Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 346: Disney Adventure Maiden Voyage, D23 Predictions & Buzz Lightyear’s New Scoring
0 Playsin 1 day
On This Episode
Tom discusses the difficulty of preparing for a trip at the last minute. The guys share an email from listener Jason about his family's first Disney cruise on the maiden voyage of the Disney Adventure. DVC increased the price of one time use points. Disney gave a first look at new Star Wars Day merch for May the 4th. Disney has released new details about this year’s D23 event and the guys predict what will be announced. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin will be reopening soon and the guys talk about the new scoring system. The guys discuss the new World of Frozen 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
Contact the show
- Call or text the show with your DVC tips and trip reports at (833) WHP-TIPS and we may play them on the show!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Sponsor Details
00:00:07
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, broadcasting on the DVC to all points unknown. If you're within the sound of my voice, you're listening to Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
00:00:30
Speaker
Hello and welcome home. This episode of Welcome Home is brought to you by DVC Resale Market. Thank you for joining us on episode 346 of Welcome Home, a Disney Parks and Vacation Club podcast. I'm Tom here with Trevor.
AI in Trip Planning: Pros and Cons
00:00:41
Speaker
How's it going, Trevor? Hey, pretty good.
00:00:43
Speaker
You know, what we were talking, we had so many things we were talking about before the show. know. There's something that I did want to start talking about on the show, and I completely forgot what it is Oh, I was talking about how I was on your trip planning. Yeah, it probably was. Cause yeah, i Trevor and I were playing around with AI and, and sometimes, you know, AI goes a little too far and and does things that ah you don't want it to do. So yeah. Yeah. But anyway, it's a challenging space to be in. Yeah. But anyway, yeah. So I, um yeah. So I, I mean, listen, I, it's,
00:01:21
Speaker
We're now this is Saturday, right? We're recording this
Trip Preparation Challenges
00:01:24
Speaker
on Saturday. My trip is I'm leaving on Thursday morning. I'm going to leave as early in the morning as I can. You know, I we try to, like, get a good jump on things. I don't like sitting in traffic. And i my daughter's up at 6 a.m. anyway, and I'm usually up at 6 a.m. anyway, too. So, you know, we usually will leave here. we wake up at six. We get ourselves together and we're we're out of the door out the door. Right. There's no more packing that happens at, you know, that day. Right. It's everything's done. Of course. Yeah. it's It's get up and go.
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah. But, you know, because this is happening on a Thursday and we just have like all this, you know, we have just the general life stuff. Right. Like my daughter had a soccer game this morning. I'm doing this right now. My daughter's got, you know, an Easter event thing. i think there's a birthday party thrown in there somewhere. There's gymnastics. Like, you know, we just got all this other stuff and and we're trying to accomplish stuff in between there.
00:02:14
Speaker
It's just it's
MagicBands and Kids Club on Disney Cruise
00:02:15
Speaker
challenging. Like I and I Trevor, I don't even know where my magic bands are at this point. Like i'm I'm still trying to find my magic bands. Like that's that's where how far behind I am on all of this. Like I'm not even at the most basic. Yeah. So sorry, you you need your magic bands on a cruise. I feel like you don't have known this, but I mean, you don't need them. I just like the convenience of magic bands in general. I mean, okay, fair. Yeah. And you know, cause you can use them on board. night even Sorry. yeah cruise ship They're called Disney bands. They're not magic bands. something like Right.
00:02:50
Speaker
Sorry, I forgot about this. I forgot this was an aspect of yeah being on a cruise ship. Yeah. Well, the other thing is, too, for the kids club, and i didn't we didn't know this going on. This was a blind spot for us last time, right?
00:03:02
Speaker
So my daughter has you know the magic you know the newer MagicBand. She has older ones, too, right? But we didn't realize for the kids club, the MagicBand actually has to be charged, right? So we just sent her in with uncharged one because if they don't have a charged one, then they actually will give you one there like that you like kind of rent and they like actually will put a charge on your account that they'll take back when you return it. But Because of thes the way the kids club works is they track the kids like they know where the kids are at all times. So like if where we go to pick her up, they know where to find her. Right. Which
Ethics of MagicBands Tracking
00:03:39
Speaker
I'm fine with. Like, you know, i listen, the idea of tracking people with magic bands is slightly creepy. But in this particular application, it makes sense to me. And I'm fine with it. but you know The thing is, it's a highly visible, like it's clearly what it's doing. like that's exactly You're right. It's fine because it's it has a clear intent. it's not
00:03:58
Speaker
They're not doing it secretly. I know why they're doing it. I know that they're doing it. you know And it's fine. but i And you know for those that know stuff about about the Magic Bands or just about RFIDs and stuff like that, there's the long range and there's the short range. The short range doesn't require any sort of battery really, but but the rechargeable pieces for the long range, you need that.
00:04:17
Speaker
But the new ones, you got to recharge them because you can't use the long range stuff without the battery. And that's what the problem is.
Packing Strategies and Stress
00:04:23
Speaker
Right. But I didn't know this going in. Like, I just I just assumed they were doing like, you know, I don't know. I don't know what I thought they were doing. I just didn't know.
00:04:31
Speaker
Mostly because I couldn't find my MagicBand charger. That's really what they're just memorizing the faces. Every every kid that walked in there and they knew that your kid's name was X and this kid's name was. And yeah. Yeah. it's Silly me. I thought they would just like yell her name down the hallway. like You know, like that's I don't know.
00:04:48
Speaker
yeah know You mean like most normal places like, you know, daycare where, you know, they're like, OK, you know, we'll go get your kid. Yeah. Yeah. I just I. Yeah. I just imagine, have you ever seen Trevor like ah in like some of the behind the scenes stuff when they show like the trackless ride or like have you just like when you got on like mini and mini's mini Mickey's, ah you know, the the runaway railway and you just like peek over at the screen and you can like see that the operator can see like where all the trackless vehicles are, you know, like they have like the track and like you can see where they all are. That's just like how I imagine it is at the the kids club. There's just a whole bunch of different dots on the map and they're all over the place running around. Probably. i Yeah. I mean, yeah. And then they just, you know, you know, find, you know, this person's name and it zeros in on, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:33
Speaker
Listen, it all makes sense. I just didn't know that last time. Right. So. So in that particular scenario, the magic bands are very helpful for that, for the kids club specifically. So might as well get all of them just. And plus, we're going to be a very beach afterwards, too. So it's like, right you know, we might as well just do it. Right. But I just can't find them. I don't know. My magic bands, for whatever reason, after every trip, they just disappear into some abyss. You need the Ziploc bag, Tom. I know. i know i I keep all of mine in a Ziploc bag in my travel day pack, and I know exactly where they are.
00:06:05
Speaker
now My wife seems to know where they are, but she has not clued me in on to where they are. She's like, I think I know where they are. And I'm like, okay, well, I'm glad that you think you know where they are, but where are they? like Get them. You know what I mean? Do you not just keep them with your luggage? like Because you need your luggage for traveling. Wouldn't it make sense to keep them with your luggage? Yeah. They typically end up in a backpack.
00:06:27
Speaker
See, here's the difference, though Trevor. is You're flying somewhere, right? So you're throwing everything in your bag bag, right? like yeah we a lot of Because we're driving, a lot of times, every like a lot of the stuff we're using on the last day ends up in a backpack, right? Because we're not packing these things up. yeah I mean, my my magic bands are in a backpack as well, but it's specifically a travel backpack. it It's reserved for that purpose. It's not like a, you know, it doesn't get mixed in with the other bags we have in the house. I guess that's like a hundred backpacks floating around this house. So like it's they're probably in a backpack somewhere. I just don't know where. Right. that's just, that's just not problem. Number one. Right. Like, but I haven't, and I know you, Trevor, you start packing like a month before the trip. Like I i'm so last minute with this stuff. You know what I mean? and My wife's like, well, we got, you know, all week. And I'm like, no, we don't. I was like, we got Monday through Wednesday. That's it.
00:07:20
Speaker
Like we, and and that feels like a lot, but we don't, you know, we, once you get home from work, you feed your kid, you do whatever else you're going to do. It's, you don't have a lot of time every night, you know? And so it's, um,
00:07:32
Speaker
You know, it's it's certainly a little stressful, you know, plus I'm getting a new roof put on my house on Monday. So there's also that going on at the same time. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So I'll be honest. So this this is I'm not I'm not judging you.
00:07:48
Speaker
I'm not sure saying how you're doing. This is right or wrong. But my take on it would be if I knew I was leaving on Thursday, my bags would be 100% packed by Sunday night.
00:07:58
Speaker
for exactly what you're talking about is that yeah I would make sure everything is done by Sunday night and that, you know, it would just be small incidental stuff that I would need, but you know, the night before. Like toothbrushes and yeah exact stuff that you need to use. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I would not want to be thinking about it, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday when I have to work and everything like you, you know, I don't, you know, I have other things going on.
00:08:24
Speaker
I want to be done. Like, yeah, You know, the the last full day I have the full day off I have would be like, you know, that's the last day or alternately, I would also like, you know, take a day off of work before I'm leaving so that I have time to pack.
00:08:40
Speaker
But well listen, my plan is to be ready by Sunday night. Like that is the plan, right? The problem is more that can I get there? you know yeah Like, am I going to have enough time? Because like I said, we got all this other kid stuff going on and,
00:08:57
Speaker
You know, just getting getting our house, you know, like, we've got to go grocery shopping. You know, all this stuff we have to do and we just, you know, got to find the time to do it. So, um yeah, listen, I'm not, I'm stressed about it. But at the end of the day, i it will be fine. i will probably be probably be able to get everything done by Sunday. You know, we've got to laundry, all that fun stuff, right? So it's it's like all of it. and And the other part is, too, and I, you know, I've... I don't I this is going to sound bad ah that unfortunately I'm relying on my wife for this um saying that it sounds bad. But, um you know, we're going we're going to Vero afterwards. We're going to have, ah you know, four adults and three kids in a two bedroom.
00:09:38
Speaker
And, you know, I was saying, well, we should probably get stuff to make like breakfast in the room and lunch in the room and maybe dinner in the room, too. Because, you know, it's Vero. It's not like we're at Disney World and we have like a million dinner options and stuff like that. There is a restaurant on site. It's a little pricey. And, you know, and we're going to just be coming off the cruise and, and you know, our all of our wallets are going to be ah hurting a little bit. So it's one of... I was, you know, so I'm like, can you find out like what...
00:10:07
Speaker
they want. yeah I don't know what they eat. you know and i don't I need to know what they want for breakfast and lunches and dinners and because I want to do a grocery order before we get on the ship. But it's like, you know that's that's another thing that's outstanding. So it's just you know i it me. I just want to just take control of these things and do them. and i'm just you know it's ah my wife But it's you know it's my wife's really good friend that we're going with. So it's like...
00:10:31
Speaker
yeah You're not going to hit them up out of the blue and be like, what do you want for groceries? What you want for food? Yeah. i you know And that's that's the thing. But yeah, listen, it's i we're very excited. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say that. like I am stressed. Yes. But I am very excited as well.
