WDW Radio # 743 – Your Key to the Disney Treasure: Everything You Need to Know, Predictions, and Wishes

[00:00:00] Lou Mongello: disney just revealed what will be the first round of details about the sixth ship in the Disney Cruise line Fleet, the Disney treasure, and in what was a multi-phase multimedia reveal. We learned a lot more about the newest ship, but there are still some unanswered questions and a lot to speculate on.

So this week we're gonna look at what we know, what we don't, what we believe or expect might be coming, and maybe what we hope. The treasure will unlock before she sails on her maiden voyage in December, 2024. And joining me this week are not just fellow Disney Cruise enthusiasts, but those who are also able and, and privileged to learn about the treasure in advance of the public reveal.

And first, always Ladies first. Chivalry is not dead. Someone who is a treasure herself, she is. Becky Mankin from Mouse Fan Travel. I. Ah,

[00:01:01] Beci Mahnken: you were actually nice on that one.

[00:01:04] Lou Mongello: Jeremiah just typed to, he just typed in the trap and should be buried. Um, also it's, oh, it's Jere.

I almost gave

[00:01:14] Beci Mahnken: you points for being really sweet. Look at you. Jeremiah

[00:01:17] Lou Mongello: is like Jeremiah seven year old. Jeremiah good from laughing place.com.

[00:01:23] Jeremiah Good: Hey, hey, hey Emmy. I travel helps out laughing place. So one, I would never say that about two. She helps us. So, no, it's, I never said that.

[00:01:32] Lou Mongello: Oh, that was a private text to me.

It wasn't in the group chat. I understand. Completely fine. Um, thank you both for joining me today. Uh, full disclosure. Uh, Jeremiah and I were invited onto the Wish recently for a sneak peek at what was coming to the treasure, as well as this immersive virtual reality. Look at some of the new spaces and conversations with the team from W d I.

Uh, Becky also had access to some information before it was released, and anything that we're gonna share today was embargoed, um, until the public reveal. But we have, we have permission to share the substance of what those experiences and conversations were like. And I think that there's, I think there's a lot to unpack, um, especially because we've been waiting for some sort of reveal about information for the tre, for the treasure.

For some time. So I thought we would look at what we learned, what we didn't, and what we e expect, anticipate, and hope or dream for what is yet to be revealed. So let's just dive right in. Let's just sort of talk about what we know already about the, uh, the Disney treasure. Um, I think the first thing, and, and I think maybe a surprise for, for a bunch of different reasons is when her maiden voyage is going to be, which is gonna be December 21st, 2024.

And if that sounds like four days before Christmas, it is, um, it is it that, it's very interesting in terming in terms of the timing of the release of the Disney wish. First things first, gimme your reactions to the timing and sort of expectations because I. It, it's, you know, it's a, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

It's also a very busy time of the year. Um, and an interesting, you know, time to open up what is going to be the official maiden voyage of the, the treasure.

[00:03:31] Beci Mahnken: I'm really scratching my head about this, uh, in, in 20 some odd years of, uh, of inaugurals for cruise lines. I've never seen one go over Christmas. So, you know, obviously they wanna give themselves enough time to ensure that it's ready.

I know we had some issues with the Wish before, so I know that they're trying to give as much time as possible, but this is an, an interesting approach to inaugural date. It's not like, uh, they're gonna have a problem selling the inaugural date for sure, and Christmas is a high season for those who, who do like to spend their holidays on a cruise.

I mean, who doesn't like to not have to do dishes right after the big holiday meals? So that kind of makes sense, but it also then has that, that new ship smell pricing along with the holiday pricing. So it's kind of an interesting approach. I. To an inaugural, uh, and, and also you don't have a, a full shakedown at that time.

So you're, you're literally going from zero to 60 in 1.3 seconds or 12 point 21 seconds. Well, I, I'm gonna

[00:04:35] Lou Mongello: have to, but I have to assume that, that, that, unlike the wish, which, which was delayed for obviously, you know, obvious reasons. I do believe that they are ensuring that they're gonna have time to do some shakedown cruises, cast member cruises, media cruises, so that they are able to test and adjust and work out some of the things that they on clearly just didn't have time to do before the wishes made in.

Right. And that's kind

[00:05:00] Beci Mahnken: of what, what I was kinda alluding to is that there are some opportunities in there, which is why they might be pushing it out that far, so that they do have time on the calendar to have shakedowns beforehand, which is, which naturally then pushed them to that date. But, um, it, it's just an interesting choice to me.

[00:05:16] Jeremiah Good: I, I could not agree, Becky, and yeah, it. I feel like doing it on the 21st is, we said it was gonna be 2024. We are giving us the most space possible. Um, I kinda started saying after we got a chance to hear everything that we may see this ship come into port as early as early October. Um, just for the very long lead time, if they can do it.

Um, but you know, hopefully it does come in early and we do get the chance to tour it, see it, you know, uh, it does have all of the spaces and everything done. We, you know, the wish has some very infamous stories of those early cruises of things not being complete, so I don't think we'll have the same problem with the treasure.

[00:06:08] Lou Mongello: Yeah. So I've been back and forth on this. I, I'm, I'm, I, I jump on both sides of the fence. I, 'cause I first hear the date and I'm like, That's crazy. It's four days before Christmas. It's such a tough time of year with families and holidays and you know, a lot of people won't be able to go specifically because it is that time because you have, you know, I come from an Italian family.

You have 212 relatives coming over on Christmas Eve and you need to cook and do the presents. And then I sort of jumped to the other side. I'm like, well, wait a minute. That's actually kind of cool. Like it's a maiden voyage. It's a Christmas voyage. It's waking up on the, the treasure with that new cabin smell still in it, and it's Christmas day like, I'm like, Hmm, maybe I should think about going.

Then I'm like, no, that's crazy. You need to be home with your family. Then I'm like, no, just take your whole family with you. So I think,

[00:07:00] Jeremiah Good: yeah, take

[00:07:00] Lou Mongello: us all with you. Yeah, but I think, so look there, there's clearly. There's a, there's a, a, a significant portion of the Disney cruise line, family and population and fans that want to need to be on that maiden voyage.

It's, they, they enjoy doing it. There, there's something special about those initial, you know, inaugural cruises, but something even extra special to say that you were on the maiden. I think Christmas will be an additional attractor for some. I think the fact that it's in the middle of the holiday season might be, uh, a challenge for others who might just not be able to do it.

'cause you can't leave family. You don't wanna leave family. So, um, Yeah, I'm not sure that's, I've never not been home for Christmas, but, you know, I feel like the cruise line is an extension of my home, so you never know.

[00:07:52] Beci Mahnken: Cruise lines actually make a big, huge deal of, uh, multi-generational families traveling together on a cruise during Christmas or the holidays.

Thanksgiving and Christmas cruises are extremely popular. So that's, that's one of the reasons why, well, they could have done an inaugural, which then from a business standpoint would've certainly been, um, a good r o i on its own matching it with Christmas. You're, you're getting like the, the two for there.

[00:08:18] Lou Mongello: Yeah. So it'll, it'll be very interesting to see the pricing, how quickly it goes. 'cause again, there's a tiered system of how these cruises are released. Pearl platinum, you know, et cetera. So, um, we should do like an over under as to how quickly the maiden voyage of the treasure's gonna sell out. Will it even get down past some of those initial levels of, of cruisers that sort of have early access to it?

Um, Until it sort of hits, hits the open market,

[00:08:50] Jeremiah Good: they're gonna keep two cabins available out of the Castaway Club. And that will be the lottery for those last two.

[00:08:58] Lou Mongello: Yeah. And, and what will the pricing be like? You know, what is the pricing We then, which is one thing that we, we'll say right from the outset, we don't know anything currently about pricing.

