Latest / Of Mice and Main Street Men / What We Love About Animal Kingdom (Episode 221)

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What We Love About Animal Kingdom (Episode 221) · Of Mice and Main Street Men

• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to of Meissen Main Street Men.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: I am Tristan.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I am Sean.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh goodness, there was a d dramatic pause there.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: I I liked it.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh I think you were just stunned that I have finished so quickly.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: But happy, happy Earth week.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Earth Day.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Earth Week Day.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Happy belated Earth Day to you.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, happy belated Earth Day.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: I I think it's to sell we had a guy from the zoo on today on Living Home.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because it's actual Earth Day as we're recording this, and he called it Earth Month.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I figure Okay.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it's a big old planet.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: It probably deserves a whole month.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Probably.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: We should probably celebrate it every every month.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: We kind of should.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, what we're talking about today in honor of uh Earth Day is uh Animal Kingdom.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I think when people talk about the Disney World, Animal Kingdom is often uh the park that gets a little less love, maybe.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I would agree with you.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: I when it's when I have clients that think they don't have time to do all four parks, that's the park they usually skip.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Much much to my chagrin.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I just uh I think it deserves some love and a closer look.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I think part of it, you know, it's a newer park, so that's it, there's no there's none of that um immediate algae.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's a right what 90 98?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: 98, so 12.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So 0818.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's a 20 years old.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: 28.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it really shouldn't be sleeping in the in the basement anymore.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: It should be out on its own.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: It should be out of its own.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but I I think you know, for some people, that's not there's not that nostalgia that necessarily like Magic Kingdom has or something, or Epcot even.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, respect for the natural world, which is why we're talking about it today here on Earth Month.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um indeed.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I I thought it'd be nice to revisit yet again a a segment from uh the the late summer of uh 2022 and talk about what we just need the animal kingdom.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: That just still seems like it was a way long time ago, and I feel like we just did that.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I know I thought we did, and we've we've done things like hidden gems or well, as as as I was logging, as I was logging in, I was like, oh, we're going to revisit the gorilla panini.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, yeah, I have not listened to it, but that I forgot about the gorilla panini.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that what what episode was that on?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that was the hidden gems.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: It might have been that long ago.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think it might have been that.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, right.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, go back and listen to that.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: I do not truly advocate making gorilla into panini.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a thing.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I do recall that's how it sounded.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: It was how it sounded.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm glad we were able to clear the air on that.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: I am too.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: No gorillas were harmed in the making of this panini.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: No, none, no.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: We'd never harm a gorilla when making a panini.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh um, that's a sentence I just didn't think I'd say.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but you know, we've that's what this show does.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: It causes us to say sentences we thought we'd never say.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: I know, and here we are, and we're having a blast.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: But hey, uh just just sharing those things we love about Animal Kingdom 2026.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, go ahead and start us off, my friend.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: What what you got?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I will say I did toy at making my number five the alcoholic dole whip, because this was the park that that introduced me to the fact that you could indeed put alcohol into a dole whip.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right on.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that little place that's there on the corner of Africa, of Harambe.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, the first time I had the the the choice of coconut or dark rum.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Although I I think now they only offer coconut.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Am I crazy?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I have no idea.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I've never had this delicious beverage you speak of.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you're just well, and now I'm sorry, but now the the poolside bar, the tiki bar at the Disneyland Hotel has has surplanted it in amazingness because the last time I was there, of course, she said coconut, dark, or both.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, they put a really beautiful like flour in it to garnish.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was a beautiful cup of dole whip, let me tell you.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I've gone all the way to the West Coast now, and the question was, in fact, what do we love about Animal Kingdom in 2026?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be interested to go back and listen to the episode because I have a feeling some of this has shifted for me.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't remember what we said back then.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't remember so my number, my number five, I think over the years I have developed, because I don't think this was on my list before, and I bet it's on yours.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: But I at number five, I put Expedition Everest.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Good job.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Because you know, it's just it's taken 28 years to really ensconce it as a as a true Disney classic, but you know, it belongs in the Disney mountain range, and it's just the theming is so cool, and I've developed a new appreciation, especially writing it at night at the last at uh at the uh because now I have now been to two Moonlight Magics at Animal Kingdom, and so I just I it it truly is a classic attraction where I wish they could fix the Yeti.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, disco yetis are better than no yetis.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's what I always say.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's another sentence I didn't think I'd say today.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: A disco yeti is better than no yeti.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so yeah, so my number five is Expedition Everest.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: A disco yeti is better than no yeti.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that's a that's a longer band name, but it you wouldn't forget it.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's gonna take up most of the album cover.
