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Episode 295: Disney Cruise Line 101, DisneyQuest 2.0 & Virtual Queues
814 Plays10 days ago
On This Episode
The guys are joined by Sam and Brian from DCL Duo to help Tom with his upcoming cruise on the Disney Treasure and answer DCL questions from listeners. Disney Cruise Line announced new details about the upcoming Disney Adventure cruise ship. Recent reports indicate that the upcoming resort, Lakeshore Lodge, will retain the large pool and lazy river previously included in the plans for Reflections Resort. The NBA Experience at Disney Springs is being replaced by a new, interactive, and competitive social gaming venue for adults. Disney announced that it is discontinuing virtual queues for 2 popular rides at WDW.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction & Upcoming Milestones
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome Home Podcast on the see to all points unknown if you're within the sound of my voice you're listening to welcome home podcast on the
00:00:30
Speaker
Hello and welcome home. This episode of Welcome Home is brought to you by DVC Resort Market.
300th Episode Event Details
00:00:35
Speaker
Thank you for joining us on episode 295 of Welcome Home, a Disney Parks and Vacation Club podcast. I'm Tom, here with Trevor.
00:00:41
Speaker
How's it going, Trevor? Good. How are you? I'm, i you know, i'm doing all right. We've got a couple more episodes here. we We finally set up a venue now for our 300th episode. I know that you can't be there, unfortunately, Trevor, but you'll be there in virtual... In electronic spirit.
00:00:57
Speaker
Yeah. An electronic spirit. um If you do want to come to our event, we are we are doing our 300th episode live. ah We're doing it at a place called um Old Mecklenburg Brewery here in Charlotte, North Carolina. ah We are, the you know, going have food. We're going have giveaways. We're going to a live show.
00:01:17
Speaker
um Of course, it is free. We're not charging anybody to to come to this. So if you are interested in joining us, you know, ah feel free to come bring, ah you know, your your your spouse, bring your kids, whatever.
00:01:29
Speaker
it's ah It's a family friendly place. so um We do have ah an event out there that you do need to register for tickets because we do have a limited amount. But again, they are free. um So if you go into our Facebook group, Welcome Home Disney Waitlist, or you can email us too, and i I'll send the link to you.
00:01:44
Speaker
I'm working on a simpler link ah to send out to everybody. yeah invite air The event, yeah. Yes. we'll we'll set well We'll announce a simpler link, something probably like welcomehome.com slash 300 or something like that. But um once once we get that set up, you can go in and register for the event.
00:02:00
Speaker
Again, it's going be March 29th from noon to 3 p.m. ah in Charlotte, North Carolina at ah Old Mecklenburg bre Brewery. I know it's, i say it's brewery, but it is a family friendly place. So it's not, and we have a private room and, you know, it's going to be, it's going to be a good time. So if you can join us, we'd love to have you.
00:02:16
Speaker
But unfortunately, you know, Trevor will be there in in digital spirit, as you
Disney Cruise Planning with DCL Duo
00:02:20
Speaker
said. So, yeah. Yeah. So, ah so I'm excited. What's that? In the meantime, though, we've we've got more pressing things to talk about, right? Oh, gosh. Yeah, we do.
00:02:30
Speaker
ah So I'm actually really excited because we, we i've I did ah this podcast a while ago and and and Brian and Sam, i you know, I've I've talked to Brian now for I don't even don't know how long. I mean, I've known Brian. But um so you guys are Sam and Brian from DCL Duo are on to talk cruises because as you guys know, I am going on the Disney Treasure in, I guess, like two months here.
00:02:55
Speaker
Just about two months. And or I'm in Disney, which yeah we need to talk about that. But yeah we do we do need to figure that out. That's correct. It's coming up quick, though, for you. Yeah. So, ah so yeah, i'm I'm delighted to have you guys on here because I, despite my many years of doing a Disney podcast and my and my deep knowledge of parks, I am absolutely clueless when it comes to the cruises.
00:03:20
Speaker
So because this will be my first one. So ah for those that aren't are unfamiliar with you guys you want to talk about your show a little bit and just introduce yourselves. That'd be awesome. so Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, first, thanks for having us on. We love talking to you guys. And so thanks for having us on. And ah yeah. I can't believe it's your first cruise, Tom. That's like, that's blowing my mind. Well, so my daughter is, is turning seven this year and it's, it's kind of finally feeling like it's in the right spot for, to bring her, you know? um And plus we're like so consumed always with going to Disney world for, big you know, vacation every year. Right. So it's like,
00:03:54
Speaker
you know, we got all our DVC points and we go to Disney every year and it's just like, okay, well, there's no time for a cruise. And so, yeah. So this time we decided to, well, and we might still go to Disney who knows this year, but this, we just had to swap it out this year for the, for the parks. But yeah, i i you know, I don't know. We just wanted to wait for my daughter to be old enough that ah she was going to enjoy it more. We felt like, you know, yeah.
00:04:15
Speaker
Well, to tell you a little bit about us. ah So we are the DCL Duo podcast and vlog. ah We started our show in 2020, right before, you know, a little thing called COVID.
00:04:29
Speaker
So it was a great time to start a cruising podcast right when cruising was about to shut down. um But we are we've been going strong now for...
00:04:39
Speaker
and You know, for like five years and um we're actually 500 plus episodes in. We do two shows a week. We have a live ah YouTube show that we do ah typically on Monday nights at 830 Eastern, p.m. Pacific.
00:04:55
Speaker
And we do a recorded show once a week as well. And we talk um Disney Cruise Line news. We talk trip reports. um We have topical shows that we cover.
00:05:05
Speaker
We also like to venture into comparing other cruise lines to Disney Cruise Line, as well as covering adventures by Disney trips as well. Oh, cool. Yeah. So that's kind of what we do. We have a website. We have run all the, of course, podcast channels.
00:05:22
Speaker
ah We have a blog as well. But yeah, we try to cover sort of everything in the Disney cruising space.
Cruise Dining and Booking Tips
00:05:27
Speaker
Brian, did I miss anything? have to say, you guys are prolific content creators. Like, you guys already, you guys, we started before you and we're just getting to 300 and you guys are at 500 already. Like, you destroyed us on content. Yeah.
00:05:42
Speaker
Well, and and we just started a new show. so ah Oh. there Yeah, we just launched a new channel on to our podcast called Disney Cruise Line in a Minute. And we're going to be putting out ah about three-minute-ish episodes, kind of breaking down...
00:05:59
Speaker
a curriculum around Disney Cruise Line, a place where people can go to learn quickly ah to make decisions about, you know, which itineraries and state rooms and all those questions that we get constantly from people in email and such as a way to kind of build that curriculum for them from a 101 to a 401 level. They'll have one spot to go and and look at that. So it's out there now, the trailer and the very first episode are out there on Apple Podcasts, and then we're putting them out on YouTube and Instagram as well. So,
00:06:25
Speaker
that's That sounds like exactly what I need because I know so little. i Here's the thing. i do you know like we We'll talk on the show about like news and stuff like that, right which is cool and all. right like i you know I know what's going on with the ships, but like all of the minutia of doing a cruise. right because like and And here's the thing. My family and my wife's family are so used to relying on us for knowledge of Disney things. right That like everyone's like looking to us be like, OK, well, what do we do with the the two and a half year old? Like, how do we deal with the nursery? I'm like, i don't know. OK, you know, we'll figure it out. Right. Freedom website. it's like
00:07:03
Speaker
um But yeah, so for you guys. i So I'm going on the treasure, which I know you guys have gone on already. yeah um i'm I'm going on the treasure. I'm doing a we're doing a seven night. uh cruise and it is uh beginning of may so i think it's want to say it's may 3rd um and at a port canaveral of course and and you're doing the eastern caribbean i believe because we're doing the cruise two weeks before yours and ours is an eastern caribbean yeah we we're cozumel oh no you're doing western okay we're doing western yeah so we're doing cozumel yeah and then i think it's uh oh gosh where's the other one grant yeah yeah and then
00:07:40
Speaker
And then, um yeah, Jamaica. And then, of course, the Castaway Cay. Right. So, um yeah. So i listen it's it's funny because i was I've been talking about this a lot. So my my father-in-law and my mother-in-law are paying for this trip. It's ah it's a trip. It's a big family trip.
00:07:55
Speaker
And we're all going together. And so because of that, I wanted to do like some like extra stuff. Right. Right. And so I went to, you know, and I have no status, right? So this here's the thing that bothers me a little bit. It's funny because everyone's asking me like, wait, you have all these DVC points. how You don't get status on Disney Cruise Line. I'm like, no, like the two things are not, you know, but I couldn't book. ah There were a lot of things I wanted to book that I couldn't book.
00:08:18
Speaker
Uh, like I, I tried to, uh, I tried to book the, uh, we were trying to book one of the nice restaurants for my, my in-laws and they were gone by the time we got to book stuff. And then we, and I, I also really, i so I had read too, I wanted to do one of the, um,
00:08:34
Speaker
the private cabanas on, on the Island. oh yeah. that's those were like way that's not happening That's like, that's not happening. So you do yeah, you, the, the dining, we can talk about the dining. I think you'll be able. So ah just to give you a little bit of troubleshooting, when you get on, when you get on the ship, there will be a place that's designated. You'll be able to see it in the app. That'll, it'll start usually around noon or one o'clock, probably around one o'clock.
00:08:58
Speaker
um And I'll have a designated place to make ah dining changes or no dining changes. You go wherever that is and go right away. and you should be able to get.
00:09:09
Speaker
Now, I say adult dining, not brunch. Brunch is harder to get. um But if you're looking for dinner reservations for Apollo or for Enchante, you'll probably as long as you're flexible on which day since you have a seven night cruise, yeah then yeah you probably won't have too much trouble getting that.
00:09:28
Speaker
and And Tom, you do, to be fair, you do get a little bit of something from Disney Cruise Line for all those DVC points because DVC members get to book ahead of the general public for the itinerary. So you get to save a little money off the upfront cost of the cruise, ah you know, the closer to opening day pricing. So oh yeah you get that. You get that. but but I get that.
00:09:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. But Disney Cruise Line, ah well, to be fair, most of us in the Castaway Club, really only the biggest benefit is our ability to spend money with the cruise line earlier. They give you they give you the the the privilege of spending more money. Yes. Exactly. But sort of starting at the beginning, right? like yeah Since you've already booked the cruise, you've got that already like done. So we're not going to be talking about like selecting your cruise and all of that. but like The important thing for people to know after you've booked a cruise is when your onboard booking window opens and that's to book your excursions or your adult dining or and drink tastings and things like that. And that is based on your Castaway Club status. And so if you're a new cruiser, you're the absolute last group to book stuff.
00:10:28
Speaker
that doesn't But i the tip I always like to tell people, that doesn't mean you won't be able to get stuff. a A lot of space for... not all, but for a lot of the activities ah that you can book is actually held back for onboard booking. And so, yeah. And so when you get on board, like don't hesitate to ask, Hey, like, where do I go to book X, Y, and z Or to look in the app, they will often have additional spots.
00:10:52
Speaker
And so you look in the app and and you'll look for onboard fun or adult dining and and you might be able book stuff even in the app once you are hooked up to the ship's wifi. So actually even in the port.
00:11:03
Speaker
Oh, nice. Yeah, was going to say, one, you can attach the ship's Wi-Fi while you're waiting in the terminal. And then you can set up the app and be scrolling through and look at your activities and you know that sort of stuff. but and on day like on on day go on day one um And day one, usually they list in the app where the dining changes are going to be. So if you can get on the app and see the app and start looking through the activities and stuff, there's usually a notation in there around like, go to this place to change dining.
00:11:28
Speaker
ah So yeah, just just get on board. And then you know if youre the the problem will come for you, Tom, if you're looking for like, there's a dining thing I didn't get. Uh, for adult dining, there's something I want to change in main dining. There's, you know, a shore excursion, there's a spa treatment, you know, whatever it is like the more you have to stack up on day one, the more you're going to be running all over the ship trying to do that. And so we always say like pick the thing that's most important. So adult dining is usually a hard get.
00:11:55
Speaker
Um, Not dinners, as Sam said, but brunches, for instance. If you really wanted Palo brunch, you got to head straight there and be one of the first in line and hope that you know it's not fully booked up. Oh, okay. Yeah.
00:12:06
Speaker
And so there's also a strategy that's called divide and conquer. If you've got a big enough party, you just kind of send people to different places around the ship to get things taken care of. um The other thing I'll tell you- FastPasses, FastPasses strategy, right? Are you guys talking about FastPass? No. Yeah.
00:12:23
Speaker
the the other the other The other tip I'd give you ahead of the cruise is make sure that all your reservations are linked across the parties you're sailing with. If it sounds like you're sailing with friends, because then they will put you on the same dining rotation if that's what you want to be. Yes, they're all together.
00:12:35
Speaker
Yeah. Okay, perfect. Yeah. yeah So my father-in-law had a travel agent actually book it for us. um and so like And we're all connected. So like I can see all of the plans on there and and everybody's on the same one. So yeah. And and truthfully, you know honestly, I didn't.
