Hello Disney Fam! We’re back after a rough few weeks for a Christmas miracle podcast! Kelli tells you the best way to celebrate New Year’s Eve at WDW (if you’re brave enough to fight those crowds), and Chris explains how Disney’s magic works to transform the parks overnight during the holiday season.
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For show notes, transcript, and more details from this episode, please visit: https://scfadp.com/season-5/disney-news-12-25-new-years-eve-at-wdw-and-holiday-decor-at-disney/
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All music for this episode is available through a creative commons license. The background music for the News segment was created by Kevin Macleod: Fuzzball Parade by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5044-fuzzball-parade
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Show Notes:
Chris and Kelli discuss updates and news from Disney parks, including changes to mask policies, Genie Plus, and park attractions. They also share their thoughts on various New Year’s Eve celebrations available at Disney World and their favorite holiday decorations and celebrations. Chris expresses skepticism about the timing of these changes and criticizes Bob Iger’s leadership, while Kelli acknowledges the need for corporate accountability but also highlights the importance of affordable transportation options for Disney resort guests.
Outline
Disney podcast, including news and updates.
- Kelli and Chris discuss their love for Disney and their excitement for their upcoming trip to their Disney home at Polly in eight days.
- Kelli and Chris share their enthusiasm for their podcast and appreciate their listeners for still downloading it.
- Chris and Kelli discuss various cities and towns, including Frisco, Texas, Brentwood, California, Punta Gorda, Florida, and Everson, England.
- CNBC analysts predict Bob Iger will return as Disney CEO within the next year or so, despite stock price decline and criticism of leadership style.
- Chris and Kelli discuss Disney’s decision to end the Magic Express shuttle service at the end of 2022, with Chris expressing disappointment and Kelli acknowledging the move as part of a larger trend towards cost-cutting measures.
- Chris and Kelli also discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Disney’s operations, including the introduction of Genie plus and changes to the company’s mask policy, with Chris expressing frustration at the lack of communication from Disney and Kelli acknowledging the challenges faced by the company during the pandemic.
Disney World updates, including new transportation options and park hours.
- Sunshine Flyer offers 1920s-themed bus rides to Disney resorts at $17/adult, $12.50/child each way.
- Chris and Kelli discuss Disneyland updates, including Lightning Lane changes, new sponsorships, and special events.
Disney theme parks’ New Year’s Eve events and updates.
- Chris and Kelli discuss Disney news, including sold-out events and new attractions.
- Chris and Kelli discuss New Year’s Eve events at Walt Disney World Resort, including park hours and activities.
- Kelli provides a rundown of events at each park, including Epcot’s midnight celebration and Magic Kingdom’s fireworks shows.
New Year’s Eve options at Disney Springs, including restaurants and events.
- Kelli recommends the Edison in Disney Springs for its unique atmosphere, entertainment, and food options.
- The Contemporary Resort’s California Grill is offering a 50th anniversary celebration with a speakeasy-style setting and live music.
- Kelli and Chris discuss various food stations at a 50th anniversary celebration, including a chilled seafood bar and wood-burning pizza.
New Year’s Eve options at Disney World, including prices and details.
- Kelli suggests alternative New Year’s Eve events at Disney, including the Edison ($150) and Meza notae at tapa Leno’s ($550)
- Chris agrees that the Edison option sounds good, especially since it’s less crowded than the $700 Magic Kingdom fireworks viewing
- Chris and Kelli discuss Walt Disney World’s holiday decorations, including 160,000 square feet of storage, 350,000 lights, and 1300 trees.
Disney’s holiday decorations and traditions.
- Chris and Kelli discuss the speed and detail of Disney’s holiday decoration setup, including the installation of 100% of Christmas decorations in 3 days.
- Chris and Kelli discuss vintage Christmas decorations at Hollywood Studios, inspired by A Christmas Story.
Disney World holiday decorations and events.
- Chris and Kelli discuss the holiday decorations and projection shows at Hollywood Studios, including the Season’s Greetings show and the Sunset Seasons Vacation Projection Show.
- Epcot transforms into the holidays for three days, with each country showcasing its own holiday traditions and the Festival of the Holidays featuring food and drink from around the world.
- Chris and Kelli discuss Christmas decorations at Disney World, including the Christmas tree stroll at Disney Springs and the handcrafted snowflakes on Discovery Island.
- They recommend resort hopping to experience different Christmas decorations, starting with Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian, and BoardWalk.
