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Springing into Jack's Box
38 Plays8 days ago
Happy spring everyone! Winter weather is winding down and we're back in the parks - Six Flags Over Georgia and Kings Dominion opening weekends, plus a smattering of Florida park visits including Mardi Gras and EPCOT's Flower and Garden events. Plus, we got a big Halloween Horror Nights announcement! Our icon's Jack and Dr. Oddfellow are bringing the first house announcement of the season. Are you hype? Will we see more house announcements soon? Are you tired of our getting old complaints? 🤣
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Transcript
Introduction to Thrills, Chills, and Spills Podcast
00:00:11
Speaker
What's up, everybody? Welcome back to Thrills, Chills, and Spills, where we spill the tea on all things theme parks, special events, and a specially spooky season. I'm Tyler.
00:00:22
Speaker
I'm Joey. I'm Kelly. And I'm Rafa.
Halloween Horror Nights Excitement
00:00:25
Speaker
And we do have some spookiness for you tonight. We have our first announcement from Halloween Horror Nights. We are very excited about that, but first, as always, we will do our spills.
Kelly's Health Struggles and Aging Humor
00:00:38
Speaker
um Kelly, why don't you go first? What do you have? So we have another installment today of complaining about being old, um which I am. So there's this thing that exists in your hip. You know how your hip is a ball and socket joint? Well, the socket, it's called acetabulum. And it has this piece of cartilage there called a labrum.
00:01:03
Speaker
And its job is to keep the ball and socket stable and provide cushion and make your movement smooth. And I don't have one anymore. It's ripped in half.
00:01:14
Speaker
So I am no longer able to run. Or sometimes even walk because I am old, presumably. i don't know how else this would have happened over time.
00:01:25
Speaker
But um yeah, it's been a big pain in my butt. And Dollywood, the race I was looking forward to is in four, three, four weeks. And yeah, there isn't no way I'm going to be running that race. So I am very salty about what's happening in my body. And that's all I have on that spill.
00:01:46
Speaker
yikes so that just and disappear what well it tore um at some point in my life um and then i continued to run on it like i probably shouldn't have when i just kept having pain i was like it's you know fine until it wasn't fine and i couldn't walk and um i went to the doctor and i got an um mri and There's a tear in my labrum. So basically you can attempt to treat this by rehabbing it and strengthening everything around it. And you can function and live with a torn labrum. Like it doesn't repair itself. But if that doesn't work, which sometimes happens, you need surgery to reattach it to itself.
00:02:33
Speaker
So. Yikes. Yeah. So we're hoping that doesn't happen. um But I start rehab next week and we'll see. i have i am on a strict no running protocol right now per my doctor, um which I am following. But I did do quite a bit of walking this weekend, which I was worried about. And honestly, I feel pretty good having not run for a little over a week. So i hopefully the rest is doing what it's supposed to do and how i can progress.
00:03:05
Speaker
as expected, but yeah, that's, that's what's going on in my life pretty much. i mean, at least the rest is helping. Yeah, it's helped in the past too. when i've This has been going on for like quite a few weeks now and I would rest and it would feel better. And then when I would run, it would come right back. So I'm just a little fearful that that's going to be the case, but I'm going to be doing it under the guidance of a very smart, very fast marathon running physical therapist. So hopefully he will help me.
00:03:36
Speaker
That's good. He has ah apparently a treadmill that is a anti-gravity treadmill. So there's some sort of like harness situation where I can run but not exert any force on my leg. Yeah. so he, that's cool is we're going to use that. I'm excited to try that out.
00:03:55
Speaker
And yeah. Yeah. So should we just make this like a recurring segment? Kelly is old. i have not been the only person to complain about old here. by far the oldest on this podcast. In case you listeners didn't know, i have many years on my friends and co-hosts. no yeah you're not now Many years. If anyone's body is going to break in half, it will be mine.
00:04:28
Speaker
This is the most millennial podcast. Oh my gosh. so All right. Does anybody have anything slightly happier for their spill?
Joy of Reading and Book Club Memories
00:04:41
Speaker
Sure. is fun. Reading is fun i ah I, as a child, was like the most voracious reader.
00:04:52
Speaker
um I would like get the new Harry Potter books and basically want to read the whole thing in a day. And I would get in trouble for after quote unquote bedtime, reading them with a flashlight, like under my covers, trying to hide from my parents. And like, they knew I was doing that, but they knew I was just reading. So they were like, well, it's not too bad. It'd be worse.
00:05:12
Speaker
Yeah. So, um and as an adult, obviously my brain is rotting. And so I have not been reading like at all, which is kind of terrible. Because you're getting old. Right. ah Because I'm getting old. um So it's been a while since I've like read a book for pleasure. um And thank goodness for the Buzzbars book club um for like kind of forcing me into that because I needed something It helps to have like a goal and like other people doing it, too. And so um we just read Project Hail Mary, which is a sci fi book um about space. Really, that's all I'll say. don't want to give anything else away. um
00:05:52
Speaker
And it was really good. And I read it in three days and I almost like did what I did when was I was a kid because I was like reading until 1 a.m. one night. I was like, oh, geez, I have work tomorrow. Cool.
00:06:03
Speaker
Oops. zchester So yeah, try to read a book again as an adult if you haven't done that in a while. Just like whatever you used to like, try that again and you'll probably like it still.
00:06:14
Speaker
So I never liked reading. I always felt like when I had to read, it was because it was an assignment. And I felt like if I ever found books that I liked, like I would read them, but then I would be like, okay, onto the next thing. Like it was never something like I looked forward to as a child. And I always felt inferior to my classmates who enjoyed reading because we were all, you know,
00:06:36
Speaker
like the smart, quote unquote, smart kids. And I just like, didn't like to read. i don't know. i always felt like it was like studying. And then in my adult life, like I just had to study and I didn't have time to read, but I said that I was going to try it. It's been a goal of mine. And I agree. Thankful to the Bose Bars book club because it forced me to read this book and I read it pretty quickly. And now I'm on my third 300 page plus book in like the last week. So apparently I like to read. wow Let's go. Yeah. it all season
00:07:07
Speaker
That is awesome. Yeah. Yeah, i've I picked up reading maybe like two or three years ago. It's kind of on and off. I feel like I'll read like five books in a row and then I won't read for like three months.
00:07:20
Speaker
um So I'm trying to make it more of a habit. But shout out to Meg also. She's been on a guest on here for a while. She's the one hosting Buzzbars Book Club. So shout out to her.
00:07:32
Speaker
Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited to read more books and different types of books because I don't even know what I like. I'm just like reading what I have that's been sitting around or i like what's been suggested by other people. So yeah, I got read. copy for sure Yeah, you should.
00:07:48
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good read for sure. Well, I own it because it was not at my library. So we can always pass it around. Same. That thing is sold out because there's movie.
00:07:59
Speaker
yeah yeah i tried to get it from the library and there was like 93 people ahead of me or something it has so many holes yeah it's wild like when would you get that like next year Yeah, I think for the best sellers, it's like, I think you can have it for two weeks. So and I'm sure they have multiple copies. So probably only a couple of months, but still. Yeah, yeah, probably wouldn't be that bad. Depends if they're reading under the covers like Joey. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Joey's Car Key Mishap
00:08:30
Speaker
yeah um So my spill is I locked my keys in my car for the first time in my life yesterday. Maybe I'm getting old and I'm getting more forgetful. I don't know. We'll just that's it we'll stick with that. Trying to make this a theme. Oh my gosh.
