Jan. 25, 2024

State of the Theme Parks 2024

State of the Theme Parks 2024
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State of the Theme Parks 2024

State of the Theme Parks 2024
It's that time of year when we look at the current state of the Disney and Universal theme parks in America, and talk about the most exciting changes, additions, and re-imaginings that have been announced for the coming ...

State of the Theme Parks 2024

It's that time of year when we look at the current state of the Disney and Universal theme parks in America, and talk about the most exciting changes, additions, and re-imaginings that have been announced for the coming year. Join us for the 2024 State of the Theme Parks Address!

Topics covered incude:

  • As of just a few days ago, theme park reservations are no longer needed for most guests at Walt Disney World, and park hopping is open all day long.

  • To accommodate park hopping, inter-park busses will now start running at 10 am. Interestingly, there is currently no bus from MK to EPCOT- all guests hopping between those two parks are being sent via Monorail.

  • Also recently returned, is the Disney Dining Plan and Quick Service Dining Plan at Walt Disney World Resort. The plan features some significant changes to price and inclusions from the last time it was offered.

  • Coming later this summer, the fan favorite Free Dining Plan promotion. Comes with strings attached - requires Disney+ subscription, a longer stay, and the aforementioned changes to the DDP

  • The Country Bears Jamboree is closing very soon for re-imagining, and the latest release from Disney confirms my fears that they're not just adding a segment with Disney songs on to the beloved show, but totally changing the show to be all Disney songs, with one song that "fans will recognize" - I'm guessing Big Al will still interrupt with Blood on the Saddle.

  • Rock and Roller Coaster is down for a lengthy refurb - AGAIN. Disney says there is not current change coming to the theme, although the internet feels the time is right considering recent allegations against Steven Tyler.

  • Scaffolding is starting to come down from Tiana's Bayou Adventure as exterior work and landscaping is nearing completion. The exterior of the mountain is now covered almost entirely with plants to fit the bayou theme.

  • Paradise Pier Hotel at Disneyland completes its transformation with a grand reopening as Pixar Pier Hotel on January 30.

  • To celebrate all things Pixar and the new hotel, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure will be hosting the return of Pixar Fest from April 26-August 4, featuring an all new pixar themed daytime parade at DCA, and the return of Together Forever, a Pixar Nighttime Spectacular at Disneyland.

  • May 24, Fantasmic! returns to Disneyland with new special effects, a reimagined finale battle between Mickey and Mileficent, and the return of the iconic Peter Pan scene aboard the Sailing Ship Columbia

  • Run Disney finally returned to Disneyland - the half marathon weekend just wrapped up, and Sept. 5-8 will feature an all new Halloween half marathon weekend,


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00:18 - Unlocking the Secrets of the Travel Life

02:18 - Big Developments: No More Theme Park Reservations, Park Hopping Returns

04:42 - Park Reservations and Good-to-Go Days

06:34 - Disney Dining Plan: Back but Lackluster Reception

09:04 - Disappointing Response to Free Dining tied to Disney+

11:35 - Dining Plan Woes: Expensive and Less Inclusive

15:42 - Reimagining Country Bear Jamboree and Potential Changes in Frontierland

21:44 - Enhancements to Tiana's Bayou Adventure walkway

24:20 - Refurbishment plans and holiday overlay at Haunted Mansion

26:06 - Unpopularity of Marvel-themed land at Disneyland Paris

27:16 - Busy Times at the Park

29:10 - Pixar Pier Hotel Opening and Disneyland Updates

31:16 - Pixar Fest and Fantasmic Return to Disneyland

33:11 - Disneyland's Run Disney Races and Halloween Half Marathon

36:12 - Universal's DreamWorks Animation Land and Fast and Furious Roller Coaster

38:09 - Uncertainty Surrounding the Future of The Simpsons at Universal

40:25 - Exciting Developments in Disney Theme Parks

41:15 - Exploring Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn and Cafe

43:30 - Introducing Outer Vibe and their song "Hoka Hei"

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Music.

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As we prepare to help you unlock the secrets of the travel life.

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From theme park thrills to Purple Mountain's majesty, we want to see it all

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and do it all, and we want to help you do the same.

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We all have those bucket list trips, once-in-a-lifetime destinations that we'll get to someday.

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We're here to help you make your travel dreams a reality. Buy the ticket,

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take the trip. Where do you want to go?

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Music.

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Come on, come on, come on, now tell me what's on your bucket list. Okay, hey, okay, hey.

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It's a beautiful day.

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Okay, hey, okay, hey. It's a beautiful day.

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Music.

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Welcome back to another meeting of the Gold Key Adventurer Society.

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My name is Dan Leonard. Hi, Dan.

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And joining me this week in the studio is Heather Strait. Ahoy, hoy.

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And Mr. Jeff Williams. Hey, now. Hey, now. Our show, as always,

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is brought to you by Key to the World Travel.

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Key to the World Travel is a full-service travel agency specializing in theme

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parks, cruising, and destinations around the world.

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Head to www.keytotheworldtravel.com for more details and a no-obligation quote

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on the vacation of a lifetime.

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Time, time, time, time. Lady and gentlemen, the state of the theme parks is improving.

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I think, maybe.

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Well, it would be hard to go downhill.

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Ooh, burn. For certain, there's a lot of activity going on out there.

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They've got a lot of refurbishments coming up, some construction going on,

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and the return of, I guess, some beloved perks for guests.

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And some construction finishing up, thank goodness. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

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Yeah. Yeah. So we're going to dig in and explore the developments that we want to keep our eye on.

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Months. Starting off with a couple of big ones that just took place over the

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last couple of days as we're recording. Hot off the presses.

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Yeah. First off, we knew this was coming, but theme park reservations are no

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longer needed for most guests at Walt Disney World. Most guests.

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Yep. Yes. Those pesky annual pass holders for some reason.

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Yeah, of which there's gotta be so many thousands of those people.

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Well, that and any kind of comp ticket, any

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ticket that's non non-dated is still going to require

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park reservations and there's quite a lot

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of them floating out there that people are showing up and getting

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surprised at the gates that they still needed to have although surely with nobody

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else making reservations they're going to be easy to make you would think let's

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just call it that yep yeah because something's it's always easy um and And then

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on top of the reservations,

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park hopping is now open all day long. It's back, baby.