CNBC Analysts predict the Bob Iger will return as CEO in the next year
- https://blogmickey.com/2021/12/cnbc-reports-prediction-of-iger-returning-as-ceo-in-2022/
- https://blogmickey.com/2021/12/iger-its-time-for-me-to-have-a-blank-canvas-talks-life-after-disney/
- Orange County Florida is back to highest COVID-19 alert tier
- The “Sunshine Flyer” launches bus service between MCO and WDW
- Genie+ Craziness related to the massive crowds through Christmas Week
- Emergency Vehicles seen driving through MK Main Street USA
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover has a new sponsor
- Façade changes coming to the Tomorrowland Light and Power Gift Shop ahead of the Tron opening
- Disneyland After Dark is returning in 2022
- Changes to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
- Expedition Everest 5K event for runDisney sold out in minutes
- EPCOT confirms New Years fireworkls and Dance Parties – preparations are already underway
- EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival will Launch March 2 – July 4
- Kali River Rapids reopened following refurb
- Another baby white rhino has been born at AK
- Disneyland Paris unveiled newly refurbed Sleeping Beauty castle
- Wine Bar George will soon be opening a location at Orlando International Airport
- All-Star Sports Resort set to reopen on March 31, 2022 – the final WDW resort to open post-pandemic
- Disney Animation announces Thanksgiving 2022 release date for “Strange World”
New Year’s at Disney:
https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/disney-world-new-years-eve/
https://www.visitorlando.com/event/new-years-eve-at-the-edison/18237/
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021/11/21/what-will-new-years-eve-look-like-in-disney-world-this-year-everything-we-know/
Transcript: Coming Soon!
Chris 0:28
Welcome aboard Disney fam. Hello out there Disney fam. It is a Christmas miracle. We are back on the podcast airways. My name is Chris.
Kelli 0:41
And I’m Kelly and I am vertical. And so are you looking at as being vertical you
Chris 0:47
have not fallen down and like, I don’t know we have I mean, I think maybe it’s been 10 days since the last time you’ve I’m managing the stitches in my mouth really well, which I mean, that says a whole thing right there that you’ve got stitches in your mouth,
Kelli 1:00
right? I mean, the bruises on my face. Only make it look like you haven’t hit me at least in a week and a half. But luckily, we’re also wear a mask around town. So nobody sees
Chris 1:10
those bruises. That’s right. That’s right. Yeah.
Kelli 1:12
And your voice is 90%
Chris 1:15
Every once in a while. I still sound like a 13 year old boy. But you know, for the most part, it’s it’s trying to bounce back. So here we are. It is Christmas night and we are doing the very thing we would love to be doing on Christmas night is returning to the podcast. I’m super excited about it. Yes. You’re so excited. You’ve got a Donald Duck Butt on your head.
Kelli 1:39
You know what, honestly, I thought that was sort of perfect. I was like, that’s what I love. The bottom of the stairs twice. Probably what I looked like during dental surgery.
Chris 1:52
So these are these are really like that fuzzy, they’re Donald Duck for it’s like Donald Duck but for head
Kelli 1:58
man is Donald Duck but for and his little tail is right at the top. His feet are upside down. If y’all don’t follow us, check us out on Instagram because I posted a picture of me in these years. Yeah,
Chris 2:08
so it’s like where the Mickey Mouse ears might normally be our donald duck feet
Kelli 2:12
feet upside down as though he is inverted.
Chris 2:19
Like maverick in Top Gun. He was inverted. Right.
Kelli 2:21
Okay. Yeah, it’s really cute. I think I’m one where and when we go in January.
Chris 2:25
Awesome. By the way, we are going to be at our Disney home at Polly in eight days. Super excited. I need it so bad. Absolutely right. Um, so you know, my favorite thing to do is is to find where people are downloading the podcasts and they’re still downloading. Oh, that’s fantastic. Amazing. You’re still downloading. So grateful. Yeah, absolutely. So Frisco, Texas, which is a Dallas suburb, just north of Dallas, Texas, Frisco. Yeah, it’s a fun fun town. Sure. Brentwood, California, East Bay area of San Francisco area there. I feel like we’re blowing up Cisco, how they were blowing up in San Francisco.
Kelli 3:06
We’ve been talking more about Disneyland lately. I can imagine what California who would love us Who wouldn’t love us in California. We’re very reliable. They’re
Chris 3:14
very. I like to say this city’s name. Punta Gorda, Florida. Punta Gorda.
Kelli 3:21
Where’s that about in Florida?
Chris 3:23
It is just north of Fort Myers on the west coast of Florida on the Gulf Coast. Honestly, it looks like an amazing place to live all the all these neighborhoods that are that are just formed by canals there doesn’t mean that all man made but it looks really really cool. Yeah, but still a lot of water views. Yeah, I’m gonna enjoy saying this one to ever Shum, Worcester Shire, England. Oh, no. I think I got that right. I
Kelli 3:49
think you did. I think you nailed that. Welcome, England. Ever since
Chris 3:53
ever shum Everson in Leicestershire, England, is a market town and parish in the Worcestershire district. It looks like it’s directly south of Birmingham northwest of London.
