Cheers 2 Ears!
Two dudes named Aaron toasting their way through the Disney resorts. New episodes drop every Monday morning
Cheers 2 Ears!
We Weigh Big Disney Changes While Sipping A Peach Manhattan
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A peach-forward cocktail in hand, we jump straight into the week’s biggest Disney shifts and rumors with zero fluff. Josh D’Amaro steps further into the spotlight while Dana Walden steers studios and streaming, and we break down what that likely means for parks, films, and timelines. If you’ve wondered whether “safe choice” can still deliver bold parks, we make the case for steady hands, clear priorities, and smarter sequencing after the stop-start era of Galaxy’s Edge and Tron.
From there, it’s all gas: Dinosaur’s days are done, Villains Land gets louder in the rumor mill, and permits hint at an indoor story coaster paired with a family dark ride wrapped in conjured Art Nouveau. We talk about the right mix of E-, B-, and C-level attractions, how to turn Magic Kingdom into a comfortable two-day plan, and why operational pacing matters as much as blue-sky ideas. Over at Hollywood Studios, the Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Muppets retheme sparks giddy anticipation for music, neon, and mayhem—plus a gentle PSA that kid-friendly themes don’t erase big-thrill intensity.
We also zoom into the details that shape guest experience. Disney’s crackdown on AI-made character content collides with reported OpenAI collaboration, and we sketch a path for safe, delightful AI-powered character interactions that protect IP while surprising guests. Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian returns as a slow, elegant splurge perfect for a rest day, while a Disneyland app outage reminds everyone that seamless tech is part of the magic. Merch mania rages on with glow-up buckets and princess scents, and we end with a sobering safety note after a late-night tree fall near Plaza Inn—because maintenance and communication keep the fantasy intact.
Pour something peachy and join us for a candid tour of what’s changing, what’s working, and what needs a rethink across Disney parks and movies. If you’re excited by Villains Land, curious about AI in character meet-and-greets, or counting days to the Muppets coaster, hit play. Then tell us: what bold idea do you most want Imagineering to build next? Subscribe, rate, and share with a Disney friend who loves a good rumor and a great ride plan.
Hello, welcome to Cheers to Ears. For today we're talking New Disney news and drinking a what are we drinking today? A Peach Manhattan from Man Gino's at Shades of Greed. Welcome to Cheers to Ears. We're gonna click our drinks. We're gonna toast.
SPEAKER_02:We're gonna talk to get our cheers doing.
SPEAKER_00:So we're back. Hello. So let's talk about this drink.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's a Peach Manhattan.
SPEAKER_00:A Peach Manhattan from Shades of Green. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Which we should have in our Shades of Green articles. I mean episodes sometime.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we can some military.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, sometimes. Some military episodes. We'll figure it out. But Man G Man Ginos is a restaurant at Shades of Green.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:And they have the Peach Manhattan, which we chose to drink today. And it is made with Crown Royal, Peach Liqueur, Sweet Vermouth, and Orange Bitters, and is$12 at Man Ginos.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. So the way we made it, I went with two ounces of Canadian mist. So we went a little with a cheaper version of Canadian whiskey. One ounce of peach schnapps, a dash of bitters, and little dash of sweet vermouth. It might have been like an eighth of an ounce or a quarter ounce. Something like that. Just a little pour, little tiny pour. But not bad. I don't think I've ever had a Manhattan. Not that this should be.
SPEAKER_01:This isn't a Manhattan.
SPEAKER_00:This isn't a Manhattan.
SPEAKER_01:It's a take out of Manhattan.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:It's good though. It's fruity, very alcohol forward.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yes. You do get the alcohol. You got and definitely some peach flavor there.
SPEAKER_01:Very peachy, yeah. Not bad and$12.$12, not much. It is$12 is our most expensive drinks. There's four of them.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And then the other ones are just$11.50,$11.25 on their little cocktail menu.
