Episode Setup And What Counts Hot

Alicea 0:23

Hello, everybody. I'm Alicea.

Nathan 0:25

And I'm Nathan.

Alicea 0:26

Welcome to episode 253 of Adventures and Mouse Capades. Some Disney opinions are universally loved. These are not those opinions. We're discussing some Disney Park's hot takes, some are ours, and some that we have found online. We'll be challenging some fan favorites, defending a few unpopular choices, and finding out just how controversial these Disney Park preferences really are. Grab your popcorn and maybe your flame suit.

Nathan 0:57

Yes. So we don't necessarily agree with all of these hot takes, although there may be some that we do agree with. But these are good discussion topics. And so here we are. We're we're doing some hot takes. We're doing some grilling.

Alicea 1:12

Exactly.

Nathan 1:13

Nathan. Yes. What's a hot take? A hot take is a bold opinion that is meant to grab attention and spark conversation. They're typically short and oftentimes a little bit snarky, just like us.

Alicea 1:26

We're short and snarky.

Nathan 1:28

Yes. Maybe not short.

Alicea 1:30

We're not short.

Nathan 1:30

Definitely snarky.

Alicea 1:32

Yeah.

Nathan 1:32

Okay. All right. Let's jump in. The

Rope Drop Versus Sleeping In

Nathan 1:36

first one: rope dropping can make a vacation less enjoyable. Hmm. Let's define rope dropping first.

Alicea 1:45

Yes.

Nathan 1:46

Rope dropping is literally when you get to the park at open, oftentimes before open, so you are amongst the first people in line. Disney literally drops a rope, and then you are able to enter into the park or enter into the land and go about your day.

Alicea 2:05

They have a rope blocking your way, corralling people away.

Nathan 2:09

And then it gets dropped.

Alicea 2:10

And then it get dropped. Yep. So that's rope dropping. That's getting there typically before the park opens. If you get there right when it opens, you're a little bit later.

Nathan 2:20

You're late. Yeah. Because there are people who get there an hour before.

Alicea 2:23

Yes. So they're first in line.

Nathan 2:25

Yes. I 1 million percent agree with this take. Rope dropping makes my vacation a lot less enjoyable.

Alicea 2:36

Yes, I agree to a point on this one. You'll find me whiffling and waffling over a lot of these because I can see either or. If we're going to the East Coast, this definitely is unenjoyable.

Nathan 2:50

Yes. Minus three hours and then show up at the crack of dawn. No, thank you.

Alicea 2:55

However, if you're in Disneyland and you rope drop, you have a much better chance of getting all the stuff on Fantasyland right off the bat. Because I have done this. And I've gone through all the Fantasyland rides in like 40 minutes.

Nathan 3:13

Because everybody's trying to go get the heavy bangers.

Alicea 3:16

Yeah.

Nathan 3:17

And you decide to go hit all the old classics.

Alicea 3:21

Now, this may be a one park versus another, like East Coast versus West Coast. Because I definitely don't want to go doing rope drop on the East Coast. And even if I'm used to the time, I still don't want to do that. Because everything is so far away. It takes you a long time to actually get to the park that you want to go to within the wonderful Disney bubble. I don't know how big it is.

Nathan 3:48

It's like 43 square miles or something like that.

Alicea 3:51

That is about to say acres, but I'm like, nope, that is not right.

Nathan 3:54

Bigger than that.

Alicea 3:55

43 square miles of space there. And if you're staying on site, you still have to get somewhere. Like if you're wanting to rope drop Epcot and you're staying at the contemporary, you have to get on the Monrail. You have to get off the Monrail and get on the Epcot Monorail. Then you have to go to Epcot, which takes what, like it's like eight minutes, I think, to get over there, maybe 10. Then you have to go through all the security. And that's one of the easier ones.

Nathan 4:25

Mm-hmm.

Alicea 4:27

That it really is. It's one of the easier ones to get to. It's not as easy as Magic Kingdom from Contemporary, for sure.

