WDW Radio # 682 – Listener Email: Monorail Crawl, DAK Snacks, Easter Eggs, Running, America, Yeti, and Marvel Primer

Lou Mongello: [00:00:00] In my continuing efforts, going back to 2004, to help enhance your enjoyment and appreciation of the Disney parks. I'm going to turn to you again this week to help with planning, history tips and more. As I open up the inbox and like radio shack in the 1990s, you've got questions.

We've got answers. And joining me once again is someone who unlike me, based on that obscure, antiquated reference is not still holding onto the past. Like her tattered blockbuster video card. I want to welcome back Beci Mahnken from MEI and Mouse Fan Travel

Beci Mahnken: I never had a blockbuster car. Honestly, I

Lou Mongello: do.

You sit in the store, the Mindy's come to me. It was philosophy. Why,

Beci Mahnken: why do I always step in it every time you

Lou Mongello: go around it? Sure do. We have to get, we have to get right into it, whatever it was. And I'm going to go from one obscure reference in the nineties to one that you listening will probably get, but Becky still won't here's to the future.

RCA leads the way. No, it doesn't matter. Let's get into questions. I did not think that you were going to get this one. As I always do back in winter, I'm literally going to open up the inbox, reach into the mail bag and grab. It's always

Beci Mahnken: scary. It is always

Lou Mongello: very stunning to me. So this one comes from Joey who says, Hey Lou, my name is Julia Harmon.

I'm a recent listener to the podcast. Welcome to the family. I want to be going to Walt Disney world in August with several friends to celebrate my upcoming graduation from grad school. Congratulations. One of the main things we want to do is the monorail crawl. Approximately what time in the night would you recommend?

We begin if we intend on being up bright and early for a park day, the following morning, in addition, do you recommend going in a specific order? Thank you for the time and have a [00:02:00] great day. Sincerely, Joey, Becky, I know you hear this question and are saying this one is right up my alley because you heard monorail crawl.

You interpret that as going from bar to bar to bar. Clearly not specify that, um, I hear crawl, I don't think drink or lounge, but I interpret it as a resort crawl and maybe all of the different things that they have to offer.

Beci Mahnken: Yeah, there's all kinds of options to go from resort to resort, to resort, especially when it's different seasons.

So he didn't say when he was going. Correct. And of course that the monorail isn't going shows the danger of just reaching into this mailbox.

Lou Mongello: Clearly he said, he's going in August. So this is actually, this is actually perfect. What he doesn't say is. Where he's staying. Um, and I'm thinking in terms of convenience for him in terms of getting to, or from, but let's sort of start at the beginning.

He says, what time should we begin the crawl? He's got to get up early again, because I'm thinking that there is a lot to do and by do in lumen, jello world, that means to eat and snack on. Yeah. I think that you could really almost make this a half day into evening affair without, you know, sort of stumbling home at two o'clock in the more.

Yeah,

Beci Mahnken: absolutely. It's if you'd started, um, it one location, right? Because you're pretty much going to go to three resorts in called magic kingdom stop, too. If you want to, this is true. If you start at the TTC and work your way around, you have all kinds of snack opportunities, all kinds of beverage opportunities, all kinds of just exploring the resort opportunities.

So I think that you're not too far off the track to say a half day scenario. Say, for example, a late lunch, you begin at the Polynesian because if you get on the TTC, say that you're taking your bus from wherever you are to the TTC, hop on [00:04:00] the monorail and go to the poly first. That's a great place to start your adventure with a wonderful lunch either at one of the, um, uh, one of the resorts or sorry at one of the restaurants at the resorts, but the, um, grabbing goes, got some pretty good stuff there.

Lou Mongello: By the way Becky has never, ever grabbed nor gone. But I agree with you. So all purposes, let's say you start at the Polynesian. Uh, I agree. I think, uh, captain cooks outside is a great place to get a snack. Certainly if you're going to do a crawl, you've got to try and get into trader Sam's. I think getting there early and trying to get in, as soon as it opens is.

Without a doubt, your best bat. Um, if you do want to partake in some of the beverages that either the lounge or even upstairs at taboo has to offer, um, there's a lot of things to sort of eat as well as snack on. I think while you're there, I would also get a Dole whip. So not only are you missing yeah.

You got to get a little bit of sugar and sort of nice way to punctuate the day. If you go to, well, we'll have to sort of follow. The, if you're going to take the monorail loop, you're going to go from the Polynesian to, um, the grand Floridian. I think this is a resort that you should spend. I think all the resorts, you also need to give yourself a little bit of time to just sort of wander around and do some exploring in, I think there's a lot to sort of see and do in grand Floridian if you're timing this right.

And you're going in the early evening, I would almost go for a pre dinner at enchanted. I have a little cocktail, the little nosh inside and chanted rose. It's a really nice place. I mean, you can, we have for a live show, we sat there for hours, not just because of the show, but just sort of snacking on some of the appetizers and Becky sort of drank her way through that.

Beci Mahnken: Well, okay. If I drink my way through, I [00:06:00] had, I think two that day, because you know, sometimes you need alcohol to, to deal with Luma, jello, but it's. That has so many, what I love to do with the grid flirting more than anything is sitting in the lobby and just people watching and listening to the piano player and kind of taking that all in.

So, um, yeah, I think that if you really spend the time, I was kind of going through those, those two resorts in my brain thinking how long would I spend at each as well? And I liked that pre-gaming idea clearly. If you were spending an hour to an hour and a half at a place that you had a meal, you're still looking at maybe four or five hours for this entire adventure all the way around.