Kelli 4:06
Sounds like the type of place that BBC would stage like a murder mystery.
Chris 4:10
Absolutely right Miss Marple. I’m sure Marvel’s totally been there is solving murders there for sure. Hey, you want to check out what’s on Main Street?
Kelli 4:18
There’s lots of things I know we haven’t done us in a while. Let’s hit it.
Chris 4:21
Hello. I literally had to remove things from the list because it’s old news now. Like that fire they brought all the ambulances and fire trucks onto Main Street right whatever Sleepy Hollow. Creeping. CNBC analysts predicted that Bob Iger will return as the CEO of Disney next year,
Kelli 4:43
next year meaning 2020 to 2022
Chris 4:44
in a week, well, at some point in the year that’s what they’re predicting within the next year or so. They say why just there’s Disney stock prices down a lot since Bob J Peck took over but and there’s a lot of griping in the tour. are diverse. Well, there’s a lot of griping in the Twitterverse. Anyway, I know. But there’s a lot of griping about Bob’s leadership style, shape X leadership style, and some of the decisions that have been made that appear to be mainly for profit or whatever. But you know, is a really hard time to take over, as the CEO realize this was a tough year, I don’t think they had any designs that you know, to come up with things like Genie plus, as a result of COVID. You know, I think these things were gonna come out eventually anyway, but then they had to release them post COVID. It’s a hard time,
Kelli 5:33
man. It is, you know, and I don’t know that. You know, Disney is a business. There’s no designs on anybody thinking that it’s a not for profit company, exactly. People own shares in Disney, they would like for it to continue making a profit and a big one. Sure. So
Chris 5:50
I want you know, corporate accountability as much as the next guy, but at the same time, in any case, like immediately, the next day, Bob Iger was in an interview and, and said that it’s time for me to have a blank canvas. That does not sound like a guy that’s looking to jump back into but doesn’t Disney CEO dumb,
Kelli 6:08
and he is still on the board.
Chris 6:10
I think he’s still on the board. He’s not the chairman anymore. Right on the board. And that’s the whole point of the board is the board. Those people have been there for the most part a really long time. I think it’s probably in good hands.
Kelli 6:22
Right. So they would have voted on things like Genie plus and all that. I don’t know. But chip pack didn’t make that decision on his own. No, certainly not right. Other people were involved in
Chris 6:32
Orange County, Florida is back to its highest COVID-19 Alert tier. Florida, Florida man. So as I don’t know if it’s as a result of that, but Disney has made some changes to their mask policy, regardless of vaccination status. If you’re indoors or in an indoor que you must wear a mask X outdoors, you can still go maskless wear the mask. Yep. So the magic Express ends at the end of this month. 1231
Kelli 7:01
It ends with it anyway. I was done with it. Boy,
Chris 7:04
I gotta tell ya, the Disney Twitter is up in arms. It’s as though they didn’t tell us this was happening a year ago.
Kelli 7:12
Well love the magic Express. I’m gonna have to say it does really position itself as being magical. There are other options, people? I mean, if you’re looking for a free way to get to Disney, sure, yeah.
Chris 7:24
Well, you know, there are people who find it easier because of mobility challenges. There are people that find it better because it’s included in the price of their resort stay and, and the whole I don’t have to worry about my bags. There are things that had us taking it also. Absolutely.
Kelli 7:42
I mean, I’ll just say I think if you can afford a Disney Resort, you can afford an Uber. Right? If you’re trying to save money, you’re not staying on property, maybe
Chris 7:51
at the All Stars or whatever. But maybe you know, I don’t want to sorry, I don’t want to sound snooty. Well, we’re pretty lucky and with the DVC stuff, and we are lucky but they’re replacing it with the sunshine flyer. So sunshine flyer is this is part of a company that has been operating in Central Florida for I think 25 years they did they did special travel around World Cups and PGA golf tournaments and NBA Finals, not mirrors. Get the impression that it was mirrors unless they operate. Okay, but the the idea here is that the bus they do go over and above to create an experience not necessarily the Disney Experience, bus designs and staff dressed as if there are 1920s rail line conductors and engineers. Yeah, the motor coaches effectively serve as time machines offering a glimpse into 1920s rail travel. And and I’ll give them this in celebration of Disney’s 50th anniversary, the sunshine flyer will donate 50% of all revenue, not profits. Revenues are big words, they were there 50% of our revenue of the first 50,000 passengers during the first 50 days of business, they’ll donate half that revenue to make a wish of Central Florida North Florida.
Kelli 9:09
That’s fantastic. How much does it cost?
Chris 9:11
Is $17 per adult and $12.50 per child each way. So it’s not very expensive.