00:10:47
Speaker
I get it. it's It's exciting because I know you're going to go and have a great time, but it's also it's very hectic because, again, you know, like you said, you know, i I'm very much, a you know, i try my best to plan things out as far as possible. I not to say that I would never do like a you know, book something two months out and plan a kind of thing, but it would be like.
00:11:08
Speaker
If I was to do that, I i wouldn't be able to have a lot of other things going on in my life for that to succeed. I get it. yeah get it I get Same thing as you. it's like you know there is There is other activities going on. there is like you You do have to factor that in. That's why I like planning so far out is because...
00:11:28
Speaker
I know that it's like, hey, I have you know seven months to figure out like you know if there's any... you know i know it sounds silly, but it's like, hey, you know do I have enough pairs of shorts? Do I need to buy new clothes? Do I need to...
00:11:45
Speaker
you know, do do I need to restock certain things and, you know, making sure I have the time to do it? Not, you know, like, sorry, not the position that you're in where it's like, oh my God, you know, it's a week before and I don't know if I have everything that I need. Right. Like, yeah. Yeah.
00:12:00
Speaker
i I mean, yeah, I also like need to because we're driving like i need to get the car together. Right. Like need to get the car. I want to get the car cleaned and wash and all that stuff. So, we you know, we have a nice little environment to sit in the car for eight hours. And then, you know, I just make sure that everything's good there. Like there's just so many things I got to do to get right. And it's just in my head. It's like, how am I going to do all this? But it's going to be fine. Like I'm going to be fine. It's it's not.
00:12:23
Speaker
You know, it it'll be all right. it's yeah It is what it is. But and I just want to list it. Yeah, I just want to. so That's the other thing, right? i probably drive my wife insane because i i make I do make checklists because I tend to forget things and I don't want to forget anything. and you know, especially for the cruise and now you're used to this Trevor, but me not so much, right. Where i we have to have our passports for the cruise. Right. And like, we're not like in the, in the, in the, in the, ah you know, a routine of always bringing our passport with us unless we're flying somewhere. Right. Like if we're just going to Disney, we're not bringing our passport. Right. Like, so like, it's just little stuff like that, that I could see myself forgetting, but I probably won't because I know in my head that I need my passport, you know? Yeah. um But yeah,
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. It's it's just all that. It's it's a lot. ah But um ah you know like I said, i I know in my head what we need to do. It's just getting there, you know? That's fair.
Listener Story: Disney Adventure Maiden Voyage
00:13:19
Speaker
Yeah. So I am excited, though. i'm i'm I'm very, very excited for vacation. I'm very excited to check out the fantasy. i am still stressed out about the dinnertime thing. um But, you know, it it'll be fine.
00:13:33
Speaker
I'm like, yeah. so And, you know, I'm just going to I'm going to ground you on this, Tom. You know, you know, just to center you again, remember that your expectations are only your expectations.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yeah. Because I know you you know, like what. what best case scenario looks like because you have done all the research and whatever but if your family ends up just eating you know at whatever time or does or you end up getting like quick service because the sit down time didn't work for you or whatever i know but i want to go it'll be fine i want to go to the sit down i they're cool restaurants i want to check them out and and This may not be the time that you get to do it. I'm the same way where I'm like, you know you know, hey, there's lots of things that I want to do. i you know
00:14:21
Speaker
I want to go you know take trips to various Disney parks, but I realize that you know there's now is not always the time. Yeah.
00:14:33
Speaker
So I wish there was like shady people standing on the ship when you get on being like people that are selling tickets for events. got four for 545. got four for 545. market resellers of...
00:14:49
Speaker
ah got four five forty five gray market resellers of of yeah ah i i dieserations i want I want to do what Kevin McAllister's mom did while she's trying to get home to Kevin, where she's walking around and offering earrings and watches and things for for for tickets. you know like That's what I want to do. I want to walk out. Is it frowned upon for me to walk up to the line where they they do the changes and just go $100 to anybody switches with me? $100, $100. Is that wrong?
00:15:19
Speaker
I can guarantee you they would you would so quickly have a cast member on you. future sure I thought, yeah, I'm fairly I'm fairly confident they would not appreciate that.
00:15:32
Speaker
Then give me ah dinner time at 5. I'm not going to go on a rant about this. But yeah, I listen. I'm excited. I am still hopeful. We're going to show up really, really early and see if we can get on the ship a little earlier because the last time we were there, they offered to get us on the ship earlier ah because we were a small group and and ah they, you know, they was just, they didn't have much of a line. So they were, you know, even though it wasn't our time yet, they said they let us on. um yeah And, you know, from what I've read...
00:16:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's what my plan is. And i my mom is also telling me because the spring break and everything she was, you know, I so i think I've talked about this show on the show many times. we We will drive down to my mom who lives in Ocala, Florida, which is an hour and a half, two hours from Port Canaveral. My mom was telling me the other day because of spring break that it took one of her friends about three hours to get there.
00:16:24
Speaker
uh, you know, on, on, uh, you know, because, because it just took that much longer because of spring break and all the traffic and everything. Now, given that was during Florida schools, spring break, and that's over now. So we should be hopefully okay there, but I'm still gonna, we're going to still gonna get there way earlier than our regular time and, you know, see if we can just, you know, finagle our way on there. So ah that's, I mean, that's what I'm going to do. I, I,
00:16:50
Speaker
I mean, I feel confident that I could at least try to talk my way onto it somehow. so I mean mean, just, just be polite.
00:17:00
Speaker
That's all you got to do. Trevor, you know me, I am a very polite human being. So i am. Yeah, I will be very polite. And, you know, just, it'll be right. We'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, You know, I understand, you know, you guys have a method to this, but if you, if you have a free spot, you know, could you please get us on there?
00:17:19
Speaker
You know, just want to, just want to slip a slip of 20 in their palm, you know, just do like a little, okay. No, the money's not going to solve this problem. Tom. Okay.
00:17:31
Speaker
Tom. I can't bribe Disney cast members. You can't bribe the cast members. Why not? Oh, wow. Okay. Why not, Trevor? Why not? Why not?
00:17:44
Speaker
Well... right, listen, if any listeners out there have ever bribed a cast member, let me know how it went for you. um If anyone other doesn't bribe or you trevor everythingcriable we're out there doesn't think we're joking... we're joking... Who's joking?
00:18:02
Speaker
Tom. I can't. What? ah you get you know you get the good table when you go to go to dinner you know you slip i have i have never never done the slip of that no never ah that's that that's not a thing where i live palm of 20 and you slip it in there yeah come on i mean yeah sure you feel like a criminal here for doing something i never see i mean yeah so I've seen it on TV. I've never seen somebody actually like try and slip money to like the the hostess at a restaurant or something. listen I am mostly joking. i know i don't i'm not going to I'm not going to do that. yeah but i i Listen, I wasn't joking before, though. if so like If there were somebody that had the right amount and and had the earlier time and wanted to swap, I would pay somebody to do that. No problem whatsoever.
00:18:57
Speaker
like i I mean, that's that's between you and that person. From yeah from the cast member standpoint, though, i I will say the best tool you have with a cast member is just to be as polite as possible. Yes. And and it'll be yeah you know and don't don't put any expectation of... And I know you know this, Tom. I'm saying this like more like...
00:19:18
Speaker
like rhetorically for anybody else that's wondering about this is when it comes to cast members, if you're nice and you don't have to put expectation on them. There's a lot people that go like, but I said, please, so why aren't you doing the thing? And it's like... No, like just, I understand you're busy. If you can help me out, cool. If not, you know, no worries, you know, just figure it. I'd ask, you know, it doesn't hurt to ask. Right. So it never hurts to ask. I will be very nice about it. I will be very, uh, I listen, I, I know, I, I know how to do these things. I'm going to try my best. I mean, it's, If they can smuggle you in on the laundry cart or something, that's an option too. No, I'm not going to do that. Just tell them you'll ride up on the luggage thing if that's easier for them. Leave it up to them. Let them give you the options, right? Yeah, exactly. Anyway, this went to these places. Okay. Yeah. Let's get into our rundown. I want to talk about this email from Jason. So I love this for so many reasons, but I think the biggest one is how full circle of a thing that this is. right so we're still talking about cruises just so everyone yeah i'm sorry i know we've been cruise heavy lately and if that bothers everybody i'm sorry but you know we we do what we can with with uh you know the the cruise thing is coming up because i'm cruising so yeah i'm still talking about vero too vera's in there so yeah um anyway so jason emailed us almost three years ago to the day trevor three years ago Three years ago to the day, April 4th, 2023. So almost exactly three years ago. And it was an episode we did, episode 215.
00:21:04
Speaker
And Jason said, you know, during episode 215, you shared the news about DCL coming to Singapore. ah Trevor was wondering why you were talking about it. Yeah. Oh man, you got called out three years ago. um i I think my statement at the time would have been, I'm not going to Singapore. Why would we talk? that but it was a fair It's a fair fair thing to say. um But Jason says, me and my family live in Singapore and we're a Disney family. None of your other listeners may have been excited about the news, but that was the best part of the episode for me. Thank you. That's all he said, which was cool by itself, right? So we get another email and and we I've emailed back and forth with Jason a couple times. So this is not, you know, but but he just emailed us ah couple days ago and said, as with any good trilogy, here's the conclusion to the experience you both set me out on three years ago. So he just got back. Him and his family just got back from the maiden voyage of the Disney adventure.
00:22:02
Speaker
So how funny. I just it's i just love that this was that you know that that this came full circle like that. And you know it's funny because he he mentions and i he sent us a very long email, Jason, and I really love all the stuff you wrote in there, but I can't read all this on the show. So I'm going to try to just hit some of the moments because it's a lot. It is, yeah.
00:22:25
Speaker
I've read it through it as well. And yeah, it it is a lot, but I love it. we Yeah. i Yeah. i listen it I very much love it, but we, we are going to summarize it for you. Yeah, for sure. But he, he mentions the past couple times he's, you know, cause you and I have been talking about the adventure and how cool it looked. And he said, each time I wanted to shout, Tom, the ship is as cool as you think it is. um And, and he loves San Francisco, which, you know, you, you pointed out and I I've seen videos of it. It's awesome. I mean, it just looks awesome.
00:22:52
Speaker
yeah the whole San Francisco, Sanford, Tokyo street. I mean, it just looks awesome. It was amazing. He says, I love that. He says there's video games themed to be each of the big hero six characters there. Yeah. Yeah. And i'm I'm like, Oh, that's so cool. I would love to see that. And I actually saw a video of the Duffy store. um And so the, one of the crazy things about this ship is the first day you're there. If you want to go to any of the merch shops, you have to make a reservation just to go get merch. Yeah.
