Episode 30
Exploring Disney World: An In-Depth Review of Summer Experiences
This podcast episode elucidates the recent experiences of Lauren Mallard during her extensive eight-day excursion to Disney World in Orlando, providing keen insights into the current dynamics of the theme park landscape amidst ongoing competition with Epic Universe. Lauren articulates her observations regarding crowd levels, which she found surprisingly manageable for the summer season, countering prevalent assumptions about peak tourist congestion during this time. The discussion further encompasses various aspects of her visit, including her family-centric activities, dining experiences, and the evolving atmosphere within the parks, hinting at anticipated developments as Disney strives to maintain its allure in the face of burgeoning competition. Additionally, we delve into pertinent Disney news, including ongoing construction and potential enhancements, signifying a critical juncture for the iconic theme park. Our conversation ultimately emphasizes the significance of strategic planning for prospective visitors while navigating the seasonal offerings at Disney World.
Takeaways:
- In this episode, we explored the intricacies of Lauren's recent eight-day journey to Disney World, emphasizing her observations and experiences within the park.
- We discussed the current state of crowd levels in Disney World, noting a surprisingly less congested atmosphere during the summer months.
- The podcast highlighted the ongoing rivalry between Universal and Disney, particularly in light of the upcoming Epic Universe opening in Orlando.
- We provided insights into the Cool Kids Summer initiative at Walt Disney World, which aims to enhance the experience for families visiting during the summer.
- The conversation touched upon new developments in the parks, including construction efforts and the anticipation surrounding future expansions at Disney.
- Finally, we shared recommendations for navigating park visits effectively, particularly the benefits of using Lightning Lane to mitigate wait times.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Disney
- Epic Universe
- Universal
- Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Hollywood Studios
- Riviera
- Primo Piatto
- Topolino's Terrace
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Of the Wands and Wishes podcast.
Speaker B:Thanks for joining us.
Speaker B:I'm Tony Desiri.
Speaker B:Along with all the magic travels, Lauren Mallard.
Speaker B:And it is the summertime and that means a Disney report.
Speaker B:Lauren is back from Orlando after an eight day stay at Disney World.
Speaker B:We'll talk about some of the things that she saw and observed while the theme park battle continues to go on in the Orlando area.
Speaker B:We'll also do some Disney news and notes as you all maybe be planning your Disney vacation this summer.
Speaker B:How are you, Lauren?
Speaker A:I'm good.
Speaker A:How are you?
Speaker B:Again, a Disney eight day trip.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So let's start with the rundown.
Speaker B:How busy was it?
Speaker B:Because I've been hearing a lot of reports with Epic Universe opening.
Speaker B:It's kind of down with the crowds.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, I didn't feel that it was busy any of the days that we were there.
Speaker A:However, I do try to, especially in the summertime, I try to take it easy because it's so hot.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Got to know that going into it to stay hydrated and just kind of not plan to do from rope drop to clothes.
Speaker A:And we never did that any day.
Speaker A:But I don't think I felt that it was crowded in any of the parks, with the exception of, you know, I always feel at Animal Kingdom for one, just back there by the Lion King and this and the safari.
Speaker A:I just feel like those two rides eat a lot of people and then when they let them out, it just feels like a lot of, a lot of crowds.
Speaker A:But overall, I think, yeah, I mean, it really wasn't too crowded.
Speaker B:Eight days.
Speaker B:How many.
Speaker B:Was it all parks every day or did you take a few days not doing that?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, this was the longest trip that I've had in a very long time.
Speaker A:And the way that it came to be is that my best friend Jennifer and I decided to take our youngest kids, Cora and Elle.
Speaker A:They're five years old and so it's right before kindergarten.
Speaker A:And we were just going to take them for three days.
Speaker A:Well, then I had the idea.
Speaker A:Well, my husband and my son were going to be gone on a long baseball tournament.
Speaker A:And so my mom and my young or my oldest daughter Lily decided to fly down at the end of those three days.
Speaker A:And then we extended another five days.
Speaker B:Oh, very good.
