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Episode 337: DVC Resale Market, Eat to the Beat & WDW Merch
145 Plays1 hour ago
On This Episode
Kerri from DVC Resale Market joins the guys to discuss the state of the resale market, the "Red Hot Deals" winter promotion, and the impact of the new $500 administrative fee for resale buyers. They speculate on when sales will begin for the new Lakeshore Lodge, break down current trends regarding Right of First Refusal (ROFR), and 2042 contract expirations. The guys follow up on speculation from a previous episode about permits filed for the Haunted Mansion. The Garden Rocks Concert Series lineup for the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival was announced. The guys discuss some of their favorite items from the 2026 Walt Disney World merchandise collections. The reimagined Napa Rose restaurant at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa is reopening soon with a new menu.
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- DVC Resale Market - #1 DVC Reseller in the World
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Transcript
Introduction & Sponsorships
00:00:07
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, broadcasting on the DVC to all points unknown. If you're within the sound of my voice, you're listening to Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
00:00:30
Speaker
Hello and welcome home. This episode of Welcome Home is brought to you by DVC Rental Store. Thank you for joining us on episode 337 of Welcome Home, a Disney Parks and Vacation Club podcast.
Host Introductions & Light Banter
00:00:39
Speaker
I'm Tom. I'm here with Trevor.
00:00:41
Speaker
Or Kevin, as I accidentally called you before the show. Oh, no, no, no, please don't. I don't know what's going on it's Yeah, I know. It's just it's a weird thing. i Yeah. Well, yeah, you said you said that you have a weird thing where people just call you Kevin, which I didn't know about. Yeah. So I accidentally just called. It's weird. And everyone does it. and And I've never gotten a good reason why. It's just people think my name is Kevin for some reason. so All right, Kevin. well Well, listen, you're going to laugh at this, Trevor, but I, you know, we and listen, a lot of our we have a lot of listeners actually in my area because I think there's a
Weather Impact & DVC Community
00:01:20
Speaker
lot. And I don't know. we we've got Carrie from DVC Reson Market is going to join us in a second here. But and I don't know what the breakdown on this is. And maybe Carrie can tell me. But I feel like there's a lot of DVC owners that live in the southeast because you' like a drive. You know, you're close enough. Yeah. Yeah. So like a lot of our listeners, you know, are are in this kind of area. They're, you know, they're down here and, and ah you know, and and all i mean, most of the United States ah is affected by this insane storm. And so we're just dealing, you know, with the potential of a really bad storm here. So I i'm hope I'm recording this before the bad storm is getting here in the hopes that
00:01:58
Speaker
I will still have, ah you know, I can can get this together tonight and still get it out on Monday if I don't have power. So, um but yeah, so that's what we've been dealing with. We were were were getting ready for for the for a big storm here. It's crazy.
00:02:12
Speaker
Yeah. Enjoy your cold weather. Yeah, I mean, this is just a Tuesday for Trevor. so I mean, we we we just came out of minus 22. So, you know, it's it's warmed up to a nice minus nine today. Yeah.
00:02:24
Speaker
Yeah, i i still that's like t-shirt weather almost I still can't get over the other day when you said, yeah, it's been unseasonably warm here. It was zero degrees today. And I'm like, what? It's seasonably warm. it is It is for this time of year. I mean, i was it like 78 on Christmas here. That was unseasonably warm. Right. All about perspective. Yeah, exactly.
Carrie's Journey with DVC
00:02:45
Speaker
But we should we we should introduce our guest um who really shouldn't need introduction. Carrie has been on our show a bunch of times, but it's been a time. um Hi, Carrie.
00:02:55
Speaker
Welcome back to the show. Well, thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here and happy new year. Yes. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Yeah. Is it I can't believe January is almost over already. It's flown by one more week and it's going out with a bang for the majority of the country, as you were just saying, with this upcoming storm. Yeah, it's crazy.
00:03:15
Speaker
Yes, I know. No, I'm so excited to be here. And thank you, you know, for having me back and um just to, you know, enjoy always the banter with you two and just sitting down with really great, great friends. We were talking about the storm. The majority of my family is up in Boston. And I was just saying how, you know, they're all saying, don't call us this weekend because it's going to be 85 and sunny on Sunday here. so nobody was able to talk to me very I can't do that, Carrie. I can't do that. that That's too hot.
00:03:42
Speaker
I agree with you. It it is. un sea And I'm like Elsa. Like everyone has a Disney character. I'm like Elsa. The cold doesn't bother me. I don't know that I want zero degrees, but I also don't want 85 in January. But I know that's what happens when you're from up north, though. You just kind of get used to it. Like Trevor's used to being cold. I i grew up in New Jersey. I'm I am used to the cold. The cold doesn't bother me. But the heat, the heat bothers me. Right. I'm with you. The only reason why i I live where I live was because I worked for Disney for 20 years. And had Disney been up in Massachusetts, I never would have left, you know, but I wanted so much to work for Disney and that came with heat and humidity.
00:04:19
Speaker
But there's also magic and pixie dust. So it's like, ah, pick your, you know, pick your hard. Yeah. There's trade-offs. I say that to my wife all the time. I was like, if Disney was here, I would try to work for them. But I don't want to move to Florida. Like, I just can't do it yet. Like, I know when I get older, I'll be like my parents where it's like, if there's thermostat's not set to 76 degrees, it's basically freezing in their house, you know? I need to get to that point where I'm always cold and then I can deal with 90 degrees. And then it feels lovely all the time here because you're always cold. Exactly. Yes, know. Exactly. Well, Carrie, since you haven't been on a while and we have some new listeners, maybe give a little bit of background of your Disney background and your DVC resale market background and all that.
00:05:01
Speaker
Yeah, I'll make it really quick. But I'm Carrie McPherson. I come from Boston originally. I spent more than 20 years working for the Walt Disney Company directly. I came down on the college program a million years ago and just fell in love with the company. My sister did the program, too. And we grew up as Disney kids. So we weren't DVC. We weren't a DVC family, but but we loved. the wonderful world of Disney on Sunday nights and coming to the parks and Disneyland and things like that. So Disney was kind of in in our blood. My mom was like in a Mouseketeer in the 50s, you know, so it it just kind of ran deep. And when we knew you could actually work for the company, my sister, who's older than I am, she did the college program. And then I followed suit and came down and did that. But then I came back to the company in 2000.
00:05:45
Speaker
26, almost 26 years ago, full-time. And so I had lots of different roles. That's, you know, one of the great things about being a cast member is it's one company, but many, many, many different experiences and and opportunities. And so just the highlights of what I did is um I was, I worked for DVC as my very first second job at working for Disney. I worked for member services. So I was taking reservations and helping members with points and I liked that job, but I always wanted to be the sales guide. I was like, how do you how you get to sit with people?
COVID Impact on DVC Resale Market
00:06:17
Speaker
I don't get to give the free ice cream to people? How you get the free ice cream away? That just seemed like a really great job. And I thought, I don't mind being behind the scenes, but I'm kind of more front of the scenes kind of gal. And so it took a long time, but I worked for DVC in 2002 and then went on to many different roles. My favorite role of all time, I was a Walt Disney World ambassador in 2008. And that's lot of people say me, what is what do you do with that? And that's kind of the emissary of goodwill. You're representing the company all around the world. And yeah. really just speaking on behalf of the company and you're, you're spreading and sharing good news, which was wonderful. i didn't have any of the drama that can come along with being a spokesperson sometimes with the company. But I also was a recruiter for Disney, a college recruiter and then internship recruiter. And then became a sales guide. And so I felt like my whole sort of journey sort of came full circle by being a recruiter. That's how I started. And then being a sales guide with DVC. And so I sold DVC for about three years. And that's how I met Nick. I met Derek, Marissa, Danny. So many of my really great friends today is we met as guides at DVC. And then I rounded out my career. i was a sales manager with Club 33.
00:07:33
Speaker
And so when Club 33 came to Walt Disney World, I was on the opening team of that and really helped kind of pave the way for Club 33 to open here at Walt Disney World. And then COVID hit, and um I had the most seniority on the team. And I thought, well, I know I'm on somebody's list because I have 20 years. And that sort of was the end of my Disney career with with the Walt Disney Company. But it was such a good...
00:07:57
Speaker
be You know, it was a was it was two two decades. It felt like the right timing. And then I got, you know, a magical call from Nick Cotton, who said, so sorry to hear that you were laid off with Disney, but I might have something for you. You know, with his his sweet little Southern accent. so
Trends in DVC Resale Market
00:08:13
Speaker
i it yeah And came over and worked with um World of DVC and and the whole company and and then became a sales guide here with a sales agent. with DVC Resale Market and have seen it transform into what is now Keyholder Vacations, yeah which just gives us the ah opportunity to just help and plan and give our guests even more opportunities to use their DVC points or go on vacation and just really take amazing experiences with their families.
00:08:43
Speaker
Yeah, was i was we we were joking before the show because I think anybody that will listens to the show know knows that i've I bring up World of DDC every every episode at the end. And I forgot that you guys are not World of DDC anywhere, that you're Keyholder Vacations. And I'm like, oh, man, I can't believe ever forgot that. I never updated it. We never updated in our ad or anything. And now we now we remember now that we got Keyholder Vacations. so It's all fixed now. First of the year, good time to clean all that up. It's all good.
00:09:08
Speaker
And we were just remarking, too, like, I mean, when when we started this podcast in, what, 2018? 17, think. 17? very first guest we had on the show, and it was probably a couple so episodes in, was Nick. And at the time, you know, it was just DVC Resort Market, and that was it. It was just, that was, you know, the only company that... And I mean, I'm just... It's incredible how much you guys have grown in, you know, in that period of time ah and become just a company that handles everything, but you know, between... rentals and financing and vacation planning and i mean I mean, buying tickets, all this stuff you guys do now. And it's, it's kind of crazy for, I mean, it's for me anyway, or I don't know what is for you, but it was just funny because we used to Nick on all the time. I guarantee we probably couldn't get Nick on at this point. Nick's probably way too busy for us. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
00:09:56
Speaker
What I think, you know, Nick is nick is is just kind of, you know, that ingenuity yeah forward thinker, you know, and that innovator. And I think that's what one of the main things that attracted me to the company, to Nick, is that, you know, that's that's what Walt Disney World is. That's what Disney, the Disney company is, is ah is innovators and futuristic and this, and you know, trying to think about what is, how can we make things better and more seamless and guest service. And I love that.
00:10:24
Speaker
we really pride ourselves at resale market, at rental store, at Unlock Magic, be our guest vacations on that guest service and really connecting the pieces together. Because I don't think there's anything worse than saying, I now have to call this person to do this job, to do this. the a Nine different people involved. Where with keyholder vacations, yes, you might work with nine different people for one experience, but we're all connected. We all can help you together. So we all have the end goal, you know, and in mind. And so...