[00:09:06] Beci Mahnken: Yeah. That's one of those where you just have to have your American Express with zero limit on it and just cross your fingers. Because the other thing too is that if you book it, um, it, it's on holiday sailing and I'm sure that it's gonna have really big limitations on, on, um, cancellations and, and so forth.

So it's not like a lot of cruise, uh, cruise bookings where you just put the money down, but you can cancel if, uh, before final payment. I have a feeling that they're gonna have some pretty strict, and this is just my gut, I might not be right, that they might have some pretty strict, um, policies regarding cancellations and so forth.

[00:09:45] Jeremiah Good: Yeah. Uh, one of the things that, you know, as we're recording this, we're still a few days out from the official announcement, but when the official announcement goes, what, there's 10 days before the first, uh, booking date, wasn't it September 12th that they said the first booking date was? Mm-hmm. So, yeah, this is gonna be, it will be very interesting to see, and I'm guessing, By the time everybody's listening to this, they'll have announced the levels and when you can book.

So you'll have to take the day off and have five computers in front of you or just call m e I travel and have them take care of it all

[00:10:22] Lou Mongello: for you. Becky's eyes bugged out of his head. Her head, he said I was setting it up. Becky, I've

[00:10:28] Jeremiah Good: done this enough times with you. I know how to go. I

[00:10:30] Beci Mahnken: love you, Jeremiah. I love you so much.

The, the interesting thing for me is I, I wish I knew and obviously other cruise lines tell you what their de, how many people are in their d different levels. Um, I wish I knew how many. People were Pearl and how many people were, were platinum, then you could kind of tell, yeah, by second day this thing's gonna be gone.

Well look, we

[00:10:49] Lou Mongello: saw what the wish, it's gonna go fast. We saw what the wish, how quickly those early cruises book. Um, yeah. We see even, you know, other times during the year, other special event cruises go very, very fast. Um, it's, you know, there's not a supply and demand issue when it comes to Right. Disney cruise line run Disney, et cetera.

So this, I I, I'm planning on having a conversation. I think with my family, it's one of those hypothetically speaking conversations. 'cause my kids are older now and you know, as long as we do the holidays together, some, you know, to a certain degree, it doesn't matter, sort of where you're quote unquote home is, I have this vision of like a little Christmas tree in my state room.

I'm not sure. Mm-hmm. We'll see. I might just be home, so, yeah. But the other

[00:11:27] Beci Mahnken: thing too is on the pricing, the, the over under that I wanna know is how fast it goes from tier one pricing to tier 10 pricing. 'cause sometimes it's within an hour or two as things book. So that, that will be an interesting thing to watch is how that ladder goes over the, the first two days

[00:11:43] Lou Mongello: and, and if sort of past performance is an indicator of future expectations, you know, things like the concierge levels go very, very fast.

You know, and there's only one funnel suite we'll get to that there's only a couple of, of other suites. There's only a, a limited number of concierge rooms that often go, you know, again, because if you're pearl, you know there's a good chance you may have stayed concierge once, or in Becky's case 55 times.

So those might be the state rooms that, that go

[00:12:11] Beci Mahnken: faster. They always are. The suites are the very first to go. Yeah, so

[00:12:16] Jeremiah Good: I was gonna say, I will take the couch in the tomorrow tower suite, you know, that way all the kids can have their own rooms. I'll just take the couch downstairs.

[00:12:25] Lou Mongello: Jeremiah's texting me privately saying, you know, you could still adopt me at this point, so I, I'm assuming

[00:12:32] Beci Mahnken: you don't need a babysitter anymore.

That's, you can say, you know, he could've come along to be the nanny.

[00:12:37] Jeremiah Good: You have the empty house now. You know, I can take either of the kids through,

[00:12:41] Lou Mongello: stab right into the heart, you know, crying his podcast cold, but, but not this time. All right, let, let's move on, right, because that's, we're talking about some of the things that we know.

The other thing that we know and, and we've sort of known this ahead of time, but I think it, it, it bears mentioning is what's the same, right, what is the same in the Disney treasure versus, and, and comparatively to the Disney wish? And it's identical, right? It is identical in structure and layout, much like the fantasy and the dream are sister ships, we were talking about state rooms, right?

There's 1,133 outside state rooms. There's only 123 inside state rooms. So the sort of deck by deck layout and, and we were, there were very specific questions asked to the imagineers especially. You know about deck forward is it, is deck four now going to completely wrap around? The structure is the same, right?

So we're gonna see the, the deck by day deck layout looking like the same. Uh, one thing that's different that I think is very important, if you've been on The Wish and Bears mentioning they have fixed and replaced the elevator buttons, you now yay. You now no longer breathe on the elevator buttons and you, you pull a buddy, the elf and they all select, uh, they are now push button elevator buttons.

Once again, if you know, you know, um, you know, we know that, um, In the Walt Disney Theater, for example. Again, slightly themed, a little bit differently, but there are productions of Beauty and the Beast and sees the Adventure, which I love. They're both huge fan favorites. We'll be back, we'll talk about what we don't know, um, in there as well.

But I don't think this is a surprise to anybody in terms of, of the layouts being the same because the, the planes were in flight and I know that there are, are some people, especially if you are huge fans of the layouts of the other four earlier classic ships, um, the wish is very different. And for some it's, this is not where quote unquote it's supposed to be.

There are smaller, more intimate spaces we've talked about in the past. Um, just gimme very quick thoughts about sort of the, the matching up, you know, from a blueprint perspective of the spaces and places on the treasure versus the wish.

[00:14:55] Beci Mahnken: The situation for me is that it's not just a t a a cis sister, it's a twin sister.

I was kind of hoping, 'cause a girl can hope, right? That they could make some little structural changes here and there to, to fix some of the issues that, that I have found on the wish that are a little difficult to work with. Um, it's, but you know, clearly the bones were in place, there's not a lot that they could do in the short amount of time that it, it would take to make those type of structural changes.

So for me, I am ob obviously a little disappointed that we're not seeing some changes onboard the ship to, um, like, you know, the running track or,

[00:15:36] Lou Mongello: yeah. Because I know Becky, you're a big fan of the running track. That's really important to you.

[00:15:39] Beci Mahnken: Okay. That's one of the things we hear a, a lot from our clients directly, that they wish they had that Nice try Lou.

We, I are be out there four

[00:15:49] Lou Mongello: morning, push me around the running.

It's gonna be

[00:15:54] Beci Mahnken: one of these kind of shows, isn't it? All right. So

[00:15:58] Jeremiah Good: I hate it when my parents

[00:15:59] Lou Mongello: argue

[00:16:01] Beci Mahnken: Mommy and dad, you're fighting again.

[00:16:03] Lou Mongello: So Jeremiah, I'll turn the ship around in two seconds. Yeah, exactly.

[00:16:07] Beci Mahnken: Or, you know, uh, opening up a couple of those spaces or, you know, give us some of that shopping space back and give us some, some more leisurely lounge around areas.

I was kind of hoping that they would do that. Uh, clearly they, it doesn't look like they have. Um, but that's okay because the one thing that the, the wish and now the treasure are both visually stunning. Um, they are gorgeous ships and they're, they're gonna serve the guests well.

[00:16:33] Jeremiah Good: Yeah, there's some of the changes that we'll talk about that are the visual stuff, but when we got a chance to talk to the imagineers, one of the questions that everybody kind of beat the bush around is, Is there gonna be change to this?

Is there gonna be change to that? And I think finally they just said, no. It, it is the same ship. It is essentially the same. Um, you know, like you said, the jogging track, that was a big one. I, I'm not a jogger, but I love walking the track on the other ships just to explore. And this one I explored the wish and got lost.

