Latest / Of Mice and Main Street Men / Marceline Magic (Episode 243)

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Marceline Magic (Episode 243) · Of Mice and Main Street Men

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's a great big beautiful tomorrow.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Shining at the end of every day.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Just a dream away.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to of my sand main street, man.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: I am Tristan.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I am Sean.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, how are ya?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm real good, actually.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I had a I had a I had a real good weekend.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I wish I could have joined you.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was opening a show, but I do too.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: I I tried I tried to get takers.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: Even my own wife had a show this weekend.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: No, you've tried to get me to do all kinds of things, and I just haven't been able to do it.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, it's one of those things.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: But Marceline Magic, which you attended in Marceline, Missouri, because we're not that far from Marceline, um, which is great.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's just it.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they well, I discovered, I guess we're just jumping right in this, which is fine.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, sorry.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: No, we just we usually banter for a bit, but I just straight from I was so excited into like why.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, we are.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, so uh so uh the this I discovered this weekend because Jackie was like, Well, have they had these before?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, Well, I'm pretty sure they have.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: So of course I sat there and Googled AI, and AI was like, Yes, this is the fifth one.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, the fifth one?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: Because I guess the first one was back in 2018.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then they did, and then like 23 and 25 and 20, I tw anyway, it's the fifth one.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I had never with my schedule been able to go.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I saw them announce this year, this summer, I was I, you know, was on the D23 website and saw that it was happening and realized that it was in September when I would not be in New Mexico.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, it seems a shame not to take advantage of a D23 event that I can literally drive to.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: When when I could.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: And so at that point, Jackie wasn't sure if she would have a conflict or not.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: And tickets, tickets were not, you know, they weren't giving them away.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: So we waited just a little while to figure out if Jackie was gonna have a conflict, and it turned out she did.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: But she had said, and and I also, of course, was asking folks like you and and uh and some of the folks here in Iowa.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, anybody want to go to this?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: And everybody had something going on.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: But I was like, you know what?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just I'm gonna go because it sounds really cool.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I you never know when you're gonna have the chance again.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: And so I just jumped in and bought my ticket.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I love that for you.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I am not in the least bit sorry that I did.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and so uh for those Disney fans that may uh be listening that haven't been marselling in Missouri, I do think it's a trip you need to take as a Disney fan.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um the town is, you know, it's small, not a lot there, but it's charming enough.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: But the museum is incredible, and it really is.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so I so walk me through, you know, kind of your first impression.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because you had you stayed not in Marceline, right?
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: You were staying.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: So of course I bought the ticket and uh I was like, well, where am I gonna stay?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: And it the the when you purchased the ticket, they're like, accommodations have been set up.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there are a certain number of rooms reserved, and of course, your your hotel was not included in the cost of your ticket.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: So they're like, but once you've bought a ticket, we'll give you a link to the hotel.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, I tried to go in as a travel agent and see, you know, could I get my travel agent rate?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: No, the answer was no.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, could I just book this if I were trying to book a room at that hotel?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, no, it was listed as sold out.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, okay, well, every room this hotel had when Disney decided they were doing this weekend, they put on hold for the Disney people.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so I got my link when I got the ticket and went straight to the website link and and reserved my hotel room.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: So and it was four, it was for a lovely little Fairfield Inn uh and suites, which is a Marriott property, and I stay at them frequently.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: And one plus I knew was first of all, they're great little hotels.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and they have free breakfast in the morning.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, well, that's great.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so I worked on this, so all the this was Friday, Saturday, Friday and Saturday, basically.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I worked until noon on Friday, and then I was like, it's just a four-hour drive.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: And it's so the hotel is in Chillicothe, Missouri.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: And Chillicothe is about 40 miles, I think, from Marceline.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's the biggest town in the area.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: And by big, I mean they have a high V.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: Oh calm down.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, they have a Pizza Hut, they have like a McDonald's and a Burger King.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, and like three, they had the Fairfield Inn, and then there was a comfort inn next to it, and then there was a Motel 6 kind of on the outskirts.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: But um, so you know, there's no four seasons there, but but some nice hotels.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, and uh just yeah, purely they are very proud of the fact in Chillicothe that they are the home of sliced bread.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: Oh it is it is it is where the guy invented the machine that sliced the bread that was gonna make it ever so easy for uh housewives and families back in the 40s.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: I think he invented it.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, they they go all out.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: It is on everything, home of sliced bread.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: So so that was just that was just a bonus perk being at the home of sliced bread all week.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um so so I drove down and uh took me about four hours from Iowa City and got there, and you walked in, and they had Disney balloons on either side of the door, and mini mouse footsteps that went over to the table that was laid out with guess what?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: Sliced bread made by the Amish, by the way.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh they had several flavors of sliced bread and some jams and and like pumpkin butter and stuff that were made by the Amish, as well as like fruit laid out, and then they had a whole place where they had cookies, and it was like Daisy's lemon drop cookies and and minnie's uh oatmeal raisin, or maybe those were goofies.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, they had like character themes to the cookies.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, cookies were great and fresh.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um the lobby had a Disney air about it.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: The only issue with the check-in, and this is not Disney's fault, and I don't even really blame the Fairfield Inn folks because uh apparently you wouldn't think it, but apparently they were full on Thursday night.