00:08:46
Speaker
Wait, where was it? So I was i went into work for a couple hours and um I wanted to stop at Chipotle on the way home. So I go into Chipotle and I get to the register and I don't have my wallet on me. And I'm like a boomer. I don't have Apple Pay or anything like that. Like I pull out my wallet and tap my card every time.
00:09:06
Speaker
OK, another reason I'm old, but. um But I didn't have my wallet. Yeah. So i ran out to my car and there was like a line. so I'm like literally jogging to my car and I had like a cup in my hand. So I opened my car, grabbed my wallet and I meant to chuck the cup into the car. And then I like hit the lock thing on the way out. But I chucked my keys and then I hit the lock and I get like two steps. I'm like, oh no. Oh, no.
00:09:36
Speaker
That is the worst. think that's exactly the kind of thing I would do. yeah Because your brain is like holding two things and you throw the wrong one. yeah It was like a cartoon or something. It ended up being not that bad because I did have a spare that I was able to dig out.
00:09:55
Speaker
So i just had to like Uber to my house and then Uber back. um So it wasn't horrible. I didn't have to call locksmith or anything. but How did you get into your place? Oh, I have a ah keypad.
00:10:06
Speaker
on the front door. oh that's good. Okay. yeah' like the code in Yeah. Oh yeah. I would have been screwed without that. That was so. Oh yeah. Cause when I lost my keys on twisted cyclone, I, they had to drill the fricking deadbolt off my door.
00:10:18
Speaker
Yep. Oh my gosh. Yeah.
00:10:24
Speaker
Rafa, do you have anything uplifting for us?
IMAX Experience of 'Project Hail Mary'
00:10:27
Speaker
um No, just basically just to piggyback. I mean, not really directly piggyback off of what Joey was talking about, but I did watch Project Hail Mary, the movie um this past weekend, which I really enjoyed. um More so because we went to um one of the real like IMAX 70 millimeter like theaters, which I had never done before.
00:10:51
Speaker
And that thing is freaking massive. Like, it felt like throughout the whole movie, I was looking, like, at the entire screen, like, the entire time. Like, looking in every direction, which was really cool. It's an adjustment, for sure, because it's, like, you're not used to having the screen like that.
00:11:07
Speaker
um But it was an incredible experience. And if you're going to watch Project Hail Mary, I suggest watching it in the biggest screen. Like, it is visually, like, amazing. I really loved it, so...
00:11:20
Speaker
Yeah, definitely give it a watch at an IMAX or wherever they have the biggest screen. haven't been to an IMAX in so long and for an actual movie. Yeah, this was my, like, I had gone, like, I've been before, like, when I was a kid, like, when they would have, like, funny enough, this was actually in, like, the museum that I think I saw my first IMAX movie, but it's, like, one of those, like, movies that they play throughout the day, like the nature ones and stuff like that. Yeah, there's so many those. That's the only thing I've seen.
00:11:51
Speaker
It's just like helicopter footage of nature at some museum. what's the Common. It's basically Soarin', but it doesn't move. Literally. yeah I really wish I would have seen it. i would have seen Sinners there because after watching this, I was like, damn, this would have been really cool for Sinners.
00:12:08
Speaker
but Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure there'll be some sort of re-release at some point. I don't know the last time I saw IMAX. It might have been in like fifth grade when we took a field trip there. yeah been so long i don't even know where one is honestly have one at my local theater and imax yeah um like theater within it and i've seen a couple of movies there but i unfortunately the time didn't work for for project help mary so i saw it on regular size screen well it was dolby cinema but it was a regular size theater and screen the closest one for us is an hour away like we have like the like We have like the IMAX ones that are like in Regal and stuff like that, but it's not like nearly the same size as the real one.
00:12:52
Speaker
So yeah, luckily my brother lives like down the street from it. So we just like parked at his place and then went to the movie. So wasn't bad. Apparently there's two within like 20 minutes of me. Of course there is. i just, I don't see movies. I don't know if I've seen a movie in the theater since like, I don't know if I've seen one since COVID, honestly.
00:13:12
Speaker
Yeah, I don't see that either. I go a lot. Wicked for Good and Project Hail Mary. Those are that like two in the last a year. Really? In a theater, yeah.
00:13:22
Speaker
Yeah. All right, let's get into our thrills category.
Theme Park Visits Recap
00:13:28
Speaker
um I guess I'll start it off because i did the most things, I think.
00:13:33
Speaker
So I took a Orlando trip this past week. And honestly, it was probably the worst trip to Orlando I've had Partially my fault, okay? Because I didn't even think about it being the beginning of spring break until it was like everything. But the parks were pretty slammed.
00:13:56
Speaker
um But I was able to go to a Universal Mardi Gras. Honestly, I didn't do much Mardi Gras related there. um i did see the parade and I always love the parades at Universal.
00:14:11
Speaker
They're so much fun. me and my friend were like trying to get every color bead. um I think I got every color except for one. But it was cool. we um I got a good shot of like the parade coming and then the sunset in the background.
00:14:26
Speaker
and That was great. But I don't think I had any food or anything. That was really the only... Mardi Gras thing that I did. and it if you haven't been to Universal Mardi Gras, it's not like the park is decked out or anything. Like you won't really even know that it's Mardi Gras unless you are kind of seeking out those special events. But yeah.
00:14:45
Speaker
Parade I highly recommend. Also went SeaWorld. They were having their Seven Seas Food Festival. So listen to this pricing. We wanted to get the lanyard, right? It's two of us.
00:14:59
Speaker
So for 10 item lanyard, it it was $90. So we're like 30 bucks. but for a fifteen item lanyard it was ninety dollars so we're like thirty or no 50% more food for 15 more dollars. Like obviously we have to go to that.
00:15:17
Speaker
And then we get up to the thing and it says pass holders by the 15 item lanyard get three free items. So we had 18 items for $90, which okay. Pretty good deal. I would say. Yeah. Yeah. That was a lot of food split between two people, nine items each.
00:15:37
Speaker
Um, I'm not going to go through everything we had, but my main takeaways were the like regular food was fine. Mostly like there was nothing bad, but the desserts were really good.
00:15:51
Speaker
I had this pineapple upside down cake and then a cup. Absolutely delicious. I actually went and got a second one because it was so good. um But I had like a chicken Parmesan and it was like It was just like a piece of garlic bread with like the chicken breasts that they put on the sandwiches with just like some cheese on top.
00:16:14
Speaker
I don't know. It felt a little cafeteria-y. um Yeah, all the food. It was, like I said, nothing bad, but definitely nothing stood out beyond the desserts.
00:16:26
Speaker
um Tried a couple drinks and stuff, sort of just like your typical, just they brew gallons and gallons of it at a time. And it's college jungle juice, basically. Yeah, that was i was going to say like, yeah, they're never great.
00:16:42
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't drink much. I think I only had maybe one or two. Trying to look back through my pictures and see if there was anything else that was notable. I don't even have them in my camera. roll I just posted them.
00:16:55
Speaker
Anyways, I posted them all on Instagram. So if you saw a bunch of photos, that's what I had. But um yeah, that's really all they had going on. No Mardi Gras or anything at SeaWorld. Crowds got pretty bad. That was the Friday.
