Lou Mongello (00:02.275)
Picture this. It is the year 2076, and a crew in whatever a hard hat looks like 50 years from now is digging in front of a Walt Disney World resort, and the shovel hits metal, and they pull up this sealed capsule with a plaque on the lid, and inside it is us. This year, this exact version of the most magical place on Earth.

But what did we choose to leave them? Because here’s the thing about Walt Disney World. It’s never finished, right? Walt said it himself, and it’s been true every single day, not just in Disneyland, but in Walt Disney World since 1971. And the park that we love right here, right now, the one with the snacks and the sounds and the shows and the smells that feel permanent is turning into history while we’re in it. And if you ever needed proof that now is the time, now is the best time to be a Disney fan.

You have to think about this way. Someday someone is gonna wish they had been here for exactly this moment. So today we’re gonna leave them something. We’re gonna build a Walt Disney World time capsule. And it’s not a a favorites list, it’s this metaphorical sealed box that somebody’s gonna dig up decades from now. And we have to decide, including you, what’s gonna go in it to represent Walt Disney World exactly as it is today.

So we’re gonna go category by category with an attraction, a resort, a song, a snack, a smell, a sound, a souvenir, a tradition, whatever it might be, maybe a couple of curveballs along the way. And then maybe the hardest one of all, we’re gonna save till the very end. And we’re gonna have one pick and one item each. I’m gonna try not to have too many honorable mentions in this list. And I think the hard part isn’t what we choose, it’s what we’re gonna choose to leave out.

And of course, I cannot do this alone. And joining me is somebody who knows Disney history as well as anyone I know, and I think also has a soft spot for some of the roads Disney does not take. You may remember her from our deep dives into the unbuilt Disney parks back on show 558, the MGM Backlot that never was in show 589. Tomorrowland’s past, present, and future question mark on show 667 and 668.

Lou Mongello (02:25.676)
The 10 most influential win in Disney history back on show 775 and more. Kendall Foreman, welcome back to the show.

Kendall (02:33.516)
So glad to be back. It’s been a long time. I’m feeling a bit rusty.

Lou Mongello (02:37.578)
It is. And that’s all my fault. And I sincerely apologize. It’s not you, it’s me. I never get to say that to a girl. So this is the first time ever I’m able to say it. and to you know, look, to peel back the the curtain a little bit, we were just talking about this before we were starting recording. This idea literally came to me over the weekend. And as I thought on it a little bit, I got really excited. Not very long thereafter, I messaged Kendall and I was like, So, what are you doing on Monday? Like

People ask me all the time, like, how far in advance do you plan and record your shows? Like, is it months? I’m like, no. This is often how it really happens. And I really, as soon as this idea came to me, I I really wanted you to be in this chair for this one because I think based on our prior conversations, I think you sometimes, like me, like think about the things that Walt Disney holds onto and some of what it lets go of. And

what is and what was and what could have been, both the memories and the possibilities. And I think that’s gonna be a little bit of sort of the tension of this episode. there is going to be one rule that we’re gonna have to follow, and I promise I’ll get into it second. but I I do want to sort of go back a little bit too because we are not the first people to look into this. Disney has been burying time capsules for decades.

And I think Kendall this is interesting because I think what’s inside the time capsule tells us everything about why the walk why the box we’re building actually matters.

Kendall (04:09.058)
Yeah, I mean to me a time capsule does I mean, when you when you choose something to go in it, it does kind of one of two things, right? Like it’s either a snapshot in time that you want to preserve for someone in the future, or I think there’s also sometimes things people put in there because they are just so quirky. Like it is such of a time that maybe those people in the future just aren’t going to believe that this is a thing that happened or this was what we saw that was important at that point in time.

And so I hope my list reflects that. That’s what I tried to to quickly think out after you gave me this. And and I’ll admit, as soon as you sent me the idea and you said, What are you doing tomorrow? I had to judge really quick on the fly, is he joking or is he serious? But also I right away was like, I have to find time to do this because I love this idea and if I don’t do it, he’s gonna ask someone else. So I I was very

Lou Mongello (04:46.228)
Ha ha ha.

Lou Mongello (04:56.61)
That was great.

Kendall (04:58.592)
excited and my brain immediately started working on what is a time capsule and what is, you know, the most important or most iconic or most of a time thing that I can pick in each of these categories.

Lou Mongello (05:10.668)
Well, one, I apologize and I thank you. I promise to try and be better and think about these things with a little bit longer of a runway. But you know, I was I was thinking about this, you know, like and I was like, did I ever do this before? And I was like, no, I was like, I’ve never done this before, but Disney has, right? So back in nineteen ninety-five for Disneyland’s 40th anniversary, they buried a time capsule right in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was shaped like the castle itself, so it earned the nickname the Time Castle, and it was

Dedicated to, and I dig this line, the children of the 21st century. And it gets opened on July 17th, 2035, which is gonna be the park’s 80th birthday. And there’s name tags and Indiana Jones opening day memorabilia, which I would love to get my hands on. A hand-painted cell of the Fab Five, and one of the name tags reads Mickey, and there’s also a pay stub in there from the Disney company for Mickey Mouse. They also did one over at Disney California Adventure in 2012 underneath Buena Vista Street.

That gets opened in 2037. And here in Walt Disney World, in 1996, they built it for they buried one for the 25th anniversary, at the contemporary resort right in front of the flagpoles. And they opened it on the October 25th, 2021. And the cast members who were there who were celebrating their own 50-year anniversaries. And there was an ID card for Mickey Mouse, a cast member magazine. I I I

Don’t know if I love the idea that they had a picture of the castle as the birthday cake. I still have PTSD from it. I have I have personal sad memories, which I’ll probably never share the story of. It doesn’t matter. It’s fine. there is a calendar, Spectrum Magic. Like there was no Animal Kingdom, right? Hollywood Studios was still MGM Studios. and then they also did one at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Earth Day 1998. They opened it in 2023. And inside, and this is this.

Kendall (06:41.454)
I love the birthday cake.

Lou Mongello (07:04.8)
And I mentioned this specifically because I think this is part of the fun part of the time capsule. There were two floppy discs that nobody’s able to read anymore. A couple of VHS tapes. You have to go to like Goodwill and get a VHS player. And there was also Gino the Silverback Gorilla’s first two.

Kendall (07:13.88)
Yeah.

Kendall (07:23.549)
wow. That’s crazy. That’s quirky, but that’s crazy.

Lou Mongello (07:24.64)
So when you said quirky, I’m like, wait till and I like and it’s funny about the floppy discs, like we always think that we’re saving something for the future and don’t always stop to think whether the future is gonna have the tools to open it. Like someone’s gonna open this and be like, what is this little plastic thing? but and again, I you know, this even goes back to the the, you know, Walt and the World’s Fair and and I dig that and I and it

Kendall (07:40.952)
Yeah.

Lou Mongello (07:54.764)
The point really is that Disney’s always understood that today is tomorrow’s history. It’s the premise of carousel of progress, right? So let’s stop looking at their capsules. Let’s go and build our own. But I said there is one rule, and it’s important because it’s what’s going to sort of help not only keep us honest, but help frame this conversation. We were sort of messaging back and forth. And as you’re asking me the questions, I’m like, I don’t know. What do I mean by that? Like, think back to that nineteen ninety-six calendar.

Right. It froze that moment in time at Walt Disney World. There was no Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There was, you know, n still MGM studios. That’s what we’re doing today, right? We’re gonna try and freeze right now. So the rule is is that every pick has to be true of Walt Disney World as it exists today. Not what we miss, not what used to be here. if a stranger walked into Magic Kingdom or Walt Disney World for the first time this morning, would they find it?

If the answer is yes, it is fair game. So classics still count as long as it is still standing. The only thing off limits is what is gone. It’s a snapshot of today. This is not an all-time greatest hits list. So I think what we’re really the I think the capsule the the question that the capsule has to answer is what did Walt Disney World look, sound, smell, feel, taste, and cost like in twenty twenty six?

Kendall (09:23.692)
Yeah, and that that was hard. Because I mean, obviously we all have our favorite things from the past, but I mean yeah, it’s a time capsule for today. And and also I’ve had like a year since I’ve been in the park, so I had a couple things I had to check myself on to make sure that they are still there. So yeah, but I’m ready to get started. I’m good.

Lou Mongello (09:27.091)
Yeah.

Lou Mongello (09:39.03)
Wow. Right.

Lou Mongello (09:45.112)
Yeah, and I think I think that’s gonna be the interesting thing too, because when we do have an option, and and then the first one out of the gate is gonna be an indicator of this, we’re gonna have the option to pick things that are sort of brand new to the parks, but there’s also classics that we might feel that has to be represented. So we’re gonna pick one thing, briefly defend it, maybe challenge each other and and see. And we’re gonna start off with what I think the big one, which is one attraction, like that single ride or show.

that has to go in the box to tell some what tell someone what Walt Disney World is right now. Kendall, not just because you’re my guest and friend and ladies first, but I’m so wildly curious to hear what you have to say. So you go first.

