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Episode 330: Jason and I preview our trip this weekend to Walt Disney World! We discuss some of the latest news including the latest from Space 220, the 50th anniversary merch is here, and the new flavors at Club cool. The CEO of Disney made some more comments this week about guest yield and how much he loves the reservation system. Rise of the resistance is temporarily pausing the boarding groups but for how long? Jon and Jason both made trips to Six Flags over Georgia this month. We finally have everyone awake and ready to talk about their experience there. We of course can’t help but compare it to Disney and there’s some interesting findings that Jon and Jason report. Also, see if you can guess why there’s a breaking bad character in this episode’s featured image?

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Episode: 327. The hits just keep coming! This week we discuss the new and not at all confusing Disney World Annual Pass program. But first we discuss some of the other headlines of the week. Space 220 has an opening date of September 20th but we are still skeptical. The swan reserve is delayed yet again. Lightning lane “stickers” have been place on the old Fast Pass plus entrances at certain attractions. Living with the land was down for 2 weeks. The bright spot that we found in the news this week was that we are all looking forward to the Le Creperie de Paris opening. The menu sounds delicious! We wrap the show by going through the new naming convention for the annual pass program and what perks have been removed from the old program that will now be add-ons for an additional fee (Boo!).

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Episode 325: Disney finally let the Genie out of the lamp this week but is he working for Aladdin or Jafar? We break down what we think of the new paid fastpass service. Can we find a silver lining? We have known that this was coming for quite a while and now that it is here, we break down what we know about it. We are quick to say that it could certainly have been far worse in terms of the type of money grab that most people think that it is. That being said, we aren’t that happy with fastpass being a paid service now. We go through what attractions will be included in the lightning lane only upcharge for each park. Rumors are that there will be 2 attractions at each park that will require the per ride fee. We also, look at each park and decide would we pay the $15 per person fee for the Disney Genie+ service. Our answers might surprise you. In other news, I go through the list of construction projects and what we think will be the current opening time for each. We wrap up the show with a rapid fire of other news stories from the week.

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Episode 324: Today we recap the latest Disney news and Jason weighs in with his thoughts on the Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser announcements. We cover some other news like the first Boo Bash and what we think of it compared to the Halloween Party. Is it worth the hefty price tag? We also start talking about some of the recent job posting that Disney has been hiring for at Walt Disney World. Some of those include Monorail cast members and Skyliner cast members. That got us thinking, if we could have any cast member job at Disney…What would it be? We give some updates to the Scarlet Johannsen Disney legal battle and we reveal that we scored a passholder preview for Remy’s Ratatouille adventure at Epcot. We wrap up the show by hearing from Jason on if he think the Galactic Starcruiser is worth it.

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Episode 323: Jon and I are holding down the fort while Jason is on vacation. We cover the flood of Disney Parks news that is coming out these days. We have major details on the Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser. We break down the sample itinerary and the pricing that was released. Spoiler alert, it aint cheap. DVC members and Passholders are getting a preview of Ratatouille before the October 1st opening (another spoiler, I got my preview booked). Disneyland announced their new passholder program which will be called the Magic Keys. We also discuss some of the news surrounding the Scarlett Johansson lawsuit against Disney. Could Chapek have avoided this? After, the news we do one of our attraction deep dives. This time we are talking about Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster! It recently celebrated its 22nd anniversary on July 29th. We go through the history of this attraction and give our thoughts on what we think the future will be.

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Episode 322: I discuss my most recent trip to Walt Disney World to rekindle the magic. With all of the recent negative news about price hikes and money grabs I needed a good weekend at Walt Disney World to remind us why we love it so much. My weekend trip did just that! One of the often overlooked factors as to why Disney is so great is those special Cast Members that create magic for you. It may not happen every trip but in my experience there’s always at least one Cast Member that goes above and beyond to make a memorable experience for me. I tell about a few of those cast members that I came across this weekend. We do begin the Episode by discussing some of the news going on in the world of Disney. The big story of the week is the mask mandate returning for all guests indoors. This decision comes on the heels of the CDC guidance update in response to the delta variant. The Destination D23 event is already sold out but we preview some of the presentations and we can’t wait to hear from Josh D’amaro!

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Eposide 321: Today is episode 321 and we are counting down to…something. We’ll figure that out as we go. We discuss the Disney news of the week and Jon talks about his latest trip to the Philadelphia area where he made some stops at Sesame Place and Hershey. In the Disney news, the Epcot monorail is back! The Hall of President’s is re-opening next month. The Polynesian is slowly re-opening but not everything is fully operational yet. Food and Wine Festival is going and Jason gives us his ranking of the Epcot Festivals while Jon considers renaming Epcot to Efcot. Jon then walks us through his trip to Pennsylvania. He gives a review of Sesame Place and breaks down what he liked and didn’t like about the park. He also walks us through the other stops he made on his trip including a stop in Amish country and Hershey PA. I’ll be at Walt Disney World this weekend to see if I can recapture some of the magic that the recent news has zapped out of us. I’ll report back next week!

