Get ready to unwrap the magic behind Disney World's holiday festivities as we share updates and insights not found anywhere else. Join us and our special guest, Jason, as we explore the return of holiday celebrations at EPCOT, the fresh-off-the-press PhotoPass options for Frozen's 10th anniversary, and the latest hotel discounts and magic band effects. Don't miss our favorite Christmas movie picks and our dining adventures at House of Blues, City Works, and the EPCOT festival.
We discuss the festive atmosphere of Disney Springs, discounted stays at its resort area hotels, and marvel at the unique Magic Band Plus effects at the Christmas Tree Stroll. Plus, get our take on the recent news of Marriott acquiring the B Resort and its impending transformation into a Renaissance.
Finally, we'll reveal the details of the exciting Disney Vacation Club sweepstakes that could see you spending a night in Cinderella's Castle suite. Hear Jason and us discuss a nostalgic trip down memory lane as we reminisce about our favorite Christmas movies. This episode is a jolly mix of Disney updates and holiday cheer! Don't miss it.
Get ready to unwrap the magic behind Disney World's holiday festivities as we share updates and insights not found anywhere else. Join us and our special guest, Jason, as we explore the return of holiday celebrations at EPCOT, the fresh-off-the-press PhotoPass options for Frozen's 10th anniversary, and the latest hotel discounts and magic band effects. Don't miss our favorite Christmas movie picks and our dining adventures at House of Blues, City Works, and the EPCOT festival.
We discuss the festive atmosphere of Disney Springs, discounted stays at its resort area hotels, and marvel at the unique Magic Band Plus effects at the Christmas Tree Stroll. Plus, get our take on the recent news of Marriott acquiring the B Resort and its impending transformation into a Renaissance.
Finally, we'll reveal the details of the exciting Disney Vacation Club sweepstakes that could see you spending a night in Cinderella's Castle suite. Hear Jason and us discuss a nostalgic trip down memory lane as we reminisce about our favorite Christmas movies. This episode is a jolly mix of Disney updates and holiday cheer! Don't miss it.
Festival of the holidays has returned to EPCOT. New PhotoPass options have come to Disney World to celebrate Frozen's 10th anniversary and there's more news about hotel discounts, magic band plus effects and more. And our friend Jason joins us for a second try at talking about our favorite Christmas movies. It's episode 169 of the Mickeyphile podcast.
Scott:They are all available in the description below. Welcome back everyone, including Jason.
Karen:Hey Jason.
Jason:Hey, deja vu all over again.
Scott:Yeah Right, it's episode 169 of the Mickey Phall podcast. I'm Scott, you already met Jason, and with us is my lovely wife Karen.
Karen:Hello everybody.
Scott:So it's like take three at episode 168 for us the one we recorded with Jason, then the one we recorded and put out, and now here we are again.
Karen:There we go, except now we're calling it 169.
Jason:Right, and I have finally watched a taste of that holiday drink. We got a chocolate in these out of my mouth.
Karen:Just had to bring it up, didn't ya?
Jason:Wonderful singer.
Scott:Still having nightmares about the one on the Star Cruiser, and it's been 13 or 11 months. Yeah, I know that was terrible. It was just so bad. So, anyway, good to have you back again.
Jason:Yes, had a fun weekend Did have a fun weekend. It was fun.
Scott:We'll do the quick review. We got great service at, really at House of Blues and City Works. Yes, we did. Yeah, I recommend the cheese curds and the what'd you get Sticky.
Jason:Sticky ribs.
Scott:Sticky ribs.
Jason:Those were excellent, yes.
Scott:Yeah, both of those were good.
Karen:Had a great server.
Scott:And we'll talk about it later when we've had some more stuff. But the three of us went around Epcot and had some festival foods and I didn't have a single thing that I thought was not good. True. For price and taste.
Jason:You know the hit to miss ratio. I thought was a lot better than the previous festival.
Scott:Yes, I read an article written by one of our friends on a site. It's a good thing. We said, hey, let's skip Italy.
Karen:Well cause, we started the other way and it worked out great Plus, it was just not busy Now.
Scott:his review of the foods at Italy was not outstanding.
Jason:I guess there's a reason why you never hear anybody say let's have an olive garden Christmas.
Scott:You know, the thing about Italy has always been I don't know, maybe it's hard stuff to do quick service, I guess. I guess it's never been particularly good and it's always been particularly expensive compared to the other booths. You know, like everything there is like $10, $11 versus Right Price has always been there.
Jason:Which is weird. You know I expect to pay more when I go to, like the Canadian area, because you know that's the steakhouse area. Yeah right, but I don't necessarily expect to pay premium price for ravioli.
Scott:Right, they didn't have ravioli this time. They had two times of fried pizza dough and then I don't know what else, but I can't remember Some kind of pasta thing and I can't remember. Yeah, but anyway, I'm sure I'll try something there before the festival ends. But based on the time we had the other day, I'm glad that was one we skipped. Yeah. Moving on, there's news. Let's do that, okay.
Karen:Santa Claus Meat and Greet is now available during the day at the Gazebo and Liberty Square at Magic Kingdom, and it's during the hours of 10 to five. Obviously, there's little breaks in there. He's not there constantly.
Scott:So that means they kicked Merida to the curb? Huh.
Karen:Yes, they kicked her to the curb during Christmas, unless maybe they moved her somewhere else. I don't know. I didn't see anything about that. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. So, but that's good that way they can. You know, obviously he's available during the party, the Christmas parties and stuff, but now he's available for Christmas during the day.
Scott:I feel like that's every year it is, and that makes sense because it's like you can literally touch the Christmas shop from there. Yeah, so it's a good place for him.
Karen:It is. The construction area in Epcot is getting a little bit smaller as the walls continue to move, as world celebration moves closer to opening. And, that being said, dreamer's Point in World Celebration Gardens will debut Walt the Dreamer statue on Walt's birthday, december 5th at Epcot.
Jason:That's the one that Tony Ann said. Looked like Walt was on the John. Really he was on himself.
Karen:Yes, but now that they've actually showed the picture, he's actually sitting on a big bench. He's not on a stair, so he doesn't really look like he's sitting on a commode.
Jason:Yeah, it's all right. So no uncomfortable conversations with the kids then.
Karen:That's good. No, what they showed it's actually pretty cool looking. He's like sitting on the kind of like a bench and it's got the little hundred logo behind him. It actually looks pretty cool.
Scott:I mean it has to look like the little figurine they're selling, right? Yes, oh, yeah, oh. So he's like okay.
Jason:So they made it look like a bench.
Karen:Yes, and they did it again, did what again.
Scott:There's a picture here, I don't know how, okay, so first picture that I had that just came up is there's the statue of Walt sitting on this bench. He's not in the middle of the bench, you see it. And the reason that matters, and what I was originally trying to find, is there were some pictures yesterday. All right, that's kind of a cool video.
Karen:Right, you can sit next to him.
Scott:You could do that if he was centered on the bench. So there is an Epcot logo, Like in the world, what is it? Celebration area? Yes, and it's a big round kind of like the hub. Right, I wish I could find it real quick, but it was yesterday. So it's like all the Epcot logo is in that huge in that center hub and it's not centered in the circle, even though it's a circular logo. So then they put the Walt statue up and it's not centered either. So at least I guess it means they're just not centering things.
Jason:But yeah, 100 year anniversaries come around all the time. Just get it right next time.
Scott:Did we kind of miss it? I guess not. I guess the hundredth is actually this year, right?
Karen:Yes, 23rd.
Jason:And that's what the whole Wish movie was about. It wasn't at the whole hundred, and that's the whole history of Disney.
Scott:Yeah, kind of the way that I guess you know I honestly still don't know a whole lot about that movie.
Jason:Well, let me give all the listeners a big clue you have to wait to the very end of the credits, because me and the seven other people that were in the movie theater when I went to see it on Thanksgiving only three of us waited until the very end, because they show all of the animated movies in little sparkly forms. So I thought that was cool and I wanted to see if they would like throw their stinkers in there, and they did. They had a little thing for, like Home on the Range and some of the other ones that didn't do well. They went through all of them and if you get through all of that, they actually, at the very end of the credits, show what the whole movie was supposed to be about from the beginning.