00:23:22
Speaker
and which is they don't do on any other the other ships and when i watch videos of this i understood why there were huge lines for merch like even with the reservations there were the crowds were crazy and especially the duffy store which you know because we've talked about this for their you know seemingly everyone's duffy stuffffy yeah duffy is duffy overseas you just gotta respect it Yeah, but Jason mentions that the WALL-E show was great, ah which I like that WALL-E gets a show. Good for WALL-E because WALL-E is like one of the best Pixar movies ever, and it's i but somehow still underrated. yeah it does get overlooked by a lot of other shows. It does. Well, because it's kind of a weird movie. like Nobody talks for like an hour. like you know but That's what makes it good. That's what makes it great. Yeah. it' just It's just so different than other movies. ah The Hollywood Spotlight Dining Room. I mentioned that one to you Trevor to watch the video of that. because
00:24:18
Speaker
And he he mentions here that it was gorgeous and they had you know a piano a pianist and ah and a bassist and someone singing and doing songs and talking about the animator's table, Trevor, which is actually one that is on the ship that I'm going on. Although it might be animators.
00:24:33
Speaker
but there's There's two different versions. There's animators table. and I think it's animators palette. And I, I'm not a hundred percent sure which one is on the fantasy. um Someone will tell me, but I, I forget, but there's like, there's a whole thing where you can like, you like ah draw characters and then they take them and then they animate them and put them on the screens while you're eating, which is, They do this on the other ships. This is not new, but it's ah it's a very cool thing.
00:24:55
Speaker
um And then, you know, just just talking about how much, you know, you really liked everything and it was, ah you know, how how cool things were and they you know they got a lot of like Maiden Voyage merch and stuff like that.
00:25:06
Speaker
What's cool about this, though, is this, you know, he's in Singapore. So this was the first experience he got to have with this, which is really cool. Yeah, I mean, that I feel like...
00:25:20
Speaker
yeah like a ship like this being your first Disney experience. I mean, that sets the bar really high, not to say that the other ships are not yeah equally as impressive, but I mean, this is a great first experience to have for any, any cruise ship. Right. So, yeah. Yeah. And, and the other, you know, he, he also had a couple of criticisms to now given, listen, it's a maiden voyage.
00:25:44
Speaker
You're going to have some things that are not great. I mean, even when we were, when we went on the treasure, when we, uh, you know, the treasure was only a couple months old at that point.
00:25:54
Speaker
And we, ah when we got on, it was, we think it was like the first or second sailing of like a whole new crew. And we had some issues, right? And and you I just, I am understanding of these things, right? Because it is, everybody's a human being and, you know, it's, it's, it takes time you get used to things and, and, you know, even just for somebody that's, you know, cleaning the state rooms, right? Like where is everything, you know, where's all the stuff, you know, to get into like that routine, it takes time. And, you know, so that's why a lot of times these, you know, first main voyages or the first time anything opens, it's, you know, there's always a little bit of challenges. And, you know, a lot of people were talking on the internet that the roller coaster on the ship was not working. And, you know, i would be kind of bummed.
00:26:36
Speaker
if I went and that wasn't working, but I, you know, you also have to understand that again, it's new and, and he, and he's understanding here too. he He gets, we, you know, you get it, but yeah,
00:26:47
Speaker
The thing i was picking out of this, though, and and there were a couple shows that had a couple of issues, too. um But what he said, what he mentioned was the beautiful thing was leadership on board realized they hadn't achieved everything they wanted.
00:27:00
Speaker
And ah it's to say sorry, they issued a cabin credit of $100 of on board credit for not living up to full potential. That is classic Disney stuff to do.
00:27:10
Speaker
you know, and, and not, and not something that every cruise line is going to do. They're just not. And, and I, I talked about this before when we were just down at Disney world for the, the Christmas party and we went to, we went to breakfast and breakfast was taking a really long time for us to get a seat.
00:27:28
Speaker
And I didn't even say anything. And the manager came up to us and said, Hey, whatever drinks you guys want this morning, it's on us. Like that's the kind of stuff that sets Disney apart because they, they proactively, will make sure that you're having the best time possible, even if things don't always go right, because they're never going to go, always go right. did They just know they're not. So, but yeah, I just, I just love this whole thing from, from, ah yeah from ah from, from Jason. And also to Jason mentioned that the, ah that Singapore has put on a firework and drone show every night ah during that weekend for the ship being there. And he says, I now know why Tom loves the drone show so much. It was an amazing thing to see. Yeah. And Tom still has not seen a Disney drone show.
00:28:09
Speaker
So you've got that one up on him, Jason. Whatever. I'm so bitter about this. But yeah, listen, Jason, thank you for writing this detail thing. I really wish we could read the whole thing, but it's you gave us really... deep And i again, I really appreciate all the details because i i like I said, I've watched videos on it and you know you only get so much out of the videos. and And truthfully, I think I'd love... to have you on to actually talk about this. I think that would be a lot of fun. ah But, you know, we just but with my vacation, everything we're going to we're going to have that out. But um but thank you for for first of all, emailing us for the first time three years ago and then for following up with us.
00:28:47
Speaker
Just just on, you know, just sharing, like you know, like he says, you know, being able to be on a maiden voyage voyage. is a rare opportunity and you know, you know, he's got that family memory memory and appreciate you sharing it with us as well. Yeah, so that's, that's awesome. Thank you for sharing that with us. Seriously. So, so great. And I'm glad your family got to do that and and had a good time with it. So hopefully you can do it again sometime soon. So yeah, exactly.
00:29:11
Speaker
Anyway, so I just i just am so tickled by the fact that it was three years almost exactly to the day that he first emailed us. And he just was like talking about how much he appreciated us talking about the the cruise ship. And then he actually goes on the maiden voyage.
00:29:25
Speaker
Like, ah, it's just cool. Yeah. It just feels very complete. yeah That's, you know, that's why we just keep talking about stuff. Right. That's, that's right. Cause everything, you know, not everything appeals to everybody, but. And, and sometimes you don't know, like, you know, we talk about things like years ago and you have no idea, like what it's going to actually unfold into. And it's always cool to see like the end result. Like, you know, I'm, you know, I I'll say this now is, you know,
00:29:52
Speaker
In the back of my head, i'm i'm trying to I'm trying to not get myself overhyped, but I want to believe that the Monsters, Inc. or Monstropolis, I guess I'm just going to start calling Monstropolis because, you know, you call it Monsters, Inc. land. It's Monstropolis. I want to believe that it's going to be amazing when it opens, and I really want to go and experience it, like, you know, early on if possible. But, you know,
00:30:20
Speaker
You know, maybe I'm just saying this now. So in the hopes that, you know, in a in a couple of years that I can be like, yeah, you know, we're going to the preview or something like that. So you never know. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, yeah, that's, I always like being there for the first to the last, right? Like I was, I was, yeah.
00:30:37
Speaker
Yeah, I will say, actually, you know, you know, recent experience for me was, you know, you know me and my brother going to Epic Universe during um the preview of it, because we we were there like four days before it opened. Yeah, yeah. um That's a similar experience. Like, you know, we we got to...
00:30:53
Speaker
we got to, you know, in a similar, you know, you know, experience to Jason was, you know, things were not functioning at a hundred percent and we knew that going into it, but, you know, still just the idea of, you know, getting there and, you know, but it would and it wasn't even a matter of being there first. It was just a matter of getting there to experience something, um as it was unfolding.
00:31:16
Speaker
Right. Like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, listen, i that that's really cool. i you know I was at the last performance of Illuminations, right? Which was also very cool. you know like Because that's one of my favorite shows ever. And i just i it just happened to work out that I was going to be there during the last one. And ah you know that was a really cool thing, even though like there was a thunderstorm that rolled through as we were doing it. It was pouring rain and and windy and there were a billion people there. But... um you know it was It's that kind of stuff that's really cool and you you don't forget. you know
00:31:51
Speaker
Anyway. i I think we're we're both avoiding talking about this next point because it's the one negative thing on the rundown. but Yeah, so but it's a DVC thing. yeah we We have DVC news and it's not good DVC news, but... It it is what it
DVC One-Time Use Points Price Increase
00:32:07
Speaker
is, right? So ah one-time use points are going up a little bit. Just a little bit.
00:32:12
Speaker
You know, not a lot. Yeah, it's not a lot. it's It's not great. ah it So, ah but yeah and I've actually never used one-time use points, Trevor, because i've I haven't been ah in a position where I didn't have enough to borrow, you know, where I needed to to buy anymore. but um But they were previously $20 each per point, right? And... ah but which was actually the rate was $17.77 per point. And then the plus taxes. Now the price of the points has increased to $20 plus the tax on top of it. So they're 2250 instead of it. It's not a big, i mean, it's not a big increase, but it's, it's there. It's a thing, but I mean, it falls in line with Disney's general, um,
00:33:00
Speaker
Increase of point value, I guess, is yeah the best way to put it. It's like when you look at when they're selling points, you know, we've all seen it over the years is that, you know, for new resorts, price per point has been trending upwards.
00:33:13
Speaker
Of course, they would want to keep the single use points kind of in line with that because... I know we we all treat points as an ethereal thing that, you know, well, it's just my points, but, you know, what's your problem?
00:33:26
Speaker
They do actually have a monetary value tied to them because they are used for the the rental of a, of a hotel room basically. Right. So, yeah. So I, I get it, you know, they're, they're, they're adjusting, they're adjusting with costs. I don't want to say inflation. I think it's just, they're, they're looking at costs and realizing that, you know, they can,
00:33:48
Speaker
They can charge more. No. I mean, that's their prerogative. And like you said, you know, it's not it's not one of these things that you use. Or I guess if you if you're having to use one-time use points on a regular basis,
00:34:02
Speaker
ah my statement to that would be why haven't you bought another contract yet? Yeah. I mean, that's kind of the thing, right? Like, like if, if you're in that position where you're constantly having to do it, it's, you know, it's probably that you don't have enough points to begin with. Yeah. So yeah. So like, same as you is like, I've never had to use them, but i will say, you know, you know, I'm still in the planning phases of a trip for next year it's going to be a bigger trip and I may be using one time use points because I'm pretty sure I'm going to need,
00:34:33
Speaker
extra points but we're gonna figure that out as we get to it like it's you know i don't know it may not be something i need to use but i mean you know the the the fact that the price is going up a little bit you know i'll i'll forget about this by this time next year anyway so doesn't matter but yeah still still not great to hear that prices are going up on things but yeah like we said it's it's also not not surprising yeah yeah all right.
Star Wars Merchandise Launch
00:35:03
Speaker
So, uh, one last thing, Trevor, before we do our ad here, i so
00:35:08
Speaker
dead I know you're not into star Wars as much anymore, but, uh, may, may 4th is coming up, you know, I'll still talk about I'm, I just, I'm not watching the movies. I'll still talk about star Wars. We're about five weeks away from, uh, may 4th and, and, uh, you know, for those that don't know, and I feel like most do, uh, you know, may 4th is a, uh, a fun made up holiday. Uh, May the force be with you. yeah Yes, that's right. And it's become like a star Wars day essentially. Right. I mean, it's really just star Wars day.
00:35:40
Speaker
yeah ah And it's funny to me that this is kind of been like a, I don't know. it's it's it's like a it was it was not It's become a much bigger thing over the years to the point where like Disney's acknowledging it with merch. you know that that Literally, this merch says May the 4th, 2026. Yeah. And I don't remember them doing that in the past. I remember them having like special merch, but not specifically May the 4th be with you, 2026.
