Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 299: New DVC Lounge Opens, GEO-82 & Figment TV Series
3 Plays1 second ago
On This Episode
DVC’s new lounge at Magic Kingdom, McKim’s Mile House, is now open. Disney announced the name of the upcoming EPCOT lounge and that the lounge will be adults only. Disney Parks teased the possibility of a Figment TV series. Nvidia announced a partnership with Disney to bring AI technology to Disney robots. National Geographic is releasing a behind the scenes documentary about the building of the Disney Treasure. Disney showed a completed model of the New Lion King ride at Disneyland Paris.
Podcast Sponsors
- DVC Resale Market - #1 DVC Reseller in the World
- DVC Rental Store - Largest and fastest-growing Disney Vacation Club rental service in the US
- Monera Financial - #1 in DVC Financing
- Welcome Home Patreon - Support the Show through Patreon and get exclusive perks!
Episode Links
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:07
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, broadcasting on the DVC to all voice unknown. If you're within the sound of my voice, you're listening to Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
00:00:25
Speaker
Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
00:00:30
Speaker
Hello and welcome home This episode of Welcome Home is brought to you by DVC Resale Market.
Hosts and Humor
00:00:34
Speaker
Thank you for joining us on episode 299 of Welcome Home, a Disney Parks and Vacation Club podcast. I'm Tom here with Trevor and Damon. How's it going, guys?
00:00:42
Speaker
300th. Yeah. I still don't know what to wear. still don't know what to wear.
00:00:47
Speaker
i go like Do I go like DVC Bucket Hat from DVC Resale, the one that I got out of the 10 they sent me in theory? Do I go with the one that I have that I made that no one else has, which I really like?
00:01:01
Speaker
You know, where do I go? I mean, it is black tie optional, so... they were I got my fit figured out, but I'll be on camera. but Yeah, I don't know what my my fit is. Is going to be hot? Am I going in shorts? I don't even know. It's going to be interesting.
00:01:17
Speaker
I'll be wearing shorts, but I mean, you won't know.
Event Announcements
00:01:20
Speaker
I mean, how am I going to feel after coming out of a two and a half hour ride with somebody I've never met before? Well, I mean, you talk to them a lot, though.
00:01:28
Speaker
i mean, I guess. Yeah. I mean, he just has to realize, like, music like, if I'm driving, it's my music. Sorry, you lose out there. man Isn't that the rule, though, is whoever's driving gets a say on the music? That's what feel like. I thought that was a generally agreed upon thing.
00:01:47
Speaker
Whenever I'm driving, yeah, it's it's my phone, my playlist. but I mean, whenever I'm driving in the car with my daughter, it's it's her playlist. Well, that's definitely true. I mean, yeah, that's a little different fare. But ah yeah, if it's if it's all adults, it's, you know, driver gets dibs.
00:02:05
Speaker
I, you know, that's, that's a, fair I think that's a fair thing. Yeah. i just hope that there's food to take home. Like, I hope there's enough food. I can take like a little bit home. Like, Oh yeah, of course. It'll be interesting. There's going to be food to take home. Yeah, for sure. all right So this is going to be a good time. Again, if you are last minute here and you, and you want to come, you can still come. Just, just let us know.
00:02:23
Speaker
ah We're going to have free food, drinks, giveaways. And should we, should we talk about the parking, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, there are specific parking instructions that have been sent out to ticket holders. So just check that out. But there's parking in the area. You'll you'll find it. It'll be okay. ah the other Do we want to talk about the main prize that we're going to have? Or we want to save that for we're there? think you should save it for when you're there.
00:02:46
Speaker
ah yeah i agree yeah Okay. So there will be there will be stuff given out, which I guess you know if anybody that's on the fence, hey, you know free stuff. Maybe. yeah I mean, I'm going to bring pins. I'm going to bring hats. I'm going to bring... Oh, nice.
00:02:59
Speaker
Yeah, we got we got hats. we got pin We got both versions of the pins. So the original logo and the newer logo. Nice. I like it. Yeah, and then we'll have we'll have other giveaways, too. and of course, you know, food.
00:03:12
Speaker
And we'll be doing a show as well. think that hats is a draw. and more Oh, yeah. and I feel like. Yeah, no, for sure. And I'm going to be talking about my favorite moments of the show. so Yeah, well we that's the other thing we need to talk about.
00:03:25
Speaker
we Yeah, we we can definitely talk about that kind of stuff, because... Yeah, it's our show. You know, I forget that. It is our show at the end of the day. We're going to talk about Rhubarb. I'm going to talk about declining a George Lucas interview. I'm going to talk about a lot of things that we need to bring back up for people.
00:03:43
Speaker
yeah i mean Yeah, we can bring some of that back stuff back. I mean, i don't I don't have a specific idea of what we're going to do for
300th Episode Plans
00:03:49
Speaker
300. I mean, we're going to talk about it. but We're going to talk about Cocoa 2 for probably a long time, I hope.
00:03:53
Speaker
No, no, no. That's an inside inside joke. No. Yeah. That only the two of us know besides. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. ah um Yeah. No, but listen, I'm excited for the event.
00:04:06
Speaker
ah You know, regardless of what we end up doing, it's it should be fun. ah Hopefully we can pull off to actually doing a podcast there. I think we should be able to, but we'll, we'll see, that's but it should be, it should be fine. It's going to be, it should be fun. And we'll, we'll definitely be ah including some of the folks that, that joined us as well in, in the conversation. so ah Yeah, it's going to be a good time.
00:04:27
Speaker
But again, if you if you want to come, I know I've said this every episode, going to say one more time because this last one before that the the show, our 300th episode live is on ah March 29th. Couldn't remember the date.
00:04:40
Speaker
ah From noon to three at a place called Old Mecklenburg Brewery in Charlotte, North Carolina. So if you want to join us, ah you can absolutely do so. Just, you know, like I said, send us an email, welcome home, or go to welcomehome.com slash, ah what is it, 300th event?
00:04:55
Speaker
Or 300 event. um I made it and then I forgot about it. 300 event. 300 event. My head doesn't have that space in it, man. 300 event. So just you can go in there and still get tickets. Just make sure you do that sooner rather than later. What's the 400th going to be? 400 has to be at Disney, I feel like, right? I feel like it's got to be at a water park. I think we can make that happen. A water park?
00:05:18
Speaker
Yes. That would be awesome. That would be a very interesting challenge to podcast from a water park. I that think that would be awesome. It's going to be interesting enough doing this from a private room that we have. We're doing it. We're doing a blizzard beach.
00:05:34
Speaker
I actually think, I actually think I might make my first trip to one of the Disney water parks. Cause we have, we've never done the Disney water parks just because my wife is not a, my wife's not a water park fan. She doesn't like water parks, but with, you know, going after the cruise and the fact that we can get into the water park for free, the day of check-in it's,
00:05:54
Speaker
It's not just that, though. like As you become a parent, you have to realize, like even if I hate something, I still got to expose my kids to it first. Oh, my daughter does want to go. So that's why i I actually asked her, because I was like, do you want to go to the to the water park?
00:06:07
Speaker
And she was like, yeah. So i ah that's what I'm pushing for. what I think that's what we're going to do, probably.
Disney Experiences and Memories
00:06:13
Speaker
But we just have never been. So we we don't necessarily... We've just never done it before.
00:06:19
Speaker
So, yeah, we'll see. I think that's probably we're going doing this since it's free. So then I only have to buy one day's worth of tickets, not two. I'm just going to put it out here. i'm I'm kind of disappointed in you, Tom. Oh, no. Why?
00:06:30
Speaker
but Because you haven't been to a water park. I was just thinking about that. like like this any ah not yet okayre We're getting into this. All right. is not my fault. This is not my fault.
00:06:41
Speaker
i andrea Okay, I understand youre you saying that you know your wife didn't like going to water parks. But my wife isn't a fan of going to water parks either. But on our honeymoon to Disney World, we did go to both water parks. We didn't want to waste a day, though. That was the whole thing. like It's not a waste of a day. It is.
