On this episode, we are back with our drink, eat, shop, see, and ride series and today make our picks at Animal Kingdom. Today's August 6th, 2024, this episode is 691 of the Main Street Magic Podcast. ♪ Jeremy and Ronda are more than a little pond of Disney World ♪ ♪ So they made this podcast to share it all with you ♪ ♪ Reports and resorts, top ten lists of all sorts ♪ ♪ Main Street Magic's bringing it home for you ♪ Hello and welcome to another episode of Main Street Magic. I'm your host, Jeremy Stein, and as always, I'm joined by my lovely wife, Ronda. Hey, guys. Make sure you check us out on the web at mainstmagic.com, as well as follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @mainstmagic, and on TikTok @msmpodcast. If you want to be part of the community, and join the conversation in addition to live streams from the parks and our weekly live show, head to Facebook and search for the Main Street Magic Community and ask to join. And don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you can get brand new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Planning a trip to Disneyland or Walt Disney World can be overwhelming and at times just downright frustrating. But don't worry, because mouse dining removes the frustration of booking Disney dining reservations, alerting you when they spot availability for your desired restaurant, date, meal, and time. Visit msmfriends.com to use this free service. So on today's episode, Jeremy made me do work again. We are doing our Eat Drink Shop, Sea Ride series from Animal Kingdom, and I don't mind them because it's just one park I have to think about, one place. I think the hard part is when I have to, like, think about all of Walt Disney World. It's like, yeah, we do some of those where we go through the entire property. The entire property. Like, I'm talking anywhere from resorts to parks to everything. Like, I'm like, to springs. And we'll do one of these next for Disney Springs. Well, of course, we can't do really, like, ride, but we'll figure out something in its place. We've done this so far. We did Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, so now we're on Animal Kingdom. But before we get into this, I realize we missed the poll from last week, which normally would come out in Friday's episode. So we'll just do it now, and then you'll get another poll on this Friday's episode. So for the next few weeks in the poll, we're going to focus on food because we all love food. So there'll be various food things. And this week's poll question was about the quick surface in Magic Kingdom, the currently open quick service restaurants at Magic Kingdom. That was a good one after talking about Keys of the Kingdom. And so that would have been great if we would have missed it. We're on perfectly with that episode. So let's see how Columbia Harbor House stacks up. So this isn't going to be like kiosk. This is more like what is basically considered quick service under Disney's guidelines on their website, which normally means, I mean, it is a counter service restaurant that then has seating to it. So like, you'll see one show up on here that is deemed quick service, even though you may not, it kind of teeters the line, I guess. But we're going to start with last. It got zero love because really all they're serving for the most part is some hot dogs, sometimes some special treats. And that's the lunching pad over in Tomorrowland. So we've literally gotten pretzels like we've never gotten a hot dog or anything major there. I mean, we've done pretzels. We've done some of the stuff. As soon as you walk into Tomorrowland from the hub. Yeah, that's right. That's right. So that makes it a difficult spot. We have done some special things. There's been some specialty things there. But that makes it a really hard spot because of all the outdoor seating. You know, especially during the summer, you don't want to go there during the summer and sit outside and need a hot dog. So coming in next at 1% is Golden Oak Outpost. Now, currently, when I voted, knowing that Golden Oak Outpost has this Tiana menu right now, that we really, really enjoyed. We really did. But we don't know how long it's going to be around. I hope it stays permanent. If it does, I might have put my vote in for Golden Oak, right? Okay. I mean, because we have loved the options there. Yes. But again, outdoor seating is all that's available. Right. And even though you're across from Pecos Bill. It's hot. Yeah. Well, yeah. And you're not supposed to get food here and then go inside and eat at Pecos Bill. Right. Technically, you know what I mean? You could, but you're really not supposed to. All right. Coming in at 3%, we have the Friars Nook. Now, Tots. Those are the Tots. We really love the mac and cheese Tots there. But I mean, again, outdoor seating. Right. And this isn't a place. You know, most of these that rate so low are very specific. I feel like and don't have large menus. That's true. It's tough for a family or a group of people that, you know, don't want Tots, for example. Right. And I feel like that's something specific. Like, you're like, this is what I want. I'm going