00:12:49
Speaker
in my mind, I was like, oh, the dining should be easy to do. The premium dining should be easy to do, right? like i'll do it Because I did it on a Royal Caribbean boat and it was no problem, right? And like there was lots available and I was like, oh, it should be like that on Disney. was like, no, not at all. It was all gone by the Well, that's real difference between there's only two adult-only restaurants and most of the Disney ships and only one on two of the Disney ships, right? So like that's the difference. With Royal, you've got, like every ship's got you know like six different specialty restaurants and so it's a very different experience and and demand on what you're booking. And so, um but dinner, like I said, dinner is easier to to get.
00:13:26
Speaker
The other thing I always like to tell people, especially first time cruisers is you can book nothing and still have an amazing, amazing cruise. Like there are so many activities on board going on that are you're They're not reservations that are not pre-booked, right?
00:13:42
Speaker
So you don't have to actually book anything ahead of time. The one exception is really excursions. If you want you know excursions at your ports, that's something you you really do you have to book ahead of time, either through the cruise line or through private charter.
00:13:55
Speaker
you know charter And truthfully, the main reason why we're trying to book other things is just because since my in-laws are paying for the trip, we want to do nice things for them because they, you know, just to say thank you to them. So like, you know, we're doing like some spa stuff for them and we're going to, we thought it might be nice for them to get away from all of their grandchildren for an evening and, you know, go and have an adult dinner by themselves. And so I guess this is, this brings me to a question though, which of the restaurants do you recommend? Have you guys eaten at both of them? I mean, is there- Yeah, of course. I don't even know why. Why am I asking these dumb questions to you? Of course you mean it. Yeah.
00:14:31
Speaker
So, Tom, but really so in terms of like you're talking about Enchante versus Palo Steakhouse. Okay. So here's how this really breaks down from a decision standpoint. If you are an adventurous eater who enjoys fine dining, then Enchante is fabulous. But you're talking about food that has like, you know,
00:14:47
Speaker
foams and deconstruction and you know that kind of stuff. Think Victoria and Albert. Oh, gosh, that's not me at all. Sounds like more of my kind of place than yours. That's your Trevor. And in fact, the chef for Victoria Alberts is one of the executive chefs for Enchante and Remy. And so...
00:15:06
Speaker
and so That's fine dining and it's going to set you back too. I mean, you're talking about, ah you know, easily it can be a $500 to $750 experience for two people, ah you know, with wine and all of that sort of stuff. The difference is that's, you know, on land, that bill is going to be much higher. So you're getting yeah some discount, but it's you got to be into fine dining. You got to be adventurous or else you're going to walk away feeling disappointed and like you didn't get the value for the money spent.
00:15:33
Speaker
Palo's Steakhouse is just a good adult meal. Okay. Right. it's ah It's going to be a quality steak or, you know, Italian dish. You know, at dinner, they don't do like, you know, pastas and spaghettis and stuff. It's going to be like, you know, raviolis with like pumpkin or, you know, stuff like that. but um But there's a lot of great stuff on that menu. And it's, you know, a very inexpensive price. It's, you know, to do the price fix menu is like $50. That's what we're looking at. I think it's $60 now, Brian.
00:16:03
Speaker
Okay, but still, but it's it's a very good menu. Yeah, it's a very good value. But anyway, um and then, you know, you can do all a la carte and get out of there for, you know, like i've I to tend to order all a la carte and it's not that much more than the set price, right? So, yeah because they give you, um well, if you were... person can order all a la carte and the other person can order the price fixed. Yeah.
00:16:25
Speaker
Yeah. So it's... That is the meal we steer people to the most if they just want to have a really nice meal on board because it really it can satisfy all comers. So I would say head for Palo. Palo is a great dinner. It's a great experience.
00:16:39
Speaker
Enchante is just it's a it's just a different level of dinner. Yeah. that's I mean, this is for my in-laws, not for me. But I mean, if it were for me, I'd be like, Palo would be more on my alley than...
00:16:50
Speaker
But even then, i'm not i don't I also don't typically eat red meat. So like steakhouse is like, i don't know. But I'm sure they have other dishes. Yeah, they have plenty of other stuff. It's actually so it's Italian. They have fabulous Dover sole. Yeah, I mean, yeah they have some really great dishes that are that are not steak. They just happen to have additional on the Wish and the Treasure. It's Paolo Steakhouse on the other ships. and It's Paolo.
00:17:11
Speaker
And so they have additional higher-end cuts of steak on those two ships. So it's really nice. Great menu all across. like you know it's Even if you're not a red meat eater, absolutely.
00:17:22
Speaker
Let's get
Disney Treasure Reviews and Recommendations
00:17:23
Speaker
to know. i do want to ask you guys spoiler-free review of the Disney Treasure in like a few... like Just like I say spoiler free because I still my wife is like, was like, you know, watch any YouTube videos of the treasure. She's like, no, I want to like be surprised. But I also kind of interested to just see from you guys, the experts. like I'm assuming you've been on probably every Disney boat at this point, right? Or ship. I'm sorry, ship. Yes. Yeah. but yeah So i would I would love to hear just kind of your your thoughts on on the treasure because, you know, and part of the reason, by the way, why I wanted to do the treasure is because, as you know, big parks fan and yeah so much of the park stuff, you know, all the stuff on that boat is basically parks oriented. And that's kind of ah why I was really excited to do this ship in particular. But I would love to hear just kind of your thoughts on it without, you know, ruining any special things for me.
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah. So, I mean, the treasure is the best ship in the fleet right now, like hands down. um It is. And it is the theme park lovers ideal ship.
00:18:20
Speaker
Honestly, like you, you could, you couldn't choose a better ship for someone like you, Tom. So it's that's good to know. Yeah, I mean, the details are just phenomenal. The entertainment is top notch. It it has the two best shows in the Disney fleet, in my opinion, the stage shows.
00:18:39
Speaker
um Those are Moana and Beauty and the Beast. I've heard Moana is fantastic. Yeah. I mean, don't miss any of them. I would say don't miss seize the adventure either, which is the, the usually first or second night show. And it's a shorter show. It's like a 30, 35 minute show. Whereas the others are about an hour to an hour and 10 minutes.
00:18:56
Speaker
um But yeah, it's just a phenomenal ship. Obviously, you know, the haunted mansion parlors on there. was excited for. Yeah. You're, you're going to, you're going to love that. But then there's like, I, we've got to give you the tip that Brian and I try to give out anyone who's going on. The treasure is,
00:19:12
Speaker
don't sleep on the events that involve Coriander and Sage. These are two new sort of characters um that are on board the ship. And they do some really fun retelling of Indiana Jones and of Aladdin. And they do kind of a Jungle Cruise themed event.
00:19:34
Speaker
game show thing in the in the grand hall i i don't want to give too many details on any of those three events but they are just like fantastic so i would say make a point to go to those when you see like there's going to be it's a a retelling of aladdin a indiana jones themed thing you'll see these things in the app i'm not going to give you all like the descriptions but yeah go go to all of these things yeah I'm like checking the app every day just to look at how many days are left. even I'm not counting down in my head. I just look at and go, I watch all the numbers flip by and I'm ooh, all right, 70 days left or whatever it is. Yeah.
00:20:11
Speaker
Oh, yeah. but um Okay, well, that's good to know because I've i've seen really cool things about the Moana show and then you know I've heard the Haunted Mansion bar is amazing. Yeah.
00:20:22
Speaker
But, you know, so i'm I'm very excited for that. And I'm also excited for my, you know, for my daughter to be in the in the kids club, too. And it's it's funny because I was talking to my sister-in-law and she's like, so do we just like drop the kids off there and then like leave? Yeah.
00:20:34
Speaker
And I was like, I think so. Like, we just drop them off. They go off and do their thing and we go do our thing. Right. um But, you know, it's all those little logistical things that like I don't really that we're I'm still learning about. Right. So, you know, look.
00:20:47
Speaker
Yeah. and I do have a really important question. Am I allowed to go down the slide to the ah to the Oceaneer Club? Am I allowed to do it as an adult? During open house. Yeah. i only me if i well Only if the entire club is an open house mode, which means you want to you really want to do it on the day one.
00:21:03
Speaker
and So on day one the like when you embarkation day after you board, most of the kids spaces will be in open house mode for everybody to come in, tour them and meaning the entire space will be an open house mode yeah in order to go down the kids club slide as an adult or really as a person who is not three to 10 years old and going into the kids club.
00:21:26
Speaker
um You have to go when the entire club is in open house mode. Okay. Well, then not the realist question that we're going to have. Yeah. The most important question i have.
00:21:36
Speaker
But I think I'll let Brian talk to you about the logistics of like check in, check out. Oh, I'd love to know that. Yeah. Well, yeah. So depending on the age of the kids. Right. So if they're seven and my niece is five, we're going to be five. Yeah.
00:21:48
Speaker
Right. So you don't have any kids sailing with you who are like 11 or older, basically. No. So we have a two and a half. of I think she gosh, I should probably know how my niece is, but she's like between four and five at this point. And my daughter will be seven.
00:22:00
Speaker
So, okay. Yeah. So for the Oceaneers Club, which is where they're going to head, right? You as the parent can walk them down, check them in. but On the first day, like, me well, as I say, make sure you complete all the registration forms in the online check-in. So your online check-in should be coming up fairly soon.
00:22:18
Speaker
And when that happens, that's when you'll go online and you'll provide the myriad of documents you need to sail, passports, birth certificates, whatever, and upload photos ah for the ship so that when you arrive, you know basically they'll compare you to your photo. And that's the photo they'll use on board for security if you embark or disembark from the ship.
00:22:37
Speaker
um And so as a part of that process, you can complete the registration for the Kids Club before you even step on the ship, which I highly recommend because it's not ah light process. and so i will definitely do that. I like to get everything done ahead of time. so Yeah. So there's going to be a bunch of forms to fill out and authorizations to sign and all this stuff. As a part of that, you can designate people in your sailing party to check your kids out of the kids club.
00:23:02
Speaker
And you set like a password that you can share. ah When you get on board, and if they're all pre-registered, what you'll do is head... Actually, at check-in, even before you get on board, they'll give your ah kids a ah special Oceaneers band,
00:23:15
Speaker
um or if they're bringing their own magic band, they can code that. ah And so that's what gets them in and out of the club. So you'll take them to the Oceaneers Club.
00:23:26
Speaker
If you go on deck three where the slide is, they have a little desk. They'll ask your kiddo to tap their band, Mickey to Mickey, ah verify that they've got all the information they need, and then they get to go down the slide into the kids' club. You can walk down to deck two. There's more desks down there if there's a line at desk, you know, the the guest services on deck three where you check your kids in.
00:23:44
Speaker
Once they're in the kids club, they can track where they are in the club using the band. So they kind of know based on the NFC, like where the kids are. And when it's time to pick them up, you head downstairs to deck two. ah You go to one of the desks, you tell them who you're there to pick up.
00:23:58
Speaker
ah They will find them, bring them to the front, have them tap their band, ask you for your password and you can exit. I don't think your kids are quite old enough, but maybe for your listeners out there, you can give them checkout privileges.
00:24:12
Speaker
I think once they hit age eight, we think it is. yeah um yeah You can say it's okay if they want to check themselves out of the club, like they can do that, in which case you don't have to go pick them up. I'll also say if you get comfortable with it, Tom, your kids don't – an adult does not have to be present to check a kid into the club if they're all set up.
00:24:31
Speaker
So you can take your kid – you can have your kids go to the kids' club and go in. When Nathan was younger, we always took him. So I can totally understand. I can't imagine letting my seven-year-old just go wander around the boat and go there. We didn't do that until Nathan was closer to nine and and he was showing a lot of like responsibility. Nine I could see. Yeah. yeah and he had a seat He had a phone by that point where he could text us and tell us where he was.
00:24:52
Speaker
The other thing i'll tell you, Tom, is do you have early dinner early late dinner? 545 is ours iss what we have. So early, i guess. Yeah. So i I think they have ah now fleet-wide reinstituted the practice where folks, they call it dine and play.
00:25:06
Speaker
saw that. Yes. yeah We talked about on the show, actually. Yeah. Yeah. So your servers will make sure the kids get fed first, or you can ask them to make sure the kids get fed first. And then ah counselors from the youth clubs ah come into dining.
00:25:19
Speaker
Only in late dining, though. Oh, I thought it was early dining too. it's only in late dining that Dine and Play is now available fleet-wide. But you can still have your server, like still the servers will bring the kids food first and you can duck out of dinner to go drop your kid off at the kids club in between courses and then come back to finish your dinner. So it's it's really easy to do, especially um because the kids club is so you know centrally located. Okay.
00:25:45
Speaker
see So you guys really love the the treasure, though. The treasure was great. I mean, I'm going to enjoy it as my first cruise. Oh, my God. where We got off. and So the the whole Wish class fleet is you know controversial within the Disney community, although I think the Wish has started to redeem herself a bit as more people have sailed on her and really enjoyed her.
00:26:04
Speaker
I think there's always the old diehards that just don't love the layout of the Wish class ships. And that's fine. you know ah That is what it is. The old ships still exist, although it's kind it's kind of Sooner or later, those ships will get some of those ships will start to get retired.
