magical vibes in Paris. It felt closer to Disneyland in California.
Speaker: I agree. agree. That being said, it was gorgeous there, I thought. Yeah, I agree with that. I think some of that has to do with like growing up and probably nostalgia to whatever park you visited the most. um At least for me, it does. But yeah, I think what I really loved was the aesthetic of Disneyland Paris. like They used so many pink tones, obviously, like in the Disneyland hotel and the castle. And then like even... all the way back into like their small world area, like a fantasy land, like just a lot of like similar, like pinky, like beige type aesthetic. And it looks really pretty. So I think like just looking at the park from its presentation standpoint, I'm like, yeah, this might be the prettiest like castle park, but it's definitely doesn't feel like the most magical. i agree. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, also it was like still under construction. There was still like construction walls near the castle, which was not ideal, but. That's a bummer. What can you do about that?
Speaker: Disney Adventure World. I've heard so much hate about this park. And I was very, I wasn't sure how I felt the first day, honestly, when we got there. Because so if you haven't been, you get in.
Speaker: And instead of some like magical view or like seeing Main Street or whatever, you just have a giant beige, like studio building. And I'm like, okay, what's going on here?
Speaker: And you can't see anything. And then you go in the building. That's the only way to go through. And then it's like ah like a movie premiere, right? It looks like a movie theater inside. They've got a big restaurant to the right, a shop to the left. It says like Disney adventure world premiere or whatever.
Speaker: And then you go out the door the far doors there. And then that's when you have the reveal of, um, tower of terror and, you know, their little main street. I don't know how you want to call that, but, um, that's the reveal of the park. And at first I was like, what is this? You should go into, you should go through the turnstiles and like be able to see the park instead of this giant building. But the more I went through that entrance, the more I appreciated what they were trying to do. um what,
Speaker: Do you agree with that? or Yeah, i agree. I think the first time we went in there, it was just so overcrowded. That was like, why would they do this? Yeah, that is the bad part is you're literally funneling an entire park's worth of crowds in and out of ah maybe a 20 foot hallway, essentially. yeah.
Speaker: If you get there during peak times, it is very obnoxious trying to dodge everybody coming in and out. But um if you can go when there's not as many people leaving or coming in, it's a lot more enjoyable. But very interesting concept. It was pretty in there, though.
Speaker: It was. It was. They did the theme very well. it's just It was unique, and it took some getting used to, I think. Yeah, for sure. um There are definitely some differences in rides there, and I'm not as well-versed. um I haven't been to Walt Disney World, I think, since 2022. So, trying to remember all the differences between Disney World, Disneyland, and now Disneyland Paris is difficult for me, but...
Speaker: um thunder mountain was really good at first i was like okay people talk this up so much it's kind of the same and then we get two-thirds through the ride and we go through this long ass dark tunnel it had to have been 15 seconds long and it was yeah so much fun like i don't think that's on any other ride is it No, no, definitely not. Yeah, that was an absolute blast. That felt so much longer than the other two versions that I've done. And there were like real forces going on in there. Oh, yeah, it was absolutely thrilling. I mean, that felt like more than a family coaster at that point.
Speaker: Yeah, it was so good. We rope dropped Thunder Mountain and that was definitely the move because it got longer lines. Yeah, but we only wrote it once, unfortunately.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't think it got too long. That's the other thing about this park. I think for the most part, the lines stay a lot shorter than you're used to in Orlando or in Anaheim.
Speaker: But ah underneath the castle, they have the dragon, which I've heard good things about it, and it's cool. But literally, you just go into the dragon's lair, and there's like an animatronic dragon.
Speaker: That's kind of it. Yeah. Yeah, blows some smoke. It's cool. And it's a good shortcut to the the backside there. But I don't know. I feel like it was a little overhyped.
Speaker: Agree. I'll let you talk about Tower. This is your thing. Okay. I love, like I said, I love Walt Disney World's Tower of Terror. It is my favorite attraction on property.
Speaker: This Tower of Terror might even beat it. Whoa. It was so good. that So basically the first part, like where you do the pre-show, is all the same. Sometimes we got it in the regular English version. Sometimes we got it with the French, with English subtitles. It was just like random which way we got it. We got we wrote it three times, I want to say.
