DCA Turns 25, We Get Soaked on Tiana’s… and Tim Goes to D23

00:00:15Hey guys, it's Tim and welcome to episode 129 of the Dreaming of Disney podcast and I am with my beautiful wife TikTok * Adrianne. That's not true, but OK. Hey, you got a pretty cool little community going on. Wonderful community going on here. I absolutely do they. Show up every Sunday night for our podcast. She is Famous Daisy. Cowgirl, that is so incredibly not true. Hey, we were live streaming from the parks and we had people be like, hey, we see you. Well, that. Doesn't mean I'm famous, it means that they saw from behind us that we were live on TikTok. But they they still interacted

00:00:59with us and they were thought that was cool. I did. Oh, who was it? Oh my gosh, It wasn't Main Street News. Who was it? Oh, shoot. But they were. He was like, I think I saw you guys last Saturday it. Was fast pass. Radio, it was fast pass radio. But yeah, oh, real quick before we get into what we're going to do, I told you last night, but I couldn't remember the fact. So we have a friend that comes into our lives on TikTok, Logan. He is AVIP tour guide in Walt Disney World. And he said a fact the other day about the popcorn cart stand cart at the entrance of Magic

00:01:40Kingdom. Yes, or. Like the last one? Yep, either the 1st or last one depending on if you're coming or going. And I couldn't remember so he came in earlier and I asked him. It makes just that one popcorn stand. Popcorn or churro? You said Churro. No, last night I said churro, but I meant popcorn. It makes more sense. That's popcorn. Popcorn. And Disney World, that one Popcorn. Can you see my paper? No, I can't. How much do you think that one popcorn stand at the entrance of Magic Kingdom makes in a year?

00:02:09$1 million. 5 million. In a year. Dollars in a year? Wow. Enough to keep Walt Disney World employed like the employees employed. That's crazy. Isn't that crazy anyways? That's. Crazy how many times was I stopped in Disney World or Disneyland? None. None that would be, I thought when I was there on my solo trip, I, I was walking, I was, I was live streaming and I was walking by someone and someone said, thank you so much for your, your PO or your car or for streaming. And I was like, oh, she thought I was someone else.

00:02:56Like you do all the food reviews, right? And I was like, Oh no, but thank you. Thanks. No, I don't. I don't. So anyways. So we just got back from our Disney trip. We were there Super Bowl weekend and it was crazy busy would. You say crazy. Busy. It was pretty busy it. Was pretty busy. It was really, I mean, we've gone when it's been busier, but for quote UN quote off peak, that was crazy. That was really busy. I mean, like the big rides, we're always over an hour, although, you know, we did

00:03:40really well with with Lightning Lane. We got, we were able to do everything that we wanted to do. Yeah, we actually did in Disneyland and California Venture. We did all the Lightning Lane rides I believe. Yeah, No, we got to a point. So we, we got there, we left like later in the morning. We didn't leave like early in the morning to have a full day, try to get a full day. The first day, we were only planning on going in, you know, that evening. Well, let's just start with that first. Let's start off with the fact that we found out or realized that Disneyland California Adventure was celebrating their

00:04:2125th anniversary while we were there. Yeah, like the week before. That's when Disney is decided to announce, like the week before, that they're doing the 25th anniversary Super Bowl Sunday. Yes, Super Bowl Sunday. I know. Sorry, I'm just now I'm distracted. Melanie, I know she just learned that Disneyland has the most rides of any Disney park and DCA is third. I know that's what I tell people I'm and as of as a whole, like as resorts. OK, let's take the Disneyland Resort. I'm getting off on a tangent, but I'm going. To do it, I'll get back to it. Disneyland Resort, So that

00:05:01includes Disneyland and California Adventure and then Disney World Resort. So Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom. There are only about I think I'm and I don't know the exact I can't remember. I have looked it up. I think Disney World has like 5 more rides and that could be attraction because whenever you look it up, when I look it up and I try to figure it out, I would have to go through and weed out what are actually rides, what are actually shows. And I'm not I'm not going to do that you guys. So some of those are more considered attractions in Disney World and we may not have them here in Disneyland.

00:05:41But like for the size of Disney World, it actually doesn't have that much that many more rides as it's going to have more restaurants. But also everything is way more spaced out. So that helps it feel not so crowded, but it also makes the lines higher wait times because, and this, I'm just throwing a number out. I'm not saying this is exact, but let's say Animal Kingdom. Oh, you only have 4 big rides where Disneyland you've got like 2050. I mean, again, I'm just throwing numbers out. I'm not saying those are exact, but obviously those four rides are going to have much longer wait times than Animal Kingdom because that's all anyone has to

00:06:19do. OK, moving on. OK, nice little tangent. Thank you. So you know I love DCADCA sometimes doesn't get. I. Love and I love DCA and I went a few months after it opened for, you know, I didn't realize it at the time I was in high school, but like I remember the original, oh, we don't have the map. Not that the podcast would care, but so I was really excited about that and sorry, and that day we did have reservations. Can I turn towards you a little more here? No. You're not really. OK. And so I was excited about that.

00:07:01And our reservation was for California Venture that day. So they also had, I think we talked about it on the podcast, The Popcorn Bucket, which is the Mickey's pal around, Pixar pal around. Mickey fun wheel. Is it the Mickey fun wheel? I think it's Pixie Pixie. Pixie the Reds now called the Pixar pal around, but it's called the Mickey Fun Wheel before. That OK, It's the Ferris wheel. It lights up. And so I'm not a huge popcorn bucket person. You have some Star Wars ones. But I was like, I want that. But we're worried about selling out because also the 25th anniversary was only being celebrated from like the 8th to

00:07:44the 15th. So Friday morning before we left our house we mobile ordered it because we knew we were going to have dinner in the park that night. Oh no way someone on on Tiktok she was there too. Well, you're in the right place because we're talking about it tonight is. That the one with the swinging Ferris wheel? Yes, yes, it is Wheel of death, babe. You can't see that. On to TT. No, I'm sorry. Sorry, guys. I'm sorry. So we mobile ordered it. We got there, took us a long time because we hit some major traffic.