Kelli 9:17
It’s not you know,
Chris 9:19
but I mean it’s not
Kelli 9:20
free, but it’s not free which is what people were up in arms about but ya know, that’s it’s an affordable option for a family of four. Yep,
Chris 9:26
book tickets go to Sunshine flyer.com. So it is Christmas week at Disney as we all know and that means that it is bonafide crazy cakes is bunk with people in the parks. As a result, resort guests are getting or they’re seeing their 30 minute early entry expanded to 60 minute early entry. They they’ve extended park hours to just about every park including Hollywood Studios, which almost never gets a park hours extension. Blue or beats got a park hours extension they did they have downgraded a few attractions from like individual purchase lightning lane to as to be included as part of Genie plus lightning lane and then the get this the single attraction lightning link prices have gone up 150% For all those people that are mad about Disney making a profit I mean they’re just it’s crowd management is its crop manager lightning Lane has got to be worth something.
Kelli 10:30
It does have to be worth something in crowd management you know comes at a price you can’t manage a crowd if you’re not if you don’t have a way to distinguish sections of the crowd. I get that.
Chris 10:42
The Tomorrowland Transit Authority people mover has a new sponsor. Okay. Enterprise rent a car.
Kelli 10:48
Really? Yeah. Wow enterprise. How much did that set y’all back has
Chris 10:52
interesting. Goodness The Tomorrowland Light and Power gift shop. This is the gift shop I think you go through when you exit Space Mountain is getting a new facade makeover. Pre Tron release.
Kelli 11:05
Ah, so Tron Esk are just I don’t know.
Chris 11:08
I’m but I’m assuming it will have something to do with that. I wonder. I wonder if somehow both Space Mountain and Tron will the exit end of that gift shop?
Kelli 11:18
Okay, cool.
Chris 11:20
I don’t know. I’m just guessing. Okay,
Kelli 11:22
that’s very cool.
Chris 11:22
A little bit of Disneyland news. Disneyland after dark is returning in 2022. Three special after dark nights sweethearts night, which I’m assuming is around around Valentine’s Day. And there will be a villains night and a Star Wars night throughout 2022.
Kelli 11:41
So I bet it is Valentine’s May the fourth and October and October. Yeah, Halloween.
Chris 11:47
I bet your I bet I am. I usually as per usual. Usually. There are changes that have been the Indiana Jones Epic Stone spectacular is is live again. Yeah. And I’m happy about that. There had been some changes to the show from pre COVID Not a lot to do with COVID Although heightened safety for sure. So like you know, they used to have audience participation. They bring people in from the from the audience to be stunt people. Right, right. They’re not doing that anymore. Instead, they walked the crowd through recording background sounds. Oh no, that’s fun. That’s fun. Yeah. There’s some other changes the pilot of the plane is female. Now. She is and there’s a lot of safety changes like they’re, they’re not using guns anymore. They’re not using actual swords. They’re using batons when they fight. There was a scene where Indian Marion jump over sort of a flame as they’re running away from the plane. They’re not having to jump flames anymore. That kind of fire. Right? Well, I don’t know if there’s no fire but there’s jumping flying in the path of a performer. No, no. But, but I expected this to be great. The run Disney’s hugely popular exhibition Everest and a couple of other spring events sold out literally within 20 minutes of their launch.
Kelli 13:07
And the runDisney folks are serious about it. And they have they’re chomping at the bit through 2019 and 2020. Yep,
Chris 13:13
Epcot confirmed New Year’s fireworks and dance parties are still on and preparations are underway to get those go. And I think that’d probably be a really fun night. It will be absolutely the Flower and Garden Festival will launch on March the second go through July the fourth okay scheduled. Kelly River Rapids has opened officially over in animal kingdom. We don’t know why everyone down there was a refurb okay, it was a refurb and then it took a little longer to bring it back. Okay, thought another baby white rhino has been born animals. Oh, this is the third baby white rhino in like 18 months and
Kelli 13:47
the same dad right? He gets around was it was the same depth for the first two.
Chris 13:53
Maybe he really in the water.
Kelli 13:55
There’s really handsome fella. I
Chris 13:57
don’t know what this woman’s name is. They usually wait but she’s spunky.
Kelli 14:01
Oh, she’s like are already you’re
Chris 14:05
gonna love this Disneyland Paris has unveiled their newly refurbished Sleeping Beauty Castle. Nice. If it happens for us in May. It will not be covered up. Sweet. Wine Bar. George will soon be opening a location at Orlando International Airport. Oh, that’s exciting. Concept art is online. And let’s see all star resorts set to reopen on March 31 2022. That’s the last Walt Disney World Resort to open up. Okay, so
Kelli 14:35
that was the only one that was still closed. Yeah, I
Chris 14:37
think there. It’ll. I think they were doing a lot of refurb there too. Okay. Yep. All right. So normally, we do a mini take here, but let’s roll right into your tomorrow. Let’s
Kelli 14:46
roll tomorrow and I’m so ready for it. So I’m going to do New Year’s Eve at SeaWorld. We’ve
Chris 14:53
never done that. And it’s just a few days away and it
Kelli 14:56
is chock full of craziness. But I’m going to try to break it down and I’ve got So much to cover. Okay, all right, so first we’re gonna start with the parks. First of all, I’ll just say I don’t think the parks are where it’s at. I don’t think outside the parks is where you want to be, but I’m gonna give you a quick rundown on the park. So first of all, Epcot is open until midnight. Harmonious is at 6:30pm they have ly D live DJs and continuous parties throughout the world showcase like all night last night if you’re gonna go to a park, I think Epcot.