00:36:10
Speaker
Yeah, it's I mean, I'll say this, this merch, I i like the design of it. I like the the color palettes and everything. Having May the 4th be with you 2026 slapped on it is hurting it, in my opinion. It's it's funny, though, because like I know what you're doing. like I would want it without that. like Well, are you okay with it being May the 4th be with you and not having the year? Or you don't want that at all?
00:36:39
Speaker
I don't think it needs it, honestly. I think they could have just put it out. like like so So the whole theme around it this year is that they're they're doing Mandalorian Grogu. so so ah So this merch all has you know the Mandalorian and and Grogu. on it everywhere. And Ahsoka is on there as well, which is like yeah yeah I like Ahsoka. Ahsoka is a very cool character.
00:36:59
Speaker
and um... So, you know, i like I like all that. I like the the way that they put it out. But then, yeah, like I said, I feel like, yeah, they're deliberately trying to slap this on as, you know, this was released exclusively for May the 4th.
00:37:13
Speaker
In 2026. But I feel like they could have been a little more subtle with it. I get I guess if they still want to put that on there, they could have done it in a way that, you know, is not, it's a banner over the middle of the artwork right now. yeah And I don't like that.
00:37:31
Speaker
I get that. i'm I'm the person that if like I wear a shirt that's referencing a movie or a TV show that I like, I don't want the name of the movie or TV show to be on that shirt anywhere. You know what i mean?
00:37:45
Speaker
like i I want you to just get the reference that um it's on my shirt. And if you don't get it, you don't get it. That's your problem. Like i you know what i mean? Like I, I don't need that thrown in my face. I get what you're saying though. I do like the design. I will mention though too. They also, so they've got a bag, they've got a hat.
00:38:01
Speaker
It looks like they got a, what is a hoodie ah and a shirt. Of course, this is just the first. Yeah. And a pin. There's a pin, an Ahsoka pin. Right. And so there's, this is just the first release. They're going to be doing them. See, it looks like weekly.
00:38:18
Speaker
until May 1st. And then, i so the the the next one's on April 10th is going to be themed to Endor. Okay. And then Stormtroopers after to that. Yeah, that okay it's going to be Ewoks. Of course, it's going to be Ewoks, right? So, okay, i'm I'm going to be that person for a minute. Oh, boy, here we go. Do they know that the Ewoks are on the third moon of Endor and not Endor itself? I know they like saying Endor. Yeah. But the Ewoks are not actually on Endor. On Endor. They're on the moon of Endor. I don't know. goodby It's a question. I mean, okay, sorry. I would hope that they would know. Yeah. you'd like so so So Endor is first. um
00:38:57
Speaker
Yeah, cool. i'm i'm I'm there for that. Stormtroopers. Stormtroopers. I am. Yeah. You're not into the stormtroopers. I see. I feel like stormtroopers are very popular, even though they're not a dark side guy. I'm not like stormtroopers are cool, but and or for For like the the Imperial Army slash whatever, like, yeah, the Stormtroopers, I think, are the most appealing side of that to me. But I'm not a dark side guy. Like, I'm very much on the rebel side. so Fair enough. Yeah.
00:39:28
Speaker
Then the next one just says jerseys, which I'm assuming is just going to mean like spirit jerseys or something. I guess, yeah. It's weird that they we're going from theme in that of like character theme to like... But whatever, like they could have said like purses or shoes or something, and it would have been as equally like confusing. Yeah. It's just not. And then 1st, we got pod racing, which that is very interesting. Yeah. Like, like let's go back to the, ah to the the, you know, first trilogy. Yeah. Or not like the one, two and three.
00:40:00
Speaker
i haven't seen anything about pod racing in a minute. Yeah, for sure. And i'm yeah I'm not against it. I very much like the pod racing scene in the first one was for me a highlight of it. And To the point where that like they they released a pod racing video game and I played it and I thought it was great. ah Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:21
Speaker
Like, yeah. And I feel like pod racing could have been a thing in and of itself within the Disney or the the Star Wars universe that they just never capitalized on. So it's interesting that they're giving it a nod right now.
00:40:36
Speaker
I'm wondering what kind of stuff they're going to have from a pod racing standpoint. I don't know. I'm betting right now there's going to be ah pin with either... ah Sebulba or um what's the, what was the guy who owned Anakin when he was a slave? Groot.
00:40:56
Speaker
you're yeah i as casual Star Wars fan, I remember almost nothing. So, so Sebulba was the main antagonist. He was the one that, that Anakin was racing against. And I liked him as like, he was a good antagonist. I felt for that. um ah But Hold on. I need to look this up. well i'm While you're doing that, why don't I hop into our ad? Watto. That's who it is. Watto. Okay. Sorry. I got it. All right. Okay. I'm good. We can move on. yeah why don't we Why don't we go ahead and do our ad? Unless there's anything else you want to say about this? well Obviously, we'll revisit this when the other ones come out.
00:41:33
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So, okay, let's go ahead and do our ad. ah And then we'll ah we'll do some... I got a new segment, Trevor, that I came up with in the delirium of of sleeplessness last night. Yeah, you messaged me this last night. and I'm on board for it, but I'm curious what how this is going to play out.
00:41:54
Speaker
The sponsor of this episode is DVC Resale Market. a DVC Resale Market, a key holder vacation 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.
00:42:08
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. In 2025, DVC Resale Market helped over 4,400 families join or add on to their memberships.
00:42:29
Speaker
Go to DVCResaleMarket.com slash welcomehome or call 1-844-DVCPROS. That's 1-844-382-7767. And when you speak to them, be sure to let them know that Welcome Home sent you.
00:42:42
Speaker
By the way, one of the things I forgot to mention, Trevor, in the in the top of the show... was that obviously I am going to be gone next week. And so during that time, we will be airing our Dapper Danielle ah interview where we talked about her her and her brother's ah book about Epcot. So ah instead of the regular episode ah next week, you're going to get that.
00:43:03
Speaker
So you know keep an eye out for that and you know definitely check that one out because we we did have a lot of fun with that interview. So I yes i meant to say that at the top of the show and forgot. Well, wellll we'll just mention it here and mention it again at the end of the show. so Yeah, there you go. yeah
D23 Event Preview and Announcements
00:43:18
Speaker
All right. So ah Disney has announced ah a little bit of details here about D23 this year, which, listen, D23 has really become this really, you know, it's a huge event at this point. And this will be from August 14th, August 16th.
00:43:36
Speaker
ah But, you know, we there's a lot of things that they're going to do during this, as they always do. They have, ah you know, some really interesting events that they're doing, like they have the Disney Entertainment Showcase, the Disney Experiences Showcase and the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony. And and ah also they're doing yeah the the return of ah ah the fan favorite D23 Masquerade, which is which is a costume Disney costume contest. Now it's a cosplay contest. Yeah. Because D23 is almost like ah it's like a Disney Comic Con almost in some ways. you know it's It's got like that kind of thing to it, except you get a lot more.
00:44:14
Speaker
you know It's just Disney stuff and and Disney's presenting things. But also, ah you know they're going to have a a Walt Disney Imagineering Pavilion with ah you know showcasing some of the stuff that's coming up.
00:44:28
Speaker
Uh, you know, which is always, always an interesting thing. And, uh, you know, there's a bunch of other things that they're working through here. And but by the way, we have some new Disney legends to Trevor, uh, that were announced.
00:44:40
Speaker
And I think this is a pretty solid list. I have minor quibbles with a few here and there. okay Um, I, I want to know with who, because I don't disagree with, I have one quibble really one. Yeah. Okay.
00:44:56
Speaker
well all right Well, you can't leave it at that. Okay. Well, so here's the honoree list ah for 2026. It's Susan Egan, Dwayne Johnson, Anne Hathaway, Alan Tudyk, which I think is, I love the Alan Tudyk. I'm a huge Alan Tudyk fan. I love the fact that he's getting, getting this.
00:45:14
Speaker
Uh, Jonas Brothers, uh, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eric Goldberg, which if you don't know who Eric Goldberg is, he is, ah he's been like one of the, the, the biggest, like he's one of the main animators at Disney animation. He's been there a long time. He animated Jeannie. That's yes as much as you need to know. Yes.
00:45:32
Speaker
he's he's very well known for creating for creating genie and in in latin so uh jerry bruckheimer chris berman kim irvine which good for kim irvine too i she she definitely i think deserves that um again if you don't know who that is you know imagineer uh you know has worked there since she was young her mother is uh madam leota so you know yep there's that and then of course Bob Iger which again makes sense my only my only problem is Dwayne Johnson I really I why i I don't I like I don't have a problem with with the rock or jane you know Dwayne Johnson but I don't know like for what Moana and I guess the ja movie Moana Jungle Cruise um what else we got he he was in Zootopia 2
00:46:23
Speaker
um Oh, yeah. Which, by the way, oh, I didn't even talk about this show. i had a cameo in there. I got my daughter to watch it. Oh, we we actually watched it last night, too. so i I loved it. I don't know how you felt. It was great. it was great Yeah, I absolutely loved it. I also love the Bob Iger thing that they did in there where they they had Bob Tiger and and he's doing the weather.
00:46:45
Speaker
And for those that don't know, Bob Iger started at the at the at ABC as a weatherman. That's what he did. And so for them to kind of do harken back to that, I thought that was kind of cool. you know But anyway, so yeah, no, I loved it. I thought it was great. My daughter liked it. Yeah.
00:47:01
Speaker
Yeah, so sorry, but back to the Disney legends. Sorry, I'm i'm just surprised that, like, Dwayne Johnson has been involved with multiple Disney projects at this point. I don't see wouldn't him in the list with the rest of these people.
00:47:17
Speaker
I think he got overexposed for me, and he just kind of, like, rubs me the wrong way. Now, now that being said... I did watch the trailer for the the live action Moana and I know a lot of the internet is talking about his wig or whatever.
00:47:30
Speaker
ah I think it looks fine. I don't know what people expect. I think people just want to find a thing to make fun of whatever, but that is exactly it. Yeah. but I don't know what people expect, right? Like you, you think it's going to look exactly like the, the animated, it's just not possible. Like I think they made it look as accurate as they could. That's the only burner there, but yeah,
00:47:48
Speaker
um i thought the trailer i thought the trailer looks pretty good i mean given it's a live action and there just looks like they're doing pretty much the exact story but it looks like it's gonna be fun the girl he chose to be moana's good and seeing the rock real life as maui is kind of cool i i kind of liked it but anyway i don't know i think he just got overexposed for me maybe it's all the fast and furious movies yeah i don't yeah I guess that's fair. if you If you look at his career outside of Disney and, yes, that you know his former w wwe stuff and all that, I see where
00:48:21
Speaker
I get the impression of, you know, Hey, he's trying too hard and, and whatever. And, and I see how that can rub people the wrong way. I try to, I try to decouple the, you know, achievements of what they've done in Disney from there. Or like you can enjoy the art of what they do and you don't have to the artist necessarily. i get that.