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Hip, hip. No more waiting for 2 p.m.

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That's right. So if you make a park res, though, do you still have to go to

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your one park first and then go?

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Yes. If you are on a ticket that requires a reservation, yes.

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And this stuff is all, we're just talking about Walt Disney World here.

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Disneyland has not rolled any of this back.

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Although their hopping was already earlier. Much earlier. 11 a.m.

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11. Which I'm not even in the park by then.

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Or much later than.

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Small window. I can get to the Emporium and get back out. That's right.

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To accommodate all that extra park hopping, interpark buses are going to start running at 10 a.m.

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They're back. You could hop immediately, but you can't use Disney transportation until 10.

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I also thought it was interesting that from Magic Kingdom to Epcot,

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they're not providing a bus. It's only monorail. Not right now, yeah.

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At least right now. What about Epcot to Magic Kingdom? I would assume it would

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be the same. Monorail. Monorail.

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Monorail. Monorail. Yes. And then if you're in the back of the park,

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just go out to the hotel and take the bus.

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Or stay there all day. Right. Yep.

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So that's exciting. Yeah, I'm really glad to see that happening.

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I know people found it all terribly annoying to have to make the reservations all the time.

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Yeah, in theory, it was a great idea. And they have good-to-go days now,

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right, for pass holders?

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Yes, good-to-go days are starting pretty soon. I don't know exactly what they are.

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Lower attendance, typical attendance times, they won't have to make a park res.

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Right, and they're only releasing those a couple of months at a time,

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so we don't even know that far out. That was my next question.

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How far out are we going to know these dates?

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Not very far out. They did release the first batch. And then isn't there something

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for, oh, isn't there something about you don't have to have a reservation after 2 p.m. on weekdays?

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It's after 2 p.m. during the week, correct.

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Oh, that's nice. I would bet as a local that would be when I would be going.

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A lot of after school stuff. I know parents love that. Pick the kids up and go to the parks. Yeah.

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And honestly, the real, true local APs don't want to be there during the high,

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high traffic times anyway.

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Week between Christmas and New Year's, spring break, that kind of thing.

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They tend to avoid it. I know, I would. I don't blame them.

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So I think that's kind of like the best return of a perk that we've talked about.

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Yes, definitely. definitely held back another thing that people were excited

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for but it kind of comes with some,

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caveats here i love caviar i know you do especially on top of an egg thing that

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looked awfully fancy i'm just gonna well i'm a fancy bish.

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Yes you are uh also recently returned as we record just just over a week now

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uh the disney Dining Plan and the Quick Service Dining Plan are back at Walt Disney World Resort.

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It is back, not to a whole lot of fanfare.

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It's taking some time to catch back on. I think people have forgotten the convenience of it.

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Yeah, and maybe young travelers just didn't really even know.

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Yeah, but on top of that, there's the price change and then the inclusions have

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been reduced. used. So wait, are you telling me that Disney is charging more, but giving you less?

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That is correct. That doesn't sound right.

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It's shocking. I know, but. You know, this is something that we couldn't wait to have back.

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And now it's just, it's not taking off the way we all hoped it would.

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And I think it's because of the price and the cut on what it includes.

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Yeah, I'm honestly shocked that they picked the hill to die on of we're only

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getting one snack instead of two.

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Like, yes, that was that was a low stakes thing because, you know,

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people were wasting those snacks.

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We're not using them. I didn't ever use them.

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And then I'd wind up getting a bunch of garbage from the little store in the

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hotel before I'd leave. Like Goofy's candy stuff.

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It's a terrible exchange rate. Honestly, it's a no brainer way to make it look

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like you're getting a lot for for less money.

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And taking that away just, I don't understand it. I really think Disney's got

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some real bozos that are advising them on some of this stuff.

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Some of this stuff just makes no sense.

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Yeah. So it'll be interesting to see if they tweak that.

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Well, I can tell you it's not selling well and they know it. So. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

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Yeah. And then, and that, that kind of, you can see that from what the next

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thing we were we're going to talk about was the return of free dining,

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which has not generated the demand that it has in the past. It's just not there yet.

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Yeah, it's insane to me. I mean, this is a little bit inside baseball,

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but every time they release any promo at all, it kills their booking engine.

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The website goes down for a day. The call centers go down.

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Yeah, the phone lines are full. My tennis This elbow flares up.

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It's terrible. Nothing this time.

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Crickets. And for free dining, which people have been begging for since 2019,

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it should have been doomsday.

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It really should have been.

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What do you think is the thing? They tied it to Disney+. Yes.

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People are tired of that.

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Quit shoving your Disney+. Disney Plus, quit shoving your D down our throat. Yeah.

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They tied it to Disney Plus. They set a kind of high threshold for the number

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of days that you had to stay for it.

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And then people are realizing that the value isn't there on the Disney dining plan with the changes.

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And so they opted for the room discount instead, which they dropped at the same time.

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And that one's doing pretty well. That's been generating some interest in park visits.

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But the free dining just has to. I would definitely do free dining if I was booking a trip.

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But would it make you book a trip if you hadn't planned on taking that trip?

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No. I don't know. That's hard for me to make believe like that.

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That's the other point that you mentioned is that it's all for summer.

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And that's always a lower season there because it's so god-awful hot.

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And getting hotter every year. Free dining promo didn't used to be tied to summer months, did it?

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It would come out around this time of year. Yeah, it was often in the fall.

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There was for a long time one that was good for early part of the year.

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Stay Play and Dine was always for the beginning of the year.

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That's when I used to go when it was that. That was in February every year.

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Nicer weather, for sure, than peak summer days.

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I hope they're learning from things because they're trying some things.

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They're walking some things back and all this. But when it doesn't have the

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effect, I hope they don't go, well, we'll just get rid of dining.

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I hope they'll realize, no, we need to make it better.

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And they came back with only two dining plans.

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And they're watered down. We had just that tiny little window of that new dining

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plan that had such great flexibility.

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You could choose how to use your credits, quick service or table service.

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It's called flex dining, right? Good value, and it was the COVID killed it,

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like many other things, and then they didn't bring it back. Like my grandma.