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: They must have had some kind of event because they had 60 rooms checking out and 60 rooms checking in.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: Jeez.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I, you know, and I got there a little later.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: I did talk to some folks in the lobby who said that, you know, they got in around like two or three in the afternoon and had to wait a couple of hours before they could get a room.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: I waited maybe 45 minutes or so before my room was ready.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: So it wasn't horrible.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, was it the most expedient and the smoothest process?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: No, but I understood.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: I really did.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: So um, and I got there around five o'clock, and I guess I got my room closer to six.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, which is also when registration for the event started.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, when I got my room, the line in the lobby was, you know, tons and tons of people deep.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, I'm just gonna go up to my room, get settled, come back down.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I came back down a little right around seven, and there were like two people in line in front of me.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: So um, it was uh Disney cast members, a couple of them that had come with uh Michael Cook.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, that's my BD.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: Who's the guy that's at the head of D23?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, uh I know exactly the guy with the glasses.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, the the the bald guy.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: I knew exactly what you're talking about.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: He looks exactly like the guy who's in charge of the region that our agency is in with the Disney travel travel group.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: So that was why I get confused sometimes.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: But uh he was there and had brought a couple of you know Disney cast members to help facilitate.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: One of them was there to escort Bill Farmer because that was the uh that was kind of this year's hook.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, they're making them slightly different each time because this was Marceline Magic, hosted by Bill Farmer, who is the voice of Goofy and Pluto.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I noticed there was one cast member there whose job it was pretty much to, you know, shepherd him around and stuff.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, so you check in and you got a really nice laminated badge with uh a lanyard, and then they gave us a lounge fly blue Mickey Mouse backpack.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: It was it's blue and has some uh you know, little Mickey Mouses all over it.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: That was part of the swag, and they said, You're gonna need this tomorrow, so bring it along because you'll put stuff in it.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: And eventually, when I got it up to the room, it had like a Marceline D23 water bottle with like Mickey dressed as a farmer and a D23 keychain and a D23 magnet and just some nice little swag in there.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it was already started.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, this is this is nice, this is classy.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and the first event then on Friday night was uh there was a res there was a sips and sweets is what they called it.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, okay, and believe it or not, it was at the Home of Sliced Bread Convention Center.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and my research staff has handed me a note that says Michael Vargo is the guy that's it in the street.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Michael Vargo.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: So uh, so at and they were they were running shuttles, they had a trolley, like a chilli coffee trolley, that had started in the afternoon and would take people downtown.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: Although I can't imagine anybody at this thing that didn't have their own car, because even if you flew into Kansas City, which I think is the closest airport, major airport, you would have rented a car and driven about an hour and a half.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: So uh that was supposed to start at eight.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was seven, and I was hungry, so I decided I would venture out into chilli coffee, and uh I wanted to, you know, I didn't want to go chain, I wanted to support a local business anytime I'm in a small town like that.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I found the pig skin uh pub and pizza and went in there, had a really good pizza.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: If you're ever in Chilli Coffee, drop on into the pig skin pub.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um keep that in mind, yeah, because you never know when you're gonna be passing through Chilli Coffee.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: You don't know.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's the thing, yeah.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so I I dined there, and then once I was done, it was time to go to this reception at the Home of Sliced Bread Welcome Center.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: And they it's a really nice hall, and you walked in and there was a line, and the there were people there, volunteers, I think, from Chillicothe, who were quick to come up and go, This is the dessert buffet line.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: But if you want to go in and get a drink, the bar line, you know, is the the bar is in there, or you could just go find a table and come back.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: She said, We have plenty of food, and man, that was true.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I have been a part of events where you go, you knew how many people were coming.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: Why is there not enough food?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: And man, there was enough food, and it was an open bar.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: So beer, some Missouri wines were available, and good Missouri wines, and uh then some non-alcoholic choices.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: But the dessert bar was like mini cupcakes and cookies and uh uh pretzels and cheese and crackers and fruit and it was not dinner, but you you could have eaten dinner there, basically.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so, and they had some local musicians that were playing Disney songs and stuff, and then uh Michael uh got up and sort of welcomed everybody, and the the head of Chillicothe Visitors Bureau did some welcoming stuff, and they kind of talked about what the day would be like, and then they introduced Bill Farmer, who talked about the fact that he's from a small town in Kansas, Pratt, Kansas, and how he went to school at KU and his sister still lives in Kansas City, and so being back in the Midwest is just very much home to him.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: And the the wonderful thing about going to Disney events is you there's there are just it's your people.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's everybody there is as big or sometimes a bigger fan than you are, if that's possible.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I ended up at a table.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: There was a couple there from Columbia, Missouri, which is only, I don't know, like 45 minutes to an hour, I guess, down the road.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: So they had just driven not very far.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: There was a guy from Orlando who goes to many, many D23 events.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: And there was a guy at my table who had literally driven 14 hours from Georgia.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, wow.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: And was there to experience this whole thing and then was gonna leave Saturday night after the event and start driving back to Georgia.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, it's just a ton of our people, the people who really love Disney and who were excited, and this event sold out.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: It was sold out maybe, I don't know, three or four weeks after it went on sale.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: So not immediately, but certainly several weeks before the event.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, Disney will never tell you numbers, but boy, the the Marceline, I'll I'll get into the bus trip the next day.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: But so that was kind of the that was kind of the first night.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: Then went back to the hotel, got some sleep, got up, went downstairs, had a bowl of cereal, and got on our big buses the next morning.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I don't know, do you have any questions thus far?
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: Or should I just continue?