Right? So that pre-gaming of dinner at grand floating. It's not a bad idea.

Lou Mongello: Well, I'm going to throw a little, um, uh, a wonderful little wrench into it, and I'm going to put an asterisk at the end of the monorail crawl, because you're going to go over. If you follow Becky's trajectory, you started Polynesian.

Four o'clock right. You have a late lunch. You sort of make you're there for a couple of hours. You make way over to grand Floridian. You're there walking around, spending some time, maybe an hour or so in agenda rows. If you time it right, you can then end up at the contemporary walk around for a little while.

If you want to go walk into steak house 71, maybe have a little. If you really want to go crazy, you can have a little snack. You can pregame your dinner there because hopefully you're able to get a reservation up at the California grill for dinner. If you can't, you can sometimes walk up to the lounge and have access to the full menu up there too.

And if you time, it just right, you can take in the, uh, in whatever works on the, um, on the balconies outside. And the reason why it's. To adult asterisk is because your fun doesn't end there, Becky, because you think that's just the perfect way to punctuate tonight. [00:08:00] And it is until you go downstairs and you go down to the marina and you take a boat over to wilderness lodge.

And maybe you hang out and really sort of finish off the night over at Geyser point, you sit outside, you sort of recap the day you look out over the water. If you time that really, really, really well. And you've gotta be somewhat fast. You might even catch the electrical water pageant. And that could be the way that you end your little monorail

Beci Mahnken: crawl day.

That that was an unexpected, really good addition of pulling in the wilderness lodge. I will admit

Lou Mongello: I would drop it on the floor

Beci Mahnken: because yeah, because that's a great place for a nightcap. I loved, we sat out there one evening and had a little bit of late night nauseous. Couple of beverages to tie up the night.

So yeah, not bad. I think it can be done. I think it, that would be actually a really fun way to spend five hours or so with your closest friends, um, on the monorail going around, it's a lot of entertainment and a lot of food and a lot of.

Lou Mongello: It's a it's a long day, but absolutely. I'm thinking about all the places I would eat it.

So it's such a delicious day.

Beci Mahnken: And if they're saying that they need to get up early, do

Lou Mongello: that, maybe we'll do a live monorail crawl. One day while you're here, we'll do an abbreviated version because I don't want to go live for like 11 hours again. Wait,

Beci Mahnken: remember, we've done a 40 hour show

Lou Mongello: alive. Montereau crawl.

We stop at each of the, of the resorts. We get a little nosh, a little snack and we'll get a little time and try and time it appropriately. So we'll catch fireworks. We'll catch the water pageant. We're going to do that one Wednesday night while you're here. That

Beci Mahnken: would be awesome. As a matter of fact, you were talking about, uh, um, ending there at wilderness lodge.

I'd be thrilled to be able to do that. And if they ended there, they're still going to make it back to the resort in time to get enough sleep, to [00:10:00] get up the next morning and have a fabulous day.

Lou Mongello: Well, they didn't tell me where they were staying. If they're staying at wilderness lodge, it would just be even better, even better if only there were someone, any book, a vacation to wilderness.

It would be mouse fan travel. All right. I said we were going to Philly and we're 10 minutes in. All right. Marsianno sturgeon says, Hey, Lou, first of all, just wanted to say I've been utterly addicted to listening to your podcast on Spotify. Thank you for quite a minute now. And I just wanted to pull thank and congratulate you on all the.

Especially throughout the past year with all the Hodge hardships going on throughout the world. Thank you. I've been with my girlfriend for about six years now going on seven and August. Congratulations. And I've come to learn that in that time, she has never left Texas except for one trip to Colorado and to move to where she is, where we are now in Virginia.

I'm a Florida boy, but I haven't been to the parks since 2004. Oh, would you say it's feasible to do all or most of the must do's and C's at all four parks in five days, I'm planning for a summer fall trip with the hopes of throwing blizzard beach into the wow, but into the mix as well, but I'm not sure that's going to fit the biggest attractions we're trying to fit in our split.

Haunted mansion, uh, as even without having been on the riots, she has a lot of deer history with these characters and loves the concepts followed by rock and roller coaster tower terror rise of the resistance and expedition Everest. If there has to be cuts to fit as much as possible, what are some of the immediate things you can think of and personally recommend skipping out?

I'm a bit on the fence about Peter pan, get off that fence and get on Peter pan as I'm not sure the weight outweighs the experience her first time. Um, Marsianno I think I love this. I love the fact that it's going to be new for her and really new for you because so many years have gone by, but in terms of the feasibility of doing most of the must do's and sees it all for a parks and five [00:12:00] days, the answer now, It's absolutely.

Yes. I'm going to throw in the recovering attorney asterisk in there as well. Obviously, depending on when you go, the crowds are going to help dictate the look. I think this is where you have to weigh. And we've talked about this when it was first announced, you have to weigh the value of genie plus enlightening lanes.

Cause that is going to be the way that you are going to be able to do. All of the things that you want to do in a relatively, in a relatively limited amount of time without having to sacrifice, not being able to see one, it doesn't sound like you get here as often as you would like, so you really want to try and maximize the time that you're here.

Becky. I, you know, tell me if you agree or disagree. If you are investing the time and the resources to come to Disney for those five days, you want to make this a very special trip. This is where things like genie plus and lightening lane really, I think do pay divots. Yeah,

Beci Mahnken: it definitely does help because you're going to be able to make those lightening link selections.