to get Tots. And then I'm going to go right next door to the treats and get a treat. Right. But I feel like, again, you have to walk in going, this is what I want to do. Exactly. Coming in at 4% of the votes, we've got Sleepy Hollow, which I was very surprised. That is surprising. Rank that low and Pinocchio Village Juice. I mean, I don't think it's surprising when you take a look at our top four. And we all know that Magic Kingdom is not known for its food. Right. As far as quick service and table service. I think it's becoming more and more known for snacks and specialty items and dole whips and things like that. I like the flatbreads at Pinocchio Village Juice. And I like sometimes when they do the specialty once. But when's the last time we've been there? You know, why we barely go there? It is a mad house. Okay. All the time. But you can mobile order. You can. And if you're going to Pinocchio Village Juice, I would recommend mobile order. That's what you suggest. We love Sleepy Hollow, but you know, they have all those menu changes, and they got rid of the foldable waffle. And now it's a Mickey waffle, a big Mickey waffle. And then it's tapped with items as opposed to like, you know, the sandwich, like the Nutella and fruit. Same as the spicy chicken one. So we'll have to go back and try it. Yeah. But yet again, outdoor seating, at least this has covered. Yes, it does. Okay. Coming in at 13%, Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe. Okay. Yeah. Always not. I'm shocked that that's lower, in my opinion. But I mean. I would have thought this would have been the second place. I would have too, because of the burgers and fries and chicken. They're chicken tenders. They're all chicken tenders. Everything like grilled chicken. I think there is a sandwich. There's chicken tenders. There's burgers. And with this and our number two, actually our number two, and we'll talk about that here. Actually, I'll just talk about it when we get to number two. Let's go up to the third place at 21%, is Casey's Corner. This is loved by all. I mean, really people like this place. You have minimal indoor seating, but this is a go-to spot. You have a whole bunch of umbrellas and outside. But it is hot dog specific. Yes. I mean, there's nothing else there. Hot dogs, corn dogs, french fries. Right. But they also have some specialty hot dogs. I feel like I don't think they're doing the hot dog of the month anymore. I remember when they were doing that, it had a specialty hot dog of the month. They were retelling me about it. And every time I would pretend like I was special and say ways that I would have made it better. I know. Because what they did, they always took their regular hot dog and just tapped it with stuff. As opposed to I wish they would have gotten more inventive with the actual meat portion, the dog portion. You know what I mean? Like, again, if you do a Cuban one, which is the first one that comes to my mind, do like a pork sausage and then top it with, you know, whatever, maybe some like diced or shaved ham, you're mustard, you're pickles, like, yeah, and do that instead of just doing a regular beef hot dog. So all right. Coming in at number two is Pecos Bill, Talltail Inn and Cafe with 22% of the votes. This goes with cosmic rays. You go back pre-COVID when both of these had their topping spars. These are potentially one in two. Yeah. Right. Now, what is the good thing about Pecos Bill though? They have inside seating and they have a lot of it. Yeah. So hopefully if people aren't trying to get out of the shade, I mean, excuse me, out of the sun into the like shade and into the air condition and I mean. But what specifically is great about Pecos Bill, even though it doesn't have the toppings bar? Oh, you can still get all the toppings. Sorry. Just have to ask. Yeah. Yeah, they'll give you a little boat with everything. Yeah. Guacamole still costs extra, but I think it's like a buck or two. So you can get a little pack of guacamole. They'll give you sour cream, extra cheese. Like most of the stuff that was available, you can get at no charge. You just got to ask. Yep. So who does that leave for number one, which we just spoke about on keys to the kingdom. And I know this is a fan favorite. Even if I don't understand why. What is it? Columbia Harbor House. 32%. 32%. Yeah. I did not vote. I think I would have probably voted cosmic rays because I feel like that's where we usually go to. Yeah. I just did Pecos Bill because I love Mexican style food. But I really do enjoy cosmic rays as well. And I know that they're doing the same chicken tenders there. They are across property. But the last time we had them there, I don't know what they were doing. That was special or extra, but they were so good. Like absolutely. Yeah, they were really good. So yeah, so we'll see. We'll come up with another. We'll probably run through all of the parks quick service first in these polls. Then we can move on a table service. And then we'll just go on from there. But let's get in to today's episode. If you've not been with us for one of these before, we each are going to pick. We do not know each other's