The Mickeyphile Podcast Episode 188 - 26 Years, Pt. 2 (Mukagi Pearl Experience, Some Festival Treats, and Teppan Edo)
BIG changes are coming to the DAS service at Disney World, V.I.Passholder days are returning to Walt Disney World, there are more discounts for Disney Visa Card members, and even MORE hotel discounts. And we will share more info and reviews from our anniversary trip, including festival booths, and some new to us restaurants. On episode 188 of The Mickeyphile Podcast.
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Music: “Cân thema (Mickeyphile Podcast Theme)” copyright Scott Daves 2023
Hear the Podcast at:
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The Mickeyphile Podcast Episode 188 - 26 Years, Pt. 2 (Mukagi Pearl Experience, Some Festival Treats, and Teppan Edo)
BIG changes are coming to the DAS service at Disney World, V.I.Passholder days are returning to Walt Disney World, there are more discounts for Disney Visa Card members, and even MORE hotel discounts. And we will share more info and reviews from our anniversary trip, including festival booths, and some new to us restaurants. On episode 188 of The Mickeyphile Podcast.
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/946434275769168/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickeyphile_podcast/
Music: “Cân thema (Mickeyphile Podcast Theme)” copyright Scott Daves 2023
Hear the Podcast at:
iTunes: https://tinyurl.com/3azxhptm
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4m9rxnsb
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yupaf7f7
iHeart Radio: https://tinyurl.com/cjjcras4
Pandora: https://tinyurl.com/4mhhbars
Big changes are coming to the DAS system at Disney World. Vi Pass holder days are returning to Walt Disney World and there are more discounts for Disney Visa card members and even more hotel discounts, and we'll share more info and reviews from our anniversary trip, including festival booths and some new-to-us restaurants. On episode 188 of the Mickey File Podcast.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to everyone to another episode of the Mickey File Podcast. I'm Scott, and with me, as is my lovely wife Karen. Hello everybody.
Speaker 1:Week number two of April. Tax day is coming. That sucks.
Speaker 2:I know, especially since we haven't done anything about it yet.
Speaker 1:I'm about a third of the way through it. It's farther than.
Speaker 2:I was last week. Oh, that's true, so we kind of ran out of time last week, but we still have more from our anniversary trip. I know the good parts, I know but it seems so long ago it's been a week. It's been so long ago. We literally got home a week ago. It has not been that long, but it feels like it. It does kind of feel like forever. It does. So we'll talk about that. Some cool stuff, mm-hmm, why it was pouring underneath Spaceship Earth.
Speaker 2:We'll talk about that that was just so weird super weird actually walking into the park and seeing that, uh, um, we stopped at a few like a few uh, food boothsitchens, whatever they call them for this festival.
Speaker 1:I think they're kitchens.
Speaker 2:I don't know. We went to Epcot that day specifically for a dining reservation. Yes, so yeah, it was. We just stopped at a couple of the booths. We actually did eat one or two things, whatever it was Mm-hmm, um, but we did some stuff we had not done before, not just the restaurant. So it was cool. Great. In the very, very few hours, like four or five, that we were at Epcot that day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we got there pretty late considering.
Speaker 2:We did yeah. Before we get to that, let's do this.
Speaker 1:We did yeah. Before we get to that, let's do this no-transcript anything no, I mean last year they had discounts. They like passholder discounts increased from like 20 to 30 percent.
Speaker 2:They had two different magnets that came out um right things like that so is that when they had the temporary lounge in yes Garden, no sunshine seasons and that kind of stuff?
Speaker 1:Yes, so yeah, we'll see. So we'll see what they're doing this year.
Speaker 2:You know um they need to do that. I know that pass holders are. What is it? Undesirable customer mix?
Speaker 1:That was the prior regime.
Speaker 2:I know, but we were talking about that this week, kind of related like how much Universal does for pass holders and Florida residents. Yes, so it's good to see disney doing it again? Yes, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yes, especially right after they raised annual pass prices true, true so yep no, I'm I'm interested to see, even if it's just giving us 30 off for a while yeah there's a couple of things I still want and one that we bought because they only had like three of them at memento mori and you know you can't wait that's true if you. If you see it and you want it, you have to buy it, because it probably won't be there when you come back, right, that's true, if you, if you see it and you want it, you have to buy it because it probably won't be there when you come back.
Speaker 2:Right, that's the if you know, you know that's you know facebook. Actually, it was really funny. There was this whole post on one of the facebook groups the other day about how, when you see something at magic kingdom, take a picture of the tag so that when you go to hollywood studios later you can buy it. And I was like, yeah, probably won't have it at Hollywood Studios and you'll be sold out and miss it. Right, like that goes against all the rules of Disney merchandise.
Speaker 1:Right and it's gotten to the point where they're going back to park specific merchandise. Again, I've noticed this yeah, they are some. Yeah, not on everything, but on certain things they're going back to. You just can't go to any park and go find it. So I've noticed that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you didn't see a lot of Star Wars stuff at Magic Kingdom this weekend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were for a while haven't they, I know. Yeah, all right. New Walt Disney World hotel discounts have been announced for summer and early fall for up to 30 off when you're staying five nights or longer and up to 25 off on shorter stays. These are from july 8th to october 3rd dates.
Speaker 2:So right now it goes up to 4th of July and then it's going to start right after 4th of July again.