Kendall (10:29.218)
I’m glad I get to go first because I’m afraid that we might have ended up with the same choice. but maybe not for the same reason. I think right now Walt Disney World is in such a position where people have such a desire for nostalgia and preservation, but then there’s also this tension of how do we update things for guests who are coming the first time, who maybe, you know, older technology or that nostalgia does not make sense to. And I think there’s one attraction that has weathered

that tension and those transitions better than any other, and that’s the Haunted Mansion. it’s still using techniques, Pepper’s Ghost from, you know, the 1800s. It’s using projection technology. It’s using all different levels of audio animatronics, the sound systems, the you know, the Omni-mover from the middle point in time there. just so many different things throughout the entire history of Walt Disney World.

And also I just think it’s interesting to go back and look at what was the version of the haunted mansion when I was a kid. Like we had the spider scene, we didn’t have the Escher stairways. We had this version of Constance. We didn’t you know, you know, whi what version of the Hatchet Bride did you have? Like and

So to capture what the haunted mansion is in this moment in time, I think would be interesting because I think it will constantly be updated. It’s the one attraction that it seems like every generation of imagineers wants to have a part of. and so what will we see in the future as to what that attraction looks like? Or let me just say, God forbid in fifty years this attraction does not exist. Like the yeah.

Lou Mongello (12:09.079)
Bite your tongue, woman.

Kendall (12:12.972)
th then there is a preserved version of the haunted mansion so that everyone can see exactly how spectacular it was.

Lou Mongello (12:20.919)
So before I comment on, I’m gonna be perfectly honest. I struggled with this this one and my own rules right off the bat. I was like, Mangello, you just made the rules and you’re because I immediately sort of went to a classical classic. And I was like, wait, wait, does this attraction speak to Walt Disney World today? And then I was sort of going through like, well, what would it be? What should be the thing that represented? Is it to your point about like the stallion? I was like,

And change. I was like, is it rock and roller coaster with the Muppets? Like it’s brand new. It repl replaced an attraction that was there, an iconic attraction that was there for 25 years. Like it’s sort of the whole thesis of this episode. Like, nothing here is permanent. And I’m like, no, they it can’t be it. And I’m like, is it Guardians? Is it this like one-of-a-kind reverse launch, super popular attraction that ties into

like other IPs and we’re seeing this sort of trend towards synergy and parks and resorts and movies and TV is all I think is gonna start to blend a lot more over the the next short and long term period. Like, is it Tiana’s? Is it Rise of the Resistant? Like the benchmark of immersive storytelling. And then I narrowed it down to two. And I’m happy you went first because one of them was haunted Banshee.

Because I think you’re right. Yeah, because I think I I I agree with you a thousand percent. I think Mansion represents everything that makes a great Disney attraction and makes a great Disney attraction endure. It’s the detailed storytelling and the music and the humor and the rewritability and the practical effects and technology. And I think it’s a generational sort of sense of shared memories because most everybody in the family can enjoy it. And I think

Kendall (13:49.388)
I’m happy to take care of that for you.

Lou Mongello (14:19.509)
It’s also important too because, like you, I think this is one of those attractions that is parenthetically untouchable, right? Should never leave the park ever. And I also think it’s important now because it evidences the the the fact that I think future future fans of the parks should understand that one of Disney’s greatest attractions did not require an existing movie franchise or IP. Because if you look at all the ones I just mentioned.

It was Rock’n’Roller with the Muppets, I had Tron on the list, Guardians, Tiana’s, like Rise of Resistance, they’re all tied to the IP. It shows that you can create this original world, invite guests into it, and allow that attraction itself to become the IP itself. So I didn’t say it, and thanks to you, we’re all able to get like multiple ones in one. Is it carousel of progress after the refresh?

We have to wait and see. I’m cheating a little bit right off the bat because technically it’s closed right now, but it’s it’s reopening. And I think the reason why, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned too, I think it’s it’s thematically the most perfect time capsule selection. It is this journey through different eras, preserving how people imagine technology and life and progress and the future. It ties to Walt Disney World, and I think that

And it ties to Walt and his belief in optimism and innovation and storytelling and how we can look forward to tomorrow. And and I think and I hope and I believe that after the refresh it is going to be that even more. So carousel progress is is my one attraction.

Kendall (16:06.742)
It is conceivable considering how long the other version was in Walt Disney World, that fifty years from now this new version could still stand. It i it’s possible.

Lou Mongello (16:15.189)
Right.

Yeah. So all right. In the interest of time, we I listen, I could have have fun talking about each of these in even deeper detail, but I’m gonna try not to go down the rabbit holes too far. So stick with me because going to the theme parks is only half of your Walt Disney World experience. The other half is the resort. It is the place that we stayed and shows how we stayed. So what is your one Walt Disney World resort?

Kendall (16:41.644)
I tried really hard throughout this whole list to not pick anything that was very personal, but this is the one category just because I I said something to my husband, I’m like, How do I pick a resort for a time capsule? And he said, Well that’s such a personal choice And I was like, You’re right. Like the you know, you walk in and the T V says, Welcome home, such and such family. so it’s it’s your home. What’s your home? And my home is the Polynesian resort.

Lou Mongello (17:10.55)
I had a feeling that’s where you’re gonna go.

Kendall (17:10.97)
And I think it’s I think it’s also fair for a time capsule. It it’s been there from the beginning. It is still there now. It’s drastically different than it was to see what it is today in comparison to, you know, what fifty years from now will be a hundred years in the past. that’s wild to think about. And I’ve loved every version of it. I’ve stayed there over the course of four different decades. And

I have a r I I would stick each one of them in the time capsule for some reason. There’s something about it. And for example, my son, he’s never seen the atrium version of the Polynesian, but the Polynesian is his home resort. And so I I think one of the most captivating things there now is when you walk in and you just have that view all the way through, straight to the back, all the way to the castle. You know, I it’s home.

Lou Mongello (18:07.338)
I dig it and it’s on sort of my mental honorable mention list because I think I think it it captures a lot of what a Walton World vacation is. I I think it’s I think there’s an emotional aspect to it. I think it there’s something transportive about that. And it shows that great Disney storytelling is not limited to attractions and shows. Like the fact that a resort can create that same sense of escape and

anticipation and storytelling, like it belongs on this list. Once again, I was conflicted. Shocker. so I’m gonna give you the lawyer answer again because and I still don’t know what my final answer is. because the one I want to give now it’s it’s sort of a a sister resort to the Polynesian. Cause the first thing that came to me, and you could just email me because I know it’s what’s coming, lewittw.com was Disney’s Riviera Resort.

And a and I know it is not everybody’s favorite, and I get that, but this is a resort, again, we’re trying to capture this moment in time. This is a because it’s the only like it exists in the Skyliner age. Like it it shows the resorts we’re trying like we’re building now. And it’s tied to that Skyliner, I think, which is one of the most today yet like backward-looking things that we’ve added in years as someone who misses.

Kendall (19:14.272)
I contemplated it. I contemplated it.

Lou Mongello (19:34.795)
The Skyway buckets from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland. Like it’s important to explain how we get around the resort using the Skyliner. And I think having that in there helps tell that story, right? Because it is going on the Skyliner is this brand new type of magic. Like when you’re going over the the water and the treetops in the Skyliner, stay seated, kids. Do not get up on the benches and dance like

I I think it does. I think it it it represents this now. But Kendall, I was this close to say in the contemporary resort. Because I think it’s still obviously not just a part of of it since the beginning. I think just that sort of the audacious optimism of the original Florida project and the monorail and the the like the sliding in, although not sliding out, of the of the pre manufactured rooms like

That alone is such an icon and it communicates that this resort was never meant to be just another amusement park. It it is the future as it was imagined in nineteen seventy one. And I think it also connects to the overall park experience. But because you had Polynesian, which was an OG resort, I will stick with Disney’s Riviera Resort.

Kendall (20:57.708)
Yeah, I think there’s an argument for both and I I did. I considered Riviera just because it is I mean, it was purpose built to be a Disney vacation club resort and right now it is the it is the age of D V C. Like that that is right now what resorts are about.

Lou Mongello (20:57.878)
I will

Lou Mongello (21:14.634)
And I personally I love Riviera. I love the location. I love the skyliner. I love the food. I love the lot. Like, I love the little Voyager’s lounge. Like, there’s a lot that I really love about the Riviera resort, but I digress. Kendall, 50 years from now, when someone opens up that box, what is the one song that plays in the capsule when they open it?

Kendall (21:39.661)
it it’s gonna be the same song that’s been playing in my head for fifty years. Because the second you hear it, I I have a I have a joke here at our house that if this song gets stuck in my head, I turn my iPhone up as loud as I can because if it’s stuck in my head, it has to be stuck in everyone else’s. And that’s nothing can stop us now.

this is a favorite at our house. I think it’s I mean, it deserves to be in there because it is an earworm. It takes seconds to memorize portions of this song and be able to sing along with it. I feel like it is Jen Alpha’s song that they are gonna be singing decades from now. and also just those Mickey Mouse cartoons are so of this time, not just

animation style and comedy style, but they are so referential to the past that what I was talking about before, that desire for nostalgia, it they do that. Like I’ve seen so many people write off those cartoons because they don’t like the art style. And I would say go back and watch them again because there is so much there. They are so funny. So many callbacks to Parks history and Disney history. They are they are great. But

Because of that I see them being of this time. And I think that attraction and that song and also you just you have to call out the fact that it’s Russie Taylor, her last performance as Minnie Mouse also. So, I mean, because there’s a whole new generation of Disney Walt Disney World fans singing it, it’s nothing can stop us now.