SPEAKER_00:And then they have another bar in there that has some other drinks.
SPEAKER_01:There's four or five places to have a beverage or eat shades of green.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And it has no connection whatsoever to our episode. No. Which is weird.
SPEAKER_01:We usually kind of have a we try to go with the theme.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:We haven't really discussed Disney too much because we've been on business parts of the world.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So here we go. It is what it is. So today we have Disney News. There's been so much news lately. We thought we should give our take on the news. Right. Because you, our listener, deserve that. Our take on what Disney's doing.
SPEAKER_01:So I pulled up five not like press scenes, some are rumors. Okay. Some are I pulled up five articles from different websites.
SPEAKER_00:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01:Different. And I didn't, I'm not going to read them all the whole article, of course.
SPEAKER_00:I think we need to start with just talking about Josh DeMarrow.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, we're going to talk. I didn't put that as one of mine. I thought you might.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And Dana Walden as the she's in charge of the movie studios, and she's the creative director. And I forgot her exact title, but he's a parks guy, Josh Demarrow. And she's in charge of the streaming service in the movie division. So a good I think both good hires. I think Josh, I think we're going to get, even though he is a parks guy, people love him. But I think he was uh the safe choice. And when I say that, not a bad choice, but a safe choice. He's not gonna do any real radical weird stuff. I think it's going to be Bob Iger 2.0.
SPEAKER_01:We're we're we will hope.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I totally believe in him too. I think the parts have been for the better since he's come on board. Yes, yes. I don't think we've been backwards. I mean, there's some arguments over Tiana's changing from Splash Mountain. And I like to meet all the updates have been, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Good stuff.
SPEAKER_01:I don't think there's any bad ones.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, the only one I've ever heard you speak negatively about is Indiana Jones from Dinosaur to Indiana Jones. And not that you'll be a better ride. Disagree with it, right? But that you thought that they could have done better with theming.
SPEAKER_01:Right. I don't think it's themed correctly. Yeah. I think the ride's gonna be. I don't think I think dinosaurs is an old ride.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It needs to be refurbished.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, the the people that like it, that liked it, I guess, is gone now.
SPEAKER_00:It's the nostalgia.
SPEAKER_01:Right. It's the nostalgia of the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That's what it totally is. It's that's all it is.
SPEAKER_00:But that's the same with anything. Right. Like when they redid Country Bear Jamboree. It's so much better now. But people I think so. I walked out and just heard people complaining. Right. That it was so much better before. It was slightly offensive before, but and that's what made it funny. Because, you know, blood on the floor. It's good now. But it's really entertaining now. Right. And they really kind of brightened it up. It's very bright, up-to-date show with good music.
SPEAKER_01:Right. So here's my challenge to Josh DeMarrow. Okay. Do you have it in you just to tear down Small World? At least in one park. Yeah, just in Disneyland. Just tear it down. Put something else there. Just see the. I mean, there'll be some bumps in the road. You can put something better there.
SPEAKER_00:I could see them tearing it down at Disney World so that they could make a better pathway back to Villains Land. They'll never tear it down. I know.
SPEAKER_01:They could at least refurbish it where it's not just a bunch of sheets you could buy at Joanne's Fabric. Yeah, it's on this for a backdrop on the side.
SPEAKER_00:It it is somebody was given 20 bucks and told to go down to Michael's.