00:17:08
Speaker
so I think a lot of people were probably coming into town for the weekend. Manta was posted like 1, 10, think. Yeah. um Mako's always short. Icebreaker like never got below 60. Didn't even bother with that. So kind of just one of those days to wander around the park and eat and just enjoy the atmosphere.
00:17:30
Speaker
um Also went to Busch Gardens Tampa. They also had Mardi Gras. And i think I did less at that. Or no, was it Mardi Gras? No, it wasn't Mardi Gras. It was their version of the food festival.
00:17:43
Speaker
And i did nothing at that one. It was a rough day, guys. We got there. It was Saturday. Got there at opening. Went straight to cheetah hunt.
00:17:55
Speaker
Because I'm like, okay, it's open. That's kind of rare. And the line, yeah it said 10 minutes. we're like, okay, we got in line. It was easily 30 minutes. And then after like 20 minutes, it went down.
00:18:08
Speaker
We waited another like 30 minutes. Never came up. They were looking at the the fins coming into the station or something. I'm like, forget it. And we walked out. So the first hour after rope drop, didn't ride anything.
00:18:22
Speaker
um That was a good decision, though, to leave because it did not open up until I heard later that night, like six or seven. And we had already left at that point. So I've got a couple of rides on Gwazi. That was like less than a station weight, which was great.
00:18:38
Speaker
Monterey. Huh? That's wild considering what it usually is like there. Right. Yeah. And it really matter too and it really didn't get that much longer. It was kind of crazy.
00:18:50
Speaker
That's weird. I'm yeah assuming it was on two trains then. It was definitely on two trains. Yeah. And they were doing pretty good about getting them out. ah The lockers maybe helped with dispatches. Yeah. Maybe a little bit.
00:19:03
Speaker
a little. Well, it's right. They the metal detectors now, right? Yeah, and lockers are $4. Yeah. yeah Yeah, that's rough. So that's got to be the best upcharge attraction in the world at this point. so Yeah. um Let's see. Cobra's Curse waited maybe like $30 for that. That wasn't too bad.
00:19:26
Speaker
Montu was down $10. Um, what was down Falcons? What's the drop tower? Falcons fury. I was about to say falcons flight.
00:19:38
Speaker
Yeah. Falcons fury was down. Kumba was down. and then we waited like an hour and a half for Shikra. Oh my gosh. Hour and a half.
00:19:51
Speaker
Okay. Oh my gosh. Shikra was a mess. I'm just now remembering it. So I'm like, B&M, like, it's not going to be that bad. It looks long, but it was all the way down ah the stairs, like, and wrapped around a little bit in the downstairs part. Not too bad. Yeah.
00:20:09
Speaker
But yeah, we get in line and it is just crawling. And once we got to the top, we realized there's nobody at the quick queue checking. And people were just going up the quick queue and merging with the line the whole time.
00:20:20
Speaker
There's nothing there to stop you. And then people were just getting out of line halfway, walking up there. There's no grouper. like There's no rhyme reason to each line. It's just a mob of people until you get into the actual queue for each line.
00:20:36
Speaker
It was rough. Not a good day at BGT. They get to hang out with Chris and Erica, though. They were there for the weekend, so I hung out with them for a while. Always good seeing them.
00:20:47
Speaker
Chris, I know you listen. um Yeah, I think that's pretty much it. Oh, then we went to Giraffe Bar for like an hour because we didn't know what else to do. And that was probably the most fun part of the day, honestly.
00:20:59
Speaker
Yeah. That's kind of it for my Florida trip. um popped into ioa and stuff nothing really notable there but um oh i went to king's dominion opening day this past weekend which yeah they opened kind of kind of i'm pretty sure pantherian like didn't right So it it opened. People rode it in the morning. By the time I got there, like 1 p.m., it was closed.
00:21:32
Speaker
And I think it did reopen at night, but I did not get a ride on it. um Flight of Fear was closed. Twisted Timbers. The line didn't look that long, but I got in and I realized it was one train, so it was easily over an hour.
00:21:47
Speaker
But shout out Grizzly. Grizzly absolutely hauling on two trains. Love that ride. Number three in the park easily. And then, oh green and grill.
00:22:00
Speaker
I got into green and grill to use my meal plan and they had no entrees whatsoever ready. Yeah, they're supposed to have like chicken, pork and beef or something.
00:22:11
Speaker
There's like 15 people in line. Not a single one is ready. Everybody's just standing around. the guest they're staring employees The employees are staring at the guests. They're just waiting for them to finish cooking. Oh, no. Yeah. I'm like, come on, guys.
00:22:28
Speaker
So, I mean, it's opening weekend. It's it's always a little rough there for opening. I know it's going to get better, but I basically it was like, well, at least I got out into the beautiful weather and walked through a park. Basically, that's kind of what I chalked it up to.
00:22:46
Speaker
And they don't they don't have anything that they're marketing for this year. Right. i don't think there's anything new. um no I don't think so. Waterpark. Yeah, I don't think so at all. OK, no.
00:22:57
Speaker
All right. ah Joey, you went to an opening day, didn't you?
Opening Day at Six Flags and King's Dominion
00:23:01
Speaker
Yes. I was at Six Flags over Georgia opening weekend. um Again, was kind of locked out with the weather. we had some pretty nasty cold front come through um like the weekdays before it, but then it warmed back up again, so it was actually nice.
00:23:19
Speaker
I did my usual thing and went on a Sunday morning because it's really quiet. Yeah. And they the first like what is happening moment was the toll plaza, which they completely raised and just put asphalt in its place and then built these shoddy little shed things, for lack of a better word. For the toll plaza. So it looks so cheap now. um But I think what they're doing.
00:23:46
Speaker
And it was like it was hilarious. It was literally four corner posts. And a triangle roof. That's it. That's what these little structures were. no seats. No nothing. No windows. No. And so the employees were just standing under these.
00:23:59
Speaker
roofs essentially and scanning people's parking tickets. are thosely glad I think that yes, but what appeared to me is that there were like electrical things still sticking out of the ground. So I think they're doing what some of the other Cedar fair parks have done with the,
00:24:18
Speaker
automated gates that go up and down. And so you can just scan your pass and it goes up so they don't need employees. I'm guessing they're trying to like save money so they can have just one person who like, you know, comes over to if you're having problems like using the machine instead of having because I think they had like four employees standing there helping to scan people in. So that kind of one looks like but it's just the old one wasn't pretty either. But at least it had like the the Six Flags Over Georgia sign over it, you know, and it looked more I don't know, grand, I guess. Not that it was that great, but this new one is just four little roofs and no signage and so weird.
00:24:56
Speaker
um Other than that, though, like they were very, very prepared for enforcing the chaperone policy, which is interesting. They were like, I got ID checked. All of these adults were getting ID checked.
00:25:08
Speaker
um And I saw groups of teenagers just gathered off to the side because they weren't being let in You know, it was like a group of, I don't know, like 10, 16 year olds and they're not allowed in because I want to say it was 17 and younger have to have a 21 plus to come into the park.
