Guardians of the Galaxy and EPCOT’s Future

epcot guardians hosts

Dan: Welcome back to another meeting of the Gold Key Adventurers Society. My name is Dan Leonard

Jeff: Alright, Dan,

Dan: Hi, Jeff and joining me this week in the studio is Heather Straight and Jeff Williams.

Jeff: thank you for having me back.

Dan: It's been so long since I've seen you. I'm so excited. Our show is always is brought to you by Key to the World Travel. Key to the World Travel is a full service travel agency, specializing in theme parks, cruising and destinations around the world. Head to www.keytotheworldtravel.com for more details and a no obligation quote under vacation of a lifetime. 

Things are happening in Epcot and we're here to break down all that new information that Disney recently shared during that gap already during that guardians of the galaxy cosmic rewind press event that y'all were at last week or so two weeks ago, as you listened to it let's start with the news that everybody's been waiting for.

You guys y'all were lucky enough to take a ride or three or six on that brand new 

Heather: So many rides. 

Dan: All about that.

Heather: Oh, you guys, it was it's really different. It's hard to describe. 

is, and I didn't exactly know what to expect. They've had the teasers out and we knew that the car would turn and stuff like that, but just really wasn't prepared for how cool it really 

Jeff: There's a vastness to this show building that is just crazy. Like when you're in rock and roller coaster, you're you're aware of the size of the building and you see the track and there's a little cardboard donut. This thing is like that once you launch in the thing gets going, you're in. It is so dark. You can't see track, you can't see anything, but exactly what they want 

Heather: and it's so massive, it really does feel like you're in the 

Dan: Yeah.

Heather: of. 

Jeff: It feels like you're in space. You never like one time of the five times we, or that I rode, I saw the other train go. By the way, the car itself is lit. It looked like a. Like a space thing 

Heather: a meteor or something. 

Jeff: a thing, but it was just like way down. And this show building is so massive that it doesn't spin people keep asking me how spinny it is or whatever.

It's not a spin. It's more like the, a really fast version of the Omni mover from haunted mansion or spaceship earth.

Heather: can spin 360 degrees, but I don't want to give it away because there's something that happens at the beginning. You're facing one direction and then you're facing the other direction. So it can go all the way around, but it's not like the tea cups. 

It's not like you're on 

Jeff: doesn't just prove or that gross. Triceratop spin. Doesn't it's not like that at 

Heather: It's more of, it feels like you are in a small spacecraft and you're moving and turning to get away from things or 

Jeff: There are screens that are so massive that it's just shocking. What you're seeing. Like 

Heather: Yes. 

Jeff: it's loud. I would also people, the thing of most heard is a space mountain meets rock and roller coaster, but I would also add the green guts right into that, where they 

Heather: Oh yeah, that's 

Jeff: turn you a little bit to face a screen, but 

Dan: that's what I 

Jeff: smoother and faster.

Dan: That's what I was interested to ask because in the lead up to it, the impression I got from it was maybe a little bit more coaster, like version of green gods and say here, you guys say that it was so much more exciting as.

Heather: Much more coaster. 

Jeff: it's, a full coaster, but aware how green gods would stop you or at least almost stop you and show you a scene and then you'd move on this thing you never stop. And these screens are so massive. That, what you're seeing is the expansive space. So I don't know what these screens are.

They're like four IMEX screens in one, but every time you turn, you're looking at a screen with multiple spaceships and characters and stuff on it. What you don't know, what are, where you are, you circle around this thing, that's like a planet. And then you come back around, I think the same thing and they change how it looks.

I don't even know, but it was other time you circle around with this, the moon, like it's just 

Heather: And then earth and. 

Jeff: but it's pointing you to look exactly where it wants you look. And there are five different songs. Now they may add more later, who knows, but in each one moves in time to the music. It was a bit different experience. It doesn't feel the same every time you 

Heather: ride 

Jeff: it's more or less intense. And you look, you're looking at the same thing, but depending on the song, like one time there was a couple of things I saw on the third or fourth ride I had not seen before. So it's showing you different stuff.

Heather: and the. The soundtrack of the characters, talking to you, changes, they say different 

Dan: Oh, nice.

Heather: which is it's cool. 

Jeff: want to give any spoilers away on the story, but of course the gal, the guardians have to get somewhere to save a thing and you have to 

Heather: Due to rockets. Hi-jinks of course, 

you're going to come over. 