00:48:45
Speaker
Like, like for all of these, people on this list. It's like, you know, there, there are projects that they've been involved in at various points that it's like, it wasn't for me. It's not that I, you know, it's not that I'm putting in the bucket of like, I like this and I hate this, but it's like, they've, they've done things at various points that, you know, I have no care for, like, you know, Anne Hathaway's movies. It's like, you know, I know her involvement in like Disney movies and stuff like that.
00:49:14
Speaker
I don't care for them, but I respect the fact that she's getting, yeah, acknowledged for this. Right. So, I mean, it's, if if you had to pick like a, a, a tops in this list, besides Iger, I'll just keep Iger out of that. Cause Iger deserves that obviously. And it was not shocking to me, but like, you know, and I know you're not a sports guy, but Chris Berman is, you know, legendary sports guy, right? Okay, cool. Mm-hmm.
00:49:37
Speaker
I love Alan Tudyk. I think Alan Tudyk is great. But like Alan Tudyk is great. Yeah, he's amazing. And he's done a lot of Disney stuff, ah even if you you probably haven't even realized how much Disney stuff he's actually in. Because, I mean, like he was BB-8. I mean, he did he like literally was doing the I mean, he's not really, but apparently but he got credited with with the the creation of like the the little beeps of BB-8, which is absurd.
00:50:00
Speaker
ah It is what it is. ah but um But, you know, he also did, you know, ah obviously voices in Frozen and, you know, he was in, um oh gosh, what was that that one Star Wars movie I really, really liked that was fairly recent? um um Oh my gosh.
00:50:17
Speaker
Not, ah or he was K2SO. K2SO, yeah. And ah why can't I think of the name of that one? It's not, ro it's Rogue One. Rogue One. I love verbly i thought Rogue One. I'm saying Rebels in my head and I'm like, no, Rebels is the show. Rogue. Yeah. rogue He's great in that one. And also I'm just a little biased too. So I was always a big Firefly fan and he was great. fun So that's, you know, all of those things. Right. um And I mean, but Lin-Manuel Miranda too. I mean, it's like dude's legendary at this point. You know what I mean? But really from a Disney standpoint, like, you know, Encanto is his big crowning jewel at this point. Moana too. Moana too.
00:50:55
Speaker
Yeah. Sorry, you're saying the sequel to Moana was... No, no. It did all the music in the first Moana. Okay. Okay. So I i didn't. Right. yeah yeah I forgot about that, but I feel like in Canto still, it still sits above that from like, or when I look at Lin-Manuel Miranda, I'm like, Oh, in Canto stuff, like he, like that was his biggest thing, but yeah, I guess you're, yeah, you're right. It's, you know, at the end of the day, you know, all of these people have various things that they've been involved in and you don't have to, you know all the things they've been involved in and and i know you can say like yeah i don't like dwayne johnson because of all these other things but i feel you you can't ignore you know the stuff that he's done in disney has been good like you know you you can you can hate on moana all you want no i don't hate on moana i think one is great i love and and same with the jungle cruises you know you know i know the jungle cruise
00:51:52
Speaker
like I did like the Jungle Cruise as well. Like it's... I thought it was fun. There's nothing... And the thing... The problem is I think everyone looks at it as like, oh, well, you have to have like the biggest thing ever. And it's like... I mean, Moana was huge anyway. yeah But it's like... But he can be involved in other projects and they all don't have to like...
00:52:14
Speaker
be in the top five. Like it's, yeah, I don't know. I, you know, who's an interesting omission from, from the Disney legends is, uh, Robert Lopez and his wife, uh, for writing all the songs in frozen. cause like, I mean, yeah it's he, first of all, he's the only double EGOT that exists, right? So he's just legendary based on that, but also like,
00:52:43
Speaker
the The music for both of those movies was insanely huge. I mean, maybe well they just haven't done it yet. But I mean, they back in 22, they did the whole cast of, like literally like the whole whole voice cast of Frozen.
00:52:57
Speaker
it were became Disney Legends. Yeah. Just odd. That's all. I'm not saying there's any particular reason. I don't know. It's just kind of weird to me. That's all I'm saying. You can ask Josh what's up with that. Yeah, to call Josh and be like, Josh, what's up, man?
00:53:13
Speaker
so so We talked about the Disney Legends here for a bit. Yeah, new segment. oh I guess, so, you know, other things that are going on at D23. Oh, yeah. Not new segment yet. Okay. We'll wait. We'll wait.
00:53:30
Speaker
Well, okay. Read the other things, read the other things. Let me find it now. I've i've been so busy. Yeah. yeah Okay. Um, uh, so the, yeah, they, it looks like they have a couple of exhibitions going on. So there's, um, you know, capturing life, creating character, the art of live action featuring rare photography, costume pieces, artwork, and interactive elements. It like, that seems very interesting to me. yeah,
00:53:59
Speaker
The yeah, I'm I'm looking through this and I don't see a lot of other stuff that's standing out to me as like it seems like the general like stuff you see on the floor of a convention.
00:54:12
Speaker
Right. Yeah. So. Okay.
Predictions for D23 and Park Updates
00:54:15
Speaker
right Well, that brings me to the new segment, Trevor. Yeah. so So what are you thinking, Tom? All right. So I'm calling this segment Nostradismus.
00:54:29
Speaker
ah if For those you know that don't know who Nostradamus is, i you know famous for making predictions of the future. So this is Nostradismus because Trevor and I,
00:54:40
Speaker
are going to make predictions about what is going to be announced. Wild, bold predictions about what is going to be announced at d twenty three Now, I don't know what your list looks like, Trevor, but I have some crazy ones on here, right?
00:54:54
Speaker
And that's what I'm looking for here. This is different than reckless speculation because we're making predictions. Reckless speculation is just speculating. You know, it's out in the air. This is, what I'm saying this is going to be announced at D23. And I have no knowledge of any of these things.
00:55:06
Speaker
These are just things that I am predicting and putting out there based on what I think and what I feel. And what we will do, Trevor, is after d twenty three five months from now, we will revisit this and talk about where we were right and where we were wrong. You're going to make me actually commit to this now. Okay. I'm going to make you commit to it. Yeah. Listen, but here's the thing. Here's the fun thing about Nostradismas, Trevor. You don't have to be right. It's okay to be wrong.
00:55:32
Speaker
We're making bold predictions. ah To me, it's better if one of my crazy predictions actually turns out to be true than if ah none of them are true, right? like just that you've that i Like just if all of them are true. If all of them are true, I just want one.
00:55:44
Speaker
just want one. Give me one. I got crazy ones in here, Trevor. Okay. All right. Well, we'll go first so I can get it. i have some ideas in my head, but I want to see how... Off the mark, I might be with this. All right. I'm going to start off, Trevor, with I believe that Disney will announce a permanent Blueyland at one of the parks in Disney World.
00:56:07
Speaker
Okay. A permanent Bluey land, which will, maybe not a land completely, at least a attraction, a real attraction. a li and Not the show that's currently in, but an attraction of Bluey. I said this in the Discord because I believe this. Disney's doing the playbook they did with Frozen. Okay?
00:56:29
Speaker
If you remember, early after Frozen, now given we're where Bluey's a little mature at this point, right? so like we And we're not getting new Bluey until next year. But early on after Frozen, they didn't want to necessarily commit to Frozen, right? Like they they kind of thought it would be a thing, but weren't sure still. And so they started to, they had like a parade. They did like the whole summer thing. They did a whole summer thing where they had like a parade and they had like the the snow in the in the in the one thing at Hollywood Studios. And they did a whole bunch of just like kind of temporary-ish things, right?
00:57:02
Speaker
which is what they're doing right now with bluey. Right. We get, we get, we have the blue show and look what happened at Disneyland. Right. yeah i mean, I'm sure you saw was line going back to the hub.
00:57:13
Speaker
It was, it like far exceeded their expectations. So, so you like to understand that, how crazy that line was the theater where it sat was right on the edge of toontown, which is at the far back section of fantasy land. So not in the middle of fantasy land, it was in the back of fantasy land. And the line went back to the hub.
00:57:39
Speaker
i Yeah. Like that's like, he's not going to go to the castle to the hub kind of thing. Like that's, that's crazy.
00:57:50
Speaker
Yeah. I, I honestly believe if Disney hasn't tried already that they are going to buy bluey wholesale, that they're just going to buy bluey. it's It's supposedly worth a couple of billion dollars at this point, which sounds crazy, but I would bet you they buy Blu-ray.
00:58:05
Speaker
that Assuming that the creator or the owner... Yeah, assuming that they agree to it, that's you know that's another matter. If I if i were Josh DeMauro, I would call him up and be like... Because I know he wants to do adult animation. I'd be like, listen...
00:58:20
Speaker
I got this, I got Fox, you know, like I, get not Fox, but you know, I have like all these cartoon things that we, you know, we have on all these different networks that we can give FX. We've got, you know, we, we've got ah several animation studios. You tell me what adult show you want to watch and we'll, we'll green light that. And you sell me bluey and we'll keep making bluey without you.
00:58:40
Speaker
And given, listen, I don't want them to make more bluey without the creator because he is clearly the secret sauce to this, but yeah, i i think i just think I just think Disney can't ignore this.
00:58:53
Speaker
they They did a show which looks fun and great, but you you see how popular it is. That's that's land popular, right? like You can't keep keep having a show be number one streaming show in the entire world and not do something with it. It can fund a land the same way that Cars Land became a land.
00:59:13
Speaker
Yeah. And i I don't remember, Trevor, if I said this on the show or I said this to my wife and I said it in the discord and i I believe this to be true. You could, if you really wanted to, put this at the Imagination Pavilion in Epcot because Bluey is all about imagination.
00:59:32
Speaker
There's nothing that fits better into that. But that being said, I don't want them to replace Figment. And I also don't think Bluey fits into Epcot as a whole. So to me, this goes Hollywood Studios that where it feels where it belongs.
00:59:46
Speaker
But I don't know. I don't know. It could also go Animal Kingdom. You could do an Animal Kingdom thing. Fine. i I don't see that happening in Animal Kingdom just because of what's already going on in Animal kingdom I agree with you. I mean, and listen, there's a lot going on in Hollywood studios too. I just don't think Disney can continue to ignore this and do temporary things like these shows. I just, I just don't think they can. You're the level of crowds that you're bringing in with Louie is not, you need to do something more. You can't just do this. I also, someone, I believe I want to say it was Becky or or someone else on the discord. And I, I'm, I apologize for not giving credit, but mentioned the blue character dining experience. That would be insane. insanely popular if you did if they did that like in so like it'd be impossible to get a reservation absolutely impossible right you're not wrong i i'm not yeah i i'm on board with what you're saying i just think that they can't ignore it trevor they can't ignore it they have to do something and i feel like they will announce something okay fair um
01:00:47
Speaker
Okay, going to throw one out there in the same vein um of you know a potential new land. And I'm saying this actually because of the fact that I watched Zootopia 2 last night. oo I feel, because there is a Zootopia attraction overseas at this point. There is, yeah. I would like them to announce, I would hope that they would announce something in North America either either an attraction or, i mean, I'll be honest. Okay. This is crazy town version of this. um No, that's what we're doing here though. This is, this is i these are bold predictions. I believe, so no, this is an opinion. I'm not I'm not saying Disney would ever announce this, but my take on Zootopia is it has the potential to be a land or be, be actually multiple lands.