SPEAKER_01:You can see backstage. You can look right.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. And I'm gonna go a little veer off course here. So Bob Chapek, when he was announced, I and the further I get away, the more I'm convinced of this opinion. He was solely put in to his position on a temporary basis to enact all the stuff that people would hate so that Bob Iger would not have to take the heat for fast passes costing money, the reservation system, all of that. I think he was put into place to take the heat of all of that stuff. He was a Disney shill. He was. They gave him a bunch of money, said you're gonna have to take a bullet here, but we're gonna give you a golden parachute when you leave, or something. But this is your only chance to ever be a CEO here. I I really think that I don't hate that because Bob Iger came in and he could be the hero. And he he didn't reverse anything, so he's not really the hero. Right. Yeah, except for yeah, doing away with they they didn't reverse that. The uh Sunshine Flyer Magical Express, how it used to be, the buses, right, and a lot of perks. He got rid of a lot of perks, but Bob Iger never brought that stuff back, so who knows? Josh DeMarrow might. I think he's going to just be very good for being innovative in the parks, and then he doesn't have to focus on the movie aspect of everything that's Dana Walden, and everything now is going, they're Disney fying everything. I was reading about that, so I just watched Predator Badlands, so because it's on Hulu, and it's basically Disney made that.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, really?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and so but it felt very Disney-fied, it wasn't a horror movie like the previous ones or thrillers, or there wasn't that tension, it was just an action movie, but with aliens, right? And and cyborgs and whatnot, but it didn't have the feel of the other ones where something was hunting you dick off you. So anyway, that was my first thing. Is I thought we had to talk about Josh tomorrow and what we think. Is he is he gonna fall on his face or is he going to keep things moving in the right direction?
SPEAKER_01:So we'll see how he moves with the opening of all the new lands they've already started working on, which is my first one is dinosaur is gone.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And so now that they're moving fast, I think. They are just in just in what two weeks? Yeah, about ten ten days from this article. And they've already like, yeah. Yeah, they're having aerial view photos I'm looking at right now, which we'll try to post some on our Facebook page as a Pablo Esperanza photo, as you can see right here. And uh they're just showing aerial views of what's going on right now. Already got they're already starting. I mean, they've gone a long way already. For so do you think my question is do you think they'll be done as of now? Will they be done by 20 the 2027 opening? Yes, I think they're on track.
SPEAKER_00:I think they're on track.
SPEAKER_01:I think so too.
SPEAKER_00:I think the fact that it took four or five years to do Tron, I think they learned their lesson. Like, and I think they dropped the ball a bit with opening Galaxy's Edge because like California didn't get it for six months, rise of the resistance. I think they've learned their lesson and they will stay on track with the that was not cool.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, how rise took so long after the opening of the land. Yeah, because it wasn't complete, it just didn't seem like it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you knew there was something coming.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you walked by it all the time and you looked back in that area.
SPEAKER_00:Did you get to ride it before the parks closed for because of COVID?
SPEAKER_01:Not Rise. Did Rise we went there right after it opened.
SPEAKER_00:So it did open in like January.
SPEAKER_01:No, I didn't go back after COVID. So we went before COVID.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:When it opened.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:That was before COVID even happened. Oh, yeah. Before COVID.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, because it was 2019.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And then we went to the land.
SPEAKER_00:That was longer than six months. That was like seven.
SPEAKER_01:Didn't go back to Disneyland until after COVID was done and complete, and the ride was already open for a couple months.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Yeah. I was able to write it like three or four times before everything shut down. And yeah, not having that on opening day.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that would have made it a whole different thing. They'll probably do better. So that's my first one. Just just do you think they're on track with all the I think they are.
SPEAKER_00:With the refurbishings. I think they're and I haven't seen a completion date for Monstropolis or Cars or Villains.
SPEAKER_01:It all looks like it's progressing pretty well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Cars is supposed to be done before villains. And Monstropolis, I think, is about the same timeline. They, but they need to, they need to actually have Puebla Esperanza done on time because that park is suffering with stuff to do. Oh, yeah. With just things shut down.
SPEAKER_01:Right. What's your next Arctic Cole, Aaron?
SPEAKER_00:So another bit of news. Okay. Cracking down. Disney is cracking down on AI videos using Disney characters. Uh-huh. I looked at that one. Or the Disney fonts. Or so, and I've sure maybe people have seen these because I have a lot of on Instagram and whatnot. A lot of Disney pops up on my feed. Oh, really? So I get a lot of fake Disney. So those fake movie trailers. Isn't that great? That are a little most of them are kind of making poking fun of woke themes, I would say. And and some of them are really, really funny. But I can see why Disney would not want those. Of course they don't.