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Too soon.

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Oh, well. Thanks, Jess. But yes, that one didn't. I was really hoping when they

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talked about dining coming back that that one would not be left behind, and it seems like it has.

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Twir. The price went way up. They really wanted to point out how they kept the

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pricing of the child plan the same.

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But you threw all the increases into the adult plan.

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And it's about the cost of what deluxe dining used to be. It's really expensive.

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I haven't even priced it. Yeah. And deluxe dining no longer exists.

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So people like that because it made it easy to do things like get a whole bunch

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of character meals. Character meals, yeah.

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Extra. Yeah, so it's extremely expensive and includes less. And until they fix

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that, I don't think it's going to catch on again.

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This has been a theme with us. We've been talking about this for a year now.

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So somebody's got to be the adult in the room and say, hey, guys, this isn't working.

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Maybe we need to bring the value back. Yep.

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Start bringing back the things that made people think of it.

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And they need to start with Magical Express or some sort of easy to deal with ride.

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Charge me 10 bucks, whatever. Add it to a package. Click a button,

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add it to my package, whatever.

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You know, everybody kind of, everyone accepts that a Disney World vacation is not cheap.

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You know, that's just the, it's kind of the whole understanding of everyone.

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It shouldn't cost what going to Paris costs. Yes. But it used to be,

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it used to feel like a good value for what you were paying for it.

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And that's where we've gotten lost.

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We've lost the value proposition. And they seem to be very reluctant to bring that stuff back.

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And that's what's really going to drive the new customers, especially if you're

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talking If you're talking about getting new young families to start loving vacationing

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at Walt Disney World, then you've got to have the value for them.

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The people that are going now and the apologists for Disney raising all the

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prices are the people that got hooked when it was affordable.

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And you've got to find a way to start hooking those new families and show them

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the value that they're going to get an amazing vacation with all of these things

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included, like transportation. Make it feel like a package and all-inclusive.

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And until that comes back, it's a hard sell these days. It really is.

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But dining was a good start, so we'll see how that goes.

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Yeah, and it is. We try to point out that while it is expensive,

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and we can't deny that it is, it is a great way to get all of that stuff planned in advance.

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And then you can pay your vacation off over time. If you book for enough in

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advance, you can make payments on it.

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And then when you get there, you have already paid for all of your meals.

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The convenience and that, that's always been the dining plan's best selling point.

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And it still is. It still is. You're not going to have to take your wallet out

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and pay for every meal. You've already done that.

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So I still think it is a great thing. Oh, hey, does it include a beer like it

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did before it went away? It still does, yes.

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It does, yes. That's going to make dad happy. Maybe after this summer when families

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that are booking this use it and start anecdotally telling their friends,

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maybe it's going to fire back up. Kick back off. Yeah.

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I think offering more choice than just the two plans would help that too.

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The quick service dining plan is still there, which is great.

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But I got to say again, a plug for that. The plan where you could decide whether

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you want a table service or quick service, that one seems like a better value.

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Then you can get your character meals in, and it can be a little less expensive.

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Well, they're not interested in value.

206
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Not yet. Not yet. Hopefully soon.

207
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We're getting there. Baby steps. The company's only been around for 100 years. Right.

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Yeah. I'll make up in the next century. Speaking of things from the last century,

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and this is something that at first I chose to be optimistic about, but I am less so now.

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So Country Bear Jamboree is going down for a very long refurbishment on January 27th.

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It'll be open sometime in the summer. They haven't said when.

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They announced back at D23, or Destination D, I think it was.

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We talked about this a little bit. They are reimagining the Country Bear Jamboree

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show to bring it into the modern era, which means for Disney,

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they're filling it up with Disney songs. Woke. Yeah.

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IP, IP. That's right.

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So they're getting rid of most of the songs from the original show and replacing

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them with Disney songs redone in various styles of country music.

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They did mention in the latest press release about it that there will be one

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Easter egg included, or there will be a familiar tune for fans,

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which makes me think that probably, yeah, Big Al is probably going to interrupt

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with Blood on the Saddle.

223
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I really hope so. Yeah. Yeah.

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The clip, they released a little teaser of the band and the voices recording Bare Necessities.

225
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Sounded great. I think it'll be good.

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I'm not so attached to the old stuff. But as long as they keep the character

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and the flavor of it, I'm okay with it.

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And honestly, a bunch of kids will love singing along with songs they know.

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That's true. If it gets butts in seats, I'd rather do that than they tear it down.

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For sure. Or put in an extension of Tiana's co-op.

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Yeah, get in there and package corn. We're getting there right now because along

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with the announcement about that, they also teased.

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Let's see. Let me open up my link. They said in their announcement about Country

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Bears that, you know, We've been talking a lot about we're going to be doing

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more improvements at Magic Kingdom.

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And stay tuned because soon we're going to have something to tell you about Frontierland.

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Do we think this is going to be a Tiana restaurant instead of Pecos Bill?

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Yeah, I'm thinking Pecos Bill is getting...

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I have seen the rumor in multiple places that they're going to full-on do a

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New Orleans Square area in there that would extend from Pirates down to Tiana

241
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and then back the other way a little bit.

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So sort of take some of Frontierland, but not all? Is that what you think?

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I think it's going to go the length of Pecosville. And I think Frontierland will.

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See, here's the weird thing, though, because New Orleans Square then splits

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Frontierland because of Big Thunder Mountain. Yeah, right.

246
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But I think that their little New Orleans area will be Pecosville and stop at Country Bears.

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And then I think that area, that kind of walkway that you go around the far

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end of Pagos Bills towards Pirates might continue that New Orleans flavor.

249
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I think Pirates, I think once you get around the corner into Adventureland,

250
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it's got to stay Adventureland because of that.

251
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Yeah, I just mean like the path between where you come out of Pirate's Gift

252
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Shop and hang a left heading towards what was Splash Mountain.

253
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That's a dead zone. That all makes sense, yeah.

254
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They did a little bit of New Orleans there and then make it look,

255
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they could add a couple of little stores or kiosks at least and give it some flavor.

256
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Putting the money into refurbing country bears so they can't get rid of Frontierland.

257
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It doesn't make sense to do that. And Big Thunder.

