Episode 360: Fort Wilderness Updates & Space Mountain Rumors

00:00:07.90
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, broadcasting on the DVC to all points unknown. If you’re within the sound of my voice, you’re listening to Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.

00:00:30.52
Speaker
Hello and welcome home. This episode of Welcome Home is brought to you by DVC Resale Market. Thank you for joining us on episode 360 of Welcome Home, a Disney Parks and Vacation Club podcast. I’m Tom here with Trevor. How’s it going, Trevor?

00:00:41.21
Speaker
Pretty good. Did you do a 360 when you said that? i Yes, I did. was putting a big circle, yes. We’re taking a full 360. We’re spinning in our chairs right now. yeah that’s what we’re doing. yeah so i So I finally i finally did you know some things I needed to do for our trip in a couple weeks, Trevor, which includes buying tickets. Yeah. Oh, you did. Okay. I finally did it. Yeah, I finally did it. the The kiosk wasn’t looking that appealing to you? no, no, no. I never, I would never, i can’t imagine I would go without having tickets already in hand. Like that would make me anxious. Yeah.

00:01:16.72
Speaker
I will say when my brother and I went to Universal last year, um we we did have to line up and get our tickets at the booth because of just how we purchased them.

00:01:26.97
Speaker
Yeah. And yeah, that that was stressful for sure. i like just walking in, man. I just like, you know, oh I want to just walk in No, you know, no, no, no issues, that kind of thing. so Yeah.

00:01:39.13
Speaker
we are i think I you know said this as a possibility. We are definitely doing – we’re going to do the one of the water parks on the first day where we’re going to take advantage of the free free water parks, which I’m excited about.

00:01:50.68
Speaker
Has there been any further decision on that? or Because I know we were kind of talking back and forth, and i think based on the wave pool, Blizzard Beach was a better idea. but yeah Yeah. So we actually, we watched, we watched some videos on this funny enough. Like we watched some YouTube videos and, and Blizzard beach I think is, is the option for us for sure.

00:02:09.94
Speaker
Okay, good. I think that’s going to be the best. And then, you know, we also too, I think, um, I would love to do the mini golf that’s right there. i don’t know if you’ve ever played the mini golf that’s right outside of Blizzard beach. Great mini golf. Winter Summerland. Those are awesome courses. It’s, yes it’s two different courses, which I really enjoy.

00:02:27.77
Speaker
Yeah, that might be, you know, I’ve done a couple mini golfs on property and that’s that’s, I think, my favorite one. That one has a lot of fun to it. And I think i I’ve told this story before where, you know, if you haven’t done that course, there’s like a lot of, it’s it’s not just, you know, a lame mini golf course. it’s It’s like a Disney mini golf course. It’s got a lot of fun things going on.

00:02:45.43
Speaker
And ah we were playing and there was a snake on the, I i saw the snake ah on the on the green and I i was like, oh look at that snake. It looks like real. And then I started poking it with my putter and i was like, oh it really is Yeah. I told the cast member and they like, let me call ah the snake guy over. And the snake guy came and with his little, those little grabbers, the the snake hook and yeah he can put it in the bag and yeah. Yeah. Moved on to the next snake. ah yeah As they do. Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that’s, that’s a job. And I would love to know how many people they have that do that. But I, I,

00:03:19.22
Speaker
yeah reptile handling is what that is. Well, they they have, I saw the thing the other day about, about they’ve like, there was some crazy statistic about how many gators they’ve removed off property in the past, like five years.

00:03:32.41
Speaker
It was like, it was hundreds of gators. Like it was crazy. Like, wait listen, it’s Florida. I mean, you know you have to expect these things, you know, like there’s going be snakes around. There’s going to be gators around. It’s Florida. That’s what happens. There’s wildlife. There’s no amount of birming that, you know, that Disney can do to keep those things out.

00:03:50.04
Speaker
the The interesting thing about that this, and I didn’t realize this until I started reading. Like, i I get bored and I read into these things as well sometimes, too, is that apparently gators, don’t know if they were on the endangered species list, but I know that they were some level of endangered back in, like, the eighty s Interesting. So, yeah, the interesting thing about that is there there was, a ah you know, a long period where, know,

00:04:17.37
Speaker
you wouldn’t have found gators on Disney property. And it’s really just been with the resurgence of the gator population that now it’s become a problem where they need to do like active handling of it, right? So it’s like, like i know, i know you like because you were saying like, oh, you know, it’s it’s Florida and there’s gators. And it’s like, well, yeah, that’s actually not…

00:04:38.57
Speaker
that’s been more of a recent thing because there was a point where they were actually, in danger. So, yeah, thing I didn’t know that. I do. I find it. Well, I think about this all the time. Like I, every time I’m going across like Bay Lake or like, you know, in like a boat or, or the seven seas lagoon, I’m just, i find it wild that people swam in that body of water at one point. i went but Knowing that context, that that’s actually why I was looking into it was, it was like, well, how is it that like,

00:05:07.42
Speaker
this like, you know, we, we’re very aware of it now. Like, you know, unfortunately there has been incidents. Yeah. Yeah. There, there was the one incident with the, the, you know, the little boy. um but you know, you know, there is, it is more, more often where people just have encounters with gators. And I was like, how, like,

00:05:25.05
Speaker
was this not a thing? And then I looked at it, was like, no, it actually wasn’t a thing. It was like, that’s why they had like swimming in Bay Lake and stuff was that it wasn’t a thing. I just assumed, you know, it was the seventies and eighties, man. No one cared. Everything was, everything was wild and dangerous and yeah.

00:05:43.45
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there’s there’s a thing we say in my house all the time, and it’s from Bluey and anybody that’s watched Bluey. There’s there’s a there’s an episode where we’re banded is reminiscing about his childhood and he’s talking about certain things and he goes, it was the 80s, man. and that’s what my wife and I say all the time. was like, I was the 80s, man. You know, I cared. Yeah, I mean. I mean, that is definitely part of it. I will admit that yeah I have lots of childhood memories of things that if I found out my kid was doing them nowadays, I would be mortified. Yeah. yeah and And I don’t tell him those things because, yeah, yeah I get it. It’s it’s a very funny yeah a very funny transition that we’ve gotten to where it’s like, you know, things like like the Disney World Resort, ah you know, we’re very aware of.

00:06:31.77
Speaker
all the things that are going on there, but it’s like there was a point where there was probably things that happened that, yeah you know, somebody could tell you a story about something that happened on Disney property and you may not even believe that it’s true, but it probably did happen because there was no…

00:06:48.97
Speaker
There was no guardrails and there was no recording of it and all of that. Bus driver lore. Yeah. They need to have a thing where it’s a new event I’m creating. I’m going to put it at Fort Wilderness because it’s a campground thing where they just have bus drivers that come and tell scary stories from the Disney World property around the fire. Bus driver campfire stories. Bus driver campfire stories. I like that. Yeah. And then they also tell you about things that are coming, you know, that are secret announcements that haven’t been announced yet. The bus driver. Yeah.

00:07:26.84
Speaker
All the rumors that they know. Yeah. One of the bus drivers told me, my God, 10 years ago, maybe. He’s like, oh, we’re getting new monorails. I’m like, oh, really? Yeah. New monorails. OK. That was 10 years ago. That again, there was a bunch of stories behind why that didn’t come to fruition and all that. So, yeah. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on that. OK. I’m sure there was lots of talks and there was like rumblings of it. But then, you know, as as contracts fell through and stuff. Yeah. You know, I’ve also had boat drivers and I’m sure you’ve used the boat more than a few times at Poly. Right. Or do you just exclusively use monorail?

00:08:05.62
Speaker
Oh, no, we use the boat from the TTC. That’s our main. You do the big boat, not like the smaller boats. We do the big boat, yeah. Okay, okay, gotcha. Because I’ve taken those little boats many times, right? Because I stay at those resorts a lot where, you know, where you take the boat. And, you know, some of the boat drivers, too, will give you some inside, you know, scoop on stuff, too. They’re bus driver adjacent, so. They are, yeah, yeah. You know, it’s kind of transportation, right? It’s all the thing. Yeah, your transportation steward is full of lots of information.

00:08:38.74
Speaker
So much information. They see so many things. You know, they know everything. They do. I mean, i mean to be fair, yeah, yeah you know, you you don’t know what kind of stuff they’re seeing and hearing along the way because yeah like because, you know, they’re obviously, you know, driving people to and from places. But I assume at certain points, like, you know, you know the Disney higher-ups use – You know, you know, i know they have like their own transportation and whatnot, but, you know, sometimes they may get on a boat and, you know, you know, you could overhear a conversation if you were, you know, just happened to be driving the boat that day.

00:09:11.51
Speaker
i just I just came up with a new a new shirt idea in my head, and Trevor. All right. that It says, trust me, I heard it from a Disney bus driver. Yeah. I want that now. By the way, my wife and my daughter have bought, like, new shirts for, like, every single day of the trip that we have coming up here. Interesting. And i understand nothing. I’ve got i’ve got nothing. they’ve They’ve got all these cool shirts. Nothing for me.