00:08:16It took us quite a bit longer than. Two hours that it usually takes. Yeah, about hour, maybe. Yeah, hour and a half hour and a half to two hours longer than it usually takes. But yes, we were too. Autumn when? So when when it opened, they had cast members lining the streets, waving and clapping and handing out. Hold on, hold on, You were talking about? I'm just saying it real quick. OK. I'm gonna stop looking at the chat, I'm sorry. You're talking about mobile ordering the bucket. So we got it. That's that was my point. We got it.

00:08:54We mobile ordered it when we were hours away. Every day it was selling out like, 'cause they have like how many they have for each day. And we had got people like, oh, where'd you get that? Where'd you get that? And told them where I was like, Oh yeah, I keep selling out. We can't find it. So there was a couple of places within DCA that you can mobile order the popcorn bucket and so we decided to mobile order it from Boardwalk Pasta, pizza and pasta it. Was one of our favorite places to eat anyway. And we mobile, so I mean, we didn't leave, we didn't leave home until like 10:30 in the morning that Friday. And so we mobile ordered it

00:09:38that. Morning for. Like 7:00 PM, like even though we're like hours away from the park, I was like let's just do it. And we were able to go walk up. I got it within 5 minutes. Whereas people were waiting in lines for hours. Oh my gosh, I saw a line on Sunday. Mobile Order. I saw a line on Sunday that was so long, like it was going down, like all down the pier, like Pixar pier. So I was really glad that we just got that over with because I was worried about. Food at Disneyland, you know that they're popular, they're on IG. Are they on TI?

00:10:16Don't know if they're on TT but they're they're pretty popular in IG and he he mobile ordered mobile ordered it from the popcorn stand next to Sauron and said it took him over an hour just to get it just to mobile order it. I don't think he is. But but yeah, it was wow, it was crazy. So yeah, it's really cool. You haven't. No, it's back there. I can't move. I'm stuck. Well, podcast people can't see it, but you can see it. Oh, we haven't, we did. We need to make a post about it 'cause we got like footage of it when we got it. So we we'll, we'll post something.

00:10:52We got home Tuesday and it has been a very busy week. We had other events this week and so it's been, we've been like non-stop. So anyways, we'll, we'll get to it. But so yeah, so Friday we just went in for dinner and I don't even know if we did any rides. Did we do anything? In California, I. Think I think we did like jumping jellyfish and we. Did something else I forgot? I'm trying to see but it was just you know. We stayed at Pixar Place, so first time we've stayed up. When it was, what was it called? Paradise Pier. Paradise Pier before that multiple times, multiple times and first time you stayed up

00:11:45when you went on your soul trip, you stayed on it first time by yourself, first time as a family that we've gone. I love it. It's it's so cool. I love the theming. I love like the modern kind of classic Pixar feel to it. And the decorations are great. The rooms are great. Yeah, I thought I thought was really cool. So I know what we did. Oh, yeah. OK, one thing real quick about that, since we're on the hotel, the rooms are a little smaller than like Disneyland hotel rooms. We noticed that. I mean, they're still really nice, like and also they don't have a tub, it's just a shower.

00:12:25So if you have like a little kid that doesn't like showers, that could be a challenge for you because they only have a shower. The elevators have always been an issue there, but we didn't have too bad of an issue with it this time. I think it's because of early entry being gone. Yes. OK. So we need to talk about that. So. Well, hang on, let me finish Friday night. OK, so the pool is up on the 3rd floor on the roof at Pixar Place, so you can see the fireworks from there. They did say that they streamed in the music, but I just think it wasn't working 'cause you could hear it over from

00:12:58Disneyland Hotel. So 'cause it was really faint. But if it would have been louder, that would have been a nice 'cause we're like, let's go do that. Like we don't want to have too late of a night tonight, you know? It's just like going in for a bit. I got some ice cream at Salt and Straw in Downtown Disney and it was fantastic. It was fantastic. But they have like games out there. They have like shuffleboard and like chess. They didn't have a lot of the things out that night, but then another well. I think they take it out, they they put it, put it all away in

00:13:29the evening. Yeah. But if like for the fireworks, it would be kind of nice if they had a little more out there. But anyways, the pool was closed while we were there, but you could still go out. They have like a cornhole and shuffleboard and. Fire pits. Fire pits and you know, a little quick service there. So that's a lot nicer than what it was. Paradise Pier. It was just the pool. I don't even remember. There, No. Yeah, there wasn't a splash pad. There was a slide. Yes, there was a slide. Oh, pool. Pool is pretty small.

00:14:01But it wasn't actually, it did get kind of warm when we were there, but it wasn't like Florida where you could swim all year round like it, it was it, it was OK, this is, you know, February, but then, OK. So early entry. So we no longer have early entry if you stay on property at Disneyland, which was a bummer. Bummer is an understatement. So the first morning and I don't know. OK, so this was Saturday. So this was the day before the Super Bowl, the day before California Adventures 25th anniversary. That was the 8th. This on Sunday, this was Saturday. We were going to Disneyland. What we noticed, what time did

00:14:48we leave the room? OK, we left at 7:00. We left our room at 7:00, 'cause we were like, what is it we were? Ahead of schedule we were. Ahead of schedule. 'Cause we're used to early entry. I think the kids are just getting older and so it's easier. We don't have to be on them as much about getting ready, like they get ready. And so like what we immediately noticed was there was like no line of security at 7:00. So this is seven O 7 my video. We're walking up to security. Normally you would have people lined up from Pixar Place and from Disneyland Hotel. No line.