Um, the one part that I, I don't know if Lou, you caught this when they're talking about a certain area that is coming. One of the imagineers, I believe the chief creative of the design said, oh yes, it's still gonna be right there next to the high-end shopping. And I'm, there was an audible groan throughout the entire presentation of us going, oh good.

So we can buy a $5,000 watch or fight to be in a small nightclub area on the other side.

[00:17:40] Lou Mongello: Yeah, I think that the spaces present, uh, challenges and opportunities, depending on how you look at it. Um, you know, and, and every guest is different, right. Becky, you and I often come to these from a, a slightly unique perspective, right?

'cause we're thinking about bringing a group on board. We're thinking about where do we fit 200 to 300 people into a space that is not designed to accommodate it. Other people might be like, oh, I like the smaller spaces 'cause that's not a concern. So I'll be curious to see, 'cause there are. And, and we'll get to this in a little bit, there are some subtle changes within the four corners of some spaces that I do like, and I think is, is forward thinking and I think learning from some of the feedback that they got on the wish, but let's sort of get in and, and get through it before we sort of step foot on the ship.

There was one thing I wanted to say and we, we were talking about this earlier on, um, just quick kudos to the, the marketing team for Disney Cruise Line here. Um, they're really leaning into this idea of treasure and adventure and the introduction of this new character, Arthur Quinn, who is. Bringing the storytelling into this ship and the places and the spaces.

And there is this sort of cohesive journey that Arthur Quinn is, has taken guests on in the videos and the interactive maps, and even some of the things that we had seen, you know, before this was released to the public. And I think this idea of, and, and we'll talk about some of the other things I think that they're leaning into, but leaning into this idea of treasure and adventure and creating a character and a story.

I was sort of hoping for a little s e a connection in there somewhere. Maybe it'll come down the road, but that's what Arthur Quinn feels like to me. He feels like a character who stepped out of a jungle cruise life type environment as a potential member of the s e a and brings us into this sense of excitement and adventure.

[00:19:49] Jeremiah Good: Yeah, the, the video that I'm sure everybody's watched about 12 times to try to pick up the Easter eggs and everything was really fun. Arthur does a great job of exploring the ship. As you know, Arthur is us getting to see the extras, finding out why to do, why the treasure is going to be the premiership.

Um, I mean, there were definitely times watching the video. I got a little teared up at the end when they were talking about the family and the that, but I agree, the s e a, it seemed like that should have been something that they were going for and something that we asked in the presentation and they didn't say no.

Mm-hmm. But they definitely did not say yes.

[00:20:34] Beci Mahnken: And that, that's unfortunate to me because it's such a, a, an opportunity missed. Every time you turn around you, they've rolled out something that you look at. It's like, oh my gosh. That could have s e a ties. And it just doesn't go down that path. And this one would've been the perfect scenario.

Obviously we don't know everything at this point. There might be something there that we don't know, but um, this certainly would've been the perfect opportunity to, to lean into those

[00:21:02] Lou Mongello: characters. And, and they might. And my expectation is, and when we get to talking about one of the lounge spaces, I, I have to believe in my little nerdy, loving heart of hearts that we will have essay references, but you also take a 30,000 foot.

View step back because we as sort of self-described, sort of hardcore quote unquote Disney fans, the s e a means something to us, to the average 99% of other guests where the s e a is not something prominent in, there's no s e a attraction. It's not sort of prominent in the storylines or storytelling that might get lost a little bit.

So you can, you can give sort of little bits of, of fan service with introduction of things in the s e a, but if you do almost too much, you might lose people that don't necessarily know. That being said, hashtag more sce like I'm always down for more ss e a

[00:21:58] Beci Mahnken: I completely agree with what you just said.

However, if you do roll it out on something like this a little bit more, then it heightens the awareness. Um, Which could still be that little mystical, magical feel you have about the s e a, which then would open it up outside of the Disney fan bubble a little bit. And imagine the merchandise sales.

[00:22:15] Lou Mongello: Just say, Becky, just thinking over and just very quickly, if you are not overly familiar with the s e a, if you go back to show number 579, we give a complete guide to the Society of Explorers and adventurous.

Disney's not so secret, secret society, but let's, let's step foot on board. Let's get into the ship, and as always, you enter into what is the Grand Hall. Again, from a placemaking perspective, it it, it is the same size, it is the same layout of the Disney wish, but here, um, Again, leaning into this idea of adventure and treasure, it is themed after Aladdin and Jasmine and Groba.

I l so I, I like the, the Disney Wish Grand Hall. I really like the Disney Treasure Grand Hall. The, it is warm colors. There's this dark royal blue. There's gold, there's foliage in there, which I'm assuming is artificial, but the introduction of greenery and soft goods and even sort of the, the design and la as you look at the, the concept art, it is much more.

Comfortable and, and warm to me with some of those darker, richer colors. Uh, Aladdin and Jasmine on the magic carpet are, is, is is the, the statue in the center. If you notice it's floating. There is no sort of pedestal holding the statue up. It's floating, it's attached to the staircase, and instead of a glass slipper, you have a magic lamp, which by the way is uncovered.

The glass slipper on the wish was covered. I have a feeling this maybe, I'm hoping it's intended to be sort of rubbed, right? Maybe you rub the magic lamp for good luck, where you make your wish when you're in there because it's in a, an accessible place at the bottom of the grand staircase in the Grand Hall.

Uh, quick thoughts on the design of the Grand Hall itself.

[00:24:15] Jeremiah Good: And I'm pretty sure that that, uh, magic lamp will either end up with a cover or it'll be something that is covered and taken off for, you know, special shows. Um, so one of the things that Lou and I got a chance to do when we stepped on there was we stood in the Grand Hall of the Wish and they put on the virtual reality helmets, and we got to look around and as the wish, it's called the Castle at Sea.

This is the Palace at Sea. After the Sultans Palace from Araba. Um, Lou, I don't know if you got a chance when you were looking the pillars almost, I, I doubt it is actually going to be tiled is on there, but it looked like almost out of Morocco at Epcot. Mm-hmm. Where it's real tiles and it was just so detailed and beautiful.

Yeah. And the, the seating area, they're adding in more couches because that's one of the things that they definitely heard about. The wish there wasn't enough seating area in that area. And then, The ground, the carpet was something that I was really looking at. 'cause my VR helmet didn't work correctly at first, so I was just looking down.

Um, has a fountain designed in the carpet, so you're standing on a grand fountain and the water's spilling out and then the tile work, tile work, quote unquote around the fountain is a boo. Uh, the genie is the elephant and it just completes the area. Like it. To me. This is one story where On the wish. Yeah, it's Cinderella and it's beautiful, but you don't really get the whole story.

This you feel like you are in. ABA or a palace at sea. And did

[00:25:59] Lou Mongello: you notice too, on the, on the staircase, it looks like there's fiber optics in the, in, on the side of the staircase, as in, in addition to probably the fiber optics, it'll be in the ceiling, like on the wish. Yeah.

[00:26:10] Jeremiah Good: They did say that there were gonna be the two shows each night.

So I'm guessing the, uh, Aladdin's lamp will definitely be the key to the

[00:26:18] Beci Mahnken: magic. That's what I was gonna say, because if you look at the artist renderings, you can see the fiber optics lead right down to the lamp. So you could see it's, you said it's probably going to cover it and then uncover it, so you rub the lamp and something happens.

Um, which would be cool. What I love about this is it's rich. It just, it has a really regal type tone to it without being overstated. And I love the way that there's so many storytelling touches in here, but they're subtle. So it, it's not like, you know, Disney's just like throwing Aladdin in your face. You have just the, the little touches in the carpeting.