Nathan 4:33

But True. Although I will counteract what you said. Once you're on the monorail, you're inside the Disney bubble, the security bubble, rather. So you don't have to go back through security. You do have to go with them in line. But if you're at the contemporary or anywhere at one of the monorail resorts, and you want to go to Hollywood studios, or you want to go to Animal Kingdom, you're getting on a bus.

Alicea 4:58

Yeah.

Nathan 4:59

So this is just not for me. I would much rather sleep in, have a leisurely morning, show up midday, have a great time, and close a park than open a park.

Alicea 5:12

I'd rather close a park. Yeah. Although it is difficult right now because the parks aren't staying open super late.

Nathan 5:18

Well, then it's easy to close them.

Alicea 5:21

I liked it when they stayed open a lot later. Like 11, 12, 1. They don't do that anymore.

Nathan 5:27

Yeah. In the before times.

Alicea 5:29

In the before times, yeah. Okay. So rope dropping can make a vacation less enjoyable. Yes. Yes. I agree.

Nathan 5:35

Yeah.

Stop Maximizing Start Feeling The Parks

Nathan 5:36

Next up, people obsess too much over maximizing attractions instead of enjoying the vibes and atmosphere.

Alicea 5:45

This is a hard agree for me. But I think this is also going to be based on where you are in your Disney parks journey.

Nathan 5:53

Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think for us, this is 100% true.

Alicea 5:59

Yeah.

Nathan 6:00

I think for families who are saving up and it is their one big trip that they're ever going to make, or their one in five year trip that they're making to go to Florida, it I think people are going to maximize attractions and like, and that makes sense.

Alicea 6:20

Yeah.

Nathan 6:21

When you're there often enough, when you're privileged enough to be in a position to have a magic key or an annual pass, you're you're not looking to get the same out of your trip. Yeah. I think this is even more so applicable in Florida than it is in California, because California is mostly a locals park. And so I think most of the people are there just for the vibes. And if they get on some rides, fine. If they don't get on some rides, largely fine. Like they'll just go back next weekend.

Alicea 6:56

There's definitely a lot of people getting on rides, though, based on the wait times that we have seen. Yes.

Nathan 7:01

Yes. 100%.

Alicea 7:02

But yeah, I because we have been to the parks so much, we are very much more wanting to enjoy the vibes and the atmosphere and seeing all of that. It's also when you're in Florida, it's hot.

Nathan 7:15

It's hot.

Alicea 7:16

Doesn't matter the time of year, really, honestly. It doesn't matter the time of year. It's hot. It's humid. It is oppressive. It is bleh. Yeah.

Nathan 7:24

Yeah.

Alicea 7:24

And standing in line, especially if it's not an inside queue, is it's difficult.

Nathan 7:31

It's oppressive. Yeah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Now, you know, closing in on 50 may have something to do with that, but it's fine. We're fine. We're fine.

Why A Resort Day Matters

Alicea 7:41

Next one. Resort day is more valuable than park day. A resort day is when you spend a day at the hotel or not at one of the parks.

Nathan 7:52

I love the spirit of this one. It is where my heart lives and where my brain has been so far unable to follow.

Alicea 8:04

Yeah.

Nathan 8:06

I I would love to have a relaxing day at the Polynesian Resort or a relaxing day at the Riviera or any number of places that we've stayed or even haven't stayed yet.

Alicea 8:21

Yeah.

Nathan 8:22

And yet we always end up throwing 500 things into the day. Yeah. And it never works out.

Alicea 8:29

We don't mean to. It's because we really love the parks.

Nathan 8:34

Yeah.

Alicea 8:35

We like stepping into those, just any one of them, honestly, and just enjoying the vibe, enjoying the atmosphere. Being oppressively hot, you know, for some reason we like that, even though we don't.

Nathan 8:49

Well, I don't know if we like that. I'd say for some reason we're willing to put up with it.

Alicea 8:53

Yeah. Yeah.

Nathan 8:54

To get the benefit of being in the parks and doing the things. Yeah. I think this is where our personal challenge is in that we will need to schedule a vacation at some point where we don't have park tickets.