Speaker A:And so the first part of the trip, the first three days was very little kid focused.
Speaker A:And we did a lot of little kid things shows and the carousel and character dinners.
Speaker A:We can talk about that because I did some things that I've never done before.
Speaker A:And then on the back half of the trip, it was more geared towards some of the bigger kid rides with Lily.
Speaker B:All right, so I do want to ask you, because you were down in the Orlando area for such a long time, what.
Speaker B:And again, I get being in the Disney bubble can kind of shield you from stuff.
Speaker B:What is the Epic universe vers Disney vibe that's going on in the city right now?
Speaker B:Did you feel that any.
Speaker B:Any at any point?
Speaker A:I did a little bit, only because I could kind of overhear some people and I did overhear some people that were at Disney resorts, because that's where I did stay.
Speaker A:I could overhear some conversations of some people taking day trips over for Epic.
Speaker A:And so even in just that regard, I wasn't immersed in over at Universal, but I did see kind of how people are parlaying their trips and doing both.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And was there a feeling in the parks, like, okay, look, we're in order to kind of ramp up for this theme park battle.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're doing a lot of things, and some of this stuff is not going to be available.
Speaker B: Whether it's this summer: Speaker B:Are you starting to sense the not rebuilding, but sort of the additions that want to come from Disney World after what we heard at D23?
Speaker A:Yeah, you know, I'm slowly beginning to see a few things.
Speaker A:You're seeing more walls up in Animal Kingdom where they are starting the tropical Americas.
Speaker A:Is that what it's called?
Speaker A:Tropical America is over to be Dino.
Speaker A:The Encanto area, we still have dinosaur over there.
Speaker A:We just heard the closing of Boneyard is coming soon.
Speaker A:And so we're starting to see more walls over there.
Speaker A:We're also seeing.
Speaker A:I actually saw more walls up closer around behind Big Thunder Mountain.
Speaker A:So that when we were on the railroad, I was hoping to kind of catch a glimpse back there of what was going on, but you really can't.
Speaker A:But you definitely hear it.
Speaker A:They're back there working.
Speaker A:They're doing something.
Speaker A:And so I did not make it over into Muppets Courtyar see what was happening over there.
Speaker A:I don't know if there's been much movement yet, but, yeah, I think that in all four of the parks, I saw walls of things happening.
Speaker A:I don't know exactly what or when.
Speaker B:And I've given people advice on this.
Speaker B:If, like, there are some really good values to go this year.
Speaker B:I know that you look whenever things are starting to get shut down or there's some.
Speaker B:There's things that are going to be happening.
Speaker B:Yeah, you may not get the full thing.
Speaker B:There may be a ride that shut down.
Speaker B:But we've talked about this enough times in the podcast.
Speaker B:If everything they shut down, there's always something that got refurbished.
Speaker B:It's reopening.
Speaker B:Like, track is opening back up.
Speaker B:So you may lose something going on in Animal Kingdom, but you might gain a ride that's getting refurbished.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:They do a very good job of balancing that.
Speaker B:But that being said, you know, it's.
Speaker B:It kind of reminds me of, like, a restaurant that's been popular in a city, and then another restaurant comes in, everybody goes, oh, that's okay.
Speaker B:I like the competition.
Speaker B:Yeah, but there is competition now.
Speaker A:There definitely is.
Speaker A:You know, I actually saw.
Speaker A:This is not about my trip, but I saw a little photo leaked last week of Josh tomorrow, and he was at Universal.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so it kind of made me wonder, like, what.
Speaker A:What is that about?
Speaker A:Is he going to check out the competition?
Speaker A:Is he going to say, hey, we're still here, too?
Speaker A:Or, you know, I do think that they're realizing that we got to make some big changes, and we got to do it sooner than later.
Speaker B:And look, and I'm not naive to the way economics works.
Speaker B:You get certain budgets.
Speaker B:It's not unlimited money, but, you know, it does.
Speaker B:There is something with the new world that we live in now, with social media and people videoing and there's influencers traveling the world, and then you see a ride at Shanghai Disney, and you go, why am I at my, you know, my home park?