And like you said, the tile looks amazing. Um, but it's, it's subtle, but yet, Just a, it looks like a rich, elegant experience.

[00:27:03] Lou Mongello: And the two story drapes, um, add a, a a, an element of softness to the space that I think the, the wish doesn't necessarily have. So, um, I'm looking forward to seeing that space in, in reality, not just virtual.

Um, listen, I'm gonna go right into it. Let's talk about the most important part of the Disney treasure. And it really food, it's the reason why we go, let's talk about dining. Um, let's talk about what is the same and what is different. I. Uh, 1923, I will plant my flag once again and say the best dining experience on Disney Cruise Line.

Yes, that is including Ante and Paolo, which return to the treasure, as does the Rose. Uh, deck 11 is going to have Mickey and Friends Festival of Foods. Uh, world of Marvel is, is back this time with a little bit more Spider-Man, and the crowd goes wild. And now because it's a seven night cruise, there's two separate nights with distinct shows.

And distinct menus inspired by the Marvel Cinematic universe. We got to see Jeremiah when we ate in Worlds of Marvel. Um, on the, the preview the other day, we saw a little bit more Spidey, not just in person, but on screen. Um, I had a menu item that I had had in the past that was different. Um, I think the, the, the, the tuner that I had on, on this was better than I had, had previously on the Wish.

But I like the fact that there's now going to be a second show. One thing that the screens allow them to do, and they alluded to this with the release of the Wish, is as new movies, as new characters are released and come to more prominence, they're able to much more easily. Update what is happening in and around you.

I, I think we're going to see that, um, inside of Worlds of Marvel. Let's just quickly touch on the other editions and we'll talk about dining as a whole. Uh, Jumbo's Suite is going to be the, uh, new ice cream parlor, um, inspired by Officer Hops and, and Nick Wild from, uh, Zootopia. There's bunnies and elephants and foxes and sloths in this very whimsical, um, light bright pink area with not one, not two, not three, but 20 different flavors of gelato.

I'm not a sweet guy, but I digress. Uh, and I think the, the dining that got and, and deservedly so the most attention is Plaza de Coco. Um, what was Erindale on The Wish is going to be the first theatrical dining experience theme to the Disney Pixar filmed, uh, Coco. It is going to be like Erindale. A theater in the round, not just restaurant, but I think really it's an entertainment venue that also serves food.

It has this central stage and and show effects that are gonna take place throughout the room. Once again, there's two nights, which gives you two distinctly different shows. So the first show, uh, the story of Miguel and his Famili will continue where they left off on screen. They gather in Mariachi Plaza, and they're gonna take guests on what Disney describes as a colorful music filled journey that celebrates family memories and togetherness with a dinner menu of modern twists on wait for it.

Traditional Mexican fair and a lineup of live entertainment. I am ridiculously ecstatic about a, a Mexican restaurant here. Uh, again, you're gonna join Miguel and his parents and, and ab abita Elena for this festive gathering. And on the second night. Miguel Reunites with his great-great-grandparents, Hector and Mama Amelda, and they transport them into the town square in Santa Cecilia with the magic guitar, and they're going to celebrate the deals.

God, I should have taken more Spanish, the Dia de los Muertos. Um, very good, very you family style with the, uh, a lineup of music from the film. So, uh, Becky and Jeremiah give me your thoughts on the announcements in terms of the changes and additions that are coming from a dining perspective on the treasure.

[00:31:07] Beci Mahnken: I am completely focused on this cocoa theme. I think that this is amazing. It was the best choice that they could have made for this space. It's, um, it's going to be so uplifting and I, I can just, I get excited just thinking about the music that's going to be part of your dinner experience here and Mexican restaurant.

Y

[00:31:28] Lou Mongello: excited, but wait, but I'll tell you something. I'm excited. You said uplifting and, and in the most wonderful way, the imagineers were like, you're gonna cry at dinner. Oh, you're gonna cry in your soup. You're gonna cry. I don't wanna

[00:31:40] Beci Mahnken: cry in my soup. I don't wanna cry at all. I wanna walk in here and just be loud uplifting.

Um, all right. I, I know that Disney needs to do that. They need to always take you on an emotional rollercoaster no matter what, because they want you to feel all the feels. I don't know why, but it's a must do. Um, but I have a feeling that, that, that bringing it down to tears is, is about your family, and it's going to be that thing that they always do to you.

But you're gonna end on a positive uplifted note, right? Please, somebody say, acknowledge me. Okay, whohoo, that makes me feel better. Um, a a lot of the other spaces, I obviously, this is the one I'm most excited about. I'm glad that they didn't, um, Uh, do too much to the Festival of Foods because I love the choices they put up there.

And I think that is one of the best dining areas on board. That class of ship is the Festival of Foods. I really love going up there. Um, out of, out of those options, those are the two that I'm most focused on, obviously.

[00:32:41] Jeremiah Good: Yeah. The, I mean, something you neglected to mention is Marceline's Marketplace is coming back also.

Uh, it's the same, right? Yeah. It'll be the exact, well, it'll be the same as far as we know. Um, yeah. Festival Foods, they didn't talk about that. And that was one of the questions I think we all had. When we finally saw that it was coming back, we all kind of, you know, got very excited. 'cause really, I love the grab and go on all the ships, but that one has the widest variety and some of the best food I've ever had.

Um, 1923, they did mention that. The theme in there is gonna work is gonna aim more towards the early adventure films. So we'll probably see some Swiss family, Robinson Treehouse or, and some of the other early Walt films leading through the years. So that'll be exciting to see Worlds of Marvel. Um, I've only saw it the first time I went on the media cruise and most of it was through the lens of my phone.

So I was excited to actually watch the show, the Spider-Man stuff that they had added. Uh, I know they've been playing around a lot with it and they didn't announce this, but this is something that, you know, we may talk about a little bit more. I think the second night is gonna be specifically Spider-Man.

But again,

[00:33:59] Lou Mongello: we'll see. And that's why I'm bringing my Underoos, so

[00:34:02] Beci Mahnken: Yes. And I, and I've been kind of curious what they're gonna do for a second show in there. Mm-hmm. But like you said, the space is, is very versatile. So yeah, you can pretty much do anything they need to in there. But the other thing I, I did neglect to mention is the Sweet shop.

I love that themeing too. I'm a Zootopia fan and love to be able to sit next to the character. It's gonna be a great photo op location as well.

[00:34:22] Jeremiah Good: Yeah. The, the statues of Nick and Judy will rank up there with Mickey and Minnie and all the other ones. Um, Plaza de Co Plaza de Coco when they, on the video, when the mariachi band is playing.

I was sitting there singing along and then he starts talking about the family. And I definitely started tearing up and I'm like, this is going to be the most amazing show because it is the first time a mariachi band is on the Disney cruise ships. Um, the Mexican menu sounds very intriguing. As a California boy, I love Mexican food, so hopefully it holds up somewhat close.

The music of cocoa, I think is probably one of the most underrated Disney, Pixar, mm-hmm. Soundtracks there is. The fact that it is going to be live music. I did ask if there were gonna be any marionettes or puppetry, like the Olaf in the Erindale, and they said, no, it's all live. But the characters will go around to the tables and meet.

So it is gonna be a true celebration of family.

[00:35:31] Lou Mongello: Yeah, I'm, uh, I'm really, really looking forward to seeing what that is. And, and oh, by the way, traditional Mexican fair. So

[00:35:38] Beci Mahnken: let's have that. And, and don't forget to put like tissues on the table for those of us that are gonna be like a watery mess.

[00:35:44] Lou Mongello: Uh, listen, we're gonna go from the sit down Donny experiences to some of Becky's favorite words in the English languages.