00:09:39.90
Speaker
you You don’t have an arsenal of like shirts that you deem only as Disney shirts? because I do, but they do too. like they But they just refresh the wardrobe was all. Yeah.

00:09:51.48
Speaker
yeah Listen, I’ve got, I now have in my in my running theme of haunted mansion stretch room paintings with different characters. I have four of those now.

00:10:02.52
Speaker
And that’s… Of various flavors? Yes, I have the Figment one. And then, what is my other one? You had a Muppet one, believe. have Muppet one, which is my favorite one. And then I have… Oh my gosh, like I’m forgetting. But I have… The Figment one is really good too.

00:10:16.60
Speaker
only problem with the Figment one is it’s a black shirt. And I don’t really want to wear a black shirt. yeah Out and about. You know, it’s just… That’s the hard thing with the Haunted Mansion merch in general is that a lot of it leans towards black, which is not…

00:10:28.92
Speaker
great. Yeah. I can’t remember where my other one is now. Shoot. Now, yeah, the Muppet one always gets a lot ah lot of ah a lot of love. I’ll wear the Figment one. I’m sure that one. The Figment one has not been socialized at the parks yet. That one is fairly new. So that one’s going to, I’m going to have to save that for the Epcot day. Do you know what you need to find is a, you need to find a DuckTales one.

00:10:49.08
Speaker
Oh, that’d be cool. I like that. Yeah. Like like the yeah the the three guys um have it be like Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and then Yeah. Yeah. Something like that.

00:11:00.06
Speaker
Yeah. i Now I, um why can’t I remember? Maybe i only have three of them. I think only have three of them, but I can’t think of what the third one is. Hmm. Okay. Well, I’ll have to, have to think about it. You got to go through your wardrobe or maybe you just, maybe this is your call to go buy some new shirts yourself.

00:11:17.34
Speaker
Yeah, i I know I’m i’m such a bad influence. You really are. Maybe, maybe. Oh, I think it is it with I think it’s just with the with like the with like Mickey and Minnie and everybody. Like, i think it’s the. Oh, yeah. like like yeah Yeah. The classic character. That’s the one I have. Yeah. I think that’s it. That’s it. OK. Yeah. Yeah.

00:11:37.37
Speaker
um I’ll have to look. to I don’t think I’ve worn that one yet. my My wife has been getting these for me as like a continuing like gag gift thing. Not a gag gift, but she knows I like them. So she’s like, ah yeah, it’s like if my wife my wife does the same thing for me. theres There’s certain things she buys me, but like that are she know or for me, it’s it’s actually Resident Evil shirts that she buys me because because that’s our like our our one of our favorite game franchises. So she’s always finding me like.

00:12:03.58
Speaker
Same as you, like like very specific shirts that like nobody else… like i I have one that looks like a postcard for Raccoon City, which is… Yeah, so it just looks like ah like a postcard shirt or like like a picture of a postcard, but it’s you know Resident Evil. That’s pretty cool. i I am a big… um I think I’ve talked about this before, but I will never buy a shirt that says the name of the thing on it.

00:12:31.45
Speaker
Right. Like it has it has to have some level of nuance to it. You’ve got to get it. If you know, you know, kind of thing. Right. For sure. like That’s how it is. Right. So even if like one of those shirts said Haunted Mansion on it, I would be like, no.

00:12:45.18
Speaker
like I don’t want to say Haunted Mansion on it. Anywhere that it says Disney or yeah like yeah anything like that’s, you know, because I think we’ve talked about that with like some of the holiday merches. It’s like, you know, it’ll be like, you know, you know, Halloween 2026. And it’s like, don’t do that. Like, it’s just people like that, though. i really i get outliers on this one. Yeah, I don’t get that because I don’t i don’t want, like, the time stamp. Like, I want it to just be, like, its own thing. yeah Some people like those, though. I mean, they get a new one every year or it’s, like, a reminder of when they win or something like that, you know? I guess, but I like to not have my stuff be dated. and I guess it actually goes back to I had – I got –

00:13:27.00
Speaker
I had a a hoodie that I got from a conference like years ago and the conference like I don’t care so much about the branding on the hoodie, but it was a really nice hoodie. Like it it was like just to whoever they got to make it it. It was very comfortable. I wore it for like years. Like I like I actually wore it to the point where there was like holes coming through it, which I’d never worn hoodies that long.

00:13:49.69
Speaker
um But I eventually i had to retire it because it said i was wearing it like I think I wore it early as like three years ago, but it it had like 2010 on it. Like it was like, so so it was like very clear, like, oh, this is like a, you know, a 10 plus year old hoodie.

00:14:09.69
Speaker
And Yeah, I guess that’s my thing with this. is like it I guess it tells you that it’s if you keep it long enough, it it’s vintage because it has like the date on it. But yeah, I just i don’t like that. I don’t know. Yeah, I yeah i just, i you know, like I have a Stranger Things shirt that is is is doesn’t say Stranger Things on it anywhere. That’s just me though. like I understand why somebody would want that. It’s just not my style. i like to I want you to work for it. I want you to look at it and just know what it is. you know That’s all I’m saying. If you ever see me and Tom together, you know i think i think even when we we took our trip, to when when we had our meetup, we were both wearing shirts. that were like I think they were they were obvious enough Disney shirts, but oh yeah i think anytime you catch either of us in a picture, it’ll be like,

00:14:57.78
Speaker
Guess what the reference is on the shirt. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I mean i might also, i might wear my food time shirt out too. have not gotten since we’ve, you know, since I made the food time merch, I’ve not gotten to a, to a park. So I’m going to have to maybe wear that too. I, here’s the thing. Like, I don’t really think about these things ahead of time. i am not like the person that like thinks about their outfit every day. i just put on whatever,

00:15:23.61
Speaker
You know, like that’s just not that’s just how I am. Right. Like and I have no problem with people that like to plan these things out. Cool. Great. That’s my wife and my daughter. They like to, you know, have they want a new shirt for every day. They were there. Great.

00:15:36.25
Speaker
You know, I mean, not great because I really don’t want them, you know, buying shirts, you know, that they don’t need. But, you know, whatever. I mean, to to be fair, this stops them from shopping for merch. Oh, no, it doesn’t. No, no, it doesn’t. No, it doesn’t. Well, I guess not like clothing, I guess. No, they still will. Trust me. We’re coming home with a lot of bluey gear. I can guarantee Fair point. Yeah.

00:15:58.74
Speaker
As soon as we get to that bluey spot where they have any sort of bluey thing, i my daughter is going to… And I’m going to have to, here’s the thing. I have a hard time with, I, I struggle with this Trevor, especially with just having one kid.

00:16:11.45
Speaker
Right. I have a really hard time saying no to my daughter for these things because I look at, I, you know, I, i look at it where it’s like, I don’t want to spoil her, but at the same time,

00:16:24.35
Speaker
She’s only this age once. And these are the things I want to do for her. And I want her, you know, i I want her to have these things if she can have these things, you know, and it’d be easier if we i had multiple kids. be like, no, I can’t buy all of you stuff. We need to limit. This is one of them, you know, like this her so it’s like’s a natural barrier to like, I can’t afford this. I don’t have an excuse. I don’t have as much of an excuse, you know, like and and and I get you on that. But.

00:16:49.27
Speaker
You know, i I think I felt the same way at some point, but then I also realized like like you, you know, I only have, you know, ah a single child and we we eventually realized that it was you know, like you said, these are, these are memories. These are things that, you know, you are kind of, I guess, maybe living a little vicariously through them that you can give them the stuff that you weren’t able to get. Cause like, you know, I guess when I was going to Disney as a kid, it was, you know, we, I came from a family, ah you know, there was three kids in our family. So it was like,

00:17:23.64
Speaker
You know, if I saw anything in, you know, at Disney Park, it was like, I want that. And the the the default answer was no way. Forget it. Because, because it like, I didn’t think about it this way at the time. But it was, if I buy this thing or if my parents buy me this thing, then, then you know, my siblings all, like, they they want to keep it equal, right? So, so you know you know, multiply it by three, it makes it harder, right? So, i get i get that. But, you know, the fact that you only have a single child,

00:17:53.72
Speaker
you do, like, if you have the means to, there’s nothing wrong with giving them, yeah or, you you know letting them be a little bit spoiled, but, you know, I guess the way that we handled it was like, you know, we would always buy our son stuff and like that there would, there would be things that, yeah you know, we would go out of our way to, to make sure that he had, but then we also kind of said it the other way too, we’re past, past a point. I think it was when he was about 10 or 11.