00:15:29Yes, because security opens up at 7 and but. People are usually lining up before that for early entry. For early entry, but yeah, but yeah, now there's no early entry, so people don't have an incentive to line up for that. And so we were like, oh, this is like, this is interesting. Like, what is this going to be like? And then walking through Downtown Disney, it was not like there was not as many people as normal like. It was busier the other days in the morning. You're getting to that. OK, get to. That when we get to tomorrow or the next day, I mean Sunday and then even once we got into Disneyland, we were like up

00:16:07against like we went, we were going to rope drop Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones, which we've never done, but we were like, let's try something a little different. We don't like we don't have early entry. Rise is closed. We're getting splash, splash, we're getting lightning lane. So we can always get a selection for Space Mountain, where usually a selection for Space Mountain is earlier where Indiana Jones Lightning lane times get it's harder to get pushed out those those are more popular. So I was like, why don't we try getting, Why don't we try rope dropping Indiana Jones? And that way we can get a lightning lane early for Space

00:16:50Mountain and then we can start churning because we were going to stack for later in the day. But then we remember that you had to leave the park around 2:30 or three to go to the panel. And so I was like, sure, or stacking for later in the day won't work because you're not going to be with us. So let's churn. So you we went and we were like up almost to the rope. Like there were not that many people this day at rope drop. Well, at this time, so we were. By the time I met at there's a whole other issue I like. I had some issues with their with their tickets and our passes so I had to go to guest services but by the time I got to you guys, which was like 5

00:17:33minutes before opening, it was pretty crowded. So we're walking up to Adventureland at 7:33 and there's, you know, maybe what 20-30 people like. Not not bad. But then, yeah, by the time, yeah, it was packed. So I decided with Indiana Jones, if you are a worlder and you've never been to Disneyland, even when you have a Lightning Lane, it's a long line. Yeah, like it it. It's still just. It's just how the the cue is made on that ride. It's like it's just so no, even if you had Lightning Lane, you're still even with Lightning Lane, you're waiting at least 20 minutes. Yeah, yeah, even with Lightning

00:18:16Lane, it's just the way that that line is made. Yeah, so I decided I don't really need to 'cause our daughter isn't going to ride it, right? She technically she can. I is it 40 inches? I think it is. I believe so. Or is it 42? Anyways, she OK, but she no way. No way. So I'm like, you know what? I don't want to take up the time to do it honestly, like him. And I want to do a trip in the next couple of months. Just us. It's taller. OK. I thought maybe it was like 42 or so, So maybe she can't. But even if she could, no way.

00:18:52So I was like, you guys go, I'll take her on Jungle Cruise. We were the first, we, we were like the third people on the boat. We were on the first boat. So if you ever want to get on a ride fast in Disneyland, rope drop Jungle cruise. But so we went on that and then we they were still, they were close, but we seriously, we walked right on the boat like we didn't stop. We were on the first boat, yeah. And so they were. Like it took us about 2025 minutes. It wasn't. It wasn't. Bad, Yeah. Oh, 46 Oh, OK, 46 inches for Indiana Jones. OK, good to know.

00:19:35You so you guys were almost on, but I was like, well, I'll take her over to Fantasyland and even by then, like one she was like getting all scared on Jungle Cruise. I'm like, girl, you have been on this so many times. Like what in the world? So fantasyland we were walking in at 816 you guys we did the carousel, we walked on Dumbo, we waited like 10-15 minutes and everything else except for Peter Pan. So even a little after rope drop like if you have littles like. Rope dropping fantasyland is oh, it's a good way to go. It's the best thing to do because you you bust out all those rides because all the all the families with little kids usually come in, you know, you

00:20:28know, around noon time or later morning and it gets crazy busy. But if you can do it at rope drop and you can bust out all fantasyland within half an hour to an hour. Yeah, so we we did that and then we met up and did Mickey and Minnie's and still that wasn't a long line. Then we just let the kids play in in Toontown. Lobster what? Friends. What friends? Well, from the show, that sounds familiar. Phoebe says it. OK. Phoebe says it about like, you know, lobsters mate for life. Right. And then? She says it, and she says it

00:21:10about Rachel. Going on a tangent while you're on TT. Rachel and Ross, what's what's when they like finally, that's right. And then she's like, these are lobster. That's right. But oh, I think we've got Lightning Lane. Did we get Lightning Lane for many and many as I think that was our first lightning lane choice but the wait was only 10. Minutes, but we were like we. Were like, well we've got lightning lanes so yeah, just walked right on. And yes, I know Disney Cowgirl rises back open yesterday or two. Days ago Friday. Have you heard anything about

00:21:47it? Not that I know of is I think it was just kind of like cosmetics, you know, they were like repainting a lot of some of the stuff and. Did they fix the cannons? Well, they already had fix the. Cannons, but I think they're acting up again. But yeah, this we let our we let our big, our two oldest go and go do some Galaxy's Edge stuff while the little 2 played in the play area. I took our youngest son on Gadget Coaster. We did small world my favorite. I love it so much. A friend on TikTok, Tiffany. I can't wait. Last time I went there barely building. Oh, like in Galaxy's Edge?