Speaker: um The ride experience itself is different. um Skip ahead about 30 seconds if you don't want to hear this. But in Orlando, you kind of go up a little bit. You have those like pre-show elements. you The car moves forward into the like pathway of where the drop tower actually is.
Speaker: This one doesn't do that. There's like a couple of different screens where like a little French girl talks to you and says some really creepy stuff. And then the sequence like starts right from there. The first time we wrote it, it actually like shot us first, it shot us up and then we did our drop sequences. The second time it dropped us from there and we were shook by it because we were like, We were like, wait a second. That was not what it was supposed to do. so they do have different drop sequences and different like things that the little French girl says during them. So um it was really fun and it definitely felt spookier to me than the Orlando one does. But that may just be because I like the Orlando one is like ingrained in my memory. Like I could recite it. um And it was nice to try something different. I loved it. It was unsurprisingly also my favorite ride on Disneyland Paris property. It definitely caught me off guard the first time because I was waiting for us to move forward like you do in Orlando.
Speaker: And you just we immediately shot up and we shot up like near the top, too. It took me so off guard. But yeah, it's a good one. it is shorter just because it doesn't have that extra sequence in there, which I do miss. I can't really decide which one I like better. But the actual drop sequences, i think, are for a sure better on this one.
Speaker: Yeah, so fun. They have a couple other coasters. Crush's Coaster, which is a... I don't remember the manufacturer, but just a spinning coaster. um the The queue was really good, or like the station specifically was very good.
Speaker: I thought that was well-themed. um Once you get into the rest of it, it's kind of just a spinning coaster in a warehouse for the most part, but I don't know. It's fine. It's a plus one.
Speaker: And then RC racer, it's ah like a half pipe themes like a hot wheels car. And yeah, that's about it.
Speaker: It looks cool. Yeah. I don't know what else to say about it. Like it, they like it exists. yeah's it We wrote it. yeah The theming is great. I mean, i can't argue with that and I love hot wheels. So does this part, do they do the lightning lane there too? Like the same process?
Speaker: No. So you can purchase individual lightning lanes for the separate attractions. And then they have like a really expensive all lightning lane option where it's just kind of like skip the line for everything. i don't even think they're called lightning lanes there, but it's not. name It's like more like a fast pass like or a fast lane. Closer to how the fast pass system was. Okay.
Speaker: We didn't use any. We didn't do it. Nice. Nice. And i think the star of the resort, in my opinion, is Arendelle Frozen.
Speaker: What a beautiful land. it It almost reminded me of Burke. Not quite to that level, but just absolutely gorgeous. And it's only been open couple months, right, Kelly?
Speaker: Yeah, I think about a little more than a month. Okay. Okay. um We ate at a little tavern there, had a very good meal, um rode the Frozen ride, which was pretty similar to the one at Epcot. I don't think it's 100% the same just because the Epcot one was a re-theme and this one was built from scratch. But what what are the differences exactly?
Speaker: um I think the backwards section is more pronounced in the Epcot version. And this one, there was like a small backwards drop and a larger forward drop. um That was like the biggest difference to me. I think maybe the the path of the ride is like slightly different. ah Otherwise, I think it was just more that the the theming was updated a little bit more high tech than Epcot.
Speaker: Gotcha. Yeah, but Arendelle was just beautiful. It's on par with Burke, with Galaxy's Edge, Pandora, all of those sort of newer, um just very detailed lands. It's one where you can just stand there for five minutes and just take in all the scenery. I loved it so much.
Speaker: Yeah, it was beautiful. And then Tales of Magic. That that was the nighttime show, right? Yeah. Yeah, so that's their nighttime show over in Disneyland. um We saw sort of a neutered version of it. They unfortunately took out the fireworks and the pyro.
Speaker: um Apparently the mayor of that town or province, whatever, made ah an order the day before we were there that there's no like live fires or burning or whatever Because of the heat, I guess maybe I don't know. Is it like a wildfire risk or something? i don't I don't know probably you know. but yeah, they like made them stop the fireworks and the pyro, which kind of sucks. So we only got the lights.
Speaker: And the projections but even with that I really enjoyed it it's no happily ever after, but it was a really good show. And it was what like 25 minutes long it was so long I kept thinking it was over and it continued and the songs that they used were really good it was like our like that's a good song that we don't hear often it was it was good.