Jeff: of thing. So that's the idea is your poop. So you're popping through all these different scenes in space and trying to get somewhere real quick to beat someone to the thing it's.

It's really hard to describe it is really just the most

Heather: they've used the whole, all of that was Ellen's energy and adventure, right? Yeah.

Jeff: Allen's universe of energy, which was 

Dan: And think about how big that was. Think about how big, just the one scene with the

Jeff: And that's mostly the queue, the loading station. And then the original, when you first start, it's like gentle, you're on a coaster and you're looking at a screen where stuff happens before it launches. And it goes, you've seen the launch from that already massive show building.

This is like the longest, I think they said it's the longest indoor rollercoaster. 

Heather: and the story starts in the queue. And then in, we'll call it two rooms. In the love before you get to the loading 

zone. So there's, yes, there's a ton of really cool effects that happen in that area before you even get to the, to load into your shuttle. 

Jeff: there's an effect for a transport that I it's mind boggling.

Heather: Still can't didn't ever actually see the transformation happening. It's very. 

Dan: It's something else. That's this is not even really that important to the right itself but something that they didn't really talk about ahead of time. I didn't realize that the whole idea was you are going into the Zandar pavilion. So this was supposed to be like a pavilion at Epcot, specifically for that's so cool to me, that's 

Heather: And 

they've taken that so far. 

Jeff: attraction. It's only this got the spaceship out front. And then the only signage on the thing is the wonders of Zendar 

Heather: That's how

Dan: That's so 

Heather: it. There's nothing that says guardians of the galaxy. cosmic rewind in on signage. 

Jeff: It does say it on the map.

Heather: Yeah. They have that Zen Darian ship that's right? out front. And then all the signage on that building is just about the gift shop is called the treasures of Zandar and you're going into.

And exhibit to teach you about the planet 

Dan: Yeah.

Jeff: And then some havoc 

Heather: gets wrecked, 

Dan: Imagine that have a comparable breaks out during the piece of a Disney attraction.

Heather: Yeah. When the first several times we rode was during the day when the, they had several stations set up all around for media to do interviews and things. So they had the music in the queue was all. And it felt very odd walking into this just giant quiet 

room. 

Jeff: Now we were fortunate when we were writing it, it was only either media or. Travel industry sales. And there's only about maybe a hundred of us from travel industry sales, but the rest of it was media. So it was V it was weird that there was no line at all. You just walk from the front door all the way till you're on and you could go, oh, can I wait and sit up front?

And then I guess next train you're 

Heather: Oh, and I 

do have to say the front row. is something

Jeff: front row. Right-hand seat is this week.

Heather: There's a photo of us in the front row where you can't see my face because my hair has blown completely into my face. Would've probably should have 

used 

Jeff: you see those are ripe? 

Dan: Yeah. 

Jeff: know where they, I don't, I still don't know where they take that photo, but because the ride is different every time they may be different spots, but I look excited, delighted, scared, laughing. There's all these different ones I have.

Dan: something else that I wanted to bring up, that's what a ride photo should look like. What do most ride photos look like? The most uninteresting, boring crap. Like the ride photos from that, I was like, 

Heather: We had no idea. There even was a photo. 

Jeff: No. It was like hours and hours later that they dropped onto my, I was looking for something else in my Disney experience and be like, oh no, there's.

Heather: They're crazy. 

Dan: Yeah. That's all.

Heather: It's so fun. 

Jeff: w we were writing it and you just laugh hysterically. Cause you just can't even really wrap your mind around what's happening to you the first time or two. And then this girl behind us who was a cast member, she was like, oh my God, like what? It was just the most genuine, wonderful reaction.

Heather: still hard for me to put in words what the experience was. It's unlike any attraction 

I've ever read. 

Jeff: It's not super NPI. People keep asking you about the intensity level. It's a crazy fun 

Heather: Yeah, 

but you're not going 

Jeff: and it's intense. You don't go upside down. It's not like how that new Jurassic park Alaska coaster is like the intensity level. There is ah, 

Heather: to 

Jeff: it's extreme. Geez. The whole time, there are some fun things where you turn like one time you're going there is a hill and sometimes you're going.

