Main Street Talk - A Disney World Podcast

Walt Disney World News, Figment Spotlight, and Melody Time Breakdown

Nick Garcia

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0:00 | 26:20

In this episode of the Main Street Talk podcast, we cover the latest news and updates from Walt Disney World, including attraction construction and recent entertainment schedule changes. We then shine a spotlight on Epcot’s Journey into Imagination with Figment, exploring the ride’s history, memorable elements, and the interactive What If Labs experience.

We also take a deep dive into the 1948 Disney animated film Melody Time, offering a detailed review of each segment and discussing its place in Disney history. To wrap up the episode, we share a practical tip on where to find specific Disney merchandise at select Walt Disney World resort locations.

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Introduction and Weather Chat

NIck

Hello everybody. Welcome to this week's episode of the Main Street Talk podcast, your go-to podcast for all things Walt Disney World related, all the news and the tips and tricks, and all the updates. I'm your host Nick, and as always with me is Joni.

Joni

Hi everyone.

NIck

Hope everybody is, uh, staying warm. Half the country is under a,

Joni

Hope U Texans down there are nice and cozy. Yeah.

NIck

the south is getting hit with some unusual weather. I think I read 35 states are being affected by this

Joni

word. I know. I just keep seeing little videos on, on social media about people from the south saying, Hey, northerners, come, come get your weather. Well,

NIck

Well, they're, they're not equipped

Joni

they're not, you

NIck

know, they don't have salt trucks

Joni

snow shovels.

NIck

that I know of. we are on, we didn't get, I think we got a half inch of snow, but we got the brutal cold. Friday morning I woke up for work. The real temperature was negative 12. Mm-hmm. Windchill was negative 37, which here I Googled it.'cause I'm like, that's pretty extreme.

Joni

Yeah. Is it true? And it was

NIck

Well our, our average temperature in January where we live is about 30 degrees.

Joni

Yeah. So we were way. Below

NIck

yeah, negative, negative 12. I was thinking about that. So not even including the wind chill, let's just go with the real temperature. 30 degrees to negative 12 is. What is that? 42 degrees? That's the difference between 80 degrees and 38. So that kind of puts into perspective of what we were dealing with. But we did not deal with any ice. I, I would rather have 12 inches of snow than a half

Joni

And we're equipped.

NIck

And we're equipped. Yes. We know how to

Joni

to drive in it. We know how to. Survive in it and thrive in it Infrastructure. Yeah, we do.

Disney World News Updates

NIck

So we hope everybody stayed safe and, and, um, I'm sure half the south is shut down right now.

Joni

I'm sure of it. I'm sure of it. Well, with no means rectify it. I

NIck

Well, no,

Joni

kind of stuck.

NIck

it's kind of stuck. Yeah.

Joni

we need some sunshine. Come on spring.

NIck

Yeah, we're, we're, we're getting, we're not negative 12 anymore, but it's pretty cold. We're, we're hanging around 10 degrees, so hang in there. Spring's coming sooner or later,

Joni

One of these days. Okay.

NIck

All right. Well, let's get into the Disney World News. Okay. Um, over at Magic Kingdom, scaffolding has gone up in the graveyard of the Haunted Mansion joining the walls and scrim. This is related to the construction of the new Piston Peak area, and also at Haunted Mansion. Crews have cleared Shebby. And trees from the lawn of the Haunted Mansion. At Magic Kingdom, the work is most likely related to recent theming related permits, that Disney filed and the Mickey's Magical Friendship Fair. You know the Castle Show? Yeah, that goes on.

Joni

Uhhuh

NIck

It's gonna shift to later performances. To accommodate the repainting schedule?

Joni

Well, yeah, I think we talked about that they were gonna have two, right? Huh? Weren't they having two?

NIck

Well, no, no, no. This is for the stage show, through January 27th., The shows are gonna be at 10 0 5. 11 0 5, 12 41 55 and four. Now, beginning on January 28th, when the painting's gonna be starting, they're gonna shift to more afternoon shows. So it'll be 1:00 PM 2 0 5, 4:00 PM and five 15. As always, this is subject to change. Double check your, the Disney app if you're there, and wanna see the show.