Speaker: Yeah. And it was obviously more like Paris focused. So like lots of Beauty and the Beast, some like Hunchback of Notre Dame, that kind of stuff.
Speaker: um But yeah, it was almost too long, honestly. Like, yeah, like there were a couple of parts where it ended very well. And I'm like, oh, that was so good. And then it just kept going. From there. So I would have loved to seen it with the fireworks. You could definitely tell towards the end. It's like, this is the part where you're supposed to be focused on the fireworks and the projection isn't as, you know, detailed, but I don't know. At least they still played something.
Speaker: That was shitty timing for you guys. Yeah. Yeah. most It was to when you guys actually went. Yeah. There's a lot of stuff that was um altered by,
Speaker: The heat, unfortunately. um The chills. There's not much chills going on over at this park, but... Fitz asks, what do you think of Disneyland Paris Haunted Mansion? It never gets enough love.
Speaker: So their version is called Phantom Manor. ah This might be another hot take, but I didn't love it. I thought it was good, but not as good as the other two versions.
Speaker: um It just seems short. They didn't have like the big cemetery scene. it it was like a Western scene instead. um i will say the theming in Paris is, it felt darker while the other two sort of feel more like fun and whimsical, but this field like this felt actually spooky, I would say. Yeah, I agree. I think that's why I liked it. Like, I think the facade of the mansion looked good and spooky and the ride it was a little bit a little bit scarier um but otherwise and i did really like the western scene it gave hatchet and chains and i loved that but nice um the rest was like good like the same as others like i don't know yeah does it focus on the same ip like the haunted mansion like story or is this one like totally different like as far as story goes
Speaker: As far as I know, it was similar. i mean, they spoke in French. Like the Madame Leota was a different face and she was speaking in French. So i was like, hmm. Yeah, so you're like, okay. yeah correct Yeah. It was a little hard to tell, but I think this one is more...
Speaker: like frontier land, Western themed. But yeah, we that's done it is because it's in frontier land there. Whereas in, um well, I guess it's kind of in front. I don't know. It's, I never really know where it like in magic kingdom, it's kind of like the edge of frontier land, like going into fantasy land and like main street USA. And I don't know. It's kind of all like, it has its own little area where here it's like really in the middle of frontier land.
Speaker: Yeah, it's it's just hard to gauge it with one ride when we don't speak French. I would have liked to have more rides on it, but um overall good, probably not better than the others is what I would say.
Speaker: Yeah, I can get on board with that. Yeah. Um, so we're going to do our spills again, which are just things that we weren't quite super impressed with. Not necessarily horrible, but just maybe we were a little disappointed by them. So, um, the first one is Newport Harbor Bay. That is where we stayed.
Speaker: i think it's like the middle class of the hotels. Is that right? Yeah. Um, so it was walkable to the parks, which was great. We love that part. um We didn't originally plan to stay here. We planned to stay at the like cars themed one, which is the cheapest of them. um But they didn't have AC there. And when we heard it was going to be a heat wave, we got on that real fast and changed hotels.
Speaker: Yeah, so we changed it over to there. And i just, I wasn't impressed by it. I think it's an older property and it just, it didn't have much going on. The rooms were fine. Everything was fine with it, but it like, it didn't feel like a resort to me. There wasn't much to do.
Speaker: The theming was just very bare bones. It just, it was like a Holiday Inn Express is how I would describe it. I mean, It didn't have much going on. I know.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. and they need It needs some love for sure. Yeah. And the AC was not kicking when we got in there at first, which somehow they ended up fixing that.
Speaker: um No, I think you fixed it I don't know. I just pressed a lot of buttons. I don't know if it actually worked. um So, yeah, a little disappointed by that. majorly disappointed by Disney village. Like what even was that? That's supposed to be their version of Disney Springs.
Speaker: Oh my gosh. It was so bad. That that's probably like one of the worst things of the trip, honestly was Disney village. Yeah, it was like a poor excuse for like, it's more like the Disneyland downtown Disney where like the parks are obviously walking distance to each other. And this is kind of also part of that.
Speaker: um But half of it was under construction. It looked terrible. The people there did not have the Disney vibes. We went in World of Disney, like their World of Disney, the best Disney store that ever existed. And it was just like...