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Episode 320: We are back from our summer travels! We discuss the latest Disney news and rumors. This might sound like a bit of a downer episode because a lot of the news and rumors are frustrating to us. We spend time taking out our frustrations on Bob Chapek. However, I do have two Disney trips coming up soon so we are not slowing down our Disney travels! In some positive news, Fireworks are back! Ohana is now open and Christmas offerings have been announced. Other things that are returning include the Disney Dinning Plan and there was a Parkeology completion at Disneyland. The rumor that has us on edge is the rumor that the Disney Premier access that Disneyland Paris unveiled recently could be coming to Walt Disney World. This would replace the old Fast Pass Plus system. We hope this won’t happen at WDW because in Paris it will cost between 8-15 euros per-person per-ride. Time will tell so let’s stay positive!

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Episode: 319. We take a look at what is coming to Walt Disney World on their 50th Anniversary! We also cover some other news and we take a trip back to 1971 and we ask the question…What you rope drop at Magic Kingdom if you could go back to 1971? We also ask another interesting question, If you could go back to anytime during the 50 year history of Walt Disney World, what year would you choose to visit? That’s a tough question! In the news, Jon and I both saw Luca recently so we give our review of it. The Incredibles themed rooms at the contemporary look…nice. Harrison Ford is injured on the set of Indiana Jones 5 and the jungle cruise continues to add new scenes during their operating refurbishment. A fast pass kiosk was uncovered and turned on at Magic Kingdom so naturally it got people wondering if it is coming back. In Disneyland new, their Rise of the Resistance saw a record breaking number of boarding groups called. I was shocked when I saw the number. Can Hollywood Studios catch up to Disneyland’s numbers?

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Episode 318: Today we cover the rapidly evolving Disney park news! Covid restrictions are being rolled back faster than the launch at Rock n’ Rollercoaster. We highlight some notable ones like the monorail no longer has dividers as well as other attractions like Jungle Cruise. Distancing Markers are nowhere to be seen except for the impressions the left in the pavement. (Perhaps a little something to remember them by for years to come) In other new, Boo Bash is starting to sell out even though the price is higher and the experience is more limited than the Halloween Party was. With all of the things going back to normal, we point out the noticeable absence of Fastpass and it can’t help but make us wonder…is a paid system just around the corner? Perhaps the biggest news of the week is that Fireworks are coming back! You thought I was going to say that the noodles are back at Ohana, didn’t you? Those are back too, but FIREWORKS! I am very excited to see some Happily Ever After again! We wrap up the show by examining an article about what resorts to guests tend to repeat visit more than others. We look at each resort category and see which resorts rise to the top of the list.

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Episode: 312. Yeah, we waited 7 hours to ride the PeopleMover this week, but it was totally worth it! We were among the very first park guests to ride after being down for over a year. Jason and I recently returned from a trip to Walt Disney World where we got upgraded to the Grand Floridan. We enjoyed several trips to our favorite bars and lounges on property. We watched the Electric Water Pageant from our hotel room. We had one fantastic table service meals and one not so fantastic meal. We explored Tom Sawyer island and compared the experience to that of Rise of the Resistance….You’ll see what we mean. In the news we discuss the newest update to the Jungle Cruise and Disneyland is open once again! We talk about the latest Ride Every points challenge and the recent controversy surrounding it.

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Episode 311: Today we cover the recent news and preview our Disney trip this weekend! That’s right, Jason and I will be at Walt Disney World this weekend for a rare kid-free Disney experience. Disneyland could soon allow out of state guests and the reservations don’t seem to be filling up as quickly as expected. The famous uh, photo opp in the Morocco pavilion at Epcot has been modified. There been a price increase for custom light sabers at Savi’s Workshop. I also follow up on part of last week’s episode where I talked about the part of the Disney World property that Walt Disney himself actually set foot on. I actually found out more to this story. I discovered that the house is still on Disney property but it has just been moved to another location. Here is the link to the article. Jason and I will be in the parks this weekend most likely hitting up the bars and lounges. If you are in the parks this weekend let us know!

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Episode 310: We take a look back 50 years ago and discuss a few things at Walt Disney World that haven’t changed. (much) It was another slow news week, aside from the construction updates. We noticed updates to the Contemporary, Several things in Magic Kingdom are continuing to see a refresh, and Epcot has new things opening this summer. That’s right, club cool is returning as well as the new shop with a new name. Cast members can now show visible tattoos and wear visible jewelry and other accessories. Finally we get into our main topic…With the 50th anniversary looming we want to start peppering in some episodes dedicated to the occasion. We are starting by talking about a few things that were there over 50 years ago that are still around today. Some things have changed a little and others haven’t changed at all. Let us know if there’s anything you think we should talk about that we didn’t include on our list.