Karen:Oh really.
Jason:Okay, yes, okay. Well, that's good, so it is worth. You gotta wait through the end of the credits. Okay. But my little mini quick review could have been a great movie. I think they blew their chance. But the framework of a great movie was there, but it was pretty mediocre, Okay.
Scott:That would go along with the Rotten Tomatoes Remedies. Yeah. The critics hate it. The people who are watching it are, you know, it's fresh anyway. Interesting Green Adam. I know I was trying to find that picture and it's just not gonna happen.
Jason:So Got Houston Fellows a handsome chap though.
Scott:It's a pretty cool guy, seems like anyway Big Disney guy, that's for sure. Yes.
Karen:Blizzard Beach Water Park is closing again for a couple of days closed today, the 28th, and scheduled to oh, so yeah, scheduled to be closed tomorrow, wednesday, the 29th, due to lower temperatures. It is really. It's cold here, I'm cold, and as of right now, it's scheduled to reopen on Thursday, november 30th, but obviously it depends on the weather.
Scott:All right, jason. What was the temperature when you left for work this morning?
Jason:Was it 49 or 39 degrees? I mean noticeably chilly.
Scott:Probably 49, because I heard it was like 44 here.
Jason:I think, yeah, I think it was 49. So I checked and, yeah, it wasn't that bad, but I think it was 49. And I checked my old place, you know date, in Ohio, and it was 29 degrees there.
Scott:Yeah, pass At least we were a little warmer. Pass on that.
Karen:Yeah, I let the dogs outside. Probably around four something, and it said it was 46 on the Alexa.
Scott:The reason I ask is because once you've set the precedent that you're closing it when it's high of 70, then you absolutely have to when you get up in the morning and it's 44. Like now, you have to Right. That makes sense. Who wants to go? Today was miserable.
Jason:Yes, they should take advantage of that. Close it, close all the water fountains and all the slides and all that down. But in nothing but rare character, meeting greets and charge everyone $300 to be there.
Scott:And people would pay it. Yep, oh, they would. I might call in tomorrow and go do it. If they were doing that, I mean, depending on how rare. Yeah.
Jason:I mean yeah.
Scott:I mean, don't give me a stitch in an Elvis costume and call it rare. I mean that's, he's been doing that at the Halloween parties for years now. But like give me you know, give me the hat. Box goes to give me you know, yeah.
Jason:Rating in from the great mouse detective, Did he? I don't even know if they ever made a costume for him, but that would be awesome.
Scott:What's today? 27th, 28th, 28th they got two days to get the hat box goes in. Anybody want to take a bet? Nope, they told us November. Right, I will tell you this. I think they said late November, so they've got that part right.
Karen:No, I think they just said November.
Scott:Either way they got two days, Mm-hmm.
Jason:I think if the movie had done better there'd probably be a little more of an impetus. They get it done, but maybe they'll wait to push it through when they can promote something else.
Scott:I think they just can't get it to work.
Jason:That is possible.
Scott:Yeah, I think it's lighting and I think they just can't get it to work. What, and I don't think it's really necessary for it's actually one of the brightest spots in the entire ride, where they want to put it, for something that is a lighting dependent effect.
Karen:Wouldn't you want to put that in the?
Jason:darkest spot. I really wish they would just go and find stuff from like the original concepts for haunted mansion and give Magic Kingdom its own thing. Find something that you could throw in there that California doesn't have. It doesn't have to be fancy. If it was just something that would be unique to Magic Kingdom, the Disney fans would eat it up. You don't have to spend all this money for something that's probably not gonna work.
Scott:It apparently isn't. They got two days. I mean, I think it was ambitious. It took them what? 11 months to get somebody in a costume. Yeah, you know, actually it was kind of funny Somebody posted pictures of I can't remember what the Disney picture was, but the other one was epic, the other one was epic universe, which were both announced in 2019 and the progress towards the two projects in four years.
Jason:But on the bright side, if they have to fall back on plan B and do like a hat box goes, meet and greet with him losing his head all the time, they're not gonna be mad if he falls down, that's true, he has an excuse.
Scott:I understand why they're trying to put him where they are Right, Because he was kind of for the most of the movie centered in that location. I don't think I'm giving anything away the movie's been on Disney plus for a month and a half now.
Jason:And as the villain of the movie usually the villain in these haunted house type of scenarios taunts you at the beginning, so that makes sense. As far as him being the villain or the place, I'm there, right?
Scott:anyway not that I'm annoyed by hat box ghost and was able to throw that into a lizard beach is closing for two days because of weather topic, but it's my favorite ride at Disney World and you get made us this. You know, I don't wanna say promise or commitment because I guess it wasn't technically either of those, but you said you were gonna do it and looking pretty unlikely that you're gonna do it, Plus the fact that for two months now there's been a sheet in that hallway. You know, take the sheet out, take him out. Try again in 50 years, like you did at Disneyland, Right? Okay, enough of my rant about hat box ghost.
Karen:Okay Wish opens to 31.7 million over the holiday five day opening window. The expected projections were 40 to 50 million. They didn't quite achieve it.
Scott:You went when Thanksgiving day.
Jason:Thanksgiving day me and seven other people.
Scott:Yeah, that's Okay. Well, you went like at two o'clock though, right.
Karen:Okay, it was seven people in the whole theater.
Scott:Eight, including Jason.
Karen:Okay, eight people in the whole theater.
Scott:And you've said that several times, so that's not an exaggeration. Right, like you count on people. It's not an exaggeration.
Jason:Other than I think maybe there might have been a couple that came in after the movie was dark or like a guy and his two kids, so it might actually bump up to double digit 10s.
Scott:Not again. After they paid for, after they watched Twilight.
Jason:Yeah, after they watched the movie they actually wanted to see, hey, let's get a freebie. They'll be like Disney plus, but early.
Scott:Yeah, I don't know why people aren't going to see it. I mean, I don't know what else Disney could have done. Marketing wise.
Karen:I mean it's been all over everything.
Scott:You can't blink in the parks without merchandise in your face.
Jason:And my hopes were pretty high when I saw the previews for it, because I was like oh, this feels more like a traditional Disney princess movie, which I usually enjoy even if I don't love.
Karen:Right.
Jason:I like it, I like it. It is pretty traditional.
Scott:She's wearing Rapunzel's dress.
Karen:And she's using all of Rapunzel's colors.
Jason:Yeah, yeah, and the opening is a direct ripoff of incanto in the opening of the movie. Oh, wow, okay, yeah, I mean the whole thing is a tribute to Disney. So if you like reminiscing about previous Disney movies, you're in luck.
Scott:Okay. I would like them to make way too late now. I would have liked for the 100th anniversary an hour and a half long version of One Man's Dream.
Karen:That would be cool.
Scott:Right, you know the movie. It'll Hollywood Studios. That would be Like make an extended version of that.
Jason:Yeah, I hope that the loyal Disney fans would eat that up.
Scott:They would, yes, put it on today, tuesday, oh, today's Tuesday, dave and Tony Ann are playing bingo tonight.
Karen:Oh Okay.
Scott:Sorry, we're missing it, guys, yeah we're missing it.
Karen:All right. Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels are offering discounted stays through the 2023 season. They're offering up to 20% off best available rates on trips occurring through December 21st. Bookings need to be made by November 30th for discounts to apply. There are rooms at select hotels starting at $99.
Scott:So these are the Drury, the Bee, the Holiday Inn, all those Wyndham Hotels, those hotels Right Way to give us any kind of notice at all. That just means they got a lot of rooms available.
Karen:Yeah, up through before Christmas. Yeah, wow yeah.
Scott:Speaking of Disney Springs Resorts, I saw the other day that Marriott is buying the Bee Resort, yeah, and changing it to a Renaissance.
Karen:That'll be good.
Scott:I guess It'll be good for people that have Marriott points, yeah, which we're quickly racking up.
Karen:We are All right. Magic Band Plus effects have been added to select trees at the Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll. The trees included are the Nightmare Before Christmas Tree in Kanto, Frozen Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the Town Center and Wish. So basically, if you have the Magic Band Plus, you kind of like wave your arm and it does effects. It makes noise and it does effects on your Magic Band Plus.