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think you can just continue.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: My I do have some questions, but I think they a lot of them pertain to probably what's happening on Saturday.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so 9 15, they started boarding the buses.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, because when you checked in on your badge, they put one of three colors of happy faces based on which bus you were gonna go on, and I was the green happy face bus.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: So, and so we boarded the bus, three buses, and uh started the drive up to Marceline.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: And on our bus, it was Lola and I can't remember, I'm gonna call her not Lola, although Lola and not Lola were college students, and they had been drafted by their mothers who were on a different bus.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: And their mothers probably would have been horrified at the way they handled everything, but they were charming as all get out.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: They hadn't really read their script, and the night before they admitted they sat up and talked about boys and hadn't really gone over the script that had been meticulously prepared for them.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: But man, they were just, they were our first slice of just wonderful Midwestern folk.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: And as we drove by this small town on our way up to Marceline, they talked about how that was their big high school rivalry.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: And in fact, there had been some contests.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, I don't know how long ago it was, like for the biggest rivalry in the country.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: And they actually won it and won$13,000.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: But like every year they have a big football game, and whoever wins it gets to take this uh uh fire department fire bell back to their town and have bragging rights for the next year.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, on the way they were like, and the green bus is the best.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: Isn't the green bus the best?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, people just were really getting into it, and they let us look at the scenery for a while while they actually did go over their script and then they sort of talked to us uh about you know how the day was going to shape up.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and the one the other thing I'll add is as we got on the bus, we got this really nice box.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: It was like a cardboard box that had the hometown museum stamp on it, and I immediately opened it up, and what it was was became the whole sort of theme of the day, and it was the thing that was the purpose of your day, basically, because in the box was a frame, a like a puzzle frame for a wooden puzzle that was going to be a square.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: And the whole point of the day was there were 25 pieces to this puzzle, and in the end, it would be a quilt, it would be your Marcelline memory quilt, basically.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: And each piece you would collect somewhere throughout the day at a specific location, and each piece had a story that went along with it, as well as like a little like trinket or an article that Walt had written that was about a specific thing, and so they got people really excited about what this day was gonna be, and Lola and not Lola were they now there was a little bit of feedback on the microphone because these girls were they they were exuberant, they were going for it, but they were just a slice of Midwestern.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and speaking of Midwestern, and here's my first shout-out to uh Kent and Megan, who were well, I had seen them in the lobby because I started talking to Bill Farmer a little bit, and I said something about being from Iowa, and when he had walked away, uh the the couple was like, So you're from Iowa, and I said, Yeah, actually.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: And there were a lot of Midwesterners on this, obviously, because it was an event that we could get to easily.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so oh, uh, so they we got on the bus together and I sat in the row in front of them and we talked.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: It was their anniversary too.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: They had decided to spend their anniversary there.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: He admitted that he's a huge, great, big, beautiful tomorrow fan.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, well, you're gonna you're gonna love our podcast because every week, every week, sir, you're gonna get but they were just delightful.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: And and you know, we talked about the Midwestern ties, and of course I talked about the podcast, and uh it was just it was it was exciting to then finally drive into Marceline.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: And you and I have both been there, but if you're not a Disney fan, to sort of roll into town and go, well, that's that's where the Disney farm was over there on the right, and it's where Walt's Wishing Tree was.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: And now here comes Main Street USA.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: And you truly can tell that that the inspiration for Main Street in Disneyland and ultimately Disney World and wherever Main Street shows up is Marceline.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: And and to to be there is so special.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: So um so they loaded us off the bus there, and that's when we got our first puzzle piece as we got off, which was community, and it was like a little corner piece, and you know, because they talked on the on the bus about the how Walt felt such a part of Marceline and how he kept coming back to it, and and it had two little birds on the piece, and it was so we got our first puzzle piece there, and there was the map that we were gonna use, and um so in town, in town there were 14 pieces of the 25, I think, ultimately.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um they also right there had the D23 sign and some balloons and stuff, and they had uh rented the it was like an Elks Lodge, or I think it was the Masonic Lodge to sort of be our lounge and headquarters.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh oh, speaking of which, I kept referring to like the D23 lounge somewhere, and what it really was was the DVC lounge, like in our Disneyland episode.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: I just wanted to make that correction because I was like, it wasn't a D twenty three lounge, it was a D V C lounge.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: So anyway, I have now corrected that wrong.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: And you just reminded us all that you're very bougie.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: But uh Yeah, yeah, that too.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: But so you went in and and the inside, well, first of all, they were giving away cookies, bags of cookies, which I think because I saw a sign on the door that was like the the lodge will be selling these cookies as a benefit, da-da-da.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so I thought that the table that had the cookies on it, they were just trying to sell us cookies.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, okay, well, that's fine.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I later discovered in the day that they were giving away the cookies, like Disney had paid for a bunch of the cookies to be given to us, and I ended up with all three flavors.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, because I'm like, well, you're giving us cookie swag.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: Who's gonna turn down cookie swag?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh, cookie swag also might be an okay band name.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: Cookie swag is a good band name, yeah.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: Not as not as good as what's the mulch?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: What's the shrimp mulch?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: Shrimp mulch, right.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, maybe cookie, maybe cookie swag can open for them.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Unrelated in a tiny spoke, and then we'll get back on track.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: We were I'm in a show called Rock of Ages right now, and there is um, you know, it's about rock bands and things.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so we were talking about band names, and I don't know how we got on the topic, but I had to tell you, and I'm telling everybody, one of the names we came up with was called Diddy and the Baby Oil.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I thought that Wow, Diddy and the Baby Oil.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Did Diddy and the Baby Oil is one of the better band names I've heard in a while.