Alicea 9:10

Oh, that's not going to stop us from buying park tickets, Nathan. You can you could play that all you want, but um news for you. Yeah. It's not going to work.

Nathan 9:23

Actually, this may be why, well, one of the reasons at least that we love Aulani so much.

Alicea 9:30

And the cruises.

Nathan 9:32

Exactly. And the cruises, because you get the Disney vibes, the Disney atmosphere, the Disney level of customer service, and you cannot go to a Disney theme park. Yes. It is physically impossible. Yeah. And that's kind of perfect for us.

Alicea 9:50

So for families, if you're spending a week at the Disney parks, do a resort day.

Nathan 9:56

Yes.

Alicea 9:57

Smack in the middle if you can, because that'll give you all a chance to recuperate.

Nathan 10:04

Right.

Alicea 10:05

From walking around, from giving yourself some time to not be all together all at once, have some kids in the pool, you sitting by the pool and watching them or whatever, you know.

Nathan 10:16

Right.

Alicea 10:16

So you're not biting each other's heads off. Because I know that happens.

Nathan 10:22

Ew.

Alicea 10:23

Chomp chomp.

Nathan 10:24

That's disturbing.

Alicea 10:25

Yes.

Nathan 10:26

Yeah. I this is our personal family challenge, is to be able to do this someday. Do as we say, not as we do. Yes.

Alicea 10:35

Next one. Disneyland

Disneyland Versus Magic Kingdom Debate

Alicea 10:37

is better than Magic Kingdom.

Nathan 10:39

Oh.

Alicea 10:40

This is a hard agree for me. Hands down.

Nathan 10:44

I can I can argue both sides of this. Why don't you go for Magic Kingdom? And I'll try to sell you. Or excuse me. Yes. Why don't you go for Disneyland? I will try to make a case for Magic Kingdom, although I don't know how much I agree with that. I'm 50-50, honestly.

Alicea 11:05

Um, all right. Disneyland is the OG. It is Walt's park. Walt walked in that park. He had a hand in a lot of the interactions there, like actively making them. The castle is cute. AF is tiny. It's quaint. Also, Star Wars West is in there. But to West. It doesn't really fit. But I love Star Wars. And going to that land is one of my favorite things to do in Disneyland. And it has oh my gosh. I don't know how many rides are in there. It has so many rides in that park.

Nathan 11:45

We'll ask Samantha.

Alicea 11:46

We'll ask Samantha. Yeah. How many rides does Disneyland have? And how many rides does Magic Kingdom have? And I actually want to ask how many rides Disney World as a whole has.

Nathan 11:58

Okay. Samantha, hit us up with Synology. Yes.

Samantha 12:02

If you're comparing things you can actually ride, the surprising result is that Disneyland Park has more rides than Magic Kingdom, even though Magic Kingdom is larger. There are roughly 36 rides in Disneyland Park, while there are just 22 in Magic Kingdom. There's some wiggle room because Disney is a little loose with what it considers a ride versus an attraction, which includes shows, character meet and greets, and walkthroughs. A big reason Disney fans often describe Disneyland as ride dense is that many attractions are packed into a relatively compact footprint. Magic Kingdom has wider walkways, larger lands, and more space devoted to atmosphere and circulation. If you compare the two resorts, ignoring the water parks, California still comes out ahead at 54 rides versus 49, but the attraction count is 88 versus 107, with Orlando taking the crown. So while Disneyland Resort packs more rides into two parks than Disney World does into four, Florida makes up for it with significantly more non-ride attractions, especially at Epcot and Animal Kingdom.

Alicea 12:56

Okay, so try and sell me on Magic Kingdom, Nathan.

Nathan 13:00

Okay. Magic Kingdom is Walt's vision for what Disneyland could have been. Because he was still involved in planning this. He just didn't see it all the way to completion because he unfortunately passed away. But he was very involved in the plan and what was going to happen here. And it was his opportunity to correct what he saw as maybe not the mistakes, but the missed opportunities that he had in California. I think the biggest one, and this more applies to the whole resort there in Florida.

Alicea 13:41

No, no, no. We're not doing that.