answers. No, we're each going to pick a place to drink at in what you would get there. A snack, where and what? We're going to do a quick service where and what table service where and what. We're going to shop, right? Then we're going to do a meet and greet with the character. See a show. And finally, we pick one attraction. So rules are we cannot pick the same thing. We're going to flip a coin to see who goes. Rhonda's heads. I'm Tails. And if Rhonda goes first and she picks my first choice, I've got a backup ready to go. So then I got to go to the second one. So you ready? We're going to start with where to drink and what you're getting. Flipping my coin at his heads, it always is and Rhonda gets to go first. I'm going to go to Nomad Lounge. So was I. Oh, sorry. And you, if you want the alcohol, I would suggest Jen's tattoo. That is $15. If you do not like want the alcohol, like we do, it is a hibiscus henna for $7.25. You know, I know that information very well. Why? It's written in my first place. I wrote both of them out. Me too. I wrote Jen's tattoo and I wrote the. So did I and we were separate. That's cool. That's kind of funny. So you get that pick though. Yes. And both are outstanding. They both are delicious. Yes, they are. And if you're if you're not doing alcohol, then you can get the hibiscus henna. It is watermelon. It's got lime juice. It's got hibiscus, a little bit of syrup in it. And then it's got some soda water on the top, basically the same beverage, but just add snow leopard vodka for the Jen's tattoo. I wish they put they what did we get ours with? It was either a limb or a lime slice. I think ours was lime. You remember at jock Lindsay's, they put the the hibiscus flower in the one drink. That is edible and it's actually pretty good. It's super sweet. It's been soaking in this hibiscus syrup and it's it's actually really good. Yeah, it's like a candy one or something. All right, well, I got to go to my backup, which is going to be dawa bar. That was my backup. Was it? And I'm just I'm just going to go back to the drinking days and do the Harambe iced tea for 16. I saw that, but I was like, man, I probably wouldn't have gotten that. So I did the African margarita for 15. And I think I've done that before. Also good there. It's a really good one. Yeah, I mean, the the Harambe iced tea is a long island iced tea. So, well, coming from someone who previously had an issue drinking alcohol with alcohol, it's it's the most bang for your buck. You know, so you're getting every liquor. You can imagine a little splash of coke. What I used to do when I did long island iced teas is I would replace the coke for a sprite. And that was actually really good. That little hit of lemon and lime. But yeah, it's really good bang for your buck when you go over there to. But they do not have any non alcoholics. Nothing special. So if you're going to do that, it'd be water or yeah, a soda. Yes, correct. All right, we're going to move on to where and what to eat for a snack. And I will use heads. It's your choice again. But I will say. Are you sure? Cause isn't it two heads? No, that's definitely the real heads. The other one had they have a torso and all on it. Oh, go ahead. On the other side. Um, what were you going to say? I don't know if you found the same animal kingdom was hard. Because they're the options are fewer. And the the stuff we really love is the stuff we really love. And I feel like we go back to time and time again. Yep. And so I think a lot of ours will be the same. Oh, 100%. Like I didn't think it was that hard. I am doing Mr. Kamal's. Oh, okay. Good. I did not pick that for either of my fish. And I'm going to do the fries, the loaded fries or whatever they're called. Those are good. 529. That's great. That is their fries and they got to Zeke and they got. Oh my gosh, they're so good. I haven't had them in a very long time, but. Yeah, we had a probably a year ago, but we it's been. It's been a little while. I went to trilobites. Oh, that was my backup. Was it in their Buffalo chicken chips? For 979. Yeah, 979. This is kettle chips. So not like tortilla chips or anything. It's covered with buffalo chicken, blue cheese, dressing, some blue cheese crumbles. It is. I think it's ranch and then blue cheese crumbles. Crumbles, it is so freaking good. It's very shareable. Did you know that a trilobite is an animal? It's a crustacean. They look like horseshoe crabs, kind of. It's a dinosaur animal. So I'm pretty sure they're extinct now. That's why they're in dino land. But I didn't realize a trilobite was actually like a crustacean. That's awesome. And when I looked it up, because I went, I was looking for the menu. I'm like, trilobites. And then it starts coming up with all these horseshoe crab looking things. And I was like, what's going on? So got a little, a little lesson there. Oh, that's cool. What was your backup? That was. What was your backup? What was your backup? I went to Harambe fruit market. And for about five, six bucks, you can get the corn on the cob. Seasoned African spices. That's right. On the cob. We didn't get that with carrots. I know. She didn't bring it