• 6:44
  unknown: Yeah.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh by the time the announcement is.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: What is your number five, sir?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone would leave.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, my number five is a little esoteric, but it's it's uh Animal Kingdom's future feels uh promising because uh so the tropical Americas, I think the mission remains relevant and and and that's important.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that section I think is gonna represent you know more than just a few new attractions.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's an uh what's the word I'm looking for?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: An expansion, expansion maybe on the parks kind of worldview, because it's gonna spotlight Latin America, the ecosystems, and the stories, and I think that's great.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I think some of the IP- I bet they're gonna have amazing food.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: I bet the empanadas will rock.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, amazing food, and you know the the IP they're bringing into there is is great.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like I have no notes on that, and it fits, in my opinion, very well into that park already.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the direction feels very much aligned with what Animal Kingdom was all about, and I think the environment they're going to create is gonna have that classic Animal Kingdom respect and education, and I think it's gonna be an emotional joint, you know, and I think it's gonna be something really something to see, because even seeing some of the you know, the the skeletal buildings going up is really impressive.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm pretty sure there must already be a band named Emotional Joint.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Emotional Joint.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: If there's not, that's a good one too.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Emotional joint.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's uh yeah, yeah.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: That uh yeah, they play a lot of reggae.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they do.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: And um, but I'm excited.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of my five uh is just kind of the future and and the hope of what Tropical America is going to be and what it's going to do to the park.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: I I have sort of a nod that direction, but it is higher on my list.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So all right, all right.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so so my number four, and I'm gonna Mangello this because there's two entries here, but I'm gonna say the live entertainment, the shows.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now, granted, there's a lot of awesome, like, you know, side entertainment too.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: I do not mean to belittle like the you know, the street atmosphere, you know, the street entertainment in Harambe or any of that stuff, but I'm talking specifically uh Finding Nemo the Musical and uh the Festival of the Lion King.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: They're both brilliant.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, those they're just as as you have said, the Animal Kingdom is the hottest park on the planet.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: So both of those are delightful air-cooled escapes in the summertime.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and it's just the the talent that Disney brings in, you know, just the sheer imagination of those shows, although I still wish that Finding Nemo the musical kept the punchlines they used to have.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um because now they've condensed it and removed most of the punchlines.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: But I still think it's a spectacular show.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's still lots of heart and incredible music.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and yeah, the you know, the Legend of the Lion King is just such a cool experience and that theater and you know the puppetry on the floats of the characters, but also, you know, just the sheer, you know, Cirque de Soleil kind of feel of the monkeys and the and the people on the on the silks, and I just I I once again Disney proves that the value for your entertainment dollar is there with Broadway caliber shows.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my number four.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, yeah, those two are amazing.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my number four, I've kind of Mangelloed this too, is uh vibes and just kind of the architecture and the views.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna kind of lump all those in because I think Animal Kingdom, as I have said before, is a photographer's park.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you want to take some rad pictures, this is the park to do it in.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's designed in so many ways, you know what I mean?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like when you take a photo, you can see something cool in the foreground, the midground, and the background, which is cool.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and it's so fun to kind of compose pictures in that park, and something that I did recently, especially the views of Everest, rising rising over Asia, the Tree of Life we've talked about before.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, especially when you take a picture that we talked about of the of the temple, the yes, you know, that little shrine.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, then you get Everest at the background, but the shrine in the foreground, and yeah.