Speaker: children's toys merch only. it was, it, that we we, will talk about this, I guess, or maybe I didn't put a specific thing about it, but we ate at this place called the Royal pub, um, the night before we went to Disney and it was maybe, it was by far the worst food of the trip. Maybe one of the worst meals I've ever had in my life. it it's top or bottom three meals of my entire life. It was like, gosh, we were just looking up places. Like we were staying, as we mentioned earlier in this like little hotel in the countryside, but it was like 10 minutes away.
Speaker: So we're like, let's go to Disney village, check it out and get dinner. Um, so we look up the Royal pub where like, you know, they have basic sort of English stuff, burgers, salads, like fish and chips, whatever. Sounds easy. We're tired. Let's go do it.
Speaker: So I had a chicken sandwich. Scott had a steak, um, Tom had a burger and Kelly had a salad. My chicken, I had to check and make sure it was like cooked properly because it was like rubbery. And I was like pulling it apart, just making sure it was good to eat.
Speaker: um Scott said it was the worst steak he's ever had. He had a ribeye. I think he ordered it medium and it was just... Cooked completely brown all the way through. It looked like slimy on top. I don't know what was going on.
Speaker: oh no. Kelly's lettuce in her salad was hot. Oh, no. The whole thing was the same temperature as the the place was, which was hot. there was They literally picked that from outside. There was no airflow in the whole joint. We waited for our food to come for like a straight hour. It was actual misery. Yeah, it took an hour for the food. We're sitting there just sweating our asses off in this restaurant.
Speaker: And there's no pub. i thought it was going to be like a fun atmosphere. There's no TVs. There's no like liveliness. It's just like these wooden tables. regular restaurant.
Speaker: Yeah. Just a regular bad restaurant. I don't know. It was just such a bad experience. And then you're paying Disney prices like 30 bucks for my little chicken sandwich and fries. Just, oh my gosh, it was bad.
Speaker: was rough. And I was so hungry that I was literally sitting there eating my warm lettuce. Like, I'm still going to eat it anyways. And the whole time i'm like, am I going to throw up later? Like, I can't. i I can't throw up. Yeah. And we're fanning ourselves with the menu and stuff. It was rough.
Speaker: I just can't even like put into words how miserable we were in there. We we literally scarfed our food down and like flagged her down, paid real quick and just ran out of there and got home. We're like, we were getting the hell out of this Disney village. It is horrible.
Speaker: Not good. We probably should have gone to Billy Bob's next door. Honestly, literally we were trying to do something that wasn't like, American because the place explorer was Billy Bob's barbecue. And we're like, we can't have our first meal at Disney, like the most American place you can think of.
Speaker: um But in hindsight, we should have gone there. Because I think that actually is supposed to be decent. um As far as the food availability in the parks, it was very difficult to find an open food place, even just like a stand to get waters. Because if you haven't been to most of Europe, very few water fountains. So you're buying...
Speaker: dozens and dozens of bottled waters pretty much. um But we just, we couldn't find an open stand. And I think we found out later that was because of the heat wave. It was over a hundred degrees. And I guess those little stands are like,
Speaker: meant to keep you warm and not cool. So they just, for the workers' safety, they did not open any of them whatsoever, which I understand that. you know We want the workers to be safe, but as a guest also trying to be safe and stay cool, it was very frustrating. I think they could have done a little bit more to to cater to the guest who's braving the park in this legendary heat wave, essentially.
Speaker: um hyperspace mountain is their it was described to me as their version of rock and roller coaster which i don't know i feel like that's a little bit of a stretch because i got in and i was like what is this um but it's more of like a mix between rock and roller coaster and space mountain i would say um And it is Star Wars themed, which as you guys know, I have not seen Star Wars. So I didn't have much appreciation for it.
Speaker: But it it was interesting. It does have some cool inversions. What's the one called? Like the tongue twist? or Yeah, the tongue. yeah the tongue i don't even i tried to find some off ride footage of it. I still don't even know exactly what it did.
Speaker: But it felt very unique going through it to the point where I was asking, like, was that an inversion or not? And we couldn't really decide until we looked it up. Did you like it?