00:26:17
Speaker
um But the treasure is everything that the wish should have been. That's how I view it. So ah it's clear they didn't skimp much on costs. Yeah. It's clear that they just invested tons of money into spaces, design, theming. So like the whole thing just feels like the wish amped up. so we written and And different colors, different theming, right? All that sort of stuff. But it just feels like... you know If you had been on the Wish Tom and been in Hyperspace Lounge and then went on the Treasure and went to the Haunted Mansion Parlor, there is there is zero comparison. And in the investment alone that is apparent in what they put into the Haunted Mansion Parlor, it is just stunning. Oh, yeah. So i the this ship is truly, in our opinion, the crown jewel of the fleet right now. And it helps that she's doing these seven-night sailings because you get more time to experience all the great stuff on board.
00:27:09
Speaker
Yeah, and i know I know Trevor wants me to bring some merch back for from the Haunted Mansion bar. ah yeah yeah They have some cool stuff in there from what I've seen. so they say They do. They do run out of, um if you're interested in the the like tiki mugs, right? There's a couple of different tiki mugs that they have, um and they do sometimes run out of them. So I would definitely, if you're wanting one, try and get it towards the beginning of your cruise.
00:27:34
Speaker
But one warning, uh, haunted mansion parlor is going to be packed on like the first day when it opens, which will be sure like four in the afternoon. It's, it will be packed. Um, it will not be packed throughout your entire cruise, but it will be packed that first day. So are they still doing 45 minute limit too? Or was that just early on?
00:27:52
Speaker
Cause I, you know, saying that they never really enforced it. So okay yeah, cause it hasn't really been an issue there's because it's seven night sailings. I think that's why it hasn't really been an issue. Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:04
Speaker
Can you tell me about Pirate Night?
Onboard Activities and Tips
00:28:05
Speaker
Is that a thing that happens on the Disney? I've read about it. It is. ah and Here's an important question. Do you guys dress like pirates for for Pirate Night? or so we have We have, but we don't usually, to be perfectly and honest. But I would say it's like...
00:28:20
Speaker
probably 50 50 or 60 40 like more like more probably 60 40 probably more people than not wear um something right like they might wear like a pirate t-shirt like you might you'll have people in full-on pirate costumes to people just wearing their regular regular clothes and then putting on the bandana that they give you in your stateroom uh they'll give you a pirate a mickey pirate bandana um and then you have people who are wearing regular clothes so I'd say like we, we tend to, we have done like the full on, like I wore a crocodile onesie. Tick tock. You were taking Tick tock. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. like that. For pirate night. And Brian was a full on pirate. That was our first cruise.
00:29:05
Speaker
um But then we, about most of the time we actually like to do our adult dining on pirate night. Cause we're not huge fans of the pirate night menu. Yeah. but But that's personal preference. There's lot people out there who really like it. And we're not big on... we're not We've done so many Pirate Nights that it's like... Yeah, we've done it. right yeah But Pirate Night, I would say, especially on the Wish Class ship, so in the Wish and the Treasure, Pirate Night is actually really, really good. like go to the There's two deck parties. There'll be an earlier deck party that is a more...
00:29:38
Speaker
Mickey centric one. That's a little more of the, the, for the kids. And then there's the later one that is the rockin parlay party. And it is. Yeah. And, and that's when fireworks happen is in the, the later, ah the later ah deck party. Yeah.
00:29:53
Speaker
um I would say go to both if you can. They're both really fun. And there will be throughout the day, you know, there'll be like pirate trivia and the characters will be in their pirate wear starting usually sometime in sort mid afternoon.
00:30:07
Speaker
um So if you want to get pictures with characters in their pirate wear, that's going to be the only day that that's going to happen. Yeah. The secret to finding out when Pirate Night is is in the app. If you look at the Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boutique bookings, but it's the day where the pirate makeover is bookable. That's Pirate Night. is The only day that pirate makeovers are available is Pirate Night.
00:30:31
Speaker
So, yeah, we we booked. So it's we've been waiting to do Bippity Bobby Boutique with my daughter for the longest time. Oh, fine. And part of the reason why we didn't do we wanted to do it in the parks. I've talked about on the show before.
00:30:42
Speaker
it You know, there's something about 100 percent humidity and 95 degrees in Florida that I feel like it's not going to be fun for my daughter to walk around in after Bippity Bobby Boutique. like i just I think that's fair.
00:30:52
Speaker
yeah Yeah. And so I was like, let's do it on the ship because then we're mostly in a air conditioned area and then it won't be miserable for her She can enjoy it. So we booked it for both my niece and my and my daughter and they're going to do it finally on the ship. So that was when I was able to get, which I was I was pleased with. I was I was concerned that I wasn't gonna be able to get that. But that one wasn't too bad. But that's good to know about Pirate Night. I think I might go a little bit.
00:31:16
Speaker
I might lean into that one pretty hard. I'm at least going to wear an eye patch. That's going to happen. You should. You should. Listen, you will not be out of place. You will absolutely, like said, it completely runs the gamut. You will see more people will be doing something.
00:31:30
Speaker
Don't let us like 30 plus cruises on Disney Cruise Line salty souls over here who are like, I've done the pirate night. We don't think it's stupid. It's just not like our fan.
00:31:42
Speaker
Also, make sure make sure you check out that part pirate parlay deck party. It is fun for adults. It's fun for kids. like The music is great. it's like It's a different deck party than they have on the other ships. And so it's really, really great. And fireworks at sea, too. like you can't You can't sleep on fireworks at sea. yeah I'll tell you i might and right now, my daughter's not making it past 8pm, but we'll try.
00:32:04
Speaker
we We tried to do fireworks this past year ah ah you know at Disney World, and we tried to do happily ever after. And she like made it to the end and then immediately passed out. So I don't know if we'll be able to get to that, but i'll we'll try. We're definitely going to She'll be... well be little do to show just Do the 7.30 deck party. so there is So you'll have your dinner, then head straight from dinner to the 7.30 p.m. Mickey's Pirates in the Caribbean deck party.
00:32:30
Speaker
It's only half hour. um And so it'll be done by 8. If not, you can leave a couple minutes before. But that that one is the one that doesn't have fireworks. But I would do that deck party, especially with yeah the younger kids.
00:32:42
Speaker
And then if you can sneak out at like 10, or if your wife can sneak out, one of you, right? Yeah. We've got that covered. My in-laws are going to, one of them is going to in one room, one is going to go in the other, and they're going to watch the kids while the rest of us go out. Oh, there you go. So yeah. So then you're going to be able to go back out for the 10 p.m. Pirate Night, as Brian was telling you, the rock and parlay. The rock and parlay. I love it.
00:33:10
Speaker
Yeah. All right. So I've been asking a million questions. I was going to say, to you've had all your questions answered, I think. So I probably have more. two weeks Do we have do we have a somebody who's going to be in the nursery? Because there's a site.
00:33:23
Speaker
my My nephew is going to be in the nursery and they were able to get a fair amount of time booked into it. Yeah, like you can book more time person and also, but but make sure that they know that when they're doing drop-off, that drop-off takes longer because you have to fill out a bunch of information each time at drop-off. So it's ok it is not the the regular kids club for three to 10 year olds is a much quicker drop-off process. The nursery is a longer, so make sure that they don't like go there right at whatever time your dinner reservation is or whatever, like tell them to go 10, 15 minutes early.
00:33:56
Speaker
i I have to say the thing that was most surprising to me about the nursery was the cheapness of it. ah Yeah. like but Especially by Disney standards. I was like, that's really cheap. like And I know there it's an extra thing you got to pay. And and might and you know i my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, I think we're a little worried that he's not going to have as much fun as the other kids. But I i don't know. I looked at it. I think it looked awesome. It's gorgeous. Yeah.
00:34:18
Speaker
That nursery is like incredible. i've been pregnant ah yeah We've toured the one on the Treasure and on the Wish, which are the same, and it is literally the most gorgeous nursery you've ever seen. yeah That's awesome.
00:34:30
Speaker
All right. So let's let's do some let's do some ah some ah listener questions since I talked for 35 minutes now. so I'll take the first one because I feel like it's best for me to ask it because I'm i'm an unknowledgeable, know, non-cruising person. um So Dan K says, I dare you to ask them if it's called boat or a ship, which he follows it up with, I'm excited by my two favorite podcasts. Dan's obviously a fan, but we have a running joke about we do interchange boat and ship, which I know is. Yeah. There is no, no, no. They're both vessels, but no, not in the same class. Yes. So it's a ship then, right? It's, we got call it a ship. Okay. It is a ship.
00:35:15
Speaker
It's a cruise liner or a cruise ship. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. now To be fair, we do like colloquially use the term boat occasionally on our show as well. So it's not like when we refer to it, it's, you know, a cruise ship, but like we'll say, Oh, and they were running back. These people were running back to the boat and they almost didn't make it right. Like, so we,
00:35:33
Speaker
We use the word boat occasionally, but yes, the proper term is ship. Absolutely. Well, Dan, now you can get off our back about calling. Do you guys see what I do? ah good look My last cruise, you know, my wife and I would get back and then we would go out on the balcony when, you know, we were about to leave port just to watch all the people running back because it was, you know it's a spectator sport in my mind. It is. It I mean, not all the time, but occasionally, yes. Occasionally. Which actually, Tom, really fast, just on the fireworks discussion, are you on a balcony? Are you in a veranda room?
00:36:03
Speaker
ah Yes, i we are in a veranda room, yes. Which side of the ship? We're on deck 10. Oh, gosh, I could tell you my exact room, but i let me let me pull up. Well, are you starboard or port? That's really the question. Because if you're on the starboard side, you're not technically supposed to go out on the veranda during fireworks. oh really? but you Yeah, because they're worried about you you know but getting burnt.
00:36:22
Speaker
But you can see them if you're on the starboard side, potentially. Oh, cool. From your um from your own from your own balcony. Yeah. So if if if you can't sneak back out and you're on the starboard, just make sure you go. How do I know which side I'm on?
00:36:34
Speaker
ah You should be able to look at the deck plan. Yeah, the deck plan will tell you exactly where your room is. And ah port is left. Four letters. L-E-F-T-P-O-R-T. Left. Starboard is right. So, yeah. yeah i'll I'll have to dig into that. Port was left if you're facing the front the ship. Let's see. Deck 10 forward doesn't say on here. I got to look on the deck plans. Okay.
00:36:53
Speaker
Let's say I'll find it. But that's that's a good tip, actually. That's that's really good to know. um because it's not It's not encouraged by the cruise line. They tell you you're not supposed to. Yeah, if you do go out there, make sure you close the balcony door behind you because the concern is that a burning ember or something flies back through a balcony into a stateroom and starts a fire. So, yeah. Yeah, I could see that because it's windy out on these boats. that's although Although they tend not, if it's too windy, they tend not to do the fireworks. So they can get canceled. They're not guaranteed.
00:37:24
Speaker
yeah So so it it appears that I am on the left-hand side of the boat. Ah, yeah. So no joy for you. I'm sorry. Oh, that's not fair. It just means you're going to go to to the party. But ah pro tip, go ah go up on... So watch from ah one deck above the pool deck, watch from sort of the balcony, and go on the starboard side for the pirate night for the deck party, and also so'll you'll be in the perfect spot for fireworks.
00:37:49
Speaker
That's great. Okay. that's um You're going to you're have to learn ship directions real quick here, it sounds like. Listen. The right side, if you're facing forward, the right side. and And if you get lost, just look down. If you're in the stateroom floors, just look down at the carpet because they always have some sort of like, I forget what it is on the treasure. but Like a Mickey usually. Yeah. But the mickey head will or Mickey head or the compass or whatever it is will always point directly to the front of the ship. And so orient yourself that way and then you know left, right, front. Okay.
00:38:17
Speaker
yeah That is fantastic. I really like that I will absolutely get lost on the ship. I swear to you, I didn't realize where ah my last cruise on the Royal Caribbean ship. I did not figure out where my room was until the last day. I think, um, I think we, I walked out the wrong side of the elevators like every single time signage is good on. Okay. That's good.
00:38:35
Speaker
Yeah. On the ships. That's, that's the one. I'm sure this is not going to compare, in any way to the Royal Caribbean, the old boat that I was on Royal Caribbean. I'm sure this is to be way better. Um, so. Yeah. So Laura is asking us, Laura for on Facebook asks, where should you request to be seated in the restaurants of The Treasure?
00:38:51
Speaker
For example, how close do you want to be to the stage on the Cocoa restaurant? You want to be as close as they'll put you. ah but but But some of that's reserved for... kind of like So the seating is a bit of a black box. like Some of it is they put the concierge staterooms up next to the stage.
00:39:07
Speaker
And we also think that they may put a higher castaway club status like closer. And we don't we don't know for sure. It's kind of a black box. yeah Interesting. That sounds like a deliberate thing on their part. But like, here's the thing. It's it's ah it's the same loudness wherever you're seated. So if you're wanting like a quiet spot in the Plaza de Coco, there's no such thing. So and if you have a noise sensitivity, bring ah some headphones or some earplugs.