Scott:Yeah, Lights up the color, lights up the statues. Yeah, that's very cool.
Karen:I think it's really neat.
Scott:It makes me less upset about spending $300 on Magic Band Pluses Right.
Jason:I have a really pretty one that sits in my drawer.
Scott:You know I haven't worn one in the last three trips we've made over there.
Karen:Well, I didn't think about it. Plus, I didn't know about that, but I didn't think about the fact we need it because we weren't staying on property.
Scott:Yeah.
Jason:So, yeah, right, yeah, I like when they do those little extra things like they're doing at Disney Springs, Right, mm-hmm?
Scott:They're doing a lot at Disney Springs right now that Douglas Furs wandering around and the Christmas Tree stroll. They got Santa, they've got all kinds of restaurants. Oh yeah right. All kinds of restaurants have holiday offerings.
Karen:Yeah, so the people on rollerblades and they have Stilt Walkers. So we got to tell Sam she needs to stay away from that and then we got over there Saturday for a dinner reservation.
Scott:We got there about a quarter to eight and surface parking and both parking all three parking garages were closed.
Karen:Yes.
Scott:It was kind of deceptive. The science said Disney Springs at capacity, but that was not true because they were still letting people into Disney Springs. They weren't letting cars park at Disney Springs, Right buses were still coming in.
Karen:You know boobers and lifts the boat from there. Took them.
Jason:My garage was filled, but when I so, I went on to Orange and I did manage to get into Orange.
Scott:Was that Friday, though, or Thursday?
Jason:Thursday, thursday.
Scott:So I didn't realize it was that bad Thursday. Like we parked in the surface lot on Thursday because we knew we were going to that end. Yeah, we had no problem. No, but well I don't know, we had no problem, we got lucky.
Jason:Yeah, but there was a it seemed like 10 minutes after I arrived, like all of a sudden somebody pulled a lever and the floodgates opened. It did, and everyone got out of their turkey comas and headed to Disney Springs.
Scott:You're right About. It was in that 15 minutes between when we got there and when you got there that it really got crowded. Yeah, yeah.
Karen:But Saturday that was. It took a half hour just to get down Buena Vista.
Jason:Saturday I went shopping for stocking stuffers for my, for different people, and I was like, well, if nothing else, I can pick up items and then laugh at the lines as I walk by them and don't wait and out. You know 30 hours and 45 minutes to ride the slinky coaster or whatever else. Right, no right. Okay.
Karen:Okay, guardians of the Galaxy, cosmic Rewind Holiday Remix was not returning this year at Epcot during Festival of Holidays.
Scott:I don't think there was any uproar for that. To return.
Karen:No, I think if they had actually done Christmas songs, it probably would have been more of a hit.
Scott:Christmas songs of people made.
Karen:Right Instead of a made up Christmas song.
Scott:Yeah, that nobody had ever heard before, right.
Jason:They play like the Kevin Bacon song. Is that what they did?
Scott:No, it was Run Run Rocket by who Knows who. Yeah, it was like Run Run Rudolph, but with different words. I mean, I guess the idea was look, we made an original song for Christmas but they kind of didn't, and you know, they had to pay for the rights to change the words of that song. They might as well just put the song yeah, Play like Fairy Tale in New York. I mean, well, I'm sure there's a radio editor of that song somewhere out there.
Karen:Right, and they already added six songs. That they-. There's some Christmas rock songs, yeah.
Jason:You got. Christmas is a Time to Say I Love you. By Billy Squire.
Scott:There's a whole album called we Wish you a Metal Christmas. Yeah, that's like Dio, and you know.
Jason:The sister guy did one. Mm-hmm. He Snyder did a Christmas one. Yeah, yeah.
Karen:There's plenty of them that would fit with that.
Scott:I think Ronnie James Dio did. God Rest you, mary, gentlemen.
Karen:Yeah. So there you go. And to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Frozen, new photo ops have been added at Walt Disney World Resort which you can capture with the Disney Photo Pass Service. There's obviously the ride photo on Frozen, but they're at the Noray Pavilion. There's two different scenes that you can do At the Photo Pass Studio at the Disney Springs Marketplace. They have two different ones. There is five Frozen magic shots around Disney World at several of the different parks and there's two Disney Photo Pass lenses that have been added to my Disney experience. I think it's kind of neat.
Scott:Yeah, very cool.
Jason:Little extra has always helped.
Karen:I'm sorry.
Jason:Having little extra has always helped. Exactly yes, exactly. Anything that personalizes your trip for the people who only get to go every so often, or whatever, it's always nice to have something you can point at and go hey, that's the year we did something unique, right, right.
Karen:And the Photo Pass Service is really nice and they add the magic shots and things like that. I always like those little magic shots. Yeah, we had a really cute one this weekend at the Tree at Epcot.
Scott:Yeah, with.
Karen:Yeah, we had, it was two different ones.
Scott:I looked at the picture once. I think it's Dale.
Karen:It was Chip and Dale. There was one on our shoulder and one in our hand. Oh, I didn't even see that I just saw one on the hands and then the mistletoe one. It was two different ones. It was really cute yeah very cool. Yep, there's a tiny bit of DVC news.
Scott:There's another bonus incentive add-on or for adding on at Riviera. Beginning today, the 28th, current members adding 150 points or more for Disney's Riviera will save an additional 1000 off the total purchase. This incentive is fixed at $1,000 per contract and does not increase with a larger add-on purchase. It's combined with the current per point discounts announced at the end of October Don't know if I'm in front of me, but who cares. So if you were adding 150 points you'd actually save a total of $35.50 or $23.67 a point, so a total of $3,550 or $23.67. Current base price is $2.17,. So that knocks it down to whatever $194. $93. And change, yeah, three and change. You also can still take advantage of the magical beginnings and sell your first year's points back to Disney for 20 bucks each. So theoretically you could go to them at 173 a point. I saw today a contract sale resale at Riviera, for I believe it was $130 a point. It might have been 134. Wow.
Scott:But buying direct you don't have restrictions. If you buy that resale contract, you only get to stay at Riviera. Dvc has also launched an incentive for Saratoga Springs. Current and prospective members can save 20 per point off the standard price of 205 purchases of $150 or more 150 points or more. And there's another Stay Magical. Sweepstakes winner this one, or Sweepstakes event this one you get to spend a night in Cinderella's Castle the suite. The grand prize is a six day stay, which is four nights in a one bedroom at Riviera and one night in the castle suite. Also includes five six day park hopper tickets for the winner and up to four guests. Includes flight and round trip airport transportation for an approximate retail value of $15,488. I'm gonna tell you right now you had better put me in the Cinderella suite the last night, right, not the first, because I do not wanna stay there and then go to a little one bedroom at Riviera.
Jason:I have to. Well, no, I would wanna stay the first night there, because then the rest of the time I'm at Disney, I'm just gonna walk around and brag to every single person I come across. Oh, did I mention I stayed at the Cinderella suite last night?
Scott:But if you do it the last night, you do it the last night like you can walk up to the people that are checking you in for the Cinderella's Royal Table and go oh, I'm not here to check in. I actually was just kind of scouting out how I'll be getting up to my room tomorrow. It goes both ways.
Jason:And of course if you did the first night there, it would be the problem if you had kids and say you were staying at a place that wasn't nearly as nice, but I still would be like stopping by every food booth at Epcot. Did I mention I stayed?
Scott:at Cinderella.
Jason:Castle last night.
Scott:Excuse me, do you have discounts for people who stayed at the Cinderella suite last night?
Karen:Well, actually, shouldn't it all just be included, because I stayed at the Cinderella suite last night, right?
Jason:Because Wiener-Schmidt told us pretty good, almost as good as what I ate at Cinderella's Castle last night.
Karen:When they brought it up in the room service. No, just kidding.
Scott:Yes, hey, you know what would suck about staying at Cinderella Castle? Because it's never gonna happen to me. I have to look at the negatives. Okay, I bet you can't order Uber Eats I probably can't, but there is a subway like right below it, so there's that going for you.
Karen:I don't think it's open 24 hours though.
Scott:It may not be, but you know what?