Sideways up the hill, sometimes front ways, And there are multiple launches. There's a launch at the beginning and there's another couple of spots where you launch again, but they're not super 

Heather: intense. 

Jeff: coaster I've ever been up to. There's no jostling, no bumping you around. No. If you have back problems, I would, nothing would hurt you on that.

Heather: and the seats are very big and very comfortable. 

Jeff: Yeah, I'm a big dude. I'm 300 pounds and I wrote it. No problem whatsoever. And I think people much larger than me could easily.

Heather: Oh, for sure. It was a very comfortable seat. 

Jeff: It does have one of those tank busters, that little wedge right in the middle. So just watch it when you go sit down because you could split your

Dan: make sure your tux to one side or the other.

Jeff: Yeah. Yeah, it's right in the middle, but the soundtrack is just so killer 

Heather: It really is. I, we were able to

did I get all five 

songs? 

Jeff: four out of five 

Heather: Disco, Inferno. I 

didn't experience. Yeah. 

Jeff: No, you got one. You got one twice. So we both heard four of the five. 

Heather: And they're good. And the music that they play as you're exiting is also excellent. 

Jeff: Oh, you know what? I didn't even notice. What was it? 

Heather: we got Rick rolled one. 

To, to my delight. 

 It's very like the, what they've done with guardians mission breakout at Disneyland, but the soundtrack is excellent.

The energy level is high. They had all of the original cast do the record, the 

videos, 

Jeff: funny to drags? Drags is especially funny on this.

Dan: And that's part, I think that's part of what kind of setback timing on it 

 They were trying

Heather: Because of COVID didn't it? Yeah. It is going to be a virtual queue when It opens on May 27th. So it's and an individual lightning lane. So you can buy your way onto it, which it's absolutely worth it. Do it at least once. 

Jeff: you get in there in the first four 

Heather: Yes. 

Jeff: So how does individual lightening lane work with virtual queue? If we had a ride that was both of those. 

Heather: Riser the resistance. You can either purchase an individual lightening lane, which will give you a return time, or you can get in the virtual queue to get in standby at a return at a 

Jeff: And the virtual queue, like I assume rather the resistance would sell out immediately 

Heather: And I suspect that this will, and we 

also 

Jeff: ILS probably will 

Heather: Yes. And I 

also 

Jeff: there separate and unique? You could have both right. 

Heather: Yes, you're going to have to, also, if you're using the DAS, the disability assistance pass, you still have to get a a virtual queue spot. 

Jeff: I think that's fair. I know maybe people that are disabled don't think so, but if everybody has to get in, get the in virtual line, then you should also virtually get in the other life.

Dan: Yeah, because the DAS, isn't a fast pass. It's just a 

Heather: It's 

just accessibility. 

Jeff: you.

Dan: It's right. It's keeping you from having to stand in the 

Heather: Yes.

Dan: once 

Jeff: we say what the five available songs are?

Dan: You did

Heather: we did not.

yet. So it's September earth, wind and fire 

Jeff: Everybody wants to rule the world. That was the first one we did. And I was like, this is great, but very chill. I was like, oh, it's much more chill than I expected. The next time we rode was Blondie's one way or another, 

Heather: Oh, I 

thought it was co I thought 

Jeff: Oh, you're right. My favorite one was, yeah, Miami San machine's got, I wonder maybe she can probably do that.

That was nuts. 

Heather: That one was crazy. 

Jeff: And one way or another by blonde, he 

Heather: That was a really good. one. And then disco, Inferno. 

Jeff: I didn't 

Heather: one is supposed to be crazy. Crazy. I will 

Jeff: I feel like they could more easily add different songs to that ride. Cause all they're doing is programming turns and things. So unlike the guardians ride in Disneyland, that's tariffed here. There's no video component that changes from song to song so they could easily. Change or put in different things or seasonal even,

Dan: cool would it be if they had a touch screen, like on rip ride rocket and everybody that's in your car could vote on the

Jeff: Yeah.

Dan: And then the winner

Jeff: Yeah. Like how I'm test track during the Q and you build your car, you could build your soundtrack or something. That would be cool. I feel like they could do that. And I bet they will add different songs.

Dan: this just computers. Why not?

Jeff: I know why not

Dan: Come on nerds. Get to work.

Jeff: You could be cruising along the Christmas music cause they're about to have the guardians Christmas special.