00:39:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's that's a good tip. And I suspect this person may be asking that question because on the Wish, there were a lot of obstructed sight lines in the restaurant for the Frozen show.
00:39:45
Speaker
i will say that Disney did a really good job with Coco. they They moved all the serving stations to the outside of the restaurant. So there are none in the middle. And they took out, I think, every pillar they possibly could.
00:39:58
Speaker
But it's better, for sure.
00:40:02
Speaker
and so i think it's they also the show for coco there there are story elements to it i don't want to discount that but a lot of it um is great because they've turned the volume down a little ah you know when people are eating it feels does it feels loud as frozen does and the music and the dancing and stuff can almost become atmospheric so you can be sort of choosing to listen to it and kind of glance at it while also having conversation so it's it's a it's a much better experience in my opinion than the frozen restaurant yeah well and there's a stage so it is elevate like the performers occasionally they'll be going down like the aisleways but generally they're on the stage and so they're elevated a bit so you you know you
00:40:43
Speaker
there are Are there better seats? Of course, but you should be able to at least, you know, see, um and it's a, I'll call it a theater in the round, right? Because the the the um tables surround the stage.
00:40:56
Speaker
And so they do, the performers do move to face different directions. So occasionally the back will be facing, you know, their backs will be facing you and occasionally their front will be facing you or their side will be facing you. So that that's the nature of that kind of theater experience.
00:41:11
Speaker
Yeah. but That makes total sense. you know And I do wonder, because I have a slightly larger... I mean, we have nine people in our group, so I wonder if the well if that it gets put in a different place or if that's... I don't know. no not really. that All the tables are... They're long tables. There are some four tops, but most of the tables are are quite large. Most of the tables are for larger parties. yeah Awesome.
00:41:35
Speaker
Trevor, you want to read this one from Gina? So Gina actually, she kind of rapid fired some questions. Yeah, she did. She did. Lightning ground. Yeah, I think. So the last one, though, she kind of or you kind of already asked that about onboard activities for like. Yeah.
00:41:50
Speaker
i want to so i won't I won't go into that, but what she wants to know from... or She said to ask Brian which lounge is the best and also ask him about the treasure lounges.
00:42:00
Speaker
Is the Haunted Mansion lounge similar to the Star Wars lounge? You kind of answered that earlier. Night and would say best lounges night night and day night and day i would say you know best lounges for The best lounge for the atmosphere is Haunted Mansion. I mean, I think hands down, but the drinks in the Haunted Mansion lounge are not my favorites. And we heard that kind of from a bunch of people we sailed with on the maiden that they were just like, na it's like, okay, but not great.
00:42:26
Speaker
ah So think it's a great place to go sit and see the show and, you know, certainly try one of the drinks. But if you're looking for just like, kind of like the balanced out experience, um,
00:42:37
Speaker
I don't know. I think the best drinks are in the Scat Cat Lounge, actually. they They have a fabulous drink called a what was it called? A Grape Jam. Grape Jam, yeah. And it's like ah it was it was kind of an old-fashioned style drink, but it comes with an Uncrustable.
00:42:52
Speaker
So wait, why does it come with an encrustable? It's theme of the drink. It's like a peanut butter and jelly drink. Yeah. you orange jelly Yeah. It had a peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter we our whiskey. Yeah. Yeah. So it's it is delicious. And like the encrustable just put it over the top.
00:43:06
Speaker
Uh, I think if you're looking for tiki drinks and you got to go to the skipper society and it, the atmosphere there is, you know, it's open on both sides. So it's not as like private or, you know, secluded and people come in and out and all this stuff. It's a great bar.
00:43:20
Speaker
Um, And the great thing about Skipper Society is it's always all ages. so Oh, that's nice. Yeah, so you can bring your kid in there with you and kind of hang out at one of the tables, and they do a lot of the trivias, and they also have musical acts there as well.
00:43:35
Speaker
but But also, don't sleep on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Yeah, the paris bar Periscope Pub. Because that is that is a very unique venue on Disney. They forewent the Irish pub in favor of this one. And it's the only ship that has something like it.
00:43:47
Speaker
I mean, it's a sports bar. ah So, you know, the TVs are on play in sports. It loses a little bit of the magic, but, you know, not enough that I wouldn't go in there and have a beer. Hands down, best drink...
00:43:58
Speaker
in the fleet on is on the wish and the treasure. And that is head to hooks, Barbary in the evenings. They open up a like speakeasy style bar. They have like a roll top, like credenza kind of thing that is, you know, they open it up and it's, and yes, it's a barbershop.
00:44:13
Speaker
it's ah It's a, it's a barbershop. It's a barbershop. Uh, but, They make fabulous bespoke old fashions in there. It's you know all handcrafted stuff. It's great. And i love I love to go there, grab one of those before. There's smoked old fashions, I should say. They were the first ones in the fleet to do that was in in Hooks.
00:44:30
Speaker
So I love to go there, grab one of those and take them with me to dinner. It's not a place you can go sit down. like It's usually too small and crowded for that. But ah grab a drink and take it with you. It's it's like a walk around drink, right? Yeah, exactly. Yes, exactly.
00:44:41
Speaker
it is the the skip So first of all, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is one of my favorite Disney rides of all time. So I will definitely be going to that bar. But um I also i did the Jungle Cruise one. Are you getting any of the Jungle Cruise joking around? Or is it just more themed around like? but Not so. A little bit.
00:44:58
Speaker
and A little bit. no they're not, Brian. We disagree on this if you can't tell. The the bartenders are not. are not failed skippers. Like they are not, they're not skippers who flunked out like a trader Sam's, but the menu does have, so there you actually have a hippopotami tie on the menu and a couple of other, um, they also have a really cool, um,
00:45:21
Speaker
drink that has well it comes in ah of course a tiki cup that is the jungle cruise boat um and so that's yeah that's really cool so there are like the drink menu definitely has theming and the atmosphere has the theming but the cast members aren't in character that's why you have to go to the jungle cruise game show in the atrium that that is fully themed Okay, Sam, I disagree. i think there were times that you weren't there that we got some serving staff who were trying to like inject a little bit of the Jungle Cruise puns and stuff and rolling their eyes. and you know it' so like
00:46:00
Speaker
i think there is some of it. I don't know how consistent it is. And I don't know how much of it they were trying to like turn it on for the Maiden Voyage a little bit because they have a different opening craft. crew up until about a few weeks after the maiden. And then the rotational crew comes in. So like there was a guy, there's a, there's a coffee bar on board called Hey, Hey, a cafe. And like the crew member there was hilarious because for the entire maiden voyage, when you walked up, he'd be like, Hey, Hey,
00:46:26
Speaker
How you doing? That's true, but i I don't like I I did not see any of that in Skipper Society. um I would not count on puns and whatnot there. But like I said, that's why you have to go to the Jungle Cruise themed game show in the Grand Hall.
00:46:43
Speaker
but And they're not doing like Trader Sam like special effects and stuff like that in that bar? Correct. I love Trader Sam's for that. i mean It's all the fun, crazy stuff that happens at that bar. Remember, it's a different... yeah What they can do on the ship is a little bit different also because the crew is is generally international. right so they're It's just not like at the parks where...
00:47:04
Speaker
the Most of the skippers are American and the puns work in that you know in English and they understand them at the same level that the guests understand them. right So it doesn't have the same.
00:47:15
Speaker
You have a little bit less ability to to do that with a multilingual crew. That makes sense. Yeah, no, that makes total sense. ah So Trevor, you want to do ah Elizabeth's question? I think you're you're you're down there. Yeah.
00:47:28
Speaker
yeah um Yeah. So Elizabeth says, which ship for a first time to Disney Cruise Line's family? um She says, I keep leaning towards the older ones.
00:47:39
Speaker
um They've only been on one cruise, the Royal Adventure of
Guidelines for First-Time Disney Cruisers
00:47:43
Speaker
the Seas. That's what I was on last year. So I was on the Adventure of the Seas. And that boat's a little older. so You know, this this is a hard question because the any of the ships is great for a first time cruising family. I think, it that you know, the itinerary to me is like, what is the most important? And do you want to do a seven night cruise? You know, can or can you only fit in a three or four night cruise? You want to sail out of, you know, California, want to sail out of Port Canaveral or do you want to sail out of Fort Lauderdale, right? Like those things to me are like the more important deciding factors. i think we do talk about, we have several shows where we talk about like, what's the best um ship for the younger kids. We we both think that the the kids club on the Wish and the Treasure are probably, you know, the the best. And so for younger kids, that's a, you know, a great place.
00:48:30
Speaker
ah The tween and teen clubs are fantastic on the Dream Class ships. They're probably for, you know, that age of kids are the best. But the classic ships have this like beautiful classic Disney nostalgia.
00:48:43
Speaker
I think those are also a little bit easier for anyone who's mobility challenged. And so we like to say for sort of multi-generational, I think that the the magic and the wonder are you know probably the best options.
00:48:55
Speaker
But really, i think... You could go on any of the Disney fleet and doesn't matter if it's the oldest ship or the newest ship and have an amazing first cruise. um If you want sort of that smaller, more intimate experience, you only really are going to get that on, you know, on the magic or the wonder, the older two ships.
00:49:14
Speaker
that's That's good. that's It was an interesting question. i like i like you know because I'm sure it's hard, right? Because you guys have all, you've been on all of them, right? So it's like it's hard to choose. But I also wanted to ask this question from Dan. Any updates on on Lookout Key, that specifically the bike right rentals and ah the five k When we were there, neither were running, and we heard rumors of expansion on Disney's portion of the island and also any recommended excursions on this part specifically.
00:49:40
Speaker
i do Before you answer this, I do want i ask you, were you guys as down on Lookout Key as the ah as the rest of the internet was? or were you guys Because I know you've been there, but I was curious because I know there was a lot of negative coverage of that when it opened.
00:49:52
Speaker
Yeah, I think we were probably some of the only content creators who actually really liked Lookout Key. um Yeah, i I think that there was just a lot of, in my opinion, nitpicking around issues that were either out of Disney's control, like the pier.
00:50:06
Speaker
ah to get To get to develop that part of the island, they had to agree to protect that reef. And the only way they could do it is with a pier. They couldn't. People are like, well, they could just tender in. They can't tender in and protect the reef because the tender boats yeah destroy the reef. So Disney had to build a pier. Could they have done a better job building a pier?
00:50:22
Speaker
Yeah, could have been wider, could have been accommodating for trams, could have had sun sails on it, and maybe they will do some of that. But I sort of looked at it and went, how far do I have to walk in the parking lot at Magic Kingdom to get to the front gate? And what we're complaining about And then proceed to do another 25,000 steps on the day, right? Like, we're complaining because we have to walk a half mile to get a tram to a beach. Right. Like that yeah to me, it was just sort of nonsensical. And it's it's done like the thing is done. And Disney, Disney wasn't shy about it. It was out there for, you know, two years before they even, ah you know, finish the island. So like the pier is the pier.
00:50:58
Speaker
And then, you know people were really upset about the the flies and the on the food situation, which it was bad. I'm not going to lie. It was bad that first like week. that people were there and it continued to improve. And now, you know, we're getting reports of people like I didn't see, I saw one fly.
00:51:14
Speaker
Right. Or yeah I didn't see any flies. And, you know, at some point you got to balance out, like you're outdoors eating food. Like if you were at a park down the street, like, would you expect to see some pests around your food? Like, so, so like, I think, this sorry, just,
00:51:27
Speaker
yeah to double check, this is on an island, correct? This is on an island in the middle the ocean. Exactly. In the Bahamas. There was a lot of reasons. like They had completely upended the environment. And so a lot of it, I think, had to do with the fact that the flies had been just stirred up from all of the construction activity.
00:51:43
Speaker
and So they put a lot of work in and it's that's solvable or solved now. in in terms of i think so So we really liked it. I think Lookout Key has a ton of promise. ah as a new destination. And I always just like to remind myself, like, I'm sure that Castaway Key was not perfect when it opened, right? It it has evolved over time into what it is and what people like.
00:52:02
Speaker
I think the other thing is for those who have experienced Castaway Key now going to Lookout, like, it's not Castaway Key Part 2. This is Lookout Key. It is a different destination. They had a different emphasis and a different mission.
00:52:14
Speaker
um They really tried to bring the Bahamian culture into the island with the junk canoe and the music and the art. And I got a chance to talk to some of the local artists who were involved in all of that when we were there on the... When I was there on the preview cruise. And they are they are very proud of what they did in that space and how they're able to highlight their culture to people. So I think...
00:52:37
Speaker
you just got to step away and say, one, the island has a lot of promise. It's not fully done. Two, it's a different thing than castaway key. And three, most of the things that are problematic are not like, like they were operational and the operational side. Yeah. they big if That gets solved.
00:52:52
Speaker
Right. So in terms of the specific question, last I heard bike rentals were still not running that, that could change day to day. Right. So I, I, I think they were waiting on the bikes to come. I don't know what the, they had, they had the bikes. It was that the paths were not done. Brian.