Not just cafes, but lounges. Um, there are two new cafes, again, replacing, um, the theming of existing ones on the wish. There's gonna be the Jade Cricket Cafe inspired by Mulan and hey, hey Cafe, uh, from Moana, but some of the other spaces that have been Reed, I think this is where. It gets really interesting because Luna, that central sort of entertainment, two story venue in the center of the Wish is now Sarabi, which is named after, uh, the Linus in, um, the Lion King.

Uh, the theming is obviously different, much more naturals browns and, and tans, although it's still going to be the place to do villains game night and match your mate and some of the other entertainment that will transform from family, um, style entertainment throughout the day towards more adult entertainment at night.

I think the, the, the most intriguing part of what we've seen so far, um, is the next two lounges, and it is the Skipper Society, which is where, um, the, the Bayou is, um, on deck or that open space, um, The two walkways on other side, this, um, is this central outpost that has nods to obviously the jungle cruise attraction at Disney theme parks around the globe.

And you can just see instantly from the concept art, uh, the natural colors, sort of this camp style furnishings, um, the sort of very obvious nods to the skippers and, and their tours and, and their waterways. You can see, and I think this is where some improvements have been made. The, the ceilings are lower with, um, sort of fabric drapes, which I think one makes it feel like a much more intimate space, and I think it's gonna make it quieter.

Right. Soft goods, dampen noise and echo that you were getting I think a little bit. Um, I think there's a lot of sort of bleed, especially during some of the busier times and, and shows letting out, et cetera. In the Bayou. It, it's got this feeling for me, like Skipper Canteen meets the jungle cruise. I can only imagine it's going to be peppered with just lots and lots of Easter eggs.

You can see that there's suitcases and whatnot behind the bar that have stamps on them. And, and it's going to be just a, an Easter egg. And for me, a scavenger hunt, bit of, of placemaking heaven. And the other location, because I wanna talk about the two of these, um, contextually together is the Periscope Pub, which replaces Ail and Compass.

This is inspired by the 1954 film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I almost did my really bad James Mason. You're welcome. Um, and the Disney Parks attractions, right? And you can see. This submarine themed improvement and the design and the placemaking of the space. This is where, and I was referring to earlier, I think, where one of the subtle but important improvements was made, right?

They've moved the bar to the back of the venue, which if you look at the concept, art really seems to have opened up that space also. It's beautiful and brilliant. There's screens on the ceiling that give you the feeling of being underwater, not just one or two little ones, but sort of that whole main area.

Um, plus there's projections of water on the wall. It really gives this wonderful kinetic element to the space. But I think that these two, and it's why I wanna talk about them together. Are what I call, they're love letters. They are love letters to Disney Parks fans, Disney Adventure fans and, and storytelling.

I love, love, love the fact that they're leaning into the jungle cruise and 20,000 leagues under the sea. And man, Periscope Pub is gonna be the place, I think to, uh, to go on the Disney treasure.

[00:40:05] Jeremiah Good: Yeah, the, when they showed the, because when we got the teaser box, we had a Nautilus on there and we had the jungle cruise.

And you know, as our minds always do, we went to the what it could amazingly be. And I would say this is one of the first times that without even being there, I think they've already paid off just the tease. Mm-hmm. Uh, skipper Society. I'm very interested in. I'm a little sad again, the space because. The Bayou is so small.

Um, you know what? That will end up being. But some things that they talked about were they're higher end skippers are servers, which I don't quite understand what exactly that means. Are they only gonna have high-end jokes? Um, in the video also, the one thing they, they never, they didn't talk about anything special, but they kept showing the waffle in that video and that waffle had better be there and better be something amazing.

Um, so yeah, that, I'm very interested in the skipper site, but Periscope Pub will be where I am even without the trivia being in there, because that was just beautiful. And I got a, we got a chance to talk to the, really, the initial designer of it, and he said that it is going to start on the outside. So it's not just gonna be the wood, like the Kagan Compass is on the outside.

It's gonna be, you're walking into the steam punk style archway, and then you step in. And the amount of love that he showed while talking about the attraction, because I think they're leaning much more into the attraction than they are the film. So we probably will hear, you know, references to Tony Baxter and that type of stuff from the original attraction at Magic Kingdom.

But his love was, he was talking about the team and how every time they got together to talk about it, they would trigger another memory and it would start to snowball into the next effect. And what could be, um, what every time I asked them like, are we gonna have a dive sequence? Are we gonna have this?

They're like, we're still too far out. Jeremiah, you, you're thinking way too far ahead for almost a year and a half. But yeah, I think both those, and as somebody who was never a cruise fan until I actually got on the cruise, These two locations as a theme park fan would drive me onto the cruise, especially at Periscope Pub.

Yeah. Like that would be the one what I want to go and experience it. So they are doing a great job of going, okay, we have the cruise base fans. Now let's get some more of the theme park fans onto the cruise and turn them into cruise fans.

[00:43:00] Beci Mahnken: I love how they put together Periscope hub. I think that this is really cool, especially with the screens on the top, but I'm just gonna go ahead and say it because you know it's me.

It was just kind of weird for a second to think you're on a ship and you're underwater, but let's go ahead and gloss over that for a second. Um, looking at the artist renderings, it looks really impressive. Like you're going to feel like you are. In a submarine in the space, if they use that in that space, if you use the, um, the, the screens appropriately.

But you're right, this will probably be the meetup place where everybody's gonna want to be much like, well, we'll talk about that later. But I, I really adore, especially moving the bar. I think they did a really good job of opening that up and giving it more space, because as we know, that was one of the, the pubs that was constantly packed.

So even if it does give another 10 or 20 seats, that's, you know, a, a plus, um, I think that that's absolutely stunning. The skipper of society. I was wondering what they were gonna do with that space, because it looks so specific to that design. I do like the way that they've done the drapes on the, on the top to hopefully pull in some of that sound and the acoustic issue that they had with the other one.

But again, I'm, I'm just gonna throw out that little disappointed girl inside of me that I wish that was bigger. I just, how, how many di, I don't know how many diamond stores we need on board the ship, but I wish that they would've expanded over and taken away one of them just to give you more, uh, space in, in that, uh, particular lounge because the music is great.

The live music all the time is this one of the places I really wanna just sit and take in, um, the experience. And there's just not a lot of space to do that. So you kinda have to be first to grab a chair. Yeah.

[00:44:50] Lou Mongello: I love when we're, I'm sorry, go ahead, Jeremiah. Uh,

[00:44:53] Jeremiah Good: when we were walking through the ship, and I, again, hadn't seen that area since the early, early days.

And then after we saw the Skippers Society, I just looked at the Bayou again and went, oh, this is gonna be, just like you say, if there's something going on, you need to be there very early to do it. And again, this was a waiting room for something we'll talk about later that we don't know. So that'll also be an interesting factor.

[00:45:23] Lou Mongello: Yeah, and if you look at the details, because it's, it's, everything speaks right, the, the, um, The, the lanterns that looked like they came outta the jungle cruise queue. Mm-hmm. The, the, the pith helmets that looked like they were from an explorer and, and some of the other detail, I, I'm really curious to see inside the Periscope Pub, there is an actual periscope in the center of, um, the space and, and what we're gonna be able to get treated to as we look through there.

Let's move on quickly to, um, some of the entertainment, right? We talked about not knowing one of the shows that's going to be there again, a lot of the spaces and places, including the kids' clubs, are going to be mirrors of the incredible spaces that are on the wish. One thing that was added, and when we had looked at that initial map and, and I saw this pyramid in the background, I got all excited.