Speaker B: Why am I dealing with: Speaker B:And yet I'm in a dark ride that I can see the wheels and the mechanics of it and things like that.
Speaker B:And I wonder if, because of what Epic Universe has done, and one of the things that I was excited about with Epic Universe was, look, this is all going to be modern rides.
Speaker B: s going to be built in from a: Speaker B:If Jo tomorrow is saying, look, if I need to refurbish some rides, how do we best do this in a.
Speaker B:In a.
Speaker B:In a challenging world?
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:And, you know, and also, if you think about the fact that we're told all the time about the fact that Disney is still sitting on 75% of their land.
Speaker B:Exactly right.
Speaker A:It's like, okay, how long are we gonna sit on that?
Speaker A:Like, what's the purpose?
Speaker A:Why are we not using it now to go ahead and expand?
Speaker A:Because, I mean, a hundred years from now, who cares?
Speaker A:Maybe you'll have more money at that point to buy more.
Speaker A:But why are we sitting on the land?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:How many more hotels can you build on that property before you start going?
Speaker B:Look, there's got to be a reason for people to want to stay at this property.
Speaker B:We need that fifth and you need that fifth gate.
Speaker B:And there's all these rumors and everybody's throwing every, all this stuff out.
Speaker B:But I, I am really, I'm interested in the next 10 years of where this battle is going because I'm going down in September and I'm, I've got my eyes and ears open to see what might be happening as Disney now faces some real competition.
Speaker B:And I think you and I talked about this a while ago before Orlando again was back.
Speaker B: You go back to like the: Speaker B:It was a two day experience, maybe with Epcot 3.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then everything else was, well, you're not going to go home.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You might as well go to Sea World.
Speaker B:You might as well go to Boardwalk and Baseball or Circus Town or, you know, whatever.
Speaker B:Now Disney was smart.
Speaker B:We're going to keep you in the bubble.
Speaker B:Now Universal can keep them in the bubble.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Now you don't have.
Speaker B:I just want to go to Universal one day.
Speaker B:Now it's, I can just stay here the entire week and get more perks.
Speaker B:And get more perks out of it.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:So let's talk about your trip.
Speaker B:Where'd you stay?
Speaker B:How did the, how did you find the summertime in Walt Disney World?
Speaker A:Yeah, you know, there's something really neat going on this summer at Walt Disney World.
Speaker A:If you're still looking to plan a trip.
Speaker A:They're doing what's called Cool Kids Summer.
Speaker A:I don't know if you've seen it, but it's kind of centered around like four different resorts.
Speaker A:And I really didn't take advantage of it at our resort.
Speaker A:It was going on at one of our resorts.
Speaker A:But inside each of the parks there's a section where they're doing interactive games with kids dance parties.
Speaker A:Just they're having free roaming characters, they're doing hula hoops and music.
Speaker A:And it's just so many fun things that are centered around kids.
Speaker A:Whereas the rest of the times of the year, especially places like Epcot, you're more focused on festivals.
Speaker A:This is kind of in between the festivals.
Speaker A:And so they're doing this to kind of bring more kids in for the summer.
Speaker A:So that being said, that was really fun.
Speaker A:But we stayed.
Speaker A:So when we got there for the first three nights of the trip, my friend Jennifer and I And our girls, we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Speaker B:Okay, great.
Speaker A:And we had booked a resort view room.
Speaker A:And I asked at check in because I always tell people to do this, I said, hey, you know, I know I'm booked in a resort view room, but I've heard that there can be a little partial Savannah view in some of those and what are the chances we could get that?
Speaker A:And she said, yeah, you know, if you're willing to wait a little bit and not have the room ready right away, then I think we can probably make that work.
Speaker A:And so because of that, we flew in at like 11am we had lunch down at the quick service at the resort and we spent the afternoon at the pool.
Speaker A:And then when our room was ready, it was the most gorgeous Savannah view.
Speaker A:It was, she obviously upgraded us to a full Savannah view because the girls saw all the giraffes and the zebras and that was just such a highlight for 25 year olds to see.