00:25:27
Speaker
um So they were very prepared for that and screening very well. um So there was no because in previous years, the first weekend at over Georgia, there has been just teenage takeovers and like fights in the park and in the parking lot and all this nonsense. Seems like this year they did a good job of like kind of abating that and preventing it from happening, which I guess is a good thing for the park's reputation and all of that. Um, not much else has really changed there. They were similarly unprepared to be open. I would say Twisted Cyclone was only running one train and the second train was not in the maintenance bay.
00:26:00
Speaker
So that's not great. Acrophobia has been down so the drop tower since the end of last season and looks exactly the same as it did back then with all of the restraints removed and like cables hanging off of it. So they didn't do anything to that.
00:26:14
Speaker
And the brand new roller coaster, Georgia Gold Rusher is sitting there with no train on the track. Once again, no train in sight. So that was disappointing. oh my god There were so many things just like not ready. Um,
00:26:29
Speaker
And also, you just, you know, and this is opening day thing, so I can't really criticize too much. But obviously, the employees were learning. There were some slow dispatches and like figuring out how they even do this and you know how to group people and oh yeah, like a fast lane person shows up, I need to let them in. because i feel like I, I used my one time skip the line for Twisted Cyclone because it was on one train. And I stood there for a while just like staring at the girl like, Are you gonna let me in? I was the only one in that line. um
00:27:01
Speaker
But other than that, I mean, they definitely invested in Monster Mansion in the offseason. There were new animatronics, new um like refurbished clothing and fur on some of the creatures. There was some new lighting and and stuff in the marsh.
00:27:17
Speaker
They added a whole fake-out boat. going the wrong direction or well, the fake out boats going the right direction that you go the wrong direction. ah But so there is continuing to invest in that, which is cool because there's not a lot of dark rides like that at Six Flags Parks. um So that was good to see.
00:27:33
Speaker
And like, yeah, there's some benches that showed up from Six Flags America. but they added some benches. ah What else? I wish they had done some retracking on Scream Machine. They have not. It is still, it's getting rougher now after the like full retract they did two, two years ago-ish.
00:27:55
Speaker
I wish they would just let the Gravity Group come in and and do their thing because it's a perfect candidate for that. Um, yeah, that's about it. Um, I think, you know, like it's been getting better at the park since the the merger.
00:28:10
Speaker
They've been spending more money in maintenance and stuff. And so, you know, there's not like a ton of stuff left that they really, really need to fix. They are renovating um one of the restaurants and it's still ongoing. So it wasn't ready for opening, but they're like transforming the, I think almost every Six Flags had that JB's sandwich place. They're turning it into a Georgia sandwich company. So they're trying to make it like more local sounding and completely redoing the kitchen and the menu and everything. So that's good to see that they're trying to Make a little more local flair, you know, kind of be a little more relatable to the people in the community. um Yeah, we'll see how things go over the season. um
00:28:49
Speaker
I'll be curious to see if we get our winter event yet. There were some surveys that went out about bringing back the winter events at certain parks. I think Kings Dominion got one too. um And there was one for over Georgia. So we'll see if maybe maybe Winterfest will come back. I don't know.
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be cool. Or at least a couple extra days where the park is open something. u hu Yeah, yeah. It was kind of weird to not have that last year and it just closed.
00:29:16
Speaker
Yeah. You reminded me of something else about my trip to King's Dominion about stuff not being ready. I rode ah the log flume and my log. It had piles of dead leaves in the log.
00:29:31
Speaker
ah which tells me when it closed yeah when it closed for the season they just set it somewhere and all the leaves went in did not bother cleaning it or anything and just put it back on the ride that's hilarious yeah that's crazy think they they would at least like put a tarp over it or something yeah something oh kelly you went somewhere Yeah, I went to Disney
Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival Highlights
00:29:58
Speaker
World. i um went to Epcot mostly um just this past Saturday. i i don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but Epcot's festivals, I really enjoy Flower and Garden the most, like even more so than food and wine. Like I feel like the food is better at Flower and Garden. um I went last year actually the exact same weekend in March and had a really good time. And it's just like beautiful weather this time of year in Florida. So I really needed to escape to that for a little bit. So
00:30:32
Speaker
Did that on Saturday. It was so nice out. When I got there, it was in the 60s and then then it got to like the high 70s and it was sunny all day. It was just so pretty. um Substantially more busy at Epcot this year than when I was there last year during the same week. I think it probably just...
00:30:49
Speaker
depends on when people's spring breaks were kind of lining up. And it was obviously a Saturday as well. Um, I did look at like wait times at the other Disney parks while I was in Epcot, just to see like, is this a Disney problem or an Epcot problem? And it seemed to actually just be an Epcot problem. Like the weights everywhere else seemed pretty normal, if not even shorter. So I guess just everyone was at Epcot that day. um When we got there, we had already missed rope drop, which is the tricky part about flying in on a Saturday morning. um And as adept as I am at Disney, um it really goes to show when you miss rope drop that...
00:31:30
Speaker
Your day is substantially worse regardless. Like you have to plan if you're going to Disney now. I have an annual pass now. So like I was never stressed. I did not intend to like have a day where I was going to get everything done. Like I just wanted to like enjoy the scenery, eat the food kind of walk around and do what I wanted to do. So like it didn't matter to me. But if it was my one day at Epcot and I arrived when I did, which was like an hour and a half after rope drop.
00:32:00
Speaker
it was a hot mess to do anything there attraction wise. So I did purchase lightning lane as I always do. I'm pretty sure I've talked about that on this podcast before. Our first lightning lane was for Spaceship Earth. I was like, this is gonna be great. We're gonna walk right into the park and then we'll just like do that so that we can pick more lightning lanes and we get there and all of the attendants are standing out front of Spaceship Earth saying it's not going to open today. so I was like, oh damn. But I know what Disney does. They give you and a multi-experience lightning lane pass where you can like go on the app and then select another another attraction to experience in its place.
00:32:38
Speaker
But it's like, it this will not work on Frozen, Remy's, Guardians, Test Track of like, oh, okay, cool. So any other ride that I want to ride, that's fine. Yeah.
00:32:51
Speaker
Ugh, I hate figment. I know that's probably unpopular too, but I do not ride that unless I'm with my children. Whoa. ah yeah I can't stand it. What a waste of time. Anyway. That is a very unpopular opinion.
00:33:06
Speaker
it? Yeah. yeah I don't know. um So anyways, i was like, okay, I'm not going to take a lightning lane on any of those. So like, let me just start eating food. so so um they did have a lot of the same, they had all of the same food stands at Flower and Garden this year as they did last year with the addition of one or two new ones. um I definitely didn't eat as much this year. Last year when I went, I shared food with two other people and
00:33:37
Speaker
This day, it was just me and Tom and me for a large part of it because Tom needed to lay down. Getting old. Yep, old. Getting old. getting old. So um just the highlights. I did try some stuff that was mostly stuff that was new that I didn't have last time. um but a couple of my favorites from last year I revisited. So last year, we did most of our eating in like the front half of the park and not as much in the countries. And this year I made it a point to like try stuff for more of the stands in the countries. So I went to Mexico first because Mexico is the logical way to go around the world and had, um
00:34:21
Speaker
what was basically glorified nachos. and They called it something fancy, but it was very good. um Just, it looked like there was a ton of topping and not a lot of nacho, but it was the opposite actually. There was like layers on layers of like tortilla and just not enough to eat with it. So you like get past the top and it's like, oh, there's nothing else to eat with these just like pieces of tortilla.