Nathan 13:43

I understand that.

Alicea 13:44

Okay.

Nathan 13:45

But you really are disconnected from everything else when you go into Magic Kingdom. You're not even connected to the parking lot. It is an experience. You are on an attraction to get yourself into the Magic Kingdom in Florida. You're taking a monorail, you're taking a ferry boat. Yes, there's some buses, but you get my point. It is the quintessential north star of what Walt wanted to build. And because of that, I kind of take the whole, like I understand the nostalgia play, but I kind of discount it because it's it's it it just is what it is. The castle is just better. It's just better. It's more impressive. I think many of this is gonna be ironic. Unfortunately, I think many of the duplicate rides are better in Disneyland, but you do have them there in Florida. But then there's just there's just so much else. I think it is the better fantasy land. I think it is it is more cohesive of a story. You don't have Galaxy's Edge kind of shoehorned in there. I am real excited for what they're going to be able to do with the new Cars Land, the Ridge Rally Racers, the villains land that is to come. You can't do any of that.

Alicea 15:23

That's not there yet.

Nathan 15:24

It's I know it's not there yet. Okay. I this is why I can argue both sides. I think there's more in Florida than there is in California.

Samantha 15:34

Not in Magic Kingdom, unless you're counting other attractions and room for vibes. But please go on.

Nathan 15:40

But to argue your side of the point, I think you you find California to be much more walkable and much more consolidated and easy to get around. And that's great for some people. And I think we're some of those people. I think the ability to be immersed in these different lands that Walt envisioned and that the imaginaries have come uh have made come true, is there's more space for them to do what they really want to do in Florida. And that would be where the argument would be for Magic Kingdom in Florida to be better. And and you've got a bunch of rides that are only in Florida that are bangers. You've got Seven Dwarves Mine Train, you've got Tron. Like there's there's a bunch of stuff that is there's no room for them to ever do that kind of stuff in California.

Alicea 16:40

I still think park to park, I'd go for Disneyland now. But when they build Piston Peak and when they build Villains Land, that might change.

Nathan 16:52

Yeah.

Alicea 16:52

I mean I can I can pull out more arguments too, like Small World in Disneyland is superior, pirates in dis in Disneyland is superior, Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. But the exterior I think is superior. They're they're pretty close. I don't know.

Nathan 17:08

I think the queue is better in Florida.

Alicea 17:11

Yes. But I've never well, recently, I have never gone through that queue. It's always past all of it. They have redone the queue in California. I don't know if I've gone through that one either.

Nathan 17:22

We've definitely been through the new queue in Florida.

Alicea 17:24

Okay. Uh well, yes, not recently. Well, it's been many, many years. Yeah.

Nathan 17:30

Now we buy lightning lanes and skip through all of it. So Okay. So That is definitely an ongoing debate and probably will always be an ongoing debate. There's no right answer there.

Alicea 17:40

Yeah. If we're talking resorts, I would pick Florida over Disneyland.

Nathan 17:44

All right.

Alicea 17:44

Because there's more.

Nathan 17:46

That's fair. That's totally fair. All right. Next

Parades Vibes Fireworks Non Negotiable

Nathan 17:49

up, parades and fireworks are overrated.

Alicea 17:54

I can see this. The last time we we went to a regular park day parade or fireworks has been a very long time.

Nathan 18:04

I think the last time we really hunkered down and watched a regular park day afternoon parade, Kaitlyn was on my shoulders. Yeah. And and she's 21 now.

Alicea 18:17

So there's been a couple that I wanted to see, like the new paint the night we haven't seen. And it's been out for uh over a year at this point, I think. We still haven't seen it.

Nathan 18:29

Yeah.

Alicea 18:29

But your mid-afternoon parades, having to sit and wait, because you have to. You have to sit down and find a spot and be there like a half hour to an hour ahead of time if you want to be able to see.

Nathan 18:42

Yeah, I think to me, the parades, I wouldn't want to see them go away because I think they are for some people. Yeah. And while we are probably not the folks who are going to sit down and camp out for a regular afternoon parade, when they go by, if I happen to be in the right spot, I'm going to stop and watch. And I don't have to be front and center.