Of course it does cost money to be able to do that, but it is investment. If you're trying to balance that time. Um, the, the thing we always tell people and. Running this around in my brain. Is it even in 10 days at Disney world, you're not going to be able to see and do everything on one 10 day visit. So you do kind of have to prioritize, um, look at each park, decide on two or three things that are absolutely must do's in each park.

And then anything beyond those three must do's that you, you have the time to be able to experience, uh, is going to be then. Icing on the cake, right? So there's going to be some places on lightening lanes that you're not going to be able to easily grab because they might not be available for you, but at least gives you a, an advantage.

Uh, so you know that you're not going to be standing in the standby lanes of every single [00:14:00] attraction you're trying to get into. But if you're looking at August two, it's still high season, there's still a lot of crowds that are in the parks. And I think even. The high season is going to be a new thing for us over the next few weeks, especially when we get into fall, where we think that it's going to, um, the crowds are going to die down.

I don't think we're going to see that as much as we normally do. But utilizing the tools that are in the toolbox, like, uh, the individual lightning lanes or picking genie plus. So you can pick the lightening lanes is definitely going to be something that you will want to take advantage

Lou Mongello: of. Yeah. And, and this again, to Marsianno is you either a and I think planning is part of the fun, right?

So if you are a self planner, You're obviously planning is now longer a sort of an option to go into Disney world, right? It is a requirement. It has become in some regards it's become more complicated, sometimes more confusing, but it's also could be more fun because you're planning starts so far out and it sort of gets you excited and hyped up hype up it.

If that's not your thing, if it's sort of like, wait, this is overwhelming. I'm not saying a cushy. But it is where, like the services of a travel advisor, like mouse, men travel, can help you through and help you to navigate all of those things. I do suggest, I mean, I'm saying this after openly, look, I do suggest sort of sitting down and familiarizing yourself with how the Disney, uh, the Walters will app runs.

How does it, how does the genie plus process work? Because now it's not something you're doing. Well in advance, it's a day of things. So there's a lot that goes into it. Sleeping late is no longer an option on your wall. If you want to ride things, you can sleep on, uh, on the flight home, but planning ahead of time and looking to invest in genie plus, and or lightning lanes, I think is going to be your.

Yeah.

Beci Mahnken: And managing your expectations, I think is really important too, in this scenario, [00:16:00] especially if you haven't been there since 2004, things have changed dramatically since 2004. So the planning part is really important prioritizing. So you know what? You absolutely have to do what you really want to show off to your girlfriend so that she will, um, say that you have to return again.

Uh, you want to make sure that you've got all of those. T's crossed and I's dotted

Lou Mongello: Beckham and move on. Not just because we want to get as many as, as possible, but I may, this may be the most important question we've ever answered on the show. It's gotta be about food obviously. And candy. I'm kidding. I just saw the words light lunch, and I was like, oh, I need to answer this one.

And Kennedy says, Hey Lou, my wife, her mother, and I will be at animal kingdom and do the park, our adjustment to touch where we have dinner reservations at yak and Yeti rather early, about 4:30 PM. Also known as the blue plate special since we'll be having dinner so early. Can you suggest a place to have a light lunch about noon?

I'm thinking of quick service, where we might get chicken nugget and a pineapple stick that we can eat while standing up at. This question is right in my wheelhouse, because look at me, I love to eat and I love to snack and animal kingdom has some of the best quick snacking options anywhere din animal kingdom.

So, okay. In no particular order, like if you jump over to. Harambie market. They've got, um, check the menu, subject to change without notice they have, um, uh, beef and lamb and like chicken heroes. They have a chicken bowl. They used to have a Curry sausage, which my son still cries about. Uh, flame tree is another great place to get a little sort of barbecue snack yak and Yeti, not the sit down the local food cafe off to the side.

The, I mean, yes, you can sort of get, uh, they have a, um, a great Sesame chicken and fried rice. Grab a couple of egg rolls and go across the way and get, uh, one of the different, um, I don't remember the name of the [00:18:00] T-chart, but there's a, like a joy of tea, tea cart there. If you go to dyno land in Trello bites, they have, um, Buffalo chicken chips.

They're like housemaid, like, um, thick cut potato chips with like Buffalo chicken on top. It's an easy walk and grab and, and yes, if you have to share, you can share it. Um, I'll, I'll give you the secrets. Um, and possibly one of, if not, I need to do somebody write this down top 10 snacks and Disney's animal kingdom, because he'll kill them off.

I hope not. I'm not wired to the video because the video is what killed him. But over at Mr. , In between Africa and Asia, they have, um, they have hummus and pita, but they have Mr. Kamala seasoned fries, which are amazing. They have these different dipping sauces, including like a, um, like a saffron aioli and a honey kimchi ketchup, which are, I mean, And they have dumplings.

They used to have simosas I think they have dumplings now. So the very long answer to your very short question is there are a lot of different places throughout animal kingdom, depending on, I didn't even, I didn't even get over to tip Pandora yet, but

Beci Mahnken: that's what I was going for. Thinking about the cheeseburger steamed pods, the bowel buns over there.

If you just go up to Tina and just grab one of those. That's a

Lou Mongello: great place to Tulley is cause he said light lunch. So I was thinking maybe he wants him like quick and on the move. And if he doesn't really well, he could have a light lunch in multiple places. Like instead of doing the full blown stuff, that's lunch

Beci Mahnken: around the animal kingdom.