Jason:There are people in that park 24 hours and they gotta eat, right, yeah, just saying you can't complain about anything If they get anything wrong in the suite, or you can do call A I was keeping it in and get my bed right. Oh really, yeah, we'll put you in the other Cinderella royal suite then. Oh wait, there isn't one. No, no.
Scott:Okay, I'm gonna join that. I'm gonna put you guys on hold. I'm gonna go under that sweepstakes now.
Karen:I already did. I haven't yet I know.
Scott:So anyway. So, jason, we're gonna try this again, man.
Karen:So what is it we're gonna talk about again?
Scott:At this point, our favorite New Year's movies.
Jason:Well, we are in the 2020 for Christmas season now.
Scott:Yeah, yeah, exactly, oh it officially. Yeah, it officially. Is there a Halloween coming up. I think it's lap.
Jason:I think it's lap the next year's holidays by now. I've heard Bikki's, not so scary.
Scott:The first party will be February, president's third year weekend, no it'll be the second week of August, as always, I know. They've got to get past fourth in July Exactly.
Karen:Well, no, for me July 7th pretty much starts Halloween for me.
Scott:Yeah, when we get back. Yeah, that's true.
Jason:They could somehow figure out how to do Bikki's not so scary as American celebration of Halloween and independence.
Karen:I still can't believe I haven't put anything up for Christmas in the yard, yet we haven't been home.
Scott:Well, you've been home the last two days, but yeah, but I need all the stuff cleaned up out of my yard first, before I put all the stuff.
Jason:I can tell you though as somebody who's truly a Disney fan. I have my own frozen celebration going on in my four foot tree in my classroom. It sings, you know it sings Lost in the Woods, my little Kristoff ornament.
Scott:So I do have one other Disney Vacation Club thing. Okay, so today, when the podcast comes out, november 30th, member accounting will be closed for a training session from 1130 to one Member. Online booking tool, online banking and payments of annual dues will still be available. Anyway, just came up when I was trying to find my sweepstakes to enter. Yeah, I have noticed that they actually do a lot of training things for DVC.
Scott:They do for DVC and it's. I feel like it shows the small number of people who actually must work those phones that you close the entire department for training. Well, they don't do it for them.
Karen:They do it for like four hours, an hour and a half yeah.
Scott:But that's not. My point is, when we worked for Verizon they took, you know, two teams at a time and wouldn't even a floor. Right. But Disney does this often, which means they can't have that many people working the member accounting Right.
Karen:But I will say and when I call, I at least do we get consistent information from them when we do call 99.9% of the time, unless you're calling to find out exactly what the rules are to get to Bailey. Yeah, Top of the world.
Scott:Because you got three different answers in that phone call.
Karen:From the same person.
Jason:Yes, that's good to get some consistency. Yeah, I mean, back before I moved down here, calling the Disney regular vacation services was like some weird form of Russian roulette. Yeah, you're just hoping that the barrel landed on a competent cast member.
Scott:That is absolutely true. Yes, so here's what we didn't do last time. What so, jason? We know you, a lot of our listeners know you, but I don't think everyone does. So you are a fairly new Floridian. When did you move down here?
Jason:We're down here at the end of July. Okay, when it was hotter than the surface of the sun.
Scott:Yes, yes, it was.
Jason:I wondered if I made a horrible, horrible, horrible mistake at that point. Then I took a ride on the skyliner and everything was okay.
Karen:Oh, there you go Right.
Scott:That's what happens. You know that thing is very, very comfortable. I don't know how it'd be in the rain.
Jason:I wanna find out.
Scott:Yeah, what other? Now that you?
Jason:said that that is not my new, next, my new life goal.
Scott:Well, you should have no problem here in the next couple of weeks getting that done. It looks like we're gonna get more rain this winter than we got all summer, so you live basically at Disney, right? What'd you say? You're like 10 miles from animal kingdom.
Jason:Yeah, I am less than 10 miles from animal kingdoms Cause whenever I search up, you know, barbecue near me or ATMs near me, it will pull up stuff. It'll pull up for all the parks, but it'll pull up as like close the animal kingdom. But yes, I am in the area where four corners Davenport, champions gate all meet.
Scott:Yeah, I did that the other day because we were staying at Flamingo crossing and we were looking for somewhere to go eat and I put in you know restaurants near me and I got animal kingdom Disney Springs Upcot. I'm like, that's not what I want.
Jason:I've learned the names of a lot of places. Yeah, you gotta start figuring out, looking at and seeing what the street address is or if it has a name that sounds Disney-ish.
Scott:Yeah, right, yeah, don't go for anything on Buena Vista For sure.
Karen:Yeah.
Scott:So you were from Ohio, so it's gotta be a little different.
Jason:Southern Ohio.
Scott:Like you said, it was 29 this morning there. I mean, it was yeah.
Jason:And it's milder in Southern Ohio than it is and like up in Cleveland or any of those areas, but it's still a pretty good, pretty good change.
Scott:Yeah, sure, sure. So all right. Well, this episode, which has taken way longer than it was supposed to to get out, couple of weeks ago, you know, the joke was made about Die Hard, and then it just kind of morphed into okay, next week we're gonna do top five Christmas movies. And then we were with you like that weekend and I was like, hey, come on and we can all talk about it, right, and then we recorded an episode and I have no idea when I hit end the Zoom meeting and it was lost.
Scott:It was working on converting the file and I walked away literally to get a drink because we'd been recording for an hour and a half two hours, mm-hmm. And when I came back, it was done and I tried to open the file and I had three audio files that lasted one second. Yippee, no idea what happened. I proceeded to spend an hour online trying to find out how in the hell do I get my files back? And yeah, you don't is how that works, because I don't record to the cloud and maybe I should, but it's not an option because I'm not using my own Zoom account, so I'm using my school Zoom account for this. Yeah, so we lost that episode. So here we are again doing the episode that was supposed to go out last week. Right?
Karen:So it's top five Christmas movies. But then you can have, you can have honorable mention, but not a 18 of them.
Scott:Like I said, we're not doing the Lube on Jell-O-Roll of top five movies and Mike 10 honorable mentions Right, and it doesn't have to be. This is a completely subjective list. There needs to be no fact. There needs to probably be some defense or at least explanation. But it's not. These are the best five Christmas movies ever made, because that's a whole different discussion. No, Individual top five. What are the five you have to watch at Christmas? Yes, so that's where we're headed. Who wants to go first? Not, it it Okay, caryn's it.
Karen:Well, cause, I'd mentioned mine at one point already. You did yes, so and mine are in a particular order.
Scott:And let's give a, you know, like short synopsis for people who short, like short short for people who may not be familiar with all of our choices.
Karen:Yes, I have to give a synopsis of the movie Like okay, you're number one.
Scott:My number one is it's a British movie about that happens actually over the course of an entire year, but it ends at Christmas.
Jason:Right and it's about a bunch of couples, the whole elevator pitch.
Scott:Yeah, it's about a bunch of couples and families dealing with love and loss and love, old love, right, you know?
Karen:whatever, and it's called love actually.
Scott:There you go.
Karen:It's 20 years old this year.
Scott:Yeah, Crazy huh.
Karen:I know.
Jason:Wow, really. Yes, I'm going to go cough up some dust. You know what that?
Scott:means Caryn Knightley is almost middle age, she's almost 40.
Karen:Yeah, cause she was 18 when the movie came out.
Scott:Right.
Jason:Wow, that's kind of creepy Right.
Karen:So, but I don't when this movie comes on, literally, I can turn on TV. If there's three and a half seconds left, I'm watching it. If there's an hour left, I'm watching it. It doesn't matter how, where it's at in the movie. However, I have my five movies kind of on repeat. So love actually is the first one. The second one is, which everyone should know this, I don't even need to give a synopsis of this one it's the Santa Claus.
Scott:Yeah, I think, I think everybody's familiar.
Karen:So there's the bad elevator pitch. Yeah, the Santa Claus.
Scott:A toy salesman looking for more power Accidentally kills Santa Claus and takes his place.
Karen:All right, and my third one. It's I mean it's scrooged, but it's the Bill Murray of you know version of Scrooge the Christmas.
Scott:Carol.