Heather: Guardian's Christmas. 

Dan: Excuse me.

Jeff: Bef between now and when guardians three comes out, the guardians holiday special is coming out on Disney plus, and it's the stop gap between two and three. So it will set up, what's going to happen in guardian.

Heather: Fun. I love guardians of the galaxy. I just actually came back from this event and watched the first one again, which I hadn't done in awhile. It still cracks me up. Great, actually. 

Dan: It's some of the only Marvel movies that I'm really interested in

Jeff: It's so funny. You're a hater though. You turd,

Heather: it's true. 

Dan: I'm just Marvel.

Jeff: how could you be Marvel?

Heather: Not me. Give me all the Marvel. I just went and saw Dr. Strange this weekend. So good. 

Jeff: Don't take your kids though day.

Heather: No. 

Dan: wasn't going to.

Jeff: We w because we were fortunate enough to go to the event. We had six hours to ride it as much as we want, and because there was no line, we wrote it three times. Really? Maybe the time you got off at the time we got back on was maybe 12 minutes or 15. Three was too many for me.

Heather: I could've 

Jeff: It was also like 300 degrees outside. So I do find the older I get the motion gets, maybe one was fine and one, two even was fine. And three, might've been fine with a long line, but three with very little way that I was like, Ooh, let's go cool down. So we went in to Starbucks and had a drink and cooled down a little bit and she went back and read it again.

Then we had an event that night. We didn't know till they got us on a bus was also at guardian. So they closed it down for a little while and had this huge party and dinner thing set up. They have Josh tomorrow, come out and talk to everybody. And then everyone's just standing there and I noticed, Hey, the rides of 

Heather: Let's 

Jeff: and I were like the first people to notice the ride. They didn't have people at the gate or anything. They just, I just noticed like the door was open go in there. So we wrote it two more times.

Heather: So good. 

Dan: Fortunately I don't think that any of the peons are going to have to worry about feeling sick after writing it too many times in our own. Like you fancy folks.

Jeff: do know, like for the for the annual pass previous, they're giving people two hours to ride 

Heather: as many 

Jeff: as much as you want. So we have friends that wrote it yesterday and they wrote it two times and could have written more, but they were both like, okay, that's enough. doing a good job apparently of handling the crowds.

Although today I do know that the ride went down 

Heather: we went down 

for a little bit today, but it did come back up and it does, it handles, it moves a lot of people through there's two trains running at any one time and each train hall. What did they tell us? 20 people or 

Jeff: There's 10 years, 10 cars of two people each, and they come every. 

Heather: Is it pretty 

Jeff: 25 seconds, as soon as one leaves another one's coming back in. 

Heather: So

they're sending out 40 people at a time.

They're moving some folks through. 

Jeff: 40 people at a time about every 25 seconds,

Heather: It's pretty good. 

Dan: there it's about, it's pretty close, like big thunder rate, 

Heather: Yes. 

Dan: right?

Jeff: there's more than rock and roller coaster, which has one train. So it's double that at least.

Dan: It's like big thunder rate, maybe a little faster. 

Heather: Yeah. I think the lines will move decently and we'll see how it does for downright. It is a new attraction, so there's always going to be some downtime. 

Jeff: Every coaster, every 

Heather: And it's a coaster, so it's not, they're not worrying about all of that. Wireless elements like Ratatouille and 

Jeff: Yeah, apparently that rise of the resistance seen with there's a scene that happens that has been missing for a long time, featuring TVs, Kylo, 

Heather: Yes, there he's on a screen now instead of live and in person. But maybe by the time you get down there, he'll be fixed. I've seen it both ways. He goes down and they put them on the screen and 

Dan: Oh boy. Wow.

Jeff: Yeah, no wonder they 

Dan: bang for your buck. 

Heather: Yeah. it's There's that ride has so many animatronic elements that it's insane. 

Jeff: 25 different scenes with multiple 

Dan: Yeah, there's so many. It's crazy. I can't believe it.

Jeff: Yeah. You 

Dan: every time I see it, every time I see it, it just blows my mind.

Jeff: the chariot race part is crazy.

Dan: Oh God. And then the pirates attack. And it's

just, you don't know where 

Jeff: hope. When you go, when do you go? Three weeks from now.

Dan: June 19th, probably June 20th

 Something like

Jeff: you can ride rise and this amazing new product.