My mind went into a million different places. We do get an addition. To the Aqua Mouse, you get a third Egyptian adventure, which is also going to be ported over to the Wish. And the Aqua Mouse is gonna have a new storyline that follows Mickey and Minnie on a misadventure to an ancient temple. There's gonna be a tour of mysterious ruins and legendary treasure, and obviously everything goes wrong and booby traps and unexpected directions.

I like the fact that they're adding an additional storyline. So again, the rewrite ability of the Aqua mouse increases not just here on the treasure, but over on the wish as well. Yeah, that's,

[00:46:59] Jeremiah Good: that's definitely an interesting step. I mean, it's when they first talked about the Aqua Mouse being the first attraction at sea, and we knew that there was gonna be one, and then they decided to announce the second one.

So when they announced the third one, we were kind of like, oh, great. The curse of the golden egg. This sounds very interesting. But when they said it's also going over to the Wish, I love that aspect of it. Um, they said that it, it was going to go, um, and my mind just stopped. I apologize. Uh, it was going to go keep with the rotation that they do on the wish where it is daily for the attraction, but they also didn't sound 100% sure if it was going to be daily or half day or how they would end up rotating them.

So it won't be a random, you walk up and you just get the same exact thing like, you know, a certain song on, uh, gardens the Galaxy over and over again.

[00:47:56] Lou Mongello: Yeah. And we should be way clear. Oh, sorry, I meant to say at the outset. Excuse me. One thing we should be clear. The Disney treasure is going to be a seven day voyage ship.

Um, which, which obviously we can talk about at another time, how that may affect other ships in the fleet and their durations and, and ports. But because it is going to be seven days, you do have to have these second days at the restaurant. You have to have these second shows at the restaurants. You have to have additional offerings from an entertainment perspective.

And I like the fact that they thought about things like the aqua Mouse so that there is an additional rewrite ability factor to it.

[00:48:30] Beci Mahnken: And that's exactly what I was going to say is that when you have a seven day itinerary, the the kids want something new. You want to experience different things. And I, I love the way that Disney tends to create these spaces and make them versatile so that you can change things up and make it not just the same thing over and over and over again, which is, uh, you know, beautifully illustrated by the Aqua Mouse.

So,

[00:48:55] Lou Mongello: speaking of spaces, let's go over and talk about the space that you'll be spending a lot of your time in, which is your cabin. Uh, we've got to see some concept art from a couple of different, um, designs. There's an Aladdin themed room. I love the map of Araba in living area, A Lion King themed room as well, both of which also reflect these warmer earth tones.

Um, lighter colors. They're brighter, like even the drapes are, um, lighter in color, which just from the concept art already, I. Even more so than the wish. The, the rooms seem much, they, they seem bigger and they seem brighter. Um, there's also going to be a RA Royal Suite and the Raja Royal Suite. There's gonna be four different Royal suites that are gonna pay tribute to the, uh, feline companions of some Disney characters, um, from, uh, the Jungle Book and from Aladdin and the Tower.

The funnel suite here is again, then this is sort of. This was really interesting to me. Um, embracing the Adventures of the Future. It is known as the Tomorrowland Tower Suite that captures the same forward-thinking mindset that inspired Epcot with energetic design, dynamic art pieces, uh, molten metal accents and futuristic, colorful glass accents that will evoke the distinct atmosphere of Epcot world Discovery neighborhood.

This is a 2000 foot living space that takes place up in the funnel. It sleeps up to eight guests and has, you know, Private kitchen and, and private en suite elevator. Um, talk to me quickly about the designs. The one thing I wanna say is I loved, 'cause when we saw the map, there was a little spaceship earth on the map, but like, near the funnel, like how and where does this play in?

I love again that they are for the first time leaning into the theme parks, right? Again, we're talking about this love letter to theme park fans. We're getting that with some of the other spaces. We're getting this in a single space in, you know, it's a, it's a little bit of a stretch. You're not going to walk into, according to the concept art, you're not gonna walk in and see, you know, bits of Epcot memorabilia in there.

But you see a space that is inspired by the shapes and the colors and sort of the quote unquote Epcot look and feel. Um, just gimme your quick thoughts on the cabin spaces and the tomorrow tower suite. On the

[00:51:33] Beci Mahnken: cabin spaces themselves. In all honesty, I was expecting, given the treasure theme and seeing the darker woods and some of the, the darker spaces like the Grand Hall, et cetera, that it would be in that more darker wood, that type of scenario.

And it's not, which I'm, I'm pleasantly surprised and happy about that because you get those light bright, um, colors with the, the, the greens and the earth tones, which, um, emote a little bit of that adventure spirit. But yet you, you don't feel like it's really closed in where you have those darker woods in some of those, those, uh, smaller cabins.

Um, it can make it feel smaller than it actually is. So I'm glad that they found a way to, uh, To weave in the adventure theme without going into that, that darker tone. Um, but then out of left field comes the tower suite, which is Epcot theme. So that surprised me. I, I did not see that coming. And it's, it's a pleasant surprise 'cause I love the way that they are tipping their hat to, to the theme parks as well.

But, uh, I guess I was expecting more along that line of that treasure slash adventure. Uh, but I have not seen the co concept art for that particular suite. So I'm very curious to see how much of it, is it just reminiscent of Epcot or is it like lightly leaning in that direction? Or is it a little bit more, less subtle?

[00:53:05] Lou Mongello: Uh, subtle is subtle is a good, yeah, I think I would describe it as very subtle. Subtle, okay.

[00:53:10] Beci Mahnken: So a, a, a theme I shouldn't expect walking in and feeling like, um, the, the tiles are up against the wall or something of that nature. It's not

[00:53:17] Lou Mongello: perfect. If, didn't you, if we didn't tell you it was Epcot themed, you might not necessarily know it was Epcot themed.

[00:53:23] Beci Mahnken: Got it. That's, I think that's an important point then to, to

[00:53:26] Jeremiah Good: illustrate. Yeah. That's one of the things going into it, uh, the Moana theme in the funnel suite on the wish you, you know, unless you're actually paying attention to the heart of graffiti, you don't really pick up that it's a Moana. This is a little, the designs are a little more.

Esque. But again, yeah, if you didn't know you're walking into an Epcot theme, I don't think that you would. And as far as the rooms go, I love the rooms on the wish, um, with the exception of the tv, which hopefully they did find a way to address that because as somebody who is staying on the other side of the barrier with the curtain and the TV faces the bed, I couldn't watch anything.

Um, but the colors being lighter are nice. Uh, Cat suites as I'm gonna start to call them, look very nice. Uh, that will be one that I'm sure that I will just see. I mean, I will, of course, we'll all be staying in the tomorrow Tower suite with Lou on the inaugural of course. So that'll be fun to stay in of.

But yeah, the colors are lighter and I, I enjoy that. 'cause I do feel like even on the wish they were a little bit darker and kinda, if the curtains were closed, you were pitch black. If it's a little bit lighter, you have a little bit of, you know, frivolity in there.

[00:54:47] Lou Mongello: Uh, one that's not how I roll baby. And two, looking at the concept art, I do see the large flat screen TV in front of the main bedroom in, um, in, in one of the, uh, so I'm looking at concept art right now of a, of a concierge of veranda room.

They don't, they no, no longer have sort of those swing out TVs that they had on some of the classic, um, the classic ships. So it'll be very interesting actually. Yeah. What, what the other, um, suites are themed like, right, we know Aladdin and, and Lion King, you know, will there be jungle crews themed room?

Will they sort of lean into some of the other themes? O if there's a 20,000 leagues under the sea room, I will literally have to choose my room every time I go on the treasure. So, That's what we know, right? For the most part, that's what we know, uh, uh, from, again, from a, a physical space, the, the layout is the same, where we have an idea of what type ofthe, there's also a lot that we don't know.