00:22:31Oh nice. Oh, you'll have so much fun. You'll have so much fun. And then, OK, hang on. No pictures, but yeah, we so we got Mickey and Minnie's and then I think we went and did like either Star Tours or Space Mountain or something like. We did. We wanted Tomorrowland. We like. We were churning. We were churning really well. We did Star Tours. We didn't do Space Mountain that day for some reason. We did it the other day the next time. No, we did. I just I did it. Oh, you did? I didn't. I went on it.

00:23:00Then the last. Day. That's right. That's right. Yeah, me and the boys went. So oh, that's right. And then we ate. Oh, so I had at Tiana's Place Palace, Place Palace, Palace Palace, the Beignet spicy chicken sandwich. Oh yeah, something. Like that, it's like a Buffalo sauce, which I am not a huge Buffalo sauce fan, but it was good. It was spicy. It was spicy, but it came with like a baked Mac and cheese side that was really good. So if you like Buffalo, if you like spicy, if you like beignets, this was a good sandwich.

00:23:38I had like coleslaw and. It was really good. No, I realized that this whole trip I think I for lunch, I think I had chicken strips like every single day, which. And one of the times I think you got a kids meal. I one of the times I'd at Pym's Tess Kitchen, I got a kids meal because I wasn't really hungry. I was kind of like, by the end of our trip, I was kind of like, I'm bloated, I can't eat anymore. But. It happens. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I had chicken strips because one, they're cheap and it's like I just didn't feel like anything else and but Golden. Is it golden? It's not Golden Corral.

00:24:21Horseshoe Corral always mix up the name of this. Golden Horseshoe. Golden Horseshoe. Something like that. It's. The same one they had at the royal window at Pirates? I don't know. I never had that one. But anyways, they have they not have like this sauced version of chicken strips. So you can get them like, you know, covered in different sauces. And so I got the hot honey chicken strips. It was really good. Like it was like if you ever been to Chili's, if you ever been to Chili's and got the honey Chipotle chicken and crispers, it's like the exact

00:25:05same thing but Disneyland version and it is it's really good. So if you like chicken strips and you like the sauces, you want to, you know, change it up a little bit is really good. I did get somewhere else. Oh flows. So this isn't the next day hang. On I'm going to turn off the filter because Sprinkles isn't here to make fun of you and oh, you're getting my eyelashes. OK, there we go the next day and and DCA we went to flows and they had a teriyaki one not as good. So just in case you know, but yes, I I ate like a 5 year old. This entire trip, that's OK. Their chicken strips are good. They're good. And the boys wanted them like

00:25:53every time. And yeah, so then we did the Mark Twain. My daughter really wanted to go on the Mark Twain or the pirate ship. She wanted to go on either one. And the Mark Twain was coming up next. So you and two of the boys went on because again, we, as soon as we checked into whatever, I think it was Star Tours. It was Star Tours. I think it doesn't matter. I hate when they get rid of good food. Right we were. We turned another one. So we we got a a Big Thunder Mountain for a little farther so we could go get lunch. Got lunch. You were taking the boys and I

00:26:31took our daughter and then our oldest who got stuck with having to come with me the second time on Big Thunder and we did the Mark Twain, which is like a fun little rest, you guys. If it's hot though, we've done it when it's hot and like. There's like no shade if you're on if you're on the top. Yeah, if we, we, our daughter didn't want to go upstairs. She wanted to stay on the bottom. But it was it was it was nice just to like sit and relax. And then after watching last night, we watched the Disney documented Disneyland handcrafted and watching them build it. I was like, we were just on that and like, it's the same one. I mean, yes, I'm sure they've

00:27:10done. They've added things. They've had to repair it and stuff, but like it was just really cool. It was like we were just on that and they are like building it like it was, it was cool. But one thing we were like, Oh my gosh, when we were watching it last night is when they first opened, they did not have a railing on the on the 1st floor in the front of the in the front of the ship or boat Mark riverboat. On the boat. It was just a rope and it wasn't even all the way across. It was like on the sides. So people are like standing on the edges and yeah, so. It's crazy time back then, I know.

00:27:49But it was, it was cool to watch that last night and be like, I was just on that and like, here they are building it and like, it's the same thing. And like, that's what I mean with like history. I mean, yes, there's history in Disney World too, but this just includes history with, you know, Walt Disney. But anyways, oh, so this was a first for us. So once again, once again, we none of our kids wanted to go on Tianas. So last summer when we were there, none of our kids wanted to go on Tianas. None of our kids love getting wet. I bring ponchos. You guys, I am not one of those ones that like you shouldn't.

00:28:28You're going on a water ride. You should. You're going to get wet and like get irritated when people wear ponchos. There are people with sensory issues. There are people that love the ride, but maybe they have a problem being wet. That's OK. They can wear a poncho. Sometimes I don't wear a poncho. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I just did my hair and you guys, I wash my hair once or twice a week. I don't want to do my hair again, so I'm wearing a poncho. Sometimes I will. It's in the winter and I love that ride and in California it's cold and I don't want to be drenched and cold.

00:28:58I might wear a poncho. So like stop judging people that wear ponchos is what I'm saying. So I will not first OK so we were like we want to go on this ride. I want to go on Tiana's. I was like we could do single rider but we wanted to go together. Our oldest 2 are old enough to watch. Yes yes dizzy cowgirl back off. I just saw a post about like he was getting all mean about people doing the ponchos and like one of our sons sensory issues. He hates getting wet but he likes that ride. So like he wears A poncho and then he's OK with riding the ride. Yes, Les, Les says.