SPEAKER_01:They've got it, they want to stop that all they can. I also heard, I I I don't know if it was on a podcast I was listening to, but they are working with open AI right now.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, a billion dollar.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. They're working with it, trying to figure out how to how to work together. So Disney's open to AI, but in the right way.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I still think in the revamp Tomorrowland, there needs to be multiple character meetings. Of just AI responding to you in Mickey Mouse voice or Donald. Because you could literally put every character on there and character traits of those characters on there, you could have a hundred different characters you could meet. Princesses, old, obscure characters of from older movies that you wouldn't necessarily. But create an AI character is a different story.
SPEAKER_01:The key to them working with open AI is to get them so we cannot use it in any kind of bad bad way. Control. Yeah, the control they can have over it. So once they figure that out, you'll be able to go on a chat GPT and pull up a Disney character and create a little video, movie, yeah, picture.
SPEAKER_00:Of characters, care Disney characters doing Disney things.
SPEAKER_01:Disney things.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, not non-Disney rated items. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Good. I like that. I was just thinking about that the other day. Uh-huh. So that's funny you brought that up. You ready for my next one? Sure. So the tea time is back at Grant Floridian. I actually have a serious.
SPEAKER_00:I do. Whoa. Because okay. We've talked about this for a while.
SPEAKER_01:Because it sounds cool.
SPEAKER_00:I'm a guy who likes a tea. Yes. I do. I've gone to up to Canada to Victoria and done the one at Bouchard Gardens and the Empress Hotel, both on the same weekend. Love Bouchard Gardens. Yeah. I love the Empress Hotel. So I like a tea. Yeah. I like to just a very calm, have some little snacks.
SPEAKER_01:Feels fancy.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, very fancy. Very, very gilded age. Very gilded age. Yeah, such a great description. But yeah, I'm and I know that Gwendolyn Rogers does a tea, uh-huh. Which when I started hearing about this, I realized they did a tea.
SPEAKER_01:How much does a tea at Gwendolyn Rogers? Do you know of the game?
SPEAKER_00:I think it's like 120 bucks. So it's more than this. It's like 95.
SPEAKER_01:No, it's it's at 4 p.m. from noon to four daily.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And it's$79 an adult and$49 per child. But it's a very small area they have now.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:So it's going to be very, I mean, it's going to be, you got to purchase in advance all the time. It's going to be packed.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I think so.
SPEAKER_01:It's going to be a hard to get item. It's going to be one of those those ticket, those fast ticket items you're going to want to grab.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Maybe Gwendolyn Rogers was 95. Maybe that's what we're doing. Maybe we can look it up later on. But 79? I'd be willing to one time. I mean, I spent it.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I would be willing to, even though they show the pictures of the little tiny yeah. The little tiny snacks you get and the tea. It's not, they say, so that they say it's not worth the$79.
SPEAKER_00:No.
SPEAKER_01:Like price point. It's more for the ambiance.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:You're paying extra.
SPEAKER_00:And the experience and dress up a little bit. Yeah. It might finest. Oh, I can't think of that.
SPEAKER_01:What's the name of that coat and the tie and the well?
SPEAKER_00:I was thinking your smoking jacket. We talked about this last week.
SPEAKER_01:Last week we talked about one week we talked about smoking jackets. We need Cheers to Ears smoking jackets.
SPEAKER_00:Disney smoking jackets.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, once a month we wear them on a show.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah. I'm I'm game. Hello. We'll have to. Welcome to Cheers to Ears.
SPEAKER_01:That's a great idea.
SPEAKER_00:Cigars with her.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so I like an afternoon tea. That sounds great.
SPEAKER_00:I think that would just be that would just to me, that just sounds like a fun thing to do.