00:18:21.08
Speaker
We, we started giving like, um, not I guess like like an allowance like we were like you know have your spending money right like it was still yeah we were paying for it but it was like were kind of like were helping him understand the value of the money and not just the you know oh my parents just buy me whatever like he and to be fair as we as he got older like he he started like looking at things outside of Disney he was like it’s like well you know we can’t buy that that’s too expensive and and like we would have to turn and be like it’s fine. We, you know, we have income, we can handle this, right? Like, yeah but but he but he obviously grew into, you know, he he did, I think the bigger thing is not necessarily, you know, what you buy them, but just teaching the value of

00:19:07.86
Speaker
the value of money and the value of, you know, hey, this is not just you getting handed stuff, right? Like, like you know, that there is a level of appreciation there. There is a level of, ah you know you know, just them understanding the nuance of, you know, when they were younger, yeah, they got all kinds of stuff. And and I know my son looks back and he’s like, yeah, you guys, like, you know, you gave me a lot of stuff and I’m grateful for it. And like, but yeah it never evolved into like him assuming, right? So yeah I think that’s the, that’s it’s,

00:19:35.91
Speaker
It’s a hard thing because it kind of happens very organically. But I mean, that’s the way I handled it. So, yeah, I also like I and I said this before. I have a rule on vacation that I don’t if we want something, we get it right. And it’s just hard to. we Yeah. like I say that to my son because you’ll look at the price text and i’m like, stop worrying about it. We’re on vacation. Like, yeah, it’s. Yeah, that’s the other part of it, right? And we actually had, we did that on the the last cruise where my daughter earned money up and until, you know, to to to the cruise.

00:20:05.11
Speaker
And, you know, for like doing chores and stuff like that. And then when we got there, it’s like, well, you know, it’s all funny. It’s all made up money anyway, right? so it’s And well and and and you you you can make that delineation of like, you have your spending money. It’s like, no, I’m buying this for you. yeah yeah you You know, i I decided I wanted to buy this for you.

00:20:24.44
Speaker
That’s not that doesn’t come out of your money. That’s me making a choice. Right. Yeah. know You know, i just you know, it’s just it’s it’s just hard. i have listen. and Listen, I’m also a sucker. Like my ah my daughter has i mean, my wife would tell you this. My daughter has me, you know, wrapped around her little finger. I will pretty much do anything she tells me to. And I like a part of my brain stops working. Right. Like like the rational part of my brain. Like as soon as she’s like, Daddy, can I have this? I’m just like, yes, you can have that. You know, like just my brain just stops working because she’s she is asking me and I’m a sucker.

00:20:55.86
Speaker
So, you know, but anyway, I don’t know how we got talking about this. we’ve talked much towards side I mean, you you started from, yeah you know, buying merch and. Oh, yeah, yeah. And shirts and merch and ram whatever. We go where we go. and And, you know, I guess, you know, you’re talking about like, you know, you know, buying stuff for yourself. I think like like me is, you know, you know I buy stuff for my for my kid and my wife, like I do the same thing with my wife where, you know, I’ll see something in the parks and I’m like, she would really like this and I will deliberately like take it over and show it to her kind of thing. And it’s like, and then, and then she ends up buying it and I’m just like, you know, I knew that was like, it’s my own fault, but

00:21:39.25
Speaker
it’s because it makes me happy to see them be happy. Right. So I think maybe that’s where it comes from is that you just want them to be happy. And if buying more merch makes them happy, you know, whatever it’s, you know, it’s,

00:21:54.30
Speaker
what are you going to do with the money otherwise? Right? Like yeah save it, you know, be responsible. Come on, let’s go to Disney. Yeah. Yeah. That’s exactly, that’s exactly right. Yeah. It’s, I don’t know. I, I never buy anything for myself in the parks either. Like I’m, I’m never the person that gets like, I buy something. I very rarely, like it it has to be like the right thing for me. Actually, I do, I do have an Epcot 40th hoodie that I wear all the time.

00:22:22.87
Speaker
So that that’s actually, I think that actually replaced that other hoodie I was talking about. So, yeah. yeah um’ I don’t know. I’m just like, i’m resistant to buying like, I don’t know, stuff in the parks. I i’d like like so i mean, I do have some stuff. i do I mean, I can’t say I don’t. I do have some.

00:22:39.98
Speaker
Yeah. Me too. it it Like I said, it has to be like, i’m I’m very picky when it comes to that kind of stuff. Like I will not just buy like, Or I’ve evolved past the point of like feeling like I have to get something on every trip. Like it’s but like when I was younger, i always felt like, oh, you got to get a souvenir. You got to get something of a memory trip. And it’s like, I don’t, you know, obviously because of DVC and all that, it’s like I don’t need to do that.

00:23:07.96
Speaker
But also, like, i’m I’m extremely picky about what kind of, like, the type of merch that it is. And even down to, like, I will occasionally buy mugs. And, i like, I have ah i have a Chewbacca mug that I’ve been using for probably 10 years now.

00:23:24.25
Speaker
um And I’ve not found another one that, like, I’ve bought a few mugs, but they’re not as good as this one. Like, it’s… I don’t know. too it’s it’s it’s your It’s your favorite mug. Yeah, and it’s not because I’m like, I do like Chewbacca. He’s definitely one of my favorite characters, for sure, like in Star Wars and and whatnot. But it’s just, it’s a very, it’s the perfect mug for me.

00:23:48.28
Speaker
Like, it’s… Yeah. Functionally, it’s it’s it does all the right things. And it’s I’ve not found another one in the parks yet that has replaced it. OK, well, that’s fine.

00:24:03.15
Speaker
Yeah. You know, that’s as long as you’re happy with it, then that’s that’s good. Right. So, yeah, I get it. All right. Well, let’s listen, there’s not a ton of news this week, so it’s it’s ah it’s a very light news week. It’s the summertime. You know, we don’t have as many things going on.

00:24:17.56
Speaker
ah You know, we’re we’re not all that far off from D23 here, so Disney’s going to save all the juicy stuff for D23. Yeah. Because we’re, what, a month away from that? Yeah, it’s ah yeah August, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s August, yeah. yeah And that’s that’s the real, that’s where all the stuff’s going to go down. so And we’ll we’ll obviously, we’ll cover that. We’re going to go back over all of the predictions that we made a couple episodes back there.

00:24:41.75
Speaker
But in the meantime, ah there are a couple things going on. And and I like this one as DVC news, Trevor, because ah believe it or not, or or not believe it or not, or like it or not, I guess I should say, ah Fort Wilderness is a DVC resort, kind of.

00:24:54.33
Speaker
It is. Yeah. Yeah. Sort of. I mean, they have the ah have the cabins. So, yeah. but i Although I will say there was a lot of conversation in the discord about about ah about make it okay i kind of making fun, I guess, of Fort Wilderness or like…

00:25:12.63
Speaker
I think the though the point was, you know, Fort Wilderness is mainly a campsite. Yes. And it’s hard to compare the amenities of a campsite to the other hotels around it.

00:25:25.79
Speaker
Yes. Right. Which, I mean, and not to I’m not downplaying camping or anything because, you know, I camped a lot as a kid. I understand, yeah you know, it’s it’s a fun time. It’s different. You know, there’s nuance to it. But, know,

00:25:40.15
Speaker
It is really hard to compare. Yeah. Like like disney Disney resorts are on another level and Fort Wilderness campsite, well, is still a very fantastic campsite.

00:25:51.42
Speaker
um It’s hard to compare to a full-fledged. I agree. Yeah, I agree with that. But it’s listen, a lot of people love Fort Wilderness and I’m not going to say that. Like I am not a outdoorsy person. I’m not a camping person. If I’m going to camp, it’s going to be in an air conditioned cabin. Like that’s how I’m a glamper. You’re not a camper. That’s 100 percent. Yes, I want I want all of the amenities of of life there. I don’t like roughing it. That doesn’t appeal to me. Fair enough. Yeah.

00:26:19.29
Speaker
but But, you know, it appeals to lots of people. But anyway, ah so they’ve been working for a while now. i remember when they kind of started this, ah ah they were expanding the swimming pool. And now that’s ah now it’s open. So now they have a is a is a brand new pool. and is’s saying ah Yeah. It’s a zero entry pool.

00:26:38.04
Speaker
So i I don’t know. Yeah. I don’t know that they completely redesign or or I guess I would have to look at like the before and after of of the pool but the the big advertisement here is it’s a zero entry pool which i think i don’t remember what it looked like before i’ll be honest i didn’t spend a lot of time looking at fort wilderness stuff but i feel like that i feel like they are but bringing it up on par with the other resorts right like it’s like that that’s really what they’re doing here is they’re you know they’re they’re making sure that the amenities of the resort you know as we just talked about you know even though it is a campsite

00:27:10.62
Speaker
there are still functionally, you know, things like the pool is kind of a big deal, I think, at the end of the day. It’s… ah Yeah, and you needed a you needed a better pool ah just, you know, for because you have all the cabins now, right? and it Yeah. Because it’s DVC now, right? You have to kind of have that amenity. People expect that when they buy DVC, right? And so, you know… It’s it’s now in zero entry, like like you said, and they they put additional deck space in. has the ah the water slide as well, which actually that brings up an interesting point now that I think about it is that, or at least at Polynesian, and I think this is the case for some of the other resorts, is that they have, so like,

00:27:54.26
Speaker
in the At the Polynesian, there is a DVC pool, but it’s ah it’s a very basic pool. Like, there’s not… Yeah, there’s not, like, a huge amount of theming, right? But then there’s the main pool, which is, like, you know, it’s further down and it has all of these things, you know, the zero entry and the water slide and everything.