Lou Mongello: Yum. And then here we go. A lot of punching around as somebody. I need to write this one down too.

Beci Mahnken: That's that's actually not a bad idea. It's you know, July. Why don't we try that then?

Lou Mongello: Fantastic. Becky, I'm going to make you walk around animal kingdom in July and not [00:20:00] sit down at a restaurant and to see, try to kill me, Becky freaking out four minutes.

We got four minutes on the, on the clock. So place your bets now. All right, moving on. And I'll tell you why I picked this one out because Nicholas halo. And the always fantastic Becky. Yay. I started listening to your podcast when I was working in New Zealand and have followed your show ever since. Thank you.

Wow. From New Zealand, from New Zealand to the far less exotic Secaucus, New Jersey, greetings from your bagel, loving brethren. I have a, an Easter egg related question I have yet to visit star wars Galaxy's edge, but I'm planning to next year. I was wondering, are there any known, hidden nods to its former occupants backlot express lights, motors action, streets of America, or the earful tower perhaps searching for Imagineering.

Nods has become an attraction within itself when I visit the parks. So. If you've stumbled upon any Easter eggs related to this specific area and these former attractions be well. And thank you for what you do. Thank you, Nicholas. And now you have me craving a bagel. Nicholas, you are speaking my language and surprising it's does not involve.

Because other than hunting for some of the best sit down and snacky treats in the parks. I love, love, love Easter eggs. It's the trivia. It's the nerdiness that got me started on this incredible journey. There are not one, not two. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of Easter eggs inside star wars, galaxy.

So much so that it was actually the topic of a recent WWO nation scavenger hunt that I shared, I think just a few weeks ago, Becky, I'm sure you've taken that hunt with you to the parks because you are a nation member of which I appreciate. Yeah,

Beci Mahnken: absolutely.

Lou Mongello: But I will give you a few. And you mentioned [00:22:00] specifically lights, motors action.

So if you go to the black Spire outpost marketplace, um, if you, if you're walking through and the restrooms on your left-hand side and sort of walking towards millennium, Falcon, Smuggler's run and you'll see. There's a display of three small, different, uh, speeder bikes and sort of land speeder type vehicles.

And if you look on the side of the green bike in the middle, you're going to find some letters written in our bash that. L M a lights motors action there. But again, we could do an entire, wait a minute, top 10 east, somebody write this down top 10 Easter eggs in star wars, galaxy, wait a minute. Maybe I'll do a video.

That would be fun. Yeah. Um, the interesting thing too, Becky is. The one thing that's, that's the blessing and the curse of the Disney parks and as somebody who has started off and continues to write books about them is the wonderful thing about Disney is that it is, it is ever changing. Right? And if you want to frustrate yourself, try writing a trivia book about Disney world, because by the time it gets through the editing and publishing process, three quarters of it are probably out of date because it is such a dynamic place.

One of the Easter eggs that I'm so sad as gone was over in doc, on Doris , which is just full of amazing star wars references. But some of the references go outside the star wars universe. Maybe that's why this one was removed, because if you looked up in the rafters, sort of on the opposite side of. So when you, if you walk in, go to the center of the room, turn around and look up in the rafters, there's a literal and figurative treasure trove.

At one point, there was the Ark of the covenant. From Indiana Jones in there I did [00:24:00] for Raiders of lost Ark. Cool. Becky Raider was this adventure in Wolf. You can watch it on a plane one day. Um, but there are there, there's some amazing, amazing Easter eggs. Uh, if you're a member of the nation, go check and you can see you'll, you'll find it in your scavenger hunt.

And if not, like I said, maybe we'll do a show about the top 10 Easter eggs in it is it's called. You're incredibly frustrating. Cause you're like, oh, come on. I want to show you something really cool. And you get there. And I'm like, I swear the Ark of the covenant was there like a wicked go and like, okay, Mondello maybe you should stop snacking so much.

Right. Moving on to. Uh, Stephanie's question. He says, Hey Lou. And hopefully Becky, as a fellow New Jersey and, and Disney fan, I've been trying to catch up on all your past episodes currently all the way back to episode three 80. Thank you very much recently. Uh, I'm slowly but surely becoming, might I say a runner running every day and starting to enjoy it.

The more and more. I listened to the running team episodes. I get the itch to try a run Disney event. Speaking of which we're going to do an updated run Disney running team episode very soon. Cause nobody has more fun than us. I've done a half marathon once before three-ish years ago. And I thought I'd never run again at the time.

It didn't take the training seriously and I hardly read. I've done so many, five Ks at least once a year, since then I tore my ACL out, which has resulted in running as part of my PT. Now I run every day finding inspiration. Deanna. And Lisa, my question is for someone who has done many, five Ks and one and a half, and for someone who's done, many 5k is, and one half, do you think a full marathon is possible?

Or should I just stick with a half? Hoping that by the time I hit 30, currently 27, I can participate in a run Disney event. Fingers crossed in person just trying to pick between the half or the full many. Thanks for all the fantastic reviews, [00:26:00] constantly making me hungry at work and bringing out the.

Stephanie from Cranford, New Jersey. I, I there's a lot of Jersey. I actually, I grew up in Plainfield. I studied martial arts, Stephanie on north avenue in Cranford, like right down the street. Anyway, uh, steadied

Beci Mahnken: martial arts, I guess we gotta get into that later. Go ahead.