Speaker A:And so, yeah, so the first day we didn't do any parks, we actually took the bus over to Hollywood Studios in the evening and then rode the Skyliner over to the Riviera to have quick service dinner at Primo Piatto.
Speaker A:Because I've always heard that it's really good and it did not disappoint.
Speaker B:Oh, really?
Speaker A:Yes, it was wonderful.
Speaker A:I, we had, I had a pasta, my friend Jennifer had a salad.
Speaker A:And we used our quick service credits because we were on the dining plan.
Speaker A:And then so we spent the next three days in the parks with the girls.
Speaker A:We did park hop.
Speaker A:So we started on Friday.
Speaker A:We did all day in Magic Kingdom with a break back at the pool.
Speaker A:You know, we used lightning lanes.
Speaker A:We probably could have gone without them, but knowing how hot it was going to be, I wanted to go ahead and be prepared.
Speaker A:And that's what I've been telling people too, is that, you know, go ahead and budget in for that extra money just because if you don't want to be standing out in a 60 minute line outside, it might not be crowded, but it might be.
Speaker A:So go ahead and budget for that ahead of time.
Speaker B:Yeah, I, I'm, I go back and forth with the Lightning Lanes, hearing the, the crowd.
Speaker B:I mean, obviously with my wife and I, we're not going with little kids, so we're unlikely to do it because if it's lines too long, it's okay for us to miss it.
Speaker B:Yeah, but I just had a client go down there with three kids and they did the Lightning Lanes.
Speaker B:Even though at first they were like with Five of us.
Speaker B:That's a.
Speaker B:That's a pretty hefty price every single day.
Speaker B:But they found it valuable because, again, they were.
Speaker B:They were like, the five of us, not all of us are going to be okay in lines and being in the heat and waiting an hour for this or that.
Speaker B:But they did.
Speaker B:They said the same thing.
Speaker B:They went in mid June and they said, look, it was surprisingly low crowds for what they thought.
Speaker B:They anticipated a really, really busy summertime, and they didn't get that same feeling.
Speaker B:And I said, yeah, you'd be surprised.
Speaker B:You know, a lot of people kind of stay away.
Speaker B:They think it's too hot, too crowded, crowds.
Speaker B:It's not as like it used to be.
Speaker B:You can go down there and.
Speaker B:And really get choked from the crowd in the heat.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:And now, you know, it doesn't have that same feeling.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:My mom and I were actually talking this week.
Speaker A:We used to go on the 4th of July when I was a kid, and she said, do you remember we used to have to go out alternate exits because it was so crowded.
Speaker A:And I said, you know, I don't think it's that way anymore.
Speaker A:Ex Summer.
Speaker A:It's really one of the times of the year that I suggest to people, if they're saying, when can I go?
Speaker A:That's a lower crowd time.
Speaker A:It's actually the summertime, if you can stand the heat.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, my father was.
Speaker B:He took us out of school in September after it just got started.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:You know, and said, look, three weeks in.
Speaker B:Because we went after Labor Day.
Speaker B:That's when we started in New Hampshire.
Speaker B:And the next thing you know, like September 30th, we're going to Disney World.
Speaker B:Getting pulled out of school.
Speaker B:Back when they didn't seem to mind that as long as you got caught up with the work.
Speaker B:Because he had just heard, even back in the 80s, you don't want to be down there in the summertime.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, but it's a little different.
Speaker B:You talked about character dying.
Speaker B:Tell me what you did differently.
Speaker A:So we did a couple things that I've never done before.
Speaker A:I've never eaten in the castle.
Speaker A:We went, oh, you ate in the castle.
Speaker A:Wonderful.
Speaker A:We went to Cinderella's royal table, and we did that because we were on the dining plan.
Speaker A:So we.
Speaker A:It was two credits each, but that's one that is different from others, that the gratuity is already included in those.
Speaker B:Oh, good.
Speaker A:Credits.
Speaker A:Which is nice.
Speaker A:Would I do it again?
Speaker A:I don't think so.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Now that my.
Speaker B:With no kids, maybe with My grandkids.