Speaker: It was fine. We put it in the spills because i feel like people rave about it and it was just fine. Like... Yeah, it definitely wasn't bad. It was smooth.
Speaker: um it It was just a little bit overhyped for me, I think. um Nautilus. We didn't really know what that was. We definitely thought it was a ride.
Speaker: I don't know where we got the idea that it was like a submarine. And I was assuming like the submarines at Disneyland, California. Yep. We got in line and we go down, you go down the stairs and there's like of themed queue and stuff.
Speaker: Didn't really pay attention to it. We're just going to the ride. And then there's like what we thought was a pre-show. just like a video playing. It was already halfway through once we got down there. So we just kind of watch it for a few minutes. We look around, we like, where's the staff like to direct us to go up to the ride. There's nobody there. So we're like, okay, like, let's just go up and we're going up the stairs.
Speaker: And I think Kelly was like, maybe this isn't a ride. I'm like, no, I think the submarines are right up the stairs and we get up the stairs and it's the exit and we're back onto the main pathway.
Speaker: it was quiet It was a walk through the whole time and we thought it was a ride. We didn't pay attention to anything that was going on because we're trying to get to the ride. So we were done. And it was in French. Yeah, it was all in French. So you guys don't know any better. So we walked through it in like three minutes and we're like, what even was that?
Speaker: I'm still not sure exactly what it was supposed to be. I don't know. If you go, it is not a ride. It is a walkthrough. Maybe if you go in with that mindset, you'll appreciate it a little bit more.
Speaker: um One of our biggest bites of the trip was pirates. It was closed, which it is what it is. We, we didn't realize that, but we should have because it was posted on the website. I don't think we realized it until the night before, but It is what it is. You know, with Disney parks, you're almost always going to get at least one or two rides that are down for refurbishment. So, um, Indiana Jones, that was one of those rides where it's like, why is it's fine, but why is it in a Disney park?
Speaker: It was kind of the same vibes as a, what was the spinner at animal kingdom? a Primeval Whirl. Yeah, it was the same vibes as Primeval Whirl. Just like very minimal theming, just a janky coaster.
Speaker: this doesn't belong in a Disneyland park. Yeah. It was very weird. Yeah. The coaster itself was fine. Like don't me wrong. I was scared for my life. I was, I was ripping the heck out of my like bar in front of me because you watch the train go by and it goes in this tiny vertical loop. You're like, that doesn't look like it's going to feel good. Yeah.
Speaker: But it turns out the vertical loop is like the smoothest part of the whole ride. Yeah. Yeah. It was fine. Just didn't seem up to par with Disney theming, in my opinion. Yep.
Speaker: Then we had cars, which I think maybe a theme of this is us just being unprepared or ill-informed for some of these rides. Because again, we thought that this cars ride was going to be similar to Radiator Springs.
Speaker: And somebody just said that. I don't know who said that. Maybe Tom was just guessing that that's what it was. And we all took it as fact or something, but that's what we thought. And then we get there and it's like a backlot tour.
Speaker: like from a universal Hollywood where you get on the tram and we're like, okay, I don't really know what this is. Well, it turns out it is like the backlot tour.
Speaker: You just kind of go around and then there's one scene. It's like the, these are spoilers, but it's like the world's largest lug nut or something like that.
Speaker: And, you know, you got a couple of animatronic cars and then you go and you park And it's ah like a flash flood scene like you have with Universal Hollywood where the thousands of gallons of water are rushing at you. Yeah, it's it's pretty much the same thing, just cars themed instead of, um what is it, earthquake there.
Speaker: But... Yeah, and then you go around and there's one more scene and then it's over. And we're like, okay, that's that's it. We just waited like 45 minutes for this.
Speaker: Yeah, not great. Not the greatest. It should have been twice as long for sure. it definitely seems like they just kind of threw something together. And I don't know how long that ride's been there, how long it's been themed like that. But it seemed like it was thrown together last week to me.
Speaker: ah One thing we noticed in the parks was a lack of characters, which I'm pretty sure that was due to the heat. So can't really complain about that. If we're hot in 100 plus degree weather, I know they would be hot walking around in those costumes.