00:34:44
Speaker
were like, they were fried. so like chips kind of, but, um, I had their tres leches and it was the best I've ever had in my entire life. I was blown away by it. It was so freaking good. This is going to be the theme. Most of the stuff out at, um, flower and garden food wise was very good. Nothing was bad. It's like top notch food, but the desserts were next level, like just so good. Um, what else did I have? I had crab wontons from China.
00:35:14
Speaker
I tried a strudel from Germany, pasta salad from Italy, which was really good. It had some like different toppings on it than I'd expect. It had like shaved almonds on top.
00:35:27
Speaker
Um, and then it had like pumpkin seeds and apple slices. Like it was a cold pasta, like very cold, refreshing pasta salad, but it was so good and like just unusual ingredients. Um,
00:35:40
Speaker
And then like a bananas foster cake type situation from America. And i don't know if I got to any of the other countries because I was so full at that point. But in um the front part part of the park, I had like a little seafood bake, which I had last year, which was good.
00:36:01
Speaker
and a chicken and waffle. And my favorite thing at Flower Garden, I was so excited to see it was back. I know I talked about it last year. If you listened to us around this time, they had like a frozen peach cobbler. It was like the consistency of a little thinner than ice cream, but thicker than like a Chick-fil-A frosted lemonade. So it was like in that realm, you had to pretty much eat it with a spoon and it had like the cobbler, like crusting on top of it, like like cookie crumbles. I was like,
00:36:27
Speaker
I have to get it. I couldn't wait for it. That was like all I was thinking about when I knew I was going and it lived up. It was just as good as last year. Um, so overall really highly recommend, um, the food at flower and garden. I didn't drink, um,
00:36:43
Speaker
How does that work? They don't do samplers, right? You like an individually purchase these. hey So yeah price point wise, it's a little bit cheaper than the food at HHN, like per item in general. And yeah I feel like the portion size is a little bit more. So I feel like it's a pretty good deal. Like I don't feel like I'm overpaying for the stuff that I'm getting.
00:37:05
Speaker
um and definitely like shareable like if you just go with another person so but yeah they do also do this thing where they pick like a couple items from maybe like eight to ten items from around and if you get those items they check them off for you and then you get like some free items if you eat all of those but they're like okay not necessarily top of the list things that yeah you try they're just trying to show it's the way to get the lower sellers to shift Yes, yes. We'll give you a free item.
00:37:36
Speaker
like last year we did that because there were three of us and we pretty much just like got as much as we could and like split it up. But um this year i did a lot of the eating by myself. So I was like not about to go play that game. Yeah.
00:37:50
Speaker
but all the food is, is excellent. Um, as far as attractions, I rode living with the land because that's the best. You just cannot go to Epcot without it. Um, they also had a lot of, a lot more floral decor in there. They do that this time a year during flower and garden.
00:38:05
Speaker
Um, and they also have like, I'm sure you got, some of you have been, but they do like, character themed topiaries around the park that are just like so impressive. I took a couple of pictures of some of the characters, but I always loved walking around and looking at those. I rode Guardians of the Galaxy three times, one off of a lightning lane and twice off of standby. And let me tell you, standby was a rough. the When I went last year, they had standby listed at like 70 to 80 and we were through it in like 30 to 40 minutes. Like it was way over over listed. This time, the first time I went and standby, i was by myself and it was listed at 90 and I made it through in 50. So i was I was okay with that. And then
00:38:50
Speaker
The second time it was listed at 90 when we got there, but the time just kept going up and up and up and up and up while we were there and we weren't moving. So I was like, what's going on in there? I wasn't even inside to like hear anything or like, so but it was the end of the night and there was nothing else to do. So we just stayed. It ended up being almost two hours. no. Oh, trains off or something? What happened? I don't know what happened. We were outside during it. Cause once we got inside, we started moving like normal, but And that cue is brutal.
00:39:22
Speaker
That cue is brutal. It's like you're in that one room for so long. Forever. And then they have the holding room before the first pre-show and then there's the second pre-show. And it's like once you've seen the pre-shows, you don't need to see the pre-shows anymore. I have the damn thing memorized. And it eats so much time too. It does eat up so much time. And I am trying so hard. This is part of my own lore. I have five of the six songs of Guardians and I got the first five on my first five rides. So was like, I am getting right through these and I've maybe ridden it three times as much since then and still don't have conga. And it is driving me insane. So I'm like, I need to get it. really like it. She got a season pass just to go back and hear conga. Literally. I've written it four times. And the first time I got September, which I'm happy about because that's... September is the GOAT.
00:40:15
Speaker
It's what I wanted in the first place. But then the other three times have all been conga. What the heck? So many people were like on my Instagram because they know this is a thing for me now, like hoping you get conga and then being like, oh, I always get conga. It's like, OK, cool. I need to go ride it with you. I wonder if you'll get it. Like, I feel like I'm stuck with conga every time. I have a T-shirt for my family Disney trip this summer that says, I hope they play conga on it. And I'm going to wear it.
00:40:43
Speaker
I still haven't gotten it. I got i ran two times in a row this past weekend, which I always seem to be getting lately. And then I got one way or another, which I was fine with. it I haven't had that one in a while. But geez, I feel like these people like, no, they're like they're like eyeing me up knowing that I'm like standing there like, please play conga.
00:41:03
Speaker
I'll get it eventually, but rode that three times. I had a fast um or a lightning lane. I keep wanting to say fast pass like it's like 2002, but um I had one for Soarin' and I got in the line and it was longer than the regular queue, like out the door of the hallway. So i was like, hey, no way am I going to do that because it is not worth that. I love the song and I love Soarin', but I'm not about to stand in like an hour line for Soarin'.
00:41:29
Speaker
What else? Had a lightning lane for test track, rode that. um It is the new version. rode the new version a couple months ago when I was there, version 3.0 or whatever. I prefer it to the middle version, but nothing beats the original in my opinion.
00:41:43
Speaker
So that was my day at Flower and Garden. i stayed at Coronado, um the resort, which is a mid-tier resort. um I had not stayed there ever before. i was glad that I was trying something different and it was so beautiful. I like cannot wait to go back and...
00:42:03
Speaker
be there more. i did a little exploring around the resort. it was just such nice weather. i also hopped into Hollywood studios on Sunday morning to ride tower of terror twice in five minutes before anyone else got there. It was so sick. I was like, this is what it's like to be a pass holder. my gosh. was awesome. yeah dog they So good. It is the best ride on Disney property and people can come at me for that, but it just, it cannot get better than that. It just can't. It's so nostalgic.
00:42:31
Speaker
ah Yeah. That thing is old. How old is that thing? Almost 30 years old. probably Probably. Yeah. Actually, it might be so good. Still every time. i need to go ride that. It's so fun. love it. French one.
00:42:46
Speaker
they tell all dita ah i have idea what they actually call it. There's a little French girl ghost. she Oh my God, I can't wait. can't wait. it won't It won't beat Florida, but like I'm sure it'll be good.