Alicea 19:06

Yeah.

Nathan 19:07

There's a reason Kaitlyn was on my shoulders. We didn't camp out for that parade. We were walking between attractions and it happened to be going by. And I we were standing behind, you know, seven or eight rows of people. Yeah. And I popped her on my shoulders because there was nobody behind us, and I wasn't going to block anybody. I'm not that kind of person.

Alicea 19:28

Yeah, we were not in the front. We were not in the front with her on the shoulders. That's just rude.

Nathan 19:33

That honors exactly. So, like to me, the parades are where the vibes are. Now, when it comes to fireworks, no, that's that's not overrated. That's important. I want to see those fireworks. In fact, going back, I think that's where Magic Kingdom kicks Disneyland's butt.

Alicea 19:54

Oh, definitely.

Nathan 19:55

Because they are able to do a very large and impressive fireworks show every night. And sometimes when you have a party or other thing going on multiple times a night. Yeah. So the fireworks are not overrated. I like things exploding.

Alicea 20:12

I don't I don't know that I agree with this one. Like, I don't think they are overrated, but I'm not going to sit and watch them every single time.

Nathan 20:23

Sure. It is for us, again, where we're in there for the vibes. Yeah. If we if it happens to work out and we're in the right spot, fantastical. But also, while everybody else really wants to see those fireworks because they're not in Florida all the time. They don't have a chance to be there. That's our opportunity to take advantage of some really low wait times and hit some rides.

Alicea 20:48

Yes. I do love the fireworks, especially with the projections that they have up now. The mapping that they've done with the not only the castle, but down Main Street as well. It's really cool to watch, but you have to be in the right spot to see it, which is another trying to find that spot. But the parades are amazing for littles. Really amazing. Because not only do you have all these characters going through really cool floats and everything, but sometimes the characters will interact with the kiddos too, which is definitely a magic moment.

Nathan 21:21

And you have tons of kinetic energy from the floats and the dancers and performers on the street level. Like it, there's just a lot to really praise about the parades.

Alicea 21:31

Yeah. Um I don't think they're overrated.

Nathan 21:33

No. Right, right, right. The one thing I do want to just throw out you you brought up the projections that that they're doing in some of the nighttime shows are basically all the nighttime shows at this point. I like the projections. I don't like when they treat the projections as an excuse to limit the amount of fireworks they're throwing off. Yeah. That I'm not in favor of. And I understand they're Saving money because they don't have to, you know, like a projector isn't a consumable, right?

Alicea 22:05

Yes. Gosh, I can't even imagine how much they spend on fireworks.

Nathan 22:10

Bill and I have had that convers. My friend Bill, who used to be in finance and things like that down at the parks. We've had that conversation. I don't remember the details, and it was kind of one of those conversations that we weren't going to get into the details and share that publicly anyway.

Alicea 22:24

Fireworks are expensive.

Nathan 22:26

It's non-trivial, but I remember it wasn't as big as I thought it might be. Okay. But it's still money that is literally being burned. Yeah. All right. On that, let's actually, this is another conversation that Bill and I have had before, too. Hot

The Great Disney Toilet Paper Roast

Nathan 22:45

take. The worst part of Disney is the toilet paper. I 100% agree with this one. And I think Bill is wrong.

Alicea 22:58

Yes, I hate the toilet paper. And I think it's different for ladies than it is for men.

Nathan 23:04

I mean, sure, at times I still don't like the toilet paper that they do have.

Alicea 23:10

Yeah. And I heard, I can't remember where it was. It may have been one of the Disney dishes or something like that, or something talking with like Jim Shull and Jim Hill. I don't think the plumbing can handle anything nicer.