00:07:01
Speaker
Even if you're not doing the slides, the water parks are still fantastic. um No, i listen, i'm not I'm not saying they're not fantastic. I... i'm in on the this is not me i'm i'm in for the water park idea okay like i want to do it okay all right well yeah you got some work to do tom i mean that i that's hurting that's hurting your disney cred just 100 that's that's yeah that's a fair criticism i'll take it the only the only thing that kind of helps him out here is he said that he's gone to river country even though there's still no proof of Okay. Again, though, I also, never said that.
00:07:38
Speaker
I never said that. My mother told me i was there, but I don't believe her either. I'm on i'm on your side, Dan. I don't think I was there either. because I was so happy when I found my picture like years ago, just to keep the cred up because like, you got to have that cred. I asked her for a picture and she could not produce one. So I was, i am not confident in any way, shape or form that I was there.
00:07:59
Speaker
I'm just not, I don't think I was there. So yeah, this is my mom. And that's where people need to make sure you've got pictures to back stuff up. I don't know if you guys saw. I posted my Disney Quest cred yesterday because I was doing some cleaning of my house. I wish had a picture of me on the rafts.
00:08:18
Speaker
I'd love that. well man So I still had like the equivalent of the park map, or they called it the Adventure Guide. I posted a picture of that in the group yesterday because... was like i said I was just going through it, and and I was surprised when I found it because it kind of fell out of something else. And I was like, oh, what's this?
00:08:36
Speaker
And then I realized that I still had stuff from Disney Quest, which... you know maybe Maybe your mom has a picture like that. Maybe it's going to be the same kind of thing where she moves ah an album and then it falls out and there's a picture of Tom being attacked a gator or something. Yeah.
00:08:49
Speaker
My mom probably misremembers, man. Yeah, that's what I would say, too. i would I could see my parents misremembering something like that. yeah That's why, because it if randomly, years ago when we talked about this, when we talked about Haunted River Country, right? I think I just randomly talked to my mom about it and she goes, oh, no, you were there. And I was like, ah no, I don't think I was. I've never seen a picture you've never mentioned until this very moment that I was at River Country's.
00:09:11
Speaker
um Like, I just don't, I don't believe it. I, I, she must be thinking of something else. I mean, I mean, you would have been a baby though. Like I was like 13 or 12. mean, yeah, I would have been really young. Yeah. Wait, hold on a second. How, what's the difference in age?
00:09:26
Speaker
You're like 40 something. Yeah. I'm 40. So dude, so you would have been two. I doubt it, man. And it maybe you were though, because at two, you wouldn't have been anything. You could have walked through it. Yeah. I went when I was two. So I did.
00:09:36
Speaker
Oh yeah. Okay. I was going to why would they bring you to the water park at 2? I don't know. Again, I'm not convinced it happened. I think you went to like the pool somewhere and they just assumed. because Why would you pay for a park if you're 2?
00:09:51
Speaker
Maybe they thought it was the the Wilderness Lodge pool was River Country. i mean yeah or Or, I mean, she's just thinking that she brought me to like one of the million water parks that are in New Jersey. so like could That could have happened too. Dorney Park, a.k.a.
00:10:08
Speaker
Oh, Wildwater Kingdom, man. Wildwater Kingdom. Yeah, i we went there all the time. but You know, now I would tell you, though, that Action Park could make me feel a little River Country-ish.
00:10:20
Speaker
yeah I could be on board with with that one. I've not been there, but I can see where the vibes definitely feel. Yes, yeah I could see that. yeah i could see Trevor, have you watched the documentary about Action Park that's out there? I have, yes. It's such a crazy place. If you guys haven't watched that, I think it's on Hulu actually right now. And Max. I watched it on Max.
00:10:42
Speaker
Yeah. You can watch it, man. Yeah. but i've lived it We both lived it. I was there too. Cause I've told you like my, my, well, again, like we would get in for free. So we'll just leave it at that. And like, I was just left there to my own devices. yeah that's Like just me.
00:10:57
Speaker
Yeah. Like it was just me at like 12 years old. Like, no, here you go. And like, I remember writing stuff by myself. I read the thing I think most vividly remember personally,
00:11:10
Speaker
is being on the the being online for the tarzan swing which was just the most interesting experience ever at a water park and i don't think i'll ever forget like the things that were said the things that oh yeah done um just the like you you could you're getting bullied online and then you're getting bullied when you try to go on the like yeah Yeah, it's basically for those that don't know the the tartan the Tarzan swing, you literally it's the the whole thing is built on the side of a mountain, right? So a lot of the water is actual like spring water. It's not like water that's coming from like filtered. It's not a pool.
00:11:53
Speaker
Yeah, it's minus 10 if that. Yeah, exactly. And there's like a deck at the top of this rock. And I don't know how far up you are in the air, maybe 10 feet, Damon, maybe higher. I don't know. think higher, but yeah. Yeah.
00:12:04
Speaker
But then, but everyone that's waiting in line is standing on this deck, like leaning over watching you do this. Right. So pet like you said, Damon, people would heckle you. They would yell at you. Absolutely.
00:12:16
Speaker
If you had like a wimpy swing, it was, you know, it was a whole audience experience. Like it was. but see What I still don't understand is Tom, if we're 10 years apart, like When were you going? What did you say? when i was We went with camp when I was a kid.
00:12:29
Speaker
How old were you, though? I don't know. um Probably teenager or younger than teenager. Probably like 10, 11. And then I went later when I was a camp counselor for camp. But it was at that point, it wasn't Action Park anymore. It was...
00:12:43
Speaker
Oh, gosh. feeling like that So when you first went there, right? Yeah. Was there like were there rules? Like, can take this back. No, because there was a big change to to one thing, which was the diving.
00:12:57
Speaker
Yes. The cliff diving. Yeah. the So at what level were you there? i I honestly don't remember anything from going. Yes. so I went. Yeah. Cliff diving went from do anything you want.
00:13:08
Speaker
to no flips, to no dives, and then you know that was that. like That's how it went. So that's how you can kind of gauge your action part-time. I was there when there was no rules.
00:13:20
Speaker
And I did do a flip, I will tell you. I don't think that there's been too much scarier in my life, but it did happen. um But there was definitely, that's how you can kind of gauge your time in Action Park, because they did start to make some rule changes.
00:13:34
Speaker
I mean, yeah but. i I'm pretty sure I went in the late 90s, I want to say, because i I didn't move. Well, so I was born in New Jersey. We moved to Pennsylvania, lived there for a while, then moved back to New Jersey.
00:13:45
Speaker
And so I didn't go back to New Jersey until 95, I want to say. See, like, I was there in the 80s, dude. Yeah, the 80s were way crazier, yeah. Yeah, was there in the like In 95, I was in high school as well. and um so For us, it wasn't we didn't have Action Park, but we had a camp that we went out to. It was on the um west coast of British Columbia. which It's funny. like You guys are talking about all this stuff as like ah like a theme park or something. but like We went out to a ah park. It was
00:14:15
Speaker
it was a It was basically a building on the side of a cliff. and That's not far off from what this was. Yeah, that's true. So we were like teenagers, and they were like, yeah, go rent a boat and go out onto the ocean with this boat, where it was just like two teenagers in a boat, and they gave us like...
00:14:34
Speaker
you know, brief sailing instructions. And we had to, you know, go out and come back without getting pulled out to sea. So, I mean, things, things were a wild back in the, in the, you know, the eighties and the nineties, I'll say.
00:14:48
Speaker
Oh yeah. Well, it was different though. Like you just, I mean, even when I was growing up though, like i would just hop on my bike and be gone for the entire day and I would just get back for dinner. my mom'd be like, how your day? Good. Like that was it. You know, like show han who ah who who played on a construction site as a kid?
00:15:03
Speaker
Oh, yeah. i Abandoned buildings, man. There was an abandoned factory by my house. used to go back there. So much kickball, though. We had a lot of kids in our neighborhood. I played a lot of kickball like every day.
00:15:14
Speaker
know. So we just had literally a 30-minute discussion about how we're going to stay within our vertical. yeah I think we probably should talk about... We're totally down the rabbit hole. This all started with you know okay tom go to a water park okay let's actually have some dbc news yeah i you know and here's the thing i think if disney ever wants to build a water slide with a loop in it you know like action park did then maybe we can talk about it more but and the infamous the infamous uh loop uh water slide anyway which they actually have now but more engineered than the one that actually is not as tight
00:15:49
Speaker
Yes, not as tight and more, you know, well done. Anyway, so I was a little shocked by the this first piece of DVC news because I didn't like have any indication that the the Magic Kingdom Lounge was like anywhere near opening.