Lou Mongello (23:13.065)
So I dig this because it’s the first thing that popped into my mind. Really? It is. it is the f it’s the first thing that popped on my first thing that popped in my mind, but it’s not the thing that ended up making my list. Because I first of all I I remember when they announced Runaway Railway and Kevin Rafferty told the story about it. He was like, yeah, like nothing he he said, nothing can stop us now to describe like the action in the thing. And the songwriter, I think it was like Chris Willis, was like, that’s it. That’s the title. And I dig

Kendall (23:16.599)
Really?

Lou Mongello (23:43.284)
That very sort of positive earworm that really ties the whole experience together. And I was like, no, like it is, but it’s not, I’m not sure it’s the one that I would put on the list. And then I struggled once again. And again, I’m gonna sort of you have to forgive me because I I was bouncing between three different ones. And one of them was one little spark because it’s Sherman and it’s imagination and curiosity. And I know.

That at some point between now and 50 years from now, that pavilion is going to get updated. It like we’ve been saying it for years, but I really think it it it’s going to happen. But it represents that original spirit of Epcot and that original character that was created for the park. And I think just the the messages of it and and the character and everything that’s tied to. And I’m like, no, like that’s not it. I was like, maybe it’s great, big, beautiful tomorrow. It again, it’s that.

Optimism and progress and all the things that we talked about about why I think carousel progress should be there. And even, you know, when an attraction changes or it disappears, whatever, the philosophy is still so locked into that song because it’s not just a theme song. I think it’s a statement about how Waltz viewed the future and how he wanted us to view the future. But again, this might not be the popular opinion.

It’s it’s a small world. I I know you t talk about earworms and it’s not necessarily new. The reason why it’s a small world is there and it needs to be there in 2026 and 2076 is because of what it is. I know it’s repetitive, but the message is timeless. It’s a prayer for peace, right? And I think, you know, who knows what what the world is gonna look like if it’s still here 50 years from now, like.

You know, the differences that we have are real and I get it, but they shouldn’t have to prevent us from recognizing just this sense of shared humanity. And that’s what Richard and Robert Sherman put into this still timeless and beautiful earworm of a song. So all those years later I’m gonna put into small world.

Kendall (26:03.66)
My heart loves that choice. I love it, it’s a small world. And I’ve and I and interestingly enough I’ve grown to love it more the older I’ve gotten.

Lou Mongello (26:10.375)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, like I get this is way too much of like sometimes I get weepy when I hear it. Because I think about the message. I think about, you know, Richard. I think about all these different things. Yeah. No, you’ve never I have never ridden through it to Small World by myself with tears in my eyes. Let’s just move on. Because this next one

Lou Mongello (26:36.509)
Is the one menu item?

Lou Mongello (26:42.355)
Ladies first.

Kendall (26:44.024)
This was hard.

Lou Mongello (26:45.109)
It’s impossible. I’m gonna tell you right now, I can’t do it. I just cannot do it.

Kendall (26:47.616)
It but i it was it was it was hard, but then once I came to the answer, I was like, no, this is obvious. And then I almost was like, is it too obvious? So I picked Pineapple Dole Whip. Man, we are on the same wavelength tonight. I picked Pineapple Dole Whip because as much as people want to say that it it started in Disneyland, it did not. It was developed for Walt Disney World. I

Lou Mongello (26:55.029)
Two, I I bet you were in the same place. I think I know. I see, I knew it.

Kendall (27:13.858)
Just learned the woman’s name today as I was looking. Kathy Westfall was a a UC Davis graduate. She was hired into the Dole Laboratory. She was charged with coming up with a different fruity dessert for them to sh serve in Florida because it would get too hot and it would melt too fast. And they were serving just pineapple chunks on vanilla ice cream at the Dole sponsored stand. And so I love that this is

Disney World through and through that it’s I mean it is. It’s like it’s it’s it’s Florida, it’s adventureland in a dish. Like, I love pineapple Dole Whip so much. but also like it it just has such staying power. Like where what other food besides like popcorn and a Mickey Bar, like what other ones can you buy at like

Lou Mongello (27:47.349)
I love that.

Kendall (28:02.05)
Like three of the parks, Disney Springs, Typhoon Lagoon, how many resorts have this stuff now? And then it’s it’s grown into being like how many different flavors? Like we they just debuted peach this week with different stuff on it. It’s a float, it’s a dessert, it’s like you can get alcohol in it. Like it duh pineapple dole whip is everything. Like it has to be pineapple dole whip.

Lou Mongello (28:19.923)
Right.

Lou Mongello (28:24.413)
It you’re right. It’s the universal answer. Like it needs no explanation. It passes everyone I mean it’s a single rule, but it passes the the the qualifiers easily. It’s simple and recognizable and accessible and tied to the experience of being at Disney. And I think it it belongs here because it shows how a simple snack like can become a tradition and this emotional memory and that connector.

From you when you’re home to the place here. So rather than

Just riding on the Dole Whip train with you all the while. It’s a train I’m very happy to get on. I really had a very, very tough time with this because I’m like, is it a burger? Is it a snack? Is it a Mickey shaped something? And I was like bouncing around in my head, like literally sort of flying through the parks and resorts in my mind’s eye, trying to figure out what it is. And I said, then I was like, Well, what is what’s something where you go to a restaurant?

And you just don’t need to look at the menu because you know this is the thing you’re going to get. Like, is there a place that you go and you’re like, I don’t even need to look at the menu because it’s this? There’s not a lot of places, because usually I’m like, I’ll have this and this as a snack. So I’m going to I’m gonna stay with you at the Polynesian and put in Tonga toast. Because

Kendall (29:54.531)
Right away, right away when you said when you said you know what you’re ordering there, that was where my mind went immediately.

Lou Mongello (29:58.867)
Right. And that’s what it is. Like it’s I mean, look, I love my excuse me, my macadamia duck pancakes and locomo, but this is like not just a snack. It is this sit-down signature cult classic breakfast that is unmistakably Walt Disney World. And for a lot of people, you don’t need to go look at the menu. You are going excuse me, to that you’re going to Kona or Captain Cook’s because

You’re going there for Tonga toast. Everything else is just like window dressing on top of it. So my answer is is going to be dole lip.

We’re gonna sort of stay in in a bit of the same vein, right? We’re talking about things that we experience and that we taste, but we know that our olfactory senses are the mu ones most closely tied to memory. So what is the one smell? And remember the rule, like if it’s still in the air today, it counts. So what is what is your one smell, your one sense?

Kendall (31:04.952)
I I double checked this today with people, like people on the internet said it was still there. it’s been I I think I think it’s been there, not been there, been stronger, not as strong. So I you’ve probably been on it more recently than me. But I’m going with Rome burning on Spaceship Earth. Because I think like what you said earlier about

Lou Mongello (31:07.464)
Ha ha ha.

well then it’s gotta be true. If the in if the

Kendall (31:31.085)
journey into imagination. Spaceship Earth is destined to be refurbished sometime, I would think in the nearer future than the distant future. We don’t know what we might lose there. Rome burning could be something that doesn’t make it. And I you you say it and everyone knows what it is. Like you can smell it in your head. And and also it’s just like

Everyone knows it in the Disney context, but this is a smell that we smell in everyday life and we don’t like we don’t care. Like it’s not extraordinary. It doesn’t mean anything outside of here, although sometimes we’d be like, that smells like roam burning. Like it it comes to mind and that’s what you think of. And

So I think to put it in the time capsule, it honors like every version of Spaceship Earth up to this point. And if it doesn’t exist anymore, then you can remember the time when it was there. And if it does still exist, it honors the staying power of wood burning.

Lou Mongello (32:27.22)
I love that I love, love, love that answer because I love that scent. It’s so powerful and it instantly connects you. You know exactly where you are on that attraction and that scene and all the visuals come back. And I do hope Rome continues to burn like forever and ever, 50 years from now. So for me, I was like, I something came to mind. I was like, this is it. This is the scent. And I’m like, all right, step back for a second, Mangello. Let this like percolate a little bit.

Do you want something that is manufactured? Do you want something that is pushed out through a smellitzer? Is it like, you know, the vanilla and sugar from the Main Street bakery? Do you want something that just exists like in nature? And I’m like, it doesn’t matter. You are gonna go back to where it all began because I still remember Kendall Foreman. I mean, it’s gotta be very close to when I was when I first started the show. One of the

I had this idea, we’re gonna do our top ten smells, and I’m like, I don’t know, man, this could go horribly wrong. And I wrote down in my notes, I wrote musty water smell. And I remember sitting in my little office, which was the extra bedroom in my little house in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and I’m like, Lou, nobody is gonna understand what the heck you are talking about. And I was completely wrong. Everybody’s like, I get it. You’re like, this is and

It’s still it is the musty water smell in pirates. It’s gotta be on pirates because you can smell a little bit other places, but that it is so attraction specific and briny and transportive and unchanged, like your body remembers it like before your brain sort of catches up to what is going on. And I think that combination of the scent and the water and the air and the damp stone and that environment.