Nathan 23:24

I remember this kind of this is another conversation that Bill and I had. His take on it. So Bill's been on the show before a couple times. Just to recap really quickly, his final role, he's no longer with Disney. Uh, his final role with the company, he was the finance business partner overseeing the water parks and the mini golf. And one of his area managers, I forget who it was, came to him with a proposal to upgrade the toilet paper at the water parks from one ply to two ply because it would improve guest satisfaction. Which a guest satisfaction is a number that you can move. Is toilet paper going to be materially mapping back at that? That's hard to prove. But to Bill's point, his pushback was we're arguing about toilet paper for people who just got out of a pool. Like, I don't know that it really makes a difference. It's all going to be horrible.

Alicea 24:27

Just in that, in those parks, yes. Yes. Yeah. No, I it's scratchy and ouchy and do not like.

Nathan 24:34

Yeah. Yeah. Not good. Not good.

Alicea 24:38

I don't know if it's the worst part, but it's a pretty big downer.

Nathan 24:42

100%. Uh might I uh encourage folks to get a portable bidet that uh you can get them on Amazon for like 35 bucks.

Alicea 24:51

Oh, for the not for when you're in the parks, for when you're at the hotels. Okay.

Nathan 24:55

True.

Alicea 24:56

True. Hold it. Yeah. Okay, next one.

More IP Without Killing Originality

Alicea 25:00

And I know this one is a controversial opinion. I have heard it on multiple podcasts, and there's been, you know, some forum stuff and stuff on Facebook as well. We need more IP in the parks. We need more intellectual property in the parks, things that go off of the movies that come out. This is very much a personal opinion. I very much agree. Oh. I think I think that is what draws people to the parks. That is what draws families to the parks. That's why kids want to go to the parks because the movie that they love, they can see characters from it. They can go on a ride based on it. Now, I I don't want to say that there shouldn't be any original ideas because that's not what this is saying. It's just saying we need more IP in the parks. I still want original ideas. I think that is very important for that to show up in the parks as well. But I think IP is what brings people in.

Nathan 26:02

Yeah, that is the heart of, and I hate to get all business-y on it, but it is the heart of what Disney as a company considers their flywheel. Yeah. You have great movies or great cartoons back in the day, great shorts that drive interest in your company. You have a theme park that is able to expand and leverage the popularity of those characters. And you have experiences that bring people in when they're there to have experiences, you get to upsell them on food, you get to upsell them on merch. And then you release more IP, more movies or whatever, the next chapter, the next set of shorts, or whatever. And it it is a circle that keeps on generating itself because when you're still really invested and you have all the merch from you know Lilo and Stitch and everything else, and you've seen them in the parks, and then there's a new movie coming out. Of course, you're gonna go see that movie, and the whole cycle starts again. So, I from a business perspective, uh I think all of Disney's executives would agree with you. We need more IP in the parks. I think, though, it is important, as you said, to make sure that there are spaces and opportunities for new things to start in the parks, yeah, to be parks first, to have the foresight and the guts for executives to support imagineering, to do new things and to break new ground and let them be creative, and then you can build that flywheel that starts from the parks and turns into gigantic movie franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean.

Alicea 28:01

Yep.

Nathan 28:02

So there are opportunities for all of these things to go both ways. Yeah. So I guess we agree with this. It it's I think it matters on how it's done.

Alicea 28:12

Yes, I agree. And again, not getting rid of original ideas because those are extremely important.

Nathan 28:17

Right.

Tomorrowland Needs A Total Rethink

Nathan 28:18

Okay, our penultimate hot take is that Disney should throw Tomorrowland out the window and totally redo it.

Alicea 28:28

Um I agree with this hot take. I do, I do. It's hard. I don't think Tomorrowland is cohesive in either one of the coasts. It probably started out that way, you know, what, 50, 60, 70 years ago.

Nathan 28:48

Yeah.

Alicea 28:48

But it's not that way anymore.

Nathan 28:50

No.

Alicea 28:50

It is not Tomorrowland. It is retro land, is what it is right now. It's retro Tomorrowland, I guess. Now, this would be difficult because there are very much beloved rides in these areas. However, these rides are old now, and some of them do need to be refurbished, totally refurbished.

Nathan 29:10

Yeah.

Alicea 29:10

Okay, Tron's not old, but whatever. But Space Mountain needs to be it does, it does re completely just redone.