up. Well, we went and sat at Nomad. And then we were kind of friends for time. But it's outstanding paying $5 plus for an ear of corn is ludicrous, except when you're here. Yeah. You know, and I've, I enjoy when they do the corn on the cob stuff at some of the festivals at Epcot. But it's never been worth five bucks to me there. What did you think about the corn on the cob that we got from the salon chair truck? Because I think it was about five bucks. I really enjoyed it. That was the Mexican street corn. So it is actually slathered mayo or sometimes they'll do Mexican crema. And then you put some, usually it would be tahine on it. And then queso fresco, crumbled queso fresco. I don't think it was mayo cheese. It was probably crema. And it was super duper good. Would you, do you think that's worth it, even though it's ludicrous? 100% worth it. Cool. Everything at that cilantro truck at Disney Springs was worth it. That place was super good. Yeah. Like those empanadas that we got and brought home and our reheated. That was really good. They were outstanding. I, I'm pretty sure they're making their own dough. Like I think they're scratch making everything. Maybe. Um, and I'm pretty sure, oh no, that's, I don't think that's, maybe that is. John will text me and correct me. I think that's the one that came out of Atlanta. I believe, but I couldn't be wrong. All right. We are going to move on to our quick service, where and what to eat. And it is heads yet again. I'm sorry. Like waited on one side or something. Well, do you want me to, do you want me to, I start to say, do you. Combination bowl. No, I'm a beef ball for 14, 49. So I could go with my backup though. No, no, take it. Um, yeah, that's what I put for my first. Technically mine's different because I went with the combination bowl. Okay. So same place. Yeah. Different item. Uh, so I mean, Sotali canteen is the best quick service on property still. We were going to eat there instead of Noma. I know. But no bad was available. Yeah. And we were like, let's get a little, let's relax more. Let's sit on the couch. Yeah. Um, yeah. And, and we've said before with the combinations, you know, you get base, you get protein, you get sauces, like you can make so many different combinations here. And that's what I love about even just going with the beef bowl is you could go back time and time again and have a very different beef. Right. The only common denominator is the beef. Yes. And you walk in and there's open pits and you can watch them cook in the beef. It's very much like pit beef and you would get in Baltimore. Um, you know, they're cooking the, the beef and the, they're grilling the chicken. And it is just outstanding. It is so good. And the cheeseburger pods are really good there too. I like them personally. Yes, you do love those. Yeah. Um, and you know, and when you really look at it, now they've made some changes, but I swear. Whoo. That place has stayed this about as close to the same original opening menu. Yeah. As any other place. That's true. They've switched very minor things. They've added something. So I actually had a backup and then I changed my backup. Okay. My original backup was, um, sautily canteen, but it was the chili, uh, garlic shrimp bowl, which comes with noodles. It comes with a really good garlic shrimp. Mm hmm. Um, it's outstanding as well. That's 15 79, uh, but then I crossed that out and I went to Harambe market for the lamb. Shut up. That's what you got to. Yeah. The beef and lamb, kofta, pita, 1349, uh, tell everyone about that. It's funny. Yeah, it's super good. The only thing I think I would have asked for is a little more taziki, just because I like that. But I'm sure they probably could do that for you. I bet. Um, but yeah. Even if they were going to charge you a buck or something, I'd get it. Uh huh. That thing was great. It was really good. It is really good. It's a really good euro. Um, I mean, off the top of my head, that's the only place you can get that on property. Now at, um, tusker house for lunch and dinner, they kind of have a make your own euro. Oh, yeah. Remember? Oh, that was so good too. Uh, that was outstanding. I want to get back to tusker house. I, I loved tusker house. That was good. That was really good. Yeah. To be an animal. And again, it doesn't beat Boma, but it's like Boma's little sister. Um, it is a great place. If you don't want to, if you're going to animal kingdom, you're not staying at the lodge. It can be a pain to get over there. Just it takes time. Yeah. So if you're at animal kingdom and you're thinking, I really don't want to take these notches of time out of my day to go all the way to animal kingdom lodge. Just go ahead and book tusker house and get characters. Um, yeah, it's outstanding. All right. We're moving on to our table service. I know our first pick isn't the same. It doesn't matter. You got heads again. Oh, this is a trick. I shouldn't. I know when you handed it to me and said, hey, I did not, I did not pick another quarter. Um, I went ahead and went with my favorite. Yakin yeti. I figured not he can tune. And yes, for 21 99, but it does serve two. I would not eat these all on my own. No, they're huge. Yeah. So. And, and, and serve it. It serves two as a meal. It serves four to six as an appetizer. Correct. You know, if you're each getting your own entree, then get this for the table. 