Karen:And he's great in this part. I just love it.
Scott:That was maybe Bill Murray at his finest.
Jason:Was on top of his game at that At least at his most.
Scott:Bill Murray, how about that?
Jason:Yeah, he hadn't started the new quirky movie guy roles that he had he kind of adopted later, which by the way, I love Like I will watch anything by Wes Anderson.
Scott:anything by Wes Anderson and Bill Murray is in almost all of those.
Jason:Yeah, yeah, he is like his muse, yeah.
Scott:I'll tell you the one that really just shocked me. It was lost in translation, but not not a Wes Anderson movie. Scarlett Johansson, directed by Sophia Coppola Her first movie, but he was a serious role. Like he wasn't funny in that movie at all.
Karen:No, I watched it thinking he was going to be funny.
Scott:No, it was not a Bill Murray movie. Bill Murray was just in it.
Karen:But, but this is classic Bill Murray, like good classic Bill Murray.
Jason:With one of the catchiest theme songs ever recorded by any human being that any Lennox version of put a little love in your heart.
Scott:Oh, yes, it was fantastic oh that song will not get out of your head Speaking of which, speaking of people at the top of their game when that movie came out.
Karen:Okay.
Scott:Any Lennox.
Karen:Yeah, yeah.
Scott:I mean honestly that probably was the peak of her career but yeah it was just the All around good movie.
Karen:It was just a good movie.
Scott:Ask me any movie Jaws. That's a great movie All right. I'm going to have to cut that part out, because there's no way that that movie is acceptable in company anymore.
Karen:What.
Scott:Crap, the one where Johnny Knoxville snuck into the special Olympics, oh yeah. And the one guy knew all the movies. He's asked me any movies Like okay Jaws, that's a great movie.
Karen:I can't remember what it was called. I can't.
Scott:Yeah, the ringer.
Karen:The ringer. That's it, okay, all right. Number four, which doesn't require any explanation either, is Elf, which is also 20 years old this year.
Jason:I've only seen once.
Scott:Oh my God, I saw it 20 times this weekend because it was on Friday, 24 hours on TVS or TNT.
Karen:I think it was TV.
Scott:I can't remember which one. We literally put it on in the last five minutes of the movie when we got back from dinner.
Karen:Yeah, and it just kind of stayed on, stayed on the rest of the night, yeah.
Jason:Yeah, but you ever heard one of those songs. We're like that's a really good song. Oh, do you want to hear it again? No, I'm good. Oh, that's just me. I enjoyed Elf. I just have absolutely no urge to ever watch it again.
Scott:Oh, okay, I thought you meant the actual song and I was going to say let me just say I'm more music during Christmas, even than movies, and Zoe Deschanels, he and him and her. Him and her.
Scott:I think is the name of the band, her and him Of her band. Like I'm into her Christmas music and she was fantastic singing. Maybe it's cold outside and Lou, well, farrell wasn't even horrible no, he wasn't, like he's saying it better than I expected him to sing it, but she was so good. She has such a great voice. Yes, I love her.
Karen:But I liked the movie. It's funny. But then there's, you know, the good part. You know so. And then my rounding out the top five. It's a Disney, it was Disney plus right Movie Show movie.
Scott:It was a Disney plus movie. It was supposed to be a theater movie, but then COVID COVID happened, and so they just threw it on Disney plus.
Jason:Right and it's Luca treatment Right.
Karen:It's Noel with. I just forgot her name Anna Kendrick.
Scott:Bill Hader.
Karen:Bill Hader, shirley MacLean.
Jason:Yeah, who's actually really good in that role.
Karen:Yeah, I just it was. I really liked it was a very cute movie, I like it. It was just it was a different take on the whole. You know Santa Claus and that whole thing. I liked that.
Jason:I watched it because you mentioned it, so I gave it a try. I haven't actually finished it, but I watched a part of it and yeah, it's enjoyable.
Karen:Yeah, it is enjoyable, I really dig that.
Scott:All right, the movie's four years old. I really dig that. The new Santa escapes to Arizona and is taking hot yoga. I know, it's just really funny, I mean it's, it's Shirley MacLean, in the last since she got really old 20 years ago. Yeah, it's a riot. Oh, she's hilarious. I mean going back to what's the one where what's her name died. Julia Roberts died.
Karen:Oh yeah, sweet, it's still Magnolius.
Scott:Yeah that she was hilarious in that movie. She's hilarious in this movie.
Karen:I think she just finally got to the point. She goes I'm just going to have fun.
Scott:She's like I'm Shirley MacLean.
Karen:Yeah, yeah, yeah, screw you, I'm going to do what? I want. She's like you know.
Jason:Her place in the leading woman hall of fame is secure.
Scott:Yeah, yeah, like one of my favorite things. So when you're our age and you first see somebody probably in steel Magnolius, like I knew who she was, but like the first thing I ever saw her act in was probably steel Magnolius and then you go and watch the original Oceans 11. Mm-hmm, and she was really pretty. Oh, she's beautiful and cute and drunk, yeah, and Dean Martin's hitting on her and you're like, okay, well, it's a different Shirley MacLean than I knew.
Karen:Well, and being that I grew up with older brothers and older household, I actually grew up with her more than I mean when she was in steel Magnolius, I'm like, oh, it's Shirley MacLean. I've seen her in a bunch of things.
Scott:She's one of those hall of fame actresses that I probably can't name. You five things she's been in, and if I could, four of them are gonna be in the last 20 years.
Jason:Makes sense. Yeah well, during the time of steel Magnolius she put out several movies that were kind of of the similar way the same thing, yeah, yeah. Because that actually wasn't her most famous role. There was a movie before that that she was for a while better known for it, and of course I can't remember now.
Karen:Terminals of Endearment.
Jason:That's it. Yeah, Is that the Jack Nicholas one?
Karen:No, that's the one, is that?
Scott:the Sally Field one.
Karen:It's the one with no, I think.
Scott:I don't know.
Karen:Oh it was, If only there was some device. Deborah Winger was her daughter.
Scott:Oh.
Jason:Deborah Winger.
Karen:Deborah Winger was her daughter. I did not know that?
Jason:Oh, that's right, it was back then.
Karen:Yes, you need rules.
Scott:You had to have Deborah Winger in every drama movie and let me just say in 1983, I was very happy with that role. I had such a crush on her, yeah.
Jason:But yeah, I remember that when you say you know one actress that looked different and such. I still remember being at my grandma's and seeing the Dick Van Dyke show and going wait a minute. That's Mary Tyler Moore Right.
Karen:What Right Well though. The cast in terms of I mean dear, oh my God, I know so that's why, when you said Jack, I'm like, well, okay, he was probably in it, but I just knew because of Deborah Wenger and her daughter had cancer and she's at the nurses station banging on the table. My daughter needs her pills now. Each needs her medication now.
Scott:And Deborah Wenger was billed above Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels and John Lithgow.
Jason:Right because at the time, she would have been writing off the officer and the gentleman at that point right, Because that movie was like a mega hit.
Karen:Was she in that what? Deborah Wenger? She was the one that he picked up and looked at.
Scott:Oh crap, no, I'm thinking about the woman, Kevin Costner and what's her name? Um Dancers with wolves? No, no, and oh God, she was in Stripe. She was in Ace Ventura, she was in.
Karen:I can't think of what her name is. I can picture her, but I can't think of what her name is Sean Something. Yes, sean yes, Young yeah.
Scott:Sean Young. Yeah, so I get those two movies confused because I've never seen either one of them. What?
Jason:When I was a kid, the only scene we watched, one scene over and over again, that's the Richard Gere. Yeah, yeah yeah, the we Got Some. Junior fight when he, when he, because it was fun to watch Richard Gere get beat up by the drill sergeant, I got nowhere else to go, that one. Yes.
Scott:Okay, sorry, I'm just looking at movies now I know, yeah, that's literally what he's doing on the screen and that picture is horrifying.
Karen:Well, yeah, because yes, that picture is horrifying, that is horrifying. Yes, all right, so that's my top five, okay.
Scott:Who's next Go ahead, Jason?