00:53:07
Speaker
No, well, in the early cruises, they didn't even have the bikes. True, true. they have they actually i think so yeah yeah yeah think they might they might I know they have some bikes there already because but folks have reported that they've seen the bikes. The the problem is is that the the trails are not finished, which is what gets you to the 5K question. It is not yet ready. They do have some signage up. We've we've seen pictures of the signage for the 5K. Yeah.
00:53:34
Speaker
for where it will, you know, start, but, um it is not operational quite yet. That makes sense. Yeah. And then excursions. That's another hard question because when we went, there was not a single excursion that was like up and running yet. Um, when we were at lookout key, even though we were there, um, how many times Brian, you were there four times in like two weeks.
00:53:57
Speaker
Yep. And there were no excursions yet. Um, the only The only thing we've booked is where're we're going to do the snorkeling at Castaway, and i that's something I but what really want to do. So, I i mean, i don't know if you guys have thoughts. sure you have thoughts on that one, but i I've heard it's good.
00:54:12
Speaker
I don't mean, I don't know. that It's different. Like, snorkeling on Castaway is... ah So, snorkeling on Castaway isn't an enclosed... a big difference. I think when we stop there and say a big difference between lookout and castaway castaway is an enclosed protected bay.
00:54:25
Speaker
Yeah. And so you get like weird water level up and down kind of problems on the beach, uh, throughout the day as the tide comes in and out that you kind of get less of it. Look out because it's just an exposed point.
00:54:35
Speaker
And so it's more like going to, you know, a beach. Right. Um, And then the snorkeling at Castaway is all driven in that bay. And then they've sort've sunk special things and statuettes and stuff like that. So it's like less about the fish. You're not seeing a lot of fish. You're kind of like exploring to find the hidden Easter eggs that they've sunk to the bottom of the ah the ocean there or the beach there.
00:54:56
Speaker
On lookout, they didn't do that. So you're basically just snorkeling. And I will say the beach is fairly shallow for a significant length out. So you can wander out in the cove there for, or sorry, on the beach there into the ocean for a while before you would really hit any kind of drop off.
00:55:16
Speaker
um I'd say for for ah Lookout, the one thing that we have heard now is like, water shoes are not the worst idea. um There is some coral. Yeah. I would wear water shoes regardless. I don't know. I did it i did it and I had no problems with it. But but yeah, so anyway.
00:55:32
Speaker
But I would say like if you're looking for snorkeling to see like fish and sea turtles and stingrays and things like that, um neither place, neither Castaway nor Lookout are where you want to snorkel. Like if you want snorkeling, people love snorkeling at Castaway because they love snorkeling to see the items that have been sunk that Brian was talking about. Right. So you want to see there's like Mickey statue. There's like there's a statue of Eric, of course, from you know Little Mermaid. Right. So. There are some cool things to go and see, but you're not going to see like great fish wildlife situation, right? There are but there are other islands and snorkeling excursions that you'll want to do if if you want to see wildlife while you're snorkeling. So it's just kind of...
00:56:15
Speaker
just It's not a bad thing. It's just what to expect, right? And at Lookout, there's just, as Brian mentioned, because it's so shallow, there's just not a lot of um you know large sea life. You'll see like some minnows at both places. You'll see like some minnows and some smaller fish, but nothing really exotic.
00:56:32
Speaker
Okay. so So, Tom, i'm going to give you one last tip where you before you wrap us up here, which is just make sure in Coco, don't sleep on the appetizers. That's where the real like solid Mexican food is in Coco.
00:56:45
Speaker
And ah the Tres Leches cake, or is it a cake or sundae? It's like a cake. Yeah. Oh, my God. Best dessert in the fleet. Wow. Don't sleep on that.
00:56:56
Speaker
yeah I will never turn down tres leches anything. so just So I went to a Cuban restaurant one time and I had a cuatro leches. And I was like, what's the fourth one? I don't know what it was. i couldn't find out. But I was like, yeah, give me another one. Give me more of the dairy. More leches. Yeah. So let's do it. We're going to do our ad right now. And then we have news on the Disney adventure. We'd love you guys to talk about. And if you want to hang around for the rest of this, for the rest of our nonsense, we're going to talk about today. We would love to have you guys. But if you know, if you got to go, that's cool too.
00:57:26
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:58:14
Speaker
And I just want to mention too, i just, you know... We talk about this all the time. We don't promote anybody that we don't use. right So I just finished buying and selling a DVC contract from DVC Resort Market, and they couldn't have been more amazing at the process. So yeah, please check them out. they They've been our partners for like a long time now, so and we love them. ah they're they're They're just great people of there. Yeah.
00:58:36
Speaker
yeah So Sam and Brian, we got we got some ah some Disney Cruise news. Sorry, Trevor, go ahead. I was going to say, just, yeah. and so So we do have some news about the adventure, which yeah um I guess to both Sam and Brian is ah um the adventure goes out of Singapore, I believe. Do you guys have plans for...
00:58:57
Speaker
taking an international cruise anytime in
Future Disney Ship Plans
00:58:59
Speaker
the future? Because that seems kind of far. It's far. did To take a cruise. So I am actually booked on the adventure's maiden voyage, but awesome that is but that is not going to happen. ah so i I booked it on a whim just to book it. And um the adventure did not have all of the same maiden voyage restrictions on it that the other ships have had. So there's no like penalty for like moving it basically. So I will. Okay.
00:59:24
Speaker
Probably start the process that many ah Disney Cruise Line folks who sail a lot do, which is punting that cruise out every itinerary release until we decide we're actually going to go. um But yeah, it is a long, long way to go. And it was too long for me to go for a three night cruise.
00:59:40
Speaker
yeah The Avengers seem like they're they're doing some very different things that they haven't done with the other ships before. Like, just like with like the rides on the deck and like the, you know, they, part of that yeah. Yeah. Because they have a like open area in the middle too, which they didn't have on their other ships. Right.
00:59:54
Speaker
But they didn't design, you got to remember, they didn't design this ship from the ground up. They bought it. They bought it. Yeah. So, so part of this is the ship was built and they didn't want to invest, too much money in it, right? Because the whole idea was we're getting a steal on like an almost complete ship and all we have to do is kind of come in and like finish it up. Disney it up, right? Yeah. Yeah. Now now now we have heard through various grapevine sources that they probably ran way over budget and what they were expecting to spend for this ship.
01:00:21
Speaker
ah So the original plans for the ship contemplated that kind of amusement park on top and all that sort of stuff. So they're really just kind of Disney-fying what was there and then in some cases going a little bit beyond. But it is very different.
01:00:32
Speaker
Very, very different ship. has more restaurants on it than the other ships. The rooms are very, very... different. So one the room I booked is... ah We actually booked in concierge because we wanted to see some of the new concierge amenities that they were offering on that ship. And it's supposed to be kind of a one bedroom.
01:00:49
Speaker
But I heard from a friend of mine that like the bedroom or additional sleeping space is like a nanny room. So it's like literally a closet with a bed in it. Because it's not uncommon in Asian culture to have a nanny and to travel with your nanny, especially when you're sort of you know paying the price to sail in a concierge kind of stateroom. So Interesting.
01:01:08
Speaker
It's a very, very different ship. It's going to look very different than the rest of the fleet. And it will be the only one of its kind out there as far as we know. Do you think it ever ends up ah coming out of the United States at some point? Or is they just going to keep this over in Singapore?
01:01:21
Speaker
I don't think there is any way this ship will actually do any kind of revenue-based sailing out of the United States. that We have heard ah and and gotten some speculation that she may be stopping in l LA on her way to Singapore.
01:01:35
Speaker
and There's a bunch of different tea leaves we're reading there to to kind of arrive at that conclusion. But we suspect if she stops there, it's not going to be to do any kind of revenue sailing. It's going to be to like restock and maybe do what they did with the treasure, where they parked her in New York and brought a bunch of folks on for some tours. The christening thing.
01:01:49
Speaker
yeah yeah yeah Yeah, which was awesome. but Yeah, to do like tours. And then they might do some kind of like media cruise, right? Like a three night where they just go out to see and come back or if they go down to Ensenada and come back. Right. So um because they'd be going out of the port of L.A.
01:02:06
Speaker
And there's actually like on the port of LA's schedule, like for that, like the timing in November of this year, there is actually um a slot that Disney, the Disney adventure has. And so that's, that's really where that comes from. But also because of course she's got to get all the way from Europe to Singapore, which means in it and it coincides with you the Panama Canal.
01:02:28
Speaker
it It also coincides with a travel agent event that's happening at Disneyland. So it's sort of like we we suspect that they want to get some of the American you know influencer media types on board like they did with the treasure, but they don't want to pay to fly them all out to Singapore. so they you know because they they would That makes sense. They want to put the Asian market influencers and TAs on that ship because that's where she's going to sail and that's where they need to sell this thing. This this ship is not intended to be...
01:02:53
Speaker
a way to go see Asia with Disney, right? Like this is, this is really for the Asian market to see if, you know, Disney has enough of cache there for them to, you know, fill these sailings with folks who are local.
01:03:07
Speaker
so well they now And they don't go anywhere. The sailings are just from Singapore out to sea. or sail They don't stop anywhere. Oh, I didn't know that. Okay. Yeah. And of course they're doing that thing too. And now where they're going to do the, they're going to like license out the Disney cruise line name, right. To the, the same people that do the, uh, the parks in Asia. So that should be interesting to see how that shakes out too. Yeah. So that'll be a different ship. That'll be the, the fourth wish class ship actually.
01:03:30
Speaker
um Well, actually, there's going to be five wish class ships, right? So for the fifth right says new the fifth wish class ship is going to be an OLC ship. So it's basically contracted to the it the folks who run Tokyo Disneyland. It's not the folks who run Hong Kong or Shanghai.
01:03:45
Speaker
And so they are going to run a ship out of Japan. And so that will be in, I believe, 2029 is when that ship is supposed to come out. um We don't really know anything about it as far as like how many you know what what kind of itineraries it will sail, where it will whether it will have port stops or if it'll be cruises to nowhere where like the adventure. Whether you'll even be able to book it on the Disney Cruise Line website is a question mark. Right, exactly. That's interesting. whether or not it'll... can count towards castaway status, right? So those things we don't know. We know that the adventure, all of those things are, it is being run by the Disney Cruise Line company. Of course they have, ah you know, a Singapore branch or subsidiary or whatever you want to call it. That's sort of doing
01:04:25
Speaker
the day-to-day operations, but it's all linked through, it's all done, you know, booking through the Disney Cruise Line website that we use ourselves. So, um, yeah, it's, uh, it, it is definitely the adventure is part of DCL.
01:04:40
Speaker
This OLC ship is kind of maybe sort of part of DCL. We're not really sure. Yeah. Kind of like the ke like the Asian parks are kind of sort of... Yes. Yeah. Exactly. we just We don't really know exactly what how it's going to shake out once she launches. it it will be There's a lot of question marks that haven't been you know answered by ah by Disney yet.
01:05:01
Speaker
And the news we have here is they're they're talking about this. There's going to be a Duffy and the Friendship. Okay, that's that's an interesting name. Yeah. Duffy and Friends. There's going to be a Duffy and Friends show, and there's going to be a Duffy and Friends shop on board.
01:05:15
Speaker
Yeah, the one that stuck out to me. Which totally sense. Yeah, it makes sense. Everybody loves Duffy. I'm obsessed with Duffy. Yeah, and I'm obsessed. This is, to me, as soon as I saw that announcement, I texted Brian, and was like, how are we getting me on that ship?
01:05:28
Speaker
That's the And now I'm going to bring an empty suitcase and it's going to be filled with Duffy and friends stuff on the way back. The shop looks pretty insane. Yeah, it does. Just so much Duffy merch. A lot of Duffy merch.
01:05:42
Speaker
What stuck out to me was the Captain Jack Sparrow and Siren Queen show, because that looks cool, too. Yeah. With like projection. It looks like it's got like projection stuff going on. And like, ah yeah, I mean, looks this looks like a cool show.
01:05:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, and they have, the good thing is we've got, there's so much, you know, pirate stuff already on Disney Cruise Line that they can take, you know, sort of the some of the storyline characters and, you know, sort of put those on the ship or on the adventure, but with different, you know, special effects and with different, like you said, with projections and things like that. So I think they're going to just sort of enhance what we already know as Pirate Knight on the other ships.
01:06:19
Speaker
Nice, nice.
Lakeshore Lodge and New Interactive Experiences
01:06:21
Speaker
All right. Well, we're going to move on to like Disney Park stuff. and So I hope you guys are okay for the nonsense we're going to talk about now. But i I know we talked before the show like about the topics, and you guys were excited about this, so that's great, too.
01:06:32
Speaker
um But one of the things we're going to talk about is... ah So we have been talking about Lakeshore Lodge, a.k.a. Reflections. It's always going to be Reflections to me, like MGM. ah It's... It's just reflection. Right, Trevor? I mean, its we talked about reflection for so long.
01:06:48
Speaker
mean, technically, we should be calling Haunted River Country. Haunted River Country, yes. But here's the thing, though. They're doing what we were talking about for Haunted River Country, right? So the rumor here is, based on the public filings, basically...