Joni

always, always refer back to your app to make sure, because of instances like this, everything is subject,

NIck

Yep. And I didn't put this in the news, but I thought this weird. Somebody took a photo of the castle the other day. It was earlier this week. There was one area of the castle that was painted, just one small area. It was painted a lot darker pink than the rest of the castle. The thinking was that imagineers are testing. Much the paint has faded since they repainted it. So they're maybe trying to, um, modify what they're gonna do for the repainting of it. You know what I mean? They, that was one theory, but,

Joni

Well, I understand the whole theory and logic behind that, but if they just newly painted Oh, you mean the, so, okay. So the paint that they had put on was probably what they had used for the, when that painting was done, and they just wanna see the contrast. Okay, I'm following you.

NIck

it had faded. That's one theory behind it. The other theories are, nobody knows it was just one really small area.

Joni

but what do you do anyway? I mean, you can't stop the sun or the weather from beating on it. No. And changing it. Yeah. I mean, you can't add pixie dust or glitter to it, or, I mean, you can't do anything.

NIck

I don't know. Ticker bell could throw in something.

Joni

You're, you're subject to whoever the manufacturer of your paint is. So

NIck

Yeah, that's, I just thought it was interesting. Everything fades. You should see the picture. It's, it's pretty, pretty weird. It's, like I said, it's very small.

Joni

huh.

NIck

I don't know how

Joni

that is kind of neat though. I mean, well, that would help to judge. Well, it, it, to me, it was only, it would only be specific to that color because. Not all colors fade the same, but the timeframe. Yeah. I mean, and if they're gonna do a different color, I don't understand how the pink is even relevant. I

NIck

probably, I don't know, just testing out how much it has if they need to make any adjustments or to the

Joni

paint more often, more frequently. Yeah. But it fades so slowly over time. Just like your, your house sighting does, and you know, your wood floors when the sun beats in on'em or furniture that's constantly subjected to rays of sunshine.

NIck

I dunno. I just thought it was interesting.

Joni

Yeah.

NIck

And over at Epcot, the Garden Rock Series lineup has been released for Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. So they have released a full list of bands when they're gonna be there. I'm not gonna go through them all, but I put a blog up. It is on our blog at Main Street talk pod.com. Check, uh, click on the blog in all the information. Is

Joni

there. Okay.

NIck

And at Hollywood Studios Imagineering has filed a permit to update to the Hollywood Studio's Toll Plaza. So that's the plaza you drive under as you're going into the park. So there may be athe going on for the toll plaza,

Joni

Oh,

NIck

and crews have started to paint the sound stage that houses the little mermaid of musical adventure at Hollywood Studios. So this is just,, part of the reimagining animation courtyard as well. And at Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World has filed a permit for construction at the Feathered Friends in Flight Theater. Oh.

Joni

Huh?

NIck

Now this permit was not filed by Imagineering, so construction likely won't involve any major changes to the theater or to the show. It is possible, however, that the show will close temporarily for refurbishment. They have not announced that, but if they're doing some updates to it, it, it may,

Joni

They may have to, you know, modify and update some seating, some

NIck

but we will let you know if that, if that

Joni

Because that's not a, a full enclosure. So that's subject to all the weather, right? Yeah.

NIck

This is, this is one of our favorite things to do at Animal Kingdom. We, we really like that show.

Joni

Yeah.

NIck

And sadly, Dinosaur is officially down to its last week. Until it permanently

Joni

Mm.

NIck

It closes on February 2nd, and I did see a picture, somebody in the queue somewhere along the way, I don't know where it is, but somewhere along the way in the queue, there's a, a dry erase board. You know, it's, it's themed. It's like, you know, part of the ride. And in the corner there's a countdown. The cast members are putting a count down to the closure. So, yep, that is closing

Joni

that's surreal. February 2nd.

NIck

So,

Joni

and over

NIck

over at Animal Kingdom, glow in the dark pavement refurbishment is underway in Pandora.

Joni

Okay.

NIck

So that's pretty cool. Yeah. Updating the,

Joni

you

NIck

ever seen Pandora at night, it's absolutely gorgeous. I suggest doing that.