Jason:Right about. So to clarify how I picked mine and I kind of went with it where it had to be a real movie, like at least an hour and a half, like a theatrical release, and which is why Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas from Jim Henson did not make the cut my favorite Christmas watch and has better special effects than most of the recent Marvel movies. Just watch it. Watch the part where they're on the lake. It looks more real than recent Marvel movies, that is true. And then I also cut out movies where Christmas is part of it, but I didn't feel like Christmas was the main focus point of it, which is why I, like Lethal Weapon, didn't make my list, even though it's one of my favorite movies and it starts with Jingle Bell Rock, but it wasn't really the point of the movie oh, that's exactly Like you're not going.
Scott:Oh, I gotta watch that every Christmas.
Jason:Right, right, okay. So number five for me is the DreamWorks animated movie Rise of the Guardians, which is the story of Jack Frost getting to join the league of holiday heroes to save essentially all the holidays, but mostly Christmas. Is that how the San Diego goes? Attribute to all holidays, but mostly Christmas? Yeah right, because all the holidays are there, but the end game is to kill Christmas by the boogeyman and so. But it's got, even though it's not directly, directly about Christmas, it's still, though it's about Christmas and Jack Frost, and you know it's just a enjoyable, feel good movie. It's one of the movies that's like Zootopia with, where I can just watch it anytime. If I see it on there, I'll just pop it on and start watching it.
Scott:Great.
Jason:So number four on my list then is the classic, the original Miracle on 34th Street. Now, that is one of a few of the older movies that I got to see on the big screen, because me and a friend used to volunteer at an old theater in downtown Cincinnati, you know, with the kind of the tiered different levels, like five levels to it, and they were trying to preserve it so they would show classic movies. And since we volunteered, we got to see the movies for free. And that's how I saw the original Phantom of the Opera, which is really spooky to see in a big screen where I saw. So that's how the music, and that's where I saw the Miracle on 34th Street and, like I said, it was just pure joy, you know, you know it's kind of nice to sometimes watch those older movies where there's no snark, no cynicism. You know it's just and it's okay to have joy, have wonder, you know it's just something that Just be Christmas.
Jason:Right, just be Christmas. It always feels like they have to do something now. You know somebody in there has to be snarky, somebody has to be. You know something to it. But 34th Miracle on 34th Street, you can just watch and enjoy it. So I think there's always nice to have a movie that you can kind of just sit down and chill and enjoy.
Scott:And it had a great cast, like a great cast for back then. You know Natalie Wood, at seven years old, whatever she was, you know Moreno, herra, gene, lockhart, all of fame.
Jason:Actors For a Christmas movie, which you know later on, sometimes tended to get more B list actors. There was a lot of heavy weights on that, oh for sure.
Karen:Oh yeah.
Jason:Okay, Number three on my list was Christmas Vacation the Chevy Chase Classic. I went and walked from my grandma's apartment to a little two theater movie theater to go see that during the holidays and just laughed my keyster off during that movie. Or where they drive underneath the truck yeah you know the sled going 700 miles an hour.
Scott:Oh stuff, I'm not gonna End up being the septic tank.
Jason:Yes, so yeah, stuff I'm not gonna repeat on a Disney year podcast. And then the most enviable things ever, those moose eggnog glasses.
Karen:Yeah, those are classic.
Jason:Yeah, those were just awesome. That you know. And what I loved about that movie it was funny but it had some sentimentality in it. You know the thing where he's up in the attic watching home videos. Yeah, it was played for laughs but there was heart underneath it and sometimes with Chevy Chase you don't really get the heart, but there was some heart in that movie. It wasn't the driving force of it, but there was heart there.
Scott:You know, my favorite part is when they got to build a pool at the end.
Jason:Yeah.
Scott:That just always makes my heart warm up. Yeah, after everything they went through, at least they got a pool.
Jason:Exactly and really. Who hasn't kidnapped your boss on Christmas?
Scott:Right, I mean you know.
Jason:You know, go caroling, you know get some hot chocolate Can you go kidnap your boss yeah.
Scott:Seems like a pretty good Christmas Eve to me.
Jason:I mean, some traditions are worth keeping. All right, all right. Number two is the movie that, while I love, I've also seen so many times at this point that it's kind of crossed into why am I doing this to myself?
Scott:again.
Jason:Yeah, and that's the first Home Alone which both my kids loved. So between me loving it originally and watching it a bunch of times and family loving it and watching it a bunch of times and then watching the progression of deteriorating Home Alone sequels, I have seen different versions of burglars getting hit in the face with different objects, probably in the triple digits at this point.
Scott:Have you actually looked at the Home Alone like section whatever on Disney Plus?
Jason:Actually missing a movie before it was before. Is it really? It was because there was. It had one, two, three and maybe, and then it was like skipping either four or five and then-.
Scott:I didn't know they were more than three and to look, hey mom.
Jason:Yeah, and then, well, then there's another one that Disney just made, like last year, which answered the yes, well, answered the driving question of how could we make the main character of Home Alone even more unlikable. But no, the original Home Alone was lightning in a bottle. I mean just the perfect combination of wish fulfillment with fun action. I mean John Candy in one of the best little walk-on filmed in a single day rolls ever. I mean literally, they filmed all of his scenes in one day. It's like, hey, I got a day to spare. Do you want me to kind of help you with your movie? Right, kind of a thing. And what an iconic role that turned out to you know and to be. Just, everybody hit their notes in that movie. Like I said, lightning in a bottle, still funny to watch If you ever get a chance. Watch the little one they do where it gives you blurbs and tells you all of them how much damage would have happened to the wet bandits.
Karen:Oh yeah.
Jason:The whole antics. You know where they have doctors actually examined it and said what would have happened to these guys from all the things that were done to them. They would have been killed like seven times.
Karen:Exactly, and you know, joe Pesci was just so funny.
Jason:But who really hasn't ever wished to see Joe Pesci get murdered by a small child?
Scott:I was gonna say hold on, I've seen it. Oh no, by a small child. Now Okay, yeah.
Jason:No, no, we're not talking. Yeah, the other movie I was actually playing when I worked in a movie theater, the one where Joe, yeah that there's a, there's a way to mess up your mind. Go watch Goodfellows, then watch Home Alone.
Scott:And follow it up with God. Was it Gone Fishin?
Jason:Or what was the one where he's a lawyer.
Karen:Oh yeah, my cousin Vinny.
Jason:My cousin Vinny.
Karen:Yep, there's nothing wrong with that one.
Jason:No, that's an awesome out. That was the most unexpected movie I loved. I thought I'd go into it. I thought I'd just be annoyed by his shtick.
Karen:Oh, no, it was wonderful. It's hilarious every time.
Scott:And Marisa Tomae wins an Oscar for that movie.
Jason:I know that's how good that was the cheeroff, and her career skyrocketed from well, no wait.
Scott:No, I mean, oh, I mean. She got to play the Ant in Spider-Man and Sylvester Stallone's daughter and, oh holy crap, I can't remember the name of the movie. I know of a son, oscar.
Jason:Oh yeah, forgot about that. I've seen it. Okay, but again, I probably don't really have to explain home alone. Or if I do have to explain home alone, hello, welcome to America. Yeah, I hope you're enjoying it. I think everybody knows that one. I don't know what kind of cave you were living in previously, but well, you know, enjoy electricity and indoor plumbing.
Scott:By the way, I'm gonna correct myself real quick, because some people like Tony Ann may be going nuts right now. Sylvester Stallone starred in the movie John Landis, directed Oscar.
Karen:Just wanna be clear, I think I said, sylvester Stallone directed it. He did not. I heard actor.
Jason:He directed the all-time classic Staying Alive.
Scott:And wrote Rocky, so he's got that going for him. Yeah three out of three.
Jason:There we go All right. Well, that brings me to number one. I'm getting to it first, so Scott can't use it. Ha ha.
Jason:Which is and that is the one that I just automatically think of when I think of Christmas movies. And that is a Christmas story For many reasons. Number one my dad took me to see it and I saw it at the theater when it originally came out and my dad loved it. And I have fond memories of not only seeing him at the movie theater but my dad never stayed home. He was always out doing stuff but he would actually come home and if Christmas story was on we'd sit and watch it with me. So I have good memories both in the theater and at home.