00:29:42Stephanie welcome in. Steph says he's not he's he's not a small person. And your daughter and you sat in the front row. Tiana's was a submarine. Yes. So after some coaxing with a lollipop. So many lollipops, that's. True. So many lollipops. We convinced our daughter to let her older brothers watch her while we went on Tiana's together. It was like a whole new world. It was amazing. And I knew because at first she was like, no, mommy, I want mommy. And I was like, you're fine, You know, Jack. I was like, I told her oldest,

00:30:19let her watch Bluey on your phone. Get her to watch Bluey. We give her a lollipop, She's good. OK, let's go. And then she. Let us and then she let us do it a few more times in the trip, but this was the first time. And so we get up to it and, and I see, I can see who where he's putting people and I'm like, Oh my gosh, we're going to get the front. We're going to get the front. And so he asks though the cast members like, OK, one and two, unless you want the back. And I was like, let's go for it. I had a poncho. I had a poncho. Yolo. And I was.

00:30:49Yolo. To someone who wants it, someone always wants it. Yes, yes. So yes, we said we're like, you know, you want him to take you on poo. And at that point she didn't want to. So we were like, OK, just stay here. And she was fine. And we had a lightning lane, so we weren't like in line that long. We were in the front row. One and two. I haven't been in the front row in a very long time. I have never been in the front row. Yes, you have. I have. OK, well, not the front row, but

00:31:21you've been in two. OK, because our our very first trip when we after we got married, it was Splash Mountain, but we were in one and two. I have pictures because I got a wave over my head and I got drenched head to toe and I was wearing tighter jeans and I was very uncomfortable for the rest of the day. So people have said like, oh, I think Tiana's you get more. More what? And there's some people that say, no, it's the same I, we, we. Several times if I wouldn't have been wearing a poncho, well, even I was wearing a poncho, several times it went over my head. The the. The like at least three.

00:32:04The drop that's inside the ride, so not the the main drop, the drop at the end. The drop is in the middle when you're like when you shrink down. Yeah, in the dark. That splash is way bigger than the one at the very end. Like you know, you go, you go down and you go up the hill and then you come down again. Like I saw the water go over our head it like. It and I had to take my poncho and like roll the water because I had like puddles of like a pool of water in my poncho. And that happened multiple type, like at least three, if not four times because it two big ones, two big ones. So I was so grateful that I had a poncho because even though I

00:32:53don't mind getting wet on some right, I would have been, it would have looked like I jumped in a pool, like I would have been completely drenched. Like I had my, I had my backpack like on my lap, like on my chest, like in front of me. And there was like an outline of my backpack when we got off. It's like everything else was drenching wet except where my backpack was. And everything in my, not everything in my, in my backpack was wet, but my backpack was like drenched. Yeah, yeah. But I've never, I've never gotten that wet on that ride, ever. Yeah, but it was cool because we got to go and our oldest watched our youngest and she allowed it.

00:33:36Yes, she allowed it. You heard me right. Is she in charge? Kind of. Oh, that's a good idea Disney cowgirl. I always switch to Crocs before I go on. That is a good We are talking about Tiana's in Disneyland. We were in one and two rows, one and two that is. I don't have any Crocs Gina, but I might buy some just for Tiana's. But it was. I love it. I love it. I mean, I miss Splash, but I do. I still love the ride. So it was after that that I you left. I left. I parted a ways because I needed

00:34:15to go check in for the DCA panel, which was AD 23 Spotlight series, which was to go into detail about the opening and the the conception of DCA for the 25th anniversary. And so it was at the Disneyland Hotel. And so, yeah, so I have a lot of notes about this. We might need to do in just another podcast about it. Yeah. Maybe next week is about it. Yeah. I may just go through some of like the highlights, but maybe next week we can go into detail about because it there it was, it was 1 panel with two parts. So, so anyways, so I took the monorail back to these to Disneyland hotel and I didn't think my shoes were wet.

00:35:09But by the end I was like, my feet feel like really cold. And when I got back to the hotel afterwards, like my feet were like drenched. But so, so, yeah, so they, the D-23, it was sold out and you got a special lanyard. So there's two different packages you could get, you could get just the panel only where you get a lanyard and a special commemorative Disney pen, Disney trading pen. Do you have it the? So I did not go to this just in when I I had the kids in the park still. So, so we got that and the lanyard. I don't know where is the lanyard? I think it might be in my back. Go ahead, Alex.

00:35:56Yes, we have we have been to Disneyland Paris about 8 years ago and we were only there for half a day. But we, we would love to go again 'cause we, you know, all I'll say is what I remember is that Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris, hands down the best space mountain we've. Ever experienced? Amazing. It's amazing. Amazing. OK, continue the Imagineer who concept. Conceptualized. Conceptualized that Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris was. Oh, really? He. He came up with the the concept for the entrance.

00:36:29He was a concept designer for DCA, so yeah. So, so yeah. And the the other package, you could get the panel plus the dessert party at World of Color for that night. So you didn't have to buy a park ticket. You got to go into World of Colour that night and get the do the dessert party in addition to the panel, which I didn't do because we were already there, but. If we didn't have kids, Yeah. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Back up, back up. What did you just say? We could have done the dessert party. Wait. What?

00:37:09Yeah, wait. No, no. Oh, just you could have. No, it was a. It was. There's two different packages there was the panel only. Oh, OK. And then the other package, which was more expensive was the panel plus the world of color dessert dessert party for. That you didn't. Have to have a park ticket to go. You got escorted into DC. OK, I thought I was. I wasn't really listening when you were first talking. Such as life. So anyways, so the, I'm not going to go into full detail about the panel because there's lots of great Nuggets from this,

00:37:50but the, the history of DCA and, and how things came about, which I thought was really interesting. So it was all about the history. They didn't go into anything about what's coming. They didn't go into Avatar. They didn't go into, they touched on Avengers Campus a little bit, but they showed some concept artwork from those two new additions coming. They were very strict about no cameras, very strict about no recording 'cause there was a lot of concept art that's never been released to the public. So they're cracking down on that. So don't have anything to share from that, but I did take lots and lots of notes. So it was broken into two parts.