Chris 15:23
I think so.
Kelli 15:24
I think so. There’s an announcement for a celebration at midnight and each pavilion. Right so you literally there’s a countdown each Pavilion and the American gardens performances have had three performances throughout the night. Oh, that’s awesome. So again, I think it cuts the best of the parks just because there’s you’re gonna see how the world celebrate in each of the pavilions, which would be super cool. Magic Kingdom is open until 1am which I think is interesting that Magic Kingdom is open after Epcot. They have the Once Upon a Christmas parade at noon and at 330 and the Disney enchantment fireworks are at 6:30pm their fantasy in the sky fireworks are at 11:50pm Gosh, so that would be cool. A lot of people say the fantasy in the sky fireworks are fantastic. Yes. Hollywood Studios open till 12am. So again, Magic Kingdom to the latest. Hollywood studios they they describe as being low key, not low key,
Chris 16:18
low key, which is a whole different thing.
Kelli 16:21
A whole different thing. All they have is a countdown on a fireworks spectacular. Okay, Animal Kingdom even more low key because it closes at 7pm New Year’s Eve themed food and drinks DJs in Asia, Discovery Island and Dinah land.
Chris 16:37
Okay. So fun.
Kelli 16:38
Yeah, the animals need to go to bed. Okay, so now let’s move outside to Disney Springs. There’s a couple of really cool things happening at Disney Springs. First of all Disney Springs closes at 11:30pm There’s no fireworks, no fireworks at Disney Springs. They have food and beverage carts throughout selling cocktails, beer, wine and small bites. Which honestly, is not really that much different than Disney Springs on like a Saturday. It’s
Chris 17:02
amazing because Disney Springs that little island area where like, Jock Lindsey’s bar is and why Mr. George, that used to be Pleasure Island. And here’s the funny thing. That was a billed as a New Year’s Eve celebration every night. Yeah,
Kelli 17:17
yeah. So again, I think you need reservations. And if you’re gonna get reservations at Disney spring, you got two options. One is Raglan road. Well, I mean, obviously you can get reservations at any of the restaurants but I’m talking specifically cool for New Year’s Eve. Raglan road. Raglan road does two different New Years. So you get two champagne toast. You get one at 7pm for the Irish New Year, and then one at midnight for the US east coast.
Chris 17:44
That’s fantastic. And I was wondering actually ever in Epcot in this country, did they? Well, that would be cool. Well, that’s also for Raglan road.
Kelli 17:53
But here’s where I would go. If I was going to Disney Springs, I would go to the Edison. Now. You know, my love for the Edison runs deep. If y’all have not been to the Edison, please, please go. I love the Edison. The atmosphere is amazing. The drinks are great. The food is great. It is unlike any other restaurant we’ve been to on Disney property, and I love it. So they’re going to have a New Year’s Eve Gala. You can get reserved seating at their bar or at the tables or whatever. I’ve actually there might not be tables at the bar for $150 Plus, I guess depending on where your seats are. Standing Room $150 plus per person standing room only with a 1030 entry and a champagne toast for $25 and up Okay, okay, here’s here’s what’s going on here. This is why you want the 150 ticket. The entertainment they have the sound society radio show, the pearls burlesque trio, ooh, stilt walkers, an aerialist, a DJ and more, so they’re gonna have stuff going on all night for food. You’ve got past appetizers and food stations featuring everything from Buffalo Chicken sliders, Prime Rib crabcakes loaded mashed potatoes, chocolate cake and key lime pie bites. Oh, yeah. Everywhere, right. So you’re just like munching your way through the Edison. There’s a cash bar. Okay, the champagne toast at midnight. Nice. I think the Edison is the place to go for New Years in Disney Springs. It’s going to be epic. Amazing. Epic. Okay. But here’s the one everybody’s talking about. Okay. The contemporary resort. Really? Yes. So they’re doing a special 50th anniversary. New Year’s bash at the contemporary resort. Okay, this is called a golden New Year’s Eve Eve in wine country. At California grill.
Chris 19:48
Okay, up on top. All right. Yes.