It all comes together in this incredible multi-sensory experience. And I think like Rome Burning, when we smell it again, right? Because again, it’s got that connection to memory, like that one smell of it can instantly bring you back to a memory that you had with your parents, your friends, your kids, whatever it might be. and and even sometimes individual moments. So for me, it it it it has no other choice.

Lou Mongello (34:48.392)
But to be the musty water smelling pirates. I don’t know how we’re gonna put these smells in there. The logistics of it is not really important. It this it’s, you know, it could be a candle, it could be like a little little like scented oil or something. So all right. We’re talking about the sights and smells and we have to go with the sound. Now, this is not music, this is a sound, and this is the one noise, for lack of a better word, that

Says Walt Disney World with your eyes closed.

Kendall (35:24.002)
I think because I’m going with the now, and there’s there’s lots of You could pick I’m I’m gonna I’m gonna pull what you do. You could pick the the the wolf howl from the Polynesian, you could pick the honk honk, you know, of the the streetcars on Main Street, b the the train whistle from across the lagoon. But I’m gonna go with the magic band touch point chime.

And this is another one that I mentioned to my husband and and he said, Well that that sounds always a good thing.

He’s like, you hear it and it means I’m I’m going into the park. Like he’s like, there’s no negative association with that sound. It always means a good thing. It either means I’m getting into a a great Walt Disney World Park or I’m getting onto a ride faster, if you use it for Lightning Lane. But there’s no negative memories associated with it and it’s it’s something that I’m sure in the future that that sound may not be a part of your entrance anymore or they’ll change the sound or

you know, or something and so I think it’s a it’s a snapshot of now and the technology that existed and the sound that means a lot to a lot of people.

Lou Mongello (36:33.779)
That’s awesome answer. that is a really good answer. I I like that a lot. I did not have as much problem and difficulty answering this one as I did others. There were a couple of things that came to mind. I’m like, no, it could be for me, it was unquestionably like not even I I didn’t even bother writing down any other potential honorable engines. Please stand clear of the doors. I’m not gonna bother with this manage.

It is eternal, it is iconic, it is currently still playing. There’s been rumors for years of the monorail. I mean, 50 years from now, we are not gonna have, I doubt we’ll have the same Mark Seven monorails still going around those beams. But it’s just incredible how this simple, practical, safety announcement is one of the most recognizable and beloved sounds in Walt Disney World. It

introduced people to the Spanish language like at a very young age. Like for some people that’s the only and I think it also shows like transportation becoming part of the attraction, becoming part of the overall experience. Like we sometimes I remember as a kid, I would ride the monorail not to g as as a conveyance or trying to get from point A to point B. I rode it as an attraction. Way back when when you used to be able to ride in the front, I remember as a kid we were staying at the contemporary and the parks were closed and my parents, you know

Kendall (37:32.94)
Mm-hmm.

Lou Mongello (37:59.572)
It was one thing that you at Disney you could always say was like, yeah, just go, go do your thing. I just remember riding in the front of the monorail like for hours. Poor monorail driver. I’m so sorry. But I just loved that experience. I just love being a and I loved that sound. I used to love the sound, which is gone now, of the manual doors, like that clunk of the manual doors closing. But I hope it almost picked the sound of the door. Yeah. Yeah, because it is. It’s that it there’s something comforting about it.

Kendall (38:19.244)
I I almost picked the the sound of the doors closing now.

Kendall (38:26.606)
Mm.

Lou Mongello (38:27.227)
And please stand clear of the doors. I know for some of you that’s probably your ringtone or your text tone or you know, how you unlock your Tesla with sound, whatever it might be. But we all know please stand clear of the doors and it was it was unquestionable.

But all good things and all good trips have to come to an end. And sometimes when we leave, we wanna take a piece of I mean not literally, but we’re gonna take a piece of Walt Disney World home with us. What is one souvenir that you carry home? Like what is there one souvenir that’s going in?

Kendall (39:04.492)
This is my crazy pick. This is my toothbrush in the box, like what you referenced before. I do not own one of these. But I’m going with the adult size Figment Ugly Christmas sweater. Because I think that

Lou Mongello (39:19.41)
Mm.

Kendall (39:22.358)
When Figment showed up in that little sweater, it was a spectacular little edition. Figgies celebrating Christmas. Like I like seeing it every year when they then when they change him out and someone has a picture online of Figment in his chaunty little sweater. And I mean, and people like right away were like, I wanna be able to own the sweater and then like it was hyped online, which is such a a thing that happens now. And

Lou Mongello (39:42.803)
Yeah.

Kendall (39:48.651)
And so then the sweater became available for people to buy and like crazy people wear this sweater when it’s still like seventy some degrees out at Christmas time. Like and

You know, he’s he’s real snappy with his little quarter zip and his blue and white and you know, maybe at some point in the future the the pavilion logos won’t be as well known, or maybe the imagination logo won’t exist at all and it’ll be like you pull it out of the time capsule, it’s like, What is this? What is this logo? We have to figure out what this thing is, so this is my mystery in the box.

Lou Mongello (40:21.831)
I like that. I like that because it’s so not, I think, what probably anybody else would think. Because when you started talking, when you started saying something, I’m like, I know exactly where she’s going, but you were talking about like clothing that’s now. And I’m like, it’s gonna be a spirit jersey, or maybe it’s gonna be like a lounge fly, because those are sort of like the merch language of right now, right? It very much dates like if you open up like, spirit jersey, 2024, 2026, clearly this is the era that it’s going to be.

Then I’m like, well, you just put Mickey ears in there. And I’m like, no. Yes, it’s universally recognizable, but and it’s a symbol of Disney, but I don’t think it necessarily represents right now. Then I was like I was thinking like immediately right now, and like what’s sort of like the hot thing? And I was like, it’s very simple. Just put in a Lorcana card or a pin from a pin drop release day, because people are cuckoo for cocoa puffs, man. It is

It is a wild time. If you could insert just a little video clip of people like running to Disney Springs for the Locarno box and eight hour long lines and pin drops on Tuesdays, it would be interesting, but it’s probably not what I would put in here. And I think going back to your sound, I think a magic band is very today. And it might not be very tomorrow. Right? We think we see you list like possibly getting phased out.

Kendall (41:46.926)
True.

Lou Mongello (41:49.755)
In other places like Disneyland. But it is, you know, it’s souvenir and current technology all in one. So when you see a magic band 50 years, people go, remember you people used to wear these things on their wrist and it’s how they would get in, and they used to love that sound. So I think it very much is an interesting snapshot of time in time for from a historical perspective.

If somebody were to open this fifty years from now, because I have to imagine magic bands in their in this current form will not be used. And it might be that novelty piece of tech like, floppy discs, how cute. a phone with a cord, how cute. they used to wear things on their wrists. It like, you know, it might just be using biometric technology and we just sort of walk in the gates or whatever were just a chip, implanted a chip in the back of our heads and just walk into Disney. So I think

Kendall (42:29.72)
Yeah.

Lou Mongello (42:45.138)
I think for me it is a magic band plus specifically.

Kendall (42:50.892)
What would be on the magic band?

Lou Mongello (42:55.037)
yeah.

I think it should be something that it’s gotta be like the current Walt Disney World logo. I think it’s gonna be the current version of Walt Disney. ‘Cause it cause even the logo has changed over the years. Like the the the font has changed, the D has changed. so what what the current logo looks like now, which they’re you know, they’re also leaning into that very heavily. So with that color wash bit of merchandise. Very simple, very clean, just the Walt Disney World logo. but who knows where it’s gonna be fifty years from now.

Kendall (43:04.366)
Hm. True. Yeah. Right.

Kendall (43:27.224)
Yeah. Almost get a two for one there.

Lou Mongello (43:29.542)
Yeah, nice. we keep talking about like snapshots in time. So let’s think about what that snapshot would be. What’s one photograph? So you have the responsibility, Kendall, of picking that one image that’s gonna explain this place at this time to somebody who might have never been. Like who knows what’s gonna be 50 years from now, right? It’s a post-apocalyptic wasteland, God forbid. And so he opens up this.

What is that photo that you put in there?

Kendall (44:01.181)
well now that gives it a lot more weight. I I’m still gonna go with my original answer, but man, it that almost feels like you need like a helicopter shot of like the entire landscape or something to document it. the mine would be something up in the air. last week one day, my son and I ran across a picture. It was not mine, it was one we saw on the internet. I assumed that it was taken from a Skyway.

bucket because it was it was above twenty thousand the twenty thousand leagues lagoon and so I was pointing out to him like well this is this now and this is that and see how those buildings are those are the same and and so he’s like Yeah I recognize that and wow like Dumbo was there and so we were talking about all that

And so whenever I saw photo, I immediately thought I personally have never tried to take this photo myself. But a photo from the top of Tiana’s, like of the whole landscape out in front and everything that you can see of that. I mean it would have been great to take that like a few months ago when everything was still there. But even right now, in the in this transition period and you know, hopefully we do actually get villains land, like hopefully all the plans go through finally this time.

but you know, fifty years from now, that like that landscape is gonna look entirely different. Just like looking back at, you know, the picture from the seventies of what fantasy land looked like. So I think capturing that and being able to go back and look at, you know, what wasn’t there and and what is now.