Joni

And

NIck

it for Park News. Okay. We'll go on to resorts. There wasn't a lot of miscellaneous news either. So we're just gonna go into the resorts. Crews have poured concrete flooring for the new pool coming to Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. The pool is part of an expansion to the meadow swimming pool area,

Joni

Okay.

Epcot Spotlight: Journey into Imagination with Figment

NIck

and the boat dock. At Disney's Wilderness Lodge has reopened a week ahead of schedule.

Joni

Woo-hoo.

NIck

Guests can once again travel by boat between the resort and Magic Kingdom. It was originally set to open on January 30th.

Joni

Well, that's nice.

NIck

That's all I got for news.

Joni

Really?

NIck

Yeah. Kinda slow, Avatars continuing to,

Joni

you know, blow things outta the water. Yeah.

NIck

Um, it's gonna crush everything. See, yeah. That's it. And, we. Going onto to our spotlight on attraction.

Joni

Okay.

NIck

Okay, we are done at Magic. We finished up Magic Kingdom and it was a big, Joni would not tell anybody where we were heading next. Oh,

Joni

we're going to Epcot. We

NIck

have our park hops and we're hopping to Epcot.

Joni

We're going to Epcot. We're just gonna go right around the Land there and do, world celebration first, and then we're just gonna work our way around the circle ending with World Showcase. So starting with World Celebration, we're gonna touch on journey into imagination with Figment Figment. And then also, in conjunction with that, we're gonna go ahead and hit a little bit on the. Imageworks, the what if labs that are at the

NIck

Oh, yeah, yeah. At the end.

Joni

the exit, um, of this particular attraction. So it is located in the Imagination Pavilion. Figment the Playful Dragon is your guide on this delightful ride through the Sensory Labs of Imagination Institute, whose chairman Dr. Nigel Channing sets out to prove how the five senses capture the imagination. This is a dark omni mover ride. There is no height requirement, but those who are under 42 inches and children under seven must be accompanied by somebody who is, uh, 14 years or older. The seating capacity is three to four guests per row across two rows. So in other words, that means you can get about a total of seven per vehicle. Okay. Four in the back, right?

NIck

Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.

Joni

The seating, is hard bench with a back, featuring a sliding door on the right side for security, but there are no safety restraints, so please watch your littles or your oldies. It is a tier two lightning lane, and you can remain in your, wheelchair or electric vehicle because there is a wheelchair accessible vehicle. There's audio description and handheld captioning. There's no attraction, or I'm sorry, there is no action photo. The duration is about seven and a half minutes. It's an opening Walt Disney World of, March 5th, 1983, and this attraction has had three versions.

NIck

So

Joni

The original March 5th, 1983 was the original attraction, obviously starring Dream Finder in Figment. Now, I did not know who Dream Finder was. I had Nick look him up for me. Yeah. I thought, what is he, A star, A rainbow, a wand? Like, what is it? It's a man.

NIck

A top hat.

Joni

So he was there, and then in October 1st, 1999, the second version was titled, journey Into Your Imagination. Figment opened without Dream Finder, and on June 2nd, 2002, which is our current version, and that title is what we know it today, journey into the Imagination with Figment. So.

NIck

So.

Joni

Once you get out of the queue, they have, you know, where you go through all the senses, which is kind of cute. There's some oddities in there and whatnot. Um, it's a very cute family friendly ride.

NIck

It's more for the littles,

Joni

is more for the littles, but you know, there are some of us olders that like it too. I think it does bring a lot to the imagination. Just lets you have a little bit of creativity and speaking of creativity and imaginations, um, once you get off the ride, you are exited into an area that let your imagination runs wild in a creative place space where littles and those of all ages can explore their senses in the lab area. And this actually. Originally opened the lab area in October of 1982. So it was open before the ride.

NIck

was open before the ride. Yes.