Speaker: ah We probably shouldn't have even put that in the spills thing. I get it. Yeah. But, you know, you want to see characters at Disney. Yeah. And the one thing we didn't mention when we were talking about food is the other place that we ate, we actually did a table service meal inside Disneyland. We did, we ate at Walt's, which was a really, um, interesting like location. It was, you know, historical to Walt. They had whole bunch of pictures of him and his family and it was kind of Victorian themed and, um, the food was decent. It was just like very overpriced. Like it would be a Disney, um,
Speaker: for a restaurant like that, but I enjoyed what I got there. Yeah, my food was very good, but it was 55 euro for the three course meal, which is, i don't know, 60 something bucks.
Speaker: So obviously you do have the Disney tax, but I think I would have been fine with it being half the price, but it just, it wasn't, it wasn't quite worth that price to me for the quality of food, but.
Speaker: Bradley had a question about Euro Disney. He asks, is Euro Disney the third best Disney-esque resort in Europe? I'm guessing he's referring to... i think he's saying......Fatling and Fantasialand, I think.
Speaker: Or Europa. I don't know what you're talking about, Bradley, but... um i like Disney Paris better than Europa. and I don't know. I think probably better than Efteling as well, but not Fantasialand.
Speaker: me Yeah, I'd probably agree with that, I think. Yeah. I'm sure he doesn't, but... Yeah. And I know... We all have our own opinions. Yeah. I know those were a lot of spills for this, but we really did enjoy those two days overall.
Speaker: Yeah. We just like to complain a lot. I wasn't even complaining. it was just the reality. Just notes, really. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right, so we've covered Disney and more Disney. i'm Sorry for you non-Disney adults um out there. We're going to move on to chills. So similar to last year, while we were in Europe, the same exact time, they had their original house reveal week drop. So we started the week already knowing about one original house with Oddfellow and Jack, but we do now have the four remaining original houses. We'll talk about IPs in our following episode.
Speaker: But I just thought we could kind of run through these, give some initial thoughts um and go from there. So the first one that was revealed was h r Blood and Guts presents a Halloween spooktacular.
Speaker: um And the little the little Instagram quote or the little um piece about the house that they gave was your favorite. matri dick mate Well, they're trying to say maitre d', but they're saying maitre d' macabre turn returns to WKNB with a special Halloween scare-a-thon tune into this haunted house complete with ghouls gore and all the frights that keep you coming back for more um so we did a little bit or I did a little bit of kind of back research we talked about this a little when we were talking about a spec map but basically um
Speaker: the story is there's this guy, Larry Kurtzberg, who had a show on this TV channel, WKNB, where he would show um different like holiday featured be films. um And when his show got canceled, he got really mad and like tortured his crew and um ended up going to jail. So per Ramon Peridoa, um, this house will pick up 15 years after that happened. And that house was in HHN 21. So we're 15 years after that, he's escaped from prison and he's returning to the TV station for a final Halloween special. Um, interestingly, um
Speaker: Ramon also said that the same actor who portrayed him in the original house is portraying him in this house, which I thought was really cool. He also says that he is trying to piece together his former look, but he just escaped from prison. So he, his wardrobe will lean into like kind of a a meld between prison attire and like his, his old show character attire.
Speaker: um He said that there are seven movies being represented as scenes and some are callbacks to HHN's past. And then in between the scenes, you'll see... um Blood and Guts or Larry um in a video to introduce like the next scene.
Speaker: They also said that they're going to have cue line videos telling his story. And if this house is where it's supposed to be located per the spec map, it's over and fast and furious. And they kind of use TV screens with Chucky. So I imagine they'll do something similar to that.
Speaker: He said all seven scenes are completely different representations of Halloween tropes. There's classic Halloween, a Halloween party in a tea bar that's overtaken by monsters and a black and white zombie filled in film film in an old graveyard. He calls it Halloween comfort food.
Speaker: um So that's all that we know about this house at this time. What do you guys think about this one? It's pretty interesting that that's actually the same exact location that they did the HHN 21 house in.
Speaker: huh um i remember that. That's probably the only thing I remember about it, to be honest. It's it's been a while. um But i'm I'm excited for it. It feels very classic HHN.
Speaker: um And that's what I really like about it. And what i you know when I heard... When we started talking about the speculation and of of you know ah them bringing back HR Blood and Guts, I was thinking about like those Q videos that they would be showing if they were going to bring it back. So I'm glad that they're doing it with like the same actor from 15 years ago. Yeah, that's really cool. It's pretty neat. like I don't see this being...