Speaker 1:Right, basically right but that's generally what they do, because it's a different type of discount.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but here's the thing. Yeah, that means they get a lot of empty hotel rooms all summer long, yes, which probably explains why. Like the last, how many properties are we at now? Which probably explains why, like the last, how many properties are we at now? One, two, three, four things they've done have been to either build new DVC hotels or take existing rooms and turn them into DVC rooms. True, right, riviera. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Grand Floridian. They took rooms and made them DV, them dvc poly. They're building a tower or wilderness. They took cabins and turned them into dvc right. So I guess, if you're not selling out the hotels, then sell them all together, sell them yeah all right.
Speaker 2:Disney visa card members are eligible for free dining when they purchase a non-discounted four night, four day package, which includes hotel and theme park tickets with their disney visa card for about four seconds I went man, maybe we should buy four tickets, and then I realized that a one day ticket is like twice as much as the dining plan, right? So, yeah, not for us, right.
Speaker 1:But I mean, I still think it's actually kind of a good deal depending on where they stay, that type of thing you know, free dining hasn't happened in a while, even if it's just for visa. Right Now they are restricted on the dates.
Speaker 2:Well, frank, yeah, yeah, but not horribly. No, all of.
Speaker 1:July, yeah, all of July. All of July, first part of September, and what over All of July? All of July, first part of September. And what Over half of December.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that first part of December? Does that mean September 1st through the 7th? Does that mean that Labor Day is the 8th?
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:Or somewhere right there. Labor Day is the 9th, so it's Saturday. Oh, that's how they get you, so you can get the discount on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday you're going to pay full price, ouch yeah.
Speaker 1:Ouch.
Speaker 2:Although, in fairness, at least for DVC, sunday is the cheaper day of those three, true, and then December 9th through the 21st, and that's that's that has started happening. They're getting really close to Christmas with some of these discounts, yes. Basically up through like that Really close to labor day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know. I mean that one deal is during fourth of july, the first, the first one's during fourth of july yeah, free dining yeah all right um disability access service changes are effective may 20th at walt disney world and june 18th at Walt Disney World and June 18th at Disneyland. The details are available on Disney Park News. And that's really. I don't want to go.
Speaker 2:Is that the Disney Parks blog?
Speaker 1:No, it's actually Disney Parks, like actual Disney website. Yeah, okay, it's going. It's going to be going through a third party. They're redefining who is eligible for it.
Speaker 2:Big time.
Speaker 1:Yes, Um, and the number of people that are eligible with with the individual.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Um, however, um, Mr Gustin, scott Gustin, yeah Mentioned that they is going to be. Let me pull it up here that they are going to be announcing, for people who be able to leave the queue and come back in, that that is something that they are going to be implementing, but there is no further details on it right now.
Speaker 2:So they say that the DAS system is designed to accommodate guests with a developmental disability like autism or similar. No medical records required Until the official launch. Das is valid up to 30 days. After that it'll be valid for the length of the ticket, or 120 days. Does that mean if you have an annual pass, it's good for a year? Party size attached to the DAS can only be four, not six anymore, and restricted to immediate family members, including spouses, parents and children. If there are more minors, disney will accommodate more than four in a party. So, like our friends that have four children, Right.
Speaker 2:They would still get six Right. Disney World recommends pre-planning. Virtually virtual consultation will be available on the same day. In-person registration will not be available beginning until the 20th. I don't see who this third party system is and the reason I care um is a year and a half ago or so I went to the iapa show and they had this big deal with um, the sesame street characters, because sea world was like the first to jump in on this thing and I'm assuming it's probably that same right. It says disney will work with inspire, health alliances, health professionals, because SeaWorld was like the first to jump in on this thing and I'm assuming it's probably that same Right.
Speaker 1:It says Disney will work with Inspire Health Alliance's health professionals to help cast members when necessary to determine the guest eligibility.
Speaker 2:So it's different. So, because there is a group that does like a card or whatever Right that works at like Knott's berry farm and sea world and bush gardens and all of this, it's like a national thing and they were promoting that at the show.
Speaker 1:That's what it was for and and they had elmo's friend, the girl whose name I cannot remember right, I do remember that um, so I thought maybe it was that, but apparently it is not that well, it might be, but they're just mentioning they're working with cast members, so maybe the third party is still going to be separate because it's going to be have to be done prior to that there's a lot of wow.
Speaker 2:What happens if any of the statements made by a guest in the process of registering for das are found not to be true? If it is determined that any of the statements a guest made in the process of obtaining das are not true, the guests will be permanently barred from entering walt disney world resort and the disneyland resort, and any previously purchased annual passes, magic key passes, tickets and other park products and services will be forfeited and not refunded wow dude, it is talk about disney jail yeah wow yeah, so I did see the other.
Speaker 1:I did find the quote from scott gustin disney will also introduce a defined quote return to q unquote process for guests who need to leave a queue and re-enter. More information about this process will be shared closer to the launch of the new system, so now that's the thing that'll have a million people doing it.
Speaker 2:It's weird. Yes, it's still. All talks about speaking with a cast member.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I'm not sure. Well, I do know that.
Speaker 2:um you know, I hate to say it, but if fast passes were still free, this wouldn't be an issue. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:I do know that our friend Tonyann and Mandy will be on May 20th handling that.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's not anything we really needed to talk about on a podcast, that's fine, okay.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, okay, um morocco, excuse me, the moroccan pavilion friendship boat dock has reopened from refurbishment and the germany boat dock has reclosed.
Speaker 2:I feel like that was just the opposite, like a week ago. So I mean it seriously had to be like a coat of paint, right? I?
Speaker 1:don't know. All I know is that it said it was open.
Speaker 2:I'm going to say one more time I think Morocco and Germany should both be open and let the boat make three stops.
Speaker 1:I don't disagree with you.