DVC Lounge Opening
00:16:02
Speaker
And then all of a sudden, everyone just got an email. It's like, oh, it's open. It's like, yeah what? It looks kind of cool. It looks great. I've heard it's small. It looks bigger than I thought. compared compared to Compared to the Epcot lounge, it it does that look a little more packed. which i mean I think once the initial hype of it goes away, i don't think it'll be that big of a deal. but yeah you know Having the thing at capacity probably doesn't feel very good.
00:16:32
Speaker
It looks bigger than I thought it was going to. doesn't look like there's many chairs, though. I mean, there's not that many chairs in the Epcot one either. That's true. It's a decently small space.
00:16:43
Speaker
Yeah. the I mean, Epcot one, they took out a lot of chairs, didn't they? Like they, they really spread people out. Cause I remember there used to be more chairs in ah in the Epcot lounge. yeah This is such a weird one too, because I think like, it's like one of those spots where you'd be like oh, thank goodness I can go and take my kids in here because they just need a break. And then it's like, but I'm in Magic Kingdom. Like there's so much to do. Can I really take a break?
00:17:06
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. like It's you's going to be such a, such a pull. Like in Epcot, I mean, I hate to say it, but like you start to like, so if I'm going to avoid, let's say frozen, right. Just cause whatever. And then test tracks down. Like, I feel like I have time to go chill out in the lounge.
00:17:21
Speaker
yeah I feel like i have that time in Magic Kingdom. i I get what you're saying. there's it There's just too many things to do. they You don't want to miss stuff. I mean, I just look at it as like I'm midday and it's, you know, 98 degrees out and I'm like, you know, just need to sit for 10 minutes. Does the President's Hall take the heat from this now, though? now yeah know i mean...
00:17:42
Speaker
Now, all a sudden, you don't need to go to President's Hall to relax. I don't know. It's options. yeah The other sleeping ride you know for for some people is Carousel of Progress, although I don't think you should sleep on that. but Some other people will do that, too. you know and i Yeah, that that's a discussion in and of itself. but i mean As far as this lounge goes, and I was talking about you know missing out on time, I will say that you know to your point about I remember when we, even when we were there in February, which I know, sorry, I'm a Canadian. So the heat hits me differently down there.
00:18:20
Speaker
um I remember being in frontier land and everybody like scrambling for shade, like anywhere they could in frontier land. And not because they were like waiting for the parade or anything. It was just so hot that, that people were just trying to find anywhere that was shady and cool. So, you know, in the middle of the day, like like for me, I think this is, this is not, um or, and Damon, I know, i know you say like, you know, you feel like you're missing out, but for us,
00:18:49
Speaker
um there's a lot of days where we actually do take advantage of, you know, doing midday breaks back at our hotel. And if I didn't have to go all the way back to my hotel to take a break and continue on in the park, I definitely would with, yeah, it's the age that my kids are. I just don't know if I'd feel the same way with younger kids.
00:19:08
Speaker
I mean, listen, my daughter needs a break sometimes as she's, and we're even rolling around in the stroller. The heat gets to everybody, you know, it does. Yeah. So, Yeah. And I mean, i could see us definitely going and and relaxing in here for a little while and and and just hanging out. But the problem is, right, right now, I'm sure you guys have seen the news about this.
00:19:29
Speaker
and And given this is it's the new shiny thing. So everyone's got every DVC member is going there, especially the local AP people. But the whole idea of the lounge is if I want to go to the lounge, I want to go to lounge now.
00:19:42
Speaker
Right. You know what I mean? Like, I don't want to go to the lounge four hours from now. and might as well go back to the room. Yeah, exactly. That's what I'm saying. So like, and, and so from what I've seen, a lot of people, even the people that were paying for the membership beyond membership, that is supposed to give you cutting the line access.
00:19:58
Speaker
Those people were also having to wait too, because to your point, small, it's a small space. It's not huge and they limited capacity, but, ah and also they just, you know, it's a huge, yeah a huge amount of people hitting it because it's brand new.
00:20:11
Speaker
ah it like it will die down, right? It's going to die down. it's not It's not going to be like this always, but that is, if that continues to be an issue there, then this lounge will not be something I would even seek out because what's the what's the point?
00:20:24
Speaker
brave like yeah Like, why do I need, I don't want to want to have a fast pass for four hours for now for for the lounge. Yeah. yeah if If the first thing I had to do going into Magic Kingdom is go queue up for the lounge so that I might be able to get in by like mid-afternoon,
00:20:41
Speaker
You're right. That doesn't feel very good. that has kind It kind of defeats the point of it as a benefit. It does.
00:20:50
Speaker
Yeah. this this This actually makes me feel like I got to have to i have to like pay for that $95 membership just for the one day I'm going to be at Magic Kingdom. well i I wish I had the option to pay for that. Oh, yeah. good yeah a I've checked. They still won't let me do it.
00:21:06
Speaker
so ah Sorry, man. What about this other lounge? i was i I did just want to say one more thing. I do really like the the aesthetic of this place. i the art The art that they put in it, the details, I mean, it's typical Disney style. And I will say that ah i'm I'm just shocked at how quickly this all came together. I feel like they just tore down the shooting arcade. like I don't know remember when it was, but it was not that long ago. They did this quickly.
00:21:30
Speaker
Shocking quickly. It was mid last year that we was talked about about it. Yeah. Yeah. and why his standards us here yeah but yeah They just move quick. I was just surprised at how quick they did. So, yeah. yeah Oh, and have the new freestyle machines, too. The the really cool looking ones. Oh, yeah, I see that. Yeah.
00:21:49
Speaker
One thing and that I saw somebody point out from their experience with it is that they also mentioned that the charging stations are kind of limited. Oh, okay. yeah yeah I've never had an issue with with plugging in my phone in the Epcot lounge. But like even looking at these pictures, not every table looks to have... like Some of the tables are just small tables. There's no charging or anything on them, which is... i mean, that that for me is also kind of ah you know a selling point of a lounge is that you know if I can't even charge my phone in there, like...
00:22:20
Speaker
I do think they have outlets all over the place with the, with the USBs in them. Cause I saw, so I saw an article. Yeah. I don't want to go on, like plug my phone in somewhere and like have it sit off by itself. Like I want it on my table kind of thing. Right. Yeah. I get it. I get Yeah.
00:22:35
Speaker
I get it. ah The other lounge we're going to talk about is in Epcot. And ah Trevor, I know you are particularly... This is an adult lounge. Yeah. So we've been talking about this one for a while since it got announced back at... What is it? D23 they announced this, I feel like? Yes.
00:22:49
Speaker
But so now we have a name of the new lounge that is going to be behind Spaceship Earth. It's going to be called Geo82, which is actually... It's a weird name, but it's fitting. It makes sense, right? Yeah.
00:23:02
Speaker
Because I've cut over the 40th in 2022. So that makes sense. Yeah. So, okay. So yeah, ge geo 82, which I assume is, you know, geodesic sphere 82 is the, ah the implication of it.
00:23:16
Speaker
Now it's got a great logo, by the way, got a great logo. What do we think about the fact that this is an adult only lounge in the park, which I i feel like this is setting this is setting a precedent, isn't it? because i and like Correct me if I'm wrong. There's not another lounge in any of the parks that is adult only, right? Isn't what's it called?
00:23:39
Speaker
ah not No, not adult only, no. Yeah, that yeah like like there there are some that are. like you're like You're thinking of the one in Galaxy's Edge, right? Yeah, was just thinking about just alcohol in general. i don't you know I think all alcohol just should of be kept at Epcot, to be honest with you.
00:23:56
Speaker
Right. but But then also having adults-only lounge, I feel, is kind of a it's an interesting... Actually, I don't think it's bad because you get these people that are going to go to Epcot to go to drink, to go to do adults, you know, sort of around the world. Like, give them a spot to go, man.