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure I want to know how you got there.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm not sure how we got there, but anyway, back to Disney and and and happy things.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh right.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: So we went in the lounge and there was another puzzle piece available.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: In the back corner, they had Roy's Popcorn.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: And so you got a small white bag that had a nice little logo like printed on it that said Roy's Popcorn, and it was all in red.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: There was uh a Marceline, like step and repeat Marceline confectionery uh sign with balloons and stuff where where you could take your selfie or whatever.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: But they gave you the little bag of popcorn and they told you the story of how one of the first entrepreneurial things Roy was doing in Marceline was like popping popcorn and selling it to people.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: And it was just a charming story and a snack.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, love that for you.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so then you were just free to roam, you had a map, and so you headed out and just went to all of these little stops, and uh there was one on the corner that was the Main Street stop, and they just talked to you about how Marceline was such an influence of for Main Street, and it told you sort of a story to go along with that, and you got that puzzle piece which had a lamppost on it, and then they had some scattered throughout the park.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, one was about the railroad, and um one that I went to later in the afternoon, uh, because the of course there's the Rupert the Horse story about the doctor who had the horse and encouraged Walt to come draw it.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so when you went to that station, they gave you uh a sort of a drawing sketch pad, like old-fashioned kind of brown paper on the outside stamped with the museum logo, and then several pages, and they gave you a crayon and they had a horse there.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: And he was only there briefly in the afternoon because it was very hot, and so they're like, Rupert the horse will only be here from one to three.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but and I go, I go, well, good for him.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: He has good representation, he's got a good agent who's looking out for his welfare.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: But and then you had to draw a picture of Rupert in your in your sketch pad, and then they would give you your puzzle piece.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: Now, if you really didn't want to draw a picture of Rupert, I guess they'd give it to you anyway.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: But still, it, you know, they told that story, and then you you sort of had this moment of participating in it.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: And another really cool one they did in the afternoon was uh they had a fiddle player and a woman who ended up being in the maybe they were the ones playing at the reception on Friday night, but they were definitely at the dinner at the farm on Saturday night playing playing, you know, as we ate.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um they they were the only ones that really adopted characters because the piece of the puzzle was called Elias' fiddle.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: Because and then the story, and this was the only time, and these people were kind of performers, so uh he would talk a little bit about you know being you know his son Walt and this is his wife Flora, and Flora would sort of share some of the stuff, and they would just talk about how he was in a group, and the group would come and play in the parks, and and so music really was a part of his life and and all, and he would play a few fiddle tunes, you know, short things in between them, and then you got your puzzle piece with the fiddle on it, and um then and there was one, and this this was a moment that actually really touched me pretty deeply, and I you know I didn't expect it to.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: There was a these were all volunteers, by the way.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: They had said, Oh, and this is when this is when uh Lola and not Lola uh had done what Disney never does because somebody was like, Well, how many people are on this today?
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, 126.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, No, I think it's 130.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, no, 126.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I was able to do the math and figure out how much Disney got from ticket sales.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_02: And in the end, I don't even know if that paid for this.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: But but going back to this moment, these were all volunteers, and it was a woman who was telling like the railroad story about you know how Walt loved the trains and how he his uncle was uh was a railroad engineer.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: And as they would get close to the farm, he'd blow the whistle a certain way.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: So Walt could come out and he would lift him up, and Walt would ride the engine into town.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_02: And and she she got choked up when she said, Now I'm gonna tell you just sort of a little a little side story here about you know, about our favorite, our favorite son here, and she she really got choked up.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: Oh and I I was like these these people love their town, they are so proud of it, and they are so proud of the fact that Walt Disney came from there and that it was such an inspiration.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um then there was uh there is another stop that was about the furniture store and uh funeral home, which were owned by the same people, because uh as they pointed out, if you're gonna make furniture, you might as well make coffins.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: And sure.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: And they had they in Marceline, they have this restored Coca-Cola wall that Yeah, it's cool.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and they realized it had been like painted the year before the Disneys moved to town from Chicago.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it was definitely there while Walt was there.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: At some point, though, they had built apartments in front of it.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: And when the apartments burned down, somewhere within the modern era, they realized that this mural was behind it.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: And they contacted Coca-Cola in Atlanta to see if they would come restore it.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and they said, sure.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but there was a thing at the top that was about the the furniture shop, and and I don't remember if the funeral home was up there too, but it was like the family name and the furniture store.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: And originally Coca-Cola was like, no, we'll restore the Coca-Cola part.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: And they were like, but this is this is an important piece of our history.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: And eventually Coca-Cola said, sure, we'll restore the top part too.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but they had brought uh a horse-drawn hearse there.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: And while they gave us each a little bottle of Coca-Cola to drink in the hot, hot, that day was hot.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, while they gave us a Coca-Cola drink, they talked about the story of how Roy had the job there.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was Rob.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think it was Roy.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe it was Herbert.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was Roy, but had the job of like cleaning the you know, making sure that the caught that the hearse was clean or whatever, and how Walt would lay in the back and pretend to be dead and then like scare him.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, and and then like going to uh the elementary school, the Walt Disney Elementary School, and they had two kids who were, and this was funny because I came in and uh they these two little girls were there and they had like a uh banner, like a sash on, and they each had tiaras.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I said something, I was I asked where the restroom was, and then I said, you know, those are those are really nice tiaras.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: And as I walked away, I heard them say to their mom, it's like, do we get to keep these?