SPEAKER_01:It would make my day, I think, if I did the afternoon tea at Grand Floridian.
SPEAKER_00:Because you know what that also says, because it's noon to four, it's probably a day you're not going to the parks. So it's probably a day that you on a like a resort hopping day, spending a little extra time at yeah. I think so. And I've spent that much going to Hupdee Doo review. And so, granted, that was a truckload of average food. I bet this is a small amount of very good food. So I'd be willing to make that splurge. Cool. All right. What do we got next? Big Thunder Mountain Railroad reopens and Magic Kingdom. I had that one. Yeah. Because it's been closed for so long. Right. Over a year now. And it's been so long. Even between Disneyland, it was shut down when I last went. I've not ridden that since we went. And it's a year and a half ago.
SPEAKER_01:That's a year and a half ago. So it's reopened. Have you watched a ride-through at all? Is it reopened? I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:I thought it reopened in March.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, it's reopening. Yes. Because I didn't know it reopened. I was I thought you got me on one. I thought you had me on one.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I was thinking upcoming news, yes.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So it's going to reopen. So we don't know exactly what they're doing yet.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I didn't look up the exact date. I imagine it's probably pretty close to when they shut down Rock and Roller Coaster.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:I I would think it would be that time frame, sometime in March. Okay. But that's 14 months.
SPEAKER_01:14 months has been close.
SPEAKER_00:Without one of the best rides there. Yeah. That it's a good one, too. It's a good one.
SPEAKER_01:It has a little extra dip.
SPEAKER_00:It is different than Disneyland.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. It surprised me the first time we rode it.
SPEAKER_00:It does.
SPEAKER_01:You know, and it's because I'm so used to Big Thunder at Disneyland.
SPEAKER_00:Is I like I got so used to Big Thunder, I knew all of the turns. It was like muscle memory, knowing all of the turns, and you go on that and it throws it jars you a little bit more. So at first I was like, oh, I don't really like that. But once I rode it a bunch of times, I was like, oh, that's just as fun.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, maybe I gotta ride Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom a few more times. That maybe I did. I would say no. I don't know. No, I don't know. You're gonna like I don't hate it. I just don't like it. I like Matterhorn better. It's the same track as Matterhorn, kind of pretty much. I know. So I think I could like it more. It's I think it surprised me the first time because I'm so used to Disneyland, which is very smooth, very comfortable.
SPEAKER_00:It's just there's no leg room for me. Now, if I were shorter and or you know, it just I have a couple more inches of knee room where they weren't pressed up against. I would like that one more, the Disneyland version more. But because it's more comfortable to sit in the one at Magic Kingdom, now you get thrown around a ton more. I know. I mean, it's brutal.
SPEAKER_01:I know. That's when my son and his fiance picked the Magic Kingdom one over the Disneyland one.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And Eli grew up going to the Disneyland one. Come on. I don't know. That's that's another topic we've already discussed. So what else you got? What else do I got? I got is Disney World going bigger and bolder on Villains Land? There's a new rumor that the initial plans at Villains Land have been scrapped. Oh and Imagineer's gone back to the drawing board to come up with bigger and bolder ideas.
SPEAKER_00:Oh. I hope they have like not and I know they're gonna probably have two e-ticket rides in there. I would like an A-ticket, B ticket. I think if they add one E-ticket, I'd be happy if they added two smaller filler rides or a couple of smaller rides and a show.
SPEAKER_01:And the and the the article comes from we don't still don't know anything. No, they really haven't revealed. Here's what they've revealed so far since the D23 in 2024. Since then, all we've learned is that the villains land will feature conjured architecture, which is basically a cursed twist on Art Nouveau. Disney also revealed the 13 classic villain villains who will be featured in Villain's Land, but that's really about it. Yeah, that's all they've revealed. So they're saying that they're going back and they're trying to make it bigger and bolder, like more. So what they had at first, the first on a drawing board that Josh DeMaro didn't love when he this was just this might be the first thing he's doing.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, I say D23 this year. We're gonna find out a lot more details.