100%. But Ron and I have sat at the bar there and we have split this. Um, and use it basically as a meal. A little side of pot stickers or something. Yep. I just started to say, I think we only got the pot stickers because somebody else had them. And I was like, I love pot stickers and we haven't had them there. Was it there that had fried green beans? We've done green beans there too. And I believe they were lightly fried, like tempura fried green beans as a side. Possibly. I think we did there as well. Okay. Um, so that was my backup. Okay. But my first pick was Tiffin. I keep thinking about this seriously. I picked Tiffin since my backup. Well, I went to Tiffin's for the surf and turf. Well, I did this, my noodles with the sis. So what sis. Sichuan. Thank you. For 34 dollars. Yeah. But they were, I loved them. Yeah. Those were super good. Yep. Uh, you're going to pay 68 bucks for the surf and turf. But it is now my second favorite steak on property. The scallops are unbelievable. The little polenta cakes. Outstanding. They were really good. Like, I want to just get a side of that. I bet you could. Like the risotto. Well, like the risotto. Yeah. Like the risotto at Lacellia. Yep. You got some of that. Like, yeah, next time I would almost be like, can I just get like, what would you, it cost to get some polenta cakes to go? But this, this meal was so good. You know, this was after our first experience years ago. We didn't love it. It wasn't bad. We just didn't order the right stuff, I think. I need to get the shrimp and grits. Yes, you do. Yeah. And man, when I go back, I'll get something else. Yep. But I can tell you, I will be like that meme. We're the guys with the one girl and looking at the other. Because I will be with whatever meal I get. And I'm going to be looking at that surf and turf that they want to buy with it. It was so good. You know, it's my second favorite steak on property. And I might put it as like top five entire meals on property. Yeah, I get that. You know, entire dishes. Individually, the steak was really good. The scallops are really good. I wouldn't put any of them at number one. But collectively, as a composed dish, it is way up there, my top five on property. I absolutely loved it. Nice. So then what was your backup? You said was the set of noodles, right? That's infant. So those came with chicken or do you have nothing on those? I don't think there was anything on it. I believe it was a vegetarian dish. I think so. Correct? So you could probably add it. I would ask if I could get that with the steak and the scallops on top. OK. What would they charge you for that? Uh, 68 plus 34. Dude, do you have any idea how-- I know you don't like scallops. But those set one noodles with scallops or shrimp would be just unbelievable. The shrimp would be really good, I think. It would. I mean, with the steak, except this steak is so good, it would take away from it. Yeah. You don't want to put it on top of noodles. You know what I mean? So it probably wouldn't work out that well. OK. We're going to go shopping. OK. I do love some shopping at Animal Kingdom. They've got some great items. Hey, I got one. Yay for me. Because this is on our list, if you go back a couple episodes of 100 Things to Do at Walt Disney World, we have 12 left to do. This fell on the list. And I want to go to Wind Traders. And I want to build my own customer Ace Avatar. Oh, yeah. $79.99. OK. No. Oh, OK, that's-- I thought it was more on 50 range. All right, you get 20% off as pass holders? Yeah, I think you do. So that is definitely one we're going to do. It's just-- We just never bothered. I mean, I got a banshee. I can stare at whenever I want. But now, I can get my own avatar. And I can put it on the back of-- Yeah. JD, which is-- that's my banshee's name. I can put them on the back of it. Yeah. I know it didn't work out in the long term. And it was fun at first. And now they've moved banshees into additional stores at the Mercantile on the left as you come in towards the tree of life. But it was so fun when they were doing the banshee adoption thing and made it a legit real thing. That was really cool. We went in for the pass holder preview. Everything open. This was one of the best pass holder previews. It's the best pass holder preview we've experienced because of the availability that they gave people once you were in the land. In fact, do you remember for the folks that didn't get a chance to ride flight a passage during their pass holder preview, they gave them a card to come back. And at the time, it was go through the fast pass lane whenever they wanted. Because remember, it went down. We got there early. And it went down. We got some issues that people didn't get to ride. So they literally gave them a card to come back when it officially opened and ride by going to fast pass. Wow. We've not seen anything close to that since then. So that was just amazing. Where are you