Lou Mongello (45:38.087)
Yeah, you know, y when you said something, I was like, you know, you could actually put in a photograph of a construction wall. And I mean that like half-drukingly because look, 2026, like we are in a season of change and growth, specifically in Magic Kingdom. So you can show that. Like there’s there’s a lot of development, there’s a lot of change that’s going on. And my initial thought was what you first said was this current aerial photograph of Walt’s world property, like.

Kendall (45:46.221)
Yeah.

Lou Mongello (46:03.248)
show not just the parks and resorts, but the waterways and transportation and construction and all of those as yet undeveloped areas as they exist right now. you’re like me, right? I love history. I love the old photographs of this property in 1969 and as it started to develop and emerge in in opening years in 1971 and where it looked like and just how vastly different and and huge it is. And I think future fans can see

what’s been built, what’s been changing, what still remains untouched, and just how enormous this resort is. But that’s not what I’m gonna put in there. I’m gonna put in a photograph of current cast members from different roles and regions and backgrounds, every face and race and color and creed, because Walt Disney World is sort of this microcosm of of being a melting pot of people from around the world.

And make sure you include not just the attraction hosts, but custodial and transportation and entertainment and food and beverage and horticulture and security and all of the less visible and invisible areas. Because I think the buildings and the the rides, it shows what Disney created. But I think the cast members show how this place functioned and and how this experience truly came to life. And again, it goes back to the

People making a dream a reality. And I want to make sure like we highlight and we memorialize the people that make this place so very special.

Kendall (47:39.8)
That’s a very cool answer. And I think it’ll kinda tie into something later too. But yeah, I I really like that.

Lou Mongello (47:48.924)
So, and I’m very curious to hear how you answer this one because the only clue, the only it I gave you two words, and it was one price. And this one might sting a little bit like one price, one real number for of today. And it could be of a snack, a ticket, a churro, because I think nothing is going to shock the future as much as what things cost right now. We think about when we see how much stuff cost, you know, decades ago. You could buy a house for like,

twenty thousand dollars, like whatever it was. So what is your one price that you’re going to show in this time capsule?

Kendall (48:26.668)
This one threw me when I saw it on the list, ’cause at first I think I like, What is he and I was like, yeah, I guess you wouldn’t want to know the price of stuff and I’m like, That’s gonna be depressing. I like, I don’t wanna be negative And so I remembered back to I was like, Well what’s the like the most shocking price story that I tell people? And it’s from two thousand nine, my husband and I went down, we stayed at the Polynesian for we paid for four nights and got three for free.

Lou Mongello (48:35.398)
Yeah.

Kendall (48:54.562)
That was the promo that they were running. The idea of free is always shocking in Walt Disney World. So for right now, not as good as a promotion as that, but I’m going with the price of free ninety nine water park admission on entry day.

Lou Mongello (49:11.27)
Nice.

Kendall (49:12.694)
Because I mean that’s a great value, you know, like a seventy four dollar adult ticket, you know, sixty eight bucks a kid, I that’s like that’s a pretty big chunk of change, especially if you have a bigger family, as long as you’re staying at one of the resorts and you know, in the future they may not be anything free anymore. So the fact that they were willing to do that and I know there’s there’s definitely business sense behind that free, but

You know, let people in the fifty years in the future know there were there were still free things at Walt Disney World.

Lou Mongello (49:45.34)
That’s a great answer. I really, really like that answer a lot. ’cause I my mind went somewhere immediately and I’m like, no, come on, look, get creative. Like, what about the price of a dole whip or the price of a lightning lane or the price of a bottle of water? Like, who knows how much water is going to cost 50 years from now? But I think it has to be the exact price of a one day ticket on the date that this time capsule gets sealed. Like

Whether it’s a receipt, whether it’s a picture of like the little boards over like the the ticket booths when you enter one of the parks, because I think it’s important to memorialize and record what the current price is because it reflects so much. It’s the size of the experience and inflation and accessibility and what families are being asked to invest for a single.

Disney Day. And I think it’s going to be interesting too, because think about like us now. When we look at the admission prices and literal pennies it cost to ride an attraction in 1971, like when you would buy like a $3.50 ticket to walk in the park. Like, imagine Twitter, like to it. When you used to have to buy a ticket, and people would be like, imagine going back if Twitter existed in 1971, be like,

What? I have to pay every time I want to ride something. Like they are literally nickel and diming me to death because it cost like nickels and dimes to buy tickets. Like an A-ticket attraction was literally 10 cents if you wanted to ride the Main Street vehicles. Or God forbid, like you wanted to go on the haunted mansion. It was like 80 cents or you know, 20,000 leagues under the sea. Which again, and I and I I was like, okay.

Let me sort of adjust these for inflation. So three fifty in nineteen seventy-one is like twenty-nine dollars today to enter the park. And an A ticket, which was ten cents, is about eighty-three cents today. An E ticket would be like under seven dollars today to go ride an attraction. But I think the same way that we look back and go, my God, I can’t believe how inexpensive it was fifty years from now, who knows what admission is going to look and feel and cost.

Lou Mongello (52:08.867)
And I would just sort of love to see somebody open that up and go, I can’t believe they only paid insert X amount of dollars here to go to the parks for one day.

Kendall (52:18.658)
I feel like to be really fair though, you’d almost have to like tack that to a map. Because you think about like the size of the park in nineteen seventy one, you know, and what they were trying to upkeep overhead wise and things is drastically smaller than what it is now, you know, or the the options that you have when you go in. Like that’s why I always like to do that kind of math of like, okay, how much really is it per attraction? You know, how much am I paying per attraction? That’s kind of interesting to look at too.

Lou Mongello (52:22.289)
Right.

Lou Mongello (52:34.161)
Well and it

Lou Mongello (52:44.207)
Or they look at the map and go, wait, there was this Magic Kingdom only had this because of, you know, think about how much more expansion. Not that there’s a lot of expansion room for some parks, but yeah, it’ll be a very listen, I I hope I can make it. Hopefully I make it that long to see. Even forty years. I’m curious to see how it changes. But speaking of change, nice segue, Lou, what’s one piece of technology, right? What is that one piece of technology that you would put in there? Because I think this

is also going to like date this park and this time cap capsule the fastest, which is exactly why it belongs. Like this is your floppy disk.

Kendall (53:29.696)
I’m going to go by the letter of what you said, which was one piece of technology. So like I’m treating the technology as one and I’m putting multiple samples of that technology in. So I would put I would I would my technology would be audio animatronics and I would put in a tiki bird and then like

the shaman or Hondo Anaka or, you know, like one of these advanced audio animatronics. So both of those, so that you can see that these two things existed in the park at the same time at this moment in time. And people were enjoying both of them. Like they were both relevant. And how drastically different those

the advancement is in those two pieces of technology to see that this was like this little tiki bird was still satisfying and then we were you know and then I’m assure to be able to see in the future, like, okay, Hondo or the Shaman, that was the most advanced thing they had and here’s what we have now. I I think that would be fascinating to see kind of that almost that whole timeline or continuum.

Lou Mongello (54:40.005)
Time capsule box just got very, very large. It’s a huge box all of a sudden. But I get it and I understand why. so I think we I I and I didn’t do this intentionally, but I think I lucked out by putting a magic band in earlier. This could have been a piece of technology that I put in, because I think this single piece demonstrates Disney’s effort to make technology disappear.

Kendall (54:45.374)
Hey, we’re fitting whole attractions in there, so

Lou Mongello (55:10.223)
Into the guest experience. Like it’s just you don’t have to take out your phone, you just sort of tap and you move on. And it has all these different elements to it in terms of the interactivity and the haptic feedback and and the access to your hotel room and things like that. So in lieu of that, I would put in, and I think this also serves a number of of other purposes too. I would put in a current iPhone with my Disney experience installed. So you can see.

And get access to not just screenshots, but almost have like an offline archive of the app showing how you accessed wait times and maps and mobile ordering and lightning lane options and hotel information and photo pass and all the different plans. Because now that app is not just your map and your planner and your ticket, but your room key and your wallet and your dining reservation tool and your camera and your operational.

Dashboard for your vacation. You, you know, years ago we had an Excel spreadsheet or like a notepad, and now it is the My Disney Experience app, which we know and see is continually evolving and changing and iterating all the time. And I know we’re about to get, you know, another huge update to the app. But what and look, I not to go off on a tangent, I think the way that we interact with our devices is going to be very different 50 years from now. I think people can go.

You actually have to like hold a phone and touch a screen and like have this sort of tactile interaction with this device. I think the way that we communicate and the way we receive information is just going to be very, very, very different. So I think the phone itself will be a bit of a novelty, but I think the way that we interact with the Disney parks and how this app shapes our and personalizes our interactive experience is gonna be very different too. I think it’ll be a fascinating

thing to look back on. As somebody who grew up in, you know, I I was very fortunate I had a computer at a very, very, very young age. Thank you, mom and dad, for my tandy T R S eighty from Radio Shack. I’ve loved watching and having the technology and seeing it evolve. And I think being able to look ahead and they’d be able to look back and be like, this is how they did it in twenty twenty six will be fascinating.