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: And the mom was like, I think so.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so Disney, I think, had provided them.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: But it was it was so cool to hear these little girls talk about Walt going to school there and how then they renamed it in his honor, and how the artists came and you got to go in the gym and see the murals and stuff.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I mean, it was just stuff like that.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: You went to the post office and um they talked about Stamp Day, the day in 68, I guess, when they released the stamp, and the idea that, you know, a lot of cities wanted that that release party essentially, or the you know, the date of first issue.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_02: Chicago wanted it, Kansas City wanted it, Anaheim wanted it, and uh and Lillian said, No, if if you're gonna do this, it has to be in Marceline.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so the um the so the big party was there, but they had pictures of that, and you got a copy of a postcard that had the Marceline and the like a cancel that was for the event that day.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, you know, D23 Marceline Magic this day or whatever.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but just so many cool things.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: They had a stop that was for where the opera house had been, but the opera house where Walt had gone to see Peter Pan as a kid with whatever her name, Maud, whoever, the Sandy Duncan of her time, or the Mary Martin of her time, I guess.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_02: And and you know, you got a copy of that story that Walt had written for a newspaper, I guess, that explained how it must have come out around the time Peter Pan was released when he was explaining this is kind of why I'm connected to Peter Pan.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, beside the fact that he was like, and if anybody is the boy who won't grow up, it's me.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_02: But uh to to sort of stand on that corner and you got your little puzzle piece, which had a Peter Pan hat on it, but just so many of those wonderful stories that were told, and and uh like you got a you got a ticket, I guess that was at the hometown museum, which is in the old train depot.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: You got a copy of the ticket that they would have had coming from Chicago to Marceline.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, just little things like that.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um we also had uh we also had like a little coupon for our lunch.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_02: We had a lunch voucher that was included with the event.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: And ahead of time there were three restaurants that had things that were included, or you could just get a$15 credit if you wanted to order off the menu.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: But uh there was a there was a Mexican restaurant that had three Caballero Street Tacos or a Moana bowl.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I opted for the Moana bowl, went ahead and got a margarita to benefit the local economy, which was an add-on.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: I just I was I'm I'm a giver, is what I am.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: I know you are, I know you are.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so did that for lunch.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_02: And oh, oh, I forgot to tell you about the pancake race.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: Oh at the reception, they announced that there would be the first annual Marceline pancake race on Saturday, and they encouraged us to sign up at the at the at the uh reg or at the reception on Friday night.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, well, you only live once.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: Also, they knew their people, and they they kind of bribed them by saying, if you participate, you get a pin.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: Now, a lot of folks who do their Disney pins kind of thought, you know, the Cloison A fancier one.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_02: I I would deem this to be a button in my vocabulary.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's like the my first visit button, or but still, still.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, you're gonna want this because it's the first annual and we're gonna do this, you know.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: They act like it's for years and years to come.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, so I did I was like, why not?
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: You only live once, and why shouldn't it involve a pancake race in Marceline?
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: And so after you'd had your time with your lunch and picking up all your pins and stuff in town, it was pancake race time.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so at three o'clock in the afternoon, facing into the sun, which I'm not sure was a great choice, and also facing a headwind, you had to put on an apron and tie a scarf around your head.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_02: And which uh was a delightful photo op for everyone involved, I'm sure.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: And they gave you a skillet and a pancake that one of the restaurants had made, although they were very they were they were a real pancake, but they were they were hard.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, I don't know what they did to them, but um they they were they were definitely uh because they would fall on the asphalt and not really crack.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_02: So that's a pancake, let me tell you.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: But you had to so there was the starting line.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_02: You could practice for a little bit, but they had strung banners over the Main Street at probably 10 to 11 feet high.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: Okay and well, they told the original story of pancake races like the whole Shrove Tuesday English heritage history of it, and how the woman had been making her pancakes because the next day was gonna be Lent and you couldn't have pancakes in Lent, and she lost track of time and heard the church bells ring and uh had to had to run to church when she still had her her skillet with her pancake in her hand and was there in her apron and her scarf, and so everybody thought that was hysterical when they started having pancake races on Shrove Tuesday in England.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh well, okay.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not totally sure what that had to do with Marceline, but it was fun.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_02: I guess it was a hometown y activity, and they had so many people, they had so many people sign up that they had to do three or no, four separate races of about 15 people each.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, wow.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: I was in the third one, and that was beneficial because I was able to watch the form of the woman in the first race that won.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I stuck she had excellent form, by the way.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: She set the pace for everything to follow.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_02: And because the thing was, you started a starting line, you went about, I don't know, 15 feet, and you had to flip your pancake up and over the pennants that were hanging across the street and catch it in the skillet.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh and they gave you three attempts, and it was a little bit the honor system, but they're like, if you as soon as you m accomplish that, you can advance another 15 feet and do it again over the second set of pennants.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_02: And so there were three times you had to stop and flip it like 12 feet in the air and catch it.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they did say, however, that we could flip it from the forward side to the back side since it was so windy.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh otherwise the headwind was insane.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_02: And that that I will say was helpful.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: I did not win a prize, but I did complete the race.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: I was like third or fourth in my group.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: So really a respectable showing for of mice and main street men.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um proud of them.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, however, for uh all four races, the prize was won by people on the green bus.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Lola and not Lola were right.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: We were the best bus of the day.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Not only for our boisterous joy, but because all four all four uh winners were on our bus.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: And you got a you got a medal, which was really nice on like a rainbow-colored ribbon.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_02: And the trophy was a frying pan that had the Marceline pancake race uh logo on the bottom of it.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_02: And the the guy that I met on the bus that's from Burlington, Iowa, he was one of the winners.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: He won in the second, in the second race.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_02: So shout out to Kent.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: He took home uh a trophy from the first annual Marceline pancake race.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I mean it was just it was fun.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and oh my gosh, there were there on the sidelines, they had little cheer girls from you know, whatever small cheer academy they had.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, like eight, nine, ten, eleven-year-old girls that were doing pancake cheers as people raced down the street.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was quintessential, charming small town.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think Walt would have loved it.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so, so then after the pancake race, we got on the bus.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: They took us up and showed us the Walt Disney Municipal Swimming Pool and Park, which was dedicated in like 1959.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_02: So anyway, oh, it was 56.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_02: Because I was like, really?