00:10:54
Speaker
I think that's just what's, you know, a benefit if I was, you know, I'm very proud to work for the company. I'm proud to work for Nick, but I'm also proud that our guests can come and have ah a pleasant, seamless experience with people who really like Disney, who really enjoy the magic. You know, we're not just doing something that we don't love ourselves. And, you know, I'm a member myself. i We go to the parks a lot. So something that's in our blood as well.
00:11:19
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think we've ever had a single person come back to us said, you recommended DVC Resale Market to us at a rental store, and I had a terrible experience. Like, no one said that to us. That's never happened for us.
00:11:30
Speaker
Doesn't happen at all. so um But anyway, i well and by the way, tell Derek that we miss him. I will. Yeah. We haven't talked to Derek in such a long time. And, and you know, we listen, Carrie, please. We love you and we love Danny and we we love all the people that we worked with at the DBC Resort Market. But we just haven't seen Derek in a long time. yeah I understand.
00:11:50
Speaker
Derek is great. I just I just saw him. We went to the parks. I think it was the day after Christmas and his son Owen turned 21. So you have to go to Epcot. and have you. Well, yeah, you got to go. down Hopefully he didn't start out with drinking around the world. That's not a good place to start out at 21. No, he started out at the pool and then went later on in the afternoon. They stayed at the boardwalk. But yeah, Derek, he's doing he's doing great. And I will share your sentiments with him. Yeah, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do the 21 World Showcase there, there's no better place to stay than boardwalk or beach club so you can wander your way over there. Not have to worry about transportation or anything else. It's just right there. Dumble your way back go back home if you need to. get Exactly. Yeah. um I mean, yeah. The last time I stayed at Boardwalk, that's a exactly what happened. Anyway. All right. So is there anything you want to highlight, Carrie, before we get started? Sorry, Trevor. i didn't mean to interrupt. i Go ahead. Yeah.
00:12:45
Speaker
Anything you want to highlight, Carrie, necessarily you about ah what's going on with Resell Market right now? or You know, this is such a great time of the year right now, the beginning of the year. We we do our winter promotion, which is called Red Hot Deals right now. So as as as guests go to the website, it is really one of the best times if you're looking for a contract, whether you're adding on or thinking about jumping in. This is such a great time because... If you see the moniker that says Red Hot Deals, what that means is that that listing is marked 10% off of the the recommended, you know, the market price, essentially. So it's already discounted in addition to being on resale, as so it's discounted there as well.
00:13:24
Speaker
And what that means is that because it's discounted, there's no negotiation with the seller. There's no haggling or anything like that. So if you see the listing that says Red Hot Deals and it works for you, jump on it because When those go, they go super fast. And I always remind people, too, negotiations are fun. They can be really fun to, you know, kind of find the best deal in this and that.
00:13:45
Speaker
But while you're negotiating, somebody could come in and make a full price offer on that listing and grab it right up from you. So this is a great way to just sort of act fast, grab a great deal and know that you're getting really one of the best deals that's out there with the Red Hot Deals. So that started Sunday, last Sunday, whatever last Sunday was. Okay. But anyway, it's on right now and it goes to the end of February. February 28th will the last time. we're going to go ahead and do We get new listings in every single day. So if you don't have our app, I highly recommend the app as well because you can put an alert on there too. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you said I want Beach Club 100 points. You know, this is sort of my, you know, price range and I need a June use year. If that contract comes up, it'll alert you on the app. So it's really brilliant. That's how I ended up with my last resale contract. is it really? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I had an alert in there for a while for an Animal Kingdom 100 to 120 points in, what's my use here, April?
00:14:47
Speaker
April or March, I forget. Whatever it is. ah I don't pay attention to the user. I don't know why. I just don't. it doesn't I don't know why you don't pay attention to the user. It matters. It's literally never become, it's never been relevant to me in any way. So I, but okay, that's great. So now's a good time to buy, right? So that's that's good. yes Go check out those deals. And it's it's not like, you know, if you're negotiating for a car, whereas like your car sells and there's just like, they got another one on the lot. Like it's, this is ah one contract. If somebody else comes in better deal, it's it's gone. so It's gone. Yeah, exactly. So if you're, if you're thinking about it, if you've been on the fence, if you're like, oh, maybe 2026 is the year. This is the time of the year to do it.
00:15:23
Speaker
Great. Makes sense. Yeah. um All right. So ah we do have ah we have a bunch of questions here for you, Carrie. um So if it's all right, we're we're just going to start going through them because, you know, we we want people to or, you know, we we want to try and get your insight on things that are going on in the market and and Yeah, you know, just just what overall the overall what looks like trends happening right now and everything. So I i guess we'll just start with what is the state of the resale market right now? Are you feeling it's like a buyer's or a seller's market? And do you see any trends with like specific resorts or anything going on? Yeah. So, it you know, the.
00:16:02
Speaker
The trend I would say right now is listings. We do need listings. And you think about that red hot deals right now. If you're a seller and you're thinking, you know, i want to lot of this is a trend I'm seeing.
00:16:14
Speaker
I have a contract. I want to sell this contract to buy this contract. I have been seeing that more and more. So I have ah um a guest out in California. i'm trying to keep their resort straight. They have a Grand Cal. No, they have a Polynesian listing live in California. They want a Grand Californian contract.
00:16:31
Speaker
So they're going to, they sold their Polynesian to buy this Grand California contract. And then the buyer of their Polynesian wants to sell her Aulani contract to buy the Polynesian because she's relocated. It's this whole big puzzle. So I'm seeing a lot of that where people are selling because they're wanting something else. And I think a lot of times sellers don't think about that. They think, well, I'm stuck with,
00:16:52
Speaker
Beach Club or I'm stuck with Grand Cal, but I live on the West Coast now or I live on the East Coast. It's not a swap where it's just an easy, you know, swap something over. It is a transaction. It's a deed. It's, you know, we've got to go through some some steps here. But that's a big trend that I'm seeing as well versus people just selling their listings and just kind of being done with Disney.
00:17:13
Speaker
You know, Disney also in the resale market, when we see um more of the listings come come up, that's when we'll see it, you know, kind of turn into that seller's market. Right now, it's a little bit on the soft side. So we definitely do need more listings. And they'll come. They typically come the beginning of the year as well.
00:17:32
Speaker
That actually answered the next question I had is, do you think the trend of low resale inventory is going to continue? Because I know was reading on your site in December, you guys had like a incredibly low inventory. It seems like it's picked up a little bit, but it's, I mean, do you think that's going to continue? Do you think it's, I mean, are people just hanging on to their contracts more or, you know, what's, what's going on there?
00:17:52
Speaker
Yeah, I think it will pick up. I do. I think the beginning of the year is usually when we see kind of that wave, that influx of buyers and sellers. You know, people kind of go, you know, we use the analogy earlier that we're cleaning out our closets right now. You know, whether to stay warm if you lose power in the storm for me just to kind of purge and just sort of start the year new. And I think, you know, with listings and whatnot, I think families are going,
00:18:16
Speaker
Are we using it? Are we going to be using it in the next five to 10 years? Or do we prefer something different? you know Or do we want to, you know ah instead of having this big contract, do we sell that and get a smaller contract because we're not using it as much? So I think that when we see the trends, this is typically the front end of the year is where we see a lot of that uptick.
00:18:37
Speaker
People have sat around their dining room tables for holidays and gone, is this the year we buy DVC? Is this the year or we actually have our big family reunion and, you know, spend 500 points on a grand villa? And so I do think that we will see that trending back up again.
00:18:54
Speaker
500 points on a grand villa. I spent 100 points on a grand villa for one night at ah Bay Lake for the Christmas party this year, Gary. And I felt really weird about it. i don't know if you knew. I did a i did a Polynesian bungalow.
00:19:10
Speaker
Trevor's going that next year. He's on the to-do list, yeah. Oh, it's so I did it for one night, and I did it for my 50th birthday, and it was spectacular. spectacular. It was, and every, you know, now any June that comes around and all my friends and family, like, wish your birthday this year. i'm like, well, it's not bungalow. I'm not going to spend that many points on ah on a bungalow again, but. Yeah, I'm worried once we stay there that it'll be hard not to stay there. very hard. It's, it is spectacular. It is, there's just nothing like it. It's you, you, even though it's close, you know, you're close to your neighbors. You still, we felt like we were the only people in the world. I mean, it was just awesome. And the fireworks, it's.
00:19:52
Speaker
Yeah. It's, yeah. i i I'm looking forward to that. So, yeah, glad glad to hear it. You'll have to let me know what you think of it. For sure. DVC is a life-roiner in that way because the once you – in a good way, right? Because, like, once you – I've talked about this many times. We never stayed deluxe, right, before we bought DVC. We always stayed at value resorts because we were just like, whenever in the room, like, whatever, who cares?
00:20:15
Speaker
And then on my honeymoon, we stayed at Animal Kingdom. It was, ah you know, for our honeymoon. We were like, let's stay at Animal Kingdom. And then I i think we literally walked through the door – And we like looked, you know, just looked up at, you know, and and Animal Kingdom there.
00:20:28
Speaker
And i think my wife turned to me. She's like, we can't go back now. She's like, we we can't we can't go back to value now. We we just can't do it. And then that that turned into DVC. And, you know. Yeah, that was that was us at the Grand Californian years ago. yeah well another Another really special place. you You can't, I think with DVC, you know,
00:20:48
Speaker
I never call it a timeshare because I feel like timeshare is kind of like you just kind of move on. yeah Yeah. It really is vacation ownership. It's membership. It's a community. And I'll tell you, for me, just the heart of it, you could do all your spreadsheets and whatnot and everything. And I'm sort of analytical, but I'm definitely more an expressive personality. But for me to see my parents, who's given us so much in our lives, sit on the balcony with a cocktail at the Polynesian bungalow with my friends and family in total relaxation, it like gives me goosebumps because I'm like that, that, and my birthday's in June. It was on a Friday. so I mean, I, and it's the first day of summer. So I'm kind of screwed all around because it's expensive, expensive, expensive. It's not on a value season. It wasn't on a Monday. And somebody said to me, what would this room normally say?
00:21:38
Speaker
This would be about $4,000 night. Yeah. yeah And there's no way i would pay No, They just use my points. Yeah. yeah you You just, it the heart of DVC is just like EMAS. It's just huge.