Lou Mongello: Yeah, for years anyway, it doesn't matter.

Um, so you've done a ton of 5k. A's you've done the half. Should you stick with the hat? Listen, I think, and I think anybody who is a runner would probably tell you that if you've done the half, you can do the full. And a lot of people talk about sort of the half is almost a training run for the full marathon.

And I think, especially at what Disney world, the energy, the excitement, the characters, the music, all those things make the full, so much more accessible. And then I think you would find it elsewhere. Again, I think the runners could speak to this more, which is why we'll do another running team show. Uh, and I think too, and this is a selfless, but shameless plug, I think coming and maybe being part of a running team, like we have the WWD running team having that support from other members, not just day of the race, but the support and the encouragement and the training help as you start to lead up to it.

And then having that energy from the team who literally. Is with you all along the way, we'll help get you through some of those potentially tough miles along the way as well. Yeah. The

Beci Mahnken: comradery between people on the team is amazing to me. And he's asking, I think the wrong two people, that question when it comes to running and so forth, but we're there as much as we can be on the cheering side of it, I've done a five and a 10, and I stopped there because you know, that's me, but I've watched it.

In complete awe of these folks who start on a five and they go to a 10, all of a sudden they're doing a half and then it's just [00:28:00] I'm training for the full. And then all of a sudden they're doing the, the dopey and the goofy. And I am just in complete awe of those folks that can really dedicate themselves.

And they love running. You just get that piece where either you get into it and you love it and your body craves running and you, um, you know, And connect with people and connect with these races. Sadly, I didn't get to that point. I am connecting to the cheering though. I'm very much

Lou Mongello: into that side of it part by being the trigger and to be clear, my answer was based on only conversations that I've had with people who are on the running team.

And I think if you do join the running team, they would be able to help any.

Beci Mahnken: Yeah, I was just going to say really quickly, is that how that running team supports each other is so amazing where somebody isn't quite sure you've got other people on the team who might be at your, uh, at your running level.

Maybe some people who are a little bit ahead, but they can encourage you and help you make it through that race. I think that running or joining one of the teams, especially WDW radio would be a fantastic move to make that next jump to a larger race.

Lou Mongello: Absolutely. And again, you can find out more by visiting WDW, radio.com/.

Running or just go to WW, WDW, run.com. All right, moving on. Cause I started wanting to go super fast and catch as many as we can. Aaron Schissler says I'm planning a two week trip to Walt Disney world. My group is going to have two days where we're not going to the parks. I want one of those days to be a resort day.

How much time do you think it would take the average family to see everything. In Disney Springs that they're interested in. Thank you. So, Aaron, I love this. I think Disney Springs is the fifth park. It's a little difficult to answer because you talk about doing the things that they are interested in.

And the one thing about all of Walter's world and even Disney Springs is there's a little something. For everybody and, you know, doing things that you're interested in, is it doing things that you just want to see? Is it, [00:30:00] you know, seeing or eating or two very different questions, but I think that you really can take, and I know a lot of people will do.

They'll almost sort of allocates full day or three quarters of a day. Maybe you take a slow morning at the resort. You go and have some lunch, you go to the pool and then you spend the rest of the day. I look, I think that you can do a quick service meal, a sit down meal, do a little shopping, have a snack, go see Cirque de Solei without question, and then do a late night bite.

So you really can take a more than just a half a day at Disney Springs, very leisurely, enjoying a lot of the entertainment, the food, the music, the shows.

Beci Mahnken: Yeah, but you also, don't forget, you have things like the vintage cars that are over there by the boathouse that you can go out and, um, and enjoy that experience.

I loved that. Uh, you can even go bowling it's Splitsville, which by the way, I think Splitsville is the hidden gem of food in all of Disney Springs. I know this between you nuts. Just between you and I. The other thing I've never done, but every time I look at it, I want to do it as the balloon, where you go and raise up the balloon.

I've never done the blow.

Lou Mongello: No, I,

Beci Mahnken: I know there's a ton of things to do there, so there's great eating. There's great drinking. There's shopping. There's all these experiences. There's shows there's entertainment. You want to go to a movie it's there too, and you can wait in line for a chocolate chip cookie to.

I finally did. And I understand why people now wait

Lou Mongello: in line for them. It's a real thing. Oh

Beci Mahnken: yeah. You can spend an entire day just it's Disney Springs for sure.

Lou Mongello: I have as a local, I spend more time in Springs than I do in the parks. And that is not a joke. All right, moving on. Um, this one I saw is, is perfectly time sensitive and appropriate.

Ben marsh says, Lou, do you think he could do a show about the American adventure and the hall of [00:32:00] presidents for July 4th? It's one of my favorite shows to see at magic kingdom. I love our nation's history. I'm a huge USA history fan. I learned the president in order at an early age and have always loved Abraham Lincoln, just like Walt Lincoln is my favorite present.

I also learned the Gettysburg address at an early age too. I dig this Ben marsh as we're recording this July 4th is just a couple of weeks away. Um, I think this is a great idea. Actually, a number of years ago, I did a show. About the hall of presidents, uh, with a friend of mine, Kristen Helmstetter, who was writing her, who wrote at the time, her honors thesis on the attraction.

And she joined me to talk about the history and the story and the change in importance. This goes back Becky to show 19.

Beci Mahnken: Oh, wait

Lou Mongello: eight in October of 2008. I don't know how that was 12 years ago, but it's also appropriate because Ben, the stay tuned and all of you stay tuned for a special show recording for next week.