SPEAKER_01:So here's the rumor. Villains Lab will include an indoor story coaster and an indoor family-friendly dark ride. Okay, I'd be happy with both those. That's all just with the informed speculation permits and documents filed with Florida.
SPEAKER_00:Hmm. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So that's all we really know. But uh interesting, huh?
SPEAKER_00:Very much so.
SPEAKER_01:Very interesting.
SPEAKER_00:I think once Piston Peak and Villains Land are open, that is always going to be a two-day park.
SPEAKER_01:Magic Kingdom almost is a two-day park.
SPEAKER_00:It's almost a two-day park right now.
SPEAKER_01:It's not that it doesn't have lesser rides than Disneyland.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Quite a few lesser rides, but it's so much bigger. It's so much time.
SPEAKER_00:We when I went with Dave and Osha and the kids this last June, we had, I think it was a pretty light day as far as crowds, which was odd. And we had our multi-pass, but we actually did everything. The only thing like we didn't do Mickey's Philharm Magic, but we did everything we set out to do and rode everything there with multi-pass. But like Hall of Presidents was closed down, Big Thunder was closed down. So I gotta think that's gonna be a two-day park. Pretty if you want to do everything and not feel rushed, and I don't even know if you rushed around if you could do everything in one day. I am looking forward to like all ears doing accomplishing everything in one day.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:They'll have those challenges up and other other YouTubers. Can I do everything in one day?
SPEAKER_01:So here's breaking news from today at Disneyland. So this is One of my friends texted me this morning. She was in Palm Springs with her family.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And she said, The kids have been great this whole trip. I want to take them to Disneyland today. What's the best way to do that? And it was like 8 a.m.
SPEAKER_00:Oh. From Palm Springs.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Two-hour drive.
SPEAKER_00:Two hour drive, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So we talked, we text back and forth a little bit. They decided to go one day Disneyland. I suggested that because it's open later by the time they got there.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And uh I told her about paint the night because it's the best parade Disney does.
SPEAKER_00:Uh-huh. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So anyway, she got there and texted me and said the app was down.
SPEAKER_00:Oh.
SPEAKER_01:So she couldn't buy, she couldn't get tickets. Oh. And the line was an hour wait to get a single day. Yuck. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? I didn't look up news or reports of why that happened at the same time. I would think you'd buy that before you left. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if she tried on the way and what didn't work, and then they got into a cell zone going in the across the desert there, maybe. I'm not sure. I'm not sure how it all happened, but they were both down. My suggestion to her at the end of our conversation was that sounds like the husband waits in line while the kids and wife go to downtown Disney and get an ice cream and Lego store.
SPEAKER_00:I might have bailed and just gone to like Nott's berry farm.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I don't know what they ended up doing. She hasn't texted me since.
SPEAKER_00:Huh. Interesting. Is it my turn or your turn to?
SPEAKER_01:It's your turn.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Was there last one? Yeah, it's just your turn. Go. Let me see what I have two more. I have like two, three more. Oh. The Muppets. Oh. So March 2nd, 2026. Okay. The Aerosmith version of Rock and Roller Coaster will close permanently to be re-themed as featuring new animatronics and VIP tour of G Force Records. But G Force being bought out by Skeeter's uncle. And it is a Muppet themed. Right. And it's supposed to open by late summer. So it's a quick retheme. Yeah. They've done, I mean, there were some long closures two, three years in a row where they did a lot of, I think, a lot of the maintenance.
SPEAKER_01:They might have done prep to it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So, and there's not really a lot of decoration that they need to tear down. No. I wonder if it'll still be in the dark.
SPEAKER_01:Should be. It'll be in the dark with neon still, I think.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, because you're gonna that neon Muppet thing sounds great. And going upside down and whatnot.
SPEAKER_01:But you're going.