Nathan 29:20

Yeah. Take what they're doing in Tokyo where they demolished it. Now they're rebuilding it. Yep. Right. There will still be Space Mountain, but they took that building down. They completely replaced the ride and built the new building back. Yeah. Uh, yeah. This stuff is tired. I think when you walk down that main thoroughfare from the hub towards Tomorrowland and you go into Tomorrowland, in both coasts, it is this like weird, warehousey side of a building kind of experience. It just it is it is not cohesive, it lacks the storytelling. Uh, you're not immersed. That's the word I was looking for. It is not an immersive experience being in Tomorrowland. Yeah, it is a potpourri of stuff that, to your point, when it started out, it was all about what will be the future. Yes. Well, 10, 20 years after these parks opened, that we're past that. And now it's, you know, they they threw stuff at the wall to see what would stick in there. And some cool things have stuck, some of it's just weird, and there's a bunch of spaces that don't have anything in them anymore.

Alicea 30:32

That's true.

Nathan 30:33

So there will always be people who lament anything changing in the parks. And I understand the nostalgia and that aspect of everything. And I can agree that we can be sad and mourn the loss of of some things, but at the same time, I'm also excited to see what they do next and to have the a new experience to experience, a new attraction, a new thing, a new whatever. Because otherwise, it becomes stale and old and decrepit. And then it then we will complain as a Disney family or Disney fan community that they just let it fall apart and they didn't do anything. Yeah. So we can't, as a fan community, yell at Disney for changing things and then yell at Disney for not changing things. That doesn't make any sense.

Alicea 31:32

Yeah, I'd love to have an immersive area for Tomorrowland.

Nathan 31:36

Yeah.

Alicea 31:36

It is hard because technology is always changing, it's always developing so quickly. So what do you view as Tomorrowland?

Nathan 31:44

Right. I would almost say like Tomorrowland may not be the right moniker. Like, should it be called Tomorrowland anymore? I don't know that it should be. Yeah. I'm not saying this is what it should be called, but it should be called science fiction land or I I don't know, but like some other branding needs to be applied to it that feels like they can do more things. It can still be a potpourri of a wide variety of experiences, but it is not shoehorned into this false sense of it should always be the future. Yeah. Because if it's always going to be the future, you're always going to have to update it. Or just make it a gigantic hole in the ground and it's representing the heat death of the universe, and we're done. There you go.

Alicea 32:38

Yes. I uh this is hard because there are some very beloved attractions. I mean, they're already redoing Carousel of Progress.

Nathan 32:47

Which I am excited for.

Alicea 32:49

Yes.

Nathan 32:49

Needed an overhaul. Definitely needed an overall. And if they weren't gonna overhaul it, it was gonna go away.

Alicea 32:55

Yeah.

Nathan 32:56

They would just demolish it and something else would go in. So be very happy that they are updating it and making new scenes and all the rest. Like, I'm excited. I think, I think the whole community is actually pretty excited for that one because we all kind of said, like, yeah, it's time.

Alicea 33:13

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And if they do redo Space Mountain, I think they will have to eventually because the track's gonna have to be replaced. Yep. And I think if they're gonna do that, they just need to overhaul, just start anew, start fresh.

Nathan 33:26

Yeah. That building, the one that is in Florida, is large enough that I think they should be able to demolish the attraction and build a new one. It can still be Space Mountain, still be called Space Mountain and still have a, you know, be a dark coaster and all the rest of that stuff. I don't think they're gonna have to demolish the building to do that.

Alicea 33:50

Yeah.

Nathan 33:51

I think in California, they will need to demolish Space Mountain and rebuild it because they don't have enough room.

Alicea 33:58

So in Florida, if they're gonna have to do that, this is when they would just take all of Tomorrowland down because you can't do people mover because that goes through Space Mountain.

Nathan 34:08

Yep.

Alicea 34:08

I mean, Tron maybe would still be open, but like Well, let Carousel of Progress is still gonna be open. Yeah. There won't be a lot there. Like they wouldn't be able to do this until Piston Peak's done, until Villains Land is done.