00:24:12
Speaker
Like, that's not fair for me. fair, yeah. Yeah, I do think it's interesting that it is adults only. i I mean, I don't know if I thought that they were going to have kids be there. But I mean, obviously, we i think everybody feels like Epcot is the more adult-oriented park, right?
00:24:29
Speaker
Just because of – I don't know if that's just because of food and wine or – I think that's part of it, yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's definitely part of it. More than wine than the food, but yeah. Yeah, yeah. and And, you know, we all know about drinking around the world and stuff like that. like that's But it it is interesting that this is going to be a lounge that is is only 21 and up. But I do wonder why like why they made that decision. Like, what's what's behind that, you know?
00:24:54
Speaker
Yeah. Which, that's also big as a question, too, of like, the Like, this is a very prime fireworks location from the list as well, which, you know, obviously, yeah, you know, that they they are they are targeting that crowd that plans to go there, like you said, do drink around the world and then maybe go sit in the lounge and and watch Luminous.
00:25:15
Speaker
But, you know, I can see where people would be mad about this because, again, you know, what if it's a place to watch the fireworks from with your kids... you know But that then would be you know it would be impossible to get into here because it would be every you know every family taking up space in here. So, yeah. yeah I agree with you. yeah as the As the lounge.
00:25:35
Speaker
yeah Yeah. I agree with you that it's good that it is a space for people but or a space for adults. But, yeah, I'm just i'm honestly a little surprised that ah Disney is actually leaning into like an adults-only lounge. Yeah.
00:25:51
Speaker
and I think because it's at Epcot, it makes a lot of sense. Like, I don't think I'm mad about it. I'm fine with it. I don't think I ever have to go there. but Yeah. Like, if they did it in Magic Kingdom, it would be different, right? Yeah. And the thing is, there's nothing in there that, like, is forcing me to go.
00:26:06
Speaker
Right? Like, yeah there's nothing in there that, like, I'm like, oh, I gotta go here. Like, it's cool. But don't have to know. I mean, I want to check it out. Like, I'm planning to go there with my brother if I can.
00:26:18
Speaker
But, I mean, i guess that's the thing, too, is, like, I'm not, like, going to be making reservations to go here either. Like, if if it's a reservation-only thing. I might get a shirt, though. It's reservation-only. I might get a shirt.
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah, it actually, it says on the site, advanced reservations required. Yeah. Yeah. be That made it suddenly a lot less appealing. Well, listen, I would make a reservation. i i think I've talked about this on the show before. I don't really drink. Right. So I occasionally write on special occasions. i'll I'll drink. But for the most part, I i don't drink.
00:26:50
Speaker
And so for me, a bar is not that appealing. But this bar is very cool. And I love Epcot and I love Spaceship Earth. And just the design by itself, I'd want to just go and experience that.
00:27:01
Speaker
And i'd I'd have a drink probably just because we're there. But ah the the the key thing to me here is not the alcohol and the bar part. The key is the the design and the location and the view and all that. like that's this is These are going to be ah at a premium. It's going to be hard to get a reservation here.
00:27:19
Speaker
Yeah, which I said, that that's what turns me off of it is that I I I don't drink anyway. And and yeah, like, I guess I could go into there and and find something to drink. But then I'm just there to like you experience it. But I guess for me, it's also if I couldn't get a reservation at the time that I want. And it's also hard, too, because then I feel like I'm planning my day around it.
00:27:44
Speaker
I just, yeah, I don't know. it It doesn't seem all that exciting to me now. Well, and for me, it's hard for me because I, you know, I'm never really at Disney without my daughter. And the only, so the only way I'm doing this is if we go back to my hotel room, my daughter goes to sleep and like, we have other people with us, like my in-laws or something. And they watch my daughter and my wife and I go back out to Epcot for the night. which we've done before. we've We've done that a bunch of times when we've had other family with us, but that's probably the only time we'd actually ever be able to do this because otherwise we, you know, my daughter can't go up there. So it's, I think obviously they're appealing to a different crowd here. They're not really trying to appeal to families, right? Like it's, they're, they're appealing to the, the, the younger Disney adults, a couple crowd.
00:28:30
Speaker
I feel like. Right. which i guess and i guess i'm I guess because I'm falling closer and closer to the older Disney couple adult crowd. du yeah Yeah. I mean, I guess, yeah, like the young those young kids want to you know have a cool place to hang out. I guess that's fine.
00:28:50
Speaker
yeah They can have it. All those youngins, all those kids. those yeah All those young, hip but Disney adults. The youths. Yeah, the youths. but Yeah.
00:29:01
Speaker
Speaking like I'm 80. Yeah, exactly. ah You know, all those kids in their racket. ah But yeah, no, it's it's ah i listen, I'm interested to check it out. and And like you said, it's a prime view viewing area for fireworks.
00:29:14
Speaker
I'm going to assume just because knowing Disney, this is how they they roll that during the fireworks. It's you're not even going to be able to get an advance reservation. It's going to be a firework party that you have to pay separately for.
00:29:25
Speaker
i would bet anything on that. I bet this lounge is open all day and for regular, ah you know, ah reservations. And then once the fireworks are happening, then it's a paid event. That's just a guess. I don't know. I could be wrong.
00:29:39
Speaker
But yeah, we'll see. yeah Yeah. Maybe at first it'll be or. Yeah. Maybe I think you're right. for all Yeah. Yeah. But I can see you're right. There'll definitely be a a paid experience alongside. Oh, for sure.
00:29:51
Speaker
For sure. Yeah. We the one thing we don't have is an opening date. So, yeah, i'm I'm looking at this and I'm trying because actually i don't even know if it'll be open. But when I'm going because they've kind of touched on it's coming in spring, but they haven't said exactly when.
00:30:05
Speaker
Yeah, this it literally just says the first of new ah the of two lounges coming this year. And I think they said spring. Yeah, but spring, you know, Disney likes to give opening seasons and not give actual dates until it's closer, which makes sense. You know, construction delays happen, but maybe they'll do a hey, it's open like they did with the DVC lounge. Wouldn't that be crazy? Yeah.
00:30:25
Speaker
Yeah. that But see, that's what got me about that is because all of a sudden it's just like somebody in our discord sent a picture of the email. I'm like, do I have this email? And then I pulled it up. i was like, oh, I do. Okay.
00:30:36
Speaker
That's crazy that it's just like, hey, it's opening tomorrow for something like that. So anticipated. It's just weird that they just are like, it's open, you know, like, go check it out. But I feel like that was a deliberate thing because if if people had a chance to plan for it, it would have yes it would have been a mess, guaranteed.
00:30:55
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree. i agree. All right. let's let's do Let's do it. Do we have anything else about this? No. um Let's do the ad, though, and then we'll get pigment we'll talk about Figment. Does that sound good?
00:31:07
Speaker
Yeah, that works. The sponsor of this episode is DVC Resale Market. DVC Resale Market, a world of DVC company, is the leader in the DVC Resale industry with 13 former Disney Vacation Club guides and three former Disney Vacation Club quality assurance managers.
00:31:20
Speaker
If you're thinking of buying DVC, browse the largest selection of DVC Resale listings anywhere with DVC experts on hand seven days a week to answer your questions. If you're thinking of selling, turn to the friendly professionals at DVC Resale Market, where over 98% of listings sell within 30 days.
00:31:34
Speaker
In 2024, DVC Resale Market helped over 4,400 families join or add on to their memberships. Go to DVCResaleMarket.com slash welcome home or call 1-844-DVC-PROS. That's 1-844-382-7767.
00:31:48
Speaker
And when you speak to them, be sure to let them know that Welcome Home sent you. All right. Let's talk figment, man. So there's there's been talk for a while that there's a figment series in development at ah Disney. though There was talk about a figment movie, actually, i think at one point.
00:32:04
Speaker
But now they're saying, you know, Bob Iger in the in the shareholder ah meeting that they just did has ah basically said that there's going to be a it says short form videos of of figment. Now, what that means, is that going to be a series of shorts? I don't know.
00:32:21
Speaker
Sounds terrible. Like, i love Figment, and it sounds terrible. what What do you want for Figment instead of, you don't like the idea of shorts? i One, I don't like the idea of shorts. Two, more that I thought about this, like, what do we want to see out of Figment? Like, what sort of show would make sense? I think a movie works better for Figment, to be honest with you, but that's just me. I don't know if I want to see, like,
00:32:48
Speaker
you know, 22 minute, you know, especially nowadays, 11 minute times two figment shows. I don't know if I want that. Plus, please don't make it like the silly looking new Mickey Mouse shorts, please.