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_02: Apparently, Walt and Roy and Lily Lillian and Edna uh came back for the dedication of the swimming pool on July 4th of 56.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, really?
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_02: You didn't think you had to be at Disneyland on the 4th of July, the year after it opened, but apparently not.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but it still has the original sign, and you can take pictures of that, obviously.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and the with the puzzle piece, that little treat that you got was a a replica of what a pool pass would have been like in 1956.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, cool.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_02: And like, and like at the at the schoolhouse, you you got a Walt Disney elementary pen, like P-E-N to write with, and just stuff like that.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was just it was so cool.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then so they drove us by the park and then they took us to the farm.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_02: And the farm had like a wishing tree uh puzzle piece and and flora's butter puzzle piece.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_02: And when you went to get the flora's butter puzzle piece, they actually had some of the little hand churns, the glass jars and cream, and people were like trying to churn it into butter, and there were some that had already made it to butter and you could taste it.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_02: There was a stop for Yellow Creek, and they gave you like a cane pole with a tin can tied to the end of it that you put behind a thing, and they put your puzzle piece in there and pulled on it like a fish.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_02: But talked about how Walt, you know, that was a stream that he fished at.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_02: Skinny the pig, they had a local farmer bring a couple of pigs, and they talked about this was one of the charming stories about Elias, who we all know was a bit of a stick in the mud, but but talked about how he would like tell people to come by the farm and see how Walt had trained Skinny the Pig to let him ride him down to the pond, and then Skinny would dump him into the pond.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I there were just so many, I mean, wonderful stories to hear and little mementos that went with each one, and then the puzzle pieces.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_02: The only true like timing hiccup, and I'm here to tell you, it was hot, and there were there were a lot of people who they as much as they loved Disney, it was not necessarily a more um the most comfortable day to be out in Marceline, but everybody stayed in pretty good spirits.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the thing was we got to the farm about 4 30, and it was supposed to be go around and get the puzzle pieces, and they had a speakeasy, which again was an open bar with a signature cocktail that was like Pim's cup, or wines, or beers, or non alcoholic beverages, and they had set up a lot of like.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they were trying to be hip and cool, which it was, because they had a bunch of like indoor furniture set up in little clusters and stuff.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_02: But the thing was, there was nowhere near enough chairs for everybody.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_02: And they had said, you know, don't head up to the tent until it's time for dinner, which is seven o'clock.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_02: Well, everybody was able to get their puzzle pieces basically within an hour.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_02: So by about 5:30, everybody had their puzzle pieces and was kind of hanging around.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and they had these cups of charcuterie that were really cool.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_02: I sent Jackie and Keegan and some people a picture of my cocktail and my and my charcuterie cup, and it was fancy.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they had gone all out and it was nice, but everybody was pretty much done by 5:30-ish.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_02: And if dinner had been scheduled at 6, that probably would have been the best timing.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: But dinner was scheduled at 7, and they had said don't go up there early.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_02: Well, eventually they they pivoted.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they they all realized what was going on.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, people who wanted to be in the shade and sit down were like, I don't care what you've told me.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna go sit at a table in the tent.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, however, that actually brought me to another couple that I meant, uh, that I met because a bunch of people had gone up there, which had opened up a whole lot of seating, and I went and got an additional signature cocktail.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I was walking, looking around, and I caught this guy's eye, and he had his drink, and he was like, Cheers, and I said, Cheers.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and I said, I do you think we really should go up there?
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because everybody's seen and he's like, I don't know.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_02: But his he was like, My girlfriend has gone to the restroom, so you know, we'll ask her what she thinks when she gets back.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_02: But I sat down and started talking to him.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and this is Rick and eventually Rochelle, and they were delightful people who also are going to be listening to the podcast.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_02: So, shout out to them.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, just the people that you meet who you already have something immediately to talk about because you all love Disney.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_02: And we talked to D23 and we talked to the podcast, and he's actually a pastry chef shock chocolatier, and we talked about what what Disney restaurants they like, and and his experience like being shown like some of the backstage stuff at restaurants because he's in the industry and um yeah, stuff like that.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_02: So eventually they let us come up and they rearranged sort of the way the evening was playing out because they I guess dinner was not gonna be ready until seven, and so they really put the programming that they were pushing that was supposed to come after food, they really kind of put it before.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: And it was uh oh, what's the ladies?
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_02: K that founded the museum, who told the charming story of the fact that the the only real reason they got to know the Disneys and got to know them well, because her father uh was really became pretty close with Walt, is because when they came back for that dedication in 56, her parents were were one of the only people in town who had air conditioning in their house.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so they arranged for the Disneys to all come over there to be comfortable in the downtime, and so they got to know and to sleep there too, ultimately.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: And but she talks about how she became good friends with Ruth, Disney, and when Ruth passed away, I guess her son had called Kay and was like, My mom wanted you to have all this stuff, which then Kay talks about how the museum sort of got started with her going out thinking there would be a few boxes she could put in her car, and ultimately they cataloged like 3,000 pieces of things, and they had to go back later with a U-Haul, and she sort of talks about the idea of the museum, and there's a really beautiful well, you've been there, there's a really beautiful uh thing upstairs that's like the Walt Disney that talks about the opening, which was his hundredth birthday.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_02: This was a celebration of his 125th, obviously, this December, and the museum's 25th is why it tied into the 25 puzzle pieces and all that stuff.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_02: But it says the Walt Disney uh what the hometown museum, a dream or a promise fulfilled.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_02: And it's sort of that promise that that was made to Ruth, I guess, basically, and maybe to Walt, that that something in that town would would be put together to to show people the history.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_02: And it's j it was just beautiful.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_02: And it was so Kay talked about that, and then Bill Farmer, you know, talked about getting the job as goofy, and you know, some more some more stories there.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and ultimately then they fed us a lovely dinner, uh, fried chicken.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_02: And although I don't know, the baked beans went missing from the menu.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they were clearly on the menu, and I got no baked beans, sir.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_02: Which did not it did not ruin my weekend.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_02: I just I was curious.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_02: What did they get burned?