Kelli 19:50
So the Napa room is going to be set up as an eclectic speakeasy with a sleight of hand magician walking around. Oh wine and custom crafted cocktails. Nice. The Sonoma room is going to have Mickey Minnie and a baby New Year’s Donald with a DJ and a roaming violin.
Chris 20:13
Wow. A lot.
Kelli 20:15
I don’t know what to think about maybe new year because regular Donald doesn’t wear pants. Makes this baby New Year Donald like is he wearing a diaper? Because I don’t know that I’m okay with Donald a diaper. He doesn’t wear pants in real life. So why would he wear a diaper? Why would you graduate from a diaper? No pants. Anyway, so believe between the two rooms. There are 50th anniversary food stations honoring honoring the legacy of California grill chefs. Oh, nice. I’m gonna give you just a peek at some of the stuff. Chilled appetizer station, a chilled seafood bar. A caviar station with potato Bellinis Bellinis B li n i s Lenise leanness. I don’t know. Clearly cultured here. Smoked beef tar tar chilled golden and candy cane beet salad. A wood burning station as well. I mean, like just a station where they’re burning wood.
Chris 21:20
I don’t know somebody who knows somebody who is cultured out there is drinking their tea with their pinky up thinking oh, these people.
Kelli 21:27
Maybe they’re doing like pizza like wood burning pizza. I don’t know. You’d think they were called a wood burning pizza station. Whatever. Parry go black winter pizza. Duck char sui bow bow. Duck char sui bow. Don’t forget love. Suzie. She station. Maybe we weren’t ready for this. That array of machi. So she me, the girI and a collection of original sushi creations. A height seafood station. I’m only halfway through the list. Gosh, lobster ravioli? planchet seared jumbo sea scallops, seared ahi tuna. Okay, things from the grill and rotisserie. A grilled porcelain. I
Chris 22:19
don’t know what that means is this is all like for the cost of getting in. Just
Kelli 22:23
wait. Yes, we haven’t gotten to the cost of getting in. Okay. Oak fire grilled beef tenderloin with a truffle sauce. Rohan duck breast two ways. Sweet Treats from Disney’s contemporary resort pastry chefs. Five magical bites. 50 years in the making. Banana butterscotch because Volcarona molten lava cake that’s my that’s what I want. Florida citrus cream puffs an ice sculpture. And watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks midnight fireworks from the balcony Are you want to take a stab at this price? 500 bucks a person $700 that has that is what has made the news okay, like everybody’s like, you gotta pay $700 To celebrate New Year’s it isn’t you don’t you do not you do not. But if this if you would like these 50 things to eat at two different rooms to eat them in with Donald potentially in a diaper. Then this is your place. And a roaming violin and roaming violinist a roaming sleight of hand magician. Magician an ice sculpture.
Chris 23:29
I mean, you know what? It costs $700. But by Joe phone, you’re
Kelli 23:36
not phoning it in. I’m gonna give you a few other options. Say if you don’t have $700 You could go to the Meza notae at tapa Leno’s an Italian masquerade at the Riviera. Now this is fun. The DVC folks had to two days to book before everybody else. Okay, that’s cool. That’s fine. You could do that for only $550 $550. I know that contemporaries getting thrown on the bus, but it’s 550 to get into the Riviera. So you know, let’s just keep it real here. Felice and nuevo is a New Year’s Eve party at Disney’s Coronado Springs. That sounds cool. Countdown at the boardwalk Atlantic Dancehall Oh, that’d be a good time. The grand flow is having a New Year’s Eve bashed, brought to you by Nora cruces Port Orleans French Quarter has a countdown it’s really low key mostly for kids. I would say there’s like a glitter activity. And then Wilderness Lodge has like three days of New Year’s. It’s
Chris 24:29
fantastic, man. I’m
Kelli 24:31
going on there. Yes. And so but this is what I would say you know, people are sort of dog in the $700 $700 ticket. Sure. That 150 over at the Edison is suddenly sounding better. So I’m telling you right now y’all don’t sleep on the Edison. Oh, that’s a good one. Not at all. So that’s Aussie New Years to everybody. Yeah, coming back to you before that, but just throwing it out there. can do it at Disney. If you’re totally fine with crowds and you’ve got a lot of money. thing or
Chris 25:00
or spend a lot of money so that you don’t have a big crowds might be the way to go their truth. That’s awesome. I love that they don’t follow it in
Kelli 25:07
though they do not find it in they did last year because of COVID and everything so this year they’re really, you know, go bigger. Y’all did we did?