Speaker 2:I think it would get more use for a pretty cool deal.
Speaker 1:I think you're right.
Speaker 2:Test track is closing for refurbishment and reimagining beginning june 17th, so a lot going on in may and june well, like the rest of epcot is opening on the 10th, basically right, so it's a good time, I guess, to close it and it rains a lot in june yeah, I mean and it does matter yeah so being which wise tron been closed for like a day and a half I don't know, but apparently there was an after hours event last night and it was closed then too.
Speaker 2:Since five o'clock on the eighth unexpected downtime. That is my favorite phrase at Disney. That's when you know you have creative people, when you don't just say I'm sorry, it's technical difficulties, we have some unexpected downtime, so yeah, yeah, that's anything else worth talking about here. Nope, doesn't look like. Let me check one, please. No, looks like it, okay. Um, dvc news. The dvc discount has been added at roundup.
Speaker 2:Rodeo barbecue for a 10 discount on food and now non-alcoholic beverages is um, I guess I'm just surprised that it didn't already have a discount yeah, been open almost a year with no discount over, well over, you know? I guess not it ended. It opened the end of april last year because it opened like during tdc yes uh, or right before or something.
Speaker 2:Um. Disney vacation club has disclosed prices in cash and dvc points for the five-day members only voyage aboard the disney dream. Booking opens this saturday, april 13th, for next year's dvc exclusive cruise, which will be august 2nd through 7th 2025. It's a five-night caribbean cruise aboard the dream, departing from fort lauderdale, florida, and includes stop saint cozumel and castaway key. So, man, you got to go all the way around florida. Yeah, um, it's a traditional member cruise featuring daily stateroom gifts, special celebrity guests and unique entertainment. Rates begin at 2509 per person cash or 274 disney vacation club points with a double, double occupancy requirement. Additional adults can be added for 193 points or $1,767 cash. Children 3-12 are 186 points or $1,703. Children 2 and under are $110 or $1,007. I mean, I guess that's not. It's $4,300 for a five-day cruise on a new boat, so I guess it's not ridiculous yeah, but it's on the dream.
Speaker 2:It's not a new boat oh, that's the dream, not the treasure, right? Oh well, then forget it I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1:No, but apparently these member cruises are fantastic.
Speaker 2:Apparently like yeah.
Speaker 1:Like they get like real stars on there.
Speaker 2:It was actually really funny. This whole topic came up a while back, like I want to say on like the Diz or something that somebody was like I remember going and seeing Roy O'Disney. Everybody was like Roy Disney had been dead for for like 25 years before the first cruise ship launched. If you saw him, that's a hell of a guess. They're like, oh, I meant Roy E Disney More likely.
Speaker 1:More likely. Yeah, yeah, people say they do say that their gifts are amazing, the shows are amazing, it's supposed to be pretty phenomenal, yeah.
Speaker 2:Speaking of DVC gifts, yes, for those who are members, if you go to any of the DVC booths, they have the member sliders for your Magic Bands again.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So, and I don't know exactly what the deal was, but we got two.
Speaker 1:Because there's two in our party.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know if it's membership or party or what. It depends how many people are here in your party. They didn't care if they were even staying in the DVC room, it was just how many people are here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's in your party, because Holly said all the kids had gotten theirs too.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, I guess that's true. Yeah, they were very excited. So there we go. That's DVC news. Yeah, all right, let's talk Saturday. Saturday, we spent a lot of time chilling at the uh resort. This time we didn't really still take like advantage of the resort amenities at saratoga other than sitting on the balcony and staring at disney springs and just enjoying, just enjoying, relaxing uh-huhhuh.
Speaker 2:So quick review we got there Thursday. Now. We didn't get there Thursday until like 5 o'clock, right? So, not counting it Right, we didn't go to the park on Thursday, we didn't go to a park on Friday. We went to the park on Saturday and, like I said, got there I don't know 4.30, 5 o'clock, it was not early.
Speaker 1:No, it wasn't. It was probably around four o'clock. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:We come walking in and there's no line at Spaceship Earth and we're like great, let's go and remember this is literally the day after Good Friday, right Like all we've been hearing about is horror stories Part of the reason we didn't go to the parks.
Speaker 1:Right, because it's been packed. Everybody's oh, it's packed, it's packed. We're like, yeah, we're not going there, Walk in.
Speaker 2:there was zero people outside of Spaceship Earth.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Well then we noticed that there were like 10 cast members with squeegees pushing water and there was just water pouring out the bottom of Spaceship Earth. Yeah, I don't know where it came from. It hadn't rained at that point in two days.
Speaker 1:Right, and there's nothing inside Spaceship Earth that has water in it, right?
Speaker 2:I have said several times over the last few months that I thought I was getting wet in spaceship earth like water would drip. Okay, so like not rampant speculation, I feel like there's a leak cause. It did rain a lot on Wednesday and Thursday.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Right, yes, so theoretically you know. Yes, right, yes, so theoretically you know, maybe if it's leaking at the top and collects in the, you know, between the shells, and by the time it gets down there, I don't know. I mean, I have no real idea. I just feel like sometimes I've been there and we're going through and all of a sudden I get dripped on.
Speaker 1:Yeah. You know, but this was pouring.
Speaker 2:This was a lot of, but I mean it's huge. I know you know all that water, that's true. If it were rain, I don't know. Yeah. Haven't heard anything about that since.
Speaker 1:No, but it was reopened the next day.
Speaker 2:Right, reopen the next day. Right, it may have been reopened that night.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure I don't. Well, we left after the park closed, right right, and I didn't remember seeing borders around it or anything, so but yeah, so that was interesting seeing that walking in yeah, just kind of what, what, what, what, what.