00:21:52
Speaker
Yeah. Go ahead, Trevor. I was going to say, you know, I know you said you're an expressive person, but our next question here actually is a spreadsheet. Yeah. Way to go from super positive to negative. I know we just finished having a that amazing conversation, but we we need to talk about, you know we're going to talk about an elephant in the room, as as you said earlier. um um So can you provide some details about the new fee for resale contracts that Disney has? And also follow up to that, how do you think that will impact the
Disney's New Resale Policies
00:22:24
Speaker
resale market? Yeah, that's a great question. You know, and it's it's a very it's a very fair topic. it's It is the elephant in the room that people don't want to talk about. And it would be easy, I think, for us at Resale Market to just say, oh, we don't really want to talk about that fee. it's it's it
00:22:40
Speaker
But here's the reality of it. The fee... is it's It's no joke, right? It's not pocket change. We're not all walking around with $500 just in our back pocket. But it's a fee that is very well known and very common in this industry that Disney has never done.
00:22:56
Speaker
And so i look at it as... They're catching up. They caught up to the industry standard. And when you think about Disney, a lot of times I think people want to say, my myself and my family included, are they doing nickel and dime everything? You know, this to me didn't feel like a nickel and dime. It felt like there is a lot of work in the back end for DVC to record the deed, transfer the points, and And get everything sort of where it legally needs to be. And in order to do that, there is a big sort of push on the back end of whatever team is doing that with DVC. So I don't look at it as just a frivolous fee that Disney's charging. I look at it as an admin fee that has always been there in the industry and now Disney's charging it.
00:23:44
Speaker
They're just not eating it anymore. They're just passing it over. They're not eating it anymore. You're right. Yeah. I mean, it's it's there's a real cost there. There's there's a lot of, what like you said, there's a lot of work on the back end. it's And then they weren't charging a fee for it. So it's, I mean, it stinks, but, you know. Yeah. It does. But I think if you just balance that into your budget sheet, you know, kind of laughing about being analytical versus expressive, my expressive side can justify anything, basically. My brother-in-law, who's very analytical, he's that he's a bank examiner, so he is to the penny.
00:24:16
Speaker
He would say, you know, that $500, are we getting a value out of that? Well, maybe the value is in the safety of knowing that this team is totally dedicated to transferring these points correctly. transferring all of the points correctly, what's banked, what's borrowed, what's been, you know, what do you have available?
00:24:34
Speaker
And then recording the deed accurately, you know, securely and efficiently. i think that's all part of that $500 fee as well. So I know when this first got, I mean, it didn't really get announced. They kind of threw into like an FAQ on their website and somebody noticed and then it, you know, went around. But there was a lot of questions as to whether this was a buyer fee or a seller fee or so where did we where do we land on that? where' Who has to pay for this fee actually? Yeah, that's a great question. It's a buyer fee. It is a buyer fee because the buyer is the one receiving the new deed. The buyer is the one receiving the new the new points as well. So if you look at it like annual dues, the seller wouldn't pay, you know, $1,000 on 100 points that they're not going to use. The buyer does. And so the seller is relinquishing the deed over, but the buyer is receiving it. So it would be a buyer's fee.
00:25:23
Speaker
buyers feet Do you think this is going to disproportionately affect small contracts now? And I don't know in what way it affects them, but small contracts now have, it's a little bit easier to swallow when you're buying like a 150 point contract, you know, because it's just, you're already paying a lot of money. But with these smaller contracts, I wonder how that's going to impact the pricing on them or even just the availability of them, if people are going to list less of them or, you know, I don't know. just curious to what your thoughts are. Yeah, know. I mean, just my own opinion on that, I don't think so. Small contracts are still rare to find. You know, DVC starts at $150, 150 points, excuse not $150, 150 points. If only it started at $150. If only it started at that, exactly. You can't even get through the door for that. We'd be in line buying more points. But they start at 150 point minimum.
00:26:19
Speaker
And when I was a DVC guide, you could start, I think the lowest was 50 points. You could become a member at 50 points. And I think for members, the lowest you could add on was starting at 25. And so now you've gone from 50 point to become a member to 150 points. So those small contracts are still really rare and hard to find. So when you do find them, the majority of our contracts that are on our website that are smaller are usually going to be full price offers only because they are so rare. So if you see a contract, look at the bottom, it usually will say full price offer, meaning that the seller is not going to negotiate.
00:26:53
Speaker
But I think to your question about will the $500 deter somebody from listing a contract or buying a contract, I don't think it would deter anybody from certainly listing it because that's not their fee. From buying it, again, I go back to you have to look at what do you what are you getting from it. Is it just a frivolous fee or is it something that the industry has been doing that Disney hasn't been doing? And I hope all of us, and I say this for myself too, kind of have amnesia as the year goes on a little bit that we sort of forget about the $500. Just forget about it. be, you know, it's kind of like the baggage fee. Like if you used to fly Southwest, you know, yeah there was no baggage fee. Now all of a sudden you're paying $35. It stinks, but they kind of caught up to the industry standard.
00:27:34
Speaker
But it is what it is. Yeah. Yeah. yeah that's that's That's understandable. I would hope it would make the roper process a little bit faster, too. I don't know. Maybe. know That's a really good point. I don't know if any of that money goes to the roper team, um you know, and what what they're doing. But that's a really good point. We have been seeing roper come back very, very fast. and yeah Maybe they're using some of that fee to buy to to get more people in there to make roper a little faster. Right. Yeah.
00:28:00
Speaker
That actually feeds into our next question though about about ah about ah buybacks, though. like ah Trevor, i don't know if you want ask. Well, yeah. I mean, yeah. I you know i was kind of going down that same line, too. ah you know We've seen that buybacks have picked up this last year.
Lakeshore Lodge & Resort Demand
00:28:13
Speaker
um Do you think that that trend will continue going into 2026? Yeah, we've saw such a turn in Roefer this year. it was It was really, really incredible. If you look on our website, ah Paul Krieger puts out an awesome report every single month. I mean, we we as agents just devour it because there's so much good information. You can see really the top four resorts that are Roefered and I think it's Grand Floridian, Old Key West, Grand Cal, and Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom, yeah. The four, yeah, that have been rofered the most. And, you know as you know, it's a bummer for the buyer when their contract does get bought back. It's like, ah, I always hate sending that email. But I always remind buyers, too, it's not such a bad thing. That's adding value.
00:28:58
Speaker
You know, you want we want to see the rofer, you know, monster kind of come out and and and buy back some of these contracts and whatnot. Yeah. I think personally, I do think it will continue. I don't know that we'll see a surge necessarily this year like we did this year, but maybe it will sort of maintain at where it's at right now, where we're seeing some of the top four resorts that I just mentioned continue to get bought back. We saw resurgence two years ago, I think it was with Polynesian. yeah We're not seeing really any Polynesian.
00:29:28
Speaker
Well, yeah, I would assume that was largely because of the tower and people trying get in there. Yeah, it was exactly because all sudden we saw like all Polynesian was just going crazy one night and then it stopped. Yeah. Yeah, it's worth it. Because like 2024, I mean, they bought back like nothing, right? If I remember correctly, was 23. Am already forgetting? 2024 light, 23 24. And then think it in 24, if recall, was out.
00:29:55
Speaker
i was out doing some errands and I got a text message from either Marissa or Derek that said, Polynesians being bought back like crazy. Where are you? I said, I'm at Target. I have to go home because I'm sure buyers who are some buyers, you know, really you know worried right now. And um so, but I, like I said, like, you know, I tell people it's not a bad thing.
00:30:16
Speaker
You're not losing any money. You know, the deposit you put down is fully refundable or we can move it to a new contract. It's just patience is all, but all good things take time. Yeah, and we it should note to to your point on your on what what Paul wrote for December and basically for the year, it was a 4.7% buyback rate. So your chances of actually having it but ah a buyback is still pretty low. It's still low. Still pretty low. But yeah, they but they bought back almost 30% of the Grand Cal contracts, which is, that's, I mean, that's pretty pretty impressive. It's a lot. And Grand Flow was like 17%. And Animal Kingdom was a big one too. So, I get asked too a lot, you know, how do we avoid the the rofer monster? There's really no way to avoid it. We don't know what Disney is going to ever buy back, so we can never guarantee anything. But what I do tell people is the stronger your offer, the closest to the asking price, you know, agreeing to all terms, the closing costs and the annual dues, that does help. it Doesn't certainly guarantee, but things like that are going to help, you know, maybe not get as swept up as some of the others. Absolutely.
00:31:21
Speaker
So what I'm interpreting that as is, you know, if you're buying a DVC contract, don't don't necessarily hunt for the ultra cheap contract because those are the highest risk ones at the end of the day. or yeah Or I guess it's a trade-off of your time there that if you do go for the cheap ones, except that there's a bigger chance that you're going to end up getting that contract snatched by Rofer just because...
00:31:47
Speaker
Yeah, like like you said, you can't offer the lower or you can go for the the lower offers, but that comes at a risk. So, yeah, but that makes sense. yeah if You have to do the seller first if you're going to offer really low, too. you know yeah Yeah, there's that part, too. They may not even accept your offer if you try and do that. Right. But the strongest, the the stronger, the better. you know, think when, you know, buyers, sometimes we have to think like sellers do, you know, to think, would I let this contract go for this amount? Right.
00:32:15
Speaker
You know, and if you wouldn't as a buyer thinking as a seller, you know, so and that's where we come in into our team is so proficient. And, you know, really educated every every single agent on our team has been DVC guides. And so, you know, we're all pretty up to date on the information. The blogs are so good. Also, Paul does a great job with that.
00:32:36
Speaker
I definitely agree with that. ah Well, so we're going to go from like kind of hard data here to speculation. We're going to make you speculate because we which is it's always fun. um So the the question we're getting is obviously Lakeshore Lodge is the next one here, which I will always call reflections. Much like much like Hollywood Studios will always be MGM. Lakeshore Lodge will always be reflections to me. But Lake Shore Lodge, I mean, last time when I was down in what mosey there Thanksgiving and I you know went by the lake there, I was like, whoa, man, that thing is really getting getting up there. Like it's I mean, it's moving fast. um
00:33:17
Speaker
So so the question is, when do you think they're going to start selling Lake Shore Lodge? I know. And you call it reflections. I keep calling it Lakeside Lodge. that's Yeah, that's where my head is with it, too. I want to call it Lakeside for some reason. yeah Yes. I'm like, don't be that, you know, little old lady that always makes the mistakes on words and people just let me go. You know, like, correct me. Lakeshore, Lakeshore, Lakeshore. So Lodge, we drove by it too. We did a um firework cruise over Christmas.
00:33:46
Speaker
And so the captain took us by. i could not believe how massive. Did you see? It's huge. huge It's huge. It's insane how big that resort is. I i don't know. I mean, i've seen we've seen like pictures and stuff of it. yeah You know, and like what the layout's going to be. But like when you actually see it in person, you're like, man, that thing is massive. it's really It really is. I think we see it a lot from Wilderness Lodge. And it's like, oh, yeah that looks great. But then it goes on and on and on. So I think, you know, typically, um typically sales start about 12 to 18 months prior to the resort opening. um So depending on when it opens in 2027, we may see it.