Speaker A:I would do it.
Speaker B:If I had a granddaughter, I would do it.
Speaker B:But I will probably never experience that.
Speaker A:It was cute.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:It was not a memorable meal.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:At all.
Speaker B:Well, that's what I've been hearing.
Speaker B:I kept hearing that.
Speaker B:And look, sometimes you need a wake up call.
Speaker B:Like, you know, we've talked about different restaurants that have been had bad reviews.
Speaker A:And then change the game, especially when you're charging that.
Speaker B:Yeah, exact person.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:So we did that one.
Speaker A:We also did Topolino's Terrace breakfast.
Speaker B:I want to do that because I.
Speaker A:Love the idea behind so much fun.
Speaker A:The character interaction there is amazing.
Speaker A:They spend a lot of time at your table.
Speaker A:The food is phenomenal.
Speaker A:And so for the price that you're paying.
Speaker A:Yes, I've said again, it's expensive.
Speaker A:But we did the last one of the day, it was at noon.
Speaker A:And so we just kind of had a bar or something for breakfast in the room.
Speaker A:And then we went to Hollywood Studios that morning and then took the Skyliner over for our brunch.
Speaker A:And then we didn't eat again until the evening.
Speaker A:And so it was very filling, very fun.
Speaker A:It was just really, really good character meal.
Speaker B:Are you doing more, especially with kids?
Speaker B:I mean, do you.
Speaker B:Do you plan these days out to a T or do you just want to play it by ear as you go?
Speaker A:So for the little girls, for the first three days, it was pretty planned out just because my friend's daughter Elle had never been before.
Speaker A:And so I wanted to make sure that we saw all the things that we wanted to see.
Speaker A:It was very character focused.
Speaker A:We met so many princesses, we met so many characters.
Speaker A:And so that was very planned.
Speaker A:Once it was just me, my mom, and my girls, it was a little more let's go on a whim.
Speaker A:Where do y' all want to go today?
Speaker A:What do you want to do?
Speaker A:Because my girls have the blessing of going a lot and so we don't have to do and see everything every day.
Speaker A:And so we spent a lot of time in the pool and we did, you know, we only were in the parks one night.
Speaker A:Lily and I went over and we were there till like nine.
Speaker A:But other than that, we spend a lot of time at the resort.
Speaker A:We actually really lucked out the second half of our trip.
Speaker A:We stayed at Wilderness Lodge and we had the most amazing fireworks view.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:I really think Wilderness Lodge has the best Magic Kingdom views, if you can get it.
Speaker B:That's what I hear.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was amazing.
Speaker A:And so we watched the fireworks from our Balcony every night.
Speaker A:And it was just a really chill vacation.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:My wife and I, when we go down in September, we've got the hopper passes, which I usually don't do because I'm not.
Speaker B:I'm not interested in red.
Speaker B:Run, run, run.
Speaker B:I just go.
Speaker B:And then when I'm done, I'm done.
Speaker B:Yeah, but we got the hopper passes.
Speaker B:And I said, well, what do you want?
Speaker B:How do you want to plan this?
Speaker B:She goes, let's just not plan it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Except one thing she did say last time we were there, we went on a Saturday to Epcot, and that was during the food and Wine festival.
Speaker B:She goes, if we're going to do Epcot, let's do it midweek.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because Saturday was just too much.
Speaker B:Too many locals.
Speaker B:It was jam packed.
Speaker A:An excellent, excellent idea.
Speaker A:And I think, honestly, if you can use the Skyliner and start at Hollywood Studios for a couple of hours and then skyline over to Epcot right at the beginning of the festival so that you're already in the back and start in.
Speaker A:Back in World Showcase to do the festival, then I think that's.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's always a fun thing to do, is hop in from the back.
Speaker B:I got bummed because of my.
Speaker B:I never.
Speaker B:With my teenage son, now he's older.
Speaker B:But we never did the four park challenge we wanted to do.
Speaker A:I don't think I've ever done that either.
Speaker B:I wanted to see what.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's like a list of things you got to try to do, and you try to bounce, you try to balance.