Speaker: like the top house of the year or anything like that. But I do think there's going to be a lot to admire about it. I think it's going to be a very fun house, I think.
Speaker: Yeah, I definitely think this is going to be the fun, whimsical house of the year. um I'm interested in it. I don't know the lore behind it. I never went through the original house, of course, but um hopefully I can watch some POVs and learn a little bit more about it.
Speaker: um I will say that... It doesn't feel like a true original to me. Originals, I feel like you can go through them without any prior knowledge. But between this and Jack and Oddfellow, that almost seems like an IP to me. You kind of need like the lore. like You need to know the lore before going in. Yeah.
Speaker: So, I don't know. I think it's interesting. I just got to learn a little bit more about it. Yeah, I love that they're doing more Halloween representation. i always love those kinds of houses and scare zones. I worry a little bit that it's kind of like the same vibe as Slaughter Cinema, but just in like a different story.
Speaker: Like, I hope it doesn't feel like samey, you know, but I think because it's a different holiday and different story, it'll it'll be okay. I'm interested in it. I i usually like the like, um like the fun, funny houses or whatever. yeah Won't be my favorite. I don't think it probably won't be at the top of my hype list, but I, I hope to enjoy it. I think it'll be good.
Speaker: Yeah. I'm definitely intrigued. Yeah. The next one that they released is Madlands Caged Animals. In this haunted house, a defunct zoo is now the deadly domain of warring cannibal factions that have taken their animal instincts to extremes. They're territorial, they're hungry, and you're lunch.
Speaker: Um, per an interview with Laura souls, she said the idea for this house came from a brainstorm week with the entire team last April. She said one of the newer scenic designers had the idea of a post-apocalyptic zoo, becoming infested by a tribe of cannibals and in a world where the animals are all extinct and the humans take on the traits of the animals that once lived there. Um, she said that this is one of the bloodiest houses of the years and one of the most aggressive scares, scaring houses.
Speaker: So that's what we know about that. I think when we saw these symbols on the spec map, we were intrigued by the idea of like, clearly there's something animal nature. it's It's a little bit different than I expected with it being cannibals taking on the persona of like animals. I think should be interesting to see how they pull that theme off, but I think it'll be good. Sounds scary. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I think I'm the I think out of all the originals, I'm the most interested in this one, just because I want to see how they pull it off, um especially with like the zoo setting and like what they're going to do about like the costumes and and some of the scenes. Like, what are they going to do exactly? Like, it could be very corny and could be really bad, but it has potential. Like it has a very interesting concept.
Speaker: Yeah, the description is so corny. They're territorial. and They're hungry in your lunch. Like, yeah, so cheesy. I'm rolling my eyes when I read that. But oh I do like where they said it's the bloodiest of the year in one of the more aggressive houses in terms of scares. So that does give me some hope. We'll see.
Speaker: Yeah. Next one is called cyber Goria. And this, um, they say awaken thousands of years in the future in this haunted house and brave, a cold world driven ah by machines with a singular goal to make you live forever, even if it kills you.
Speaker: um so the interview about this one was with Matthew flood. He said the house will take you through a freezing process into disturbing future where man, a machine of melded as well as the outside the facility to see what has become of the world at that time.
Speaker: Um, there's this corporation called bio immortal bionic intelligence systems that sought to offer immortality to its clients. So they froze them to help technology catch up and deliver their promise.
Speaker: Um, he said that the facility is fully integrated and alive. There's lots of audio and lighting effects in this house. And there is a mirror element to make the space feel large and confusing and also a character. And he said, quote, that while it's a small element throughout the house,
Speaker: He's curious to see if guests latch on to this character that is featured. So that's what we know about Cybergoria. What do you guys think? You want to go first? I feel like there's a lot going on here with this theme. and I don't know if I'm fully grasping what they're going for.
Speaker: At this point. um Yeah. ah Yeah. I don't really, i don't have a lot to say on it. It's just, it's a little confusing to me seeing exactly what they're trying to do here.