00:34:22
Speaker
We may see sales start in 2026. No, no. possibly You know, early 2027. I have not heard anything other than that, however. to to make you To make you feel better, the original name was Reflections, a Disney Lakeside Lodge. Thank you. It was it was image Reflections dash a Disney Lakeside Lodge. you're kind of good on Lakeside. it's you If you want to keep calling it that, like I said, I'm going to call the Reflections. you know that's that's whats I'm going to have them try to put that on the contract when I when i buy there. No, I'm just kidding. Okay.
00:34:57
Speaker
So ah interesting it's it's interesting to me because we, you know, there's still, Disney still has some, you know, some inventory there, right? Like Riviera is not sold out yet. No. Polanyi is never going to sell out for forever. I mean, we I think we, I don't think it ever, would if it ever sold out, that would be kind of crazy. um And, you know, I'm sure they they still got some some Polynesian floating around from the tower, right? or they I don't think they've even declared all that yet. No, Polynesian still is, yeah I think there's like 30% left or so to sell.
00:35:25
Speaker
Yeah, that that's they're going to sell that out pretty, I feel like, fairly quickly. And I did read somewhere they think that Riviera will go fairly soon here, too. But Riviera, I feel like, has taken a while. But, I mean, it is a pretty nice size resort. But, um you know, Chris from Discord was was asking us, ah you know, it appears. and And by the way, Chris called it Lakeside Lodge, too. So you're. Yeah. I'm making friends left and right over here with this. Yeah. Uh, Lakeside Lodge appears quite large. How much additional DVC capacity do they see Disney needing to meet, they meaning you, uh, needing to meet, uh, DVC demand? And I, I think it's an interesting question because like I said, we have all those resorts that are there already that are selling. And then now we're going to have another one coming online in the next, you know, six to 10 months, whatever that might be. yeah Um, but you know, do you think that they need to keep building these to keep up with the demand?
00:36:16
Speaker
You know, i i think there's such a great demand for DVC because of of podcasts like like yours, of the community. I do. not That's not just ah a friendly plug. Like, I really do. I think the community of DVC is is incredibly strong. um And once you get... When I see new members...
00:36:35
Speaker
come into DVC who sort of have been, you know, peering from over the fence at the community of of DVC. And then they get involved with the social media and with the podcast. Then they really feel like, you know, you've, my niece, my niece always says we, our generation uses this word too much tribe. You have found your tribe, but it's kind of true. You know, it's like you speak the same language versus, you know, people, you know, when my family says like, oh, we're going down to Disney, they get a free pass because they're like, oh, they're just going to visit Cary. But how many Disney adults does their family go, you're going to Disney again?
00:37:10
Speaker
know, but us DVC people, it's like, when, where where are you staying? You know, you get excited. So I think that the community of DVC keeps the demand really high. What I personally wish Disney would do is, I love all the park expansions and and things like that. I think that that's really important to continue to change and move forward. I just wish there was a new park coming. I wish there was some place to have people who come to DVC. The parks do feel a bit overcrowded a lot. yeah And so I think for that reason,
00:37:43
Speaker
You continue to build DVC resorts, which is great, but you've got to have a place for people to go. And whether that's another water park or another theme park or something, because I don't see the demand of DVC slowing down.
Creative Ideas for New Theme Parks
00:37:57
Speaker
where Where would you build the next one, Carrie? I will be right into that. you're back at Disney, but now you work at Imagineering and you go, i want I'm going to build a new DVC resort and I want to put it where?
00:38:09
Speaker
It's going to be attached to the new park. I love it. No, no, you can't do that. That's cop out. That's a cop out. it The new park doesn't exist. well Well, then, but then where would the new park be? Right. we wait Yeah, we, that's, well, that's another question. I mean, I know, I don't know what they're building, but I do know there's a lot of land near Magic Kingdom.
00:38:28
Speaker
um It's kind of like if you're look, if you're standing at Bay Lake Tower, if you're standing in a room at Bay Lake Tower with a theme park view, it's beyond Magic Kingdom. But sort of before you get to, like, that Epcot exit on World Drive, it is. There's a big... Okay, yeah. yeah absolutely could be I could be completely wrong on that, how big that is. But I always thought it would be so cool.
00:38:50
Speaker
And this is... Oh, now I'm down a real rabbit hole. No, that's what we do. That's perfect. We love that. Yeah, we love this. We love this. I would have left Magic Kingdom alone. I wouldn't have done... wouldn't have taken... No. I love Rivers of America. I think it's quintessential Magic Kingdom. It's just... But I understand the love of Pixar and cars and villains and all that. So I think a Pixar park, a villains park would be amazing. Something like that, you know, and it doesn't to be massive. It doesn't have to be an Epcot or an animal kingdom. It can be a Hollywood studio size park, but someplace, you know, keep Hollywood studios, more of the movies, the magic of the movies and, and, and things like that, the behind the scenes. And then, know,
00:39:35
Speaker
build something where Pixar place at at Hollywood studios, there's so much you could do there and it's jam packed in this little tiny place. But to be able to like expand, you know, Andy's backyard and, you know, the Incredicoaster that's out in California, bring that here. Oh, yeah. You know, right? Like, do with monsters coming. And I just think that there's so much imagination with Pixar, and then you've got so much love of the villains, which is so fun. Because it's Disney's kind of like, Disney's not always known for thrill rides, but you can do something kind of thrilling and really creative and imaginative with with that with the villains. So that's what I would do. and And still continue to build DVC, you know, and still continue to do those special things for the DVC members. But like I said, kind of down a rabbit hole now. And you're the only one who's ever asked me, by the way. No one's ever asked my opinion.
00:40:27
Speaker
See, that's but that's what we do here. That's what we yeah we want to do. We're glad that that you got to to chime in on that because, yeah, this is that this is exactly the stuff that we love about, you know, and we we obviously love talking shop about about DVC and Disney and all that. But part of the fun, too, is like you said, the imagination and the, you know, what could happen, right? Yeah.
00:40:48
Speaker
Yeah, i I want them to build a resort in that land between Grand Floridian there and and Magic Kingdom. Like, put put one right there that goes right it all yeah that goes right into Villain's Land. Like, have it be right there. Like, mean a Villain's Land resort? How cool would that be? yeah oh yeah I mean, how cool is that? Right? There's a whole piece of land there. There's just a whole bunch of woods. Put it there. You could walk into Magic Kingdom. walk in and know We need another we need another like Bay Lake where you're so close to the resort that you could just walk in. and you You still... You need to understand how the Grand Californian operates, Tom. I know. Yes. like Carrie, you you know, right? it's like like That's a whole other level of like literally... I've actually stayed...
00:41:32
Speaker
My room was right above the exit into California Adventure once when we stayed there. wasn't a DVC room, but like that, like, oh, I walk down the stairs and in the park is like, that's an insane feeling. So yeah, we need that. We need, we need a resort like that in, in Florida. I wouldn't be shocked if they do try to build another Magic Kingdom area resort as they build all this new stuff in the parks. Because, I mean, that's, I mean, yeah. Listen, the Magic Kingdom resorts, they can charge the most for, right? So, like, I mean, that's, you know, and you're talking about, like, right next to the park? That's going to be one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive. I mean, that's, don't know. Location, location, location. It doesn't get, you know, you're in the heart of Disney right there.
00:42:14
Speaker
Exactly. We did have one last question from Chris here that, i yeah, I think you missed that, Tom. um I just skipped over. So, sorry so um and so again, just just back to contracts, um what type of sales movement are you seeing on contracts that expire in
Expiring Contracts & Buyer Trends
00:42:33
Speaker
2042? Because we do have, there are some contracts that are getting older and,
00:42:38
Speaker
um you know You know, that has been, I know it's been like conversation for a long time about, you know, what happens to these contracts. Are you seeing any different behaviors around buying and selling of those? It's such a great question. And we don't know what Disney is going to do with the 2042 contracts. You know, we we probably won't know for some time either. that We can speculate, you know, on what they'll do. But the questions that I get a lot around the 2042, and it's very fair, is people will say, you know, we kind of wanted something too 2060, too 50.
00:43:07
Speaker
you know, 2068, we wanted something longer. I don't know that the length of the, this is just, again, my my opinion. I don't know that the length of the deed necessarily matters so much. If you're looking for the best deal, a deed of, you know, 14 to 16 years, you're going to find a better price per point than on a longer deed.
00:43:27
Speaker
The sweet spot is kind of that Saratoga Springs, animal kingdom. They're in the 2054, 2057s. But I think, you know, the 2042, you can still get so many really good deals. I wouldn't worry so much about the length of the deed. If you're going to come to Disney, even for 10 years, you And you say, my kids are, you know, five and seven, they're going to be 15 and 17 in 10 years. You're still going to use DVC. You're still going to use your points. You're going to break even. You're going still going to save money. And I don't can't ever foresee Disney saying, oh, well, the deeds are up. We're done, you know, and turning them back into resort rooms. yeah I just don't yeah don't see that happening. So I don't know what we don't know what's going to happen. But I, you know, when I look at, you know, somebody saying, you know, price per point, I have a budget. We have to have 200 points. We don't want to pay ah a ton in annual dues. The deed sort of length of deed is usually the last thing to to think about, it you know, on the list. it's like The price of the resort um versus versus the length of the deed. So it it is a factor. But, you know, my professional opinion is if you're going to come to Disney for the next 10, 12, 13, 14 years, don't let it be a deterring factor.
00:44:42
Speaker
You know, the the moderate sorts are great. They're beautiful. The Port Orleans and Coronados and and Caribbean beaches here at Walt Disney World, they're great. But like you said, when you stepped into that Animal Kingdom, Savannah View room, there's no going back.
00:44:55
Speaker
Oh, there's no going back. yeah i don't understand why people don't like Animal Kingdom. love Animal Kingdom. line it's it's my It's our favorite. we lie There's nothing more magical on this planet than walking out on your porch and seeing a giraffe. Like, there just isn't.
00:45:06
Speaker
i You know, I don't know. I i know, like, Trevor, you just disagree because you love Polly, and I'm not disagreeing. paul We all have our own vibes. It's fine. yeah i just you know I just want a giraffe in the morning. I just want to wake up. you like oh what's a giafffe like hey as a guy You can't argue with that. I mean, I get it.
00:45:21
Speaker
you can You really can't argue with that. yeah um But Carrie, it's been such a pleasure having you back again. and And this is actually the last time we are going to endeavor to have you guys on the show more often ah over the next year here. So, um you know, and and we'll also we'll have Danny on too. I know you guys will be yeah switching off a little bit here too. Danny and I will be swapping out, but it's such a pleasure to see both of you again and and thank you for the time. And I really just always enjoy the conversation and the the banter back and forth and It's just so fun. And, you know, if if anybody needs a anything, DVCresaleMarket.com, DVCRentalStore.com. We're all here to help you however we can. How do they reach you?