Kendall (57:27.722)
Yeah, I definitely think it would be just because you it’s fun to go back and look at like things like the Internet Archive or the Wayback Machine and see how the Walt Disney World website has changed. Like, you know, what it looked like, how they ch what art stylings they chose, what they chose to include on it, like what was important at that point in time, what you know, what functionality did you have? What I ’cause it you with the My Disney Experience app you can see what was important to people at this point in time. Like dining is important, you know, g

magic band or not magic band, lightning lane passes are important. Like, you know, and th that may be entirely different in the future what people would see as most important from it, you know, whatever type of interactive experience they’re having fifty years in the future.

Lou Mongello (58:10.5)
Yeah, look, man, when you when you opened up Netscape Navigator or Mozilla in a box, your website wasn’t current unless you had like an animated like gif of a little rainbow line on your on your web browser. So like that was like, wow, this is we are like this is the future of techno people like God, Mangello’s really old. It doesn’t matter. I it’s fine. I also tried to think, Kendall, of what is something, what is an item that in and of itself is so representative.

Kendall (58:14.901)
Yeah.

Lou Mongello (58:40.36)
Of today and this time that when we were like, this was so like you can see things now like, that was so 1986, that was so 1977, whatever. So, what is the one popcorn bucket or novelty like sipper that you would put into now that we have this gigantic, you know, box we can put whatever we want in there, but what is the one popcorn bucket? Because I think like I think this might be the thing that they open up.

And it’s gonna make them laugh the hardest.

Kendall (59:13.066)
Yeah, and as I hear you explain that, I’m thinking that my choice probably wasn’t the best choice. Because I because yeah, what makes the popcorn bucket and the sipper such a thing right now is these like ridiculous shapes, r how ridiculously big they are. The fact that like this thing’s huge, but you can only fit like a cup of popcorn in it. Like that we’re just buying it without anything in it and not even using it, you know? I’m I sorry if people do that. Like I I understand wanting to keep things nice. Like I have my own

Lou Mongello (59:16.699)
Ha ha.

Lou Mongello (59:39.984)
Right.

Kendall (59:43.219)
version of that, you know, where you like to keep something safe and nice and clean. But I what I picked was just the classic. Like just the classic round refillable bucket because it usually has like some type of artwork on it from whoever like the most I don’t want to say the most prominent, but

Like whatever style is most in right now as far as like the Disney fine art artists are concerned or the people in Disney products. So like I think the one right now has artwork from Jared Majorama on it.

And it it has been interesting to see how his artwork, the popularity of it has grown over the last decade. So I think just including that bucket would be interesting to see what like what art style was popular right now. And then also they usually feature like whatever attraction was big or whatever like little Easter egg thing was special to people at the time. And so I think like it almost would serve as like a little snapshot of all the parks because a lot of times it includes like a lot of different

characters or it includes attractions from all the parks. So I kinda looked at it at the category as like more representative when really you were probably aiming for like some crazy shaped character.

Lou Mongello (01:01:00.258)
No, I look, I I dig that. And ’cause I think the interesting thing, and I think the reason why this is is I think it’s cool to have this on the list as an individual item, is because look, popcorn’s been part of Disneyland since opening day. Like if you if you look back at some of those old carts and some of which are are still there, like those old creeder carts that had like the little animated clown that was like turning the popcorn and it was just served in like simple paper boxes and it was it was a snack.

Kendall (01:01:22.419)
Mm.

Lou Mongello (01:01:27.694)
It wasn’t a collectible. Like you just ate it and you threw your your box away. And it wasn’t until I guess maybe like the early to mid-90s that Disney started using those plastic souvenir like pails with the little plastic handles and the park and character artwork. And it wasn’t until like 2010 that they had the first fully like developed character-inspired Mickey Mouse ghost.

Popcorn bucket in 2010. That was the beginning of the end, or the beginning of the beginning of this premium popcorn bucket things. And it, you know, from there it’s gone from characters to balloons to trains to Cinderella’s coach and the the zero from remember the zero one from Nightmare Before Christmas that like moved and there’s the Millennium Falcon and Hitchhiking Ghosts, and it goes on and on and on. And

They’re not just popcorn buckets, like they’re toys and collectibles because they have lights and sounds and moving parks and parts and stra like you can wear it like a like a crossbody bag. And, you know, there’s still those returning favorites like the the Mickey balloons and and things like that. And now, you know, they’re a seasonal thing and they’re like the little conna cards, like a new popcorn bucket drops. You probably wanna avoid Epcot that day because the lines are going to be crazy. And I think that’s when

like the insanity got turned up to eleven was back in twenty twenty two for Festival of the Arts when the Figment bucket came out and people were waiting like four, five, six, eight hours for a twenty-five dollar popcorn bucket. Walt would probably love hearing that, which, you know, five minutes later appeared online for hundreds of dollars and were selling hundreds of dollars. Like Disney wasn’t, but the resellers were. But Disney transformed this like

simple utilitarian popcorn container into a limited edition merchandise release. Like it’s part snack, it’s part toy, it’s part purse, it’s part collectible. And then you’ve got that scarcity and a park exclusivity and the social media trends that make this that like the buckets, to your point, are more popular than the popcorn that’s inside. So the one that I would put in there

Lou Mongello (01:03:49.102)
I was first gonna be like, well, whatever one is viral the week that we’re gonna put this, you know, or whatever festival’s going on when we’re closing up the the bucket, which I think would sort of define this moment. But I think, you know, I think the Figment one, the one that kicked off the phenomenon, in his purest format, not the ones that people, God bless you for doing this, that took home and bedazzled and put them up on Etsy, like and I’m and I’m

not making fun at all because this is pure Disney fandom in its most pure, in its silliest form. And I think that’s, you know, we laugh on it and it’s and it’s fun and it’s funny. It’s a clever, but I think that’s what it’s all about. And I think that’s why I want to include the popcorn bucket. So for me it’s gonna be figment.

Kendall (01:04:37.225)
Have you ever bought a popcorn bucket? Like other than the traditional bucket?

Lou Mongello (01:04:41.825)
I have not ever bought one to like, I have a lot of extra shelf space. I’m going to go and wear this in the park or put it on my thing. Like I’ve had them before, but I am not a collector of popcorn buckets.

Kendall (01:04:56.117)
I was gonna say, was there ever one that tempted you?

Lou Mongello (01:04:59.617)
I did like the journey to imagination one. And I did and I did like Figment. I like I’m not gonna like there are s and then the you know some of the haunted mansion ones that I’ve liked and I get excited and like, I should buy it. Then I’m like, okay, Mangello, like what are you gonna do with it? Where are you gonna you already have no shelf space, like where are you going to buy? Wait, I tell you know what? I’m a liar. I am a com and I’m I’m an accidental liar because I just looked up and to my right and I take everything I say back because

Kendall (01:05:01.586)
I I like that one too.

Lou Mongello (01:05:28.345)
When I went on the Disney adventure and went into San Francisco Street, which is the place that I hardly ever left, I did end up leaving. And actually, I think they were they were both a gift. So technically I didn’t buy them. They were both a gift from Becky Mankin because she knows how much I love Baymax and Big Hero Six. So I not only have the Baymax popcorn bucket, but I also have the Megabot sipper. And they are up on a shelf dedicated to

Baymax, and there’s a piece of artwork, actually, also from Becky, from the Disney adventure of San Francisco, which I love. So there you go.

Kendall (01:06:07.861)
Yeah, and I like that. If like I was really tempted by the carousel one that was a Disneyland, I think, earlier this year, ’cause I really like the art styling on it. So they are kind of neat. If you’re yeah, if you’re not like I would never have hundreds of them ’cause I just don’t have space for that. But I do like the idea of like if there’s one iconic attraction and you can almost use it as like a statue on your shelf or something.

Lou Mongello (01:06:16.323)
Yeah. Yeah. Just don’t be

Lou Mongello (01:06:28.835)
Yeah. So I’m gonna ask you. Yeah. So we were talking about this beforehand. I put one thing on the list, because I sent you a list in advance. I wanted to give you time to think about it. And I was like, I I wish there was a way to somehow like quantify and demonstrate like one tradition. Like not something you can hold, like it’s this thing that you do. It’s just like ritual thing that makes a visit a visit. And I was like, Well, no, you can’t put that in there because it’s it’s not a thing. It’s not something you can necessarily

represent and everybody’s tradition is different. But in case you happen to come up with one, I did not want to sort of take that away. But I could not come up with an answer that I was satisfied that would sort of represent traditions of of a lot of people other than just myself.

Kendall (01:07:14.344)
I came up with one and it came from a place of like how how will technology change in the future in relation to the way that we capture our memories and because it’s a big thing for me and my family. I love having photos. I have the photo albums from

like the photos from my family from our very first visit in nineteen ninety one. I have all of those still up through and I I still print photos from our vacations. I just recently switched over to printing photo books just ’cause I was running out of space for all the like individual photos. But I like having those you know, that tactile photo to pick up and look at. And so it’s a big deal to me to take a family photo. We usually do one on we get a really good one on Main Street and a really good one somewhere at the resort that we’re staying at. And

And so I guess that tradition, just the tradition of taking a family photo, because so many people do it. It’s why we have photo pass photographers. And I just wonder in the future, like, will we still be taking like will we still be printing photos? Will be s will we still be even taking photos in the same way? Like, you know, I would say like, you know, decades ago the franchise that will not be named down at Universal had moving pictures in the books and the movies, and that was wizards and that was magic. And you know, now we actually have

that capability of taking live photos and making gifs and keeping short form videos on our phones, like w will that be the same thing, fifty years in the future or you know, like you said earlier, will we just have like some type of snapshot in our brains, you know, some kind of crazy memory where we just photo photo memory in our heads.