And so, for example, we don't know yet what the third show in the Walt Disney Theater is going to be. They were very, very, you know, evasive in that question. That will be, um, that will be coming at, at some time in the future. I've been trying to speculate and wonder, and guess what it is. I know nothing. But if you look at that, um, if you look at the, that interactive map that they showed, um, the, the space where the theater is, um, it, it sort of looks like it could be like a pride rock.

Type of feeling. So I'm wondering if the, it's going to be a Lion King show, right? It's got the Sarabi connection, it's got sort of leaning into the Lion King in the spaces there. Um, what do you think the third show might be? Or what would you like that third show to possibly be?

[00:56:50] Jeremiah Good: Um, for me, I would like to see them go more of, you know, let's bring in something new.

Let's bring in Moana or Rapunzel with Tangled, or, you know, they, they talk about Pocahontas as being part of it. Also, I don't want another montage show. I mean, sees The Adventure is a great show, hits a lot of the beats that we really want, but give us a good show off of something that we haven't seen before.

You know, I love Beauty in the Beast. I don't need to go see Beauty in the Beast again. Uh, just like I don't need to see the Aladdin show that I sat through and slept through at d c A for many years when I go to The Wish. But something hopefully that is new, I, I have faith that it will be something we've not seen before.

[00:57:37] Lou Mongello: Big Hero six, the musical that's, wait, no. Could you imagine if they brought Rogers the musical over? I just thought of that as the words were coming outta my mouth. There is the

[00:57:48] Jeremiah Good: Shield and I have been, the Shield been saying that that is just a test out there. So could you imagine

[00:57:55] Lou Mongello: a, oh my gosh. Well, it's, imagine Leaving Worlds of Marvel and then going to see Rogers, the musical.

Me skipping along in my under. I mean, I'll wear more than just my Underoos, but like skipping along to a Marvel themed show. I.

[00:58:10] Beci Mahnken: That would be so much fun. It's gotta go somewhere, right? If he closes in one place, it's gotta open somewhere else.

[00:58:15] Jeremiah Good: But then there's the whole legality

[00:58:17] Lou Mongello: thing. Uh, legal smigel, listen, let me dream boy, we wait a

[00:58:20] Beci Mahnken: minute, minute.

That's, that's international waters when it goes on. So I bet that there's a, a loophole for that. Um, I, I love your Lion King idea because looking at that map, uh, again, just to, to tip the hat off to marketing for throwing this awesome teaser out there, which made us, I, I think some of us were like looking at it for 18 hours straight and then needed new reading glasses to try to refocus on it.

Um, but the Lion King is also represented in the room, so I don't know if that's really the direction that

[00:58:51] Lou Mongello: that's going. You know what, now that I think about it, I think the design of the Wal Disney Z Theater will be Lion King themed. Right. So instead of having this sort of forest greens that we have on the wish mm-hmm.

Because the interactive map sort of is shaped like those browns and rocks and, and of, of potentially Lion King. Maybe that's sort of the adventurous feel, but maybe doesn't necessarily tie into the show. Show. Let's get Yeah, let's get to where we gotta go because this is, I think the big mystery and this could the in the room, this could be Yeah, the payoff.

Because when we received our, our box with sort of the pre-event, um, goodies inside the exterior of the box, which I'm holding in my hand, is filled with, um, like passport stamps and, and sort of travel stickers on the outside. And one of them is themed. To a Disney attraction. Yes, it is. We, they were very clear and there was a lot of questions asked, and there was someone in the audience, I'm not gonna say who, Jeremiah, who audibly was reacting to some of the answers.

The only Star Wars that will be on the treasure will be found in the the kids' club area, the Ocean Years Club area. What happens to the Hyperspace Lounge? If I'm a betting man and I am, let's play cards. If I'm a betting man, um, I think that space is themed to a haunted mansion lounge. Maybe it's wishful thinking.

Maybe I am just sort of like hoping in my little haunted heart of hearts that that's what it is. But man, you wanna talk about something that would be a huge attractor for people. That would be it.

[01:00:48] Jeremiah Good: I. So I completely agree that Haunted Mansion is going to be part of it. Um, this is where I do a plug, Lou, I, I know you didn't approve this, but I'm doing it away.

I put up a nice little article over on Laughing Place about, uh, five or so things about the Disney Treasure, most of which we've talked about. I kind of theorize, yes, haunted Mansion could take over Hyperspace Lounge, but there's also one other spot that wasn't talked about and that was one of my favorite spots.

Nightingale's Imagine transforming that piano bar mm-hmm. Into a Haunted Mansion theme where it's, it's hopefully they would open it up a little bit more or do something and just have it the harps accord and have that as the area. Because if you're putting Haunted Mansion in Hyperspace Lounge, something that we all heard and saw from the early days of the Wish, it turned into.

Guardians of Galaxy Cosmic Rewind or Tron, where you had to get a virtual cue and you had to wait for hours. So I, I would actually rather see them expand that area, take over Nightingales and hyperspace, and turn it into something bigger. Again, we don't know 'cause of the bones, of the bones of the ship, so it could be that's a retaining wall.

Uh, but I, I think that you're 100% correct and there will be haunted mansion and hyperspace lounge. I really hope we're not just looking at a window of ghosts floating by, but no matter what, putting a haunted mansion on there again attracts the theme park fans that have never been

[01:02:22] Lou Mongello: on a cruise. And Becky, before you go, excuse me one sec.

I I did forget to, you're right. I did forget to mention Nightingales and I asked about that 'cause I looked at some of the concept art, and it does, and she did say that it is going to be slightly modified, be more open, and it's going to flow to and from the Grand Hall. So if you look at the concept art, you see that there's like a bar area with, with, um, like tall chairs sort of into that space.

So now I wonder if it is open, so some of that music does bleed out into that space. But you're right, I, I didn't even think about that being potentially haunted mansion. Sorry, Becky, go ahead.

[01:03:00] Beci Mahnken: No worries. I, I was all into the jam that Jeremiah was throwing down there thinking, maybe this is the wall that comes down just one wall.

But it sounds like it's not because that, that would've been perfect to be able to expand that. So anyway, when I got the box, um, I'm not sure if all the boxes had the plate, the things in the exact same spots, but the one that was primary was haunted Mansion on the top. And I looked at that and went, given that haunted mansion is probably my number one attraction that I love so much, um, thinking how could they incorporate that with no information to this point, knowing that there is no hyperspace la uh, lounge at this time.

Clearly, it has to be a haunted mansion lounge, and I'm, I'm gonna go down that path. I'm going to put all my marbles in for this one. And, and hope there's a awesome drink to buy on onboard on Mansion. It's for the fun of it, you know. But I, I think that, uh, again, leaning back into what's going to bring the theme park guests that might not think of a cruise, getting them on onboard a ship, which I know that they want to do, is get that first time cruiser in.

Doing something like this would definitely attract that first time cruiser that wants to see what the Haunted Mansion Lounge is all about. If in fact, that's what it is. Um, but that, that's, I I'm going to say that, that it has to be, and knowing what they can do with the technology, hopefully they rise to the level of what's available to them to make that an exciting experience.

[01:04:37] Lou Mongello: Just to cover my bases, I'm gonna throw out these four words. Mm-hmm. Haunted Mansion. The musical in the Walt Disney Theater, haunted, imagine the musical star.

[01:04:48] Beci Mahnken: Well, they do have the movie that they could turn into a

[01:04:51] Lou Mongello: musical. It's a mashup of, of Eddie Murphy. And yeah, let's not do that GMO tomorrow. And I'm, I'm obviously, I'm kidding.