00:46:00
Speaker
Oh, Keri, K-E-R-I, K-E-R-I at DVCresaleMarket.com. And you can find my bio on the the website under team. Perfect. Thank you so much, Keri. Really appreciate you doing this. you both so much.
00:46:14
Speaker
Thank you. So that was great having Carrie It had been a long time since she joined us. I mean, it was good to hear from her again. um ah By the way, I'm i'm privately lobby lobbying in the background for ah to get Derek back on, too. no And this is, again, no offense to Danny and Carrie. We do we do like to interact with them, too. We just want to talk to our friends. Yeah. yeah was yeah We we've made friends with people in in DVC Resale Market and we want to talk to them. That's all it is. Listen, I'd love to have Marissa back on too, but Marissa's too busy. So, I mean, Marissa's the big shot now. They're all very, very busy over there, obviously. um But, yeah, you know, we' we'd love to to talk to them if we can get a chance. But...
00:46:53
Speaker
um We should probably do the ad here. Do the ad. um This episode is sponsored by a DVC Rental Store, which is a key holder vacation company and offers magical vacations at incredible value. Save up to 60% off retail rates at premium Disney resorts. DVC Rental Store now includes deposits as low as 25% of the time of booking,
00:47:14
Speaker
and a built-in cancellation policy for every reservation. And as always, DVC Rental Store pays out the most to members looking to rent their points. Want to learn more? Go to DVCRentalStore.com slash welcomehome or call 1-855-DVCRENT. That's 382-7368. And when you speak to them, be sure to let them know that Welcome Home sent you.
00:47:33
Speaker
All right, Trevor. So so let's let's move away. We've talked a lot of DVC. lot of DVC. Let's talk actual park. A couple of weeks ago, or i a couple of episodes ago we had done a regular speculation on some permits that were filed for the Haunted Mansion. And I think we kind of now-ish know what's going on here, right? is Yeah. It looks like they're adding on to the facade of ah the Haunted Mansion. And I'm going to assume this has to do with the development, the the construction work that's happening behind the Haunted Mansion, right? Yeah. to To block those views a little bit better.
00:48:10
Speaker
Yeah, I think, well, this very much makes sense when you when you think about logistically what is going into that area. Yeah. um I was hoping it was Q expansion, but, um well you know, so yeah, yeah. little disappointed that it's not. They might still. They might still. Yeah, yeah. You never know.
00:48:29
Speaker
um but But the thing is, is that because of Cars Land and Villain's Land going in like right behind Haunted Mansion, the the back or not full backside of Haunted Mansion, but like like there is a whole side that was covered by trees and they didn't really need to do anything with because, you know, the rivers of America were there. The only thing that came by there was the, I almost said the Mark Twain, but the Liberty Bell. You don't know what i meant. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but, um, so because of that, they didn't really have to do anything with it since this is all changing. They obviously need to do some work to the outer facade to make sure that it, like, you don't want it being like that. You look, if you're looking at haunted mansion from one angle that it's like, oh, you know, it's, it's there. And then the other side is just like flat building. Right. Yeah.
00:49:20
Speaker
So makes sense yeah I will say that over the past few years, the vegetation over there had gotten a little thinner to the point where if you looked, you could actually see the show building and see some backstage anyway. So, you know, this is good. and and also Disney committed.
00:49:39
Speaker
when they said they were going to build this new stuff, that they were going to really care about sight lines because of how squished everything is. And to me, this is just part of that, right? Like, this is them actually keeping to that promise to make sure that sight lines are good so that you're not being thrown off and seeing, you know, you're in Haunted Mansion and you're seeing villain stuff. Which, you know, they kind of work together, but, like, you know, probably not really. Like, the architecture is going to be different. Like, the vibe is going to be different. don't know. I feel you could swing it, but yeah, you're right. It's, it's a very delicate thing to not like, not blend too many things together. Right. Yeah. It's going to be tough. It's good. And I mean, listen, I, Disney cares about sight lines, you know, and they, they, they always have, and they are, you know, except for Epcot for some reason, you know, Epcot, you can see everything, but whatever. yeah. was just like, always laugh when we're in Epcot and then we just like look over to where like Guardians is and you just see this massive show building that kind of blends into the background, but you can still see it because it's huge. And like, you know, because they painted that color that's supposed to match the sky. And it's a pretty effective, you know, effect.
00:50:49
Speaker
But, you know, you can't hide a building that large. It's just just as massive. Yeah, i I feel Epcot does get that pass only because of the fact that there's not any...
00:51:00
Speaker
um It's okay for Epcot. Epcot's theming is not fantastical the same way that Magic Kingdoms is. That's right. That's the best way I can put it. Because Magic Kingdoms, vary everything is very
Epcot Developments & Pathways
00:51:13
Speaker
like in its own world. yeah Whereas Epcot is... like It's not that. it's It's meant to look like pavilions and...
00:51:20
Speaker
and whatnot so i yeah yeah to be fair about epcot it does kind of fit into the epcot theme because epcot was supposed to be a real city and in a real city you'd have buildings like that that you're not going hide right so yeah you could argue that it does fit into that i'm just i think maybe they should have actually like swung the other way and like made it into like like another futuristic building of some sort just not a square block but Oh, not just do like a warehouse? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I can see that. Yeah, give it some spice on the outside. Give it some spice. Yeah.
00:51:55
Speaker
But, uh, yeah, you know, you know, back to the Haunted Mansion facade expansion. Um, yeah. So, so, you know, looking at this, um, yeah, it, it, it does all play into the fact that where Rivers of America is, um, that, it that looks like it's going to be a walking path and yeah probably will connect over towards Big Thunder, which again, cause you can see Big Thunder right from,
00:52:19
Speaker
ah from the queue in Haunted Mansion. Okay. Right. So, so, you know, thinking about what that all looks like when, when they're done all the, all these renovations. Yeah. Like I, I, I fully understand why they're, they're doing this now because. Yeah.
00:52:36
Speaker
um the The weird thing is is that you know Haunted Mansion, just by the nature of it, yeah you know you know we've we've looked at like satellite views and stuff before where it's like you know you know the front of it is it it very much gives that you know old Victorian mansion thing, but it does a really great job of hiding its show building, which is quite massive. Yeah, it's big. But this is exposing more of the side where the show building...
00:53:01
Speaker
actually is which i'm wondering what it'll look like when it's done or if you know hopefully it it hopefully they do it in such a way that it doesn't have the same problem as we just talked about with guardians where it's like oh like here's this cool thing but also like ignore the big square behind it right so yeah um yeah the big square behind it right like ignore the man behind the the curtain it's that's well that's pretty much what they're trying to do here I i i remember when you you remember when Star Cruiser first was a thing and people were like had a great laugh about how the transport for the Star Cruiser was basically just like a van like you know that they like decked out. Yeah. cu van Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:46
Speaker
But and it was like, what do you think? Like, literally all of Disney is facades with show buildings behind them. Like, that's what it is. Like, there's everything is like that. It's you know, you would be very disappointed to walk on the outside of the actual Haunted Mansion, which is, you know, a warehouse. Like, that's that's what it is. You just have to be OK with that. Like, you know, i see what you're saying. But OK, counterpoint to that. no.
00:54:14
Speaker
yes Yes, everything, buildings are square by nature. Yes. But buildings don't have to be square. And I will use, um you know, i as a lot of people know, I am a gamer. And, you know, you know my other hobby outside of Disney is playing games.
00:54:33
Speaker
There is a particular game I play called Terraria, which, um you know, im I'm plugging this because there's actually an update coming for Terraria next week and I'm excited for it. But um one of the things about Terraria is building bases or building homes as you as you work through the game.
00:54:49
Speaker
And a lot of times people build just square boxes because the the game's requirements for a base is as long as it's a square box, it's a base, right? So you can do the basic easy, you know, you know, just build a bunch of squares and call it good. But the game has tools for you can you can actually make like like interesting angles. I've seen like full like mansions built in the game and stuff like that, which are, you know, incredibly impressive.
00:55:19
Speaker
Disney, I feel, needs to take... like Yes, they can build just standard like like boxes, but... And okay and that this is going to be a little bit of, I guess, my Disney entitlement, is that I feel that because you have an entire...
00:55:35
Speaker
you know, fleet of Imagineers at your disposal, I feel there's a bit of an expectation that they should do more than a square box. Sure. Is feeling. But you're not seeing it, though. You you don't see it, though. but But that's what I mean, is it that it like it's...
00:55:53
Speaker
You know, it it's it is still a square box at the end of the day, but but as long as they're hiding it appropriately. i My only concern with this is that, you know, now that now that we're kind of getting into it more, it's like, oh, this these renovations are going to expose things that were hidden before.
00:56:11
Speaker
And I just really hope, yeah you know, this facade expansion is one thing. but I hope that Disney is looking at this from a, a larger holistic view of, you know, yeah you know, don't, don't make it so that there's ah just a bunch of like, yeah you know, there, there's one section of the park where you're just looking at all the backstage stuff. No, they would never do that. They wouldn't do that. I mean, they there, there, there is some of that during construction, but I don't think the final product, it would be like that at all. I don't think that that's going to happen. i really hope not.
00:56:44
Speaker
No, I don't think so. I do still think that there's opportunity for a queue expansion here with this work, right? Like, they could still be expanding this queue. And, you know, listen, now, and we talked can we kind of talked about this, right? Like, they can expand it outwards because now that's all going to be, like, that's going to be a path over there now, right? Yeah. Part of that path could be the, you know, the the queue expanded in that direction. Like we, I mean, we don't really know, right? And the facade part, you know, we just assume that that's what they're doing and that that's what that's going to look like. But there could be more to it than that, right? Because, you know, there's there's there's there's also... it's yeah It's an order of operations thing too. And this might be the easier thing to do now because they haven't started redoing the paths and stuff around it. So yeah, you're right. That still may come further down the line. I have to say it's going to be really, really, really, really weird to be able to walk easily from Haunted Mansion to Big Thunder. But it's going to be great. Like, i used i used to hate that. Like, you know, when I... Yeah, I'm... Like, oh, you're done with Haunted Mansion. It's like, oh, now you got to walk 10 miles to get to Big Thunder if you want to go Big Thunder. Yeah. Yeah, you got to do the full loop around rivers of America because they're at ah literal opposite ends of it. But and actually, like like for my situation is, yeah you know, in in my family, my my wife doesn't do roller coasters like Big Thunder. So usually when we get to that it's like me and my son will go off and ride Big Thunder.