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I was lucky enough this last trip, they did stay open a little later, so you did get to see Pandora at night, and you get to walk through the rest of the park when it was dark.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that excellent is amazing at any time because at any given moment you can get a brilliant picture, and they're all going to be different.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like I took several pictures of the tree in the morning, the afternoon, the evening, and then that finally at night, and that you know, oh my god, and the night is just insane.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: But I will say one of the things that we really spent we took time to like really observe was the architecture, and the fact that it is purposefully looks ancient and not pristine, and it looks weathered and it's textured, it's imperfect, and all that is intentional.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I love there's that documentary where they talk about that, and Joe Rhody talks about how you know they they really went to great lengths to make it look weathered, and these are spaces that feel lived in, and they're real.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: And man, every photo I look at that I've taken there, I'm like, man, I look like a rock star photographer, and it's not me, it's just the joint, and it's it's just an amazing place.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: So there you go.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Vibes, the architecture, and the views.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's my number four.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my my number three sort of ties in there because it's Pandora, just in general.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: The entire Pandora experience.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I will admit, probably to the horror of most, I have never seen any Avatar movie.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I I know it's I know it's sacrilege.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen them, and they're but they're a good time, but well, I hear you see one, you've seen them all kind of a little bit.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: A little bit.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I should see it and make up my own mind.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: But part of the reason that I I go, this is, you know, I I kind of know the gist, obviously, but I go, I am uh I am a solid example of the fact that you don't have to even be familiar really with the IP to enjoy an immersive area like Pandora.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, it's just there's such really cool stuff to see, the floating mountains, certainly Pandora at night with all the bioluminescence.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's like I I I don't have to know who all the backstory and everything.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I love Flight of Passage is one of the greatest attractions ever made.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I don't have to understand the story of Avatar to appreciate everything that's going on in Flight of Passage.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: No, you don't.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: That's the beautiful thing about it.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think it stands on its own.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or the Seinfeld of theme park attractions, the Navi River Journey.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's uh that's just it's it's a it's a boat ride about nothing, except really cool animals and a really cool planet, and some really cool stuff, and some music, and a giant shaman or priestess, and you know, it's really cool.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Just you know, it takes me from point A to point B.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a it's it's it's it's not a it's not a real gripper, as they say, in London.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: No, gripper in London is totally different, but uh you're a world trap.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: You're schooling us.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I do enjoy the I do enjoy the Pandora.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: It made it to number three on my list, especially at night.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my number three is Kilimanjaro Safaris.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I missed this on my last trip and it was a big bummer.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: One day it was just rained out, and then it was so long the other day.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: But I think this, you know, it's arguably the soul of Animal Kingdom because it is the thing, right?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you were riding through an actual safari, and I know you've been on an actual safari.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: We've talked about that before.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: And this is the closest, but like you get to see like you know, real animal behavior and quasi-real environmental conditions, and I think that's pretty cool.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: And there are moments that can't be scripted, even it like I love those moments where like a giraffe is just standing in the road and everything comes to a halt.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, the rhinos, which is a lot like it is in Africa, too.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's like when there's a giraffe in your way, you just sit there.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: You you don't go anywhere.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's so cool.