Speaker B:You go, okay, which park is open late, which opens super early.
Speaker B:You got to ride this, this, and this.
Speaker B:You got to meet a character, you got to eat something, and then you go to the next part.
Speaker A:You should do it in September.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Well, if.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:Lugging Lori around, I don't know, she'd probably be like, okay, enough.
Speaker B:Enough of this.
Speaker B:Why can't we just stay in one spot for a little bit?
Speaker A:She would do it.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Well, good overall, good experience down there.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I could stay there.
Speaker A:I mean, honestly, at the end of eight days, it didn't feel like I was there for eight days because we took it slow.
Speaker A:And that's what I tell people all the time, is like, you don't have to come home feeling exhausted.
Speaker A:And we definitely didn't.
Speaker B:I'll be down there next week to see my parents, but my dad and I are gonna play nine holes of golf at Oak Tree.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I can't wait to hear about that.
Speaker B:I'm Very exc.
Speaker B:Excited about it because my dad and I, we've played golf in like 11 states, you know, over, over the years.
Speaker B:And he's, he can only do nine holes, but he, he can walk a lot.
Speaker B:You know, he's, he, they go to Disney all the time in retirement.
Speaker B:So I said, well, look, there's this walking nine holes.
Speaker B:It's right up your alley.
Speaker B:It's not long and it's, it's executive.
Speaker B:And I said, and my, my father is, has this.
Speaker B:He, him and his company used to go to the Masters golf tournament.
Speaker B:They did it for 20 years.
Speaker B:And I remember being a kid going, when can I go?
Speaker B:When can I go?
Speaker B:And I said, can you shirt.
Speaker B:I wanted a golf shirt with the Masters logo on it.
Speaker B:And he said, no, you can't get a shirt until you've actually been to the Masters.
Speaker B:So one year he took me and I got to have a shirt.
Speaker B:This is the way he feels about Disney golf merch.
Speaker A:Love it.
Speaker B:I said, why don't you get a Mickey golf shirt?
Speaker B:He goes, no, not until I play.
Speaker A:So now he can get one.
Speaker B:Now.
Speaker B:I said, now we can get one.
Speaker B:So, yeah, we're really excited to kind of walk, walk around, play.
Speaker B:There's a Mickey bunker that's off to the, off the side of hole one.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're going to get a picture taken there.
Speaker B:But I'm looking forward to it because I haven't played Disney golf before and I, I, I know that this particular course, this nine hole course is very family friendly.
Speaker B:You don't have to know how to play.
Speaker B:Nobody's on.
Speaker B:It's like families will just be like, we never played golf before.
Speaker B:I'll go out there, play very cool.
Speaker B:Like rent some clubs and play, play there.
Speaker B:So a lot less stress than when you play.
Speaker B:You're behind people, in front of people and whatnot.
Speaker B:So I'm definitely looking forward to that.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:So I did want to get into a bit of Disney news.
Speaker B:What do we know about this cruise thing?
Speaker A:You know, that has been on every headline that I've seen.
Speaker A:So unfortunately, what I have seen and everything is hearsay right now.
Speaker B:Everything.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:You don't know anything.
Speaker A:But it sounds like it was an unfortunate thing where the child might have been placed on the railing for a photo and went horribly wrong.
Speaker B:Yeah, because that was my first reaction.
Speaker A:It's not easy to fall overboard.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:I've told this to many people because we cruise a lot and people say, oh, do you ever worry about falling off?
Speaker B:No, never.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:If You.
Speaker B:If you made a conscious decision to jump off a cruise boat.
Speaker B:It takes effort and planning.
Speaker A:Yes, it does.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:Oh, my wife and I were walking the Lido deck, and whoops, there she went.
Speaker B:I don't know what happened.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, like, it's.
Speaker B:It's in.
Speaker B:It's insane how much protection.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:You have from.
Speaker B:So when they said she just fell overboard, like, have some context with the headline.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It couldn't have been that simple.
Speaker B:I can imagine every mom out there going, I'm never going on.