SPEAKER_00:I'm so looking forward like the Muppet music. I think I think they're gonna find out that people are gonna try to put little kids on there because it's Muppet themed. And they're gonna terrify little kids. And yeah, that's not gonna go well. No. But I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to go back. It's gonna be great. Oh, I'm hoping September, but I kinda doubt it. So yeah. Yeah. Good one.
SPEAKER_01:I can't wait for that.
SPEAKER_00:There's a lot going on there. I mean, with that and with Monstropolis going in, that's gonna be a great ride. Yeah, Hollywood Studios is gonna be great too.
SPEAKER_01:Man, it's gonna be this exciting times coming up. There is. We heard about it, and then it kind of went in the back of our minds.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, because there's you know, dad advice to be given to Disney character.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I got a very exciting one that you will love here, Aaron.
SPEAKER_00:What's that?
SPEAKER_01:Bath and Body Works.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thrilling.
SPEAKER_01:They had a line last year of Disney inspired soap.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And such, which did they smell like Disney stuff? They were just inspired by the characters. So they had like five different characters. Okay. And we bought a couple for the kids for my daughter Michaela and my sixth fiance, Addie. We bought it. We just bought her one something from Bell a couple weeks ago. They were they're like half off. Oh. But they just brought out a whole new collection. Oh. Yeah. Time to make more money off of it. This is huge news. They have now have Aurora, Mulan, Rapunzel, and Snow White. That's their new characters. They're featured.
SPEAKER_00:Mulan, Aurora, Rapunzel, and Snow White.
SPEAKER_01:Right. Okay. So there's scents, their shampoos, their soaps. That's a huge line. When they came out last year at Bath and Body Works for the first time, I only knew about it because it was huge Disney news. It was everywhere. There were lines at every Bath and Body Works that were sold out in like seconds. That's sad. And I went the next week and bought some.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Because they just replenish it. Everyone wants things to like it's like riding the ride when it first opens.
SPEAKER_00:It was like Figment, six hours waiting in line for a Figment popcorn bucket.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's the same popcorn bucket you'll get the next day.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, speak. I gotta sidetrack us now. Speaking about those popcorn buckets. So the Mickey Ferris wheel, Mickey's Paloran, whatever it's called. So my cousin was down in Disneyland last week, and she said, Hey, they've got those new popcorn buckets, and they light up. I didn't know that they lit up. And I was thinking, if I were down there, I've never bought a popcorn bucket. That one looked tempting. And she goes, You want me to pick you one up for you? I was like, No. Yeah, don't do it. If I were down there, don't get hooked. I'd get hooked. Don't do it. Don't start. I got pins. I can't do buckets as well. And hats. So but yeah, and I don't know. No, I got I don't think it turned. But yeah, it was it was electric, battery operated. Like, that's actually pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Once you buy one though, I think it starts a thing. I think you just want another one. I don't know. I'm I'd be scared.
SPEAKER_00:And then you got to figure out how to get it home. I've already resigned myself to I can no longer do the carry-on. I have to do the medium-sized suitcase now and just check it when I'm flying. Because I can't do a carry-on. I might have to bring stuff back. I want to bring the massage gun with me on the trip. Right. Yeah, just get old. There. Still waiting on you. Email us. Cheers. Number two ears one at outlook.com. Attention, redheaded Aaron. Aaron, the redhead one. My turn, your turn.
SPEAKER_01:Sure, your turn. I have one more.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. My last one. Yeah. Hopper. New IP. The movie Hopper. With I don't know the movie Hopper. Oh, you didn't see Zootopia 2. No. So I haven't seen it yet. They have not till mid-March now. Preview of this movie called Hopper, and and they put it's like Avatar, but with woodland creatures, where they put your consciousness into an animal. And so she goes into I think it's a beaver. It looks funny. Okay. It looks good.
SPEAKER_01:Can you watch that preview on Disney Plus now?
SPEAKER_00:Oh.