01:01:42
Speaker
I i know what you're saying. Yeah. Which could, would actually imply its own park. Like looking at Zootopia, it is, it is, it has enough variance to it. And it had like the different, um the different towns or, or, you know, sections of it could, it could facilitate its own park. And then, you know, watching the movie, the way that they do the, the tube systems and everything, like it has that potential to you know, those are your rides, right? Like, you know, the transportation around Zootopia is, you know, you know, the rides that you would you would offer in a Zootopia land.
01:02:21
Speaker
The only problem I see is that, you know, from an IP standpoint, I don't know that it's strong enough, like you know, like Bluey, that it resonates well enough, but I don't know that it needs to, honestly. Like, you know, i feel like it could it could grow on its own. i I, the the crazy like sky high version of this would be,
01:02:39
Speaker
a land or multiple or like a very large land where you have the multiple areas in it or something to that effect. Um, a whole park on its own would be insane, but I would like to see them announce a Zootopia attraction.
01:02:55
Speaker
Um, Not the one that's in the tree of life. and we we Yeah. Or I guess, sorry. i ah Sorry. Let me re refine that. Not an attraction, but a ride. An actual, like, like i would like them to announce, like, the the one from the one that's, I think it's in Singapore. It's in Shanghai. It's in Shanghai. Sorry. Yeah, it's in Shanghai. I actually just saw an article earlier of the other day that it's the highest rated attraction at at ah at Shanghai.
01:03:21
Speaker
exactly. Which is expensive considering some of the stuff they have there. Yeah, so I would hope that they announce some version of that coming stateside. What would actually be funny, and again, that this is crossing over into to speculation a little bit. They talked about resetting on the Avatar land in um California. because um It would be funny if they suddenly went, oops, sorry, not Avatar, it's actually Zootopia. No. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe. would I would love that. I'll just say that right now. um So, so that's, that's my, I feel like Zootopia ride of some sort.
01:04:01
Speaker
All and we right. now I had that on my list as well as Zootopia land, because they did, they did a while ago share some concept or when they were doing that blue sky thing where they, I i think that's what it was, where they had some like a Zootopia type land at animal kingdom.
01:04:15
Speaker
I could see it. and I wouldn't be shocked because the second movie did great. And to your point, Trevor, the the thing that stands out about those movies is the world's building they've done where there are so many stories you can tell because they have all these different biomes and different things going on with each of each of them. Oh yeah.
01:04:34
Speaker
There's it's endless. They could do these forever if they really wanted to. um Yeah, that's good one. I like it. right All right. I got. all right. So now here's i'm goingnna I'm going to hop over to Epcot. going to go to Epcot here.
01:04:48
Speaker
Now that the dust is settled at Epcot, Trevor, the dust is settled. I think we're finally, after six years, going to get our spaceship ah Earth ah reimagining.
01:05:02
Speaker
Really? Yeah. You remember they announced it, they were going to do it and then COVID happened. I think it's finally going to happen because now all the dust is settled at, at Hollywood studios, right? Everything's there's, I mean, the Hollywood studios at Epcot, I'm sorry. And there's nothing going on really at Epcot right now. Construction wise, right? Like we're not building anything, right? Everything's pretty much done, right? We got guardians. We got the track. We got all that other stuff.
01:05:27
Speaker
Time for more at Epcot. So spaceship earth refurb, I think is happening. Right. Again, this is based on nothing other than just me guessing, maybe hoping. And i think figment ride, Trevor, we're finally going to get some idea on what they're going to do with figment.
01:05:45
Speaker
You think, you think that they'll announce figment at this D 23? Sure. okay No, I really do that. No, but do I, dick care night i so, so I, I'm, you know,
01:05:59
Speaker
fair Fair prediction. My only criticism of that is that I feel like it's too early after Josh taking the reins yeah to see anything. i just I agree with you. I want to see them announce something with Figment. I don't think it's this D23 is the only thing.
01:06:17
Speaker
ok That's fair. But fair. you know yeah But again, we're making predictions. I have my own prediction about Epcot. Oh, OK. i I think we're finally going to see a repurposing of the Wonders of Life pavilion.
01:06:31
Speaker
Oh, because that that's another one that know that that but that was on the table, the same as the the ah the Spaceship Earth redo and all that. It was. But the thing
Epcot's Future and New Attraction Speculations
01:06:42
Speaker
about Wonders of Life is it is the same as, you know, like how the Odyssey was for the longest time, a a bit of a sore thumb before they've kind of repurposed it into like a a festival area. Yeah. um It's just sitting there.
01:06:56
Speaker
Like you, you walk by and it's like, what is, you know, you know, there's a big empty space there. Right. Why is there a giant golden dome over there? That's, you know, you can't get to. Yeah, exactly.
01:07:06
Speaker
i I hate to say this. I don't know that they'll keep the dome in its current state. Ooh, interesting. so So this is where it gets a little crazy is that I wouldn't be surprised if it's kind of how they redid – what was it called? Energy – Universal Energy. Thank you. yeah Energy Adventure, yeah. universe Sorry. yeah Yeah, Universe of Energy. you know you know They redid the entire building for Universe of Energy for for Guardians, right? yeah I wouldn't be surprised if they're looking at Wonders of Life and take it as an opportunity to –
01:07:44
Speaker
redo that building as well. I don't know if it would be a full demolish, yeah but I feel like they're, you know, you know, again, to to your point of, you know talking about like, you know, Hey, they're done with other things in Epcot. Epcot's kind of settled down. It's, it's in a stable place.
01:08:01
Speaker
They're going to want to start, know, Like, it honestly, the the last attraction in Epcot was um actually, wait, was it Guardians? I forget now. I guess i mean, technically, a new Test Track, I guess, right? Yeah, technically the redo of Test Track, but I don't count that because it was a... It's existing, yeah. It wasn't a full, like, new thing. It was an overlay redo, right? Yeah, yeah. um i think I think it would be time for them to say, yeah, you know, we have a space here that we can do something with.
01:08:35
Speaker
that's That's my thought on Epcot, is that I think Wonders of Life, a some sort of attraction in the Wonders of Life pavilion. Okay. I like it. Yeah.
01:08:47
Speaker
All I got some more here. i got I got some more crazy ones. All right. these are These are actually... have the... i have the crazier, like really top of wishlist ones and the obvious one, Trevor, which one you want me to go with crazy? Cause I think crazy. Let's hear your crazy first. Yeah. All right.
Tomorrowland and Monsters Inc. Expansion Idea
01:09:05
Speaker
Crazy. We'll go crazy. Monsters Inc. Laugh floor. We'll move to the new monsters Inc land and tomorrow land. We'll go through an entire re-imagining.
01:09:15
Speaker
How about that? o Oh yeah. Interesting. listen, they're opening Monstropolis. Why wouldn't you move the left floor over there? Now you got this big theater over there. Do something with that. We still have an empty spot where stitch was. Once you have both of those things, that to me says re-imagining time, right?
01:09:34
Speaker
And then that whole section of tomorrow line gets walled off for three years. Correct. Tomorrow wall. I don't know. Whatever is the wall of tomorrow, the walls of tomorrow. ah Yeah, no.
01:09:48
Speaker
all right. So that's, that's, that's a crazy one. So, Okay. um i In that similar vein, I was actually expecting them to give ah a release or an opening time frame for Monstropolis at this D23. I think that we will get a lot of updates on current projects, right? So like Villains Land, Cars Land, you know, Monstropolis. I think we're going to get a lot of that. I specifically am looking for the Monstropolis yeah course update. Yeah. Yeah.
01:10:14
Speaker
Okay. i I've got... i also So less controversial ones, right?
New Disney Cruise Ship and Vacation Club Speculations
01:10:21
Speaker
New Disney cruise ship information. So I think we find out more about the Believe and maybe what it even the next ship is going to be. Okay.
01:10:28
Speaker
I'm also going to do a couple DVC ones here, Trevor. I'm going to say the next DVC hotel is going to be announced at D23 this year. I don't know what it's going to be. You think even yeah you don't think they're going to focus on Lakeshore Lodge?
01:10:44
Speaker
It's almost done, though. Right, but but then wouldn't they be... Move on to the next thing. yeah Okay, i yeah i guess I guess you're not wrong. I guess they wouldn't reserve D23 for saying, hey, Lakeshore Lodge is opening in October or something like that. i mean they probably will, but the loss i think they're also going to... It'll be a footnote.
01:11:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I also think... A lounge, another lounge, Trevor. I think the lounges have been tremendously popular for DVC members. I think they announced another lounge at one of the other two parks that doesn't that doesn't have one.
01:11:17
Speaker
Just going to throw it out there. New lounge. Okay. So where, wait, where are the, launch okay. There's the the magic kingdom lounge and Epcot, right? i love and where where Where's are I, for some reason i was like, is there a lounge and Hollywood studios? And I was like panicking for a second. i was like, yeah, you're right. There isn't one there yet. yeah Yeah. I forgot that.
01:11:38
Speaker
So I've got that those. Would you have more? i don't want to. Okay. So, so back to the DVC, um, hotels. If they were to announce the next one, I think it'll be very... My prediction is it'll be very close to Epcot, whatever the next one is. i think that I think they will... It won't be... I mean, like they have stuff over by Riviera...
01:12:06
Speaker
I don't want to say it'll be, you know, we've talked in the past about the one that like has like, it's like the right f connected to Epcot. Yeah. But I feel like there'll be something in very close proximity to Epcot.
01:12:18
Speaker
Okay. um'm I'm with it. I'm with it. I like it. In that same vein, Trevor, one of my other predictions, more Skyliner. Announcements. Dang. I forgot about them extending the Skyliner. I got so used to just it being the way that it is. Yeah. We've talked about this and yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm saying more Skyliner and it's going to animal kingdom. That's, that's what I'm saying. Yeah.
01:12:46
Speaker
So, okay. Yeah. That's, that's one prediction there. Another one. Hmm. How about Trevor? How about a star Wars land expansion?
01:12:58
Speaker
They got more movies. We haven't had a movie in a while. They got more movies coming out. Now, given there's a lot going on at Hollywood Studios right now, they got a whole new land building. I think because of the fact that Monstropolis is being built right next to Star Wars land, I don't...
01:13:13
Speaker
I'm just, it's going to be out there. Yeah. It's, I mean, Hmm. So I'm just, sorry I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to pick apart these things that you're saying. I'm just, I'm trying to like, that i'm I'm trying to wrestle with the logistics of them. there's no, you don't have to be realistic here. it's You're right. Yeah. Yeah.
01:13:34
Speaker
This is all craziness. It's all made up. um i i I think... Okay. let's Let's go back to Magic Kingdom for a minute.
01:13:44
Speaker
Okay. know you know we're You know, we said they're going to announce stuff for like Villainsland and Piston Peak and all that. I think Villainsland...