Speaker B:If they can just slip off the deck.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:And land in the ocean.
Speaker A:That's what it seems that all the headlines are kind of pointing towards.
Speaker A:And of course, you see the Disney ship there.
Speaker A:And, you know, you obviously have to use personal.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Safety when you're on there.
Speaker A:I mean, you have to use your brain and stay safe.
Speaker A:But, yeah, from what I'm hearing, is it.
Speaker A:It took some effort, and it obviously was an accident.
Speaker A:And kudos to.
Speaker B:To.
Speaker A:To the dad and to the crew for bringing them all back safely, because I saw.
Speaker B:I think one of the websites said, well, we don't really know if she.
Speaker B:If.
Speaker B:If she was placed on the railing.
Speaker B:And I'm like.
Speaker B:But use your brain.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Like, what.
Speaker B:What else.
Speaker B:How else should.
Speaker B:Could she have fallen off the boat?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Okay, so somebody didn't put her on the railing.
Speaker B:Would she climb up it?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Like, what are we talking about here?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, but.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And four Dex is.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's a long drop.
Speaker A:It is a long way.
Speaker B:I mean, it's amazing both of them survived the fall and then you could find them.
Speaker B:That's one of the scary things about the ocean, is that when you look at.
Speaker B:Look how minuscule you are in the ocean, how luckily somebody threw them, I guess some.
Speaker B:Some life preservers so that people could see.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But even if you're on a boat riding around, trying to find them, it's hard.
Speaker A:No idea.
Speaker B:No idea.
Speaker A:No idea how it turned out in the way that it did.
Speaker B:Well, like, here's what I hope.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Because I. I don't.
Speaker B:I don't care if it's Disney.
Speaker B:I don't care if it's Carnival.
Speaker B:I don't care if it's.
Speaker B:If it's, you know, celebrity.
Speaker B:Of course, I don't want any cruise line to suffer because people think you can slip off a boat.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Because this story did not give the proper context.
Speaker B:And again, I don't want a paper or any media outlet to accuse somebody of putting a kid on a railing.
Speaker B:But at the same time, don't make it seem like a 4 year old or 5 year old could just slip off a boat and just.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Head into the water at any given second.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:That's not what happened here.
Speaker B:Yeah, so we'll see.
Speaker B:But that's, that's a.
Speaker B:That's been a crazy story.
Speaker A:It has.
Speaker B:I feel like it's been an update every day as we record this podcast.
Speaker A:I know I'm waiting to maybe hear what actually happened and, and see if there will be anything else as far as.
Speaker A:I don't think that there's really any other safety precautions that need to be taken on Disney cruise ships as far as I see.
Speaker A:I do see a safe ship.
Speaker A:I see that things are done.
Speaker A:Especially when you talk about the rooms with verandas.
Speaker A:You've got those locks high.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:So as long as parents are locking those locks, then that is a good safety precaution in there as well.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:And one other question.
Speaker B:Was test track open?
Speaker A:No, I wish it was.
Speaker A:I really wanted it coming.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:They started putting out pass holder previews which I would have loved to have taken part in.
Speaker A:But yeah, it's gonna come back within the next couple weeks.
Speaker B:Okay, very good.
Speaker A:Can't wait to see what they've done.
Speaker B:Really excited about that.
Speaker B:It's one of my.
Speaker B:It was one of my favorite track attractions before.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And now.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:It was one of my favorite attractions back when it was World of Motion.
Speaker B:I loved.
Speaker B:I always thought it was a cool attraction before they modernized it and whatnot.
Speaker B:But yeah, I'm kind of looking forward to see where they're going with that for sure.
Speaker B:Very good.
Speaker B:All right, that's gonna do it for this edition of the Wands and Wishes podcast podcast.
Speaker B:Reach out to Lauren at all the magic travel.
Speaker B:And again, if you like this podcast, please subscribe.
Speaker B:Give us a five star review and we will be back with another episode of what's going on in the theme park world of both Universal and Disney World here on planning your Disney vacation this summer.
Speaker B:How are you, Lauren?
Speaker A:I'm good, how are you?