Speaker 2:So that was our first thing. From there we went to the trowel and trellis. Yes, so I really like the mint iced tea with gin at Morocco Spice.
Speaker 1:Road.
Speaker 2:Table. It is very refreshing. I need one day to ask if I can get it with unsweet tea and like drop a Splenda in it or something, but because you know it kind of defeats the purpose of zero carb gin when you have sweet tea. But anyway, so we went to trial and trellis. They had the raspberry and lemon herbal tea with gin. Twining's raspberry and lemon herbal tea, simply limeade and gin, conniption Kinship Gin 12 bucks, yeah, and it was. I mean it was whatever the plastic cup, I guess.
Speaker 1:Well, but it was a decorative one. It said trial and trellis on it. Yes, it did. It looked like a mini mason jar.
Speaker 2:And it looked like one of those like refresher things they have at like joffrey's or starbucks or right like it didn't really look like tea, it was very pink, right. Um. I saw them put the ice in the cup pour the liquid in out of the dispenser. It was kind of watered down, like Like the tea was watered down.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which was weird.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm thinking that the you know dispenser thing they had probably had been full of ice and melted into the tea. Yeah, it was fine. It was not what I was hoping for.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Would I get it again at 11 o'clock in the morning when they just opened and it probably isn't watered down yet? I would probably try it one more time. All right, but for 12 bucks maybe I wouldn't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know what I mean. And the first thing we noticed there was no line.
Speaker 2:There were no lines at any of the booths.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Shockingly, here's another shocker. The very next thing we did was go and see anna and elsa to get pictures, because it was our anniversary. Yeah, we were dressed up like we had on. We did not dress for the parks like no we were. We were. I mean, we had on like nice shorts and I had a button down tommy bahama shirt on right you know dis Like. So we went to see Anna and Elsa. It was a 20 minute wait. Yeah. That's kind of unheard of for a character at all. Yes, especially those two.
Speaker 1:But they were really good yeah.
Speaker 2:I hate the boxes. I know.
Speaker 1:No, I know I hate the photo boxes, but they did take pictures, unfortunately, there aren't very many of them around. Right Yet yeah.
Speaker 2:But I hate the photo boxes.
Speaker 1:But the cast members did take pictures and stuff with it too. They did.
Speaker 2:It's just the photo boxes. You just end up getting a whole bunch of pictures of you and the character not looking at each other Right, Like a ton of them.
Speaker 1:Right at each other, right, like a ton of them, right? Or you're back to the character.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I just, I hate the photo boxes yes, but the but anna and elsewhere were amazing and we asked the attendant outside at least outside the room, because I couldn't remember it'd been a long time since we'd been in there and I was like, is it photo box or is it, you know, photo pass? And she's like, no, it's the box. She goes, but feel free to give your phone to any of the cast members in there that take pictures with you. So they did do that. That was very nice of them.
Speaker 1:I did notice cool things in the queue because we hadn't been in it in a while, like the violins, the wood violins that were up in the ceiling. It was just really neat. Just all these little details that you really don't notice in the queue.
Speaker 2:There is so much going on in that building.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:It's crazy, mm-hmm. So I'm going to go back to the boxes for a second, okay, because so I understand, with a photopass photographer in there and they're telling you, you know, because they're right next to each other, it could get kind of loud and a little crowded, maybe with two more people in there. Right, you know, but when you leave there, they got Olaf in front of a backdrop and there's a photopass photographer right with magic last room who has cool magic shots.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, and that's all right. Anna is super fun, she's very fun. They actually both of them were interacting really well between groups. They were.
Speaker 1:They were doing a good job they were doing a very good job. Yes, so we were invited to have a troll wedding.
Speaker 2:We were we found out that anna thinks that, um, what's his name? Christoph is gross because he shares carrots with Sven.
Speaker 1:She finds it very disgusting and she doesn't want to kiss him afterwards.
Speaker 2:Right, so learned a lot.
Speaker 1:It was fun, though I mean it's just the interaction of all. That was really fun. Yeah, it was really good.
Speaker 2:Went to the Lotus house. Oh, hold on.
Speaker 1:Went to Frozen Ever House. Oh hold on. Went to Frozen Ever After.
Speaker 2:Oh, we did. We rode Frozen Ever After.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes, so that was. It's a cute ride.
Speaker 1:It is.
Speaker 2:Dave Youngward has ruined it for me a little bit.
Speaker 1:Why.
Speaker 2:Because he brought up that it's very empty and it is Now. Every time I ride it I just I keep noticing how long you go in that ride between oh, between scenes, animatronics or anything yeah yeah well, I'm just, I'm just excited because I get to sing. You know, the flip side of that is like most of the animatronics in there are really cool.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:The last two are a little creepy.
Speaker 1:They are a little creepy.
Speaker 2:But up until then it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So then we went to Lotus House, because that's like next door, almost in front of it, right. Um, got the spicy mala chicken skewer with creamy peanut sauce. So the peanut sauce was really good if you don't have a peanut allergy right like it was really good peanut sauce um, but the chicken was like room temperature yeah, that was the one thing you said.
Speaker 1:You said it had a good texture to it.
Speaker 2:It just would have been so much better, like it was not overcooked, which is easy to do with little pieces of chicken on a skewer like that, right, um, but it was also, and it wasn't undercooked, right, it just had been sitting there again for a while, right, which goes to show you how uncrowded epcot was, because everything was getting watered down and cold because people weren't getting in line to buy it, right?