Dan: I know I'll be able to get on rise. I don't know about

we'll see about the other

stuff and 

Heather: As long as it's 

Dan: They'll probably be filming inside

Jeff: the plan is for that, but it could be.

Dan: right. Stick around because after the commercial break, we're taking a look at the new plans for the transformation of Epcot future world. So while you're at this event, did you have to whole bunch of information about the new plans for 

Heather: The new Epcot. Yeah. 

Jeff: Yeah, we woke up to a big press release on our phones. That was all about the new, 

Heather: new video of the concept for Epcot.

and there's some things missing and some things different. 

Jeff: What there looks like there's going to be, is it ton of shade?

Dan: Yeah. It's going to be a big.

Jeff: I hope so. 

Heather: It is that's what's going in the walled off messy middle area behind spaceship earth right now, where there were supposed to be a multilevel. What was it? Beer garden, floating gardens There was an event center kind of thing. That was three level or two level. Three, I guess two levels above the ground level was going to be like festival center kind of thing. Now it's been reduced because there was some sort of sink hole thing. And.

Dan: Yeah, weird.

Jeff: In Florida, but now it looks like an indoor slash outdoor festival center 

 They can do all sorts of multiple.

Heather: And they said they're halfway through a multi-year re-imagining 

Jeff: out to me from the video. They realize we're halfway through a multi-year thing, which 

Heather: yeah. 

Jeff: doing this for at least two years. So

two more. 

Dan: so the main big idea here is they're bringing back the name. CommuniCore. Epcot fanboys are going to be really excited about except for the communal part, no longer is short for communications it's for community. And the whole idea of this central part of the part is going to be community and gathering and festival.

There's going to be two communal cores. There's the CommuniCore Plaza. It looks like there's some outdoor amphitheater space and there's a great big garden within the center of the garden. They're going to have a new planter slash fountain. That's styled after the original Epcot logo with the five, five rings.

It looks really cool. And I believe it's hard to see in the artwork, but I did see confirmed that the dreamers point statue will still be going into this area. And these gardens, this whole central hub of the area behind, behind spaceship earth is going to be zoned to gardens. So there's going to be a lot of trees.

There's going to be planted areas. They also mentioned that there's going to be tons of lights. And projectors everywhere and speakers so they can transform the areas at night and also they can change up how they're lit and how what's going on in the area so that they can have seasonal things and things to fit the different festivals

Jeff: They assured everybody that the lit up from underneath sidewalks or walkways would be back and even better than before in more.

Dan: Yeah, into concept art, those rings around the central planter that formed the Epcot Logar logo are that fiber optic sidewalk, which looks really cool. 

Heather: They've changed up the naming convention. And it's, they've launched the four different neighborhoods already. So when we were looking at our itinerary for the event we were at, we were like, what is in world discovery? What in the world is that where. 

Jeff: Yeah. 

Heather: And that's all that area that it will encompass guardians of the galaxy space.

Two 20 test track, mission space, all that area there, world celebration. Is that central piece behind what you call it? 

Dan: Yeah,

Jeff: in Paris,

Heather: Yeah. That thing 

world showcase, obviously this stays the same. And then world nature is the other side with living the land pavilion and imagination pavilion. It seems.

Jeff: and the new will want to experience

Dan: which there is new there's new expanded concept, art of the mono walkthrough. And it looks really cool. 

Heather: cool. 

Dan: It looks a whole heck of a lot more involved than we thought when we first heard it described, it's going to be like an interactive garden. It is basically the jumping fountains on a large scale, but it looks gorgeous if it looks half as amazing as that it's going to be great.

Jeff: That whole area between spaceship or as in world showcase was there was like a pin trading thing and a. Starbucks and and then some antiquated general multi-use things. It was sometimes characters and they never knew quite what to do there. And so that whole thing just turning into this park, meandering nature kind of thing is very cool.

I like the look of it.

Dan: I love

Jeff: Dead space anyway, and it was just so concrete.

Dan: Yeah. The other half of CommuniCore is they're going to have a new festival hall that's going to take over for, but they use wonders of life pavilion for a lot of festival stuff now. They do 

Or they were using

Heather: needs to be torn down, gutted something it's,

Jeff: it's literally dank in there. 

Heather: it, really is. 