If you love America, I hope that I think that you're going to love this show.

Beci Mahnken: At nice teas there. Any other, any other, you know, little hints you want to give us?

Lou Mongello: That's only because you're listening. I'm not going to give any other hints, but it's a show about all countries, but mostly America, America. Um, alright.

A couple of quick ones just to round things out halo. I was listening to show number 2 95, top 10 audio animatronics, and the reason why they haven't been able to fix the. Well, they were able to fix it last year when the park was closed. It would've been a perfect time. PS, I live two minutes from a drive through from cafe Dumont.

Not that it has anything to do with my email, just one of the food and make me jealous. Mike P from Kenner, Louisiana. So Mike you're right. And we're, I think a lot of us were talking about how the opportunity from adversity with the pandemic shutting the parks down for an unfortunate length of [00:34:00] time would allow them to, and they did do a lot of maintenance and attractions and do some upgrades.

The problem with the Yeti. And I think we talked about it on the show is because the Yeti framework is literally. Into the mountain structure itself because the force that is needed to move and swing that massive arm is the same as the propulsion from a jet engine. The problem, the problem is not just the time, the problem is the popularity.

And what I mean by that is the time it will take to take down this attraction and what it will entail will necessitate the attraction being down for an extensive period of time. And you have to think about it from the guest perspective while yes. We want the, see the Yeti back to his full motion. One, a lot of guests don't know what they don't know.

Right. They've never seen him move, so they don't know that he was supposed to, but imagine if you go to the parks and this is still, I think for a lot of people, the signature attraction at Disney's animal kingdom. Yes. Flight of passage. I, I, I'm looking at you YouTube. Thinking about the disappointment for guests that wouldn't be able to see this signature attraction.

It's part of the reason why other than again, the parks are too very too. It's why one of the reasons why you won't see things like haunted mansion go down for an overlay because when you come to Walt Disney world, and this is your one vacation in five to seven years, which is when the average family comes.

I imagine the disappointment, if hundred mansion is down. Imagine that similar disappointment if expedition, Everest is down as well.

Beci Mahnken: Yeah. I can understand why people want to see it though. And it's and how it was this, the story as it was being told at the very beginning, right? There is those pros and cons of bringing something [00:36:00] down like they do over Disneyland where they take haunted dimension down and they do the, um, excuse me, the Halloween overlay.

And yeah, it causes a lot of disappointment for, for people who visit. Disney. World's a little bit different than Disneyland clearly, because most people are going there for vacation. So not having something available to them would be a disappointment, but I can see both sides. This is where the Libra in me completely comes out because I can insides pretty easily.

I would love to see the Yeti back, how it was intended. How was an imaginary? Um, maybe someday we'll get it. Who

Lou Mongello: knows? It's incredibly impressive to see as it happens, because you think that, that hand it comes so close to your vehicle. You almost want to like shrink, you know, like you're on space mountain.

Sometimes you sort of shrink your head down a little bit more. Cause you're afraid that you're going to hit it's that same way. And it's, it's a, it's an incredibly impressive feat and it is. It's disappointing that we don't get to see it, but it would be disappointing if that attraction had to go down for 18 months, 10 years, because you're not talking about a two week refurbishment time.

You're talking about a very, very long period. Yep. That's true. All right. Two more quick questions. Uh, Hey Lou and Becky exclamation point, Becky, not even a question mark and working my way through past episodes recently listened to the trip. Recap of your ABD through Hollywood and Disneyland from the past, my desire to visit these places multiplied exponentially.

When I listened as to all of my travel desires with every episode, but this one continues to have me. Obsessed. I know you're always working on new events for us, but is there a chance. So you're telling me there's a chance. Is there a chance this trip adventure may happening in soon. I want to do something special and treat myself, but I have this fear that as soon as I plant something, this is going to resurface.

A girl can only [00:38:00] save so fast. I need a trip to my version of paradise falls. Thank you. I look forward to more, more edutainment every week. Hope to meet you both soon, Rebecca Chestnut. Rebecca Becky, I'm going to tune, I'm going to turn off your mic for a second. All I want to say without saying anything is that yes, we are looking to do this again.

At the time it was called backstage magic. Uh, it is now called. What's it called? What is the Southern California? Southern California adventure time is our enemy too, because we have so many things that we are discussing as well as so many things on my whiteboard that I still haven't even brought up to trying to fit those puzzle pieces in.

Um, we are looking to do it. It it's it's. I can tell you it's not going to happen in 2022. I'm not saying anything about 20, 23, but, um, we'll try and have an announcement of a date very soon. And Becky has given me the look like Mongiello stopped talking. She was Mrs. Where you start to blow it and start leaking out dates that we can't necessarily do.

Beci Mahnken: Exactly. And this one in particular, there are some challenges with Southern California there. They're, re-imagining it a little bit. And we're kind of waiting to see what the, uh, new itineraries are going to be for 20, 23 and how they're going to, um, incorporate some of the things that we loved so much about that tour and then what new things they're going to bring to the tour.

So I think as soon as we get a handle on. What's going to be included and maybe what kind of extra magic things that we can come up with, which when we do a group specifically for just us, we like to add something a little magical. So a lot goes into planning these trips. And as soon as we know what we can do and where we can, I know as soon as we can shoehorn it in, into the, uh, into the schedule too, because we've got a lot going on for next.