Speaker 2:you know, usually you have to wait for the food to be made because they're running behind right and I mean we walked right up to both of these like no way, we didn't go anywhere, we were waiting in line. No, we did also get. Let's see, you got the. Oh sorry, the chicken skewer was $6.75 and it is Disney Dining Plan snack eligible.
Speaker 1:Good to know.
Speaker 2:It is, and I think it would again. I think it would have been really good.
Speaker 1:If it had been the correct temperature.
Speaker 2:Right if it was hot, right, I got the lucky peach drink peach whiskey, oolong tea, honey, lemon, oh honey honey, lemon juice and soda water. This stupid grammarly thing keeps popping up on the notes it's getting I know it's been driving me crazy on it too um, that is a new drink.
Speaker 2:It was really good. It was really good, yeah, uh, 14 dollars and 25 cents, so it better be good, because that's a little pricey for that. You had the Tropical Moon Vodka, triple sec, passion fruit syrup, soda water and white boba pearls 14 bucks, yes.
Speaker 1:Boba pearls were apparently very expensive and they were like they were gummy bears, they were gummies, they were not regular bobas.
Speaker 2:So the boba balls, pearls, whatever, and maybe there's a difference between boba pearls and boba balls. I don't know Right. You could probably ask your friend. Yes, but at China they're like always different than they are everywhere else at the parks. I've noticed. Yeah, how was it?
Speaker 1:The drink was good. It was a little sweeter than I thought it was going to be, but with passion fruit syrup, that's what's going to happen. Right and triple sec.
Speaker 1:Right, but I mean it had a good flavor to it. I think it sounds crazy, but I think if it was a bigger drink it probably would not. You know, it had a little bit more soda water in it, just a tiny bit. It probably would not have been as sweet, but it was still very good. Yeah, just those boba pearls. I was just not expecting those, right that right.
Speaker 2:We also, uh, walked by one of the one, really a store. It was like an outside kiosk in China and they had Lay's potato chips with some very interesting flavors. Like you know, you kind of joke about some of the stuff in the Japan pavilion. They had calamari flavored potato chips, potato chips. They had roasted turkey gravy potato chips, yes, which actually doesn't sound that bad.
Speaker 2:I mean, like you put turkey gravy on mashed potatoes, so just fry them, whatever yeah uh, I'm trying to think offhand, without going and looking at the pictures I took, because it was so crazy yeah, some of them I was kind of went what.
Speaker 1:Actually, most of them I went what?
Speaker 2:yeah, I know. Like I said, I know there was calamari. Let's see what else there was. It shouldn't be it's not too far back here roasted garlic oyster flavor this one sounded good, the mexican chicken and tomato flavor. Actually I could. If they weren't like four bucks up for a little bag, I probably would have roasted fish, num num and spicy hot pot flavor right and then the calamari. I did not take a picture of right, that was interesting then we asked the cast member have you tried any of those, she goes.
Speaker 2:I don't eat snack food like okay that explains why you're like and she was from china, like wherever yeah, but it was funny, yeah, really funny yeah um, we did, uh, then, as we were walking around, because we had dinner at tapenito, right, so we were trying to do a couple of things, kill time, right, and before we get to the chip and break up, the walk, right, you know, to the furthest part, away from world showcase exactly so we did go to germany and grabbed a couple of beers. They were German beers.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Very good.
Speaker 1:Yes, we kept trying to get the, the little um the Stein is sold out again. Yeah, he really wanted that.
Speaker 2:It's just a plastic sign, I know, but it's still cute. It'd be easier to carry around than the actual one I bought from there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, true.
Speaker 2:So we finally made it to Japan. Yes, and you wanted to do a Pearl.
Speaker 1:Well, I've said for a while I wanted to and I figured we're going there. Now's the time to do it, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to kill time. I apparently have never actually been in there when somebody did it.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I have Somehow, yeah, I didn't know.
Speaker 2:they were like beating on drums and stuff, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's a big. It's a big spectacle.
Speaker 2:It was, and it was very cool. Yeah, 31 bucks, that was including tax. Yep, yeah, including tax. It's right there on our net.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because it's like 29 dollars and 10 cents 31 including tax. So and I was always told, you pick the ugliest oyster and it gives you the nicest pearls so I mean, the pearl you got was pretty.
Speaker 2:Yes, it looked like a pearl I wanted a gray one, I know it wasn't, that it was like pearl colored, right it was, I guess, big it was a six and three quarter, whatever that means yeah in the little circle thing. She put it through right, so that was cool, um, so here's the problem we had with finding your ugly oyster Right. They were all equally ugly, like there was none that wasn't gross looking.
Speaker 1:This one had a lot of green on it. I thought maybe it had been there longer because it had been so ugly. It had a little bit of like you know mossy thing on it and I thought, okay, that's got to be really ugly because it's been there a while. Yeah, it wasn't ugly enough, was not ugly enough.
Speaker 2:But it was really cool. So there were two people behind the counter. Yes, yes, two, two. So, like the whole thing, they made you like bow and say things and count to three in Japanese, and the one was banging on a drum and the other was shucking the oyster.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then, like when she was measuring it, they were both so excited Like it was pretty, pretty cool, yeah, so it was a fun little thing for 31 bucks. And then you got a pearl that they had a bunch of like pendants I guess you could have it set in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, that were not expensive no, they weren't 40 bucks maybe yeah, something like that, but it just wasn't really what I wanted right so maybe I'll do it again and I'll do another something else, if you do it again, then you can.