00:33:02
Speaker
Please. You know it will be. Yeah.
00:33:05
Speaker
I mean, not necessarily. I mean, it it it could be a whole different thing. The interesting thing here, though, is that they did actually announce that there was like a fig. Well, they didn't announce, but there was a ah figment movie that was being done by Seth Rogen's production company.
00:33:18
Speaker
That was but that was three years ago and no one's said anything since then. So a lot of people are assuming that that's canceled. ah But it's I don't know. It's it's really interesting to me. i Obviously, it would be an animated series,
Disney Collaboration and Projects
00:33:31
Speaker
right? I mean, it's not today.
00:33:33
Speaker
I mean, what would prefer to be animated? or real sorry I would, but it doesn't have to be. Yeah. So I should qualify. the So it's not that they are actually making these videos ah because um I'm rereading Bob Iger's. Correct. He didn't say that at all. He said, I'm going to ask our creative teams to consider making some short form or some form of series or short form video. So so he's yeah, he's batting around the idea of either a series or.
00:34:00
Speaker
like but But at the same time, disney park the official Disney Parks account posted a video saying Figment's getting a new series. like Right?
00:34:12
Speaker
No, it could. I'm saying, why would you post that unless that's happening? Why would you just tease that? I don't know. Maybe Disney's teasing us now. yeah yeah they they know that they can build i don't know if want this yeah i don't know if i want this like i love figment like i really truly do but i just don't know if i want a figment series because sometimes you don't want something terrible to like it's right it's like redoing what's a great movie that was read red dawn my favorite movie of all time know you don't need to know you're gonna list to any of the disney movies that they've live ated live action remakes. No, I mean, I do got to close my favorite movie here and, you know, I don't need a remake and I kind of feel like this is the same sort of thing. I don't need this. Like, I like figment the way he is. Just let figment be figment, man.
00:35:02
Speaker
well A movie I'd be okay with, but i'm not a series, man. i don't like the way the figment ride is. i definitely like the way figment is as a character.
00:35:13
Speaker
so But yeah, doing a series about it, i it's such a weird double-edged sword. You know what actually would work? Here, I'm going to go on record here. And this is what would work. As as crazy as it sounds, it wouldn't make us happy.
00:35:27
Speaker
A preschool figment series where he learns about stuff, Okay. I'm on board Interesting. Yeah. Now I'm on board. Like Muppet, like Muppet babies kind of ask.
00:35:40
Speaker
um Or like i know the Disney junior shows, like just like, okay. yes it's Something where he's like a young figment. And yeah, like you said, he's like discovering, you know, kind of like the rock. Yeah. Yeah. That I could get on board with, but I don't, I don't want to see like a, uh, you know, uh,
00:36:00
Speaker
ah show that's geared higher than, you know, preschool, I think. if it's If it's just pandering to the existing fandom of Figment, which and unfortunately, i know where you're coming from with this, Damon, that, you know, fi Figment is built entirely around hype at this point because, you know, all we really have to go off of is the ride, which is very limited.
00:36:23
Speaker
Everything else around it is... People building hype. And, and you know, obviously disney Disney leans into that and they understand that, you know, they've they've made tons of merchandise about it because it's become a fan favorite. but I think you almost ruin that. Like you're saying, from you you might ruin it. yeah You might mess up the cash cow with Figment.
00:36:41
Speaker
You make something terrible. Yeah, that the funny thing is, is that that Figment is... ironically figment staying in your imagination is better than him becoming a reality. I agree. I agree.
00:36:53
Speaker
I mean, but what if they make it and it's great? Like what if it's a great, then then great. Then, then change your mind. Yeah. I mean, yeah but, but there's way more, there's way more space for it to, to not be good than there is for it to be great. Yeah. That's, I mean, that's, that's fair. I,
00:37:11
Speaker
I understand. i like i one I would love to see a Figment series, but to your point, Damon, like what do you want to see? like What is Figment going to be doing on the show? That's why I Figment makes so much more sense.
00:37:23
Speaker
It fits the ride. and mean You don't have to worry about this huge, complex storyline. yeah the only The only other way could potentially work is because the thing about Figment is that he he has effectively Deadpool-like powers, if you think about it. makes say He has like fourth wall breaking capabilities. Hmm.
00:37:45
Speaker
interesting And but then but then the question becomes, if you're making a figment that is not targeted at young kids, how edgy or risky could figment get? Because really, the the sky is the limit with things like it's in his name, you know, hes figment of imagination.
00:38:02
Speaker
That can mean a lot of things like that. They could they could go anywhere they want with it. But then that goes into the risk of if it's if it's too edgy or too off the mark or too much outside of what people are thinking figment should be. which And this is the thing. like I guess if you ask anybody, like what what do you think figment should be? You're never going to get the same answer, which kind of tells me that you're never going to get you're never going to get a show that everybody will agree is good.
00:38:34
Speaker
That's fair. Right? Because it's I don't see how that's possible. It's also worth noting, too, that Disney did actually produce a series of figment shorts back in the 80s.
00:38:45
Speaker
Right? like So they they do exist. Although I think they might have been for forever. um We haven't found those. No, but they did they did exist. I mean, they were... i mean And actually, to your point, Damon, they were kind of seemingly educational.
00:38:59
Speaker
Because it was like... the One of them was, how does it feel to be an elephant? How does it feel to be to fly? how does it sound How does sound sound? Yes, I'm saying, Yeah, it's it's very... Yeah, it's it's it's more of an educational bend to it.
00:39:12
Speaker
I do wonder, though, too, because like... I know that we love Figment and people that like Disney parks love Figment, but has he really transcended past the Disney fan? Like if there's somebody that's never been to Disney world and I just tell them, Oh, I love Figment. They're like, who the heck is Figment?
00:39:27
Speaker
But you know mean though? Like Figment hasn't necessarily transcended Disney park. I would agree with that too. You know, cause I, I, everyone knows Mickey mouse. Like if you've never been to a Disney park before, you know who Mickey mouse is, but you don't necessarily know who Figment is because Figment is Epcot specific.
00:39:43
Speaker
So I don't know. I don't know, man. like We got to talk about this next thing before I miss out on it. Cause I'm getting real close to, to being out. To passing out from talking to him. I'm so hungry. All right. Also ah Damon has to defrost his fridge. Everybody. i do have to defrost my fridge today.
00:40:00
Speaker
yeah That's, that's, that's a, that's a callback to the secret word from the other week too. That's funny. Yeah. ah Yeah. Anyway. Sorry. Yeah. That actually is a callback to the other week. That's that's funny.
00:40:11
Speaker
ah So i' I'll mention this. So it's been announced now that NVIDIA is teaming with Disney on AI robotics. And if you've seen these, ah these what are they called? BDX droids that Disney's putting out there a lot. And I actually, I watched two YouTube videos on this yesterday because that guy that does... um tech labs or crunch lab, whatever it is.
00:40:32
Speaker
Yeah. On YouTube. He did a whole, yeah, he did a whole backstage tour at Imagineering and they spent a lot of time with the droids, but you know, they really were talking about how they're controlled. You know, there's somebody standing there controlling most of what they do.
00:40:46
Speaker
The robots do fill in a little bit of stuff themselves, but most of their motion is directed. It seems to me that they're going to, it says the mouse house plans to and employ the AI based tech to advance this robotic character platform that powers next generation entertainment robots, such as the star Wars BDX robots.
00:41:04
Speaker
and And those are the robots that joined ah the, the, the head of NVIDIA when they did the announcement. So it's good. I mean, do you feel like NVIDIA needed this though? They probably don't. I mean, they probably do.
00:41:18
Speaker
You think they do? Yeah. I think this was, this was, this was an interesting take because I think NVIDIA kind of needs this right now. um Right. So again I, again, think that that's part of it.
00:41:29
Speaker
I think this is, I mean, listen, we're going to get robots at some point that no one needs to do anything with. It's going to happen. And it's going to be way closer than we all think, because, you know, in reality, like we can have robots. They don't need to do a lot, especially the robots in Star Wars. Cause think about it. What do robots in Star Wars really do?