00:43:01
Speaker
So Kelly, what makes Flower and Garden better than Food and Wine? Because I feel like I only ever hear about Food and Wine. Yeah, I think people talk about it because the drinks are better at food and wine. I'm not like a huge middle of the day, like park drinker. I just like in the heat. I just it doesn't appeal to me as much. Like I'll try things. But I think the food is superior at Flower and Garden to food and wine. Like I've been to both a couple of times each. And I just I feel like food and wine is very much like more just like typical elevated bar food where like there's actually some create a little bit more creativity to the food at flower and garden don't know yeah feel like the viralness of it is what gets everybody to go to food and wine just the name of it alone is what gets people going there like so that's why i feel like don't really prioritize like the food options it's just mostly to get people drunk yeah um
00:43:55
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, I've had better experiences, you know, during the Flower and Garden Festival. And it's beautiful. Like you get so much extra out of it. You get to see all of the like beautiful blooming stuff they have planted and the topiaries. And like, I just feel like it's a little bit like of a cheerier vibe. I don't know if we're just coming out of the winter blues and it's like, Oh, sunshine and flowers. Like it's springtime, like food and wine, like doesn't feel like anything special to me, but also I'm focused on spooky season during that time of the year. So maybe that's it. but
00:44:28
Speaker
Yeah. But also the weather is so much better right now. So yes. Yeah. It's more enjoyable. Yeah. I'll have to check it out sometime. I've never been to either.
Jack and Oddfellow House at Halloween Horror Nights
00:44:40
Speaker
All right, into our thrills section, guys, we have our first Halloween Horror Nights Orlando house announcement. I read this is the third earliest that they've ever announced a house.
00:44:56
Speaker
just why I was very surprised to hear that they were announcing a house right now. yeah you guys think that this is going to lead to more earlier announcements than typical or spaced out announcements? Or we going to hear nothing from them until like June? Yeah, we might wait until June. I think it's too many days. But we didn't cover it.
00:45:19
Speaker
Two weeks ago, we like we it hadn't happened yet, right? Because what happened first is we got a logo drop. yeah Yeah. Yeah. That's all we had. Yep. And it was kind of like, okay, carnival vibes.
00:45:30
Speaker
Carnival-y. Yeah. And then they mailed out those tickets to all the influencers. True. yeah March 21st. And then that's when we knew we were getting something. And there were little lowercase letters that said icon you the ticket.
00:45:44
Speaker
Yeah. I was expecting they were going to announce like just the icon. I wasn't expecting a house. But I mean, it makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So our house is Jack and Oddfellow, Chaos and Control.
00:45:59
Speaker
Kelly, what do you know about it? um First off, I'm really excited to see you smiling about this, Tyler, because every time I talked about HHN up until this point, you looked miserable. So I'm glad that a tide has turned.
00:46:12
Speaker
I don't like the spec season when we have nothing. I love the announcement season. Okay. Well, we're in it now, baby. We're in it. I love it. Okay.
00:46:24
Speaker
So Jack and Oddfellow, they've both been icons before. Jack the Clown's been around much longer. We've talked about him here when we went to Horror Unleashed. And then Oddfellow was the icon just three years ago. um And they are tied to each other because Dr. Oddfellow had his own circus as part of his lore that Jack worked in. He worked for him. um But there was, this is a long story short, you can find this on the internet anywhere, but they had a dispute and Oddfellow ended up killing Jack the clown and put him in a box, hence Jack in the box. And
00:47:02
Speaker
Um, so what we know about this house, first off, it looks like it's all but confirmed to be in soundstage 22, which is the same soundstage that LRT was in last year, which I like that they have their, like, their...
00:47:19
Speaker
Icon house or their, guess you could call LRT so their Icon house of last year, if there was one. um Because it's like right in the front there, it makes it easy for them to make this the scare zone, the entry scare zone themed to... kind of the theme of the event um and just like the way that queue is set up i think i think that's a good place for a house like this um but the description is a witness jack the clown's unholy origins then enter dr oddfellow's wickedly twisted universe where two of the most powerful forces in horror face off in a death match of chaos versus control
00:47:56
Speaker
So this announcement came at a panel um with some of the creatives, the top creatives for HHN. So Charles Gray was there and Michael Aiello was there and Laura Saul was there.
00:48:12
Speaker
Um, and at first the way it was presented was like, they're going to team up together, but then there's some verbiage that see seems like they're going to fighting against each other. So I think maybe both happen, like they fight and then they end up joining forces at the end. At least that's kind of what I saw from the scar characters that came out at the, at the panel where this was announced. Um,
00:48:34
Speaker
There is a little bit of a backstory that's been out and about. I guess some of it was, was the description of what's going on. Some of it is just kind of swirling around on the internet, but basically they're saying that odd fellow used his like cane of souls, which I think he had as a prop when he was there at HHN like three years ago. um And he sustains his own domain. um and that's how he's able to like keep himself alive for so many years and decades. And it's like um a different dimension. And that's where the dimension exists where Jack is once he's in the box. So they're both able to like meet there and fight. And that's apparently how the house is going to start in this like extra world that they call oddverse.
00:49:27
Speaker
Um, and then it says we're going to be in the odd verse and we're experiencing Jack's origin as narrated by odd fellow. So like through his view,
00:49:39
Speaker
um and then Jack like comes back to life, so to say, I guess, and they fight each other and there's a battle between chaos and control They fight for dominance over the same space and same story and same power. And then they come to a realization that they're going to do better if they combine powers and they unite and then try to take revenge on us. The guests instead is the story that we know so far.
00:50:10
Speaker
Yeah, it seems like this is going to be kind of the backstory to what's going on in the entrance scare zone. Like I have to imagine they the branding behind the video because they they announced first the icons like they play this little video and you see Jack's silhouette and you see Oddfellow's silhouette and then they kind of come into light at the end.
00:50:29
Speaker
And um Laura is like, it's the ringmasters of fear. So you kind of got the sense there that they were going to be like together, like in on it at that point. So this house kind of feels like the background story to why they're working together. When the last piece of lore that we heard was that Oddfell is killing him. um So I can definitely imagine that like the opening scare zone would be like a carnival themed thing with the two of them in it. That just seems natural.
00:50:56
Speaker
Which I think is promising. Like, I think that's a better entrance scare zone and a setup for the event than we've had in a while. Yeah. i hope that they're able to tie this theme throughout the rest of the event and it doesn't just like end with like the zone in the house. Like I really loved, and I've talked about this before, how Oddfellow was just like,
00:51:18
Speaker
all over the event the year he was an icon like each of the scare zones had to do with him and his story i hope they do something in that vein i wonder if they'll do like yeah they really stretched to make this happen but the sinister and surreal year they tried to have different scare zones tied to each of them could see them giving like jack two and then oddville two two yeah something sort of like that where They each kind of have their own ones that are related to them somehow.
00:51:43
Speaker
Yeah. I'm also wondering. think it's surprise that. Go ahead. Well, there's been a rumor that Nightmare Fuel might be over. And if it is, I have to wonder if the show might be led by them as well.
00:51:56
Speaker
Yeah, they've had Jack shows before, so I can really see that happening. Yeah, that was my thought. Similar to the one that we saw at um Vegas Unleashed. Which is funny because we've just had two years of Nightmare Fuel Circus and then it would be another circus carnival. that's kind of a bummer to But...