But, um, yeah, it'll be, it'll be interesting to see and, and, um, what that space is. And, and I think too, you know, as much as they can do with the, the spaces that they have and the physical, um, limitations of certain spaces, from the folks that I talk to, it does sound like they one, as they always do, they listen to guests.

They very much take guest feedback and are trying to, and have made improvements on some of those areas that were not necessarily the biggest guest satisfier. All that being said, taking a look at what we know, what we want to, to know, what we hope is going to happen, what are you most looking forward to or excited about on the Disney Treasure?

Pick one. Can't just

[01:05:54] Beci Mahnken: pick one that doesn't work that way. Have you not, have you not listened to your own show? Just, just wanna put

[01:06:02] Lou Mongello: that up. Do as I say, not as I do. It's like talking to my kids. Do as I say, not as I do pick one. There are

[01:06:07] Beci Mahnken: two. There are two. I'm gonna say two of course. I'm sorry, I'm going with two for me.

The, the cocoa di, what is that called? I'm sorry. I don't know. Ca de cocoa. Thank you. I, I think that that is one of the one things I'm looking forward to most. Um, besides the whole tearful thing. I, I will be that person. I'll walk out and go, it was great except for that two minutes, you made me cry like a baby that I, I

[01:06:29] Lou Mongello: need to know, walk out.

It's not never like girl of color. You didn't like the one part that like I know well at

[01:06:34] Beci Mahnken: least for the cocoa dinner, much like when they did anime's palate at the point that you and I both don't like at anime's palate, um, that's when you go to the restroom. That's that now, you know when your restroom break is during the dinner, so watch it once and then, you know, um, so, and the, the Mexican food, um, menu items.

This is sounds like the perfect night to me and I can't wait to experience that. But the one I'm looking forward most to is whatever this Haunted Mansion lounge is. I think it's going to be very cool in the thing that I'm gonna focus, um, on trying even, I don't care if it at the very beginning, if it needs to be a virtual, um, reservation system because it's so popular like they did before, just as Hyperspace Lounge now is just a walk-in because the people who've seen it and they know what it is, I don't care.

Those are the two things that I'm looking forward

[01:07:24] Jeremiah Good: to most. I, I did ask Lou when we're contemplating this, um, is. Becky, you gonna buy a tombstone when she's in there? Is that what's gonna happen?

[01:07:36] Beci Mahnken: Yeah, that's it. Can you buy your way into being the, the thousandth goat? I don't, I

[01:07:40] Lou Mongello: don't. They did that years ago.

Remember years ago they did that. Yeah. They sold the thousandth goat tombstone

[01:07:46] Jeremiah Good: Disneyland. Uh, Ricky Briganti came in second for that. I remember who it was that came in first and he got his own tombstone in the mansion graveyard at Disneyland. I think it's still

[01:07:56] Beci Mahnken: there. Knew this. Where was I?

[01:07:59] Jeremiah Good: It was 2010.

It's while as a while ago. Nine. Somewhere in there. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Um, I will be good and choose only one, and I'm sure it's the exact same one you are, Lou. Suck up Periscope Pub. It's like I don't drink at all. I love the trivia. I love the games. So combining all of that into that area, I will probably.

Take up residents in there for quite a while

[01:08:25] Lou Mongello: to, uh, to quote a, a famous elder statesman of our generation. Um, you're gonna need a bigger boat, or in this case, a bigger pub. Um, Periscope Pub is the thing that, that I'm most excited about. Again, it's not because the, the, the space is a flex space. It's not just used as a bar and a lounge like throughout the day and even the evening, they have a one, they have a separate menu, right?

They have a, like Alan Compass has a really good bar menu. They do a lot of games. They do trivia. If you're going during football season, you can go and watch a game and just sort of, Hang out. It's the one, so I'm gonna sort of contradict myself a little bit 'cause it's the one place that I don't mind being a little bit more intimate as opposed to being this cavernous space like, you know, evolution on one of the other ships being sort of themed to 20,000 leaks under the sea because it's smaller, because it's intimate, it feels right for this sort of theme and space and, and because they've moved the bar to the back, it looks like it's a little bit bigger.

They can hopefully do more in that space and accommodate some more people too. But I. I think, um, I think Periscope Pub is gonna be very popular, not just with people who enjoy cruising, but again with the theme park fans. And I'm a, a fan of the film as well. So, um, Periscope Pub is number one until we hear about what we don't know yet.

Um, Disney has a, a wonderful way, and I think a great opportunity to continue to surprise us with what is coming on the Disney treasure. I would love to know from you, our friend who has been sitting here, With us at the Virtual Periscope Pub, what are you most looking forward to or excited about for the Disney treasure?

Which of these places or spaces excites you most or what is your sort of thought and feedback about what you've seen about the Disney treasure as a whole? There's a lot of different ways that I, that you can let me know One, you can call the voicemail at (407) 900-9391. That's 4 0 7 900 WDW one. Let me know.

Let me hear the passion in your voice. I will play it on the show. You can also come be part of the community and conversation over in the clubhouse at ww radio.com/clubhouse. Then when you're done, you can go to laughing place.com and find out all the goodness that Jeremiah and the team over there shares and you can follow Jeremiah on all of his socials.

I will share all those, um, in the show notes and when you're ready to go on the Disney Treasure or The Wish, or with us on one of our future adventures. Coming soon, uh, or anywhere on this big blue, beautiful planet of ours, you can go and visit Becky and her amazing team of agents over@mousefantravel.com.

Uh, Becky and Jeremiah, thank you for taking this preliminary virtual voyage with me. Um, I look forward and fingers crossed that we can do it together for reals, um, sometime after or in December, 2024.

[01:11:32] Beci Mahnken: See, that's what's gonna be fun is after we've been on board the ship coming back and talking about what the reality is, rather than talking about what we're looking at from, from artist renderings.

[01:11:43] Jeremiah Good: Yeah, the recap is always the most fun. Usually we take at least a week after to recover from the time, but then talking about it, you know, that that carries on our stories and our adventures. Plus

[01:11:55] Beci Mahnken: our, our little family here is gonna be together for Christmas. How cool is that? I know,

[01:11:59] Lou Mongello: Lou, you're so nice. I know.

What

[01:12:02] Beci Mahnken: a guy, he's got that MX card I've got access to. Can see. Okay, Jamma, what, what, what suite do you wanna stay

[01:12:08] Jeremiah Good: in? Uh, I'd like the

[01:12:10] Beci Mahnken: ra. Okay. All right. Well, let me see if we can grab that for you.

[01:12:14] Lou Mongello: The, I just wanna, I just want, all I want is a regular room near the elevator, just underneath, uh, Marline Market Festival.

Just so I can have easy. Wait a minute. Short access to Food

[01:12:26] Beci Mahnken: Marline Market, or do you wanna be under Festival of Foods?

[01:12:29] Lou Mongello: Yeah, festival of Foods. Festival of Food. Festival of Foods. Yeah. I, I'm a late night. Oh gosh. I can't wait for the treasure of chicken

[01:12:35] Beci Mahnken: tenders. Chicken treasure, chicken tender. If they

[01:12:36] Lou Mongello: could serve chicken tenders in like a little treasure box and.

That's like your happy place. It is. I have a huge coat on my face.

[01:12:47] Beci Mahnken: Just, just give Lou some chicken tenders. He's a

[01:12:49] Lou Mongello: happy man. That's it. I don't need it.

[01:12:53] Jeremiah Good: That's gonna be the next media gift. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Chicken tenders. Wait chicken

[01:12:57] Beci Mahnken: tenders wrapped in a waffle cone. Hey, now.

[01:13:01] Lou Mongello: Oh, chicken and waffles.

It's a big thing down here

[01:13:06] Jeremiah Good: at Lou's house.