Speaker 2:If you get one, the right size, you can do earrings.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So it was cool, though it was fun and it killed a little bit of time. Yeah, you know, it probably took 10 minutes.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Maybe you know it killed a little bit of time Right and then we went and got snacks. What snacks did you get, baby? So? So I got cookie and cream pocky sticks like the family pack. Okay, because it's like four times, literally, like four times as big as the little package and it's like twice as much, right? It's like seven bucks instead of four or whatever, right? Um, so it's the way to go and it it's like Oreos on a stick.
Speaker 1:So yeah, but I thought you got two different packs. No, I got two different Kit Kats. Oh, that's what it was. What were the Kit Kats you got?
Speaker 2:Orange and strawberry. Okay, so cause they have, they get a lot of Kit Kats. They do not have the ones in the orange package that are just Kit Kats.
Speaker 1:Like you, I'd have the ones in the orange package that are just Kit Kats like you get here. They had maca dark chocolate, they had a mint chip or something.
Speaker 2:Green tea, yeah the strawberry, the orange, I can't remember something else too. Yeah, they had two kinds of maca. One it was all maca and one it was maca on the top and chuckling on the bottom right, so pretty cool and then I got like an almond crunch pocky, but I got the small package of that right, those are good. I've had those before. Yeah, and you know what? All that stuff is fairly reasonably priced, yeah, especially for disney it's yeah, it is you know, yeah and uh, they have lots of sweets in there.
Speaker 2:They also sold a lot of sake and they have japanese whiskey and that stuff. Yes, it's actually. You know, they have a lot of weird stuff in there. Different stuff in there, yes, but they do have a lot of really cool stuff. Cool slippers and socks, yes, and gloves, but it's, it's fun to go in there. And then the and then the food part is like just yes, please, just yes, please. It's because it's like all chocolate, all kit kats and chewy candies and it's good stuff.
Speaker 1:well, behind you there's giant tables of matcha, so yeah, yeah, right, right Okay. So then we walked upstairs.
Speaker 2:Then we walked upstairs to Teppan, edo, edo, whatever it is, I think that would be Edo. I believe that's how you say it. Yes, it's the old name for Tokyo. I know that.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, and so we had dinner.
Speaker 2:We had dinner there, that, and so we had dinner. We had dinner there first time we'd ever been there. Now, we've been to plenty of hibachi restaurants, but we'd not been there, right? Um, one thing that we have now found out is it's basically the same price as kobe, which is not on property, right? So no reason not to go to that one. Yeah, if you're into that. Uh, you got the edamame appetizer, yes, and you didn't eat like half of it no, I ate all of it oh, did you.
Speaker 2:I thought they took it be like oh no, I ate all of them.
Speaker 1:Oh okay, good, because you know you have to leave the shell.
Speaker 2:There it was oh, maybe that's what I saw right. It was eight. It was a bowl full of.
Speaker 1:Right, I expected it. It came in. It came cold. I wasn't expecting it to be cold. Every time I've gotten edamame from somewhere, it's been freshly steamed, so that one kind of caught me off guard. It was still very good, um, but it just caught me off guard.
Speaker 2:Well, I got the miso soup, um, but it just caught me off guard. Well, I got the miso soup and that was, um, that was molten lava when it came out. So all the hot you thought you were getting was in my soup. I ate the salad first. Still couldn't eat the soup, like it was hot. It was a little different than what I've had in other places.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a little thicker brothier I guess, but man, it was delicious. So $6.50. Only thing there was I just had like a regular spoon. I didn't have that little cool spoon they have.
Speaker 1:I know that's the one thing you want. No, there's no spoon.
Speaker 2:It was delicious. We both got what they call the new york cut steak. Um, I don't know if that's strategically not calling it a new york strip for some reason, but it was a new york cut steak. It was 44 dollars. Um, it was a regular size steak that they've been cut into cubes or you know whatever, right so, but it was a regular size steak. I want to say it was seven, six ounces. Uh, it was six because the other one was seven. One was seven right. Um, the julienne was seven right ounces. Uh, it came with a garden salad, udon noodles, vegetables and steamed white rice. There's something about the salads at all these japanese restaurants I guess it's the ginger.
Speaker 2:Ginger dressing is so good I like almost asked them for another one right, just every japanese restaurant I've ever eaten at the salad is just so good. Look, I mean the noodles, the vegetables they're noodles and vegetables right white rice it's white rice, you know yeah, um, it was kind of funny.
Speaker 2:I picked up the white rice because I wanted to mix it with the vegetables and I picked it up and I was like kind of starting to scoop it out with my fork. Yeah, the chef goes, let me show you. He takes it, he takes the balls upside down and just drops it on the plate here. I'm like, okay, thanks. So they did all the tricks. Yeah, every hibachi restaurant does. They didn't actually make fire for the onion volcano no, it was just steam volcano yeah, but it was a lot of steam it was a lot of steam.
Speaker 1:Yeah, our guy, he was pretty funny he actually was hilarious yeah, but I don't think he meant, I don't think he realized that he was funny at some things no, he did okay.
Speaker 2:like you know, he I don't know, he was like moving stuff around on the grill and you know, an onion flew further away than he wanted to and he's like oh, wendy, he knew what he was saying. He was really good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it did take quite a while to eat because there was a vegetarian one, so he had to do his meal completely separate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then clean the grill and then start everybody else's Right. So that dude that got the vegetarian stuff which first of all was like the whole produce section of a grocery store it was the biggest plate of food I've ever seen.
Speaker 1:And the guy looked, the guy got handed it, you know, put it on the plate.
Speaker 2:He's like oh my God, you know, I think he was watching him cook it going. Oh, I guess one of them also got the vegetarian. Yeah, Because it was cool.