00:58:04
Speaker
And she'll go to Haunted Mansion. So it was always like that's like exactly what you're talking about. That split of, you know, we would go opposite directions in Frontierland and then we'd either try and meet back up in Frontierland or we would go from Big Thunder and walk all the way over to Haunted Mansion to meet my wife or vice versa. Right. So yeah yeah this way, you know, when when this is all done, you're right. It'll be ah it'll be nice to just pop over there. That was so, honestly, it was so sorely needed to have a different way to get to it. Because, like, Big Thunder just always felt detached, you know, because you just had, yeah, one way in, one way out. you know Yeah, it was a dead end.
00:58:36
Speaker
Yeah, it was a dead end. And that's actually, like, when they closed down the railroad, I was always annoyed because the railroad was, like, the only way to get out of that corner. Yeah, exactly. Wasn't, like, walking all the way back, so. yeah Exactly, exactly, so. All right. Well, we'll have to see how that develops. But I mean, I think it semi answers our question. and And you were right on the money with ah with, well, with Q. I mean, it is part of the Q. But I mean, they are adding to the facade. So who knows what that's going to be. But yeah, I mean, it's it's ah it'll be interesting. i I'll be interested to see how they blend new stuff with the the old decrepit looking, you know, stuff.
00:59:12
Speaker
Haunted Mansion. So I'd love to see how that looks. It's hard to, I mean, they do a very good job of weathering things, which, yeah, I'm curious if, yeah, newly weathered will look differently than old weathered.
00:59:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. um That's, that'll be, that'll be interesting. It's like when you, you know, we try to like ah paint or like, ah you know, trying to match like those colors up or like, the the big one for us is like siding. We want to put new siding on our house, but like to replace some, replace some of the old siding, but it's going to not match up, you know? Yeah. We've had to do that in the past due to like hail damage and stuff. And say, yes, you have a couple of pieces that are like much brighter,
00:59:55
Speaker
than the old pieces and they do eventually blend in. But yeah, for the first little bit, it's like that doesn't look right. Yeah. ah Okay. Well, anyway, so let's move on. ah We just talked about the Festival of the Arts and now we're already talking about ah the Flower and Garden Festival because we as we know, Festival of the Arts is ah is is a short one it's It's a quick one, right? And so before you know it, we're going to be at March 4th here, and we're going to have the International Flower and Gardener Festival, which i don't know if you've ever been to that one, Trevor. Oh, multiple double times. Yeah, me too. I've been to it a bunch of times, and I really like it. It's it's a it's one of the – I mean, I'm not going to – it's not food and wine, right? like But it's like the topiaries and like all of the flowers and like, you know, it's it's just a really –
01:00:42
Speaker
I don't know. When I think of Epcot, I almost think of it when it's in its in in the ah flower and garden state. You know what i mean? It's that whole like springtime vibe of it, right? Yeah. Like, you know, they have the butterfly gardens, like you said, the topiaries, the flower beds. Like, it's just it just really all like, may it just makes Epcot feel more... um more like Epcot. It's Epcot-y. Yeah, which i actually like to that point. I i think, you know you know, the Flower and Garden Festival kind of highlights, you you know, when you talk about like how Epcot was supposed to be this like prototype community thing. yeah Flower and Garden does feel like something that would be happening in ah in a futuristic community, right? Yeah,
01:01:30
Speaker
Um, yeah. So, so starting March 4th, running to June 1st, I feel like I thought it always ran further than June, but maybe I'm wrong. I thought it it went like, like a couple of weeks into June in the past, but Yeah, maybe they're ending it early. I wonder when Food & Wine is starting this year. Well, Food & Wine will be like September, right? I mean, last year it was like shorter last year, right? Didn't we note that Food & Wine was oddly short last year? Am I am i making that up? i remember that Maybe they are shortening these up. i should I guess we could look at what the 2025 Food & Wine was.
01:02:06
Speaker
Yeah, mean, yeah, in 2025, it was August 28th it started. Right, September, yeah. Yeah, so they're festival-less for June and July, most of August, really.
01:02:20
Speaker
um But, yeah, it's I mean, I guess they have to get themselves prepared for for food and wine. But, yeah, no, I don't know why. It felt it felt short last year, you know?
01:02:32
Speaker
Yeah. So, okay. And yeah, flowering garden, I actually just looked this up. So it's it's exactly the same. so So this year it's March 4th to June 1st. Last year was March 5th to June 2nd. So it's the same amount of days. It's exactly the same amount of time. Okay.
01:02:49
Speaker
Well, so along with that, we have the Garden Rocks concert series, which Trevor and I always enjoy talking about the bands that are at the Garden Rocks concert because it's always an interesting mix of bands. Yeah. And it's kind of, you know, a bit of a reflection of, um you know, our music tastes, things that we grew up with that, you know, yes, we are getting older. and you know, it's it's sometimes, you know, a little bit.
01:03:16
Speaker
ah A little shocking when, you know, yeah one of your favorite bands from your childhood is playing at Disney, which, you know, doesn't. Yeah, it doesn't feel great. It's kind of the same. You know, we talked about like, you know, how, you know, hearing hearing, you know, your favorite music in the grocery store is like, yes, not a good sign.
Nostalgia in Music & Bands
01:03:35
Speaker
Yeah. Like i was on hold at the grocery store the other day. i was calling them for something i to pick a, know, for like a cake and I, the the whole music was on and I was like, Oh, that's another song for my youth. Like why why, are they doing this to me? Like, you know, it's, it just was, it's, it's weird. But anyway, ah so they got a couple new ones and then, i mean, I'm not going to lie. none None of these new ones are all that exciting. um You know,
01:04:00
Speaker
it's not You're not excited about the music of ABBA? But it's not ABBA, it's the music of ABBA, which means it's a cover band of some sort. Which I'm still fine with. I don't mind yeah hearing ABBA. and i like i I like ABBA. you know i'm yeah I'm going to take the same stances Dipper did in Gravity Falls when he was listening to... er the episode where he was he was worried about being made fun of for listening to some song called disco queen which was a yeah yeah yeah that's that's funny uh yeah uh anyway yeah that's abba's yeah music of abba's fine even if it's a cover you know i guess it depends on how good the covers are but um Yeah. Then there's their simple plan, blue, October, Billy ocean. They're all returning. Then there's the orchestra, which is starring former members of yellow and yellow part two, which is hilarious to me because it's just an yellow and yellow part two. And then the combined parts of that make up something called the orchestra. I'm wondering legitimately how like one of these times there's going to be name on here that's just like a full paragraph because it's going to be like so-and-so that was part of this but did this for a little bit but wasn't quite sure and they got coffee at Starbucks and like it's just gonna like be like whole like yeah it's it's it's funny how they're like splitting it so carefully of like this is
01:05:32
Speaker
people from ELO, but it's like, come on. It's ridiculous. We're not setting you up for any high expectations here. Yeah, exactly. We've got Herman's Hermits again returning, 38 Special, Chubby Checker, ah Sugar Ray. These are all returning. i have no idea what Information Society is. I'm looking up Information Society right now. Never heard of this before. that That's a new performance a performer. Rick Springfield, though. Rick Springfield. Returning. Different Nation Society is a British band, it looks like. Okay, that feels like a British band name, yeah. Yeah, they they're an 80s British band. I'm trying to see if I know any of their songs.
01:06:11
Speaker
Yeah. 80s first band. I don't remember them at all. Okay. But we got Rick Springfield, Berlin, the Commodores, all returning. Then some band called the Firehouse. Again, don't know who that is. Like, no clue.
01:06:25
Speaker
um Returning still, though. Air Supply, a Flock of Seagulls, Plain White Tees, love playing Epcot, man. They're like every year. um Katrina, formerly of Katrina and the Waves. Okay. What happened to the Waves? I don't know.
American Idol's Influence & Festival Summary
01:06:40
Speaker
Apparently, Katrina had a falling out with the Waves. The the waves crashed, I guess. Oh, bad joke. 98 degrees are going to be there again, which amazing. That's hilarious to me.
01:06:53
Speaker
The spinners. i Okay. And then Josiah Queen, who I know again, no idea who that is. Now, this next new person, though, I do know who they are. I know who they are as well because they were on. Was he American Idol? Yes. Yeah. American Idol. He was he was a winner of American Idol. like his name. Iam Tongi, believe the name. Yeah. So I looked this up on the internet and it said that it's, it's, it's, you say his first name, like Iam. And then his last name is actually Dongi. It's supposed have, is that how you're supposed to say it? Yeah, guess.
01:07:26
Speaker
But the he's the, he's the Hawaiian dude that plays the, you know that plays the those songs. He was in, I think he did a song for, he did the Hawaiian rollercoaster ride, right? For the, for the new. The new one. Yes. Yeah, he did. Right. Okay. Yeah.
01:07:37
Speaker
Um, yeah. So, and he was also on like the holiday special too. So he's very good. he's he's got an amazing voice, that guy. Uh, so that would be a really cool one. I don't know that I've heard him play an original song. I'm sure he has original songs. I, I don't know. I i would assume he has like an album and whatnot out at this point.
01:07:57
Speaker
I mean, I guess so. I was, it's interesting because I, you know, American Idol still in the art, obviously. And i was watching him the day other day, you know, there's a commercial that came on and I was like, well, they're still doing this American Idol thing. I was like, when's the last time they had someone famous actually come out of the show? Like, yeah you know what i mean? Like,
01:08:15
Speaker
And i I don't, I mean, I don't know. I can't think. I mean, I guess this guy's fairly popular at this point, right? there there has been There has been a couple, but it's, the hard part is, is that just because of how music listening is so fractured now, it's very easy to not be, it like, they promote these artists and they have, like,
01:08:39
Speaker
tours and careers and stuff like that yeah but you can you can completely miss it like it's so easy to like not yeah not see anything about like american idol winners there was um there was one guy that i saw he had like a bunch of um i saw things on like like tiktok and youtube uh shorts with him a lot um but he he was an american and i can't remember he he had a weird name um I'll have to find it here. but Well, listen, outside of that, I mean, there's what? There's a Queensryche, Queensryche again, returning and Maverick City Music. So listen, this is all um this is what they do every year. They have this line up, not a whole lot of new this year. They're still doing the, the, the package, the dining package that you can do to, to get into that. ah You know, they're still doing the, um,
01:09:30
Speaker
the butterfly thing. They're going to have a scavenger hunt, all that fun stuff. Doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of like new stuff for the festival this year. I mean, I'm sure there's going to be new food and I'm sure we'll cover that in food time. But as of right now, they didn't really have anything in there saying there's anything new, but in case you're wondering what it is now, you know, yeah yeah I looked it up. the The person I was thinking of, his name is Benson Boone.
01:09:51
Speaker
Oh, okay. and But apparently he didn't... I thought he won American Idol. Apparently he quit um and because he went off and started his own music, which you know turned out to go really well for him because you know it was enough that you I saw him on like YouTube and stuff like that. so Okay. yeah're You're right. American Idol is kind of a weird...