Jeff: their air conditioners don't work. They're like the old swamp cooler style. It's just not.

Dan: Yeah. So now the other half of that is going to be a huge building from the looks of it. That's going to be used for that kind of space. They're going to do the teaching kitchens for food and wine in there, and other kinds of the indoor festival things.

Jeff: what was going to be the play pavilion?

Dan: I don't think so. 

Heather: The play pavilion just seems to have disappeared. 

Dan: disappeared. Yeah. Which, you know what, I'm fine with. It sounded half-assed and.

Jeff: There wasn't the plain pavilion in the thing. That was the,

Dan: I think playful civilian. Maybe it was supposed to go into wonders of life. Don't quote me on that, but

Jeff: yeah, that's the issue as the festival center.

Dan: Yeah. Yeah. So now they're rebuilding basically. 

Heather: Ah, yes, it 

Dan: most recently? 

Heather: the former wonders of life pavilion and an interactive city. In which guests could interact with their favorite Disney characters. The 

schedule, the scheduled opening date was this year and it has disappeared. 

Dan: Yeah. As of right now, there's nothing going into wonders of life. The indoor festival space that we're talking about, the new CommuniCore is basically going to be rebuilt interventions a long time ago, interventions. It was 

Heather: Yeah. 

Dan: Of course. So they're rebuilding that and it's going to be. It looks like it's going to stretch from spaceship earth all the way up that central spine towards the lagoon.

The other side is where the the nature side is the side where the amphitheater is a park space. So

Jeff: this bark is half as green is these photos, it'll be great, but they are. Just trees everywhere. And these concept art thing. Remember how the new fantasy land, basically, it just looked like a forest with these attractions and if there's no trees back there

Dan: I am hopeful for this though. The. The video Heather sent me the video that

 That morning so that I could get a look at it and they make a big deal. They talk a lot about how it's going to be garden space and space. So I think that they are really focused on that.

Yeah, it will really help cut down on that Epcot heat with all of that concrete everywhere.

Jeff: that concrete just is like walking on a pizza stone.

Dan: And I, I just think it would be really nice place to chill to have some of those

Jeff: The one picture. That's the world celebration during festival of the holidays looks really cool. That's the, it's just like an art piece or projection piece. I can't tell exactly what it is, but it just looks cool.

Dan: Oh yeah. That would that fountain their phones. 

Heather: I almost wonder if the play pavilion is just paused. Cause some of the most recent Epcot map, they put out still had it on there called out as future home of play. But then in this recent sort of press blitz, they don't mention it at all 

Dan: and they really haven't for a long time it could be that's phase two. They need to get to work building CommuniCore hall again. And I got to get that thing is back there out of the way. It's not walled off. It just exists. So they got to finish that stuff in the middle and open that thing 

Jeff: Cause it's still, when you walk in, you see a spaceship or if you have to go either right or left and go way around all that stuff.

And so they've got to concentrate on that first.

Heather: I may have much bigger projects to focus on first.

like getting guardians finished space. Two 20 was a huge project as well. It's what's just on the other side of the play pavilion. 

Dan: Yeah. 

Heather: can just leave that back there. There's some green construction walls in front of it right now. And some 

trash cans.

Just leave it. 

Jeff: They bring in those little, a trellis pieces that look like little rolling walls of green.

Dan: Yeah. So I'm excited for it. I know that I've heard, seen some comments online about how, oh, they've watered it down from what they originally announced. And I am perfectly fine with losing that beer garden power thing in the center. I think if it ends up being. An actual park in the middle of this theme park.

I I love the idea. It looks beautiful to me. I would

Jeff: Yeah, I don't think it's overly watered down either though all the same things are there. They're just different shapes and Heights.

Heather: Yeah. 

Jeff: And then that'll be good to have more permanent looking spaces to have concerts or whatever. And then. The sort of temporary garbage they've put up.

Dan: Yeah. And it really hearkens back to the original idea of it being a actual community or working city. Like it needs having this place where people gather, 

Jeff: Yeah. I'm loving it.

Dan: You do, I'm excited. I'm excited to see it take shape. I'm excited to

Jeff: And why did it take so long to put those points of light? Spaceship 

Heather: Yeah. 