Nathan 34:21

Oh, yeah. I think we're gonna get an idea of what Disney wants to do with Tomorrowland out in California a lot sooner than we'll see what happens in Florida. Uh, because what we saw at a D23 a few months ago, they committed and they said, we're putting the Avatar stuff over in DCA on pause. Yep. And we are refocusing our priority on basically fixing Tomorrowland. And they didn't say what they're gonna do, but they recognized and called out, like, hey, we've got to fix this, and that's our priority. And I think that's the right thing to do.

Alicea 34:54

Yeah. Okay.

Lightning Lane Makes Lines Worse

Alicea 34:55

Last one.

Nathan 34:56

Yes, hit me.

Alicea 34:57

Get rid of Lightning Lane slash fast pass slash genie. The lines move fine without them.

Nathan 35:04

I'm I am a hard agree on this.

Alicea 35:07

Yeah, I am too.

Nathan 35:09

At the same time, the as a company that is a a for-profit company, revenue is king, and they will never do that.

Alicea 35:20

No.

Nathan 35:21

But you go to one of these after hours parties and all of these lines for all of these attractions move so much faster. And it's not just because there's fewer people in the park, there's less capacity during those events. The people who do go to those rides are getting through the queues faster because they're not being held up to insert people basically into a shortcut.

Alicea 35:45

Yeah.

Nathan 35:46

So yeah, 100%.

Alicea 35:48

Yep. He said what I was gonna say. Yeah. The lines go much, much quicker without what is it called now? Without the lightning lane.

Nathan 35:55

Yep.

Alicea 35:56

So much quicker. Now, it is a profit-based company. This is their way of getting people to spend extra money so they can cut in the lines easier. Universal does this. Pretty much every single park does this. They have something.

Nathan 36:11

Well, and frankly, we are in their target audience because we will throw our money at the problem because I'm not going to wait two hours for this ride or that ride and all the rest of that stuff. I am going to get that Lightning Lane and go and do it. One of the best park days that we have had in recent memory was when we did Lightning Lane Premiere Pass at Hollywood Studios this past summer. It was stupid expensive, but we hit every single major attraction that we wanted to go to. We saw shows, we did lunch at the Brown Derby, and we only spent like five or six hours total at the park. Yeah. And it was a glorious day. And we were off of our phones. We were together as a family, experiencing what was going on. We were there for the vibes. We weren't stressed about having to, you know, book what our next lightning lane was going to be and what the return times are going to be, and end up having to hop from one side of the park to the other and all the rest of it. Like it was, it was glorious.

Alicea 37:18

Yep.

Nathan 37:18

We're part of the problem.

Alicea 37:20

Yes, we are.

Nathan 37:23

Well, since we're part of the problem, I think that's where we'll just end it.

Alicea 37:29

All right.

Nathan 37:29

We're the problem, people. Sorry about that.

Alicea 37:31

Yep.

Wrap Up And Your Hot Takes

Nathan 37:33

As we wrap up, a reminder that we are not affiliated with Disney or any of its subsidiaries, as should be clear by us recommending that they ditch their revenue streams. Everything you hear on this show is based on personal experiences, opinions, and questionable snack choices. We are, however, proudly affiliated with fun.

Alicea 37:53

And the death of Tomorrowland.

Nathan 37:56

Whoa.

Alicea 37:58

Come at me, bro. If you're planning a Disney vacation, we always recommend working with a travel advisor or reaching out to Disney directly to help make the magic happen. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please take a second to rate and review the show. It really helps other Disney fans find us and let us know what your hot takes are.

Nathan 38:18

Absolutely. If you have a question, a topic suggestion, or a Disney story you'd love to share, please shoot us an email at podcast at our mousecapades.com.

Alicea 38:29

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads at Our MouseCapades, and on YouTube at OurMousCapades Pod. Also, please don't forget to share us with your friends, your family, and Disney fans of all ages.

Nathan 38:41

Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back in your ears next week.

Samantha 38:46

Thank you for flying Star Tours. Bye bye.