00:38:37So the the first half the panel was the the imagineers who conceptualized DCA when it first opened in 2001. And then the second panel, second part where the Imagineers who reimagined DCA, which feels bad because the the first panel are going about all like the the ideas and and concepts that went into DCA and how much thought and effort they went into it. And the second Imagineers came in and changed everything. Everything and like honestly like made so much of it better. But but when they were explaining like the idea and the concepts, you said, oh, that makes sense and that's pretty cool. So the the first panel was, I'll name off the names here was Barry Braverman who was the

00:39:30executive who helped shape the original version of Disney California Adventure. Tim Delaney who was the concept designer of DCA. Rick Rothschild was the show producer for Sauron and Condor Flats Door. Flats. Greg Emmer, who was a show producer who helped build Grizzly Peak. Kathy. Kathy Magnum, who was executive producer of DC as original Made in California experiences. I don't remember that. So that's because it didn't last very long 'cause it got replaced by Bugs Land. Then maybe I never even went to it. So, so real brief. So Michael Eisner was the CEO at

00:40:22the time and he, he wanted to expand Disneyland and they wanted to make it more as make Disneyland more like a resort like Disney World. So that involved adding another park. And so they went on it. He invited Imagineers, creative executives, concept artists, all on a retreat to Aspen in the summer of 1995. Aspen. Our pets heads are falling off. A little place A. Little. Place called. ASPN So he said, you know, let's get together and let's come up with an idea and whatever idea, we're going to come up with one idea out of this. And they came out without, they came well, with four.

00:41:16One was a aquatic theme park that was going to be modeled after Long Beach Route 66, a seasons slash holidays type park that would different, like that different part, different lands, you know, represent different seasons, different holidays of the year. And then California. And and so California was picked because it had all like the different elements of of something that they want to do, like a smaller Hollywood Studios nostalgic beachfront amusement park and things made in California. Yeah. And so I. Think it's fantastic? The the park was, I love it was themed after the California dream.

00:42:11So you know, the aspirational history of California people coming, not just the scenery, but the innovation and invention of people who live here. So they go into a little bit about that. What was really interesting, they wanted a lot of detail about the entrance of DCA and how much thought and conception went into that. What? Do you want to make this an extra? A separate podcast. Well, I just want to touch on this and then I'm going to skip ahead. OK, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, go ahead. Touch on this.

00:42:48OK, so they they, they now you made me lose my train of thought. I'm sorry, now you know how I feel with everybody's comments making me lose my train of thought. I'm just kidding. So I love your comments. A couple of ideas that they were going to make the entrance. They wanted to make it like you're entering into a freeway and they're like, no. That's. That's not a good idea. Let's not do that. Another idea was a Redwood forest, the walk in through like a Redwood forest, but they couldn't do it because they didn't have the budget or the time to do it. Oh.

00:43:28Yeah, that I'm sure would have been if they would have been real trees. Too. Oh, and when they when they decided to build the California adventure, they they set parameters around them building it because they only had three years to build it. Really. Why? Well, it's just 'cause they wanted to open as soon as possible, so they well. That's more than double what they did Disneyland. They didn't start building until 1998, and they're also limited by budget, so they couldn't build a berm around it like they did Disneyland. So there's nothing to block out the outside world.

00:44:05Yeah. So they couldn't do that. All the rides had to become off the shelf, meaning they can't invent new ride rides. Because of budget, Because. Of budget and time so they can only borrow from things that have already been made and repurpose them and they also want to plan for future future expansion so leave spaces that where they could actually build new things or repurpose them. So so yeah so the entrance that but then said they they decided to they fell on like a 3D postcard. So you have, you know, if you remember that the original entrance, you had the California letters that stretched across and they had the Golden Gate Bridge and then you had this,

00:44:54the sun kind of the sun, the sun between that and he had the monorail going through. So they, they took like a postcard that you would see about California and made it like 3D like, and that was like the portal that you walk through to get into the park. Fun fact, the Mickey and Friends parking structure that they built for this 'cause they built Mickey and Friends parking garage for Disney California Adventure OK was once the largest parking garage in the whole world. Wow. When they built it, it was the largest parking garage. Wow. They went a lot of detail about Soren. I'll skip that.

00:45:36So go. Back to it next week in the podcast. Yeah, so panel 2 was another list of Imagineers. Lots of notes you. Guys, yeah, so much stuff. I'm just going to go to so World of color. I thought this was really interesting. Love world of color. So they, they came up with the idea, they knew they had this lagoon that they could use and they actually built that. They, when they originally built TCA, they knew they want to do some type of water show, but they didn't have the technology or the ideas of like what we could use it, but let's just create this because we know we can use it in the future.