00:52:16
Speaker
I really I'm not in favor of that. Like, I don't need a ah performance there where it's like the icons are talking like I would. I don't need to see like a play like I enjoy the act as it was. It doesn't have to be exactly like it was, but I hope there's dancing and magic and tricks like I just and good music. I don't I don't know. yeah i'm not I am very excited to have the icons. like I like them. I think none of us are surprised by this announcement. We've been talking about this when we've looked at the spec spec map. The house has the codename of Balloon. like we We've kind of expected that this was going to come out. I just hope it's i hope it's ingrained in the event, but not overused where every single thing is like, jack this, jack that. like i
00:53:03
Speaker
I don't want it to take away from the other things at HHN that I look forward to, if that makes sense. Like, don't know. And I also feel like, like this lore goes so deep that if you're not an HHN person, like we are like, they better do a damn good job of explaining what's going on in this house because it's already confusing to me who knows the backstory.
00:53:27
Speaker
Yeah, that's my biggest fear with this. Like, i my biggest issue when it comes to them and icons, at least now in recent years, like, they don't put enough... like attention, like, I feel like they don't showcase like the backstory of some of these icons. Like, I feel like the general public are like they didn't know what was going on with odd fellow, even during his year. And he was all over the place, but like last year you had artista, which at most people thought of it as just a house and a theme.
00:53:54
Speaker
And I feel like it was the same with sinister and um whatever the other one was, um you know, like with those themes, I feel like not many people, unless you're one of us, like people that like look into it year after year, like there, nobody's going to know like what it is.
00:54:10
Speaker
So I don't know. I'm, I'm, I'm glad that at least with this theme, it's kind of giving them the opportunity to go further into Jack's story. Cause I feel like we don't really have that even though it's been 35 years.
00:54:24
Speaker
um But we've never really got like a full story. Now that we have odd fellow in the mix, like we have more, you know, to look forward to hopefully when it comes to his story. Yeah. I don't know. yeah i don't know what they're going to do as far as their stories go.
00:54:37
Speaker
Yeah, this year more than previously, I feel like we need some explanation prior to the event, some videos, something to start to flesh out the story before you actually get there. Because i agree, Kelly, it's going to be hard to if you have no idea who these characters are, how are you going to get the whole story in this one two to three minute house?
00:54:58
Speaker
Yeah. And I know that they're playing to fan service like they do on these anniversary years by bringing back characters that people that have been going to HHN will recognize and love. But you have to wonder like how many of the visitors in a given day are, are people that are really going to be, ah and maybe it is a lot. Like I know a lot of locals go, but I, I can't imagine that. And I'm sure it'll be a good house regardless, just like other houses that if you don't know that but like WWE was a great house, even if you didn't know the backstory, I'm sure it will be great and I'm sure it will be beautiful. um
00:55:33
Speaker
But I just hope that it doesn't kind of become, i feel like sometimes when there's too much story they're trying to put into a house, it gets lost. Like this really needs for people who want it, some type of media to come out beforehand. Like they need to resurrect the podcasts or do some sort of something yeah to make this story, or at least what we know, what we're supposed to know about the story up until this point known, or else it's going to be like, what the heck is going on? Who are these two random people? Yeah. Right.
00:56:06
Speaker
What do you guys think? They can get rid of those Blumhouse trailers the Qs. Come on, give us some backstory. Give us something. Like, let people know what's going on. Yeah, especially they have those screens right there by the stage. Yeah, like, I don't need Meg 3.0 trailers playing the entire night when there's not even a house for it. Like, come on.
00:56:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I'd like to see, um instead of having him host like the Nightmare Fuel show or whatever they're going to do there, I'd just like to see him like have the little sideshow stages within that opening scare zone. I think that would be the best. And then every 30 minutes, whatever, come out and do a little five-minute show.
00:56:48
Speaker
Yeah, I remember, I mean, years ago, didn't they used to do like an opening show thing? Like it wasn't very long, but they would like sacrifice guests, like fake guests and stuff like that. Like part of the opening ceremony. Yeah, they still have ceremony every year.
00:57:05
Speaker
Oh, do they? Yeah. We just never get to see it because we're there for spring early. Yeah. yeah here There used to be like a staged, like it was like on a stage and everything, not like that thing that they have, you know, where they go up you know up top or whatever.
00:57:19
Speaker
Like they used to have like a show. It was a lot, there was a lot more to it. Also like the, the main, you know, The main entry to the park normally had way more like set designs out there as well.
00:57:31
Speaker
and So I don't know. maybe Maybe they'll bring more of that this year, hopefully. but They did. One thing I really liked with Oddfellow's like year with his scare zone in the front is they had him live mic'd. Like they a lot of times will use...
00:57:46
Speaker
you know, like the act, the voice, the activated triggers and they'll just kind of lip sync, whatever the stuff is. But with odd fellow, they, you everywhere they used him in the park, it was like a hot mic. And I like that. I would love if they have that with him and Jack a little bit more in the scare zone where the actors are given a little bit more like Liberty to interact. I think they would for those yeah characters. it It would make sense. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:58:12
Speaker
I think the most interesting part about the house description is how they unite at the end. I feel like that can make for a very epic ending. And I'm wondering what they have in mind for that.
00:58:22
Speaker
Yeah. Jason scare tunnel with both of them. That would be incredible. Yeah. Hopefully something a little more creative, but yeah, no, but that, that would be pretty cool. Yeah. that Somewhere in there. Maybe not the finale, but somewhere in there.
00:58:38
Speaker
I do um like the artwork where it like has all of the bright kind of like neon-y colors and representation of them. Like the neon green. i like that a lot. And the merch isn't something that I personally would probably wear, but I do like it.
00:58:53
Speaker
I think it's fine. Yeah, i I do like it. I'm just really happy that they're going with like an original house as like the first house announcement this year. Like I feel like it's always like a big IP and I'm sure that the next one will be a big IP.
00:59:07
Speaker
Um, but it makes the most sense. Like, especially like considering that it's like the theme of this year. i wish they would space out their announcements a little bit though. Like, don't give them to me all and a week. Like I don't.
00:59:21
Speaker
Yeah. Let's keep it. They'll like wait until like June or July and then they'll start like stacking all the announcements like week after week. Yeah. Well, this one was early. Who knows? Maybe we'll get some more soon. yeah Yeah. Yeah.
00:59:34
Speaker
All right, we got a couple questions
Speculations and Listener Questions on Halloween Horror Nights
00:59:36
Speaker
here. Three questions, actually. ah Chris asks, in addition to having Jack and Oddfellow, should they also bring back the Pumpkin Lord? we come on i can see them doing it.
00:59:48
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like the Pumpkin Lord's lore, say that five times fast, the Pumpkin Lord's lore does not go as deep as Jack and Oddfellow. He's just like a pumpkin that like spreads Halloween, right? There's not really anything deeper than that.
01:00:04
Speaker
I don't really remember. i think we're going to see. I don't know. I think they're going to have a lot of the icons back. It's possible. Interesting to see how they if they're able to tie some of the other characters and icons or even just like characters from the houses to the ja Jack and Oddfellow like plot line.
01:00:24
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I would love if they um if they did end up going the route of like having some scare zones like Jack themed and then others like Oddfellow themed.
01:00:36
Speaker
I think it'd be cool if they like brought some of the newer generation like icons into like the Oddfellow side or whatever. And then Jack's like obviously like the old school themes like the Usher, um Caretaker, like all of those.