We already have two

Lou Mongello: [00:40:00] ABDS next year. And the thing I have, and I'm looking at something specifically on the board, I'm going to move forward until

Beci Mahnken: I need to

Lou Mongello: come see the board. I always check the events page at www.comslasheventsaswellastheeventstabonthefacebookpageatfacebook.com/www for the latest updates.

All right, last question. I saw this one was. That were not food-related that, uh, jumped out at me. He said, Lou, I'm looking for a top shelf primer on Marvel comics. Podcast YouTube doesn't matter. Can you or somebody at WMU radio helped me and my son with this and that comes from Derek Marotta. Derek. I love this because again, with the bringing of Marvel into the Disney fold, uh, but just, it really has embraced all of the things that I love.

And more importantly, the thing. That I grew up with now, you don't talk about how old your son is here, so that, that throws a little bit of an unknown into the equation, but I'll try and be as broad as I can. If you look, if you're. And I don't know, sort of you're coming from, Hey, we love the MCU. We want to start reading comics or we want to start reading comics so we can understand the MCU.

What I would do is I would start with the movies, right? I would, I would fire up your Disney plus or sign up for Disney. Plus it still is one of the best streaming deals in town. Bundle it with Hulu because you get all the best stuff. I would start with the movies. And even if you just started going through the catalog and seeing what or who.

In the MCU is of interest to you. Then look to the Disney plus TV shows. What I love about Disney plus is there's just, there's always something coming. Like there's always one right after another. And I think now with the introduction of Moonlight, especially most recently interrupting. Of Ms. Marvel, there really is a character and sort of a genre for everyone, whether maybe you are a young [00:42:00] girl, that's looking to identify with that girl that goes to high school with you to be your character, or you want something on the more street level or the more galactic level.

There's something for you. You have to find out who or what interests. I also think, and this is something that I did and continue to do with my son. And we've done over the years. It really has sort of grown to something that we love doing and building together. Is he got to go old school, man. And what I mean by that is go to your local comic bookstore, um, comic book stores, especially over the past number of years have really sort of taken a hit, but many of them have been able to survive because of the passionate comic book, fans and collectors.

And I still think that there is nothing like walking into the comic bookstore and just seeing thousands and thousands of issues going back, you know, to the Bronzeville. And even some of the most recent stuff and picking up that we're a tactile people. You pick up that thing and you hold in your hand and the smell of a comic book page still isn't lost, but being able to browse through those shelves or even talk to the comic bookstore owners, go to some of your local comic book conventions.

Those are a ton of fun. Check your Facebook event, page event bright. There's an app called fan grew, which is free. And it'll show you local events. In your area, another one thing you could do to I, again, I, I know I acknowledge, um, you know, my relatively old man in the room is I still believe you start with the legends and you start with the classics.

Like maybe you go back to the early Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. Amazing. Spider-Man. The Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Fantastic four, especially because you know that the movie is going to be coming out soon. Start to read the characters either that you're familiar with, or maybe even pick an event to start off with.

So I know a lot of people, Becky got into comics because of infinity war, like the infinity gauntlet [00:44:00] and the infinity. It was a great place to start. As we know things like secret wars and secret invasion are coming up on Disney. Plus, you're going to be ahead of the game. So say, all right, I know that she Hulk secret invasion, armor wars, you know, eco, uh, Agatha Harkness Spider-Man freshman year are coming.

These are great comics to sort of establish my basis, my framework and my fandom is. And then I'm ready for those series when they come out. All of a sudden, now you're the expert in the room. Go back and read dare devil. Like Daredevil is an amazing character. Depending how old your son is you. He might not be ready to watch the Netflix mandible that was poured over.

I will tell you though, Daredevil is some of, if not, arguably the best Marvel comics adaptation on TV. Ever, it's not for the kitties, but it is remarkably good. And I'm thrilled beyond belief that Disney plus is going to have what really is going to be a fourth season of an extension of the Netflix Daredevil series.

But there are lots of different ways. To start in the comic genre. The other thing too is to just go right to your phone and download Marvel unlimited. Um, there's also a Marvel comics app that oftentimes we'll have free comics that will help you get introduced these sort of we'll release some that will, uh, Prepare you for some of the upcoming releases that are coming to the theaters or to Disney plus, but you can also subscribe and literally have access to everything.

I mean, tens of thousands of comics in the library and sort of start to feel your way around and pick and choose the types of characters with the locations or whatever it might be that interests you and your son. And again, not knowing the ages. I love the fact and hope that this. That [00:46:00] the two of you, and you can apply that to father, son, mother, daughter, brother, sister, whatever it might be.

That's one thing that comics, I think really allow you to do is enjoy the journey and the stories do.

Beci Mahnken: I just watched you turn into a 13 year old.

You totally just got all animated and you started getting all giddy and that was amazing to watch. Um, for me, I was, I, I. Comic books when I was a kid and I kind of got into it. But clearly when Disney bought Marvel, we're getting into a realm of Marvel fandom that I did not Wade into whatsoever. So another resource is I turn to YouTube and there are a couple of really good YouTubers out there who know their Marvel from one side to another, for example, I had never heard of moon night.

So I wanted to get a little bit of a primer to understand, uh, what we would be seeing when the, uh, when the series came out. I turned to one of the YouTubers that I watch quite often for that type of history. At least I got a little bit of knowledge so that when the, uh, when the series came out, I completely understood kind of what I was watching.

I knew the story, but as you all know, for those of you, who's watched it. It, it took a little bit to understand where the story was going, but, um, that's another resource as well.