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_02: Did the catering company go, uh, we forgot the baked beans?
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't know what the baked bean story is.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta dig into it.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta find these details out, you can't just let it go.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_02: I I know.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_02: And had it had it not been an open bar, I might have been more into figuring all that out.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm like, I'm just gonna go get another Chardonnay because I'm not driving back to Chillicothe.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so it and they had the the folks playing some good old Disney music, and and uh it wasn't all Disney, however, there was a moment where they did play uh some folks say he's a lot like me, the the country bear song.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, oh, maybe they'll do a whole country bear medley.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_02: But they did not.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_02: But it was like, and I know that's a wait, yeah.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was that song.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, it was definitely a country bear song.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but a lovely and oh, and dessert.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, it was a delicious like deep dish apple pie.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_02: But it can't it, but it came with a Mickey icon-shaped piece of cheddar cheese on the top.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_02: It was yeah, it was a lovely touch.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_02: And then, of course, they kind of wrapped up the evening and said, now step outside the tent and we will do the kiss.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_02: They told the kiss goodnight story.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_02: And then you stepped outside and uh watched the fireworks, which were really impressive for a for a because I I sent you the copy of Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow once I realized that's what it was gonna be.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_02: So not even the full song, but it started with oh, it started with World of Color.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_02: And then it had uh then it had Lavender Blue because So Dear to My Heart is kind of the thing that Marceline points to as the most Marceline-like film that Walt ever did was So Dear to My Heart.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_02: And and then uh what was the third one?
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Great Big Beautiful Lavender Blue and Oh heck, I can't think of it right now, but and then the and then the Kiss Goodnight song that was written.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um but it was just Oh, it was Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, that's what it was.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, World of Color was the first one, Lavender Blue, Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, and then Kiss Goodnight.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_02: And then you walked back to the bus, and as you got on the bus, we bid goodbye to Lola and not Lo not Lola, uh, because they were staying in Marceline, and they're like, we don't get to ride back with you, but and we got the last piece of the puzzle.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so we got back on the bus, chatted some more, you know, made the drive back, went up to my hotel room, I laid out the swag so I could see it all and take a picture, and I put the puzzle together, and it was just really special and really amazing.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_02: And as you said, everybody should go to Marceline that is a Disney fan, and you certainly should go to the museum.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I discovered the museum's open daily, and I think she said March through October, I believe.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_02: No, through the like the first of December, I think.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, really?
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's nice.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_01: It used to get close up to the fall.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_02: But anyway, if you're gonna plan a trip there, you should absolutely go to the museum.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, uh, any Disney fan they have so much cool stuff, so much rooms and rooms, and it's like two floors.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know that it's ADA compliant.
• 53:17
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know that there's an elevator.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe there is, I guess there must be, but they've just done a fabulous job refurbishing it.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_02: Such amazing stuff in there, and and in the end, I go, man, if you can do Marceline as a D23 event, it was it was well worth what it cost in my book.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so I have to, you know, ask did you learn, you know, because it sounds like it was educational on top of, you know, being entertaining.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um absolutely.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_01: What was like the the coolest thing that you learned that you didn't know prior to going on this adventure?
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um I well, I mean, just those little like Yellow Creek and the fishing thing.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_02: I I knew that they had like had some pictures taken of Walt fishing, but I kind of got the backstory.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know that I knew that Elias played the fiddle.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure I knew that either, actually.
• 54:25
  SPEAKER_02: I probably should have known that, but that was just so cool to have that, you know, represented by having an actual fiddle player play and talk about that story.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um I don't think I knew the Peter Pan story.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_02: Now, I did ask a question because she said it took two piggy banks worth of pennies, apparently, in this story, for them to be able to afford tickets.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Well, how much was it?
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what and she's like, I don't know.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know how big the piggy bank was.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm assuming it was all pennies, but I was like, I want to know what a touring show Peter Pan ticket cost back in, you know, yeah.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_02: And he so he was there, he was there from the age of five to the age of nine, right?
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_02: So so 1906 to 11 or to to 1910, I guess they moved to Kansas City.
• 55:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and some of oh, they also, and maybe it was at the Flora Butter place.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh no, I guess it was at the thing in the evening with dinner.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the woman from I guess she was from Marceline, but she told this story of they found these minutes of this ladies, this they started started like this ladies' auxiliary kind of thing group.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_02: And Flora had belonged to it.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_02: And they found minutes from a meeting that they read from, uh, because somebody donated something to the Historical Society.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_02: And and the minutes of the meeting talked about the fact that Mrs.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_02: So-and-so and Mrs.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_02: So-and-so, you know, that everyone wished Flora good, you know, uh uh good travels and a and a good life in Kansas City.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_02: And Mrs.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_02: So-and-so and Mrs.