01:00:51
Speaker
i feel like that'd be pretty cool, like to kind of have like old gen, new gen. Yeah, that would be cool. All right. Simon asks, how does the lead designer for the Jack and Oddfellow house being the same guy who did Dead Man's Pier, El Artista, and Goblin's Feast, among other houses, impact your expectations for this house and your level of excitement for it?
01:01:12
Speaker
So he's talking about Dylan Colath, which we've we've talked about him before. he's in on this house. I don't want to get like too, like obviously he makes beautiful houses. All of the ones that Simon listed were great, beautiful houses. um I worry a little bit sometimes, especially after how I felt about El Artista, that the focus is on the set design and not on the stairs.
01:01:43
Speaker
Yeah. And that's definitely what Artista was last year. Yeah. I don't know. I got some creative scares in that house, but it seemed very run dependent.
01:01:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I was an L. Artista hater last year. Same. I love it. But yeah, I'm curious to see what this like, I don't know. He always does such grand centerpieces, it seems like the house facades and i don't know like the storyline of this house doesn't to me doesn't say like big spectacular set.
01:02:19
Speaker
Yeah. and maybe that's just because to me like the carnival setting seems so run-ofthe-mill and it's kind of been there done that so i'm curious to see if because he is who he is he can like take it and spin it in a way that we're not thinking of somehow yeah would be interesting It'll be interesting to see what the actual like set is. like if If we are literally going into Jack's box, that that's kind of an interesting perspective where it's carnival-esque, but not a carnival tent. you know like I can only picture what it was like to go into Oddfellas Twisted Origins, which was in one of the the smaller tents. like that's what you pick That's what I picture like a carnival-esque theme to be, which is like the opposite of Dylan Colath's. He's like a
01:03:05
Speaker
a big grand soundstage kind of designer it seems so it'll be interesting can't wait to go into jack's box yeah yeah one thing one thing i thought of this is backtracking sorry but um when you said merch kelly i forgot to tell you guys i went through the tribute store at universal which the tribute the mardi gras tribute store was awesome there was one section it felt like an hhn house it was so well done um but anyways i come out and there's a woman with a microphone and like a
01:03:41
Speaker
camera like it's probably a GoPro but um she's like can I get your thoughts on the tribute store and I was like oh yeah sure okay and I'm thinking I'm like gonna be in a commercial or like some sort of promotional material she's like putting me in the shade like okay come over here and it's like a full microphone and everything and then she's like yeah this is just for internal market research purposes I'm like dang yeah Tyler's like, I'm about to get my big break right now. I know, right? Yeah. um But yeah, she just asked me what I thought of the merch in the Tribute Store and like what I'd like to see in the future.
01:04:20
Speaker
um so it's pretty interesting. I've never seen those surveys before. um But I just said... like I told her i was able to switch it to HHN instead of Mardi Gras because didn't really care about the Mardi Gras stuff. But I was like, for HHN, I want to see some original shirts.
01:04:38
Speaker
I don't want to see all Five Nights and all Ghostbusters and like all the IPs. I want to see some original shirts. And you could tell she just wanted to talk about Mardi Gras, but I got my piece in, so we'll see if anything comes up. Did you drop the pod in there too?
01:04:56
Speaker
No, no, I should have. Everyone,
01:05:01
Speaker
Don't tell the universe about this. Yeah. I thought about it, but I was like, maybe not a good idea. But I did tell them that you guys see the shirts I wear. Like I like the little tiny logo in the front and then whatever big logo on the back. I hate the shirts with the big logo on the front. It's just, there's too much going on.
01:05:24
Speaker
And I told her that, so we'll see. Maybe my sole opinion will change the Universal merch. We'll see. Universal's gonna be like, you got it, a house tee. Cause that's literally every house tee. Exactly.
01:05:39
Speaker
right. We do have one more question from Ethan. If each of you were to design your own classic haunted house ride, think Knoebels or Alton Towers, what would be the story behind it and which special effects would you include on it?
01:05:56
Speaker
Huh. That's a good question. The Alton Towers. going to go with, yeah, you can't beat those, but I'm going to go with, and I think this is lacking. And this just goes with my recent infatuation with aliens. We are lacking like an alien esque sci-fi haunted ride.
01:06:16
Speaker
not a bad idea. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. that's I would love something like that. Like I love like the old school, like alien movies. I love, I feel like that would be so cool.
01:06:27
Speaker
Something like that. Yeah. Definitely. I feel like we, yeah, we don't get enough sci-fi. Like everything is always a carnival, like, or just like clown related. I don't know. Like they can get a little creative with the sci-fi.
01:06:38
Speaker
Imagine you're like in the the UFO or whatever, and then there's a drop track and it takes you down into like wherever you got abducted from. That'd be sick. Yeah. Or there's a a rise track and you get. yeah into yeah yeah That would be amazing. yeah i second in aliens I'd also love Scooby-Doo. um I know they have one in Australia. i think that's a coaster though, but I just love Scooby-Doo so much. Like a Scooby-Doo spooky Island dark ride would be awesome.
01:07:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. There's so much they could do with that property. And I feel um it sucks. They haven't done it. Yeah. And I feel like if they haven't yet, it's probably unlikely because you really don't hear much Scooby-Doo anymore. Like do the kids know Scooby-Doo?
01:07:29
Speaker
Probably not. I don't know. That's good question. I think you could make a fun like dark ride out of hatchet and chains theme. You know, kind of twist the chains a western theme and then make it a haunted house. I don't think I've ever seen that done before.
01:07:46
Speaker
That'd be fun. That's true. I still am not over...
01:07:52
Speaker
Yes. I'm still not over how little hype I had going into that house and how I felt leaving it the first time. was like, what the heck? Yeah, yeah.
01:08:03
Speaker
It's funny how that works out. I wonder what house is going to be that one this year. Yeah, there's been i feel like that's been the most surprising to me of any yeah like the biggest jump for me.
01:08:14
Speaker
Any. Yeah. Yeah. I think we all had that pretty low going in. Yeah. When I was talking to the merch girl, all I was thinking of is I want hatch it in chains shirt.
01:08:25
Speaker
That would have been so sick. I wish. can probably make one. Yeah. who Maybe that's our TCS shirt for HHN this year. yeah That would actually be awesome I like it oh Dylan did that one too Of course And Cat Lady He has all the best stuff oh my godness he does He does We're trying to keep our expectations Here at bay Simon True true yeah Always under hype yes Don't pull a The Voyage Free hype
01:09:03
Speaker
That's just you. All right, guys. Anything else?
01:09:12
Speaker
Cool. Well, it's Dollywood. Yeah. Dollywood coming up soon. it is a officially announcement season. No longer spec season. Thank goodness.
01:09:23
Speaker
Well, we're still speculating about the nine other houses. Yeah. Yeah. A little bit. A little bit. but we have one confirmation. so we're not guessing on all 10 now. So that's good. That's exciting.
01:09:38
Speaker
But make sure you follow us, Instagram and on Twitter. You probably know what they are by now. I don't know why you haven't followed. But um yeah, a new episode in two weeks. We're trying to do about every two weeks now. So look forward to that.
01:09:54
Speaker
And make sure you follow us on Spotify also. Become our follower on Spotify or Apple Music, whatever you listen on. That'll help us out too. And thank you for listening. Stay spooky.
01:10:06
Speaker
Bye. That's tea, actually. you