Lou Mongello: And I think starting with, you know, the easiest way to get introduced to the comics is through the movies and through the Disney plus TV shows.

I agree with you. There's some amazing content creators out there. I have no problem sharing. I love new rockstars. That's the one I watch. He's amazing and screaming, meet him fresh with Ryan airy. Um, also very, very, very good considerably, thorough and detailed, and really gives you an [00:48:00] amazing, not just framework, but great working knowledge of the characters, the stories where they came from, and then potentially where they're going up.

Listen to her. My friend has either a comic book suggestion, a comic book resource. You can share that in the clubhouse over at www.com/clubhouse. That is our fun friendly family-friendly and oh, so incredibly welcoming and amazing, beautiful community over. On Facebook. I invite you to come be part of the community and conversation there.

If you have a question that you'd like Becky and I, to answer on an upcoming show, you can email me lou@www.com. And if you want to join us on any of our adventurous or create your own adventure, it's like, it's like one of those. Choose your own adventures. You can choose to go with mouse, van travel and visit them@mousevantravel.com and get connected with one of their true superhero.

Um, and travel advisors who can help you plan your next magical vacation to whatever destination you so choose. And Becky Mankin, who is your overall number one? Favorite Marvel superhero ever.

Beci Mahnken: Oh man, you can't do that to me because there's so many because clearly how the thing.

Alright. And I had to make captain Marvel too. I

Lou Mongello: love you might identify with right. What character do you think you identify with? What Marvel character do you identify with? Most? I don't have the answers for this.

Beci Mahnken: Why don't you answer that one first? Okay. So when you say identify with it, I can take that off. It's

Lou Mongello: a fight with Peter Parker because he was that nerdy, awkward high school kid that didn't have a lot of friends, but I think has a good heart, um, and, and wants to do the right thing. And I'm also gonna mix, I am the part of the reason why I was so animated about [00:50:00] Daredevil.

Is because of Daredevil. Um, I am Daredevil. I am a recovering attorney who is Catholic, I'm blind as a bat. And my family accuses me of having supersonic hearing because like, I hear everything. Um, but Harry he's a street level. And it's it's his moral compass is really what drives both of these characters is it's more about Matt Murdoch and Peter Parker than it is about Daredevil and Spiderman.

If that makes any sense. And I very much identify with, with the people under the mat.

Beci Mahnken: You have totally thought that through, you know, upset down at one point or another, you sat down and really thought that through. I, I could sit here and, you know, captain Marvel is a big one for me because the strong woman, the told she couldn't do what she wanted to do.

Uh, Yeah, that was a big one for me. And I know that a lot of people didn't like the movie personally I did, because I did identify with their story a little bit. Not that I've been sent to an alien planet or anything, but from her, um, from her life on earth beforehand, and that connection with her friends and.

Part was kind of important. Interesting. I'll have to actually think about that a little bit more. I do think rocket is my spirit animal for many reasons. Um, I'm not going to go into that here, but it's, that is, is kind of an important piece to me as well. Um, I'm sure. I could come up with a much better answer if I sat and really thought it through, because the neat thing about Marvel is that there are characters that almost everybody on the planet can identify with in some way, shape or form.

And, uh, and I love that. Um, I love the storytelling.

Lou Mongello: You know, it's interesting as [00:52:00] we think about, you know, you talking about sort of identifying with strong female characters. I am very, very curious to see. I wish I could sit down with you the first time you watched Thor 11 thunder because Jane Foster, um, and waiting for that to be going in the Marvel cinematic universe.

But again, You know, there's, there's a lot of other characters who have not made it on screen as yet. You aren't talking about a powerful character. Get ready for. Like she is amazing. The other thing too, I want to hit is big and green, but

Beci Mahnken: I would actually love more of a backstory of Maria Hill. I think that she has quite the, again, that, that strong female character intelligent, um, steps in where she needs to step in.

I think that there's a lot of story to be told there, and I hope someone call your buddy there, text them. I don't care that I think we need to see more.

Lou Mongello: I would be, you know what, I'm going to post a question in the clubhouse. What Marvel character is Becky. Oh, no.

Beci Mahnken: Wow.

Lou Mongello: No. Is Becky most like, is she more Jean Gray?

Is she a little more? Wow. I see a little bit. Hello? Hey.

Beci Mahnken: Yeah, you you're typing the question right now. You, this would make you, this would make your day. I think the answers would absolutely make your day. I could see that right now.

Lou Mongello: There are a ton of, and we are certainly we know that we're going to see them, um, in not just, again, sort of going back to the question about the comics, but we're going to see them on the big screen as well as

Beci Mahnken: on.

I'm going to be there when Levin thunder goes. So we may have to sit together and watch the movie. Did you

Lou Mongello: watch Jessica Jones on? I did.

Beci Mahnken: I did. I like Jessica Jones. Of course. It's a little bit more adult [00:54:00] than it's more and more along the Deadpool lines that I love so much. Um, but yeah, I did like that series,

Lou Mongello: Becky.

Squirrel girl. All right, we'll wait for this, uh, look into, oh no, I'm so scared of coming. Get squirrel girl is on her way. So get your fuzzy little tail. Really ready. Cause she's she is coming. So if you have a question, email me, lou@wsradioradio.com. Becky Mankin. Thank you so very much. I will see you in line for popcorn.

Yeah.

Beci Mahnken: In a couple of weeks. So excited.