shopping and what are you shopping for? I actually did the aisle in Mercantile. And I always put any new items. That's a really good one I think to have. And I think that's where some of the stitches were. But yeah, I just-- I love going shopping through all the over there. And then my backup was the Mombasa marketplace. And again, anything. That is right there across from the street corn, I believe. And where that lady makes things in the south there. And the candy shop is in there as well. Oh, I didn't even think of that one. That is a great shop. Yeah, it is because, again, I feel like animal-- I feel like each park, something new will come out. And Jeremy will show me. And I'll be like, well, where is it? And then sometimes it's almost hidden. And it's super cool. I like that. It really is. It's a hidden gem of a shop. I love it. I actually would have included that. But I just didn't cross my mind. So I went with Discovery Trading Company. And I kind of put anything, but kind of saying what you're saying, that's where a lot of the new stuff will be. I have loved Discovery Trading Company during both the 20th and 25th anniversary in shopping in there. You go back to the 20th way outside. There's where Joe Rodey was meeting and signing up. And we were the last two people who got to meet him that day. Praise God, actually. Because earlier, remember in the merchandise line earlier, we made friends who got us in last for Joe Rodey, because they cut off the line with these two while we were walking up. And they said we were-- And they said we were-- Yes. And thank God, because literally she was like-- And because the cast member was so sweet, and we were going to walk away, but the cast member was really nice. And was like, well, I guess the feeler together. And I'm like, oh my gosh, thank you. It was so cool. And it was-- That's meeting Joe Rodey. That specifically was-- I mean, I met him a few times just running into him. One time at Nomad. And I think it was one other time at Nomad. And then there were times I didn't say anything to him. But that time-- I'll never forget just walking up and just being like, thank you for creating all this stuff for our family. And he was like, well, thank you for enjoying it. And it was just amazing. So they did all the announcements for the final Epic Universe land with the Wizarding-- the new Harry Potter one, right? Fantastic beast, Harry Potter. And they're going to have this Ministry ride. And they showed what the ride vehicle looks like. And it looks very much like Tower of Terror, elevator cart, whatever you want to call it, right? So sides are closed, top is closed. I think it's going to be a similar system to Forbidden Journey, but with a different ride vehicle, where you're more fully enclosed, except for the front side. And somebody on Twitter had just posted like, I don't understand why you would create a vehicle like this, blah, blah, blah. And Joe Rodey responded. And I mean, first of all, I couldn't understand half the words he said, because he's that much more intelligent than me. But he gave this long, thought out response, basically saying, there's only certain reasons they would use a ride vehicle like that. It has to do with sight lines. It has to do with-- you don't want Forbidden Journey when you can see the other areas around you. And it does break your immersiveness a little bit. From what he was saying in that tweet was it's trying to get away from that. So it will really be able to control your sight lines in what you see, which means that there's scenes it doesn't want you to see until it's ready. And just for him to respond with that was just-- I just thought it was so cool. Like, you know, it's not like somebody tagged in a minute. Plenty of times people tag him, or they specifically ask him a question, he responds. That's amazing. They responded to me, though. My questions aren't good. I'm sorry. OK. We are moving on to character meet and greet. And we are going to go back to Ronda of course. What do you got? I picked Moana. That was my backup. OK. I picked Moana because it used to be Pocahontas. And it's right back there across from Flame Tree and by the bathrooms. And you just-- it has a little cute sign. And we met her, and it was super fun. Moana's a wonderful meet and greet. I mean, again, we've said the face characters-- And I just said that. You princess face characters. That's the main reason I picked Moana. My backup was Safari Mickey because we did meet him too. And I love Moana. That was my number one pick. Mickey. Moana was my number two. Nice. So we just-- Mickey and Minnie at the Adventurers Outpost is such a good one. And yeah, I mean, going back to Pocahontas, we met Pocahontas. Yes, we did. We met the Pocahontas at House of Mouse Expo. Oh, yeah. That's right. Oh, yeah. Yes, we did. But we also met Pocahontas as the character. Yes, as Pocahontas. I'm surprised you picked that. I was very curious to see what your number one was. Because you don't like the charades as much. I don't. But any chance to meet Mickey and Minnie, and especially in specialty attire, and I love that building. I love being in that queue. There's