00:28:11.38
Speaker
But this pool is, like you said, because it’s, like, more… Or it’s more central to the cabins… If you’re a family that, you know, spends a lot of time at the pool, that actually might be more of an incentive to stay there because, you know, you’re not you’re not being or I don’t want to say like DVC is kind of relegated to a secondary pool, but it’s like.

00:28:34.14
Speaker
I don’t know that you’re fighting as much for like pool real estate as you would be in some of the other resorts. That’s true. Yeah. So, yeah. Something to think about. Yeah. Yeah, so this is this is um this is, it looks like it’s right it’s right next to the the the other pool, right? So is that’s what they’re, yeah that’s how I’m reading this So just two pools instead of one pool, right? Which, again, that’s, you know, I think if that’s something that’s a priority for your family, then maybe that’s, maybe the cabins aren’t,

00:29:07.96
Speaker
are aren’t as, and I want to say aren’t as bad as we think they are, but I mean, it’s not that bad. It’s just, it’s just, yeah. Like it’s just different. Yeah. Yeah. they’re they’re They’re not as far. Disney is really trying to make efforts, I think, to try and make sure that, that Fort Wilderness, even though it is a very specific type of, of stay that it had, that it feels as close to the other resorts as possible.

00:29:33.53
Speaker
and I don’t know if I’ll ever stay at the four wilderness cabins. We’ll see if my wife makes me at some point. She probably will. I mean, I’m not going to lie. She’s probably going to, but, um, and then that’s fine. I’ll, I’ll do it. You know, like I’ll make it happen, uh, if need be. Um, but yeah I’ll do the cabins. I’m just not going to do like camping, camping. Like that’s not going to happen.

00:29:53.94
Speaker
Yeah. that That’s fair. I w I wouldn’t want to do camping either, especially like, i feel like in Florida, like, it’s really hot there. I would never do it in the summer. It’s incredibly hot. But then even doing it in the fall and whatnot, then you’re dealing with, like, i I’ve done a lot of camping in British Columbia. And, i mean, we have been rained out, but the rain in British Columbia is not like the rain in Florida. And I don’t know that I would ever want to be in a campsite. Like, I would have to be prepared for it in in a different way, right? Like, like it’s…

00:30:31.42
Speaker
Well, yeah you know, when my mom was a kid, ah you know, in the 70s, they used to I’ve talked about this before. She took they used to take ah they they had like a small camper, like a really small camper, like really small camper. And they had ah four kids, two adults and a dog. And i I said to my mom, because she showed me pictures of the camper. I’m like, wait, all four, ah all six of you slept in that camper with a dog.

00:30:56.47
Speaker
Like how? like That seems miserable in the Florida heat. I mean, but it just, you know, it was a different time, right? You know, you just kind of dealt with those things. I i i have been ah spoiled by air conditioning and amenities. and That’s what I need in my life. When I was a kid, we had a tent trailer.

00:31:13.82
Speaker
so Yeah, that’s what they that was pretty much what it was. Yeah, it was one of those. Yeah. Oh, so so like that like it expands It was the pop-up one. Yeah, it was like the pop-up thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I’m like, how did you fit six people in that? I mean, we had five in ours. I get it. Like, yeah, we we could slap six in there. You got to you gotta to fold down the kitchen table and turn it into a bed. That’s the trick. I need my space to sleep.

00:31:34.55
Speaker
no i but yeah like again My daughter kicks in her sleep, man. she she’s a like i’ve we’ve i’ve you know We’ve had her in our bed before for, you know, like she’s sick or something. She kicks me. The trick is, is everybody gets their own sleeping bags because then that’s how I do it. yeah Yeah, that’s what I do. I but i don’t want to sleep in a sleeping bag when it’s 90 degrees out, though. Like, that’s no.

00:31:52.50
Speaker
Yeah, need to be. I need to be the tundra in my room. I want there to be icicles on the on the event or else I’m not going to be able to sleep. ten Ten trailers are not for you, then. No, 100 percent not. And that’s OK. I’m cool. But um yeah. Yeah.

00:32:07.31
Speaker
Anyway. All right. So, yeah. So, camping at Fort Wilderness. Fort Wilderness out for Tom. But I will say, though, the lobby – the lobby – the the lobby is The funny thing was I was looking i was like and I was like, oh, it it’s it reminds me of Wilderness Lodge, but like so much more compact.

00:32:34.87
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Yeah. Yeah. Which rustic. Yeah. I mean, it it honestly, it it it does very much remind me of of the campsites that I stayed at as a kid. um i ah I think I told you we stayed at, um or yeah, yeah me and my brother would tell you when we were playing mini golf that we stayed at ah at a ah KOA or Campers of America yes yeah um campsite. And this this lobby actually reminds me of like the main lobby at the KOA we stayed at. So… um Oh, man. That’s funny. They don’t, I mean, maybe maybe what they need to do is also have the ah the janky mini golf course, too. Oh, yeah. You got to have that. Yeah. Because like a lot of campsites had those those mini golf courses, so.

00:33:17.69
Speaker
Yeah, you got you got to have the really bad mini golf course. Like that’s. Yeah, the the clearly light like like so somebody who didn’t have a degree in like engineering like put it together.

00:33:28.47
Speaker
Yes. and And it works. Like it’s it’s challenging but not for the reasons that you think. Yeah. It’s challenging because there’s like holes in the ah in the felt and well like and wood pieces of wood misplaced. The greens are not, you know, flat at all because. Yeah. Yeah. That’s that’s why it’s challenging because. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Because it’s run down. But that’s fine. Like that’s part of the charm.

00:33:54.49
Speaker
right I feel like maybe Disney could lean into that a little bit. with like Like I said, this this lobby and you know all the refreshes they’ve done, they they look beautiful. But it’s like it’s kind of funny because they like there there is a lot of like rustic camping that’s like you don’t want it looking pretty. right like like ah like The funny thing about about when you go to a campsite is that if it looks too pretty, there’s something wrong.

00:34:21.56
Speaker
Yeah. yeah i like That makes sense. Yeah. That makes total sense. Yeah. i Listen, i I think it would be fun if they did something like that, but it’s also like, I don’t know.

00:34:34.50
Speaker
i’m I’m not going there regardless. So so I noticed further down here, one of the other things that they’re talking about is ah they’re offering canoeing as an amenity at the the Fort Wilderness cabins, which yeah kind of surprises me a little bit. um or Well, I guess maybe, you know, we were talking earlier about, like you know, the gator situation and, yeah you know, how they’re removing gators off site. This yeah plays into that as well, because, you know, if you’re if you’re canoeing down, you know, it looks like they have like…

00:35:05.83
Speaker
there’s like a creek or something that, uh, that runs through the property that you can go canoeing on. Um, I mean, obviously, you you know, you don’t want, you don’t want people who are canoeing running into gators and stuff like that. Yeah. But, uh,

00:35:22.39
Speaker
So, yeah yeah, I’m guessing that that this feeds into it is, you know, you know they try to make sure they can offer these amenities and, you know, you know if you’re staying on a campsite that you’re not. I mean, i would say, you know, anytime you’re staying anywhere like near a body of water, assume that there might be a gator in it. but um I just always assume there’s gators everywhere in Florida.

00:35:41.30
Speaker
Yeah. but ah But, yeah, so I don’t know if I would try canoeing in in Fort Wilderness. I mean, it seems… I don’t know. seems interesting. i would ah Here’s the thing.

00:35:54.55
Speaker
I don’t think I’ve ever, I’ve gone canoeing before, but i don’t think I’ve ever gone canoeing where I’ve not fallen out of the canoe. Right? What? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Every time. I’m i’m not balanced. i Listen, I’m not outdoorsy. I don’t do these things. Okay. I was going to go we have a ah we live in a lake community and we go, like my son I would go canoeing all the time. I’ve never fallen out of a canoe before. Yeah, I’ve never fallen out of a canoe. By the way, are you trying to stand in the canoe? No, I don’t know. Just moving around. and you know i don’t know. i’m just I’m poorly coordinated. That’s all. i but As an aside, as we were just talking about Fort Wilderness, I was thinking to myself, really need to get myself to hoop-de-doo, man. because i yeah mean like Because we were supposed to do it years ago. i don’t know if you remember this, but we were supposed to do it years ago. We had it booked, and then a hurricane rolled through.

00:36:43.26
Speaker
And they had Fort Wilderness and it closed for like a little while after that. The rest of the resort was open before Wilderness was closed, which they do, ah you know, whenever those storms roll through because of all the trees. And so it it yeah it got canceled. And I was like, and so my mom decided last minute that she’s going to come with us for like a day or two. Right. And so i already had an Ohana reservation for day one.