Jason:You know my dad was a single dad for the most part and he couldn't afford a lot of times to give me a lot of stuff. So he would. A lot of times it would be what is the one gift I want? And so the part where you know Ralphie is really just focused on that one gift really resonated with my own childhood and you know the whole funny with heart. You get to see the nerdy kid beat up a bully Tongue stuck to so many little touchstone moments in it. Tongue stuck to a flagpole. Tongue stuck to a flagpole mouth full of soap because Ralphie drops the F bomb, but they don't actually hear the F bomb. I think it says fudge. I think is what they use in the movie.
Scott:At least on TBS, when it's on for 24 hours.
Jason:No, that's the, that's the real, that's the real version. Yeah, I mean, and yeah, back before it became this thing where they you know everyone's kind of tired of it because of the marathon, I really did try to catch it every time I get. Plus, I love Gene Shepard, I love his voice, I love hearing them on Theroscelia Progress. I wish I had known that he was out there doing radio programs when I was younger. I would have tried to have found him. I just you know. Plus, there's a good chance. My grandma is somewhere in one of the backgrounds because she was working in downtown Cleveland and one of those department stores where they were filming the opening scenes of the movie that would be super cool.
Karen:That's very cool.
Jason:Yeah, she would come home and go. You know they keep blocking off the streets. They're filming some movie. You know, nobody knew that movie would blow up like it did. It was a low budget movie. They really didn't do all that much in the theater, Right, and yet it's become this thing that's woven into the tapestry of modern day Christmas.
Scott:Right. So here's my admission, which is I have never seen it. We did not go to see it in the theater as a family when he came out and since then my exposure to it is that every year TBS runs it for 24 hours and it's annoying. And out of pure spite, I won't watch it on TBS because I want the ratings to be so bad that they'll stop with this stupidity. But they don't. However, I am changing my opinion on that slightly. So I'm still angered when Christmas falls on a weekday, because it does interrupt my afternoon of watching Friends and Big Bang Theory on TBS Unrepeat. But if Christmas falls on a weekend, it also interrupts TBS running the last three Star Wars disaster movies on repeat. So that's a good thing. So maybe, if it's fun, next time Christmas is on a weekend maybe I'll watch it to reward them for that.
Jason:Because Trying to hate movies out of existence doesn't work. Adam Sandler still has a career, so I can tell you from experience it doesn't work.
Scott:If nothing else, adam Sandler gave us Terry Crews, and without him, guardians of the Galaxy would not be the ride it is. Is that five? I guess it is. Yes, it makes it my turn. It is five. Yes, it makes it my turn. And now?
Jason:bring your a-hum list into the light. I don't like, not that I don't like.
Scott:If you go, hey, let's go watch a movie. Drama is a movie. It's a movie. If you go, hey, let's go watch a movie. Drama is not gonna be high on my list. It's just not Like I want to escape when I watch a movie. So the first one trading places People don't think about as a Christmas movie, but it was all over Christmas. Dan Ackroyd dressed as Santa, eddie Murphy, jamie Lee Curtis, ralph Bellamy the guy that was holding Don Amici, no, the guy that was holding detention in the breakfast club.
Karen:Oh yeah, he was the.
Scott:He was. Oh my God, the name just flew away. Right, but he was like Crap, he was the guy. He was the guy that was going to get the orange juice. Futures projections.
Karen:Yes, you know, but Don Amici was the other.
Scott:Don Amici was the other guy. Yep, a regular bet, our usual bet, our usual bet.
Karen:One dollar and it's the whole when they're doing the dollar, you know.
Scott:Yeah, it is, it's hilarious. It's just a hilarious movie. You know a pretty routine premise, but Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy there's two guys right there probably, sadly, maybe hit their best, you know.
Jason:At least Eddie Murphy. I think first question was after that, wasn't that For Dan Ackroyd? That was a big question.
Karen:Yes, and so was Dr Detroit, but One scene that I just stepped on the ball and burned the clubhouse. Just that part makes me laugh.
Scott:You know, I didn't know that Constance Fry song was a real song until like five years ago. And yeah, because they sang it on how I met your mother and I was like, wait, this is a real tune. Yep, yeah, Crazy.
Karen:And who was?
Jason:the yeah, eddie Murphy. That might be the best acting in the early movies Eddie Murphy did.
Scott:Oh, you gotta give him 48 hours for acting, 48 hours he was pretty good.
Jason:Yeah, because Eddie Murphy I know. But as far as playing a character who was so unsuccessful but was like secretly smart, yes, yes. Right right.
Scott:That's a tough role to play.
Jason:That he's a street bum, but he's actually very sharp and very intelligent. He's just never gotten to use it for legitimate purposes. Yeah, when you're, you know? Because Eddie Murphy. The whole thing about Eddie Murphy was he was always super confident. Well, he's not confident in trading places at first, Right, he's actually pretty beaten down by life.
Karen:Right.
Scott:And then he ends up on the beach. Yes, ha ha ha. Just you know it's a hilarious movie. It is certainly not kid friendly.
Karen:No, but it is a hilarious movie, definitely not kid friendly.
Jason:You know what I just? Yeah, I just realized Dan Akroyd is kind of responsible for kick starting my interest in in women, I think, because between trading places and spies like us.
Scott:Oh true, see, I have to say so. Donna Dixon was on the radar because of bosom buddies.
Jason:Oh yeah.
Scott:That infamous, that famous launching point for Tom Hanks career and Peter Scolari. They both had similar trajectories after that.
Jason:Billy Joel finally got a good. I got a song on the radio that way with them. Yeah right, you know, using this song there Finally got some popularity.
Scott:That's funny. It's just a great movie, all time great movie Number two that I have to watch every Christmas. It's a great movie. Deck the halls with Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick. It is a ridiculous movie. Okay, so that's a real thing it is. Danny DeVito is kind of a loser. Yeah, Bob Gleason has lost his job. Has beautiful wife, beautiful daughters, but he's pretty much a loser. He's going to light his house to make it be seen from space for Christmas.
Jason:Okay, that, okay, it was like a light competition. Yes, he and. Okay, I remember that, never seen it. I might have to, now that you brought that back to my memory.
Scott:Listen, this is not a cinematic masterpiece, no, but it's a fun movie that done last too long. You know what I mean.
Jason:I say I don't think if you looked at our list you were seeing a lot of obscure British masterpiece theater classics here.
Scott:Love. Actually it had everybody in it except for Maggie. Smith oh, yeah, yeah, but we expect. Everybody but Maggie Smith and Dame Judy.
Jason:Correct. But, karen, to class it up a little for us.
Scott:Yeah, you know that's how I roll Deck the halls. An hour and 33 minutes. It makes it in just over the bar we set. Okay, An hour and 33 minutes. It's a really funny movie and Matthew Broderick is one of those guys I always will watch.
Karen:Mm-hmm, and it starts out that they're just trying to make their houses compete against each other. It's just, they just want their houses to look nice, so then it just keeps going overboard. And then the guy just wants his house to be the bomb, right and seen from space.
Scott:So this next one I will die on this hill. I only watch Die Hard at Christmas anymore, kind of out of principle, but I'm gonna watch it once a year. It has one of the top five greatest movie villains in history and Bruce Willis Fresh, I mean like during the moonlighting era which I have been streaming lately.
Karen:Yes, I know.
Scott:Moonlighting again. Better so than you remember.
Jason:Yes, yeah, and I remember it being great, but really, yeah, die Hard, it's a Christmas movie.
Scott:Bruce Willis said it wasn't, but the guy who wrote it, whatever his name was said when asked it happens at a Christmas party. Of course it's a Christmas movie.
Karen:Well, that's like saying office Christmas party isn't a Christmas movie.
Scott:Right Come on.
Karen:It's at a Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza, right.
Jason:All the Caroling singing, all the gift unboxing, all the Santa Claus making an appearance with that air driven Gatling gun. I mean all the stuff you expect in a Christmas movie.
Scott:And speaking about dies that were contractually obligated to show up in every movie during a certain era Reginald Van Johnson as the cop.