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it creates a certain kind of awe without, you know, like uh a pretense because it's actually, you know, these animals are just actually there.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Granted, I know there's like things that, you know, there's moats and there's fences and things that you cannot see.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's just there's refrigerated, there's refrigerated rocks that make it easier for the lions to lie down.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, it's again like what I was saying before, it kind of reinforces Animal Kingdom's core belief that, you know, uh what is it, that we're visitors in the in the natural world, you know, not the roots entirely.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm really beautiful and the fact that it's isn't it like the grounds of that are like as big as Magic Kingdom, right?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's the that's the that's what everyone says.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Oh right.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: I guess you can take into account all those spaces.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I just think it's an amazing attraction, so it's unreal.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I am I am actually right there with you.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: My number two includes the safari, but it is the live animals in general.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh sure, sure, sure.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's just whether whether it's the gorillas in the panini forest or um, you know, harvesting, harvesting panini in their natural habitat, which is which is you know, how often does the average American get to see that?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Not often.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um but you know, the fact that Disney has, yes, it's a zoo, but it's not a zoo.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's right, you know, Disney has put such care into those habitats, and you know, the tiger, the you know, the Maharaja jungle track is so cool with the tigers, and you know, there's there are l real life animals to encounter, you know, throughout throughout the day and throughout the park, and and especially the the uh the safari because as you say I have been on the safari, but for people who can't get to Africa, who aren't, you know, who can't fly over there, and it it truly is very it gives you the the vibe, as you say.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: It you know that that is a lot of what a safari is like, is is what they do on Kilimanjaro.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I have always loved it, and I it continues to be one of my favorites, and I just I'm giving a big shout out at number two to to all the real animals at Animal Kingdom, and as you should.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my number two is we've kind of already touched on this, uh, but it's Pandora, and I've kind of lumped it in with Flight of Passage as well.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh man, Pandora, if there's a land that really commits completely, you know, that is one.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's in I do like that it's not a land necessarily because I was thinking about the Avatar movie of it all, and I think that it stands out alone.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like you don't have to have seen those movies, like I have, but like you don't have to enjoy anything in that park, and so you know as I am as I am poster boy for right, and I you know it wasn't a land built to sell a movie necessarily, you know what I mean?
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's like no right, and I I kind of admire like what it's doing because even the sounds, like we were there, you know, as it turned from you know dusk into night, and the sounds get a little louder and they change, and the lighting reinforces you know the illusion that it's an actual living place with the bioluminescence and everything else, and and then you get to find a passage.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the queue alone is impressive, but man, we've talked about this before.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's unbelievable, it's an unbelievable experience, and the feeling of you know, that connection and that you're linking with that banshee, it's it's uh that rare Disney attraction that it wows you without and you don't even know that you're about to like it's just so like you obviously you're getting onto this machine, but when that screen goes up, you uh are transported and you your whole being convinced that you're flying unless you look to your sides, you know.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: But like well, don't do that, don't look to the sides.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: But it's an absolute like feeling of wonder.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: And right the first time I did it, I was in tears because it was not you just leave changed, you know what I mean?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that that beautiful kind of intermission that you take in the cave where there's the stillness and the beauty, and you know, it really is beautiful.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: It really is.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's a reason people shed a tear in Flight of Passage, and it's not just because they're afraid they're gonna pee themselves.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's why they added the mid-Q bathroom.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: They knew people were gonna pee themselves.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so there you go.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Number two is uh Pandora, but you know, Flight of Passage, just an overwhelmingly beautiful place over there.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my number one, I'm well, I was gonna say bluey, because you know, isn't that isn't that what we're supposed to love at Animal Kingdom right now?