• 56:17
  SPEAKER_02: So-and-so had been authorized to purchase a souvenir spoon for Flora.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it was just, it's one of those things that, you know, that's just such a weird little slice of life that that is tangential to this man that we owe so much to.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_02: And just just finding out that little weird tidbit of life and what you know, what became the trip to Kansas City and where he went from there, and how it's you know, how that has changed lives for for so many millions of people.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's just that ripple effect.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_02: And they talk about it in one at uh World of Color.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_02: And it's that ripple effect of how one person makes such a difference.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_01: And well, and you know, those are formative years too.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because like I, after we went to Marceline um years ago, I hadn't really revisited the small town that I grew up in for a long time because I know there's really nothing there now, you know, really they haven't like turned that back from at the library where you did a show into some sort of museum.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not quite yet.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but the that's that's just oversight on their part.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure they'll get on that.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they'll get on it eventually.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but but it was interesting because I have very fond memories of that particular like time in my life.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's no wonder that Walt, you know, also looked back on that as like very formative years for him.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, Marsling is a is a is an oddly magical place because that's talking about it.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, you keep saying those things, and I'm like, oh, right, one of the stations was the tar pitch where they had like a big white painted like the side of the house, and you could dip a stick that had a like a cotton wrapped around it at the end into black paint and like draw on the house, like Walt did with the tar.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, that's cool.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_02: And that star that story, and just it was it was so well done.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the museum is who sort of put all that together.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_02: I think I think D23 was like, we want you to do something special, here's your budget.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_02: And they put together something that I was really meaningful, I think, to Disney fans.
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_02: So and so after experiencing you know Marceline Magic, what you know, is there I will say I was most disappointed that they didn't have time to take us to Marceline Meadows.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's an exclusive place.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_02: Because I really wanted to see, you know, the residents enjoying their their crocodile crunch at at Hooks Hovel, really.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_02: And there just wasn't time.
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_02: There wasn't time, Tristan.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_02: I wasn't hoping.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_01: Hooks Hovel.
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's still funny.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, after you've experienced this, what is like the one thing that you kind of came away uh appreciating you know about Walt Disney and Marcelina or kind of all of the above?
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think I think I hadn't realized going back to that woman who got for clamped, uh just how really proud those citizens are of their town.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 59:41
  SPEAKER_02: And and how proud they are of Walt, and how proud they are of how Marceline played a part in Disneyland, and they j and and for the local economy, I'm I I think it has to be there.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_02: Aren't a lot of small towns that probably get the kind of tourist trade that they get because I hope a lot of Disney fans are passing through town and and you know, events like this, everybody was like, We're so glad you're here today.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, thank you for coming here.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_02: But that that pride they have is is just something that I hadn't really understood before, and it was so evident that you know, from from Lola and not Lola on the bus to the woman in the park and just everybody, and that yeah, the restaurant was filled at lunchtime.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's so great.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure the others were too, and it's you know, it would it would be a small town whether Walt Disney was there, was from there or not, but it's such a magical place, and and of course, I I took my picture with that banner that's like what was it, where Walt discovered the magic, Marceline.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_02: And it's true, it's like they was the first place he had seen fireworks.
• 1:01:05
  SPEAKER_02: They, you know, was was part of the whole kiss goodnight story, and what an impression that made on him.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_02: And they were even like, you know, with Skinny the Pig, it's like all these animals he was around.
• 1:01:19
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and they told the story about his teacher and how he drew the flowers, and she said, flowers don't have faces, and he said, Mine do.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I think back to like those silly symphonies and and some of the old cartoons, and I go, his do.
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_02: And it makes the world a better place.
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:01:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm happy that you had that experience.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I am too.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry you missed it, but I would I would go back again, honestly.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_02: I I would like Jackie to see it in the I would like because we've both been to Marceline, although we had never been to the museum because we were never there at a time it was open.
• 1:02:02
  SPEAKER_02: And as I say, they do it does seem like they really try to make each of these D23 events special.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_02: So if you ever get the chance to go to a D23 event, I would not hesitate.
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was amazing.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um and well, thanks for Karen.
• 1:02:25
  SPEAKER_02: Did I cover all your questions basically?
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, you did.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was crossing them off as we went, and any ones that I didn't but yeah, it was uh I'm just glad that you had that, and I I think it's great.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's great that the men I met and I met great folks like Michelle and and and Kent and Megan and John, I think was the guy that drove 14 hours from Georgia, and just great people.
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just cool to connect the Midwest, you know.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it is, and I did talk to Kay while I was there and said, you know, is there a way we could maybe get somebody on the podcast to talk to us about the museum?
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_02: Because we really do like to highlight the Midwestern connection when we can, being Midwestern centric.
• 1:03:14
  SPEAKER_02: And she said she thought Sumner would maybe be happy to join us at some point.
• 1:03:19
  SPEAKER_02: So hopefully that is in our future.
• 1:03:22
  SPEAKER_01: That would be great.
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks for sharing that with us.
• 1:03:25
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, it was it was lovely to hear about that.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm so happy you had that experience.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I did post some pictures that you had sent me.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_02: Me too.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_02: And get thee to Marceline, people.
• 1:03:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, get thee to Marceline.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_02: Don't go to a nunnery, get thee to Marceline.
• 1:03:42
  SPEAKER_02: And if you want to go to a nunnery, that's fine too.
• 1:03:44
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I can arrange that too.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't get asked as a travel agent to book a lot of nunneries, but I can probably figure it out.
• 1:03:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, you should check Sean out.
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh check him out on Instagram, hurry back to Sean, um, and uh he'll be able to help you out and plan your next trip to the nunnery.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_02: And uh or Marceline, or you know, the more traditional Disney theme park vacations.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, hey, Mr.
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_01: McCall, thank you very much for sharing that with us.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for asking.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, and thank you all for listening.
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_01: And as we say each and every week, beautiful,