01:13:56
Speaker
I want to say that the whatever coaster they announce is going to be... It's going to be something similar to the current Fast and Furious coaster that's opening up in Universal. You're going like it's like a real roller coaster. You're ignoring those recent reports. I'm thinking it's going to be like i know i know we talked about them like toning stuff down and making it more family friendly. I think the coaster will be in the same vein as Guardians or the new Fast and Furious coaster. I think that they're i think they're not...
01:14:32
Speaker
I don't think they're going to fully take their foot off the gas on it, but I think it's my prediction is it's going to be they're going to actually announce details of the coaster and it's going to be better than what we were
Evening Entertainment Innovations: Drone Shows
01:14:46
Speaker
expecting.
01:14:46
Speaker
Okay. I love it. I like that. I like that. Okay. all right. So I've got two more things on my list, Trevor. All right. One of them I'm going to say right now, and I'm going to, in post, I'm going to add an echo to this drone show, drone show. It's finally, there's going to be a drone show at magic kingdom. I'm saying it now.
01:15:08
Speaker
Actually, know agreed I don't, it doesn't even have to magic kingdom. I think it actually, I think Epcot's more likely to me, but magic. i think it No, no, no, no. You're, you're wrong, Tom.
01:15:18
Speaker
You're absolutely wrong. No, you're, you're, you're completely off. It's going to be Hollywood studios. Okay. All right. There will be a Hollywood studios drone show. Boom. Love it.
01:15:29
Speaker
Drone show. Echo forever. All right. I got my craziest one on here, Trevor. This is, this is the one that's definitely not going to happen, but I'm going to say it anyway.
01:15:41
Speaker
Disney gets
Marvel Rights and the Fifth Park Possibility
01:15:42
Speaker
the rights back to Marvel from Universal and announces a Marvel park. Fifth gate. An actual Marvel park in far Florida. park In Florida.
01:15:56
Speaker
Listen, this isn't completely crazy because there's been signs that Universal is, you know, maybe looking to move away from the Marvel characters, right? Like there's been...
01:16:07
Speaker
they islands of adventure needs some love and part of it is honestly that whole area needs it needs an overall i agree talk about that that they've been behind the scenes designing some rides to replace the marvel rides and to me if they're going to just ah they're not just going to abandon that it's going to disney's going to get it back i think they will honestly it's too valuable for them not to yeah And then what are they going to do? And again, it's so valuable. Then what are they going to do with that?
01:16:36
Speaker
They're going to make a part. I don't know if they make a fifth gate. I mean, maybe they just do a land. Okay. But I think they're going to get it back. And I think there will be Marvel at Disney World in the future. But okay. But, but let's, let's, let's touch on that for a second. yeah You know, we keep saying like, you know I don't see a fifth gate. They're going to do another land.
01:16:52
Speaker
Where are they doing these lands? Yeah. I don't know, Trevor. like Like, like, like this, this is exactly it. Like, like, you know, when you look at, when you look at the current design Epcot, when you look at Magic Kingdom, when you look at Hollywood Studios,
01:17:10
Speaker
They they're all in a state right now where there's infrastructure and stuff built around them. And not to say that, you know, Disney disney can redo roads. They can you know reroute and do all that stuff to expand existing parks.
01:17:25
Speaker
But it does eventually hit a point where. they They can only expand so far and they don't want to get themselves into a position where they're doing like, here, we got you an extra 50 feet and it's like the most sandwiched in thing ever, right? Yeah. so So there will eventually come a point.
01:17:48
Speaker
And again, I don't think it's this D23, but... You know, a fifth gate and and the hard part is, is that if you make a fifth gate, every every gate has a theme to it. Right. You know, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom all have distinct themes to them. And I guess the only question is, is what are you theming a fifth gate off of that's not exclusively one Right.
01:18:15
Speaker
Because you could say, well, they would make a Marvel fifth gator. They would make a Zootopia fifth gator. They would make a, you know, you know, whatever, right. Or Star Wars. But it's like, the problem is, is that like all of the existing parks, they're designed to be ecosystems of multiple IPs and they don't want to paint themselves in a corner with one IP. So I don't, I don't see Marvel, them getting back Marvel as a catalyst for,
01:18:40
Speaker
Isn't Marvel, though, a bunch of IP under one greater IP? It is, but it's it's i mean it's it's actually like Marvel Universe is that. It's it's the same as Star Wars. but yeah um it and yeah It's a multiverse thing. it's it's it's own the There's a whole thing with multiple universes. and i mean You know that from watching Loki and stuff like that. but like yeah the the The thing is is that it it can't be just one thing.
01:19:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Right. Like the, the, the same way that, you know, you know, they're the Marvel area in, um islands of adventure. If the entire park was themed like that, um it would not,
01:19:27
Speaker
Like, like islands of adventure would have closed years ago if it was just that. Right. that's Yes. Yeah. So, yeah, I, I get what you're saying about, you know, them adding a land, but I think, I mean, and, and maybe, okay then fine. yeah You know, let's, let's end on this thought.
01:19:46
Speaker
I'm going to throw out the fifth gate idea, but it's not going to be what you think. It's not going to be ah based around an IP. It'll be based on a theme or based on I'm trying to think what Disney... Heroes one or something like that. Heroes and villains.
01:20:05
Speaker
Yeah, it would have to be something that is in the Disney ecosystem that doesn't have...
01:20:15
Speaker
enough representation at the moment or, or it could, or, you know, that, that something that, you know, they could put all of other IPs in or a bunch of IPs into, I, and I don't know that, I don't know that like heroes or villains or anything is enough. Maybe it's just, you know, they just call it, you know, they just make magic kingdom 2.0 and, you know, here they're like, you know, they don't have to necessarily put it to a theme.
01:20:44
Speaker
Like, cause really magic kingdom is not like, like the whole premise of magic kingdom is, you know, this is a magical place. Well, what's in this magical place, whatever you want, like, it wants it to be yeah right. So, so like they don't have to be hard and fast with it. True.
01:21:01
Speaker
I think, you know, if, if they're hitting a critical mass of, of, Stuff that they can't shove into other parks, I could see Disney starting to look at a fifth gate and maybe maybe it wouldn't be like fifth gates coming next year, brace yourselves. But I think at this D23, there could be the start or the the like preliminary announcement of, yeah, we're looking at this.
01:21:30
Speaker
Yeah. That's my take. Yeah. yeah All right. Well, that's that's been the first. We've done productions before, but I never had a name for it. and Now we have to go back and remember this stuff in six months and go, oh I wrote it all down. wrong i wrote it all down. I know you did, but. These are all, listen, these are bold takes. i we both We both believe that most of these are not going to happen, but they might.
01:21:53
Speaker
I am hopefully skeptical. like it. I appreciate that. ah So let's move on to a thing that is real, which is Buzz Lightyear is real. Buzz Lightyear is real. It's real in my heart.
01:22:10
Speaker
After it's after it's, ah you know, it hasn't been that long of a refurb. It's been closed for a little while, but yeah we're getting um very upgraded, you know, Buzz Lightyear and, you know, new ride vehicles for the first time since the 70s, which is great news. But, ah you know, they've been doing cast member previews, Trevor. And one of the things, you know, you and I have been speculating on is how the scoring is going to work.
01:22:33
Speaker
Because, you know, everybody, there was a whole cottage industry of people on YouTube telling you how to get to Galactic Hero, right? Like, yeah yeah there was video after video of that. And I had a feeling this was going to change. And it has. um it the one of the What I'm glad about, though, okay, couple things, Trevor. I don't know if you watched any videos on this, but...
01:22:55
Speaker
I love that there's a so digital screen in front of you that has your score on it. And it also shows you where you are ah in progressing. Yeah. I love that.
01:23:08
Speaker
um Which is great. Right. Yeah. It's definitely, it's much more meaningful to the statement of, you know, trying to get galactic hero. Like it gives you, exactly gives you that gauge.
01:23:21
Speaker
Yeah.
Buzz Lightyear Ride Updates and Fairness
01:23:22
Speaker
Yeah. I was going to say and and the next thing about that is that, you know, ah because you sent this link is that that sorry, it's funny they talk about the updated scoring ranks and scoring for Galactic Heroes.
01:23:35
Speaker
It actually has not changed that much. yeah No, it's it's not. its It's close to the same. It's not the same. It's actually changed by one point. It has changed by one point, yeah. also Because before, because they were using you know a digital clock ah you know score thing from the 80s, you could only hit six numbers, right? or So that you could only hit 999999. Now, though, you can go over 999999 because it's a screen. So there's no limit to the amount of characters you can have there. I mean, there is. But, you know, you know what I mean? You can go well over a million now if you really want to. You couldn't do that before because you were just limited on the space. The technology was limited, you know? Mm-hmm.
01:24:24
Speaker
up soset So, yeah, the the only thing that's actually changed from the scoring standpoint is that Cosmic Commando is 600,001 to was the the names a little bit too, by the way. they changed um I didn't think they did. i'm just at the bottom level was called Star Cadet. Now it's Star Flyer, it looks like. a Star Flyer. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, you're right. And then the second one is Solar Navigator.
01:24:52
Speaker
Instead of Space Scout. yeah Yeah. And then Astro Aviator instead of Ranger First Class. But then Planetary Pilot is the same. Space Ace is the same. Kazakmando. Galactic Air. So they just changed the bottom tiers, basically. Yeah, I guess i'm I didn't notice that because I'm not playing for the bottom tiers. No, we're not playing. No, no. We're interested in the bottom tiers. We're playing for Planetary Pilot and above at least, you know, yes at the at the lowest there. Yeah, but but it's funny because, yeah, that like literally that they changed that one point that technically you could get 99999 and you're still under Cosmic Commando. It's not until you break 1 million but you get Galactic Hero. But then that brings a whole other, um from a gaming standpoint, that brings in a whole other mess of
01:25:39
Speaker
Yes, a million points plus is Galactic Hero. But how far are you pushing it? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. like Like you're going to have people that are pushing for like, I got to 2 million or I got yeah yeah or, you know, figuring out like what the actual upper limits are of the ride.
01:25:55
Speaker
Yeah. yep So I like it. I think that's fun. Something they did with though trevor with the targets, I think, was really smart. Okay.
01:26:06
Speaker
So there's these targets because this is new technology and not, you know, old technology. 20 plus year old technology. yeah So now there's three different types of targets, right? So the standard target, which is apparently worth 95 points.
01:26:22
Speaker
Then there's ah more points are rewarded when ah some of the targets will like pulse lights on them. Right. And then, and those are, so those are worth more points. And then ah some will do ah like a, uh,
01:26:37
Speaker
there's like a third state where it, ah multiple targets in one area will do like a flash multi multicolor thing for a short amount of time. And that gives a ton more points. so like that's the highest point value is the flashy multicolor. The thing is, it seems like this stuff happens randomly and it happens at all the targets. Um,
01:26:56
Speaker
So there's no more like you hit this target and you're going to get a electric hero. It's not the yeah hitting the back of the robot's hand guarantees you a bunch of points. it's You have to be looking around. And and i so I know you say it's random. I'm actually not convinced that it's random. I think, yeah, there's going to be a pattern to figure out.