Chris 25:15
Okay, well, that was awesome. Yes, I’m gonna jump into my world showcase and I’m gonna hit it’s Christmas night. So I’m going to be hitting back on Christmas here. And to sort of talk about my favorite interesting holiday decor details and tidbits at Walt Disney World. Okay, cool. All right. Yeah, we you know, we’ve talked about like, we’ve went into Grand detail before on like the, the gingerbread houses, especially the ones that flow right. Yeah, this is just sort of a broad brush. Things I love to know about Disney holiday decor. So just some general stats, all of the holiday decorations for Walt Disney World Resort and the Disney Cruise Lines and I always forget that they had to decorate those two
Kelli 25:58
right here do they keep that stuff on the boat ship ship on the ship to ship their ship? Oh, sorry, Captain mini their ships to ship. These
Chris 26:08
things are stored in three buildings that amount to 160,000 square feet. And I gotta be honest, that surprising to me. You
Kelli 26:14
see what I’m saying? That we’re not on the ship. That
Chris 26:18
includes 350,000 lights, just for the transformation of Sandy’s castle. The special lights you know which by the way are not they’re not in use. This year. There’s the special of Cindy ice cold lighting displays is not being done this year. 50th a bit probably. Probably because of the 50th they don’t want to run the risk of messing up some of those decorations is just the new projections. You know, they created all those new Christmas time projections last year. Nice. They’re great. They’ve got that projection thing figured out. They do 150 semitrailer truckloads of decorations 300 yards of ribbon and bows which actually surprises me that it’s not more than that. Wow, that
Kelli 27:01
does some love for you got three transfer truck right
Chris 27:04
1300 trees for Walt Disney World alone. Wow. 1300 trees. The biggest of the trees is the bat that sits in front of the contemporary resort which is 70 feet tall.
Kelli 27:16
Really? That’s the biggest the biggest I would have felt the biggest was the one that you see right when you walk into magic kingdom. That
Chris 27:22
one out front of contemporary. It sits like out at the entrance where you drive in. Yes. Okay. It’s a monster. Yeah, well
Kelli 27:29
done contemporary.
Chris 27:30
Speaking of the Magic Kingdom. The maybe the most amazing thing about the holiday decorations is the speed at which things happen because they’re coming right out of Halloween crazy and they go right into hard turn. It is a it’s a hard turn. The Magic Kingdom closes on October 31. And by opening of the next day, they have removed every Halloween and fall decoration and installed a full third of the Christmas decorations including the big tree out front. That’s Crocker’s to me. By November the third. All of the decorations are done and it took 100 cast members dedicated full time to just doing that. Wow. The work actually requires planning the whole year. There’s a full time 40 member team that preps holiday decorations across Walt Disney parks and resorts all year. Well, I believe
Kelli 28:20
it because we’ve seen those specials where they have to like repaint Yes, everything has looked perfect. It cannot look like it’s been storage.
Chris 28:26
That’s right. That’s right. That’d be a cool thing to work on. Yeah, man.
Kelli 28:30
I mean, the talent though. Here. You gotta go repaint every ball on the tree.
Chris 28:36
Yes, sir. But speaking of those lights when they do use them once in his castle, though, it takes eight weeks to install those, MAN Yeah. But I think you’ve nailed it with the fifth you don’t want to mess with that. Yeah. The other thing that just awesome detail that. That that is in play at the Magic Kingdom for the holidays. And over at Hollywood Studios. The first time I experienced this was the Osborne family lights was the snoop. And I love it is so love last Oh my God. It is like I love it. Everybody loves snow at Christmas time. It’s amazing how few people actually get to experience true snow at Christmas time. Yeah, but if you’re on Main Street USA or you’re on Sunset Boulevard at Hollywood studios, and you are there when they’re doing a Christmas anything. You will get to experience this Nope. And
Kelli 29:32
snap at Epcot. No. Oh no. That’s a shame.
Chris 29:36
It is a shame. Yep. So speaking of Hollywood studios, it only takes hosting as well as a smallest Park and it only takes one day to transform it into Christmas. All over again. At Hollywood studios, it’s an interesting way they decided to go this is all about Vintage Decor here. Right. Yeah, it’s it’s
Kelli 30:03
sort of vintage. It really is. Right.
Chris 30:05
You walk I mean, the entrance way. Yeah, it’s very Hollywood glitz and glam. I mean, you know, the Brown Derby is their nicest restaurant. Yes. It’s an oversized nod to real ornaments commonly found in mid century, Midwest America. So we were just watching a Christmas story. Yes. Just in the last couple of days, of course, like we do every Christmas. And it struck me but by the way, all this information I got came from what WW magazine. We tell them all the time, go get it. And and they were talking about where these ideas for these vintage Christmas decorations at Hollywood Studios came from. And when we were watching A Christmas Story and seeing the scenes downtown of the of the decorated windows and the parade characters and all that, I thought, Yes, this is what they have done, especially on Sunset Boulevard and the streets are right when you go into Hollywood Studios. Yep, it is. It is like the polar opposite of what you might find it like Wilderness Lodge. Oh, yeah.