00:37:04.28
Speaker
ah For three people. But, you know, Ohana is a tough get. And I adding one person you would think would just be like easy. Right. Because we’re probably already going to sit at a table that’s for four people, you know, as three people. And so you think it just throw a chair. Right. No, there’s no availability. Right. So I was just looking right now. was like, I wonder if Hoopty Doo is available for the first night that I’m there. And it actually is.

00:37:27.01
Speaker
Uh, although, ah it’s the only the category two seating, which I, I, I don’t know if that’s, uh, you know, a deal breaker or not, but but what’s wrong with category two. I don’t know. I’m, I’m, I’m just, I’m thinking out loud here. Uh, you know, cause I’m just, it seems like that’s all that’s left. So I don’t know. Is that bad? You know,

00:37:46.71
Speaker
Um, what is it? So is that like the upper deck? No, I think the I think the upper deck is category three. Okay. So it’s like on the side, though, it looks like.

00:37:57.59
Speaker
yeah Yeah, it’s main floor, but it’s like like it’s kind of off to the side. so So, like, underneath the balcony, or almost underneath the balcony, which, again, I i will admit, like, for Hoopty Doo, like, we’ve we’ve sat main floor, like, we’ve we’ve we’ve done Category 1, which, you know, is nice because you’re kind of, like, you’re in in the action.

00:38:17.56
Speaker
the The performers and everything still come out into the crowd, and you can still… you know, see lots of what’s going on. Like your view’s not obstructed if you’re in category two. It’s just, you’re not in the middle of the action is the only difference. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. so And that’s fine. Right. Yeah.

00:38:35.54
Speaker
But now I need to make sure my mom’s coming because you got to pay ahead of time, you know? So, Oh, actually I do see it Yeah. Apparently they’re part of category two is on the balcony. So you could, you may end up on the balcony, which again is not like you’re still watching the show. Like, i don’t know. Yeah.

00:38:52.15
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you know, it’s just expensive. I would hate to do it and then just be like, you know, but ah it’s it’s available, so maybe I’ll do it. mean, it’s a good meal. Like, you know, regardless of the show, it’s a really good meal.

00:39:03.29
Speaker
Well, here’s I’m already spending it. Like, the dining is is like, I’m already, like, adding it up in my head, and I’m like, this is a crazy expensive trip. Like, what what’s happening here? Because, you know, i my wife was like, let’s do California Grill. it was like, okay, sure, why not? And then, you know, California Grill is $100 a pop. Like, it’s, you know.

00:39:21.74
Speaker
it’s it’s not ah It’s not cheap. so you know and And then you know we’re doing character mirrors. Although, you know that that beautiful discount that we get for DVC at um at ah your favorite place, which I can never remember the name of, Garden Grill.

00:39:35.72
Speaker
I mean, 40% off at that place. I looked at it for dinner. It’s going to save us like almost $100. Yeah, that that is a huge. It’s absurd. Yeah, a huge discount you’re getting. so Yeah. So I’m pumped for that at least. So my wife’s like, oh, we could use that $100 for California. I’m like, that’s no, we’re not going to play that game, okay? like you know No, because I’ve already used that $100 for Hoop-dee-doo. Well, she doesn’t know that. though see this is If I’m going to do this, this is going to be a surprise, right? Because she doesn’t listen the podcast because she is tired of hearing me talk about Disney anyway. So she doesn’t ever listen to the show.

00:40:05.59
Speaker
um And she’s not here right now, right? like So she can’t even hear me talking about this. So this could be a complete and total surprise if I Well, unless I have mentioned it to my wife who talks with your wife on a regular basis. yeah Jen, do not say this to my wife. Surprise. Okay? Surprise.

00:40:21.37
Speaker
Yeah, I know you’re listening right now. Jen does listen to the show, but she doesn’t hit like every single episode. shoot By the time she gets this one, it may be after. get might We might be okay. Okay, good. Good. yeah Okay, cool. um Anyway. What are we talking about? what is This episode is weird. Hoop-dee-doo planning. Yeah. Okay. We are off the rails. we We started with just talking about Wilderness Lodge. updates and you know what we should really like let’s do the ad let’s do ad and then well there’s like there’s really only like one other thing i want to talk about on this list that i heard i’m sure it’s the same thing that you want to talk about so um you know and it probably will take us some time to do it so let’s do that let’s do the ad okay

00:41:01.91
Speaker
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00:41:15.80
Speaker
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00:41:31.10
Speaker
In 2025, DVC Resale Market helped over 4,400 families join or add on to their memberships. Go to DVCResaleMarket.com slash welcomehome or call 1-844-DVC-PROS. That’s you speak to them, be sure to let them know Welcome Home sent um So, you know, listen, the new Moana movie. Hold on. Go ahead.

00:41:52.76
Speaker
Oh, okay. so all right. You want to actually talk about the Moana stuff? New movie just came out. ah You know, not doing great so far, but that’s okay. It doesn’t need to. I mean, okay, yeah. I’ll be honest. Like,

00:42:07.32
Speaker
I really enjoyed Moana. I love the music in Moana. I will watch Moana multiple times. I have watched it multiple times. i am not interested in watching a live-action version of Moana.

00:42:19.00
Speaker
And not… Yeah. Not because… um Not because I think that the story would be bad or anything. It’s just… It’s literally the exact same story, though. like that I don’t think it needed… Yeah.

00:42:31.38
Speaker
yeah Not everything needs a live action. Right? I think this would have been a good live action, like, 20 years from now. You know what I mean? Yeah. It’s too quick. It’s too much Moana, you know? Yeah. Because, like, I mean, Moana’s… Moana’s what, like, 10 years old now? Something like that? mean, it’s been… I mean, I don’t know. When was the first It was, like, 2015, 2016, thought.

00:42:54.62
Speaker
um That sounds right-ish.

00:42:58.68
Speaker
Yeah. But anyway. miljuana come Because the new movie’s out. Yeah, 2016. Yeah. So so it’s 10 years old. Did it need a live-action remake 10 years later? Yeah, no, probably not. Right? Like, yeah. 10 more years, reintroduce it to people. Yeah, sure. Why not? It felt like a bit of a…

00:43:14.43
Speaker
felt like a bit of a cash grab. Yeah. I’ll tell you, ah the only reason I’m interested in seeing it is because I, even though the rock has, you know, kind of, I’ve kind of soured on him as like a, as an actor in general, just because i feel like he’s in too much stuff all the time. I’m just like tired of seeing him, but I am curious to see him act out a character that was animated in real life. That’s kind of cool. And I also want to see like how they did like all his tattoos and everything and like how all that looks. Yeah.

00:43:42.42
Speaker
But, you know, yeah right it’s like, whatever. I don’t need to see it. I’ll probably see it when it comes out on Disney+. plus Yeah. Yeah, that’s exactly it. it’s not a It’s not a high priority, like, I’m going to run off and do this now or watch the show. The the funny thing is, though, i I assume, like, because of this article you sent from – or it’s from the Disney Parks blog. from Parks blog. Yeah, it’s from Parks blog. They’re very much trying to lean into, hey, Moana’s in the parks everywhere. That’s what they do.

00:44:10.61
Speaker
Yeah. And I find it funny, like – or I guess – Okay, I get it. I get from like when my son was younger, um we were all about Stitch and we were all about cars and the trouble was trying to find stuff in the parks because, yeah um i mean, cars was easier because it was it was cars and all that.

00:44:29.37
Speaker
um Stitch was a bit more of a challenge because we were it wasn’t like it was well after the show had come out, but you know we liked the character and it was hard to find the merch for it. I think what Disney is trying to do here is you know obviously they have this live action. They know that there’s going to be people that are like, you know they’ve seen they’ve watched the movies, they’ve watched the live action, and when they’re coming to the parks, you know they’re going to be looking for, you know where can I find Moana? Where can I find Moana? Yeah. So, well, so, so they’ve clearly listed off, like, you know, there’s Moana meet and greets and all that, but then also they go so far as like, you know, you know, Moana is in Fantasmic, which is like, okay, there’s like like,

00:45:06.49
Speaker
like 22nd part in Phantasmic that has Moana. Like she’s on a boat going by kind of thing. And it’s like, it’s it’s just funny how they’re like, like they’re literally like trying to point point out like every single. It’s all of the Moana things. Yeah. The Moana related things that we could throw out there. Yeah. Yeah. Journey of Water where Moana already is. yeah yeah Yeah, it says it in the name. um But anyway, we don’t need to get into that. But yeah, Rome is all over the parks and everywhere. Great. the one The one piece, though, that they brought up in here, there’s an ube sundae that they’re offering. yeah, yeah, there was some food there.

00:45:43.70
Speaker
Which i I was wondering when Disney was going to start leaning into the ube thing because it’s ah it’s become popular. Ube is like ah it’s like a sweet yam.