00:46:22So they, they had this lagoon to use and they, they pitched. So Bob Iger was the CEO at the time and they, they pitched it up to them as, as you know, this water show. And they assumed it was like, OK, this is too expensive. This technology has never been developed before. And so they when they were pitching it to him, they're like, this isn't going to happen. He's going to say no, but he says just one word. He says when, when can we do it? Wait, Bob Iger? Bob Iger said that so he. Said Bob Iger loved it so much. He's like, when can we do this? And they're like, I guess soon. So they had to develop all the technologies of the fountains,

00:47:15the lights, everything. Like all this technology has never been developed before. The only other fountain show that existed was the Bellagio in Las Vegas and so Which? Is funny because when we went to when we were in Vegas, we said we're like, it's like a poor man's world of color, World of color on Timo. And they said the the most, the most stressful and complicated technology of world of color is just the raising and lowering of the fountains out of the water. So, you know, like during the day when you're there at DCA, you don't see the fountains that are under the water. And so when, yeah, at night time they bring the fountains up above the water. That's the most complicated

00:48:07mechanism of the everything. You would think that the lighting. Yeah, they said. All of the lighting. They said like we, we developed technology with lasers and lights and we've figured out how we can move fire and all these things. But the most complicated thing was just how would they figure out the fountains to move up and down out of the water? That was the most complicated thing that's. So crazy. And, and so another cool tidbit. So when they built Grizzly River run, they, they, they had to build this water ride. And they're like, where's all this water going to go? So because when you build a

00:48:51water ride, you have to store the water somewhere. And so because of that, they're like, let's make let's make a pier and let's put a like a lagoon there. And then when the when the ride is down, when they have to remove the water from Grizzly River Run, the lagoon is in high tide. And when the ride is running, the lagoon is in low tide. Real, so it would have been high tide while we were there. Yeah. So the, so the water in Pixar Pier now is, is the water that's used in Grizzly River Run. So it's all connected, which I didn't know that. I thought that was cool. That's interesting. I'm a cars land.

00:49:35Oh gosh. OK, we're going. Well, we're gonna do another and. Cars Land is so good the like the story of Cars land. I I you haven't told me about this. Because they were developing cars. Cars land as car land, not cars as car land before they even knew cars the movie even existed. OK, save it. Save it for next week. So make the people come back. But so that was that. That was the Imagineer who had that up was Kevin Rafferty, and he was a dishwasher at Disneyland growing up. And growing up or when he started out?

00:50:15When he's, when he was a teenager, when he was a teenager. He was 5. He worked as a dishwasher, and him and his friends would hang out after their shifts in the Disneyland parking lot talking about like what? What kind of ride would you create? And it comes out that parking lot soon turned into California Adventure, where they created rides. That's really cool. So that's really cool. And but yeah, car, the cars land story is really cool because just how they were developing a car land before they even knew cars even existed. And then this the how they got together with John Lasseter and

00:50:56how they developed all that. So that was that was all out of that. And then they, they touched on Avengers Campus a little bit Tower Terror, how they, they, they, the idea of concepting that into Guardians of Galaxy Mission Breakout and how they were just tasked with how to bring Marvel into the parks. They didn't say, hey, we're, we're, you need to turn Tower terror into Mission breakout. They had to figure out which was the best ride to be able to do that. And they had to do it in 15 months and. Isn't that in behind the attraction too? I feel like they. It was, Yeah. And the Imagineers, like if Walt

00:51:35Disney could build Disneyland in a year, we can do this in 15 months. Even though it was, you know, they were, you know, very stressed about it. And then just. And also The Avengers campus, they wanted to, you know, the story of how they built a Vision Avengers campus. Avengers Campus was going to be. Which which part? Fast pass radio. You helped build some of Guardians mission breakout. But Avengers Campus was about to open. They were two months away from opening Avengers Campus, and then COVID hit and so they had to. They didn't open up for another what year?

00:52:14They were closed for more than a year. Yeah. So it was like a year and a half before they could open it back up. No, it's just a little over a year. I think it was like a year and a month. I just like the the the how sad it was for them because they were so close and they had to put everything on hold. Yeah. So yeah, that was a lot of that stuff. A lot. You can see all my notes here. Yeah. So much stuff that was a. Lot of. Stuff but. I also did some of the downtown

00:52:46construction that's happening now. Very cool. So, so yeah, the D-23 panel was was really neat. They did announce during that panel that they're doing another Spotlight series where they are going into Walt's Adventureland. So the details and how Walt created Adventureland. So, so it's pretty, I think it's happening in March. Go down and then if we go down with our kids, we can both go to the panel. So yeah, it was about two 2 1/2 hour panel and really cool, really enjoyed it. So and then they had they had backdrops where you could take your own pictures. They had a Bugs Land backdrop and a the the original concept

00:53:36art for DCA where you could take a back. Did you take pictures? I did you. Didn't show me. Anything I forgot so? All right, well, while he was doing that, I went to the Beauty and the Beast show with my daughter, which actually I've never done and was really good. They didn't talk. Grim Girding does. They didn't really talk about anything in the future. It was more the history of they didn't really say anything. Yeah, nothing about what's coming next. They'd like a couple of the Imagineers that were on the panel are ones working on Avatar and are working on Avengers Campus, and they showed some

00:54:13concept art, but they didn't even, they didn't even talk about Avatar. They're like, yeah, we're doing Avatar, but that's it. We can't talk about it and so they didn't go to any detail about it. No John Stamos, no Jody Benson, Thank goodness. Because I seriously, I was like you. You. Yeah, I will not. I will not be OK. I will not be OK. So back in the parks. Meanwhile in Disneyland. But really, if you are in have gone to Disneyland and you haven't done the Royal Theater, they have Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel, and I've never done them or Tangled and I've

00:54:47never done them. I was kind of expecting it to be similar to the one in Hollywood Studios, just on a smaller scale where it's just like a condensed version of the Broadway show. But it wasn't. It was like more storytelling. And they have like narrators and they were hilarious. Like I was cracking up. They have the kids sitting down on the rug. And it was, it was really fun. So yeah. So we just kind of hung out. Then my boys went and did some rides in Tomorrowland while my daughter and I were doing that. And then we were trying to figure out because at that point, it was getting kind of late. And I'm like, should we just

00:55:30stay in the park because we want to do the fireworks in the parade or should we go back? And I was getting overstimulated by my 2 youngest and the crowds. And I could tell our kids were just kind of except for our oldest who is never done, they were all just kind of done. I was like, do you guys want to get on the monorail and go back to the hotel? And they were like, yes. I was like, OK, so we went back to the hotel for a bit and and then met you there because you were like, I was like, are you almost done? Because I'm getting like, I'm done with these children. Took a little break, I don't even remember, and we just went back in. Oh, we went back in.