Speaker 1:It was there were five of them.
Speaker 2:For one of the two of the kids, because they were twins, yeah, there was five of them Birthday, yeah, and they were from Palm Harbor, which is 40 minutes away from here, right, and then the two of us at the table. So it was kind of neat. You know, while we were waiting to get seated, we had talked to him a little bit. So, you know, we actually were able to talk to each other during the meal, which sometimes you don't do in a place like that. Right, it was still pretty loud in there, though it was, but I mean, at least we could talk to each other, right. Right, we had something in common to base a conversation on, right, you know, yeah, it was, that was more food. I don't know what that cost. I probably should have looked it up and it had vegetables that we did not get, right.
Speaker 1:Yes, it had asparagus.
Speaker 2:It had asparagus in it. There was something else too, that I was looking at it going dang you know. Yeah, should have got that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you also got something else.
Speaker 2:I did. I got the enhancement and I'm glad we didn't both get it Because there was so much the mixed mushrooms which are I'm going to butcher this but shimeji, white and shiitake mushrooms all in butter and soy sauce. It was 16 bucks. It was well worth it because it was a huge plate.
Speaker 1:You probably had half of it, okay.
Speaker 2:So you sit at the table and they come and put plates in front of you, right, and they put a second plate in front of me, or the chef did. When he came out, he put another plate in front of me, he goes and he points at one plate he goes steak and the other plate he goes mushrooms, and then he filled that plate up with mushrooms. Yes, for 16 bucks, right, so there were plenty for both of us.
Speaker 1:Right and I grabbed a couple and we took some home. Yeah, because I took half of my meal home and I just put the rest of the mushrooms in it and I ate it a day or two later.
Speaker 2:They were delicious. So for 44 bucks we did have the appetizers and the addition. So you know it was 100 and whatever it was right for the two of us. Um, but we did get a pass holder discount. Yes, it was so much food, so much food and it. I guess we were there two hours, hour and a half.
Speaker 1:At least an hour and a half, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, we were supposed to be at 820. Fireworks were long gone by the time we got out of there, so maybe it wasn't as long as we think. Maybe it was an hour.
Speaker 1:It was at least an hour. We got out of there after 930. Okay, because the park was empty.
Speaker 2:It was, except oh yeah, yeah, let's finish and then we'll talk about that. Yeah, that was kind of cool once we found out what it was. Yes, um, I also had a japanese whiskey in honor of our friend kurt stone, who talks a lot about japanese whiskey but won't drink it. With me, right Calling you out again, kurt, I'm never going to let that go. I had the. Kayo was the brand, it was a single. It was $18. It's more scotchy than bourbon, but it's really actually really good. It's very smooth.
Speaker 1:No, I took a sip of it.
Speaker 2:It was very good smooth no, I took a sip, but it was very good. And um then I and I had a uh kieran uh draft, which is a japanese beer. It was 14 for that.
Speaker 1:It was a 20 ounce draft, though yeah, that's a good deal for the 20 ounce, because the light was a 12 ounce and I think it was a dollar more or a dollar less.
Speaker 2:I think it was a dollar less, you know, and of course it came in a bottle Right and you had the Violet Saki. Yes, so 16 bucks for that.
Speaker 1:Actually I had two.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's kind of the go-to for everyone in the world when they go to the Japan Pavilion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was really good because it was in a tall glass rather than plastic, so it actually tastes better.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, right. Yeah, it was fancy, fancier, yes, and then they brought out vanilla ice cream for us for our anniversary and for both the twins celebrating their birthdays. So we had a lot of ice cream at that table, yeah, and really didn't need it. Yeah, that kind of happens, like every time they actually bring you something you're like, oh man.
Speaker 1:I don't need it. I've eaten a lot.
Speaker 2:It's so nice of you guys when you actually do bring it out, and also it's the last thing I want.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and can you put it in a Chico container, right?
Speaker 2:I hate to ask this. It feels really rude, but but, um, yeah, yeah, that happened the next day at breakfast too, like I got my dessert, which was the bread pudding. Yes, jumping ahead to cape may, um, I got bread pudding for dessert and then she brought us a cupcake and we both were like uh and then she brought us a cup with a lid, because, buffet, you're not supposed to take food home.
Speaker 1:Right, yes.
Speaker 2:So that was perfect. So yeah, just brought us, like a kid's you know Cup, paper cup with a lid, and it fit perfectly in it.
Speaker 1:It's almost like it was made for it. Almost yes.
Speaker 2:So we were leaving Epcot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we got to basically Rosencrown Kind of across the bridge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, we could hear it. Yeah, maybe when we got closer to Yorkshire county fish stand Right. All of a sudden it was like this boom, boom.
Speaker 1:We're like where is this?
Speaker 2:coming from. I'm trying to figure out where this kind of music? Yeah, find out. The next day that Celebration High School had their prom at the Canada Pavilion. Yeah, the show place. I OK, I think probably it was in the world show place, right, but the mom who posted about it on facebook said it was in the canada pavilion. And I started to say, oh yeah, like where they do the apple stuff. You know where they were doing it. But then there's no, there's nowhere to dance because there's all those rails you're supposed to lean against I think it was in the show place because they just, yeah, it had to have been.
Speaker 1:That's where you would have a dance. I assume I mean you know, I mean possibly.