Kelli 31:17
Right. Absolutely.
Chris 31:18
Is kitschy jazzy. Like I said saints from A Christmas Story. Iconic window displays lots of tents. So big, oversized silver and red bells. You know? Something they’ve got a series of decorations that they call noodles, poodles, the pepper poodles, the peppermint crew, Christmas bells, and holiday amps. And these are all little characters in amps that are dressed like in peppermint candy, sort of like outfits and I don’t know, it’s crazy, but it’s awesome. Then, of course, you’ve got the big Christmas balls on like echo that surround a big huge Christmas tree that sits out there in front of right classic. Yeah, it’s beautiful. My favorite thing about what they do at Hollywood studios, though, is the sunset seasons projection show on the Hollywood Tower of Terror, where they make it look like the Hollywood toy hotel instead of the Hollywood Tower. Yes, those
Kelli 32:21
are fantastic. All
Chris 32:23
these projection shows they do their best and then they use snoop on the street while they’re doing it. And there’s actually lasers that shoot up and down the street. So great. Wonderful, Chris. Yeah, and underrated I think yeah, you know, so if you’re in Hollywood Studios during the holidays, do not miss an opportunity to see that. That Season’s Greetings projection show where they can they literally can rename the hotel to be various things. Yes. And my favorite is when the Toy Story gang so that it becomes the Holiday Toy Hotel. Hollywood toy hotel is really cool. Epcot takes three days to transform Epcot into the holidays. And their biggest deal there we’ve talked about it a lot is the festival the holidays, where each country sort of shows off how they do the holiday. It’s just a really another reason to eat your way around the world. The holiday cookie stroll is great. I love the Linzer cookies in Germany. And then as always, the candlelight processional is just, it is absolute Christmas all over again. Shem Animal Kingdom does some cool stuff. Now the first time they ever did anything to Animal Kingdom other than a one big tree at the front of the park was 2019 for Christmas. But starting in 2019 They started adding some holiday celebrations in each land. They recently have added the merry menagerie This is a puppet parade on Discovery island, with foxes and penguins and reindeer like lifesize. Oh wow, right? These things are really cool looking. They’ve always got this flotillas that run through discovery river, but they Yeah, but then they plus those for the holidays including one that lets you wave at Santa pro tip here go hang out on the porch there at Nomad lounge and you will actually see them from the balcony or the from the porch there right as they start their their ride. You’re
Kelli 34:23
eating the churros, you’re drinking the dream. Yes, it’s great mana drives by
Chris 34:28
it’s great. Keep an eye out for Handcrafted snowflakes that are intertwined through the reason garland on Discovery Island. These were made by artisans from the Augusta training shop. This is a nonprofit in Augusta, Georgia that provides jobs to adults with cognitive and physical disabilities. That’s awesome is that it’s great. I love it so much. They celebrate Diwali in Asia and the Asia part of the park. This is a Hindu festival of lights. For those that celebrate and cause So that celebration, a New Year celebration, okay, but they’ve decorated Asia with the lamps and things that you might see during Diwali. Disney Springs. You’ve got the Christmas tree stroll. This used to be the Christmas tree trail but COVID actually had them plant the trees all spread out across the right across. Yeah, so now they turn it into like a game right and there are 20 trees. New trees this year our Nightmare Before Christmas tree Black Panther, Raya, and the last dragon and an iridescent 50th anniversary tree.
Kelli 35:32
Nice.
Chris 35:35
And what’s your favorite resort to get to for Christmas decorations?
Kelli 35:41
Oh, gosh, that’s so hard. I mean, Wilderness Lodge was pretty awesome. When we were there. The other
Chris 35:45
Wilderness Lodge is probably my favorite animal with grand flow if Yeah, it really is good. I was classic. If anybody wants to do resort hopping, I would recommend grand flow Animal Kingdom Wilderness Lodge Polynesian and boardwalk. Yes, absolutely. That’s what I would do in that order. Yeah, in that order. All right, folks. The Christmas miracle as all things has come to an end. We made it. We’re back. We will be back again next week. You know what to do now run out to iTunes leave us a rating and a review or wherever you get your podcasts? Yes,
Kelli 36:20
it really does help and if you’re looking for more things Disney, please visit SCF adp.com. That’s s for Super C for Cali at Fred wholistic a for all Sunday for Disney P for podcast. It is not too late for you to go out there and leave us a voicemail message telling us which is the animal you would be and why we’ve
Chris 36:39
been laid up here for a little while. So you got you’ve had some time here. And I’m proud of you for getting through all of that, that breakout there with you with you. Stitching issues and all that. Hey folks, join us for all the rest of the conversation on the social medias. You can find us on Twitter and Instagram at SCF ADP, the more in the conversation the merrier. And with that, as always, we will see you real soon