Lou Mongello (01:08:55.011)
Yeah, I’m sure the people that used to go to Pleasure Island and you used to be able to record yourself singing karaoke and get a VHS tape of it, they’re probably like, yeah, we’re always gonna do this. Like this is always how we’re going to like sing songs together. The only thing I could think of, and I know it’s not a tradition for everybody, but maybe it it almost kind of sort of should be. And it’s it’s a simple thing, it would just be a first visit.

Kendall (01:09:18.559)
Mm.

Lou Mongello (01:09:19.501)
I think it’s a it’s a simple, it easy, free thing that you get that represents so very much. So that would that would be mine. the one thing that I’m I’m very curious to hear your answer for is because this one I I’m not sure if this was difficult or not. It’s one thing that’s endangered. And it’s the one thing that you love that you can honestly look at and say, this might not be here.

in fifty years. Like it has to be here today, and that’s the rule, but you’re putting it in the box specifically because you’re not gonna be sure that it’s gonna survive. So what is that endangered thing that you’re protecting by putting that or that memory that you’re protecting by putting it in the box?

Kendall (01:10:08.063)
Some people might think I’m crazy and I’m not, I I don’t have any inside information. I have not even heard rumors to this effect. I’m just qualifying it. But it might not be so crazy to think that it’s a small world is endangered in the future. I d and I said earlier, I told you that song is my heart. I love It’s a Small World. I love both Disneyland’s version and Walt Disney Worlds for different reasons.

Lou Mongello (01:10:29.966)
it’s a small one.

Kendall (01:10:36.169)
But I think because Disneylands is the original and Disney World’s is not and Disney World’s Walt Disney World’s version has a big footprint in very valuable real estate that it doesn’t always command the longest lines, it doesn’t always draw the most not gonna draw lots of lightning lane revenue. And so if things come down to business decisions, I’d I don’t

I don’t want this to happen, but I think it’s possible that it could go away. And so I I want to save it’s a small world because I think I if if you can’t be

childlike and innocent and like you said earlier, it’s it’s peace, it’s togetherness, it’s hopefulness. Like I’m sorry, but that is for all generations and it should be in every Disney park that is possible because it’s a message for everybody and so I w I wanna protect it.

Lou Mongello (01:11:38.604)
Even know you anymore.

Kendall (01:11:40.467)
I didn’t I didn’t say I won it!

Lou Mongello (01:11:43.407)
Kendall wants to, I’m writing this down. Kendall wants to remove it’s a small word. Richard Robert, I’m sorry for No, I know what you’re saying. I I know what you’re saying. I it’s I think it’s blasphemous to think that I mean the people that chained themselves to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride back in the 90s, get those those shirts and and handcuffs back out because you can’t, you can’t remove it’s a small. I did not think so I I thought much simpler than that. That would be devastating. My god, the internet would.

It’s collective marbles. for me, and I think we’re starting to see this now, which makes me sad because these have been always things that I’ve collected and I’ve always brought home on trips. And like when I go to overseas parks, I love to get these and bring them back for friends and members of the of the WWE nation and stuff like that. And it’s the physical park maps and the printed materials. So I would put in a complete set.

Of 2026 park maps and guides in the capsule. And look, I I get it. An app is very efficient, and it’s cost effective and saving trees. I’m I’m all with it. But a paper map is is not just a souvenir, like it’s an artifact. It records like the geography and the branding and the language and the sponsorships and the attractions and the designs, like all in this one.

piece of paper, like all in this one exact moment. And I have binders and buckets and buckets full of Walt Disney World ephemera and park maps going back to 1971. If you look behind me, I have one framed on my wall because I just dig them so much. And even like when I go overseas, like sometimes I’ll get ones that are in English so I can actually read them, but I’ll get ones in the language of of the country where the attraction is because I want to see

and and keep for myself that little recording of that piece in time. And ’cause then it’s fun to go back and look at be like, like this is what Walt Deswood looked like in 1974. Look how different it was. Look at the clothes that they were wearing. Just look at even like the nomenclature and things like that. so without a doubt, park maps and and printed materials go in our our time.

Kendall (01:14:06.217)
When you said something you know, like something smaller and like that you collect from different places, I my my brain was going to something that actually is probably really in danger that I didn’t think of until right now. But press pennies. Like, if pennies go away, we’re not gonna have press pennies anymore. So that I that that’s probably less triggering than it’s a small world. So like you can retract my previous statement and we’ll put in press pennies. It won’t it won’t make people feel as bad.

Lou Mongello (01:14:19.613)
yeah.

Lou Mongello (01:14:26.606)
Right.

No, it’s too late now. Candle’s like, can you just delete that whole thing about no, no, I get it. It is a legit look, you know, and we’ve seen it nothing is untouchable, right? Frontierland Magic Kingdom, I’m looking at you. Nothing is untouchable. So I get it. You’ve heard me talk about cast members a a number of times because that because of of just how important they are. So

Kendall (01:14:35.733)
No, I i it’s a fear. It’s a fear.

Lou Mongello (01:14:59.106)
I would also want to include one cast member story. Right? I I think you can’t explain to the future Walt Disney World today without the people who make the magic happen. So do you have like either it’s your own cast member moment or a story that you’ve heard that’s stuck with you that 50 years from now, people go, see, this is it. This is the reason why we come and come back and move here and love this place so much.

Kendall (01:15:29.918)
I do, actually. and when you said something earlier about the cast member photo and and people from all different backgrounds being in the photo and I said I I’d probably come back to that. And this experience goes along with that and I think it’s very fitting for a time capsule for right now because with COVID there was a shutdown and as a part of that all of the cultural representatives had to go back to their own countries. And it took a long time for them to get to come back and that was a that was a loss.

And like the idea that maybe they don’t come back, you know, like that would have been a serious loss for for Epcot, but especially the one I’m gonna mention was over at at Animal Kingdom Lodge. And I would encourage anyone, if you have not spent some time over there, like they they do a string of memories project that or activity at like

series of presentations that you can do throughout the day and they don’t take long. And it gives you an opportunity to meet so many cast members from different backgrounds, different countries from, you know, Uganda and Kenya and Ethiopia and Niger, like and we met a woman named Kim at she did several of the present I think she was at three of the different presentations over the course of we we actually went and stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge just so that we could enjoy the resort for one night and do these these string of memories.

and the one that she did in the morning was called Flamingo Behavior.

And my family was the only one there because it was first thing in the morning and most people were off at the parks, but she presented that presentation the same way that she would have if there was twenty five people there versus just the three of us. And then when she was done, she told us about her home country, about the nature resort that she used to work at there, about the elephants that would be walking amidst the resort. And it was just a really neat experience for us to meet someone from this other part of the world, hear what her life is like.

Kendall (01:17:27.24)
hear about her experiences working there in Central Florida and also just to recognize that a few years prior to that that wasn’t possible, that they weren’t able to be there. And so to capture and maybe in the future that might be the case too. Who knows what might happen in the world where there may be

certain countries who aren’t as friendly with us or, you know, other situations that prevent people from being able to come here and work in the parks and resorts. And so just being able to capture the fact that they were a part of the resort, an indelible, important part of it.

Lou Mongello (01:18:01.621)
I love that. I I love that and I love this I love this this question and prompt because I think we all have one. I think we all have a story. I I have, I mean, there’s a lot and then there’s there’s I’m gonna to tell two very abbreviated versions of longer stories. And I tell these a lot. So I do a lot a lot of presentations to like corporations and businesses about the Disney Disney difference and leveraging lessons from the parks on customer service and customer experience and two.

Of the many stories that I tell, I think are are some of the most powerful, is one, there is a family that’s walking into Magic Kingdom. There’s a uniformed security guard that as they come in pulls them off to the side. You know, there’s that tree sort of that you can sit around on the right hand side as you’re approaching the train station. And he calls the family over, and the mom and dad are like, Look, what’s going on? Like, hey, Johnny, what did you do? Why why is security stopping us? And he goes over to the little girl who is in her Cinderella dress and he says, You know,

I’ve been waiting for you all day. And I still get like choked up when I tell the story. I’ve been waiting for you all day. And he reaches behind him. And mom and dad think like he’s reaching for the handcuffs. He’s like, what did you do? Like, and he pulls out an autograph book and he goes over the girl and he says, Cinderella, can I have your autograph? Well, like, mom and dad are crying. The little girl’s like, my God, I I can’t believe it’s like that memory that that security guard created for that family is not only going to stick with them forever, but it’s gonna be the story that they go.

And tell and pay forward to other people. That’s the reason why we go back. It’s not because of the new attractions or the new popcorn bucket. It’s because of those moments that we want to create or recreate and have those same feelings for our families. Like that kid is never gonna forget that. She is going to tell her kids, and that story is gonna be passed down generationally. And that that family and the people around them are going to carry that with them and I think become lifelong fans. And two,

at Crystal Palace one morning, a family is eating. one of the the it’s a family four. Again, one of the kids, one of the girls, spills food all over herself and it’s just her dress is a mess. And mom’s like, All right, listen, you guys just go finish breakfast, go out to the park. I’m gonna walk down Main Street, get on the monrail, to go to the bus, to get to the resort to go, and I’ll see you guys in a couple hours. A cast member walks over, who is, you know.