01:10:13
Speaker
thing right It's still a popular show, but I feel like there's not that many popular people that come off of it. I feel like it's it's something where, um yeah, you know you know, people do it and, you know, they use it as ah as a springboard platform, but um I feel like whoever the winner is, that there's kind of a weird... um it it almost feels like how like Disney channel actors were back or like, yeah, there it's not quite a thing anymore, but you know, you know, there was, there was a point where it was like like, or I guess like, yeah, Britney Spears and kind of onward where it was like, you know, you know, they would do the Disney channel thing. And then that stigma of doing Disney channel would kind of affect the rest of their career. And I feel like American Idol kind of does that.
01:11:02
Speaker
for people as well, where it's like, oh, well, you won American Idol, so i like you're not like a serious artist or something. that's fair, which is not fair. Yeah, that's not how that should be taken, but that's how it always seems to come across as like, you know, people who win American Idol don't, or um or yeah, or even like America's Got Talent and stuff. It's like,
01:11:26
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's it's such a weird thing. but And yeah, you know, the fact that, you know, you know I guess it makes sense that, um you know, playing like Flower and Garden and stuff um isn't... We shouldn't be saying, you know you know, if you're playing Flower and Garden that there's something wrong with your career. You're washed up.
01:11:46
Speaker
Yeah, that's... No, that's that's not fair. I mean, it's just... Yeah, it's it's just such a... Like I said, it's it's ah it's an odd thing to be walking through a theme park and seeing like...
01:11:57
Speaker
you know, a band that you idolized. Being 38 Special. For me, it was Sugar Ray. If I saw Sugar Ray, I'd be like, oh, like, that's weird. The ones that crack me up are the ones that, like, are older bands where they don't even have, like, any of the original members left or, like, have one original member. The rest of it is different. Like, all right, well, because, like, how many original members does 38 Special still have?
01:12:22
Speaker
Any? Yeah. One, maybe? Yeah, exactly. Like, it's, yeah, it's kind of a, i don't know. the The whole thing about, you know, rebuilding the boat is it's still the same boat. Yeah. yeah. right, all right.
01:12:37
Speaker
Well, listen, let's let's move on here. we yeah i got some merch stuff on here. um I don't really care about this Valentine's Day merch stuff because it's, i don't know. kind Valentine's Day is kind of a non-day. The non-day, yeah. we've We've never, or I guess, okay, in my in my relationship with my wife, we agreed very early on that, um I think we did Valentine's Day like once or twice and then we were like,
01:13:06
Speaker
I don't need to like, like Valentine's Day is not a big thing. like You know, you know, rightfully, you know, for people that want to celebrate it, you know, perfectly fine. But we were like, yeah, that's not a thing for us. So it's funny though that, yeah, Disney is like trying to,
01:13:22
Speaker
they're they're pushing a bunch of of merch with like hearts and stuff on it, which I guess here's here's my question to that is, you know, they got they got these like cute Valentine's Day plushies and, you know, sweaters and stuff. Like, I'm not If I got like Valentine's Day apparel, I'm not wearing it the rest of the year. No, no. Right? yeah No, that's it's weird.
Disney Merchandise Critiques
01:13:48
Speaker
Yeah, no. not yeah That's why I don't even really want to talk about it because nothing in there really interests me all that much. is This other merch, this other 2026 Disney World merch, though, does interest me. Not even these Chippendale fuzzy crocs.
01:14:00
Speaker
Yeah, but those aren't even Valentine's. Like, this is the the problem. They're in the Valentine's one, but they're fuzzy crocs. so Yeah, they're fuzzy. Listen, those are cool. However, what about those is Valentine's Day?
01:14:12
Speaker
I don't know. Right? Okay, and that's what I'm saying. Like, why? There's nothing Valentine's Day about those. Right? Like, maybe you would give them to somebody for Valentine's Day? I guess.
01:14:23
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know. Okay. But they're $80, by the way, too. i just i just looked these up because I wanted to see how – because my daughter loves Chippendale, and she also loves Crocs. And if I got these for her, she'd lose her mind. But $80 is crazy. I'm $80 on that. yeah Yeah, I can't justify Crocs for $80. No, that's just... that' They got to be nicer shoes if I'm spending $80. Yeah. No, I want to talk about this other stuff, Trevor. So i want yeah so so Disney's putting out their 2026 Walt Disney World merch.
01:14:55
Speaker
And, you know obviously this is not all they're putting out for the year. as You know, they get stuff in throughout the year. But ah they're they're starting off here with the Walt Disney World storybook collection. And this one is kind of like... um It's just got a bunch of the animated characters on it, really. Right? yeah it's It's like a large mural of yeah of characters. And this... um Looking at the ah the last couple... ah So that there's It looks like a jacket and bag. Yeah. um These kind of remind me of... um
01:15:29
Speaker
the bags that they are like like, they used to do the plastic bags that had like all the characters on. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. um It reminds me of that also giving some nineties vibes, but you know definitely update it. Like yeah there's a lot more detail to it. There's a lot more,
01:15:45
Speaker
There's way more going on in it. Like the more I look at it's like, oh gosh, there's so many characters in the here. And I like that they have, I just know, like they have the hitchhiking, hitchhiking ghosts in there. Like that's pretty cool. Right. Like kind of blended with the trees though. I almost didn't see them at first. Yeah. I almost didn't see them either. And I mean like Maleficent's going on the castle. Yeah. It is interesting that to your point, it is updated, but it also somehow has a 90s vibe and I don't understand why. like Because it doesn't feel outdated. It's got like the 90s thing, but I don't know what's indicating that to me. You know what mean? Like like I said, i I think it's because I remember that there was bags where it had like the characters standing in front of the castle. I think that's what's giving it. Yeah. It's that kind of aesthetic. But yeah, this feels this feels like an HD remake of Yeah. The best way I can put it. You know, you, you know, when you get like the old movies that are like, you know, you know, you know, cleaned up and, you know, high def and all that. That's what this is looking like to me is that, uh, you know, they, they took some old, uh,
01:16:47
Speaker
some old merch pictures and they've cleaned them up and, yeah and are redoing them here. But yeah, like I said, I'm not, I'm not bashing on that at all. I think it's, yeah I think it's a great aesthetic. Like this is, this is the kind of Disney world gear that,
01:17:06
Speaker
I would definitely go for Trevor. Cause I want to go to the best park day ever. Best park day ever. Yeah. Collection because this one is stuff I would actually buy.
01:17:16
Speaker
Like, so the one, they have a shirt here that has like a bunch of the characters. They have the icons from the four parks. They have a monorail. They've got, you know, Mickey, Minnie and you know, all that. But then there's also one, two of um one of the vehicles of main street too, which is like a little sweatshirt. And it almost looks like Walt Disney world is stitched on there.
01:17:36
Speaker
ah Yeah. And that's a cool looking image. I feel like you don't see that all that often. That's unique for sure. Like like having having the characters in um yeah and in one of the the Main Street automobiles is It's a cool thing that, yeah, you know you know, this goes back to, you know, we've talked about, you know, Disney branching out beyond just the, you know, like Mickey ears on their merch, right? Like this is a this is exactly it is that it's like, hey, it's still Mickey Mouse, but it's different. It it has it has something interesting to it.
01:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, and and you know we also, of course, have a spirit jersey that's is part part of this as well. And you got some new ears that are in a similar kind of style. There's also a sweatshirt that says most magical day ever on the back of it. you know So those are cool.
01:18:26
Speaker
ah But if we keep going here, too, my favorite, Trevor... The four parks collection. The four park collection. Yeah, the four parks collection is is where it's at. That's it. That is it. Yeah, that is I want I want multiple things in here. So I don't even know how to describe this, Trevor. It's like a um really they're almost likeoon like to like Epcot logos. Yeah. But they're the park logos. For sure. And they're in a circle.
01:18:52
Speaker
Right. And so there's a they have the Mickey Mouse head. And in the middle circle is each one of the park icons, which, you know, the Hollywood Studios one keeps changing. It's Tower of Terror. It's Tower of Terror now. He settled on Tower of Terror. That's fine. that's where That's where we're at. Right. But so that's on this sweatshirt. And this is Walt Disney World down the arm. And there's cool stitching on it. I just I love that sweatshirt.
01:19:14
Speaker
Also, they have a different sweatshirt, too. and my wife has a sweatshirt that's similar to this that has ah like it's it's an Epcot one. Yeah, it's ah it's ah it's a hoodie. And it's got it's it's an Epcot one for the anniversary. And then inside, like the lining has like a bunch of different stuff. But this one is similar. it has, the again, the four park icons and it's stitched onto the back of it. And it says Walt Disney World. And it again, the design is very cool. I really, really like it.
01:19:41
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, go ahead. And then, so then they show, there's some Mickey ears and a magic band as well. The one thing I'll say as well is, you know, you know beyond the designs of it, I like the ah the color palettes that they're using. It's yeahs almost like it's it's not, I don't even know what the proper term, it like it almost looks pastel, but it's a little more vibrant than pastel colors. So it's not like, it's not like in your face, like,
01:20:07
Speaker
like super bright and colorful but it's definitely it has some unique um palettes to it right so it does yeah i i love this design i will i am going to end up buying something in this maybe this first this first hoodie on there this i'm hoping to see what else comes out of this ah there there's this backpack too which looks to have an ear holder built into it. Is it ear holder built in or do they just, they just, they have a set of ears like, like, like tucked in between the, uh, the front pouch. Yeah. So yeah, that's not part of the bag. That's, that's the ears. It says a backpack designed to hold your ears. Yeah. What? That's crazy. I people do it all the time. People will, you know, people will figure out all kinds of ways to attach their ears to their, uh, their stuff as they're walking around the park.
01:20:59
Speaker
so I just like that. That's a custom designed backpack and not just an off the shelf. You know, like they actually put some thought into that. Yeah. Again, yeah, this this whole collection is, um or and this is even the whole collection. Like I'm assuming we're going to see more of this stuff throughout the years. But yeah, I like this four-part collection. I would buy this Magic Band too. I'd rock this Magic Band. Yeah, yeah that that Magic Band is is awesome. Yeah. And then last but not least, there's the castle collection, which ah ah is, you know, there's this bright pink sweatshirt with like an outline of the castle in gold. ah There's some gold ears with the castle on it.
01:21:36
Speaker
A spirit jersey. the I mean, I guess you'd call that a spirit jersey, is it? I mean, that the third one there. or yeah is he Where it's the world on the back and it has the castle and all that. the The only thing that this collection has going for it is gold lettering. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this is a better part of the time. Yeah. I mean, okay. This collection is not made for us, I think is what this is telling me. I'm not i'm not saying it's the worst collection, but looking at it, it's, you know, it's very minimalist um drawings of the castle.