258
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It's all just the way that it's laid out in the Magic Kingdom,

259
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it's harder to split that stuff up into New Orleans Square-style area and Frontierland.

260
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I'm curious to see what they come up with.

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You're right, though, that area back there between Splash Mountain and when

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you're headed to Pirates, there's like that little Pirates, the place where

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you pick up the map to do the Pirates interactive game.

264
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And it's where the French fry cart used to be a hundred years ago.

265
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Yeah. You could sell beignets out of that little spot. Absolutely. Yeah.

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And just put some facades of new Orleans up and some trellis work and hang the

267
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Mardi Gras colors and give it a little flavor between there and Tiana and then

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over to the new Tiana's place, taking over the Pecos bill.

269
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That'd be great. Yeah. Then you go through there, I guess.

270
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Yeah. I don't know to get to big thunder.

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I don't know if they kind of like I'm not

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going to rename and re-theme Big Thunder but if they kind of rename the

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area that it's in I don't know how

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they end it you sort of can like there's a there's those

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two separate bridges that get back into that area one that's right in front

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of Splash and the other one that hugs the waterfront so you can still Tom Sawyer

277
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kind of goes along with the New Orleans-y vibe too but also Frontierland-y vibe both. It kind of...

278
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Well, Tom Sawyer was Mississippi. Yeah.

279
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It sort of fits better in Frontierland to me, but it's also right there in Disneyland.

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It's right across from the New Orleans Square stuff there.

281
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Because it's got riverboats. Mm-hmm.

282
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Which the Mesa does not. Right. Maybe the walkway that's closest to the water

283
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stays Frontierland-ish.

284
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That's what I'm thinking.

285
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The walkway closer to Tiana's Bayou Adventure gets some wrought iron lights and railings. Yeah.

286
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New Orleans, and then you've got that fixed there.

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They'll just have to add a flyover to get to the big Thunder Mesa back there.

288
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You know, it overlaps a little bit in Disneyland, too, because Splash Mountain

289
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is way back behind Winnie the Pooh.

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It's by Winnie the Pooh, and you have to pass the Haunted Mansion to get there.

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And it's pretty far from New Orleans Square, honestly, out at Disneyland.

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So it's a little bit mixed up and meshed there, too.

293
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Yeah, people get all bent out of shape like we're doing now.

294
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But, like, no kid or nobody thinks they're in these places. So let's get over

295
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ourselves as long as the attractions are themed.

296
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And we've stopped and listened to the strolling pirate band right in front of

297
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New Orleans Square singing sea shanties and had no problems with it.

298
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Well, yeah, I mean, they're part of New Orleans for. Yes, that's true.

299
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Technically. But and I mean, we can we'll hop ahead in the timeline for a second

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here on my outline, since we're kind of talking about it.

301
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It's going to make a little bit more sense at Disneyland there.

302
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They're going to be expanding that plaza that's in between Tiana's Palace and

303
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the Haunted Mansion and make it more of a park-like area.

304
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That's a great idea there. Pushing New Orleans out.

305
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They're going to have space for live entertainers there.

306
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And then they're also the queue area of the Haunted Mansion is going to be opened

307
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up more and they're going to decorate it so that it's like you're walking through

308
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the gardens and the grounds of the Haunted Mansion. And the whole Haunted Mansion

309
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is shutting down for a while for this refurb, isn't it?

310
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Yeah, because they're redoing the whole queue area and also somewhere,

311
00:23:31,895 --> 00:23:36,775
it wasn't super clear, but they're building a new building on the grounds of the Haunted Mansion.

312
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It's going to be the Carriage House. Gift shop, I bet.

313
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Aha. The Carriage House is the gift shop. They're also building a little greenhouse

314
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or gardener's kind of shed that's going to be part of the queue area that you walk past.

315
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I'm excited for all of that. Yeah, it's really going to kind of add to that area a lot.

316
00:23:56,455 --> 00:24:02,655
And they sort of teased that this will be done in time for the holiday overlay

317
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at the end of this year. So hopefully we see it all done by...

318
00:24:08,335 --> 00:24:11,935
When do they usually get that up? Right before Halloween, right? Yeah.

319
00:24:13,255 --> 00:24:15,795
They didn't say exactly when it's going to be done, but yeah,

320
00:24:15,835 --> 00:24:18,875
it's going to be later this year, they said. Yeah.

321
00:24:20,098 --> 00:24:23,718
They have a lot of, they have, while we're there, we just mentioned Halloween.

322
00:24:23,918 --> 00:24:26,658
They're, well, no, we'll get there later. Never mind. Ignore me.

323
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Something else is going down for a long refurbishment. Back to Walt Disney World.

324
00:24:31,818 --> 00:24:32,978
And this is a little bit surprising.

325
00:24:33,318 --> 00:24:35,438
Rock and Roller Coaster. Again.

326
00:24:36,078 --> 00:24:38,558
They're having some mechanical issues or something.

327
00:24:39,298 --> 00:24:42,838
It's when the launch system is having problems. Just last year,

328
00:24:42,858 --> 00:24:45,538
it went down for a long time while they worked on it.

329
00:24:45,698 --> 00:24:50,878
And they're doing it again. And every time they do this, it feeds fuel to the

330
00:24:50,878 --> 00:24:55,118
rumors that they're finally taking out Aerosmith. Yeah.

331
00:24:55,518 --> 00:24:59,318
Especially since just, you know, a few months ago, there was more allegations

332
00:24:59,318 --> 00:25:03,038
against Steven Tyler and he's back in the news.

333
00:25:03,058 --> 00:25:05,878
So it feels like a good time to do that.

334
00:25:06,118 --> 00:25:12,698
It feels more and more every year like it's inevitable that they eventually will.