00:41:45
Speaker
They're usually just like fixing things or navigating. Not a lot. Right. So I think we're going to get there sooner rather than later. I like this. I mean, I think this is something that will be fun. But I just again, as I've spoken about this before, I don't feel like.
00:42:01
Speaker
people are ready for this. Like you can't just let robots loose without people like just picking them up and doing silly things with them, right? That's where this kind of all falls apart for me. They'll still have handlers, I feel. i mean, they're still gonna have- But then what's the point, right? Like that's that kind of the whole thing. Like I want this autonomous robot, which could be created, right? That wouldn't need a handler.
00:42:20
Speaker
Absolutely. mean, if my vacuum can do it, then, you know, they can do it with robots, right? it can go back and charge itself up. Like, but you can't because people are terrible. Well, and Disney's already had several semi-autonomous robots, right? So they had Lucky the Dinosaur, which... But always a hands-on-air, though.
00:42:36
Speaker
Yeah, there was. And and they they were controlling some of the movements, but it did also do things by itself. And one of the things with the BDX droids, so they they said this in the video that I watched, where they will tell it to like walk forward or walk backwards or do a certain thing, but the robot actually does what it wants to get to that thing.
00:42:55
Speaker
right so So it's not like it's it's a it's a a static movement. it's The robot has like a little bit of leeway to kind of make it a little bit different. And that's i mean that's not AI yet. i mean like That's not autonomous. But they obviously can make these autonomous. I just i know what you're saying, though, Damon. They still have to have a handler. But if they don't have somebody holding a remote control, it is still a little more magical. What's the difference at that point?
00:43:20
Speaker
Well, I mean, that's it's the difference like with like Push the Trash Can, right? there was a There was a cast member look ah lurking around Push, right? But there was somebody controlling it from off in the distance that you didn't see, right?
00:43:31
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But what I'm saying is that if if you can't let them like do their own thing and you need a handler, then why not just have somebody controlling it? Like, I just... I don't know how you, I'm trying to think about a good way to, to where you can have these things out there without handlers and people won't like be silly about it.
00:43:48
Speaker
Yeah. So, so let me ask you this, Damon, it like yeah i know you're thinking about from the angle of, you know, you know, what if people are doing stuff to, to it and then you need, you need the handler to like step in and, in and what, what if the, what if, you know, because of this the, you know, the robots get themselves into a place where,
00:44:09
Speaker
you know somebody still needs to be supervising them. They can never be fully like, just set them loose and you know they'll come back. That's what I want. Westworld. These are not 1980s robots. this This isn't your childhood in a robot, Damon.
00:44:23
Speaker
um You want itching scratchy land from the Netsons where the robots start going crazy? The reality is is that I can't envision specifically in the parks. I can't envision a scenario right now um or not right now, but like within like the next five to 10 years where, um you know, if the robot gets itself in trouble, like regardless of what people are doing around it, like if it gets stuck somewhere or, you know, somebody does need to override or you need the capability for somebody to come along and, and override It's, it's,
00:44:57
Speaker
It just seems like... years a long time, man. Ten years is going to be more than these telegrams. I'm not seeing it... like like I think about those Amazon delivery bots. like it It feels like the same kind of thing where you'd see them like stuck on a sidewalk somewhere. It's like...
00:45:13
Speaker
you know somebody does need to be supervising these things. like I just don't see how you're getting it. Have the handler doing it all. like that's where That's where I see it. I think we're going to get to the point where you're going to have Star Wars droids and if someone picks them up, they're going to send out some alert and maybe a handler can come running or maybe they'll just yell at them.
00:45:32
Speaker
Maybe they'll take a look at it. I don't know. on You pick it electrocuted. It's Sonic disorienting. something like... I think it's like an electric fence. You put a caution sign on it, and then if someone touches it, it shocks you, and then... yeah It shoots blue milk at you, which is terrible.
00:45:54
Speaker
It's worse than green milk, but... I mean, they did have they do have a if you watch some of these videos on YouTube, they they have an angry mode that they can put it in where its eyes turn red and it kind of like does like a little angry movement. And but listen, this's you can go find these out out on YouTube. But there's it's kind of fascinating how they train these things because they they put the robot in a simulation and they have the robot basically like training in the simulation. So.
00:46:19
Speaker
Like they have it going through obstacles and every time it like fails, it tries the simulation again, but it's all within like this virtual world. And it's, it's really kind of cool. They, they showed a lot of details about how they train these things. And it's, it's really interesting.
00:46:34
Speaker
But I don't know. i'm I'm interested to see how this is going to work. Obviously, AI is everywhere and and this is going to be Disney does like to try to be on the cutting edge of things. And so they're going to be implementing more of this stuff into more things. It'll just be interesting to see what that looks like.
00:46:52
Speaker
I mean, it is, yeah, you know, Disney is known for innovation and this is current innovation. So, um yeah, like you said, ah it it'll be fine until it becomes itchy and scratchy land.
00:47:02
Speaker
that Someone has to have a kill switch somewhere. Like there has to be kill switch. Yeah, yeah I guess that that that's my thinking is that, that there you know you know, kind of, again, I know the whole point of, you know, they should they should be able to wander freely without a handler, but someone has to be nearby at some point.
00:47:21
Speaker
when things go wrong, either, you know, somebody had their' modeing whether it's somebody, you know, messing with the robot or the robot itself, like getting itself in trouble. And that that can happen all kinds of different ways.
00:47:33
Speaker
No, i you're totally right. The thing is, you know like how much damage can these little BDX droids do? I'll be more worried when there's itchy and scratchy sized robots like they had in that Simpsons episode. like This little robot, if it goes rogue, like you can just pick it up and its legs will just kick in the air. It can't do anything, basically.
00:47:50
Speaker
ah So it's... and that one doesn't worry me much right because it's if it goes rogue it's not that big of a deal but any anything else you know if you have like human size robots then you then it becomes a little bit more scary right i think even r2 size robots become a problem yeah i could see that like they're they're waist high and they can you know that r2 could cause some damage i mean that's i mean that's fair that's fair r2 can cause some damage i don't disagree you know right. So I think that's enough of that, but it's it's interesting, right?
00:48:21
Speaker
It is. Yeah. um and So I just put this on here because it's... What? what i was going to say, we got like, what, two more things here? And then I think yeah i think we can call this a short episode today.
00:48:33
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. ah So the ah the only reason I put this on here is because i i want to talk about the fact that I'm really tempted to watch this, but I don't want to.
00:48:44
Speaker
ah So Disney just announced that there's the magic of the Disney treasure ah National Geographic documentaries per premiering on the what is it the 28th? Yeah, March 28th. So this Friday, if you're listening to this right now, and this Friday.
00:48:58
Speaker
And so this is like a behind the scenes tour of how they built the ship and how they, you know, how probably of the show of, ah you know, how they do the dinner show stuff, like all that behind the scenes stuff.
00:49:12
Speaker
And i I watched the one they did for The Wish, and it was tremendously interesting. But i I really want to watch this one, too. But I don't want to ruin anything, you know? So I think you need to watch it after you get back from your cruise, Tom.
00:49:27
Speaker
That's what I think I'm going to do. Yeah, that's what I think I'm going to do. as as like And yeah, i'm I'm reading this too. is you know that They're going to talk about um you know you know the the Haunted Mansion Parlor, Skipper Society Lounge. They're going to talk about the Aquamouse.
00:49:42
Speaker
um And yeah like like all the behind the scenes and like like how they designed it all and everything. Which I personally feel that it would...
00:49:53
Speaker
not ruin your trip, but it would put a different lens on it. Yeah. And, and then, and then as much as I am this person, um, I don't think you want to be this person when you're on your, your cruise is the, Oh yeah. That did you know that that that thing was created because of, but like, like, you know how, like you learn like all the behind the scenes, think like, because this is a new ship and you guys are like, it's your first cruise.
00:50:22
Speaker
I don't think you want to go into it like having a bunch of facts stashed in your back pocket. That makes sense? Yeah. Yes, i it does make sense. I don't want to be like the know-it-all person that's like, you know, here's here's why they did this. Here's how they did this. here's like And I also don't want to ruin it for myself either, right? Like, I feel like I've watched...