Speaker: I'm also when this first was announced, I was like, what symbol is this even? And I guess it was like the makeup and biohazard one. I think we were all hoping it was a little bit more body horror. And maybe it will be like with these, these like half machine, half people that were like frozen in time to try to become immortal. But um I don't know. I think it, I think it has potential, but I'm not really sold on it at this point.
Speaker: I fear that this is going to be very dolls-esque. Yeah. that's the That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw this. I was like, I feel like they're mixing the whole half-human, half-something element. And it's just like, i I don't know. I don't know. I mean, it sounds very...
Speaker: I mean, along with the next um original house, it sounds kind of, you know, sci-fi-y. So that's pretty interesting. But I just, I don't, I don't know. And it's, I think it's just like Tyler was saying, I think I'm just very confused on like what this is exactly.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm really hopeful that they do some like of those podcast episodes or something to give us a little bit more of the backstory before some of these houses. And I agree with you. It's weird that they're having two like sci-fi-esque houses this year. Like they keep kind of blending together in my brain, even though they're different stories. I'm just like, oh, and I like the colors in them seem the same. Like, i don't know. They're just. Yeah.
Speaker: They got to do something to like separate them in my brain, but hopefully it's good. The last house that was revealed, which was what we were referring to is called invasion alien abduction.
Speaker: the most generic alien name I've ever heard. yeah um and they said, make contact with horrors from worlds unknown in this haunted house where a ship full of graves have torn apart a remote homestead in search for fresh, fresh test subjects. um Per Charles Gray, he said, you will witness a terrifying encounter with an aggressive unseen alien craft that abducted a family and livestock from their remote homestead. Now plotting to tear everyone apart. He said, it is very gory and violent.
Speaker: He said the homestead that was attacked is in the Southwest. So there's kind of like a turquoise cactus flavor to the color palette. He said, um it's the scariest thing is that these gray aliens don't care. Like they're grabbing everything, including like children and animals and things like that. And he said that this is, um, a flavor of old h hn I'm probably most excited for this one of the originals. um I mean, aside from the terrible name, could you have been more generic with that? But...
Speaker: um we've kind of been on an alien kick on this podcast i think fueled by my trip to new mexico earlier this year and then our viewing of begonia so um i think we're high on aliens right now so i'm very excited but the description is kind of i'm picturing like scarecrow type vibes it says remote homestead i'm thinking like out on the farm, crop circles, like going through the little farmhouse or the barn. It's giving Scarecrow meets Blood Moon meets Galkin vibes, but with aliens. And I'm hoping for like some cool outdoorsy scenes, you know, maybe with some weather, some wind, something like that. I think that would be awesome.
Speaker: um This, yeah, this is going to be towards the top of my hype list for sure. Yeah, this one sounds really interesting. I mean, and I think I'm just very excited to see more sci fi. I mean, I don't think that um Fallout was a great representation of like what HHN can do with sci fi. And that is an IP. So, you know, we'll give them that. But Yeah, it it sounds it sounds very interesting. And I think it's it's going and like you said, like the whole homestead thing is very that adds like a totally different layer. It's not going to be like your cliche, like, oh, you're going into like a spaceship and like you're just going to see what you would expect to see. Like it seems to be a very like different um like setting overall.
Speaker: Yeah, my main concern, though, is how much will the costumes vary? um I'm hoping it's just not the same alien costume on every single actor, but um hopefully not. But that's kind of what I think of when I think Grey's.
Speaker: And you know what else is exciting is this symbol with the alien has remained in the tents, the tents that we like, the claustrophobic tents. so And it sounds like the perfect like house to be at one of those tents. Yeah, I'm excited for sure.
Speaker: Um, see Fred asked now that a few HHN announcements have started trickling out where they stand on the hype. And I think we should save this for our hype list episode. Once all the houses are revealed, we'll probably do that sometime in like August or late July. Um, we kind of gave some of our impressions on that sound more interesting or less interesting, but stay tuned for our hype lists coming soon. Yep.
Speaker: Yep. So I think that about wraps up today's episode. We kept it around 90 minutes. I hope that's okay for everybody. We'll have another one coming soon to recap the rest of our trip through Europe.
Speaker: um If you don't already follow us on Instagram, we are at thrills, chills and spills. um And ah thanks for listening. And hopefully you enjoyed this episode. Stay spooky.
Speaker: moon online That's tea actually.