335
00:25:12,698 --> 00:25:15,518
Right so i wish they'd kind of do

336
00:25:15,518 --> 00:25:18,658
it like the uh hollywood rip ride rocket

337
00:25:18,658 --> 00:25:21,918
make it where you can choose your own adventure choose the

338
00:25:21,918 --> 00:25:24,738
songs that you do too because their speakers are right

339
00:25:24,738 --> 00:25:27,678
in your thing anyway it could still be a ride through

340
00:25:27,678 --> 00:25:30,518
la and you pick your song go

341
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into a concert or whatever although i will miss steven tyler

342
00:25:33,598 --> 00:25:37,258
screaming in my ears at the launch yes it counts

343
00:25:37,258 --> 00:25:40,118
you down 100 it was shocking

344
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gone too and you know the rock and

345
00:25:42,898 --> 00:25:46,198
roller coaster has been completely rethemed in paris

346
00:25:46,198 --> 00:25:52,098
they've already pulled the plug on that one so right yeah i'm still which makes

347
00:25:52,098 --> 00:25:56,918
sense because where where it sits at disneyland paris that whole area they turned

348
00:25:56,918 --> 00:26:02,998
into a marvel themed land apparently it is very wildly unpopular and everyone

349
00:26:02,998 --> 00:26:04,958
hates it and they're They're already planning to redo it.

350
00:26:05,758 --> 00:26:09,698
Awesome. Sounds great. Because it's, you know, that coaster sucks.

351
00:26:09,858 --> 00:26:13,438
For anybody that's been there, it just beats the shit out of you. Yeah.

352
00:26:13,678 --> 00:26:16,458
It's a terrible coaster. It's not a great coaster. It's nothing at all like

353
00:26:16,458 --> 00:26:19,258
the Rock and Roller Coaster here, which is smooth and awesome.

354
00:26:20,178 --> 00:26:24,398
A little bit more construction, new things at Magic Kingdom,

355
00:26:24,438 --> 00:26:26,478
although this one's not that exciting, I guess.

356
00:26:26,498 --> 00:26:30,398
But there's a DVC member lounge that they're going to be building at an undisclosed

357
00:26:30,398 --> 00:26:34,978
location somewhere in the Magic Kingdom. It's going to be in Club 33.

358
00:26:36,538 --> 00:26:40,638
There's one in Epcot and there's one at the Contemporary, right?

359
00:26:41,785 --> 00:26:48,445
The Contemporary has the Bay Lake Tower at the top of Bay Lake Tower has a lounge.

360
00:26:48,525 --> 00:26:50,905
Oh, that's right. Yeah, the Villains themed lounge there.

361
00:26:51,165 --> 00:26:57,385
So they're going to have a third DVC member lounge there. It's kind of interesting to me.

362
00:26:57,965 --> 00:27:02,865
If it's like the one at Epcot, it's just like a place to park your butt for a minute and cool off.

363
00:27:03,225 --> 00:27:07,745
Yeah, the one at Epcot is underwhelming to say the least.

364
00:27:08,105 --> 00:27:11,505
I have a feeling that the Magic Kingdom one will will be also but it'll be i

365
00:27:11,505 --> 00:27:12,865
mean maybe it'll be in the treehouse.

366
00:27:16,165 --> 00:27:19,225
We went i went on the i went to

367
00:27:19,225 --> 00:27:23,725
the top of the treehouse uh in december when we were there for key con it there

368
00:27:23,725 --> 00:27:30,425
wasn't a line but it was full oh good it was packed i literally packed up between

369
00:27:30,425 --> 00:27:35,485
christmas and new year's too but everything is packed yeah the park was so busy

370
00:27:35,485 --> 00:27:38,565
that people People just wanted to feel like they were doing something, I think.

371
00:27:38,705 --> 00:27:41,025
So that's what that was. But I was surprised.

372
00:27:42,925 --> 00:27:49,025
Let's see. Scaffolding is starting to come down from Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom.

373
00:27:49,425 --> 00:27:52,945
They're kind of finishing up all the exterior work and the landscaping.

374
00:27:52,965 --> 00:27:55,145
That mountain is covered in green.

375
00:27:55,425 --> 00:27:58,205
Like you can't, it does not look anything like it used to.

376
00:27:58,265 --> 00:28:02,425
I like the way it looks. It looks pretty. I don't know why they didn't put What's-Her-Face's

377
00:28:02,425 --> 00:28:04,425
boat up there, like the original drawings.

378
00:28:04,965 --> 00:28:13,225
Mm-hmm. that's a good question mama whatever her name is mama yeah i i bet you

379
00:28:13,225 --> 00:28:19,625
it's got something to do with budgets no where it didn't fit in the co-op theme all right,

380
00:28:21,116 --> 00:28:25,176
We'll deal with that later this year once the ride opens in Rio.

381
00:28:25,476 --> 00:28:30,196
I'm sure the ride is going to be fun, but what a weird theme.

382
00:28:30,476 --> 00:28:35,536
I don't know. I reserve judgment. Is that gift shop that used to be Splash Mountain

383
00:28:35,536 --> 00:28:40,656
going to be like a health food store where I can go buy some carob chips?

384
00:28:42,076 --> 00:28:47,656
Jeff, I bet you they're working on a partnership. Oh, yeah. I bet you there's a sponsorship there.

385
00:28:48,236 --> 00:28:53,316
Some nice vegan treats. We're going to hop on over to Disneyland now.

386
00:28:53,516 --> 00:28:54,636
We've got some stuff there.

387
00:28:55,516 --> 00:29:00,856
Coming up very soon, January 30th, the transformation of Paradise Pier Hotel

388
00:29:00,856 --> 00:29:07,196
into the Pixar Pier Hotel is going to be complete, and that's the grand opening

389
00:29:07,196 --> 00:29:09,356
date, is January 30th. It's coming up quick.

390
00:29:10,196 --> 00:29:14,976
That looks like that's going to be good. It's a heck of a lot better than Paradise Pier was.

391
00:29:15,516 --> 00:29:19,916
Yeah, there was really no theme to Paradise Pier too much. This looks really nice.

392
00:29:20,036 --> 00:29:23,656
It looks like a Hilton version of the art of animation.

393
00:29:24,396 --> 00:29:28,476
Yes. That's what I would say. Like the way the lobby looks with all the art

394
00:29:28,476 --> 00:29:31,296
and everything. Oh, yeah. It looks like an upscale version of that.

395
00:29:31,516 --> 00:29:35,916
Art is great. Did you see even the art in the exercise room is like these huge

396
00:29:35,916 --> 00:29:39,796
paintings of Mike Wazowski and Sully in front of each other. I love it.