00:50:42
Speaker
I watched a couple videos on things, but like I haven't watched anything about the lounges. I haven't watched anything about the show. like I have been pretty careful. I've really just seen like so like room tours and stuff like that, which I'm fine with spoiling room tours for myself. you know like That's fine.
00:50:57
Speaker
But I also like just don't i don't want to ruin things for myself. I just love this kind of stuff. i'm i'm yeah You know this. I'm obsessed with this behind-the-scenes stuff. i like And I know you are, too, Trevor. You you like this kind of stuff.
00:51:09
Speaker
I mean, i actually i posted this in our discord last night that I got into a I stayed really late last night because I was in a rabbit hole. i was in a YouTube rabbit hole of watching defunct land videos.
00:51:21
Speaker
Right. Because like I i really like defunct land. And then I ended up watching the Fastpass plus video again. That's an outward 45 minutes long, which if you haven't watched is tremendously interesting. It's still... Okay, so... Sorry, I'm just going to sideline.
00:51:36
Speaker
This is still relevant even with the current iterations of FastPasses and everything. The whole thing behind that documentary is still relevant today. i highly recommend anybody who hasn't watched it, go watch it.
00:51:47
Speaker
Sorry. It's so well produced and so engaging that even though it's incredibly nerdy... like Because it is. It's really very nerdy. like Talking about like how lines work and line theory and you know there's there's analysis that are done there's models that are built it's it's very cool how they put this together and the history behind it and all that and so i check that out if you haven't seen it and you're interested in in the whole thing because it's It's so well done. I've never seen anybody... This is what put Tom down this rabbit hole he was talking about. It did. Yes. And then I was watching a thing about Tomorrowland, and I was watching a thing about a place called Freedomland USA, and that was a theme park in New York City that was... What? What?
00:52:30
Speaker
but you Freedom land USA. okay so Okay. Hold on about freedom land for a second. all So freedom land. So after Disneyland, no, no, hold on. Hold Just really quick. After Disneyland was built, the, a couple of the right hand people of Walt Disney, while he was building building Disneyland, there's this one guy that is ah described in the video as being a complete and total scammer.
00:52:55
Speaker
That and somehow ended up working on Disneyland, right? Like this guy just wiggled his way into working on Disneyland. But Walt Disney grew distrustful of him because he brought in a bunch of his own people to work there. Walt Disney eventually thinks that this guy is going to try to pull a coup on him. And so he gets rid of him.
00:53:10
Speaker
ah So... So this guy just goes and he's like, I'm going to go to New York and I'm going to build Disneyland in New York and I'm going to do it better than Disneyland in literally in the Bronx in New York, like new straight up New York City.
00:53:22
Speaker
like It's a really fascinating video because they really did some really cool like they did some really cool stuff at that park. And it was, in fact, some people were saying it was better than Disneyland at the time.
00:53:34
Speaker
And I never heard of it. And, you know, growing up in that area, you think I would have, but it only lasted a couple of years. So anyway, so that was a random aside, but seriously, it's, it was very interesting. If you're interested in this kind of stuff, especially the fact that somehow, uh, Walt Disney allowed a scammer into his inner circle, uh, building Disneyland.
00:53:50
Speaker
Okay. So, so to be fair, you know, back when, Walt was building everything. There was zero precedent for like, true we we think of it from like current standards where it's like, how could you let that happen? Well, he was like paving new ground, which means, yes, you are going to find, you're going to find less than desirable stuff. But, you know, back, back to the, the point of, um, you know, learning about this stuff and everything like, so, so, you know, talking about this show about the Disney wish or sorry, not the wish, the treasure, um,
00:54:21
Speaker
ah you know like Like you said, you know i'm I'm the same way that I love learning that stuff, but this is also exactly why I'm so um i'm so vocal about not spoiling stuff because for me, the the the take on it – I would rather go into it blind the first time. And then after I've seen it and experienced it, then I'll go back through and I will like deep dive and I will relate what I experienced to all of the like behind the scenes and the nuance and all that kind of stuff.
00:54:54
Speaker
And then that's what builds into, you know, me learning this stuff. But if I start from I've learned a bunch of stuff when I first go and experience it, I have zero interest. I get it. In like, like actually experiencing it, which I think for you, like, you know, getting on the ship, it's going to your first time on a Disney cruise anyway. Yeah.
00:55:13
Speaker
Yeah. Which, you know, I think you should just... I think you should skip this for now. I will. I'm going to. It's just tempting. It's just tempting to me. Although I can see you watching this, Trevor, since you know you're not going to go on a cruise. like I don't know if you still find it interesting.
00:55:28
Speaker
I'll probably watch it some lunch hour when i'm you know I don't have anything else to do at work. It is fascinating to see how they it. That's usually when I watch stuff like this. Yeah, I got it. But it is fascinating to see how they build a cruise ship. It's it's an incredible, massive undertaking. and And just to see the work that goes into it is is pretty amazing.
00:55:47
Speaker
So speaking of that, speaking of behind the scenes stuff. So Disney had announced back at, I think it was D23 again. But they ah they they talked about a new Lion King land that's coming to Disneyland Paris.
00:56:02
Speaker
And they gave a look at the, I guess, the scale model of what this ride is going to be. Now, looking at it. It looks familiar. It does look a little familiar. Very familiar. Okay. So it looks a lot familiar.
00:56:18
Speaker
Okay, so it looks like it looks like Splash Mountain slash Tiana, right? like let's Let's be honest there. Now, given, though, looking at it, I felt that way at first. I'm like, okay, they're just slapping Lion King onto this. It's Pride Rock Splash Mountain. And that's what I felt at first. But the more I look at it, the more I feel like it is, but it isn't.
00:56:37
Speaker
And the reason why I'm saying that is... you know Tiana takes you all kind of around the outside of the mountain. right This, you don't see any track outside of the mountain.
00:56:48
Speaker
right so This is either all taking place inside somewhere in a show building or somewhere that's not this mountain. right Because all you're seeing here is the mountain and the drop.
00:57:00
Speaker
And the drop looks like it goes underground too. so i don't know. It's a little different. Yeah, it is. i feel like because there's that whole section off or looking head on it like off to the right hand side.
00:57:15
Speaker
Like where you would normally see light, like you said that, you know, the, you could see the logs coming around on Tiana's and all that, that is all like covered over with just like a flat, flat hill surface.
00:57:27
Speaker
I wouldn't be surprised if that's actually where the rest of the ride is going to exist. Like, like that's, and that end behind it, like you're right. There's definitely gonna be a show building behind it, but yeah.
00:57:38
Speaker
Yeah, it feels I'm right now. i may And maybe this is just me setting expectations low because going to Paris is kind of an outside chance at this point for me. Yeah, I don't see myself going there, but I want to equate it to it is just going to be Splash Mountain. But maybe it's all, you know, all the drops are done inside, which doesn't really change anything about about the drops because one of the drops is inside already in, uh, and they do still have the final drop, right? They still have the final drop at the end.
00:58:08
Speaker
I do want to know though, if there's going to be an animatronic, uh, Simba at the, uh, on pride rock here, you know what I mean? Or is it just going to be that little, uh, that little figurine there? Yeah. Yeah. Like, is it just going to be, yeah.
00:58:21
Speaker
yeah Is it just going to be a static thing or is it going to be an actual like animatronic that like, you know, roars and stuff? That would actually be kind of neat if it would. Yeah. And actually, now that I'm looking at it, um there is like a little there's a little cave behind.
00:58:37
Speaker
what would be actually really cool is if they had it, you know, we just finished talking about like, you know, you know, robotics and and or, you know, you know, animatronics is if they could actually do an animatronic that walks out, roars, does a couple of things and then walks back in.
00:58:53
Speaker
Oh, that'd be cool. That would be that would be interesting. Yeah. Yeah, that would be very cool. Yeah. I was... This is a random aside again. I'm sorry. But we're going to wrap up in a second here. So I think I told you I've been rewatching Home Improvement, right?
00:59:07
Speaker
Yeah. And they had an episode where ah where ah Tim Allen is playing with his his niece, right? and they're And he's playing with a Simba doll, right? A Simba stuffed animal.