SPEAKER_01:It's gotta be somewhere.
SPEAKER_00:I think it's if it's not on Disney Plus, I've seen it on YouTube. Yeah. Yeah. So Hopper, finally some new IP that looks like it'll be successful. Because unfortunately, they made Zootopia 2, which is the highest grossing animated feature ever. Over a billion dollars. And Avatar, they made a billion dollars off of the new more than a billion dollars off of the new Avatar movie, or at least it sold more than a billion dollars worth of digits, which they really needed because they were doing bomb after bomb after bomb. So they finally got some stuff to write. And okay, so going back to our original Dana Weldon, I hope she writes the ship with the movies. And I know like there's some bread and butter to the sequels, but just do a good job creating some new IP stuff.
SPEAKER_01:We need some new IP.
SPEAKER_00:And stop making the live action where it's I don't know, your virtue signaling stuff. Because nobody's really buying it. So what does that do? Nothing. So And the bad part is the movies are not bad.
SPEAKER_01:The Snow White's not a bad movie. The live action. Oh really? It's not bad at all. Little Mermaid live action is not bad. I just have they're quality movies. Just saying. More people watched it because they didn't want to watch it.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Because they had a problem with it. Yeah. Other than just watching it as a movie. Right. Which I do with everything. I could care less. But I think Because actors to me are actors. That's a whole different world to me. Yeah. I don't care what they think politically.
SPEAKER_00:No.
SPEAKER_01:Or anything. I don't b athletes, same thing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I could care less.
SPEAKER_01:I could care less what they think politically or how much money they make. But who cares? If you make ten billion dollars from a business standpoint. I get it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But just make stuff people want to see. They do such a good job. Like, I'm sure Hopper's gonna be great. If they'd slowed down a little bit. Because I've re-watched Wish, and I actually thought it was a lot better the second time watching it through. Yeah. And then I would have just oh, I rewatched Encanto. Like the first half hour. Yeah. Just because I want to hear those first two songs. That's worth it. That makes you happy.
SPEAKER_01:The first two songs, especially the first one. Oh, yeah. It makes your day. I could wake up to that every morning. Yeah. It was that and Mickey and Minnie's theme.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Just would make my day any day. My last one is so first of all, on May 5th, 2001, a large tree fell in Frontierland in the past. Oh. And injured 20 people.
SPEAKER_00:In Disneyland.
SPEAKER_01:In Disneyland. Oh. In February 17th, a tree fell on near Plaza N on Main Street.
unknown:Oh.
SPEAKER_01:During a windy night in Disneyland, injuring a couple from Nevada with minor scrapes. The incident occurred around 11:40 p.m. with a tree affected a walkway during the private Sweethearts Night event. Cigarette Sweethearts Night.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And you're holding hands frolicking down Main Street. And your loved one gets crushed by a tree. That's sad.
SPEAKER_01:Like the Oscar-nominated movie Train Dreams, if anyone ever has seen that. Nope. It's up for an Oscar this year. It's very good. Okay. But the tree incidents happened in that movie. So it was near the little red wagon cord dog stand.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And the plaza and restaurant.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, okay. I know which tree that is.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, a Nevada couple was treated for minor injuries, and it was cleared overnight. That's the whole story. But it was a recent story.
SPEAKER_00:I thought we should have one recent one very, very recent event that happened in the last couple days.
SPEAKER_01:So tree falling. So when you're there, just kind of watch out for falling trees.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And you know, attacking ducks.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Yeah. That could happen near. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Don't give them their friends don't give them fries. They can't eat fries.
SPEAKER_01:So Aaron already told you where to reach us.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Do the likes, the shares, the subscribe, the follows, whatever your platform asks you to do, please do that.
SPEAKER_01:Email us. Tell us a topic we should do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. We're ready to take on some challenges here.
SPEAKER_01:Give us something. Give us something tough.
SPEAKER_00:But until next week, cheers. Cheers.
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