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Episode 309: Today Jon and I discuss some of the top headlines of the week and then we go through Jon’s trip report to Legoland and a park-less trip to Disney at Art of Animation. You can now go mask less for outdoor photos at Walt Disney World. There’s some more delays on Disney Cruise line. Josh D’Amaro teased some new technology coming to the Disney parks as well as a working retractable light saber?!?!? I can’t wait to find out more about that! We get into Jon’s trip report and he walks us through is experience at Legoland. It was a mixed bag of long waits but good service and food that was included with his stay. Next he stayed a few days at the Art of Animation resort to check out the newly refurbished Little Mermaid rooms. He got to have a day at the big blue pool the day that it re-opened. He also had a good meal at Art Smith’s Homecomin’ and an unforgettable dinner at the California Grill. (Recently voted by us as the best thing at Walt Disney World) He capped it all of with Dole whips at the Polynesian and some great Disney cast interaction that reminds us why Disney is still a step above when it comes to service!

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Episode 308: Today we finalize our 2021 March madness bracket and crown the champion of what believe is currently the best thing at Walt Disney World. Last week we started with 64 things in 8 different categories and we narrowed that down to 32. Today Jon joined us live from Walt Disney World from the business center of Art of Animation resort as we work to narrow down the top 32 all the way to the champion! Was Jon swayed by some of the things he experience on his trip this week? You be the judge! Oh, and look for his Orlando trip report next week. Let us know if you agree or disagree with our pick for this year’s champion as the best thing at Walt Disney World. I think we even surprised ourselves this year!

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Episode 307: It’s time for our annual Disney march Madness bracket! This year we are going to determine the best thing about Walt Disney World! We have categories ranging from Park Icon’s to Signature Restaurants and everything in-between. Before we get to that we do discuss the big new story of the week. The Disneyland concept art that everyone went crazy over this week. While it looks cool we have to take it for what it is….a concept. We hope that some day an expansion to Disneyland can happen but we know in reality that it will be a challenge to get anything built any time soon…for a number of reasons. Ok, back to our Disney World bracket. We have 8 categories of items that we believe make Walt Disney World great. We are going to narrow this list down to one championship winner that will be crowned “The best thing about Walt Disney World! Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion but also tune in this week to hear the exciting round one matchups!

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Episode 306: We interviewed our kids about what they love about Disney! Before we get to that we start by covering the big news of the week. The big story of the week is that Disneyland in California finally has a re-opening date! April 30, 2021 Disneyland will be open after an entire year of being closed. There will be some new things to see and do once the park re-opens. Snow White’s Enchanted Wish will debut and Disney is reporting that the Haunted Mansion has also gotten some upgrades. Meanwhile, over at Walt Disney World, Spaceship Earth is receiving some new nighttime lighting effects. Annual Passholders will be getting two (2) magnets in the mail this time. Alright, lets get to the main event…We interviewed our kids (and one best friend) for this episode, 6 in total! We start with the youngest and work our way up to the oldest. Our kids range in age from 2 years to 7 years old. We get a wide variety of responses and rabbit trails but we did manage to get some answers to a very pressing question…Are the Rafts a ride? You know how we feel about it but what do our kids think? We also asked the about the monorail, the skyliner and what their favorite rides are…All in all we had a great time laughing and enjoying what our kids had to say. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

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Episode 304: Today we play a game of Would you rather? Disney Edition! We came up with several scenarios with varying levels of weirdness they we have to choose between. We had fun coming up with difficult choices to try and stump each other with. So look for choices that include rafts, skyliner, monorail and fastpass! Before we get into all of the fun we do go over some news stories for the week. There isn’t a whole lot to report but there’s always construction updates to give from Walt Disney World and even Disneyland has some to report. Let’s hope that they Taste of Disney event out there will help give the Californians a much needed Disney fix! It also looks like Disney is looking for a hotel manager for the new Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser. Speaking of Cruises, the Disney Cruise line is cancelling more sailings through most of the summer.

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Episode 297: Today we say our goodbye’s to 2020! We also do some predictions about the next 10 years and what attractions do we think will see major changes and which ones won’t see much at all. We do discuss some of the latest news also like, we totally spoil the ending of Mandalorian season 2 so if you are the person that hasn’t seen it yet…ye’ve been warned. We also discuss the news of Snow White’s Enchanted Wish being revealed at Disneyland. This episode ended up being a little all over the place but we really enjoyed making it. We hope you all have a safe and happy new year…Here’s to 2021!

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Episode 296: We discuss the latest Disney parks news but we focus a lot of attention on the plethora of new content coming to Disney+ over the next few years. (Along with a price hike). The roller coasters at WDW are starting to fill every row now and the parks are still feeling as crowded as ever even though the attendance is at 35% of capacity. However, as we discuss, 35% is not that far off from regular attendance at non-peak times. The Electric Water Pageant is making it’s return this week! We go through each of the Disney IP’s that are adding a lot of content to Disney+ and some to theaters. Star Wars is adding a lot of new shows and a movie or two as it rides the success of the Mandalorian.