397
00:29:40,056 --> 00:29:42,996
And the pool area looks like it's going to be really nice. Now,

398
00:29:42,996 --> 00:29:45,716
they have a rooftop pool, which is always pretty cool.

399
00:29:45,776 --> 00:29:48,716
And then you can watch fireworks from up there, too, and see World of Color.

400
00:29:48,916 --> 00:29:55,216
Rooftop pool, really cool splash zone for the kids there did you see the cool

401
00:29:55,216 --> 00:29:57,276
fire pits that they have out there they're big cement,

402
00:29:57,516 --> 00:30:00,876
they've got anger and Jack Jack

403
00:30:00,876 --> 00:30:03,636
oh I haven't seen them and then the fire

404
00:30:03,636 --> 00:30:06,536
because in both of their movies at some point

405
00:30:06,536 --> 00:30:13,716
fire comes out of their heads so the fire bowls are oh that's great the restaurant

406
00:30:13,716 --> 00:30:20,436
there looks really cool too and it was it needed to be redone It was so stuck

407
00:30:20,436 --> 00:30:24,896
in the early to mid-80s. It was awful. Never saw it put in there.

408
00:30:25,336 --> 00:30:34,656
Yeah, it was. I mean, drop ceilings. The draw to it was the character breakfast, but it was not nice.

409
00:30:34,936 --> 00:30:41,036
I mean, they really need to redo Goofy's kitchen as well. It's not great.

410
00:30:42,296 --> 00:30:45,016
Yeah. Well, it doesn't need to be.

411
00:30:45,596 --> 00:30:50,616
Well, it doesn't right now. I mean, look at the thing everyone loves at Disney

412
00:30:50,616 --> 00:30:52,076
World is the- Chef Mickey.

413
00:30:52,376 --> 00:30:58,216
Chef Mickey, which is- Yeah, that's fair. Like a Ryan's Hot Bar level place. It's true.

414
00:30:58,376 --> 00:31:00,896
It's true. Old country buffet with characters. Yeah.

415
00:31:02,860 --> 00:31:08,600
Well, Disneyland's going all in on Pixar to celebrate this hotel opening,

416
00:31:08,700 --> 00:31:15,120
basically through August or to the beginning of August. Middle of the beginning of August, yeah.

417
00:31:15,780 --> 00:31:20,600
Yeah. April 26th to August 4th, they are welcoming back Pixar Fest. Pixar Fest.

418
00:31:21,420 --> 00:31:28,080
Yeah. So they've got some new things. There's going to be a statue at the front

419
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:31,020
end of Main Street USA with Pixar characters.

420
00:31:31,020 --> 00:31:34,380
Um there's going to be a brand

421
00:31:34,380 --> 00:31:37,500
new daytime parade at disney california adventure

422
00:31:37,500 --> 00:31:43,040
uh pixar parade they just keep getting new parades well we got nothing they

423
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:48,880
do i know uh and then disneyland park is going to have the return of together

424
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:54,940
forever a pixar nighttime spectacular very cool do we think we'll ever have

425
00:31:54,940 --> 00:31:56,620
a nighttime parade at walt disney world,

426
00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:04,420
not anytime soon i don't know what like what what's going on i don't know dan

427
00:32:04,420 --> 00:32:09,940
i'm asking you i don't know i mean there was i mean at one point there was rumors

428
00:32:09,940 --> 00:32:11,300
that they were going to send over.

429
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:18,820
What was that one at disneyland the when can we do this again one with the light

430
00:32:18,820 --> 00:32:22,280
paint the night paint the night i they were going to send that back there was

431
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:23,280
even rumors that they were We're

432
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:27,960
actually going to send Main Street Electrical Parade back to Orlando.

433
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:33,600
My favorite thing is then, I guess this came from Disney execs or experts or

434
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,880
I don't know who, but they were like, oh, we can't do paint tonight here because

435
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,780
a couple of the floats are too tall.

436
00:32:39,900 --> 00:32:43,000
Well, how about you build two floats? Come on. Right. Yeah, yeah.

437
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:47,740
Make them shorter. Make them less wide. Whatever. There was also the issue about

438
00:32:47,740 --> 00:32:52,760
the bridge in Liberty Square that it had to all go over, or not being able to

439
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:54,220
support some of the bigger floats.

440
00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:58,040
Yeah. Yeah, they're too heavy. So while you're spending $60 billion,

441
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:03,180
or you're talking about spending $60 billion, perhaps widen the road there, whatever.

442
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:07,940
Right. Add a couple of support beams to that bridge. Yeah. We need a parade.

443
00:33:08,540 --> 00:33:10,400
Yes. Yes, we do.

444
00:33:11,220 --> 00:33:14,200
So, yes, that's going on at Disneyland throughout the summer.

445
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:19,620
May 24th, Disneyland's Fantasmic is finally coming back. Oh,

446
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,700
good. Good. With less fire effects.

447
00:33:21,860 --> 00:33:24,160
I'm going to guess probably no fire.

448
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,500
Zero fire effects. It's having new special effects.

449
00:33:27,940 --> 00:33:33,380
They have one of their favorite words. They have reimagined the final battle

450
00:33:33,380 --> 00:33:35,320
between Mickey and Maleficent.

451
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:40,780
And also they're bringing back the Peter Pan scene on the sailing ship Columbia.

452
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,800
So that's one cool thing. That is cool. Yeah.

453
00:33:45,270 --> 00:33:49,070
Apparently they got rid of it at some point, but that's coming back. So that's exciting.

454
00:33:49,550 --> 00:33:53,510
I love that show there. I can take it or leave it at Walt Disney World,

455
00:33:53,630 --> 00:33:55,510
but I love the one at Disneyland Park.

456
00:33:55,930 --> 00:34:00,750
And it's mostly because of the big sailing ship parts. That is so cool.

457
00:34:00,890 --> 00:34:02,090
That sailing ship is awesome.

458
00:34:02,450 --> 00:34:06,370
I love just seeing that during the daytime. You walk past and there's this tall

459
00:34:06,370 --> 00:34:08,490
ship floating by. Really cool.

460
00:34:09,350 --> 00:34:15,030
Really cool. Still at Disneyland. Run Disney. Finally returned to Disneyland. Finally back, yeah.