an excitement every time. Now, this one, last time we went, they had switched to the automatic camera box, right? I'm 99% sure, which I do not care for. Right. But they were turned out good. They turned out pretty good. The problem with the automatic camera boxes is they often miss the moments that humans know how to catch. You know, a post picture-- OK, I could take that with my butt. Like, you know what I mean? It doesn't really matter. That one's easy. You know, you have a good camera, you have whatever. I mean, you know, you can get a good photo. Short of you pointing it at someone and then hitting the shutter button, you're going to get a good one. What the actual human cast member photo pass get are those moments of your child or your 45-year-old wife lighting up when they see the character coming around the corner. You know, those hugs, those conversations. You know, the ones a lot of times with you and the tattoos, characters will interact with your tattoos. Like, they catch all those moments, and the photo box doesn't. Yeah, that's the problem with it. And I wish that they would get rid of them all. So yeah, that's funny. So we just had those swim swaps. That is funny. But if they got rid of all of them, then all of the photo boxes, then they'd have to pay the people. Right. So go ahead. So the photo boxes are saving money. I understand that. Well, that is one place where you do not need to save money because you take away from experience. You know, you can do all the paper straws you want. OK. Right. That's fine. But you don't take away a personal touch like that. Yeah. You know, because otherwise, the next thing you go, you've got a box taken your order at a restaurant, right? You've got-- That might happen. It probably will. You know? I mean, the last thing I want to do-- Now, people mess up at restaurants. They do. I mean, I do love what I do love when I can do a mobile order or I can do like a kiosk and type in my own stuff. Yeah. They're usually modifying. Yeah. But aside from that, you want that personal interaction. If there ever comes a time-- Do you really? Yes, I do. You do. You want a box to take your order at a restaurant at Disney? Oh, you mean at Disney. Yes. I'm talking at Disney specifically. No, because I love the cast members. I know. Imagine all of a sudden, because this would be an easily replaceable job by a machine. Imagine you're walking up to a ride, and instead of a cast member saying how many in your party, it's a box. How many in your party? And you got to tell the box. Two people. And then it knows whether it computes, you know, beep-boop-op, and it tells you whether to go through or not. How much would that stink? Yeah. Like those interactions are amazing, you know? Yeah. Imagine if the time we went to get our photos with Mickey and Minnie in Hollywood Studios, instead of Tony, who's become a good friend of ours, you know, we've met her family in all now. Imagine if a box had been there instead of Tony, and we had never met Tony. Okay. Right? That's my... I'm getting off my soapbox. Okay. Get rid of all these soapboxes. Okay. We're going to see a show. So it is Tails, but we both picked first festival of the Lion King. Okay. Yeah. So you get yours. So you get your... No, I picked Bugs Lion. Did you? I like that pick. For now. I like that. Because... And I put in parentheses for now because it's supposed to leave. I love it because I was thinking I was like, "It's a show, right?" It is, yeah. And then I was like, "It is." And I'm like, "I'm picking this because I love not only a show." That's probably the happily ever after. It's not an animal kingdom. I know you haven't broken a rule yet, though. You haven't colored outside the Lion. Well, I wasn't sure Bugs Life was, but I still picked it. No, 100%. I put that... You know, we call the last one kind of attraction, but it really is more a ride. No, not the last one. No, I'm saying for our last pick, right? The one we're going to do next. But really, when you think of a show, it can be an attraction as well. You know, a Bugs Life, or it's tough to be a bug, I mean, is an attraction. Oh, yeah, tough to be a bug. Carousel of progress is an attraction. Still, our magic, you know, Muppets 3D, they're all attractions, but I think they can double as calling them a show as well. So very good there. I put Nemo as my backup. You haven't even seen it. I know they've just changed it up slightly, but we loved the old one. It's just lengthy. And I know we're going to love the new one when we make it around. It's on our 12 things left to do. We've never seen the new one. I guess. Which is shocking. It is shocking. I know. So we're going to move on to our final, which is what ride or attraction to do. We're going to get one last flip. I've gotten one of these, right? Oh, it's tails. I get it. Yay. Flight of passing. Yeah. I mean. What was your backup, though? Everest. That makes sense. I'm perfectly fine trading and picking Everest as my first because I should say I picked flight, but my backup was dinosaur, and I'm fine with going with dinosaur. I really love dinosaur. I really did. It was super fun. And I'm super