00:45:53.88
Speaker
I think it comes from the Philippines. Okay. um And I guess if you’ve ever had like tarot root, I guess it’s like that. I’ve not actually had ube, but I’m curious now. And if I was in Animal Kingdom, I would actually be looking for this. But like.

00:46:09.62
Speaker
Yeah, that that’s about the only Moana adjacent thing I would be looking for. Well, you have to have the Hey Hey Delight tropical blend of pineapple and coconut topped with a pineapple slice and Skittles free strike candy.

00:46:22.74
Speaker
Yeah, which is great, but I can get Dole Whip at you know, the Polynesian. So, yeah, that’s true. You know, again, they’re they’re trying to you know, you know. They’re promoting the movie. It’s what they do.

00:46:35.00
Speaker
And that’s fine. You know, I’m, i’m the Ube stuff’s more interesting to me than having pineapple and coconut because I have pineapple and coconut all the time. So, yeah, yeah.

00:46:46.52
Speaker
ah So this is in Parks News, but I did find it interesting. And we do talk about Disney Plus occasionally. And I thought this was an interesting thing to bring up. So ah there’s rumors out there that Disney Plus is going to add a free tier.

00:46:59.99
Speaker
And part of this is because, ah you know, YouTube is just… i Listen, my daughter watches YouTube way more than she watches Disney Plus. Like, that’s just fact. Like…

00:47:10.49
Speaker
Our family is very YouTube heavy right now, too, because yeah’s it’s easier than some other streaming services. Yeah, and so i I get it. It makes sense. It’s not a bad idea to have something ad-supported like that and make some things free and, you know, try to capture some of that audience.

00:47:27.10
Speaker
Not a terrible idea. um You know, I’ll be interested to see if they do it. But, um you know, I’m not subscribing to it. i I hate ads, and I hate sitting through them. And so, like, the subscriptions I get are the ad-free ones because the ones that I don’t have – that I still have ads on are, like – you know You’ll hear me yelling about no another the same ad again. Oh, yes. Yeah. I mean, yeah. So funny enough, that that’s the same reason why we ended up paying for YouTube premium, because we would. Yeah. And so so like we we found some streamers that that we enjoyed watching as a family.

00:48:07.26
Speaker
And yeah yeah, you know, the way that the ads were targeted is, you you know, it it hits you with like, oh, you know, here’s a location based ad and you’re going to watch this like 50 different times. And the the interesting thing about that is that it’s actually a really great way for them to get people into the platform because, you know, people will come for the free, but it’s the it’s the threshold of I’m annoyed by your ads to the point where it’s like, well, I’m watching this anyway. I’ll just pay the $10 and, you know, you know, get rid of the ads. Right. So, so it’s not a bad idea for them to offer a free tier. I mean, honestly, because, because they have right now, they have the lower tier, which has ads in it. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. but’re so But this would be like, probably just like less content, right? Like certain. yeah so So, so limited content with ads still. And, you know, and again, it’s to get people in the door.

00:48:58.74
Speaker
So. Yeah, but listen, you know you know what, though? Like, I mean, you can just like watch Bluey on YouTube, basically. Like, there’s just but I mean, you know, what i mean like there’s a lot of stuff that Disney already has on like their streaming or, you know, other things that are just on yeah I don’t know how they’re on YouTube. I don’t know how they’re not violating some sort of copyright. But like, I mean, daughter just haven’t been found yet. Yeah, I guess. But we were flipping around the other day and it was just Bluey episodes. It’s like, wait, how?

00:49:23.38
Speaker
Like, how do they just have Bluey episodes on here? It could also be a timing of when they were published, too, because, yeah again, based based on when Disney licensed it, if there was something pre-existing out there, they may not have stake to say, or it if it was out before they owned it it, it just has to sit out there and they can’t say anything about it.

00:49:41.62
Speaker
Yeah, i would i would think that i would you know i think that the owners of Bluey would go after them, you know, but yeah whatever. yeah All right. Well, let’s let’s let’s do this, though Trevor. let’s Let’s do this. All right.

00:49:51.73
Speaker
Reckless speculation. Reckless speculation. Reckless speculation. Speculation. It’s so reckless. It’s so much speculation.

00:50:02.31
Speaker
It’s speculation. We may be wrong. We may be right. But it doesn’t matter because it’s… It’s reckless speculation. We haven’t done food time in a while. And I kind of miss the food time, though. Yeah. Well, we’ve been waiting for a food time to come to us. We’ve been waiting for a food and wine festival. Yeah. It’s just kind of sad. Which is actually in the food wine. Yeah.

00:50:31.86
Speaker
yeah so Yeah, anyway. Yeah, yeah. That that aside, um okay, and so we have we have a rumor here. This is getting reported on a couple of the blogs. Yeah, so, okay, the the statement is Space Mountain is closing for a major reimagining at Magic Kingdom.

00:50:49.24
Speaker
So, again, first time First and foremost, this is a rumor. There is no hard evidence of this happening. Anybody who is panicking about Space Mountain right now, nothing is happening yet. However, we are coming up on D23. This might be something that plays into D23.

00:51:08.06
Speaker
The other thing about this is this, it’s in Tokyo Disney, and they’re just finishing up a whole redo of Tomorrowland in Tokyo Disney, which included a redo of their Space Mountain.

00:51:22.71
Speaker
Which is, like, crazy, though, like, what they’re doing on that one. Like, I don’t think they’re going to tear Space Mountain completely down, right? Yeah, yeah that that was a full, like, rip and rebuild of their Space Mountain. And from what I understand, the the Space Mountain in in Tokyo, like,

00:51:38.62
Speaker
i I could be wrong, but I believe, like, it’s a whole new ride. Like, it’s not just, like, yeah it is outer. it’s It’s the entire thing has been. Yeah, remember we talked about it, that it we we thought that it might have the turning cars that Guardians has, right? Yes, yes, yes, yes. That’s right. And and so i mean ah and we all know the one in Paris is is completely and totally different than any other Space Mountain. Yeah, yeah, that’s Space Mountain 2, or it’s Hyperspace Mountain 2. Exactly. It has, it has, you know, inversions.

00:52:05.40
Speaker
I don’t think they’re going to do anything like that here because I just don’t think they can really. Right. Like if you start doing that kind of stuff to this, people are going to be, people are very attached to you. This is one of those things you can’t,

00:52:18.87
Speaker
Completely, yeah totally redo, you know? Yeah, the the interesting thing is, you know, it it this hits that weird sweet spot of you know, thrill rides versus family rides, right? because Because the thing about Space Mountain is that it is…

00:52:35.70
Speaker
It is a thrill ride. it’s It’s not like the most amazing coaster, but, you know, it has part of what makes it scary is honestly that you’re going in the dark and you can’t always see where you’re going. Yeah, it makes you feel like you’re going faster than you actually are. Yeah, exactly. You’re only going 25 miles hour, but because it’s dark, you feel like you’re going much faster than you really are. Yeah. so it’s It’s actually pretty cool. But again, the the thing about that, though, is that it’s also like, you know, the the bar for entry to it is much lower yeah than than a lot of other rides, which, you know, I know like, yes, you know, Guardians and whatnot, um you know, those have kind of set a new baseline for it’s it’s not a crazy over the top coaster, but it is definitely more extreme than.

00:53:19.20
Speaker
than Space Mountain. Now, the thing is, is that I don’t know that they would necessarily do a full rip and replace of the ride, but I could see them definitely… it is possible that, like, if they’re redoing the, you know… Like, we’re thinking about, like, you know, redoing the external stuff and everything…

00:53:42.97
Speaker
it could mean them actually like looking at the ride itself and see if they could make improvements to it. So yeah from, yeah, change of cars. Yeah. These rumors are saying completely replacing the, the track. That’s, that’s the, that’s what the rumor is here is that they are going to completely and totally replace the track much like they did in Disneyland, you know, many years ago. ah And listen, I think,

00:54:05.94
Speaker
There’s nobody that’s been on Space Mountain ah that will tell you that it’s a comfortable ride. It is not. And to me, I know I was complaining about Big Thunder being too smooth now, but that’s different.

00:54:16.98
Speaker
Right. Like I expect Space Mountain to be smooth kind of because it’s like, I don’t know. It’s you know what i mean, Trevor? Like the the cars do need some love. And it’s the the funny thing. is The track needs to be replaced. the track Yeah, well so so the the the underlying issue of it is that, so Space Mountain in in Magic Kingdom is the same ride type as the Matterhorn.

00:54:40.02
Speaker
So it’s side-by-side steel coasters with these particular cars that are extremely old. Like, it’s it’s a very old. So I think, you know, to that end, you know, Disney may be looking at… I mean, like you said, what they did with Big Thunder is, you know, hey, replace the track, get it updated, get the cars updated so that I know in I know in Disneyland with the Matterhorn, they tried a couple of different things. And I think the current iterations of the cars are good. They actually tried some hard plastic seats, which people said, like, if you, you know,

00:55:14.30
Speaker
If you didn’t need a chiropractor before, you will after riding it because like yeah it was it was incredibly bad. um But yeah, i think I think they’ve kind of learned some lessons along the way. And yeah, you’re right. It it definitely could use some love. It could, yeah you know, the track could be redesigned to… There are a few spots where it feels a little…

00:55:34.87
Speaker
um, rougher than it needs to. Just replace the track and it’ll be fine, right? Like, just replace the track. Like, the track needs to be replaced. It’s old. Yeah. right Just replace it. Yeah. And I mean, it’s it’s the Florida weather. even Even though it’s an inside coaster, yeah um it just, over time, you know, metal does break down thanks to humidity.