01:27:16
Speaker
And kind of figuring out where you are in the pattern will be how you you optimize hitting those flashing targets. But this is still way, to me, this is way better than the way it was before because now absolutely this makes the ride more rewritable, you know, because it's, if you know the right target set every time, it's like, okay, whatever. I know the right target set. Instead, now this is like, this, the the skill is different here. And I think this makes it more fun. And I think it makes it more rewrite, like the revitability is much higher now because you can go on at a bunch of different times and score a bunch of different you know things depending on what targets you're hitting, what states they're in. And, you know, you can you can get good at it, but it's harder, I think.
01:27:56
Speaker
there There is a bit more of a luck element to it, which I think. Yeah, I agree with you for for a ride like this. That is it. It has a competitive aspect. Keeping it down to luck as well does, you know, like you said, it does eliminate the, you know, the person who.
01:28:14
Speaker
becomes an expert in the ride, always dominating. Yes. Everybody else. It makes it more fair. You know? yeah And then I think from, you know, ah from a family dynamic standpoint is, you know, if you have that one person that's like, you know, you know, I get, I get accused by my wife all the time of cheating at video games because I just naturally figure them out quicker and, you know, we'll, we'll be playing something competitive and she'll be like, you cheated. I'm like, what? Okay. Like, you know, she yeah yeah yeah she she knows that I didn't, but she she just, that's just her her idea i get her coping mechanism. But, you know, this gets it to a place where, you know, I could have a bad run on this and, you know, some, you know, somebody else can win and, you know, it doesn't feel...
01:29:03
Speaker
it it it It doesn't feel like, you know, riding, you know, if you're if you are that kind of competitive person where you ride with somebody, you're you're not going, well, you're just going to win all the time. I don't care anymore. Right. Like it keeps it keeps it interesting.
01:29:15
Speaker
Right. yeah, so yeah i I really like it. I think it's cool. I like that the guns are detached now that when you actually hit the target, it's so much better. You hit the target. My gosh. Like it's a, it's, it's little stuff like that, but it's, it really means a lot because, you know, in the past you just really, you know, half the time you even know if you were hitting the target or not, you know, like now yes yeah in the Disneyland version of the ride, I've used the guns that are detached. And I remember we were, you know, I was doing that with my son And, you know, we, you know, it was great. Like, you know, you, you can move around. It's, it's so much easier to fire and all that.
01:29:51
Speaker
Um, and then i think it was the first time we went to Florida, we got on Buzz Lightyear and he was like, what is this? What is this nonsense? But, you know, he got into it right away, but it was like, he was like, oh, I can't, oh, I can't move it. All right. And and it was like, you know and and yeah know I think it was at that point, I was like, okay well, you can drive. i'm not I'm not going to drive because, you know, I don't want to be whipping you around and, you know, you getting mad because, you know, you can't control where your gun is going. So, yeah, this that this is definitely a lot better for everybody.
01:30:25
Speaker
Also, just from the videos I've seen, they've greatly enhanced the tunnel scene. ah Yeah. Because that was, you know, it looked bad for a long time. It was hurting. The projectors were in need of some replacement. Yeah, it looks like they needed their lenses cleaned because they it was always like so grainy. And the bulbs were actually burning out is well part of what was happening. well And also just the animation was old. Now the animation is much better. You can actually like you know shoot at things. and it's it's this is i can't wait to ride this again. um i Honestly, I can't wait to try this out because it just looks so awesome now. And it makes me happy that they they kept it almost exactly the same and they just upgraded the technology. you know They didn't really change... much of the scenes, you know, like pretty much everything's the same. They just changed the targets and the technology and the cars. And like, that's all it needed to me. Like, you know, so yeah, that makes, this makes me happy. I love this ride in general, even, even it's old bad state. I enjoyed it. And now in this state, I think i'm going to like it even more.
01:31:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's this is exactly what Tomorrowland needs right now. is you know Not everything needs to be the blockbuster like huge ride like Tron sometimes. like These rides need love too. and i'll i'll you know I know we finished our prediction part of this, but I'm going to go back to this.
01:31:53
Speaker
i think I think Disney needs to put some more OmniMovers in. You can say that. You love your OmniMovers, man. i I seriously think they they just like, why why are you not building more Omnimovers?
01:32:08
Speaker
Like, I know that there's, you know, trackless is the new technology, but Omnimovers are solid and you can do a lot more with them than you want to admit. It's fair. Yeah. Okay. All
New Theming Success: Arendelle Area in Disneyland Paris
01:32:20
Speaker
right.
01:32:20
Speaker
Yeah. Anyway, um you had one last thing on here. I think we should wrap up. I just, unless you want to talk about this. I i mean, let's let's just touch on it quick. as you know, yeah Aaron Dell has opened up in Paris.
01:32:34
Speaker
And i have to tell you, Trevor, I, you know, I've watched videos of this and just also just looking at the pictures. They did an incredible job with theming in this. It's, it's, it looks incredible. Yeah, this is, you know, back to our talk about, you know, them bringing or you know, doing more lands that, you know, you know, fit with the ah the IP that they're they're doing. Yeah. I mean, Arendelle is in the same lane as Cars Land.
01:33:02
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, I hope, you know, we're seeing that in Paris. I hope that, you know, not Arendelle comes over necessarily to Florida, but. um you know, more of this caliber. Like, I hope this is the new baseline for lands and stuff. Cause it felt like they were a little bit like, sorry, you you can get mad at me if you want toy story land,
01:33:25
Speaker
felt very not well put together. It was missing a lot when it, when it, it was, it should have been, it suffered from budget cuts. There was, there was lot of budget cutting and they had to cut some corners that they usually wouldn't. And it didn't come out.
01:33:42
Speaker
There's still a lot of great things about it, but yes, I agree with you. Yeah. It it took, ah it took it a while to find its footing because yeah, it didn't feel like you said, budget and kind of hurt it. Same thing. Um,
01:33:53
Speaker
you can come for me as well on star Wars land, star Wars land is, or, you know, galaxy's edge while good, it was not complete when it was released. You know, there, it took a long time for, for rise of the resistance to open up and there's still elements missing from it.
01:34:08
Speaker
So I hope that they've learned from that. And I hope that, you know, it seems like Arendelle is a good example of, they've kind of learned to release it, release the land with a more complete package.
01:34:20
Speaker
Right. That's yeah. So yeah. I listen, if you go on rise of the resistance, I think you'll realize why it took them so long to get it going. But I get it. But, but my point is, is that they, they couldn't, they couldn't manage it properly to have it all come out.
01:34:37
Speaker
Yeah. At the same time to give that impact, like trickling it out. Didn't do them any favors. its like a point I get it. it I get it. I also just want to mention Trevor. Mm-hmm.
01:34:49
Speaker
and a dr Yes, they do. Disney's had a drone show for a while and they keep doing more and more cool drone shows. Paris does the most. They they they have been doing ah drone shows now for a long time. And I believe it's because the drone company that that the drone show company that Disney is a partner in is actually based out of Paris. So they do a ton of drone shows at Disneyland Paris and they've been doing them for a long time now and they're always super awesome. And it just makes me mad.
01:35:19
Speaker
just want want it here. Just bring it here. they They have those little drone boats too, Trevor. We were wondering what those were and now I understand what they are. so But anyway. i You just want to see a drone version of Gary the Snake that they put on here. Gary the Snake. who my Who my wife and daughter absolutely loved as a character and ah they they really you know they really enjoyed that that whole part of it. so yeah yeah It was a great movie. I really enjoyed the tu two it. It was a lot of fun.
01:35:49
Speaker
so Yeah, likewise. But I think, yeah, I know we we should call it here. We we have have talked about a lot. Yeah, let's wrap it. Because you've got to go pack. Oh, God. just have to find things to pack first. Okay. Well, I wish you luck with that. Thank So while you're packing, I'm going to go ahead and mention that, you know, we have an email address. You know, as Jason's been sending us emails, you can send us emails sharing your own trip reports.
01:36:13
Speaker
sharing you know comments and questions about the show, yeah um you can always find us there at welcomehomepodcast at gmail.com. You can also hit us up through our website, which welcomehomepodcast.co. You can go on there and you know you can get to the ah the episodes from there. You can also get to the store, but also there's the contact section where... uh, where you can, you can message us and sends us, sends us an email. So, um, you know that's one way to get in contact with us. You can also follow us on social media. So we are on Facebook as welcome home podcast. We're on YouTube as welcome home podcast and we're on Instagram as welcome home picks. So you can check us out in any of those places.
01:36:50
Speaker
Um, also on Facebook, we have a group called welcome home, Disney waitlist that you can join in that, uh, we have, you know, conversations and, um You know, we're trying to, you know, make sure, you know, we're putting stuff out there for, you know, people to talk about Disney stuff, but also we love seeing our listeners again, sharing their own stuff in there as well. Cause you know, what's, what's more fun than talking about Disney stuff with other people that enjoy Disney.
01:37:12
Speaker
And that's, that's what we're trying to do here. So um Yeah, so we have all that. um If you want to help support the show, you can go to store.WelcomeHomePodcast.co. You can check out our different merch there. um if you If there's something you don't see there that you think you would like us to to get into the store, drop us a line. Let us know. We we have been trying to add more stuff to the to the store. so um you know Let us know if if there's a particular piece of merch that you would be interested in Or like I said, if you buy the merch and you're rocking the merch in the parks, send us a pic. We'd love to see that as well.
01:37:48
Speaker
um And also in ah in a similar vein for supporting us, we have a Patreon. So you can go to patreon.com slash welcome home pod. Check out our different levels of Patreon support, which have an exclusive logo on the merch that you can only get through Patreon. And all of our Patreon supporters get access to the Discord server, which we've mentioned a few times to the show. It's just yet another place that we have great conversations and you know everybody talking about Disney and convincing each other to go on Disney cruises and and stuff like that. I'm responsible for a lot of Disney cruises, I'm i'm realizing now. Well, it's not just you. that There are a few people in the Discord that have been egging others on, like, yeah, you should just do it. We're all good at at enabling each other to take Disney trips. So, you know, if you want to...
01:38:34
Speaker
If you want that, come join us in the Discord. yeah And last but not least, if you're listening on iTunes or Spotify or anywhere you can leave us a five-star review, please do so. It just helps more people find the show because of how the internet works. And yeah, ah yeah and you can also write us a review on iTunes and let us know what you think about the show.
01:38:53
Speaker
And the other thing you can do, which is also really helpful is subscribing to welcome home podcast. So you can be reminded every time we release new episode, you can find us on Apple podcasts, Amazon music, tune in Spotify, YouTube, YouTube music, just about any podcast app that's out there. You can find us huge. Thank you to DVC resale market for, and key holder vacations of course, for sponsoring this episode and just being generally pretty cool and really nice to us. And we should be having a, we're, we're hoping to have like a full reunion with them. Uh, sometime hopefully in may trevor we're we're working on so uh um danny wasn't kidding when she said she was going to make that happen for us and i'm excited it's been it's been a while since we've uh we've talked with them so yeah has yeah it has been uh so join us next time for more disney parks discussion of course more dvc talk we hope to see you all real soon
01:39:43
Speaker
The Voice of the Jungle