excited that I know they're supposed to reskin it, and it'd be in a zone. So I'm super excited because the actual ride is staying like Splash Mountain. Well, we will see. Oh, it might change. We should know next weekend with D23 because if they don't make that announcement for diner land, there will be there'll be riots in the street of Anaheim, I think. Um, because some of the, some of the rumors I was seeing is that it will not be an exact copy of the West Coast, that it will introduce new elements potentially. I don't see any reason they would tear this thing to the ground and rebuild something new. So I think we'll go the route of Splash Mountain and it will be. I hope so. I'd like. I do too. I mean, see when you just have like good rides, I mean, isn't technically Mr. Toad's wild ride the same. Maybe the pill. It's just reskinned. I believe that was a reskin as well. I know what to do, Mr. Toad's. I think I did. I just don't remember. It might be, it might have had the car thing though, like it might have looked like the car. I don't remember. I don't remember. I'd have to ask my parents. Yeah. It looked like the car vehicle, like the, um, like the popcorn bucket. Um, but with an actual toad in the ride. Everybody got their own toad. Take it home. It was so wild. That's not true. Um, people are going to be thinking that man. Um, yeah. So I'm just, like I just get excited that I like the ride itself. Like I feel like if you keep the ride, you can reskin it to whatever you want it to be. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm, I'm super interested to see what comes out of D23. I mean, they have to give a concrete, uh, tiny land announcement. Um, but do they, do they really have to do anything? They have to. They really have to at this point. And we better get something beyond Big Thunder Mountain that isn't blue sky. I honestly, I don't want one blue sky announcement. I'm tired of them, like everybody's tired of them. Give us concrete stuff. And this has nothing to do with Epic Universe. I don't, I'm not the one who's going, Oh man, Epic Universe has announced everything. You know, Disney has to do this to compete. They don't that I just want them to continue on the track they've always been on. I'm not saying announced Dynaland announced big, you know, beyond Big Thunder because we need to compete with Epic Universe. No, right. I don't, but don't throw blue sky ideas around without some sort of substance to them. So I have to believe there is now, and obviously those can change a lot. Will we still get tropical Americas in Indiana Jones in place of Dynaland? It will be some variants. Probably. Are we going to get villains in cocoa beyond Big Thunder? That's the one I think we're going to get tropical Americas and we're going to get, um, Indiana Jones. That's going to be announced. I think beyond Big Thunder will be announced, but I don't know that it's going to be cocoa and villains area. We'll see. Yeah. You know, that's the one I think that could change the most and they could just come out of left field with something. Um, so we'll see. We'll do a, we'll do a wrap up episode and give our thoughts on D23 next week once, you know, after it happens. And, um, yeah, so we'll be super interested to see, but, uh, that will be it for this, this one. And then I guess the next one will figure out Disney Springs because you can really do all of these. I mean, meat and shit. Well, meat and ride. You could actually do a show there. We could go back in the archives and find, you know, maybe that's one we pull one out of the archives and say, what is the favorite thing you've seen there? Whether it's, you know, on that main stage that they have, whether it's Cirque de Soleil, whether it's Douglas fir walking around, we'll find a way to make that or rolling around, I guess I should say, we'll find a way to make that one fun. Um, but, uh, if you want to hear those new episodes on Friday's episode, we will be previewing, uh, Mickey's not so scary Halloween party because we won't be going till the end of September. We want to talk about it now, get you prepped. Yeah. We'll use our past years experience to get some tricks and then, um, yeah, then the one after that, that following Tuesday, following D23, we'll do our thoughts on that. So if you want to make sure you hear those and you've not done so already, go ahead and hit that subscribe button and you go ahead and get all those brand new episodes on Tuesday and Friday. And of course, finally, Rhonda and I would be super duper thankful if you could please leave us a rating and review because it helps our show grow. That's all we've got. We'll see you real soon. Jeremy and Rhonda are more than a little pond of Disney world. So they made this podcast to share it all with you, reports and resorts, top ten lists of all sorts, Main Street Magic's bringing it home for you. [inaudible] [inaudible] [ Silence ]
Jeremy and Rhonda continue their series where they pick a snack, a quick service, a table service, a spot to shop, a show to see, a character to meet, and a ride at each of the four Walt Disney World parks and today focus on Animal Kingdom.