Speaker 2:but there also are, you know, places that we don't know about in all these pavilions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but they did have several cast members kind of there and the gate was was. They didn't have the the planters across it and there was someone standing right at the gate, at the show place right. So that to me kind of it was very cool that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Now it makes me like think that grad night was just kind of a ripoff and we should have had prom there. All right, my grad night was awesome, though All right. Here's who I can't. I can never remember everybody, so I had to look it up while we were just talking about it. Yeah, so we had new kids on the block. I don't remember which boy band that was, but it was one of them, probably not the one with justin timberlake I don't even know, and we're probably gonna get yelled at.
Speaker 2:Probably someone's gonna be yelling at us no, I don't know through the radio it's just the backstreet boys and ninsync and new kids on the block and all of them that all came out like roughly the same time I was too old, I didn't know, I was too male. Samantha Fox, who literally like, if you like, put her in Apple Music had an album in 86, an album in 87, and then several greatest hits albums since.
Speaker 1:And based on the titles of what you put in there, they were all sex sells, even back then okay, she was what they called a page three girl.
Speaker 2:That's how she got her start. Um, we won't get into what that is, just google it okay but yes, that's what it was. Yes, right, yeah, it was. I don't know, touch me and I want to have some fun and what yeah um, the divinals were worse, not, but she like definitely kick-started them.
Speaker 1:Okay, um, we had atlantic star yes, no, but the best part was you doing the little dance.
Speaker 2:Secret lovers. That's what we are.
Speaker 2:He's doing the whole little shimmy and everything here. It's actually hilarious Again, like huge in 1980. Actually in 1985, and by 1989 we're already basically playing the Garden Rock series, like grad night information society, who I thought for years was depeche mode. They really sound like it. Yeah, and will to power, who I just now found out was actually a florida band. I swore that they were like ace of bass and they were from sw or something. And actually do yourselves a favor, google that one and look at some of the album covers. They're hilarious. The lead singer is like a Cuban Swedish version of Fabio.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's what it was, because he had the Cuban mustache, oh, I mean like.
Speaker 2:But blonde hair, oh yeah, it was bad. And their like big hit song. They did something that's absolutely almost impossible. Their biggest hit song was a mashup, I guess, medley of Baby I love your way and freebird right, and they took two of the longest songs ever recorded, combined them and made it under four minutes, like the guitar solo in freebird is four minutes, and they turn this thing into a four minute song. Um, which takes talent. It does, by the way, but then, and then you're like here.
Speaker 2:Here's the transition and the transition was actually really good between between the. It was number one in late 1988 and in 89 and 88, and in 89 they were playing Grad Night for us, but from Miami Florida. So I don't know if this guy is Bob Rosenberg. He's gotta be Bob Rosenberg. The last album they did an album in 2002 called Shalom. He's gotta be Bob Rosenberg, right. Last album they did an album in 2002 called Shalom. He's got to be Bob Rosenberg, right? That's not racist, that's just pretty obvious that the one with him on the cover, he must be Bob Rosenberg.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:So we went down that rabbit hole yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, it started as a trio formed by producer Bob Rosenberg, which initially featured Dr J, I'm thinking, probably not that one, yeah, and Maria Menendez, or Mendez, okay. It later became a duo with Rosenberg and Elin Michaels. Okay. Their name was taken from the work of Frederick Nietzsche and belies their mellow, adult contemporary sound. Their medley of Peter Frampton's Baby I Love your Way and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird hit number one in late 1988. I always like when they do similar artists yes, taylor dane, oh, sweet sensation. Okay. The cover girls lisa, lisa and cult jam martika and millie vanillie. Um, I feel like that is actually. They just picked everybody in from the mid-80s who had one song probably because martika for sure, just had toy soldiers.
Speaker 2:Millie vanillie actually had like three songs, but they didn't sing any of them, right? Actually, taylor dane is the big star in that whole list.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, I mean she's still on Garden Rocks or one of the things.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure that's the benchmark for staying power. No offense and Garden Rocks is super cool.
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know if it's Garden Rocks.
Speaker 2:I don't feel like appearing at the Garden Rocks or Eat the Beat series is an illustration of your staying power as an artist. Right Like I noticed, the Rolling Stones have never been there. Haven't seen Paul McCartney pop up. No. Just saying All right, it's enough of this. It's gone way off the rails and it's late and I'm tired. That got us through Saturday. Yes, saturday we did go back to the resort and watched Disney Springs and listened to some music from House of Blues.
Speaker 3:Yes, from our balcony Coming right across the lake on the balcony.
Speaker 2:Actually kind of cool to do that every night, yeah, and then when you close the glass doors, you didn't hear another sound, exactly, so it was actually really cool.
Speaker 1:It's perfect that way. That's why we like that. Yeah, so anyway that really cool, it's perfect that way.
Speaker 2:That's why we like that, yeah, so anyway, that is going to do it. So next week we'll cover. Next week we'll cover Sunday, which is Cape May, sanaa, seeing the Easter eggs with the Austins, and capture a moment, capture a moment. Capture a moment. Capture a moment. Mm-hmm, the Easter treat box Hundy, 100% worth it right there, or at least I imagine it would be if the dog hadn't gotten half of it.
Speaker 1:No, he only got two things.
Speaker 2:Out of like five, so he got 40% of it.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, sorry he did not get the giant rabbit yet, so that's good. Yeah, so anyway, thanks for tuning in again. Thanks for tuning in again. If you haven't, or if you haven't checked in a while, please like, follow, subscribe, whatever it is on your podcatcher, because algorithms have changed. For whatever reason, Apple and Spotify decided to do that. Yeah, catch us on Facebook at the Mickey File Improvement District, or on Instagram, where we are Mickey File underscore podcast, and our email address is Mickey File podcast at Gmail dot com. Goodbye, good night everybody. Thank you.