01:22:10
Speaker
And then, you know, with the the gold lettering on it, which, you know, if that's fine, if that's the aesthetic you're looking for. Um, but yeah it doesn't have like, you know, the, the four parks collection has a lot of unique little bits. Like there's a lot to look at in it. The, uh, um, the best day ever, like like, yeah, you know, all the other collections are very like, oh, there's lots of detail. This one is, i don't, I think it's the minimalist approach of it that is getting me.
01:22:41
Speaker
I also just, you know, listen, based on the images that are here and the designs, it seems like it's a line that's a little more geared to towards women and not for all. Not to say you you can't. I'm just saying, like, all of the models here are women. I mean, the spirit jersey could, yeah. Yeah. It's... It could.
01:23:01
Speaker
I could figure out how to make it work if I really needed to. I would. say I would say the only the thing I like the most of this is actually the bag in the last picture here that that bag looks kind of cool. But it's not like a bag, you know, I'm carrying around. It might be something my my wife. It's like a it's like a purse. I i don't i don't know if it's a purse or it's just a bag or I don't know what it is. It it looks like a bag, but it it almost it looks like ah something from like a high end. It looks fancy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it just it looks it looks super fancy. yeah And I think that's the thing is, you know my you know, this is totally a valid aesthetic that, you know, if you're looking for Disney World but fancy, like, yeah this is it. But looking this next to all the other collections we just looked at, this one to me is not super exciting. And and again, not not for the fact that it's like, yes, it is mainly focused as, you know, a collection for women.
01:23:53
Speaker
It's more so that it's very minimalistic, which... feels very odd next to all these other ones that are super detailed. And and maybe I'm wrong on that. I just noticed that it's it's very – all the models in it are women, and it seems like it's geared a little bit more towards towards that. But maybe they have other parts of the collection they just haven't shown yet that are – I see people you know wearing you know ears and stuff all the time. like it's Wear whatever you want. Do whatever you want. I don't care. Yeah. like let's Make it work. Make it work. like No judgment from me here. I'm just saying like what it feels like they're doing. How they're modeling it is definitely, yeah, it's it's targeted at women for sure. Yeah, seemingly.
Napa Rose Revamp & Menu Discussion
01:24:34
Speaker
All right. So last but not least here, Trevor, let's so let's move over to Disneyland. We'll give our Disneyland friends a little bit, a little, a little bit of love here ah and talk about the Napa Rose restaurant at Grand Californian reopening on February 6th after a ah reimagining year.
01:24:52
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And I have to tell you, Trevor, I have dined in a lot of nice Disney restaurants, but this looks bougie, man. Napa Rose is bougie. It is very bougie. I mean, I don't know what it looked like before. I mean, I think I'm i'm pretty sure i've seen pictures, but this is just this looks really nice.
01:25:12
Speaker
I mean, honestly, the aesthetic, the aesthetic has not changed at all from because I've I've been, yeah you know, stayed the Grand Californian, you know, Naparo's it It doesn't look much different, but yeah, there's definitely little elements and stuff that they've updated, um like around the booths and lighting and all that kind of stuff.
01:25:37
Speaker
um Yeah, it it is, like you said, it's it's a very nice restaurant at the end of the day. Trevor, please zoom in on the first picture and look at the hostess, and that's that's all I'm going to say.
01:25:50
Speaker
just Just do that. um the The what the the thousand yard stairs looks like an alien. What is going on there? ah Yeah. that ah Okay.
01:26:05
Speaker
this is gonna I hope somebody actually sketch this and that they didn't just try to throw stuff in there with ai Or like, you know, take an actual picture and run it through that filter in Photoshop that makes it look like it's a painting or whatever. But who stands there like that? That's what I'm saying. It doesn't look right. It's concerning to me. It doesn't look like a human. But like they're they're like staring off into nowhere.
01:26:28
Speaker
Yeah. They've got like one arm on their... their hands on their hip and they're kind of like, yeah, I tilted sideways. I'm sitting here trying to like do the position that they're standing in. it And I'm like, it's weird. There's no way you would stand there like that, especially as you as a g greeter for a, for a hotel. No, definitely not. um So anyway, yeah. ah so So it's reimagined. It's available to a book reservation starting January 27th. So if you're listening to this, you're pretty close to being able to do it.
01:26:59
Speaker
ah And then it's going to reopen on the 6th, like I said. It looks very, very nice. It looks really well done. There's some new menu items. Again, this looks too bougie for me.
01:27:11
Speaker
you know like i I think these menu items look fantastic. They do. i mean It's just a little bit like it's a little too close to Victoria Alberts and you know like as far as fanciness goes, you know and I'm just not comfortable with that level of fancy. Yeah.
01:27:27
Speaker
I mean, wouldn't wouldn't you want to have um bone marrow custard or that sounds disgusting i like or're something called a laughing tiger, which I'm guessing is this first one with the ah with the striped as so um something. i'm I'm not sure what that is, but yeah, it's got like the striped piece on the bottom.
01:27:46
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not even sure what the bone marrow custard is. I'm guessing it's the middle picture of the the set of three. Okay. so it's that little, the little like crock pot thing that they are a crock that they opened, ah you know? yeah Okay. um Weird.
01:28:03
Speaker
ah I think the laughing tiger is the last one, right? but so there's the smiling tiger salad. So this is a reimagining of that called the laughing tiger instead of the smiling tiger.
01:28:14
Speaker
Oh, okay. All right. I thought i thought it was the the picture up above, but yeah. Yeah. Okay. um Well, listen. Beef tartare. Beef tartare. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I mean, they're serving beef tartare. So if you know what... you know Beef tartare. Yeah. It's that kind of bougie, which... it looks look Listen, it looks very nice. It does. It looks really good. It looks great. that's great Right? I mean... ah If you're staying in in you know anywhere in the Disneyland Resort, you know checking out Napa Rose is worth it. I'm not going to lie to you. This also seems like one of those places where I'd eat my meal and be like, you guys want to like go get some like you know some other food? You know what I mean? Because horseshoes are so small, it feels like you'd still be hungry afterwards, you know? Yeah, but but so so here here is the thing about that resort is that from where Napa Rose you can very easily, like in two minutes, you're in...
01:29:07
Speaker
California Adventure. Yeah. You can walk over to, um yu sorry, I forget the naming now. It used to be Pacific Wharf where they had all the different food options. Like,
01:29:18
Speaker
you can have You can have a great dining experience here, and then you can go into the park and you can get corndogs. Yeah, but that's – It's fine. I don't want a restaurant where I have to eat after my meal. You know what mean? Like have to eat again. i and i get what you're saying, but I also do appreciate that you know these are – Yeah, I get This is an experience. it's not I'm not going here for a buffet. I'm going here for an experience. I'm a little more lowbrow than you, Trevor. Yeah.
01:29:47
Speaker
Wolf. Like, like i would I would go and have this, and I'd be like, yeah, I'm still hungry. Let's go get corn dogs. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. Oh, I said it again. Y'all know what's up with the corn dogs, so. Yeah, yeah. All right. Let's wrap this up, Trevor. I think this been a fairly comprehensive show. Yeah, we we've we've been all over the place, which. Well, that's what I meant by comprehensive, right? We're just all over the place, but that's what we like to do, so Yeah. Oh, i guess it's it's ah guess it's my turn to say things, isn't it? Yeah, it is. You got it. Yeah, that's. Okay. So, um yeah, I guess we'll we'll start by mentioning our email address. So, as usual, if you guys want to reach out to us, you can always find us at welcomehomepodcasts at gmail.com. We love hearing your trip reports, getting your questions and and all that kind of stuff. um you can also find us on facebook as welcome on podcast you can find us on youtube as welcome on podcast you can find us on instagram as welcome home pics um on facebook make sure you check out our group welcome home disney wait list where we talk about all kinds of things from the show and you know people are sharing their own trip reports and um again just having disney conversations you know that's that's really all we want is you know a place to to talk about disney and and enjoy it together so if if you're interested in that, you know, please check us out.
01:31:02
Speaker
And if you'd like to help support the show, you can go to store.walkhomepodcast.co and check out our different merch there. And, ah um you know, maybe you need some shirts or something for an upcoming trip. If, you know, if you you get some merch, you know, we'd love seeing pictures of it as well. You know, you can always post that into the group or send it to us via email or whatever.
01:31:22
Speaker
um we also do have a Patreon. um So you can go patreon.com slash welcomehomepod and check out our different levels of Patreon support that have an exclusive logo that you can only get on Patreon. And all of our Patreon supporters get access to the Discord server, which, um we as we've talked about in the past, um we have all kinds of great conversations on Discord as well ah that um you know span Disney and sometimes other random things as well. You never know.
01:31:50
Speaker
you know, sometimes off topic can be crazy lately. It's been talking about the, you know, the, the cold weather you guys have coming. So, um, know, that, that's been the main, uh, topic of focus, but, uh, yeah. So, you know, if you, if you want to come, you know, hang out with us in there, you know, check out our Patreon.
01:32:08
Speaker
And last but not least, if you're listening on iTunes or Spotify or anywhere, you can leave us ah five stars. Please do so. um It's just another way to help get the podcast out there and, you know, help helps more people
Listener Engagement & Growth
01:32:21
Speaker
find it. You know, you know, also, you know, you can tell your friends about it, too. You don't just have to rate us on those platforms. But, you know, we'd we'd love for, you know, to we'd love to get out to as many people as possible that um would be interested in this kind of stuff. And you can also write us review on iTunes to let us know what you think about the show as well, because.
01:32:39
Speaker
we We do like hearing that people are enjoying the show or or that you know that they have any thoughts or anything about it. Yeah, and and and don't forget to subscribe to Welcome Home Podcast so you can be reminded every time we release an episode. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify, YouTube. YouTube Music is about any place you find podcasts. You can find us.
01:33:00
Speaker
You know, just look for Welcome Home and the one that's Disney and DVC, right? So look for that one. um That's us. And, you know, if you're listening to Zeretta, you obviously found us somewhere. But if you want to listen to us somewhere else, you can do that too.
01:33:12
Speaker
So huge thank you to, first of all, Carrie from DVC Resale Market for being here here today and also ah DVC Rental Store for sponsoring this episode. I've been saying World DVC for a while, even though they they're Keyholder Vacations now. Apologies. ah But yeah, Keyholder Vacations. Check them out for like literally every Disney need you could possibly want. We're going to have some more people on this year from Keyholder to talk through like, you know, buying tickets and all sorts of stuff that they do. They do tons of stuff. So Anyway, so thank you to them. that You know, Carrie was great as always. So join us next time for more Disney Parks discussion. Of course, more DVC talk. We hope to see you all real soon.
01:33:54
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, signing off from Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
01:34:10
Speaker
run for all the home