461
00:34:15,670 --> 00:34:18,510
Yeah, we had a bunch of agents that were out there for that.

462
00:34:18,890 --> 00:34:21,290
This weekend, it seemed to go well.

463
00:34:21,930 --> 00:34:25,230
Yeah, it looks great. It looks like a fun event. That was before COVID,

464
00:34:25,370 --> 00:34:27,090
right? They stopped doing races?

465
00:34:27,170 --> 00:34:30,610
Because when they were having their kerfuffle with the city, right?

466
00:34:30,790 --> 00:34:34,670
Yeah, they stopped because they were going to be doing a lot of construction

467
00:34:34,670 --> 00:34:40,570
there in downtown Disney, building that new hotel that was supposed to be straddling

468
00:34:40,570 --> 00:34:44,250
the road there and taking up the parade or the running route.

469
00:34:44,250 --> 00:34:47,030
Out but alas that is no

470
00:34:47,030 --> 00:34:50,110
more yes that is and then covid

471
00:34:50,110 --> 00:34:53,510
so there was that and then covid and i guess

472
00:34:53,510 --> 00:34:56,790
this now was just the time yeah i mean

473
00:34:56,790 --> 00:35:01,170
people have been people been clamoring for that so and they're such money makers

474
00:35:01,170 --> 00:35:05,650
and did not did i read that there's going to be a new disneyland run disney

475
00:35:05,650 --> 00:35:10,390
race that's halloween themed that's right september 5th through 8th But they're

476
00:35:10,390 --> 00:35:16,490
going to have a Halloween half marathon weekend,

477
00:35:16,630 --> 00:35:19,370
I guess the kickoff of their Halloween party. The beginning of September.

478
00:35:21,890 --> 00:35:26,090
So, yeah, and there wasn't a ton of details about that other than it's going

479
00:35:26,090 --> 00:35:30,870
to feature, it sounds like, pretty heavily Haunted Mansion themed and other stuff.

480
00:35:30,890 --> 00:35:32,930
That's going to be very popular.

481
00:35:33,510 --> 00:35:38,630
That thing's going to be selling out in time flat. But it looks really cool,

482
00:35:38,770 --> 00:35:41,170
or sounds really cool. It'll be fun to see all the runners' costumes.

483
00:35:42,210 --> 00:35:47,390
I love Disneyland. I expect a lot of hitchhiking ghost runners. It'll be cool.

484
00:35:48,754 --> 00:35:53,734
For sure yeah so that's well let's see we covered new orleans square expanding

485
00:35:53,734 --> 00:36:02,834
here's so we spent 40 40 some minutes speaking talking about walt disney world and disneyland,

486
00:36:03,714 --> 00:36:09,954
i have for you a whole one update for all of universal oh no estimations and

487
00:36:09,954 --> 00:36:11,794
experiences for the year 2024.

488
00:36:12,214 --> 00:36:16,634
Now i understand actually i have two i forgot to link one but there's not not

489
00:36:16,634 --> 00:36:22,194
a lot of details on either of these so we've got two things for universal first

490
00:36:22,194 --> 00:36:27,434
of all sometime in 2024 we don't know when dreamworks animation land will be

491
00:36:27,434 --> 00:36:29,574
replacing woody woodpecker's kid zone,

492
00:36:30,454 --> 00:36:35,334
that's gonna be great that that will be a really great upgrade to that park

493
00:36:35,334 --> 00:36:44,034
yes i mean i love woody woodpecker but But we got to bring it into this century.

494
00:36:45,354 --> 00:36:52,574
Yeah. So there's that. And then also, I believe they said sometime in 2024 will

495
00:36:52,574 --> 00:36:59,174
be the opening of the Fast and Furious roller coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood,

496
00:36:59,434 --> 00:37:03,294
which is going into is kind of an interesting spot.

497
00:37:03,294 --> 00:37:09,734
It's where they had those two stage show areas right near where you go down

498
00:37:09,734 --> 00:37:14,354
the escalators to get on the backlot tour. Never been.

499
00:37:14,434 --> 00:37:19,914
Or trams. So this racing roller coaster is going to be on the side of the hill.

500
00:37:20,014 --> 00:37:25,454
It's right there on the hillside. And they're putting track in place as we speak.

501
00:37:26,752 --> 00:37:31,072
Yeah, it's not surprising that Universal doesn't have a ton going on because

502
00:37:31,072 --> 00:37:34,332
of the big project that's opening in 25.

503
00:37:34,652 --> 00:37:38,772
So this year is going to be slim pickings for them. But I am glad they're doing

504
00:37:38,772 --> 00:37:40,752
that DreamWorks animation.

505
00:37:40,892 --> 00:37:45,232
All those properties are so huge, and that play area is badly needed in a very

506
00:37:45,232 --> 00:37:47,952
adult park. So that's going to be killer.

507
00:37:48,252 --> 00:37:52,952
And the two new hotels they're building over there where the new park is,

508
00:37:53,052 --> 00:37:56,132
those things have come up out of the ground, and they look awesome.

509
00:37:56,132 --> 00:37:58,792
Awesome. I cannot wait for those things. Yeah.

510
00:37:59,692 --> 00:38:04,012
Yeah. I did hear, we don't want to get too far into rumors.

511
00:38:04,152 --> 00:38:08,952
Have you seen that it's not looking good for the Simpsons at Universal? No.

512
00:38:09,432 --> 00:38:12,432
What's the kerfuffle? Because Disney owns them now. Yeah.

513
00:38:12,712 --> 00:38:16,652
Well, originally they had said that Universal was planning on not renewing the

514
00:38:16,652 --> 00:38:20,972
contract to use the characters, but that doesn't go end until 2028.

515
00:38:21,312 --> 00:38:25,892
Now there's talk that they might be gone this year because apparently they have

516
00:38:25,892 --> 00:38:30,132
stopped training ride operators on the Simpsons. Oh, my.

517
00:38:30,752 --> 00:38:35,452
They're not hiring anybody new to run it. Yeah, I had fully expected all that

518
00:38:35,452 --> 00:38:39,152
area to stay until they lost their license to it.