Jeff: They literally they're like a eight inch round circle that they put in every hole with little programmable lights. It's the simplest cheapest thing. So

Dan: was there not there when they first built it? I think there was the most obvious idea of should have been from day

Jeff: Yeah. Even just a regular lights would have been good or whatever, but now with the way they can control them, it's so killer. They can do shapes and

Dan: Oh yeah.

Jeff: Globes and.

Anything they want so easily. It looks so good.

Dan: Yeah. They just let it up all green first day, a couple of weeks ago.

Jeff: It was pretty neat for the guardians, not to keep harking back to that. But for the guardians event that we went to, there was a stage set up in front of the attraction and they had a band playing. And so that spaceship earth was behind the band. And the sun was setting. So you got to see sunset and spaceship earth come alive and do its thing while a band was playing and fireworks going off.

I was like, it just really doesn't get much better than that.

Dan: Coachella, eat your heart out. Or whatever these festivals.

Jeff: Yeah. So 

Dan: Should do a real music festival with far fewer naked people.

Jeff: New men were burnt in the making of that.

Dan: Yeah.

Heather: We got a chance to go into the new connections cafe. That's 

great. 

Jeff: it's

Dan: You mentioned going to Starbucks.

Heather: The Starbucks is huge. Lots of seating. 

Jeff: Yeah. And like how many 

Dan: You mean they didn't kick Starbucks out permanently when they closed off that permanent, that temporary one. 

Heather: They moved 

Jeff: it is.

Dan: again by the 

Heather: beautiful new location. 

Jeff: Yeah, the whole place is huge. It's what was innovations west. I can't even remember east or west, but it was one of those,

Dan: I think. Yeah.

Jeff: It's all of that. And all of the electric umbrella, all in one. 

Heather: There's a beautiful, big open pastry kitchen. You can watch the making treats. 

Jeff: Yeah, but the whole huge restaurant on one side and then exactly on the other half of that is the start like mega Starbucks. It's huge.

Dan: Yes.

Jeff: bigger than that original one that was there. Next to Coca-Cola cool or whatever, that was a pretty big Starbucks already. And everybody's crying about that. It looks too, they've lost the magic and it's not, doesn't look like the nineties and there's no statues of Japan.

I'm like, no, it doesn't, but it looks modern and cool. What's the front of this future world park should look 

Heather: terrible. It was 

Jeff: terrible. 

Heather: and carpeted. It was gross. 

Dan: Yeah, you can continue your

Jeff: It's just nice. It's real open. There's tons of windows. So there's a lot of light 

 There, but it's nice and cool air conditioned. And then there's an area like if moms and dads are having a bite or on the Starbucks side, there's a whole area. That's just like hanging out kids kinda area where kids can sit over there and be goobers and do whatever.

It's nice. It's like a tiered almost amphitheater style dining again. And massive. 

 To explain how big this thing is. The line was still long. Everybody was like, no, one's going to go there. Everyone will hate this. Like now the lines are going to be long. They were low. She waited what'd you wait like 25, 30 minutes, 

Heather: And the Starbucks line may, maybe.

20. Yeah.

It was a long line 

Dan: that's not even that 

Heather: and there were a lot of people in front of me who clearly had never been to a Starbucks before. And so they were taking a really long time ordering. So 

Jeff: like to have one of your coffee 

Heather: yes. 

Dan: Come on this hearing. Walt Disney world place has a very own Starbucks. I was wanting to try

one. 

Jeff: a coffee 

Heather: It would like a large, 

Dan: You put any bourbon in that?

Heather: that's not a, that's not a large. that?

means 20. Sorry. You're stupid. Three language. 

Jeff: That's literally the only one here that doesn't mean large. 

Heather: I like that. Paul wrote. 

Jeff: What was that from? What movie was that? 

Heather: I'm trying to remember. 

Jeff: It's fall red ant, man.

Heather: Maybe I would like a large coffee, please. You want a venti? No, I want a large 

 But all the stuff that's opened already over there is gorgeous. So I have a lot of high hopes for what's still coming. The new Creation shop. It's a weird name. I don't know why it's called that, but it's a beautiful gift shop.

The club. Cool is great. It's not sticky I got to tell you that I tried that Korean barbecue flavored. 

Oh, I wish I'd had 

my camera out because both you and the other person we were with the face they made when they drank that, 

Jeff: yeah, Amy. It was like, what was 

Heather: gross. 

Jeff: it?

Dan: is so good.