01:07:04
Speaker
It seems like they just kind of kept the plans for reflections, right? Like, it's basically going to be reflections. They just realized that they don't want it to sound like a day spa anymore. and They want it to sound like an actual resort called Lakeshore Lodge.
01:07:14
Speaker
But so they're going to have a large feature pool and a lazy river, which will only be what? The second lazy river at a resort? Yes. I think the only other one is Beach Club, right? Yeah, that's correct. Well, Alani.
01:07:26
Speaker
Aulani. Yeah, that's true. yeah I wasn't counting that one. guess we're thinking in in Florida. i learned I know. I'm kind of teasing, but I love the one out Aulani. but Yeah, and I've not made it to Aulani yet, but might my sister and brother-in-law are going there this summer, and they're definitely very excited for that. but um But yeah, no, I think this is kind of cool because it like we were talking about, it's almost like it's... ah bringing back the, the ghosts of, of river country. Right.
01:07:51
Speaker
um And, and that's, that's pretty cool to me. I I'll be interested to see how this shakes out. And if this is going to look exactly like the reflections plans, because they really haven't announced much other than it's going to be Lakeshore Lodge. Right.
01:08:05
Speaker
Yeah. um So, Tom, did you have a look at these plans for the... I did. so I didn't realize this at first when I looked at that or where the blue was highlighted. like This um lazy river ah looks like it's going to be in... like um There's going to be like um guess like a courtyard yeah area. That's the best way to describe it. It almost looks like Animal Kingdom Lodge where all the animals are, but instead of watching animals, you're going to watch all the people swimming.
01:08:33
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I thought, too. it's ah It's interesting. and And I didn't realize how much other structure there is around it, too. late Like they have like the buildings and it looks like there's going lot of stuff and like it's not just where this pool is, but like like a lot of, um I don't know, lounge areas. And i don't know what else they would be putting there.
01:08:51
Speaker
there this is a pretty nice size resort and then ah of course that it looks too like they have the cat like a cabins on the water again too which are going to cost fortune to stay in but i mean listen i did the cabin one time at wilderness lodge it was fantastic so uh one night we did a one night blowout because we had points that were going to expire and so we're like let's let's just go crazy and do one night at a cabin uh so which was great but these are going to be you know kind of similar to that but uh Yeah, no, listen, we've been talking about this resort for a while, and the fact that they're going to have like a lazy river and everything, like I'm all about a lazy river. like oh I want to just float around and you know relax.
01:09:28
Speaker
and the The interesting thing about that, too, is because I assume this is going to be one of these resorts that is limited the same way that like Riviera and the newer resorts are.
01:09:39
Speaker
course it is. I guess the one thing about that is how hard... Because, you know, previously it was like, you know getting into a yacht and beach club is, it was extremely difficult because it was the only place with a, with a, like a lazy river and like that type of. um Well, their pool is. at yeah Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But this is going to be in contention for that. But I wonder if it's going to actually take some of the pressure off of a beach club.
01:10:09
Speaker
That's, that's an interesting point. I hadn't thought about that, but yeah, they it could. Yeah. i think yeah I think it will. I think that's a really good point, Trevor, because I mean, I know for us, like we tend to stay at Riviera because that's where we own, but um we love the pool pools at Yacht and Beach Club. And so, i mean, that would be our preferred other than the fact that our home resort is Riviera Beach Club would be our preferred place to stay because of that pool. Yeah.
01:10:38
Speaker
And so, yeah, I think if you if you end up with as good of a pool and and lazy river situation that i like to call it a retirement home at Reflections, and Retirement Home.
01:10:49
Speaker
That works too. Retirement Home, Spa, whatever. Rehab Facility. Rehab Facility, right. Yeah, yeah. All the different names. Yeah. But um I think, yeah, that I think it could really help with that booking pressure. And it may, you know, it may help with ah any booking pressure that might be at Riviera because of the whole resale restriction booking. Yeah. And I also think if you it will help with like the monorail resorts and and that whole area. Right. Because there's there's always a lot of pressure on those resorts just because it's right by Magic Kingdom. And there's, you know, the more hotel rooms over there, I guess, the better if you're trying to get a room. Right.
01:11:24
Speaker
um Yeah, i I mean, for me, I've i've said this before, i will most likely be buying at this place at some point, ah assuming it comes out, you know, in a way that I want it to be, you know, like in something that's attractive.
01:11:37
Speaker
um We I still stayed at Riviera. Actually, that's it's interesting. You guys are you guys own a Riviera and stay there because I Trevor and I, when we were at Disney together. We walked through the Riviera and I hadn't been through there it just to hop on the Skyliner because you know Trevor and I both love the Skyliner. ah so actually So we got off because we need to go to Disney Springs. That's right. We got off the Skyliner to get on the bus.
01:12:00
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. We figured we might as well walk through because we had to get on a bus to Disney Springs anyway. so we But it felt so nice. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Riviera is beautiful. our Our son, we we like to stay in the one bedrooms at Riviera and our son's like, this is nicer than our house. I'm like, yeah. Yeah.
01:12:14
Speaker
You're not wrong. You're not wrong. Yeah. I mean, honestly, just walking through that place, I was like, wow, this feels like, see, we always, we always joke about, you know, how I've, I've joked about this for a long time about how, anytime I'm in Grand Floridian, I always feel like I'm like, and miss, like in the wrong place because like, I don't belong. It's like too fancy. Yeah. It's too fancy for me. And so we always said this joke about like wearing a monocle and walking around, you know, like that's always been the big thing.
01:12:39
Speaker
And I felt that way when I was in Riviera, I was like, this feels above me. Yeah. This feels like I i don't belong here. ah Anyway, I want to talk about this. think you need a pipe, too, with your monocle. Oh, is that? Yeah, you got to have the yeah you get the pipe. You have a smoking jacket.
01:12:55
Speaker
Yeah. <unk> Cravat. Maybe a cane. Maybe, yeah you know. of I know you guys all want to talk about this. So this next topic, because i I put this on here. I was like, because Trevor, you actually kind of called this. I feel like a couple, like a while ago when we were, there was some rumors going on about what the NBA experience was going to turn into.
01:13:17
Speaker
And i feel like you said, is it going to be Disney Quest 2.0? two point zero And we're kind of getting that, aren't we? Which it totally makes sense. and And it's just so Disney is not doing it themselves. They've employed this company called Level 99, which has other companies.
01:13:35
Speaker
Basically, ah for lack of a better term, I guess they're like adult playgrounds. says interactive, competitive, social gaming venue for adults, which is a big word salad, but I get it.
01:13:47
Speaker
Yeah. but But yeah, so we're we're getting finally a Disney Quest-like place back in that space, which um I'll be honest, I can't think of anybody that I've spoken to about NBA experience. it and i'm so I'm not saying this as like, you know, if you're a fan of basketball, you Good for you, but nobody wanted NBA. It was open for like 10 seconds. It was like it was barely open. like And then it like failed immediately. And they were like, all we're just going to close the doors on this. let's So yeah, now that now this new place is coming up and and I'm very curious. um
01:14:20
Speaker
I'm curious to see how this is going to play out because yeah, the level 99 seems to be ah tuned more towards um towards adults. Yeah. But you're going to have an aspect of like these these things have to be,
01:14:33
Speaker
um engaging enough for kids too. Like, like I'm, I'm looking at some of the pictures and it's like, you know, like somebody walking across a plank and there's like foam axis swinging back and forth. And i can imagine somebody's kids getting upset at this. You know what though? Like, like ah My daughter went to birthday party like last a couple weeks ago at a trampoline park, and they had like one of those spinning arm things.
01:14:56
Speaker
You know what I mean? Have you ever seen those? Yeah, like the wipeout spinning arm thing. Yeah, and she did it. I mean, it's not all that different from axes going... I mean, obviously, they're not real axes, but yeah, I know what you mean, though. It is geared towards adults, and they do actually say here...
01:15:10
Speaker
It will have over 60 challenge rooms and duels. The two-story venue will be over 45,000 square feet, thousand players at a time. There's going to be a two-story bar. ah They're going to have pizza and ah other menu, you know, like a full menu, but also with pizza.
01:15:24
Speaker
um I mean, it looks really cool, but like you said, it's not it doesn't seem like it's meant to necessarily cater to younger kids. Maybe teenagers? I don't know. Yeah. So I'm interested in this. I know i know Sam and and Brian, you guys were kind of interested in this too. I'm excited to see it. I'm excited to see this. But my thing is, could this be a precursor? Can we finally get some Disney escape rooms? like that's what That's what I really want in my life. like how can we not turn How can we not do a national treasure-themed escape room?
01:15:53
Speaker
That would be such a great one. like i saw my spotage drawing i was i saw this and I was like, is this like i sir is is this going to be my escape? And it wasn't. And I was like, come on like The storytelling company with all the technology, like it could be so amazing. so i I hope that this takes off and then they find, you know, Oh, let's expand like beyond just, you know providing bars where people drink and give them more experiences at a place like Disney Springs. Cause I think they could do a, just a real knockup job with an escape room and Royal Caribbean actually has them on their ships. And so I've been waiting for them to actually put one on a Disney ship. Uh, there's a company here in Seattle that does them.
01:16:31
Speaker
And so they do it for a Royal Caribbean and I'm like, they could, they could just kill it. Totally. like killer Yeah. I, I also am super excited for this, though, because I i like loved Disney Quest what back in the day. i mean, rest in peace, Disney Quest. um But I i loved um where you got to create your own roller coaster. right like I loved all that stuff. it was I thought it was really cool. It was really fun.
01:16:53
Speaker
um i also really liked um brian and i did they had a vr um experience that was it was both at downtown disney in california but also disney springs i can't remember the name of it the void yeah we did the void too yeah the void was awesome yeah we loved the void and we like i know they we did like ah it was a marvel themed uh room that we did and i know they had a star wars themed one as well so like the possibilities for gaming and VR in a space that has, you know, Disney IP, I think is a really just high level. And so I think this could be really, really cool.
01:17:28
Speaker
It will be interesting to see if it is, you know, more adult focused or more, you know, family focused. And I think, you know, time will tell um on that. But like, if you think about places like, i don't know, Dave and Buster's, like they've got things really,
01:17:41
Speaker
that kids do during the day and then adults go in and drink and do the same thing at night. Right. So I think it could be both. um I think they could have sort of enough for, for both populations if they do it right. And so I'm excited. I'm excited to see how this, how this all shakes out, but yeah, I'm super excited for it. I hope it's like combination Disney quest and the void. Yeah.
01:18:00
Speaker
I missed the void because i we we did it the one time and it was really cool. And my wife and I did the Star Wars one at Disney Springs. And, um you know, that was, ah gosh, when was that? That was a long time ago. And at that point, for covid yeah, I mean, the vests were so heavy. They had to lower down on like a crane under your shoulders. I'm assuming by now that it would probably be a little bit better.
01:18:21
Speaker
i mean, you it might still be a little heavy on you, but but our 11 year old. and Our 11-year-old just did one of these for birthday parties. I mean, they're they're yeah they're not out yeah they're they're light enough that a kid can do it now. so yeah Yeah, here in Seattle. there's like ah Well, in the Seattle area, it's ah it was ah it's a VR place. And it was very much like The Void. And they they were they had the vests on. they were kind of um you know and And they were holding on to like a gun-type thing right to do all these quests.
01:18:47
Speaker
um yeah So they definitely have them... That's not to say that you don't get like hot and sweaty in them. I'm wearing like a helmet and a vest and all that. Oh yeah. um But you, you know, they, they do have them, you know, even that kids can do. So there's the opportunities are there.
01:19:02
Speaker
Yeah, when we did the Void, my we got to the, um ah you guys did the Marvel one, you didn't do the Star Wars one, right? Trevor, you did the Star Wars one, though. Yeah, I did the Star Wars one, like, three or four times. Yeah, so there's that one part where you get to where there's, like, lava, and you have to walk over a bridge, and, like, you feel the heat and everything, and my wife, who's, like, a daredevil, she, like, literally, she got to that point, she was like, I don't want fall the lava. I'm like, Karen, it's not real.
01:19:26
Speaker
Yeah. I know it feels real and it's warm and you know, there's stormtroopers shooting at us, but let's go across the bridge. We're going to be fine. You know, like, but it's, it's the, the immersion of that was, was amazing. And, and ah what I'm interested to see for level 99, it does not seem as far as I can tell from this, that Disney's really involved with this, right?
01:19:48
Speaker
From, from what I've, what I'm reading right now, given it is their space, right? So my question will be, will they theme this, these games to Disney stuff, or are they just going to do what they've did in all their other locations across the country?