00:55:52.92
Speaker
So, you know, like I can see where it does need some love. um But like I said, I’m i’m wondering if you know, you know, refurbing Space Mountain, i I think about it as, you know, if they’re doing the track, is there opportunity there to maybe redo like visuals and, you know, the queue and the building itself? Like, i I wonder if they would go so far as not not one for one replacing it with what they did in Tokyo Disney, but maybe taking some elements from that and redoing Space Mountain, you know, you know kind of

00:56:27.70
Speaker
I guess modernizing it a little bit. I don’t, I know some people are going to be like, how dare you say that? But um yeah. Well, so these rumors though are are stating that ah there will be changes to the, so it could be, they’re saying it could be as big as replacing the, just rebuilding the existing track from scratch or removing the two tracks completely and replacing them with a completely new ride.

00:56:52.54
Speaker
And then the other thing it says is that ah the that either way, that there’s going to be major changes to the entrance, queue, exit, and ride just that are all going to be new. New tracks, trains, and scenes are all ah likely.

00:57:06.97
Speaker
ah So that’s, I’ll tell you the what, the Trevor, I’m going to you know get into the reckless speculation speculation part of this for me. I am going to say right now that I think at D23, they’re going to announce a Tomorrowland, an entire Tomorrowland overhaul.

00:57:23.90
Speaker
And I don’t know if I said this before, but I’m going to say it now. They’re going to do a whole Tomorrowland overhaul. And I have no information on this, but I feel like Buzz Lightyear gave us a little bit of a hint. Because if you look at the changes they made to to to Buzz Lightyear on the outside where they put the signs, they changed what that looks like what that area looks like. They made it less cartoony from the 1994 version of Tomorrowland. That was like the last time they really went through Tomorrowland and completely… you know you know, redid the whole thing now, given they’ve done like little things here and there since then. But the way that they rethemed the front of big, of ah Buzz Lightyear makes me think that that’s just the first thing

00:58:06.39
Speaker
You know, the first piece. That’s the clue to the overall yes redesign. That’s what I’m saying. Because just doing that in a vacuum, why do you just do that in a vacuum? You want to, if you’re going to do that, you’re going to make everything look like that for a cohesive theme, right? Like you don’t, right just because you just updated that thing doesn’t mean, and like, let’s look what’s happening right now too, right?

00:58:26.23
Speaker
Buzz Lightyear just reopened, right? Carousel Progress just closed to be completely and totally redone. ah And then what else do we have left there? We have we have Space Mountain. Tron’s brand new, obviously, so that doesn’t need There’s also Tomorrowland Speedway, and and but then also the surrounding buildings. There is Laugh Floor. Laugh Floor, yeah.

00:58:45.85
Speaker
And the ah the Stitch ride, which has been just man it’s just that limbo forever, which, yeah I’m still not completely convinced they’re not going to That Monsters in Glouffler is going to stay there. I don’t think it is.

00:58:58.42
Speaker
No, i gonna have I don’t think when. Yeah, I don’t see… Again, this might be part of a bigger plan. That’s what I’m saying. Yeah. The hard part is, you know, if they’re re redoing all this, I mean, I hope that they don’t… Or my wife’s going to hear this and get mad at me for even saying this. um You know, they’d better…

00:59:17.85
Speaker
not do anything to the people mover. No, they won’t do anything. If they do something to the people mover, I will riot. Yeah, people will be incredibly upset if they touch the people mover. But the hard is that the thing is that I think the the thing is is that i think I think, like, what what we’re talking about here is, like, like it’s not just, like the like, you know, this, you know, Space Mountain getting some love and, you know, getting getting some refurbishment is one thing, but the larger, like, revision of Tomorrowland, it’s mostly, like, like just external facing stuff. And, you know, part of PeopleMover is, like,

00:59:55.83
Speaker
yeah you know, the the surrounding um structure that holds up PeopleMover, it’s, it does look a little dated, right? Like it it it has a very specific look to it.

01:00:06.71
Speaker
I could see them closing down to just like redesign all of that. Or or again, yeah you know, give it, give it a facelift, you know, make it, yeah you know, it’s not even necessarily a matter of just like a coat of paint. I think maybe there might be some, some redesign choices made to make it look a little more modern.

01:00:23.58
Speaker
But yeah, like you said, is, you know, maybe maybe ah maybe Buzz Lightyear is the ah the harbinger of yeah what new Tomorrowland could look like. I guess that’s that’s what I’m thinking, because they they really did make some different choices out there. Right. And yeah.

01:00:40.57
Speaker
i I think it’s just kind of like in my mind, all these pieces are falling into place, right? They’re building a monster’s ink land. So why is left floor going to continue in magic kingdom? Get rid of left floor. Right. And then you, yeah and then you have that space for stitch, right? So now you have two huge spaces that are available for new attractions.

01:00:57.72
Speaker
Now, do I think they’re going to put new attractions there? I don’t know. um i would assume if they’re going to get rid left floor, that they’re going to put something new there. But ah you know, I, I just get the feeling that they’re going to do something. If, if this is going to happen,

01:01:10.14
Speaker
then to me, they’re going to do a whole tomorrow. like Like I said, they haven’t done. And I said, I said, Space Mountain hasn’t been refurbished since 1994. I meant Tomorrowland, right? Tomorrowland does not have like a re-theme since the nineties. Right. yeah And they have like a whole re-theme. Now they’ve done little things here and there. Right. But, and then the last refurb of, you know, of, of actual Space Mountain itself was, ah I don’t know. i think it was like 15, 20 years ago, 17 years ago is what I just found. Okay. no Well, no, because they made the changes like in the queue where there there used to be like games and stuff in the queue. So there has been there’s been changes like a major part, though. OK, yeah, yeah. You’re talking like like an actual like touching the ride kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. So it’s it’s been a long time. But I think if they’re going to do this, to me, Buzz Lightyear was a hint. And like you, yeah they’ve also been tearing down some stuff at the entrance, too. i don’t i don’t know if you’ve seen articles about that.

01:02:07.35
Speaker
where they have been, ah um there’s like those ah those towers that they had there that they’ve been tearing down. Yeah. um So to I think they’re gearing up for this. with With everything that they’re doing, ah with, you know, ah um yeah with with everything with the that they’re doing with a Carousel of Progress, and they have Tron there, and like I said, they just finished Buzz Lightyear, to me,

01:02:30.65
Speaker
So this says that, ah you know, they’re they’re going they’re gearing up for a big re-do. Yeah, i think I think you’re right in that I i don’t – or i guess I guess, you know, talking about doing a refurb of Tomorrowland, I don’t think it’s going to be a big – Or I could be wrong, but I feel like they’re not going to do a big shutdown of Tomorrowland. No. And do all this. I think i think this is going to be um a phase, like going to be like a slide puzzle kind of thing where like they they move pieces out and replace with new things. Because the other thing to factor in with this, too, is that, you know, we’re looking at Tomorrowland just as like, yeah, you you know, there’s all these things that need to be done Tomorrowland.

01:03:10.87
Speaker
on the other side of the park, there is all the work that’s being done for Piston Peak and Villain’s Land. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the plan is is as Piston Peak and and those areas are opening up and, you know, obviously drawing people over there that they use that opportunity to, you know, start walling off sections of Tomorrowland to do a refurb. Yeah. um Because i is that because that then, you know, they could, like, Tomorrowland is, like,

01:03:39.78
Speaker
Tomorrowland is always just naturally busy. It’s just, it’s it’s a large space. There is a lot of stuff there. If you like, it is very condensed if you think about it. But they need a reason to draw people away from there if they’re going to do renault’s in that area right so yeah they’ve been removing those uh like like rocket uh shell things that are off to the side of the entrance that like the metal rocket structures that’s what they’ve been taking out those were from 1994 they’ve just been taking yeah yeah that that’s i i feel yeah that that again all kind of feeds into it had a very like

01:04:15.69
Speaker
Tomorrowland was stuck in a bubble for sure. and Listen, there’s a whole thing called the Tomorrowland problem of, you know, yeah the future always becomes the present at some point, right? like so it’s But but it’s it’s designing it in such a way that it has like a timelessness to it, right? yeah like And I think that’s maybe what they’re looking at right now. and and i yeah And I guess, you know, even redesigning it now, there’s no guarantee that in 10 years people won’t be like, you know, that looks dated. Yeah. So so i’m i’m I’m saying, well, and listen, we can’t. I was i was just thinking i was thinking about this as we were talking about Nobody can give them a hard time for not keeping up with, like, they have been, look if you look at just Magic Kingdom by itself, right?