519
00:38:40,232 --> 00:38:45,012
So the rumor is that it's also just not popular anymore. Yeah, that's fair.

520
00:38:45,772 --> 00:38:49,052
The rides are not at all. People are walking around.

521
00:38:49,152 --> 00:38:51,972
I mean, people love to get the Duff beer and the big donut.

522
00:38:51,972 --> 00:38:55,492
Yeah the food there is popular but

523
00:38:55,492 --> 00:38:58,432
the ride the attractions are not honestly that

524
00:38:58,432 --> 00:39:01,332
um i mean they've only got the one spinny ride

525
00:39:01,332 --> 00:39:06,392
and then the uh other one and that thing makes me sick yeah a lot of people

526
00:39:06,392 --> 00:39:11,032
have a problem with uh screens on that one it never bothered me but um does

527
00:39:11,032 --> 00:39:17,432
the cold bother you never it doesn't bother me no i'm not gonna break out in

528
00:39:17,432 --> 00:39:21,172
a song either i can't get me williams.

529
00:39:23,412 --> 00:39:27,572
I love The Simpsons and I like that area. I'll be sad to see it change,

530
00:39:27,732 --> 00:39:31,332
but I'd also be thrilled if they turned it into something really cool.

531
00:39:31,812 --> 00:39:33,712
Because I don't love that ride anyway.

532
00:39:34,652 --> 00:39:40,052
Right now, the odds-on winner is Pokemon, so I don't know how you feel about that.

533
00:39:40,452 --> 00:39:43,852
That makes more sense. It does make more sense. It is popular.

534
00:39:43,972 --> 00:39:47,632
It surprises me that it is still so popular.

535
00:39:48,612 --> 00:39:51,672
Right. But it really is. i don't

536
00:39:51,672 --> 00:39:54,952
get it but my my sons are

537
00:39:54,952 --> 00:39:59,072
crazy for the pokemon yeah that's uh

538
00:39:59,072 --> 00:40:02,192
that's a weird one that that is still that's probably more popular

539
00:40:02,192 --> 00:40:06,972
than ever right now yeah well and a big part of it is like grown-ass men my

540
00:40:06,972 --> 00:40:11,952
age are still into pokemon cards yeah i think part of him when when trading

541
00:40:11,952 --> 00:40:18,052
cards in general got super popular during the pandemic and uh dudes started

542
00:40:18,052 --> 00:40:21,792
dragging out their a Pokemon card collection scan or something like that. Yeah, I guess.

543
00:40:25,330 --> 00:40:28,150
So that's that. And actually, I kind of cut out a lot of the Disney stuff.

544
00:40:28,230 --> 00:40:36,130
We didn't even talk about Disney Cruise Line has, like, their island coming online soon.

545
00:40:36,250 --> 00:40:38,450
New ship. New ship.

546
00:40:39,350 --> 00:40:43,730
New Japanese market ship. That's right. So we just stuck with the theme parks.

547
00:40:43,810 --> 00:40:46,930
But there's a lot of developments coming out this year. It'll be interesting

548
00:40:46,930 --> 00:40:53,410
to see if we do a retrospective in December what panned out,

549
00:40:53,490 --> 00:40:56,030
what worked out better than we thought, What was a bust?

550
00:40:57,210 --> 00:41:01,050
Put it on the notes to do that. All right, put it in there. Hang on, let me...

551
00:41:03,310 --> 00:41:09,010
Okay, got it. Take a note. Commenting so the algorithm will bring me back.

552
00:41:14,630 --> 00:41:16,970
I'm going to say thanks for hanging out with us again this week.

553
00:41:17,290 --> 00:41:20,490
If you're ready to experience some theme park thrills this year,

554
00:41:20,490 --> 00:41:24,250
Here, key to the world travel has the seating area of Pecos Bill's Tall Tale

555
00:41:24,250 --> 00:41:26,650
Inn and Cafe full of expert travel planners.

556
00:41:26,750 --> 00:41:29,210
And they're ready to make your vacation dreams a reality.

557
00:41:29,430 --> 00:41:33,130
Guys, I ate there with my kids in December. That place is freaking huge.

558
00:41:34,330 --> 00:41:38,670
It's got like four or five different rooms. Had you never been in there before?

559
00:41:39,330 --> 00:41:43,890
I hadn't explored all of the rooms. I didn't realize that it connected.

560
00:41:43,890 --> 00:41:47,890
That was always a favorite of ours back when Fixin's Bar was there.

561
00:41:48,310 --> 00:41:52,450
Oh, yeah. I mean, I've eaten there in like the two areas closest,

562
00:41:52,650 --> 00:41:54,950
but I didn't realize it wasn't so far back. Anyway.

563
00:41:57,261 --> 00:42:04,961
How about you head on over to www.keytotheworldtravel.com to get started with a no obligation quote.

564
00:42:06,201 --> 00:42:09,861
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572
00:42:37,301 --> 00:42:40,381
We can't wait to hang out with you again, and we'll see you real soon.

573
00:42:40,981 --> 00:42:45,021
Bye, guys. Thank you for the pleasure of your time. Thank you.

574
00:42:46,641 --> 00:42:51,441
To ask a question or share your travel story, you can reach us by smoke signal,

575
00:42:51,621 --> 00:42:56,221
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576
00:42:56,221 --> 00:43:00,081
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577
00:43:02,721 --> 00:43:05,681
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578
00:43:05,861 --> 00:43:11,641
For all your travel planning needs, visit www.keytotheworldtravel.com for a

579
00:43:11,641 --> 00:43:14,581
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581
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:30,640
Music.

582
00:43:30,181 --> 00:43:35,561
Thanks to Outer Vibe for the use of their song Hoka Hei for the intro and outro of our show.

583
00:43:35,741 --> 00:43:41,541
Find them on Facebook at The Outer Vibe or check out www.outervibe.com for tour

584
00:43:41,541 --> 00:43:43,481
dates, music, merch, and more.

585
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:51,920
Music.

586
00:43:50,501 --> 00:43:54,081
We'll see you next week for another meeting of the Gold Key Adventurers Society.

587
00:43:54,481 --> 00:43:59,321
And until then, remember, life is short and the world is wide. So go have an adventure.