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Bluey's coming.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but no, bluey is not my answer.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: However, my answer is uh the evolution, the evolution of Animal Kingdom, which you know goes all the way back to you know, this idea.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, do I wish they had gone down the actual path that they had charted of that beastly kingdom with uh with the animals that never existed?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that had been incorporated right.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Rather than just part of the opening, you know, sort of teaser of what the park was going to be and part of the logo, and then gradually it went away because that idea went away.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, to watch the park in this new renaissance, as you said, headed towards this tropical Americas, which I think is really going to be spectacular.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the Indiana Jones thing will be very cool.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: The Encanto attraction, I'm sure, will blow our minds.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, just to see just to see that park evolve.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope we see it evolve now into, as we've said before, something that will stay open a little later that might have I mean, bring back the kite show for pity's sake.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: What was wrong with that?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Did it scare too many animals?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was cool.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Or or even Rivers of Light.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: That was really cool.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: And now that giant amphitheater sits there just, you know, collecting stagnant water so it's gonna smell like the Bengal barbecue docks.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: The spunk or the the what do you say it?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: What do you call it?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: The now I now I uh am sort of the funk.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Right, some sort of some sort some sort of funk.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the funk down by the flame tree barbecue.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: But but you know, I I am encouraged by this new direction and and the growth and the transition, and and I'm very excited to see what is to come.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: So that is my number one, the evolution of Animal Kingdom.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: That is a beautiful answer, and my number one is less eloquent, but it is Expedition Everest.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think something that makes that work is the idea that thrills are better when they're earned.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: And what I mean by that is the queue tells such a cool, complete story with the prayer flags and the worn tools and the equipment for the expeditions and screens and like the just all of the photos and stuff.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of sets an entire tone, like so many cues at Disney do, of course.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: But by the time you board, you're already invested in that story.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then the ride itself, I mean, it's so raw and it's so fast, and it has that, you know, the the disco yeti, which is better than no yeti, but the broken track and the backward plunge into darkness, and just this over and the hair ties, the thousands of hair ties.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: The hair ties are most important, but nothing is more authentic to the Nepalese than their hair ties.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: I just think Everest, you know, it it remains powerful because that story just really hits and it feels alive.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not just a coaster, I think it's a little bit of a cautionary tale, like so many things are at Animal Kingdom, uh about you know and I think right now it's something to consider, but when we push things too far, you know, things that we don't fully understand what can happen, you know.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: F around and find out as a few.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: F around my wife says, find out.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm saying.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it it just hit me that Everest is there's a lot more going on than maybe you know, at first glance you you kind of realize when you start thinking about it.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: A roller coaster.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's a it's more than a roller coaster.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's a damn fine roller coaster.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I I think it's and Animal Kingdom, you know, it's a bummer that you know it is I don't know.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a I I think once Tropical Americas opens though, you're gonna see that park really become something.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I think Disney will invest in it more, because obviously they're investing in it now, but I think you will even see more of that when Tropical Americas is the success that it it is going to be.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: The line for empanadas will simply require you to be there, you know, at Roboshop, I'd bet.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I have no notes.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: I would love an empanada right now, actually.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I love I would too.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: I have no notes on an empanada.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh yeah, so that's you know, that's I think Animal Kingdom.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: It was a little shorter episode, like a like a visit to Animal Kingdom doesn't take a full day at the time.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: This didn't take up a full commute, probably.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: It might depending on you if your commute's small.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: I know uh a few episodes have been a little longer, so people have said that it's been two commutes.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think Kimberly pointed that out.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Kimberly.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Just one commute today.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: Just one commute today.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: So uh, but yeah, uh Mr.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: McCall, there's so many deals out there.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, when I've even looking at it.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: There are.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: There are indeed, and just this past week, Disney has opened the 2027 vacation season.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: So you are now able to, you know, if you're thinking about spring break next year or a great summer vacation next year, or just wanting to snag the perfect hotel for whenever you want to go in 2027, those those dates are now available.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you know, cool kids' summers going on.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Head on down.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: There are some great deals.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to help you find the perfect Disney vacation that's just right for you.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: And he takes a lot of the stress out of the equation.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I do try.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: There's that, you know, there's kind of a weird stigma sometimes about people using travel agents, but uh I think they're valuable, and I think you can get a lot out of them.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: They can help you out.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: So gotta go.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: I truly, I truly am there so that my clients can not worry and just enjoy, I hope.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that's important.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna help them craft that vacation that they want.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: I may not even know exactly what they want, but hopefully I can ask the right questions and and and help them achieve what they want.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: Amen to that.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Miss And uh those of you that are listening, go check out if mice and mainstreetmen.com.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: There's links to the agency and links to our socials.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're not following us on Instagram and Facebook, please do.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: We probably won't be long until we get the disco Yeti is better than no yeti t-shirts up there.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: I know I gotta get some more t-shirts.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: We've come up with so many at this point that uh you know, everybody's gotta get them.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody's gonna want them.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: They know they are.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Mr.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: McCall, it's always a pleasure to chat with you.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: As well, you Sert Scott.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: And to all of you out there, we'll say bye, you by you friends, and we will see you.