00:56:12That's when I live streamed. On our way back in, we got some dinner and lined up for the parade for Paint the Night, which is amazing. I love it. It was really. Fun The Pixar Place Hotel. Oh yes, we stayed at Pixar and we, excuse me, but it was fun live streaming for Paint the Night. And one of the reasons I really wanted a live stream for Paint the Night and Wondrous Journeys is because a lot of our friends in our community on TikTok have not been to Disneyland. Some a lot. We have a lot of Disney World. There's some have never been in Disneyland. Some just haven't been in a really long time or don't go as

00:56:51much. Really. I was walking. I know, I know Fast fast radio should have said hello. And so I got a spot for the parade, but it oh, that's what I say. It was neat to show them 'cause they were just like, I don't want to say anything negative about my Disney World friends, but I had, I in my time on this earth, I have met a lot of people from Disney World who kind of feel, and I'm not saying this about anyone that I in our community on TikTok, but like that kind of feel like Disney World is it and everything is better because it's bigger. And they kind of forget about Disneyland even though it's the original.

00:57:37And they're like, oh, Disneylanders always are. It's the original. Well, yeah, it is. That's good. It is. But it was neat to show them these things that are like, yeah, they're like, there's great things. There's great things at. Disneyland. Disneyland, sorry, it's like filtering comments, you guys and so some of them I can't really see. So just so you know, if I'm not responding, it's one, because we're doing the podcast, and two, it's like filtered so I can't really see them. So I just want to throw that out there. But yeah, just a lot of our

00:58:15Disney World friends were like, Oh my gosh, because Paint the Night is just so good. You guys, it's the best nighttime parade I. Am not just saying this because it's at Disneyland. If it was at Disney World, I would say that Disney World had the better parade like I will say. Disney World has the better fireworks. OK. I mean, I was. No, I know you love magic. I mean, magic happens. Happily. Ever after that's a magic happens was a parade in Disneyland and I do too. I do too. That's not my favorite. It's like my probably my second

00:58:54tied second, but there are so many people like, Oh my gosh, this is so bright, like this is so colorful. This is because Starlight is beautiful, but it doesn't it's not as bright. It doesn't have like the the performers, the performers up stop, stop. Tim wants to fight happily ever after is fantastic. I loved Disneyland forever for the 60th. It it I love. I love it so much And then the one for the 50th is probably tied with happily ever after for me. Oh, Disneyland Paris. I don't remember the name of what we saw there. It was before drones, but it was really cool because that was

00:59:39before projections came here that much. So it was the first time we had really seen projections on the castle and that was amazing. But we do love Wondrous Journeys, but it's happily ever after is is better than Wondrous Journeys. But the performers back to Starlight parade in the middle between the floats, the performers aren't lit up as much. There are a lot. I feel like there's more performers in Paint the Night and they are more lit up. They have more lights on them. It's just, it's just a fantastic parade. So it was fun to stream that even though during our daughter was flipping out.

01:00:19She. Was so stinking tired and she was just like throwing a fit. And so I thought I was going to stop. Oh my God, Yeah, well, 'cause yeah. We got home and she was sick, so I don't think she was feeling great. But like, then I thought I was going to end the stream for the fireworks. I was like, I really wanted to show you guys fireworks, but she was like having a fit. But then you took over. I was able to calm her down a bit and it was, it was good. I would absolutely love if we ever get to go back to Paris to see the fireworks with the drones. I've only seen, you know, clips

01:00:53of it. Looks amazing. Amazing. Yes. Disney cowgirl. When Paint the Night first came, I think it was. When it was first, I don't. Know if it was before, but like I remember they had the interactive ears and the paintbrushes and I wanted to get the boys the paintbrushes but I remember it's like we can't, I'm not. Going to Well now they have the magic bands that. Are yeah, our magic bands were going off with it, but like, oh, it's just so great. It's so great. So anyways, we did that. I don't remember if we did anything after the parade or

01:01:21fireworks. I don't think we did. No, we didn't. We went back. So we're at an hour. Is this going to be a 2 parter? Is it? I think this might need to be a 2 parter. Probably. Because we still got our DCA day and. The Super Bowl and the. Super Bowl and then, and then the Monday after the Super Bowl parade. Yeah, so. Yeah, I think, yeah. And then the, so here's the panel's going to have to be like a third part we got. Content. We got content for two more podcasts.

01:01:53That sounds good to me. Yeah, I think we're going to need to end this here. Because that gives us two more weeks of podcasts. Yes, I know. Grim gridding Dads. We got to get on. Yeah, we got to figure out a day for that. OK, That's fine with me. That's fine with me. So, yeah, so a lot more stuff to talk about. Like we have our DCA day, which was the 20, the actual 25th anniversary of DCA and the on the commemorative maps that they're handing out and just how the cast members were greeting everybody as they were walking in. And then on Monday we had the Super Bowl MVP parade that that

01:02:35was the first time experiencing for us. We've never been to one of those. So that was cool to experience. So we could talk about that. And obviously the DCA panel that we can go into the more detail about maybe even because here's the thing I did record it just the audio, just the audio and you're. Going to get us band. And I wasn't the only person I could tell. There's other people recording, but maybe we could play some clips. I don't know. We'll see. If you want to get us in trouble. That will be fine. But but yeah, so you if you are

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01:04:10to you later. Bye.