Jeff: Oh, 

Heather: you like it Dan it's

Jeff: It was 

Heather: down. Barbecue sauce. 

Jeff: yeah, watery not fermented carbonated barbecue. And the smell alone was terrible. What I loved was the Sprite cucumber spray. It was amazing. I want to put gin in that 

Heather: Me too. I wish they sold them in there in a bottle that I could take home and put some Hendricks in it. 

Dan: wouldn't

Jeff: They've missed a real opportunity to sell those world drinks

Heather: I wonder if that's a Coke thing that they don't want them to or what clearly they have the syrups to make it 

Jeff: Oh, cool.

Heather: Yeah. 

Dan: What it is getting somebody to bottle it local, the local bottling plants, not 

Heather: My new favorite thing is convincing people to try that gross Chinese barbecue tea, 

Dan: I'll drink it 

Heather: not in BA, not the Beverly anymore. 

And I'm 

Jeff: you like Beverly Dan?

Dan: it's fine, but it's not,

Jeff: I would drink Beverly as a beverage, but 

Dan: I might mix Beverly with something, but

Heather: Yeah. I don't mind the 

Jeff: Is like a carbonated mushi pork.

Dan: you're speaking my 

Heather: Japanese tea give. 

Jeff: That's the only two I tried. It was pretty crowded for her in there

Dan: The other ones are all just the same old, super sweet fruit flavored 

Heather: Yeah. The same stuff. Those are the two new ones and one of them is garbage. The other one is still life. 

Dan: I'm used to having garbage tastes. 

Heather: Oh, no, that's sad. 

Dan: I just like things that fine. I'm being brave. All right. I just applied my bravery. I like the new look of the future. It doesn't have to be super high tech and full of gears and robots. The idea of what they've decided tomorrow, it looks like for the aesthetics.

There is really great, I think.

Jeff: Yeah, it's not overly. And now that area is not called future world. So

Dan: Right.

Heather: That's 

Jeff: don't have to, you don't have to pretend it's the future that never was.

Dan: Yeah, but it's still especially if we're going back to all caps app card, it's still which we are. 

And I think it's a, that's my 2 cents get off my lawn.

Heather: I, we may be in for another two years of this transformation, but I think it's going to be worth it. 

Jeff: What do you think the next thing that is done in openness?

Dan: Mulatto. 

 They're making really good progress on that. Now they're digging the trenches. They're doing some rock work. Milana is going to be the next thing.

Jeff: That'd be good. Cause it'll open that side of the pathway

Dan: Yeah.

Jeff: for awhile, you could go far, and go around to like we're living with the land and all that is. But now you have to go around the other way to even get to the right side. You have to go left, go around to get to.

Dan: And they need to give people something to do. As amazing as those gardens are going to be someday, that's going to be it's

Jeff: And I think next Wednesday is when the Mary Poppins right is 

Heather: Yeah. Or they did say I was going to bring that up. He said a lot of things were paused, but none of them were canceled. So

Jeff: that's good 

Dan: says a lot of things. He also called what Disney world, the

Jeff: happiest place on 

Dan: So 

Heather: oh, no, he did. 

Dan: yeah at a college commencement speech, actually,

Jeff: While 

Heather: on, man. 

Jeff: man, Tony stark,

Dan: He compared himself to iron

Jeff: I can compare him to Ironman. Two one is awesome. One sex.

Dan: He's awesome.

Jeff: Here's the flow's V8 of Disney's CES.

Dan: Thanks for hanging out with us again this week. If you're excited to travel time and space to help the guardians save the galaxy again, or explore anywhere else around the world. Key ot the World Travel has a Xendarian Nova class Star Blaster space fighter full of expert travel planners, ready to make your vacation dreams a reality. Head to www.keytotheworldtravel.com to get started with a no obligation quote. Don't forget to catch up with our friend, the theme park professor for all the latest theme park news and tips at wwww.themeparkprofessor.com. Word of mouth is the best way to help us grow our show. If you have a friend or two who you think would appreciate our special brand of glove, treading jackass, hurry, tell them what makes our show so great and send them our way. You can find links to subscribe to the show on your favorite apps and all the latest updates at www.goldkeyadventurers.com. We can't wait to hang out with you again next week.

We'll see a real soon.

Heather: Bye. 

Jeff: Thank you for.