Jason:Yeah, that's nice. As I mentioned last time when we tried to do the now forgotten episode, there's a movie theater in Kenwood area of Cincinnati. It only had one or two theaters because the screen was like the size of a drive-in movie theater screen. Yeah, I mean it was huge and my dad, knowing that this was the type of movie you wanted to see on a big screen, took me to see it there. And yeah, I mean it's like watching Hans Gruber actually fall from a real building. The building is so big, the screen is so big and it was the best way to see a movie like that.
Scott:Yeah, I definitely saw that one in a theater. In my life I have not seen that many movies in theaters, like just one of the thing, but I definitely went to see that one more than once in the theater. It was fantastic, and now it's my Christmas go-to movie.
Karen:Is that your number one? No, that is number.
Scott:I don't have them in any order.
Karen:Okay, is that your fifth one?
Scott:That was my third. Okay, I still have two left. I don't know if it's long enough to count, but I'm counting it anyway. Mickey's once upon a Christmas.
Jason:Yeah, I think it's long enough.
Scott:I loved, I really enjoyed reading oh Henry, when I was in high school. This is going off by the wayside here, but it's an hour and 10 minutes. We're counting it anyway. The. Oh.
Scott:Henry story gift of the Magi at the end of once upon a Christmas. I just love it. It's so well done and it's true to the story. I mean it's not like it was a Disney original which, to be honest with you, there aren't that many of them. They made their reputation by doing other people's stories and just doing them well. But it's such a cute movie. It gives you that whole Disney feel, the whole Christmas feel. The whole thing feels so Christmasy. So it's not Christmas till I watch that.
Jason:Yeah, actually I showed that to someone during our when they were getting ready to leave for Thanksgiving break, so we weren't really teaching they at school. We watched that and yeah, I mean, even today, even with younger kids, it still hits. It's a really just solid, was it? Four stories, I think, all together? I think so. Yeah, I will say that while I think the sequel twice upon a Christmas is no where near as good, I do love the Max and his dad song little clip that they put in twice upon a Christmas, the one where you make me shine, where he just brings home his college girlfriend to meet his dad. Oh, yeah, right, I thought that one was really good.
Scott:Right, I think the whole thing was just really done. We keep saying this and that, but it is kind of maybe the perfect Christmas movie, you know.
Jason:Yeah and it has Kelsey Grammer.
Scott:Especially for kids. Yeah, kelsey Grammer has a great voice.
Jason:He can pull off sentimental without sounding cheesy or swarmy or anything For sure for sure, wow, wrong movie, sorry, I did.
Scott:Just something flashed by here and I was like that's from 83, but that's Mickey's Christmas Carol, which is still hard to believe. That's from 83. And my last one is I'm going old school like you did. Jason Holiday Inn, bing Cosby and Fred Astaire. Both of them gave us the classic song White Christmas, which is not from the movie White Christmas.
Karen:No, it's not.
Scott:Like what? But yes, that movie was so good and it's very Christmas.
Jason:Riftors version of White Christmas is in Home Alone. So see, we're tied together. There we go.
Scott:It's the one I grew up with, my mom and dad, but mom watching Christmas movies and that is one that we watched every year and I still watch it all the time. Whoops, so that's my five, I think? Yep, that's my five. My guilty pleasure is movie musicals 100%.
Jason:Those old school ones, especially those, are ones that you can just pick up and watch out of nowhere.
Scott:You know they try every once in a while to recapture that magic. What was the name of that movie with Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger down with love? Yes, you know, they tried with that. They tried with La La Land, they tried with Moonlight Rouge, but they just can't capture what they were doing in the 40s with movie musicals. Mm-mm.
Scott:That's me anyway. That's all I got. Got anything else? I think we even hit you on. The momentum had no crossover there. We all had different movies. That's why I went last, just to make sure I almost I'm gonna give an honorable mention. I feel like I probably should have a version of the Christmas Carol.
Karen:Well, how about the Muppets Christmas Carol?
Scott:Or Mickey's Christmas Carol or the actual Christmas Carol.
Jason:I actually liked the Jim A'Carry one with the weird animated over real people style. Yeah, yeah, I like that one.
Scott:I probably gotta go with Michael Cain and the Muppets.
Karen:The Muppets Christmas Carol, Because I think they try to keep it true-ish. Even though it's Muppets, I mean my God it's.
Scott:Michael Cain yeah, yeah, you know, but I don't know. Mickey's Christmas Carol is right there with it.
Jason:And then there's been a lot of versions of it but-. Mickey's one is so much shorter, though.
Scott:Yes, yes, that is for sure true, and it's Michael Cain, so I'm going that'll be my five. A is the Muppets Christmas Carol.
Jason:Plus, if you're gonna do an animated one, you gotta go with Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol.
Scott:Right or Ghost of Girlfriends. Past with Matthew McConaughey. What? Yeah. We're just going random versions of the story out. Now what?
Jason:Who hasn't snuggled up with a glass of eggnog to watch that Christmas classic Right?
Scott:That I Am I wrong? Is that not the one that gave us the phrase stabbing wagon? Though that is the one to get it.
Jason:I can't verify that that movie actually exists.
Scott:So oh it hundred percent exists.
Jason:I couldn't have told you that.
Scott:That may have been. That may be the most Matthew McConaughey movie, I'm just saying ever. It sounds like the most Matthew McConaughey movie. Right, right, right. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is Jennifer Garner. It had Breckin-Bayer, who was required to be at everything in the early 2000s, lacey, shabbert, ann Archer, emma Stone, michael Douglas and a host of others. I think that is it. I think we're finished. Jason, thanks for dealing with us and Again Coming back for a second dose of this.
Jason:Okay, well, let's see if we can do it in one take when we come back for our best Arbor Day movies.
Scott:Let's see what is our next one gonna be Best President's Day movies. Does Hamilton make the list? Yeah, jay, thanks Van, we appreciate it, thank you.
Jason:It was always happy to hang out with you guys.
Scott:I was. Karen wanted me to text you like that night and go, let him know. I'm like no because maybe it's still processing and it'll be there in the morning.
Karen:And then the next day I'm like, is it there he goes. Nope, it's not.
Scott:Stop cooking and come back here and record another episode, literally the conversation.
Karen:Yeah, he's like can you get back here? We have to do this in like an hour.
Scott:I have to have it done by 1130.
Karen:Yeah, and I had to leave at 1030 to go over to your moms.
Jason:Yeah, a thousand years from now, when somebody uncovers your digital file of that lost episode, they're going to wonder what in the world we were talking about.
Scott:Yes, they are, yes, yes, except that all of those movies will still be being watched a thousand years from now. I have confidence.
Jason:Yes, we'll be beaming a Christmas story directly into your brain every Christmas Especially oh man, I forgot another one.
Scott:What Fred Claus? That's the one that's going to last forever. I feel like one day when the only true restaurants left, or Taco Bell, and that the whole civilization may be based on Fred Claus, kind of like a real life version of I don't know Of what Either demolition, ban or Idiocracy. I'm not sure Fred Claus is going to be the number one Christmas movie, then probably a mixture of both. Yeah, pretty much so all right, dude, we'll let you go and enjoy your day at school tomorrow.
Karen:Thank you.
Scott:So big thanks to Jason for dealing with the fact that we did this once already. You lost it, but thanks for coming back on and helping us through it again. I can already see it converting, so we should be okay. Yes, yay this time. Follow us on Instagram mickeyphile underscore podcast Facebook page, Mickyphil e podcast and the Mickyphi le improvement district, which is our Facebook group. The podcast is available anywhere you find podcasts, including now on YouTube podcasts. As of this week, we're now like official.
Karen:Well, that's actually it doesn't make us official.
Scott:That's a new thing that they just started. Okay, and relatively recently were we able to get invited to the podcast. Yeah, recently were we able to get invited to add our RSS feed. So if you listen to stuff like that music and stuff on YouTube, you can find us there too. Now, cool, and yeah, that's about it. We appreciate everybody listening. Have a happy warm up to Christmas. We'll be less than a month away now. Yes, so it's starting to get real and we have decorations that we have to get up.
Karen:Yes, yes.
Scott:Our neighborhood is disappointed in us. Yeah, yeah, thanks again, everybody, and we'll see you next week. Good night everybody. Thank you Good night.