01:20:00
Speaker
Because to your point, they have a lot of great IP that they could put into an experience like this. And especially yeah Brian, I'm with you. I love escape rooms. We've talked about this before. There's so many cool IP things that you could make escape room escape rooms with, with Disney IP. Like, and I, it surprised me they haven't done it yet. Cause I know universal has a couple, but ah that they've done with their IP. And it's it just feels like an obvious, easy thing for them to do. I don't know why they haven't done it, but I will be interested. I want to solve like a Zootopia crime, right? Yeah, right. Why not? Yeah. i was i have to
01:20:34
Speaker
I have to wonder that like maybe because this level 99 thing, you're right that, you know, there's two ways it's going to play out. Yeah. You know, level 99, obviously, because they have multiple spaces for this, it may make sense for them to just reuse things that they've used in their other um other venues. So you don't get any like Disney specific stuff. But there is definitely that opportunity to start like folding in, you know, even even like reviving stuff from Disney Quest in some way, shape or form. i'm not saying like redo it entirely, but like, you know, make nods to to the old Disney Quest stuff.
01:21:08
Speaker
um I think the potential is there, but I think the real um tell on this is going to be how well it's received when it's open. Because you know to the point about and NBA experience, was you know that was like open and shut so fast. like it was yeah i don' Did it last even a year? Yeah. like like mean There was no reception to it, but I feel like if this gets enough reception, um you know to your point, Brian, you know this may...
01:21:34
Speaker
this may spawn other interactive things. Like I think this is like the, the tell of, you know, if this gets enough feedback from people that they want to see more of it, then you might see Disney start doing it. And my pitch is they need to bring back the adventures club from pleasure Island oh yeah that needs to be an escape room.
01:21:52
Speaker
That would be awesome. yeah It would be so good. and That'd be awesome. I just feel like that's where the market is heading to with like people wanting to like, we we want to we want to go out and have food and drink, but we want to do something, right? like Not just sit and eat and drink. And you know I think the high-end bowling alley concept has been kind of, you know it's had its day. And so like i I would love to see them do something more like this, you know more like an escape room, more like this. Just provide those experiences because I think people will pay for them.
01:22:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I actually agree with that. And i'll I'll tell a personal story real quick right here. But i it's my birthday this week. Don't feel the need to say happy birthday. Happy birthday. No, I'm going to say it anyway. Happy birthday. Thank you.
01:22:31
Speaker
Thank you. it's it's It's a big one for me. it's um I'm turning 40 this week. so Listen, after after the show wraps, I'm going to sing happy birthday to you. I'm going to just keep recording and then I'm going to put it on there. That's it. I took my first Disney cruise 42. So there you go. Nice.
01:22:49
Speaker
ah So last night, i so every year for my birthday, just for the longest time, I've always did what I call big kid birthday, which is we always go and do something like well that you know you would do as a teenager. Like we did laser tag. We've done, ah you know, ah Trampoline park. We did axe throwing. We've done, oh gosh, like escape rooms. We've done a bunch of escape rooms. But last night, we did something different.
01:23:14
Speaker
And this is kind of in the same vein. We did something called Game Show Battle Room. And they these this company has a lot of locations around. And basically, it's an hour experience. And we had 13 people came to this with us.
01:23:27
Speaker
Uh, and basically they have a host and they have a producer and it's like a, it's like a studio where it's a game show. And we played, uh, their version of, uh, wheel fortune, their version of family feud and their version of price. is Right. Cause obviously they can't say, you know, the, the, they can't use those names, but it's exactly the same games.
01:23:45
Speaker
And so like, they had a giant wheel to spin for wheel of fortune. They had a giant Plinko board for, you know, for prices. Right. And like, it was awesome. It was like, what it was one of the, my favorite things I've ever done.
01:23:56
Speaker
I am so jealous. They don't have one. I'm literally looking at You're looking it up right now? It's so cool. We don't have one in our area, but there is a competitor that is in our area called Game Show Connection.
01:24:09
Speaker
Oh, there you go. You should try that. say It was so cool. It was, I mean, it was like you were talking about. It's this themed experience that's like a different thing, right? And, you know, they serve drinks there and stuff too, but it was... it It wasn't even about that. like you know We got all competitive. We did you know guys versus girls because it was all couples you know with us. and so And that was fun, too. And the guys lost, of course. But you know we tried. ah we We actually tied at the end. But that's either here or they're there. But it's it's awesome, though. And that's the kind of experiences...
01:24:36
Speaker
like Disney can do this kind of stuff, right? like They have the IP to do fun things around you know around their IP, where their interactive experiences, where can do teams. and And I mean, this actually says in the in the announcements that it is a themed physical or mental challenge, but I mean, themed to what? Is it...
01:24:53
Speaker
Like, are they going to theme it to Disney? Are they going to theme it to, you know, whatever their current themes are? So, yeah, Game Show Battle Room, by the way, if you have one near you, do it. It's awesome. It's so, so much fun. um They should pay me for that endorsement. I feel like I need to call them vote for that.
01:25:06
Speaker
so Yeah, I mean, because that was that was a but like I said, that place was awesome. We had a lot of fun. And yeah, I highly recommend it. But I'm hoping that this is kind of like that kind of experience, right? Where it's, you know, interactive and you're doing with teams and you're you know, you just it's it's a different kind of experience that you can't get anywhere else.
01:25:24
Speaker
Like I said, I i think disney Disney needs to be paying attention to it when it opens, how popular it is. and and And also, like I think it's good that um it's good that Disney Springs is getting something other than shopping or a bar.
01:25:38
Speaker
like like I think that it also opens up the door to you know not necessarily doing more like of this type of stuff, but just... you know I feel it's time for like Disney Springs being just a shopping mall.
01:25:51
Speaker
um It needs to be more than that. Preach, preach. Yeah. like it yeah has Like, you know, I think we all have those memories of, you know, back when Pleasure Island was open and all that, that, you know, and it was a different vibe. Right. And they need to, they need to come back to that. Yeah. Well, because for someone like me, i don't like shopping. Shopping does nothing. oh yeah right so like We've had dinner over there before, but then it's like, okay, well, what else are we going to do?
01:26:15
Speaker
right like let's let's not I'm not going to wait in line you know an hour for getting his cookies out as much as I want to. um But you know, like they're missing that piece. They had the void there. They had Disney quest before, you know, like they don't really have a lot of that anymore. So this is a great addition. And I'm like, really looking forward to seeing what it's going to look like. Cause I, I mean, even if it's not Disney themed, I still think it's going to be cool, but I feel like if it's not Disney themed, they're missing an opportunity, you know? Totally. Yeah.
01:26:43
Speaker
Yeah. pleasure I like to this. Yeah. No, they never I mean, they, they stole our haunted river country idea, but you know, yeah, exactly. Yeah. we getting Let's make sure we go to a reflections and wear our shirts and yell at a protest. going to, I'm sure that'll, that'll go over. Well, I'm going to stand outside with a protest sign. That's what I'm going to So, speaking of potential things to protest over, um let's talk about the cheer. I don't know. i mean, some people like it, but,
01:27:12
Speaker
But hold on. so So, okay. So the, the, the announcement is that both Tiana's Bayou Adventure and Guardians of the Galaxy
Virtual Queue Changes and Their Impact
01:27:20
Speaker
Cosmic Rewind are losing virtual queues and going to standby queues as of February 25th, which is,
01:27:27
Speaker
um The day after this podcast release. So on. Oh, yeah. So it's happening this week. Yeah. Yeah. So it's happening. um I feel so. Actually, the interesting thing. And, um you know, initially we hear. Oh, thank goodness. The virtual queue is going away.
01:27:41
Speaker
When I actually told my son about this, he went, wait, what? No. Why would they do that? And, and I went the same way i felt. yeah And I, and I asked him, I, I like, cause I paused for a minute and i was like, what do you mean? And he's like, the virtual queue was so much better because I didn't have to wait in line.
01:27:59
Speaker
Like you just, you booked your time and then you showed up, you did it. And that's it. He's like, I do not like, it's going to be like a three hour long yeah line for this ride. So yeah, I mean, it's, it's debatable whether it's a good or a bad thing. This is happening. You you know, and I think anybody that's to the show knows that I've been, a I think the virtual queues are great operationally and as a guest.
01:28:21
Speaker
You know, is it a pain to get up at 7 a.m. and try to get in and then you don't get it? Sure. But would you rather wait in line for four hours and then have the ride break down and then you just wasted four hours of your vacation standing in a line that is not you know, was nothing.
01:28:34
Speaker
You just wasted time. yeah Like I love the virtual cues and I thought they were great. And I'm sad that it's going away, honestly, because I do think that there it's a good idea for these super busy rides.
01:28:45
Speaker
And I know most people hated them. Like I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I just thought it was, it was a really great way to reserve a time. And then you, ah not really a time, but you know, you reserved a spot and then you go about your day, you know, like,
01:28:59
Speaker
And then when it's time, they call you and you go on the ride. i like i just i just thought that was great. So, I mean, I know most people are probably going to be happy with this, but but I'm not. And Brian, it sounds like you're not either. so Yeah, we're not. we're not I think, though, I think the most people that you're talking about is really like the non-Disney people, like the non- hardcore like those of us who are like plan our trips and Brian is the planner in our family like we like it's just we count on the virtual queues like it yeah it makes it so we don't have to wait for four hours to ride Guardians of the Galaxy or Tiana's and so yeah it makes it an easy in and out when our virtual queue gets called so yeah I think it's I think for most like hardcore Disney people this is not a good thing
01:29:45
Speaker
I would agree with that, yeah. And I realize... I actually think it... I wonder how much of it's actually driven by the local passholder crowd. Like, if that's the more vocal minority here, just because it's like...
01:29:56
Speaker
Well, because they they they don't want to have to get up at 7 o'clock in the morning to make these reservations, right? They just want to be able to walk in the park and if they need to stand in line because, you know, Cosmic Rewind is the only ride they want to they want to do that day. That's what they do, right? So I get it, but I just like the optionality of like, if I didn't get it, I didn't get it. I mean, I guess, you know, most people listening to your show are going to be DVC members. And so I approach this as like, if I didn't get it this time, maybe I'll get it tomorrow or the next time. i cut Like, what difference? There's always the 1 p.m. queue.
01:30:23
Speaker
And yeah I never had problems getting on the 1 p.m. queue. Yeah. Yeah. So I loved them. I loved them to just be able to like, I got my ride time and then I actually would get up early in the morning and I would get, try to get an early boarding group and a lightning lane.
01:30:38
Speaker
And I would just go over and ride the ride twice, get some coffee and usually go back to the hotel. so yeah. That's what Trevor does with Cosmic Rewind. Yeah. he He does both the purchase lightning lane and the virtual. Yeah. Yeah. And, And I realized, ah Sam, you actually kind of touched on it that, you know, why my son was upset about it, because I'm the planner in the family as well.
01:30:57
Speaker
And so I exactly like I would be up, you know, do do all the booking and everything. And for him, it was great because he just rolled out of bed. We went, he did it. And, you know, for him, it was super easy because he just showed up and and things happened. So, um yeah, I can see where, you know, he's put out because, you know, he doesn't have to be the advantage of his dad, you know, planning out his day for him.
01:31:20
Speaker
and Exactly. stand on And I have that with Brian. like He plans out my day for me, so I don't have to do anything. And now I got to stand in a line for three hours. No, thank you. I'll skip that ride. Right. Well, and i only go on Guardians once. I can't.
01:31:33
Speaker
Brian will get he'll do the virtual queue for all of us. And then he might buy an individual lightning lane for himself and our son um because I can't ride it twice or I get really nauseous.
01:31:43
Speaker
um I can ride it once, but once is my limit. Like that's, yeah, once. And then i then need to take a little break and get a coffee and walk around a little bit. um But they can both do it. They can do it like back to back with no no issues. But yeah, I like your son. I just show up and tell me where to go.
01:32:00
Speaker
All right. Sounds good. This might change your strategy, though, Trevor, a little bit for your Maytrip, right? Because like were banking on virtual queue and buying a lightning lane to ride it twice with your brother. Now you're going to have to rope drop that.
01:32:12
Speaker
um Maybe or we also are exploring late night rides as well. That's the other way to approach it is um ah the the interesting challenge for us is because and actually I actually think ah both Sam and Brian, you're kind of in a similar boat to us, is that the time change going from like.
01:32:32
Speaker
you know, Western United States to Eastern United States, um getting up early for rope drop is very hard. And that's why we actually find we do, we fare better if we wait until like the end of the night and hit rides as the park is closing, because you know, a lot of times the parks, you know, empty out enough that you can get a lot stuff done quickly.
01:32:52
Speaker
And then we're also not like, because for us, it's not as late as, know, it is for other people. um You know, we can go all the way up until, till park close and not be bothered by it. So it makes sense.
01:33:05
Speaker
Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, we we'll have to see how that plays out in May, because I'll be paying attention to how this looks for the next next couple of months here. because um but But I guess the the other advantage, though, is if I time it right, i maybe I'll be able to ride Guardians more than twice in a day That's true. You might be able to actually do it more than you would have been able to. if i do I don't think it says it in this article, but it is it still going to be an individual lightning lane? Yeah. Yeah, okay. yeah I saw there was some confusion with that when they first announced this because they just copy pasted the Tiana announcement okay and Tiana announcement said it was going into the multi oh multi-pass.
01:33:42
Speaker
And so everyone was like, Guardians is going to the multi-pass? That's insane. And then they went back and changed it and said, no, it's it's an individual. Yeah. No, if you want to ride Guardians, you're going to need to pay. You're going to pay. At least $20 a person.