Lou Mongello (01:20:25.273)
is one of the the managers and says, Here’s the story and says, Come with me. Walks them down to the emporium, goes over to the closing section for little girls, tells the mom to pick something out, go into the dressing room and change your daughter, come back out and says, Go back, finish breakfast with your family and enjoy the rest of your day And she says, Well what do I owe you? What a Nothing. Just go and enjoy the rest of your day. That cast member didn’t have to ask to call a manager, ask for permission

Get a requisition slip, worry about, well, we only have $25 to spend. Like that moment that they made and that time that they just brought, that she just gave back to that family is gonna have the same impact and effect. They are gonna tell that story forever. That day’s, that family’s day was completely changed. What could have been like such a disappointing moment for all of them for all the different reasons was turned like that’s what a magical moment looks like. And the fact that cast members

Are empowered and encouraged to do those things, like that’s it, man. Like that’s the Disney magic. Because the couple of dollars that it cost Disney for that dress is going to earn them again, the same thing, like a lifetime. And that’s it’s not about that. It’s just about going above and beyond and exceeding expectations. And I think that’s what cast members do and are and are empowered to do so very well. So again, two very somewhat quick-ish stories.

Kendall, here’s the last one. this is the last thing we are going to put in the box. And this is not necessarily an object. It is a message. And this is a message to future fans. This is a message to the guest or the fan who’s going to open this 50 years from now, in 2075, who loves this place as much as we do and never got to see.

the version that we’re standing in right now. What do you want that person to know?

Kendall (01:22:32.531)
I went with a mindset, more than a you know, a a string of thoughts about what currently is. And I I started out with to all who come to this happy place, welcome. And I would assume that fifty years from now, I hope that people know that Walt Disney said that at that point in time, a hundred and twenty years before.

And i it’s a simple sentence, it’s nine words, but really those are kind of the mission of every Disney park, right? That that it was a happy place, that it is a happy place where we leave our strife and our fear, our concerns outside the turnstiles, outside the tap points, whatever they are in the future, and and then that it’s a place for all. All are welcome. And

I really do think that the people who plan and maintain and serve in those parks that that that’s their aim. Like I think people really truly believe that and want that. And even the ones who are just in the in it for the business, it’s a good business plan. You know, to welcome everyone and to make sure that they’re happy. But I also think that the fulfill the fulfillment of that statement isn’t just dependent on them. It’s dependent on us as guests.

Like, is it a place where we’re happy? Or are we coming irritated or stressed or embittered about something? Like the internet loves to tear things down and that’s the truth now. I doubt in fifty years that it will be different. It might be on a different medium, but you know, the populace likes to tear things down. And I would say we need to choose that happy. And remember that it’s a place that we go to be happy because any day at Disney World

even without Rivers of America or Splash Mountain or Horizons or Mr. Toad or Noodles in Ohana or you know or whatever it is that goes away for a period of time or permanently is better than a day anywhere else. And

Kendall (01:24:31.657)
There’s so many people in and behind the parks working to make us happy, to make us feel welcome and what are we doing as guests to make sure that we’re happy and that other people are happy when they’re there? Are we making cast members feel welcome at work? Are we making first time guests riding beside us who l love whatever character and whatever happy IP happy and feel welcome?

Like the future of Walt Disney World and really any Disney park resides not only with the decision makers but with us. And how happy the place is it’s kind of dependent on how happy we choose to be. So my message to future f fans is go to the happy place and choose to be happy and welcome and be welcomed.

Lou Mongello (01:25:19.492)
Give me a hug. Come like Kendall Foreman. I’m like a little choked up. Listen, I’m a choose the good guy. So this like totally absolutely resonates with me. And I love that. And it’s beautiful. And I I I dig it a thousand percent. I think the the the choosing the good and finding good philosophy is something that we should look at not just when it comes to Disney and changes and noodles and ohana, whatever it might be, but in everything that we do and and it makes you, you know.

think me makes you the people around you overall happier. for me, like I would almost start with like if you’re reading this, like this place made it. Like it lasted, it it lasted long enough to reach you. And I think that means that people who love this place kept on showing up and kept caring it and care of it and passing it down. And like I need you to know

Like we don’t take that for granted. Like we knew even as we were standing in it that this is gonna be somebody’s good old days. And that’s the same thing that that we’re trying to do, which is slow down and notice it and and take it all in and say thank you to the person who is sweeping the street and running the attraction in a hundred and twelve degree heat and double knit polyester. And, you know, when it’s your turn.

Put something in this this metaphorical box for the people that come after you. Like that’s the whole thing. Like that’s how this lives on forever. And I think it really comes down to to four Ps. It’s the people, because as we’ve said numerous times, like the magic isn’t in the castle or a ride or anything inside the capsule. It’s about the people that created the place and the cast members who bring it to life and the people who

we are fortunate enough to to share it with. and it is about community and shared experiences and the people who turn this place into some place that is so very meaningful. I think two, and again it ties into some of the things that we are putting in here, is is about presence. And like this is a reminder when you look at at the phone and some of these devices, like don’t be so busy when you’re here planning and photographing and

Lou Mongello (01:27:44.215)
Posting and trying to experiencing everything like on your device that you forget to be present in the moment that is happening around you, which I think is a challenge for a lot of people who are visiting Walt Disney World and the Disney parks in this very highly connected, very phone-centric driven 2026. I think the last two P’s are preservation and progress. Like honor and remember the stories and the people who came.

before you and protect the things that matter. and also don’t be afraid to create something new for the people that are coming behind you and and the generations that are coming next. you know, it it’s Waltis World should not remain frozen in time. It’s about respecting the history, but also continuing to move forward. And we’re gonna take our two letters and we’re gonna put them in here. And with that,

We are going to seal our time capsule. That’s it. One attraction, one resort, the song, the smell, this short list of things sealed in a box that are gonna stand, you know, for five decades for this biggest, truly the most magical place on earth. And like it’s funny, like I wasn’t sure how this conversation was gonna go and how it was gonna feel like before, during and after. Like I thought this would be like a game about the future.

And whoever digs up this thing in in 2075 and tries to understand us, but it it’s not. It really is about like right now. It’s telling somebody who’s opening the castle like what it is, what it costs, how it worked, how it engaged the senses, and to give them a sense of why we love it so very much. And you know, it this is not about

The version that we remember in the past or that we’re anticipating or waiting for in the future. It exists like right now, like today with the smells that we talked about and the rides that just recently opened. Like that’s that’s the gift. I think that’s the gift in this exercise is is choosing what goes in the box. I think makes us fall in love with what we have today and appreciate what we have today. And I, as always, Kendall, I always appreciate your.

Lou Mongello (01:30:08.465)
thoughtfulness and your insight and your opinions and all the things that you wanted to put in the box as well.

Kendall (01:30:17.883)
And I I appreciated the idea. This is a lot of fun. It it was a challenge, but it was I mean, it was a fun challenge. It was reflective, getting to think about things from the past, getting to think about our current society and culture and how Disney World fits into that and and to contemplate what the future might be like. What what Disney World might look like in ten, twenty, forty, fifty years. I think it’s gonna be really different.

Lou Mongello (01:30:44.671)
Yeah, look, you know, Walt said it. We spent an hour plus proving that this place is never finished. and no day is ever going to come back exactly like this. So make sure you notice it and appreciate while you are still in it. we built our time capsule. Now we want to invite you to build yours or add some to ours. and it, you know, because I think your voice and your thoughts and your items belong in this too. So let me know.

what else you would put in our time capsule. There’s a different ways you can do it. One, be part of the show. Call the voicemail at 407-900-9391. It’s 407-900-WW1. Leave me a voicemail and I will play it on the show. And tell me the one thing you would put in the time capsule to represent today. Just one. Like make it count and I will play some of your answers on a future show. I’ll also post this question over in the clubhouse.

At www.radio.com slash clubhouse. And as always, keep in mind and remember, and I’m gonna keep on using this quote and this line from a subtraction anytime I can. There is always a great, big, beautiful tomorrow, but there is only one today. And right now is the time. Now is the best time to enjoy this very, very magical place. Kendall Foreman, I love and appreciate you so very much. I promise there will not be such a long gap of time between

this show and the next one that we do.

Kendall (01:32:14.995)
I’m looking forward to it.

Lou Mongello (01:32:18.219)
If you go to Walters World right now and eat one thing, what is it?

Kendall (01:32:21.217)
Ooh, I I love a cheese Danish or maybe a crepe or a croissant or a dol a dolp. I mean it’s really hot out, so dollip.

Lou Mongello (01:32:31.773)
It might as well yeah, it might as well be the Dole Whip, yeah, to honor our our time capsule. Maybe I’ll do that. I’ll have to do like a I’ll do a meet of the month at the Dole Whip stand, in honor of our time capsule.

Kendall (01:32:44.925)
That be great. I I maybe could be there. I’m coming down soon. Yeah, yeah, you have to hold it over until I get there.

Lou Mongello (01:32:49.238)
we’re gonna have to make that happen. We’ll have to make that happen. Thanks again.

Kendall (01:32:56.488)
Absolutely.