01:04:52.82
Speaker
sp Splash Mountain was just redone as Tiana just in the past few years here they just redid completely uh big thunder mountain right they’re redoing uh um you know uh carousel progress right they might be also redoing space mountain they’re really taking care of some of these older rides and giving them the kind of love that they need uh even as they’re building the biggest expansion in park history right like which is good we want these things so do yeah Do you know what a bit of an aside to that is there hasn’t been a lot done in Fantasyland for a minute.

01:05:27.38
Speaker
just True. Just think about that, too. And you also got Mickey’s Fair area. I can’t remember what it’s called now. It’s not. It used to be like Toontown. So the the the where where the Barnstormer is. but Yeah.

01:05:42.24
Speaker
Yeah. yeah I will go on record for saying this, though, for the the um the Space Mountain stuff. Do not touch the Star Tunnel.

01:05:53.62
Speaker
I mean, Disney, if you’re going to do anything, do not mess with the Star Tunnel. Like, I know i know there’s the whole thing about the you need to upgrade it and, you know you know you know, change visuals. No, leave that part of the queue when you’re coming down that ramp and the music and everything. That’s like that’s like hype time for…

01:06:15.32
Speaker
for Space Mountain. Like, that’s when you’re getting hyped for it. Especially if you got, if you get a, if you get a lighting lane and you’re coming down on the right side where, you’re going past everybody and, yeah you know you know, you’re beelining for the ride.

01:06:29.21
Speaker
Do not mess with the Star Tunnel. but but By the way, that whole area of where Dumbo is and Barnstormer, that’s all still Fantasyland. Is it? i thought I thought it was called its own thing. I mean, Fantasyland goes pretty far back. So, like, I mean, if you want to delineate it with, like, the Dumbo’s circus area, like, right after you pass Ariel, like, you get into that whole circus-y area. But it’s technically, according to maps, all still Fantasyland.

01:06:57.40
Speaker
Okay. done yeah Yeah. But, you know, for some reason, or I guess i think it I always split it out because in Disneyland, you have Fantasyland, and then at the back of it is Toontown, which is, like, clearly its own thing. And I always kind of look at the the ah the circus areas, like, it’s that same kind of thing where it’s, like, it it is its own area, but I guess it’s just, like, a mini…

01:07:20.76
Speaker
It’s a mini area inside of the larger fantasy land area. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. yeah That makes sense. ah Yeah. So I, listen, I, I’m market down now. There’s my regular reckless speculation that ah this they’re going to do. i believe they’re going to do this. This needs, it needs to be done.

01:07:37.08
Speaker
Uh, and, and I think everybody would agree that it needs to be done. They need to, they need to make it, you know, not be so rough and, uh, you know, modernize it. Uh, and, you know, even just, even just some of like, like you said, the trains are old, ah you know, the, I’m sure the control systems are pretty old at this point too, you know, like that’s always been a problem, you know? Again, it’s it’s a very similar system to the Matterhorn, which Matterhorn is like an… I think it was the first steel… Very first steel coaster, yeah. Steel tube coaster, yeah. So, like, it’s it’s an old, old system. It is. And that doesn’t make it wrong. It’s just…

01:08:11.69
Speaker
It makes it that, you know, it has a very specific feel to it. And I hope whatever they do that they don’t, like, I hope that they don’t talk about, like, doing it into a single bigger coaster or something like that. Getting rid of the dual track? Yeah, because, like, Disneyland is like that. It’s just a single track coaster. And it’s…

01:08:35.54
Speaker
It’s good. i actually, should sorry, shouldn’t say it’s good. it’s It’s really good, especially when they did the ah the Star Wars overlay stuff. It was fantastic. But I like the dueling coasters. I like the way that Space Mountain is structured right now. I hope they don’t mess with it.

01:08:51.22
Speaker
so yeah Yeah. yeah Honestly, I think this is going to happen. I think they’re going to i going to think they’re going to announce it in ah at d twenty three i think this is why this is popping up now, because D23 is about to happen, right? So…

01:09:04.76
Speaker
ah Yeah. Yeah. Let’s I listen. I you know my opinion on these things. I’m always for progress. Right. I’m yeah. yeah You know, like I said, I’m I’m 100 percent on board with things need change. Things need love to like, it you know, progress crop progress isn’t always changing it. Sometimes it’s just giving it some love and updating it, which. Yeah.

01:09:25.59
Speaker
um Yeah, i’m I’m here for too. Like I said, i they’re the the selfish part of me though is like, you know, don’t mess with the vibes I get from the Star Tunnel. Like, don’t know, whatever you do, Disney, like that that tunnel for me is like, every time I get in there, I’m excited. And because I know I’m getting on the ride in like, you know, ah minute. So yeah, now we just need a new figment.

01:09:48.23
Speaker
That’s all. Yeah, that that that’s one place where like, yeah, that that that is you’re right, that is a ride that if they said that they were doing a full overhaul of it, I would not be mad.

01:10:01.72
Speaker
But yeah Space Mountain, and the hard thing about Space Mountain is, honestly, it is a flagship ride, if you think about it. Like, it’s not, like, replacing it with an entirely net new ride system.

01:10:12.92
Speaker
I mean, to be fair, they just did that with um with Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. But I feel there would be a lot more blowback if they if they did it with Space Mountain.

01:10:25.02
Speaker
Like, ah yeah, I… and I don’t know. it’s It’s always that like weird place of like, you know, you know we we always get upset about like, well, don’t you dare change it. But then when it changes, like, oh, yeah, that’s good. And then, you know, you get far enough along and everyone kind of just adopts it as like the new thing. Right. But. yeah yeah yeah Yeah. Yeah. I tend to believe that they’re going to they’re going to redo it.

01:10:51.72
Speaker
They’re going to replace the track and leave the layout the way it is and make the outside of it much like cooler and more up to date. That’s what I think they’re going to do. Like, and just update some of the queue and stuff like that. so Smooth out the, smooth out the mountain. Yeah. Because it’s very, it’s very triangular right now. You know, you know, give it, yeah I look at the Tokyo Disney concept art and and like, it’s very like smooth and like flowing, right? Like I could see them doing something like that.

01:11:19.41
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. All right. Okay. I did look it up. the The area I was talking about, it’s called Storybook Circus. Ah. So that’s… But technically it’s still part of Fantasyland. It is. Yeah. it It is an area in Fantasyland, but it’s called Storybook Circus. And my head keeps wanting to call it Mickey’s Toontown Fair because that’s what it was called previously. But that’s not the same thing.

01:11:42.02
Speaker
All right. Yeah. Let’s, let’s, ah let’s um wrap this up. oh Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I think ah I enjoy a good reckless speculation every once in a Anytime I have an excuse to play that silly song. Yeah, it’s fine. And also good to talk about. I also like, you know, doing a,

01:11:58.90
Speaker
Yeah. Just recklessly speculating on stuff. I hope we can revisit this in August and be like, yeah, we we knew that there was this was part of a bigger thing. you know, it’ll be funny if it if it does come up at D23. Yes. Because I feel like they announced a lot of, like, new lands and stuff in the last year or so, but there’s…

01:12:19.13
Speaker
Yeah, I think I think their plan is going to be now they have like like the lands are in motion, like Monsters, Inc. and stuff like that. They’re going to start talking about like Renaults and stuff that are coming up.

01:12:30.47
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Which and not sorry, not just like Renaults, but like like, you know, you know, selling it as like, you know, hey, we’re improving Tomorrowland. Like, it’s not going to be just ah we’re redoing it. they’ll They’ll want to phrase it as we’re improving it.

01:12:43.48
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. They do need more palm trees, though. I will say that. I like the palm trees in Tomorrowland. love those. The electric palm trees.

01:12:54.40
Speaker
Anyway. Um, yeah. So I guess let’s wrap this up by starting with, uh, you know, if you guys want to reach out to us, you can always find us at welcome home podcast at gmail.com, or you can visit the website, welcome home podcast.co. Um, you can hit contact on, ah contact us on there and, you know, send us an email.

01:13:14.42
Speaker
You want to share trip reports or, um, You know, just talk about stuff you heard from the show. We love hearing from you guys. You can also find us on Facebook as Welcome Home Podcast. You find us on YouTube as Welcome Home Podcast. You can find us on Instagram as Welcome Home Picks.

01:13:29.66
Speaker
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01:13:44.34
Speaker
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01:13:58.65
Speaker
um And if you want to help support the show, you can go to store.welcomeonpodcast.co and check out our different merch there. If ah there’s something you would like to see ah in the store, drop us a line and yeah know we can see about adding things to the store. But you know I think we’ve got a pretty good selection of stuff on there right now.

01:14:14.17
Speaker
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01:14:44.31
Speaker
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01:15:19.58
Speaker
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01:15:46.62
Speaker
ah Join us next time for more Disney Parks discussion. Of course, more DVC talk. We hope to see you all real soon.