00:59:20
Speaker
And Jonathan Taylor Thomas comes up and says ah something about how he knows how tough it is to to be a lion and thinking that everyone wants you to be king. And it's funny because he was the voice of Simba. was probably at the time he was recording for...
00:59:35
Speaker
Yeah, well it's it was after that because it was it was already it was already a known entity at that point because it had the stuffed animals and everything. Right. So I just thought it was a funny joke because I'm like, if you didn't know that he was the voice of Simba, it doesn't mean anything to you. But it's just a funny inside joke.
00:59:50
Speaker
And then I'm also like, how is Tim Allen not doing a Buzz Lightyear thing here? But he does, actually. At the end of the episode, he starts doing Buzz Lightyear. It was just kind of funny to see that kind of bleed together, you know? To see the toys going around.
01:00:04
Speaker
Yeah. yeah And it's also kind of weird have two people on the same show that are from hugely popular movies, you know that and animated movies. That's actually true. i didn't and But I feel like...
01:00:15
Speaker
It was, they both started on home improvement and then that fed into them getting yes onto those shows or into those bigger shows. Right. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So it just was funny how that I like watching that. i was just like, oh man, does, do people remember that JTT was a Lion King?
01:00:32
Speaker
I mean, he was only it for half of it, right? The other half it was Matthew Broderick. And i also don't think he's saying, think maybe somebody saying for him, Uh, but you know, whatever, he was still him. still there. that's That's another rabbit hole. We'd have to, yes, we can wrap up though, unless there's anything else you want to talk about with this model. I listen, I think a lion King land is kind of great. And I think it's interesting that it's taken this long to actually make a lion King ride, right? Cause there's no other lion King ride.
01:00:59
Speaker
Yeah. But it's one of their most legendary movies. You think they would have done this sooner. I mean, we keep saying that, but it took them like 20 plus years for a Little Mermaid as well. like Well, and how long for Mickey? 100 years for Mickey. Yeah. So, so yeah yeah, I guess, you know, time time from their big hits to time of show or time of an attraction, you know, there's no expectation or assumption that you'll get, you know just because you like to show doesn't mean you're going see an attraction, but it also doesn't mean you'll never see an attraction.
01:01:30
Speaker
Right. Like it it could be exactly. It could be 20 years later or 30 years later. I don't know. I mean, they could they could do a Lion King attraction in Animal Kingdom. No problem. i I mean, that seems why wouldn't you?
01:01:42
Speaker
ah Well, but they already have Festival of the Lion King. So why would they do that? It's fair. That's really I mean, is that ah that's a show that I'm not an attraction. So but well, it but it is an attraction, though.
01:01:53
Speaker
The shows are still, I guess. yeah Yeah. It's not a ride, I guess should have been the word. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. It's yeah. I guess, you know, not everything necessarily translates into a ride per se.
01:02:06
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, should we wrap this up, Trevor? Yeah. I think we can wrap this up and have a, have a shorter episode, which, you know, get, yeah. Gives us time to you know, go get ready for the three hundredth which,
01:02:19
Speaker
mentally prepare ourselves for the 300. Yeah. It's going to be weird. It is. It's going to be an interesting setup. I, you know, we're going to try to make it a lot of fun. If there's anything specific you want to see on the 300th episode, let us know.
01:02:35
Speaker
I mean, if there's any specific thing you want us to talk about, we can do it. We can retell the old stories. We can, we can do whatever you
Listener Engagement and Reviews
01:02:41
Speaker
want. I mean, we were, we're here for, for you guys. So, you know, just tell us, tell us if there's something specific you'd like to see and we we'll try to do it.
01:02:48
Speaker
Yeah. So, yeah, i guess I'll just start with the wrap up then. You know, if you have stuff you want to send to us, you can always send it to us at welcomehomepodcasts at gmail.com.
01:03:00
Speaker
You know, yeah, we love hearing your own trip reports, your own takes on stuff. So, you know, keep that kind of stuff coming. ah You can also find us on social media. So you can find us on Facebook as Welcome Home Podcast. You can find us on YouTube as Welcome Home Podcast. You can find us on Instagram as Welcome Home Picks.
01:03:15
Speaker
Make sure on Facebook, you also check out our group, Welcome Home Disney Waitlist, where we talk about all kinds of stuff from the from the episodes and just you know general Disney stuff.
01:03:26
Speaker
um you know it's ah It's always a great time. And you know I think you know just one of the one of the great places on Facebook to to talk about Disney stuff. So come join us there. And if you'd like to help support the show, you can go to store.welcomehomepodcast.com and check out our different merch there.
01:03:44
Speaker
Lots of great stuff. And similarly, we also have a Patreon. can go to patreon.com slash welcomehomepod and check out our different levels of of Patreon support, which has exclusive merch that you can only find on Patreon.
01:03:57
Speaker
And all of our Patreon listeners get access to the Discord server, which is yet another place that we... We love talking about all the all the Disney stuff that we we talk about here. And last but not least, if you're listening on iTunes or Spotify or anywhere like that, leave us a five-star review. It does help people find the show. It does help us you know get up in the the rankings. I don't even know what it is anymore. You said it's the the travel something. Yeah, we we're we're under a bunch of different categories, actually. Yeah. Okay. But but yeah, so it it just helps out the show. And and you know you can always write us a review on iTunes. We love seeing what you guys ah think about the show as well.
01:04:35
Speaker
i We actually have two new reviews, but I will save one for a couple weeks from now. so Save one for post 300. Yeah. Yeah. We'll save one for post 300. It's funny, though, because it's a little bit of ah a microcosm of of what we ah what we talk about.
01:04:49
Speaker
is One of the reviews loves food time, and the other one wants less food time. So ah I don't know what to do with it. I don't know what to do. We do medium food time then. I guess. Yeah. We just do it. we know Well, I mean, it it kind of depends honestly on when stuff comes out anyway. So maybe we just start doing a separate show that's just about food.
01:05:10
Speaker
Maybe. You know what i mean? Yeah. Anyway, when anyone like that, let's just leave that there. yeah So this is from TBROAS. I don't know how that you would say that. This is great DVC podcast, five stars. We joined DVC about two years ago.
01:05:25
Speaker
So I'm always on the lookout for good DVC content. Tom and Trevor do a great job covering the latest DVC and Disney related news. Being a foodie, I also really enjoy food time segments. please Keep up the good work. I always look forward to listening to the next episode and refrigerator.
01:05:40
Speaker
There's a refrigerator and a winky face. All right. Okay. if you know If you know, you know. ah So thank you so much for that, T-Broas. T-Broas. Yeah, no, that's great name. Thank you for, and you know congrats on joining joining the club, right? A couple years ago now, but ah I'm glad you you found us. That's great news.
01:06:00
Speaker
So anyway, so if you if you want to get read out on the show like that, we can do that. Just you know make sure you put in ah put in a review. But also, ah don't forget to subscribe to Welcome Home Podcast so you'll be reminded every time we release new episode. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music, just about any podcast app that's out there. You can find us. Just search for Welcome Home. Look for the one that's DVC and Disney.
01:06:24
Speaker
Just a reminder to our listeners, Welcome Home Podcast is for entertainment only. We are not employed by the Walt
Closing and Sponsorships
01:06:28
Speaker
Disney Company. Not such. All opinions expressed on the show our own. So please consult a Disney cast member or DVC representative for more information about anything we talked about today.
01:06:36
Speaker
Huge thank you to our sponsor of this episode, DVC Resale Market and World of DVC for continuing to sponsor this show and being great friends of ours and just really supporting everything we do, honestly. They even you know are supporting our 300th episode too. So thank you to them.
01:06:50
Speaker
They're great. ah Please check them out for any of your DVC needs, whether it's buying, resale, selling your contract, renting, financing. you can do everything there. You can even plan vacations.
01:07:01
Speaker
ah So join us next time for more Disney Parks discussion. Of course, more DVC talk. We hope to see you all real soon. This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, signing off from Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
01:07:16
Speaker
How she can cuddle in no way.
01:07:24
Speaker
I looked around from pole to pole, found her in a sugar bowl. Look out, here comes my ball and chain.