01:33:54
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. that's That's fine by me. Yeah, i you know, that's fine. it's It is interesting, though, because it's not like the Internet reacted to this like they were abolishing virtual queues altogether.
01:34:06
Speaker
That's not what they're doing. They're just ending it for these two rides. but They there were the last two left, right? Like, next time they open a new attraction, they're ah They're going to have a virtual queue again. It's not they're not going to stop doing this because it works so well for them operationally when they launch a new attraction to have the virtual queue until, you know, things even out. They get the ride up to where they need it to be efficiency wise. And then, you know, then they can then they can just let it be standby queue. But it's it's funny because all the things I've seen on the Internet about this be like, oh, no more virtual queues forever. And it's like, OK, well, yeah.
01:34:38
Speaker
for now, bill like until yeah either um ah Tropical Americas or yeah Monsters, Inc. or Cards. like Well, they still have it for World of Color at Disneyland. They still have virtual cues for Run Disney. for the Yeah, for Run Disney for the first day of the expo, at least at Disneyland, right? So, like, they they still use virtual cues, people. Don't worry. They're still there. They're not going bye-bye. Yeah. Yeah, you guys, your home park is, because you're West Coast, you guys are usually guys are more Disneyland like Trevor, right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. yeah yeah Yeah. So i beat i we are West Coast, West Coast.
01:35:09
Speaker
West Coast. You know the differences. like Like, I've tried to explain to Tom how Disneyland is different, but he doesn't like I'm speaking in another language. yeah yeah Right.
01:35:21
Speaker
It is. It is. Listen, we you know, it's. We we you know we miss MaxPass, right? we don't We didn't care about the whole FastPass thing. We miss MaxPass, right? so yeah we have But there is there's a different lingo there's a because it operationally, the parks do work differently. i mean, there're more there are more similarities now with sort of now with ah Genie Plus or whatever they call it now, Multipass. Yeah, whatever. New iteration is multi-passing. But it's, yeah, so now they work more similar similarly, but yeah, there's still there are still different languages that we speak with.
01:35:54
Speaker
It's funny because but Brian and I both grew up on the East Coast going to Walt Disney World and now we're West Coast Disneyland people, so...
Advice for First-Time Disney Visitors
01:36:02
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm a, you know, I'm a, when I, I grew up in New Jersey and we used to drive down to Disney world. So, uh, 20 hours, you know, cause I grew up entirely Disneyland and I didn't go to Disney world until my honeymoon.
01:36:18
Speaker
ah and then wow And then, yeah. And then, then we were like hooked on Disney world. Yeah, I actually, one of my friends that was at my birthday thing last night was, ah we're like, we're going to take the kids to Disney World in November, and they've never been. And i'm ah and they're like, can you help me? I'm like, I can.
01:36:33
Speaker
but It's a lot. you know like it's It's almost hard to like even prep people for Disney World because it's just so large and complicated. and a lot It's a lot. it's so I always tell people, like first, people who've never been to any Disney theme park, I always like tell them, go to Disneyland, don't go to Disney World because there's so much less you have to like learn to do like a first trip Disneyland than there is for Disney World. I'm not saying it you won't have a great trip, but like you can do like a three-day trip. You don't have to do like a week-long or 10-day trip. There's And just like not having to figure out like the travel between. Yeah. It's just a lot simpler. Yeah. It's just a lot less stuff that I have to explain to somebody.
01:37:13
Speaker
hundred percent. So ah Trevor, I think we should once again, push food time back to next week. Yeah. Let's, let's push it back to next week. Well, I mean this, the, the food and wine festival at California venture isn't starting until the 28th anyway. So we will be right on time for this. be talking about it next episode. So yeah.
01:37:31
Speaker
And I'll put out the apology because it was put on our, um, it was posted on our page that we were going to talk about food time. Oh, sorry. I don't know people have noticed that we've been posting a lot more on the page and we'll talk about that more in the future. Um, we're trying to be as great as Brian and Sam are as opposed to social media. Cause you guys are like insanely good at social media and we are insanely bad at it. So I don't know. And I, and it was said that we were going to talk about food time this week, but, uh,
01:38:00
Speaker
Sorry, guys. Yeah, we're going to put you back. We'll put you back. Brian and I talk too much, but it's really no. people This was great. This was fantastic. This was a great conversation with you guys. we We love talking with you guys. It's it's just, you know, you guys are so much fun and you and you get what we do and we get what you do. And it it just makes it ah makes it more fun when when that's the case, you know, um because you guys, you know, you guys are Disney fans like we are. And it it just, ah you know,
01:38:25
Speaker
And honestly, I can't tell you, I think I've learned more on this podcast than I've learned on any podcast about anything. Just because you guys ah really know all the stuff about Disney Cruise Line. So I feel a lot more educated now. And I almost i feel a lot more relaxed now. I i might actually, my my wife might actually listen to an episode of the podcast to hear about the ah about the Disney Cruise stuff. So she can know more. Can I give you one one last piece of a Yeah, one last tip. Yeah, let's do it. by so Don't try to do everything, Tom.
01:38:53
Speaker
Oh, that's no. well I'm going to try to do everything. What are you talking about? I thought your last piece of advice was going to be, Tom, don't forget to buy a placeholder while you're on your Disney cruise. Oh, that is good reason. Yeah, that's a good one, Brian. I've been talking about this. I know what happened when I bought DVC.
01:39:10
Speaker
ah you know like You just kind of, in a weird way, get addicted to it. you know and then i So this is my first Disney cruise. I said to my wife, I'm like, this is going to be a problem. like I just know ahead of time. like as As soon as we get on that boat and we're there for a couple days, I'm going to be like...
01:39:25
Speaker
yeah, when's our next one? You know, like this is, it's going to be a thing. And I, I just know it. Cause my wife and I like cruising. And as long as my daughter enjoys it, like, I mean, we're probably going to be doing... we're Like you said, we're going to book that next one. Yeah.
01:39:38
Speaker
She's the perfect age too. just As soon as you can get in the app, just head in and buy your placeholder. because It's all app-based now. So just buy it in the app. Make sure you take a screenshot of the confirmation because sometimes things don't go through and they will honor it. If you can show them you bought it.
01:39:53
Speaker
If you have no record of buying it, then they were like, well, sorry, you you didn't get it on board. so Nice. Okay. Well, let's good that's a good tip so where before we wrap up, where can people find you guys?
01:40:04
Speaker
I know we have a lot of overlap listeners, by the way, but I'm sure there's some listeners that are listening to us that don't know you guys and then some of your listeners that don't know us. So, Oh, for sure. For sure. So you easiest way to find us is to head to dclduo.com. We've got everything there links off to our YouTube, our podcast, both of our podcasts. Now all of our social media, everything is over there.
01:40:24
Speaker
dclduo.com. You can find us our podcast anywhere. You want to listen to podcasts to search for dclduo two words. ah And we also, we have a Substack newsletter now. You can find it substack.com slash DCL duo.
01:40:37
Speaker
ah We've got our YouTube channel at youtube.com slash DCL duo. We do a live show over there every Monday night at 5 30 PM Pacific, 8 30 PM Eastern. I say most nights there are nights that we, we opt not to do the live show.
01:40:50
Speaker
ah Yeah. And so that's, that's where you can find social media, DCL underscore duo on threads and Instagram and every place else it's DCL duo run together. So there you Nice. Nice.
01:41:01
Speaker
Thank you guys so much for coming on. This was awesome. i we This was a lot of fun. I'm glad we got this together. And after I believe after I go on my cruise, I'm going to come on your show and I'm talking about my experience, right? Yeah. yeah yeah We want to hear the yeah the before here, all the questions you had, but I want to hear how it landed. If you if you did, in fact, like you know find it to be enjoyable and how how how your kids liked it. i would and I want to hear about how your daughter liked it. Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. I think there's a 0% chance that I won't enjoy this. like You know what i mean? like I don't think there's any possible way and unless like we have to evacuate the boat via lifeboats. like that's the yeah Even then, I might still be into it. That's like getting evac from a ride. yeah No, yeah, we don't want abandon ship.
01:41:40
Speaker
But you know I'm just saying like there's very little way that this could go wrong, I feel like. And I feel like there's no way that my daughter's not going to enjoy it. so But thank you guys so much. This was really great. And and we really enjoyed having you on. So...
01:41:51
Speaker
um Yeah. So as usual for for us, you can always find us at welcomehomepodcasts at gmail.com. We love hearing from you guys and hearing, you know, trip reports and and questions and all that from our listeners.
01:42:05
Speaker
You can also find us on social media on Facebook as Welcome Home Podcast. YouTube is Welcome Home Podcast and Instagram is Welcome Home Picks. Make sure you check out our Facebook group, Welcome Home Disney Waitlist, where we talk about all the stuff on the show and we get things like, you know, listener questions. You know, some of the ones for this episode came from our our our waitlist group and just fun Disney conversation. You know, it's just a great place to have of other people that you can talk about Disney stuff with. So please check it out.
01:42:33
Speaker
And if you want to help support the show, you can go to store.welcomehomepodcast.com. You can check out all of our different merch on there. We've got and all the usual, the mugs, the shirts. If you need a fanny pack, you know we all need fanny packs. I think that you know they're they're hot again. You got to get one.
01:42:48
Speaker
Craft body bag. yeah Yeah, you can wear it that way too. But you know you know you can get yourself a fanny pack on there. Similarly, we also have Patreon, which you can go to patreon.com slash welcomehomepod.com.
01:42:59
Speaker
And check out our different levels of Patreon support, which have an exclusive Patreon logo that you cannot get on the store. And all our Patreon supporters get access to the Discord server, which is yet another place that we talk about everything that we enjoy about Disney. And again, just random topics as well. Random life things. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Last but not least, if you're listening on iTunes or Spotify or anywhere that you can, you know, leave us a five star review, you know, leave us those five stars. just helps us, you know, get into the algorithm and, you know, be more visible out there and, you know, makes us happy. We've said it before, you know, the stars make Tom happy. They get a little twinkle in his eyes. Yeah.
01:43:41
Speaker
It's my birthday this week. If you want to give me a birthday gift, give me a five-star review. That'll make me really happy. We actually have one, Trevor. I got to give you one. All right. Yeah. So this is from, this is from the Andrew Raven, the Andrew Raven. Okay, cool.
01:43:53
Speaker
And this is a five-star consistently great. Thanks for all the time and effort you guys put into this and have for years, high quality shows, genuine hosts, unique perspectives. Kudos. What a nice review. I love those reviews. That's that makes me happy.
01:44:07
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, I like that. but But also, you know, we don't just read the the good stuff. We like to hear what everyone thinks about the show because, you know, we like to know what works and what doesn't. so if If you're going to trash us, just still give me five stars.
01:44:19
Speaker
you know yeah Yeah, you can still yeah still give us five stars. Trash us in the review. Just, you know, give the five stars.
01:44:27
Speaker
Oh man. ah they So yeah, please, if you want to give me birthday gift this week, best birthday gift ever would be five-star review. So the other thing too, ah you know, again, if you want to join us for our 300th episode, if you're in the area, ah I, I, first of all, there was a couple of our discord folks and patrons that were talking about flying from far distances to come to the 300th episode, which is extraordinarily humbling. I, so I love you guys. You're amazing. I,
01:44:52
Speaker
I just can't even... you you guys are cool. I can't even put it in words, honestly. it's It's just amazing that anybody would go to those lengths. And I mean, even when we did the meetup in Disney World ah you know a couple of years ago, people flew from all over the country and it was so cool.
01:45:06
Speaker
I mean, its it's... It's wild that people come to see us, but... Yeah, because I'm like, David and I are not that cool. Okay? We're just dudes, man. You're not. like There's nothing cool about us. So like you don't need to fly across the country, CS. Anyway, don't forget to subscribe. So if you want to join us, by the way, go to the go to our Facebook group, Welcome Home Disney Waitlist. there's The link is out there to register. And like I said, we'll get it we'll get a link up there soon that's a little bit easier for people to get onto. And you you have plenty of time to register. We still have a good amount of room. So... But don't forget to subscribe to Welcome Home Podcast so you be reminded every time we release an episode.
01:45:37
Speaker
You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music, just about any podcast app that's out there, you can find us. And if there's one that you want to listen to us on and you can't find us, let me know and I will add it.
01:45:49
Speaker
so i But I doubt it. We're everywhere. So just a reminder to our listeners, welcome home pockets for entertainment only. We are not employed by the Walt Disney Company. That's all opinions we express on the show are our own. So please contact your DVC representative or Disney cast member for more information about anything we talked about today. Huge thank you to our sponsor, DVC Resale Market, for sponsoring this episode and being a longtime partner of ours. Please check them out for any of your DVC needs.
01:46:11
Speaker
We love them. They are great. Please check them out. Join us next time for more Disney Parks discussion. Of course, more DVC talk. We hope to see you all real soon. this is Skipper Albert Wall, the voice of the jungle, signing off from Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
01:46:36
Speaker
I looked around from pole to pole, found her in a sugar bowl. Look out, here comes my ball and change.