Joni

And that closed in October of 1998 and then reopened again a year later with refurbs. They, it was actually opened upstairs originally. Okay. But they closed that and in 1999 they updated the downstairs. So

NIck

everything

Joni

used to be up in an upper level with the RI and then the ride came along and whatnot. So, but in any case, the updated downstairs, what if Labs remains a popular kid friendly attraction with various interaction, interactive stations such as music, digital art, and other creative concepts? This attraction was originally sponsored by Kodak, later by Color Vision, and is now part of the general Epcot experience now. This next thing may or may not. I'm gonna have to verify, but I believe that this is where you can meet figment. And I think that there was it used to be a meeting station in because we had, was it joy from. We,

Using Figment as a 'Burner' Ride

NIck

Yes, we did see Joy in there. I forgot all about

Joni

Yeah. So there are, this is a, this is a spot also, and I know we're not touching on characters right at the moment, but while we're in this, imagine it, what if Labs, this is and can be a place for meeting

NIck

care. Mm-hmm.

Joni

as well. Just check your, my Disney experience app for, for any of those because they do switch'em around. Mm-hmm. So that's what I've got on the attraction.

NIck

All right. Um, notes on this.

Joni

you have anything to add?

NIck

This is not one of my favorites, you know, that, what did work out very well for us, I will say this. We used Figma as a burner ride

Joni

year. We did last year. Yeah. We

NIck

scheduled it at park opening.

Joni

Yeah, we did.

NIck

We did. So we can open up a tier one to get the frozen.

Joni

That's right. Because you have to do that now. You have to check into our ride

NIck

to open up tier ones. Yeah. To open up more tier ones. So we used this as a burner. Mm-hmm. I don't remember if that worked out or not. Um, no, I don't think we ended up getting fr Frozen was booked for the day. I think we ended up booking soren instead.'cause I remember we went on frozen. At the extended evening hours.

Joni

Yeah.

NIck

Yeah, I I do remember that. Yeah. It didn't, that didn't work out for us frozen wise'cause it was booked, but we did get Sorin out of it so

Joni

which I like Soren too.

NIck

Yeah, I like Soren too. All right. Figment. Yeah. I, you know, not one of my favorites, but it is, it's a fun ride for the kids. I think a lot of,

Joni

Lot going and the wife.

NIck

There's a lot going on. And the wife. Yeah. It's my

Joni

lots of smells and I mean, yeah.

NIck

and a half. Okay.

Reviewing the 1948 Film 'Melody Time'

Joni

Yeah. And what I, well, there a room I think is, that I'm really most fascinated by is, um, and it's kind of like, I'm gonna kind of talk about another whole park area, but when we went to Universal, going through the Dr. Seuss ride and you've got like, everything that's like upside down or like. Awkwardly placed or whatever. Well, this figment ride, I love the area that has the upside. Everything's upside down.

NIck

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yep.

Joni

So it's just kind of fascinating, like I know it's literally just bolted up there, but just to see everything

NIck

for a kid. It's

Joni

I know. And like I go into my kid zone when I'm my kid mentality when I go in that ride. So I like it.

NIck

All right. Well thanks. Thanks, Joni. That's figment. Now let's go on to our movie of the week.

Joni

Okay, well I'll get on that too. Today we're gonna talk about the 1948 melody time and this, Nick and I actually just watched this today, just uh, so this

NIck

fresh off the, fresh off the couch

Joni

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. The first appearance is May 27th, 1948. The time running time is 75 minutes. Budget is 1.5 million. Box office pulled 2.56 million worldwide in rentals. Directors are Clyde Romy, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Lusk, and Jack Kenny. And this melody time is made up of seven segments that are set to popular music and folk music. This film. Is like, make my music, which we weren't able to see. We have still have yet to see that one. Right? Make my music. Before it, this film was also a popular version of Fantasia Melody time, while not meeting the artistic accomplishments of Fantasia was mildly successful. But I often wonder sometimes where some of these names and restaurants and little shops and things

NIck

things like that. Yes. We, we had this

Joni

get named. Anyway, let's talk about the rewards and then I'll go into some, um, some bonus info. For the awards, it won a 1948 Venice Film Festival. For International Award for animated film, and also the 1948 photo play award winner for best picture of the month for August. So the little bonus information I have is I actually, um, have the titles for the seven segments that. Construct this film. The first one is Once Upon a Winter Time, and this segment features two romantic young lovers, Jenny and Joe, and they're out on a winter day in the late 19th century. Joe tries to show off on the ice and, but a near tragedy hits and it's intertwined with this similar rabbit couple. This segment was released theatrically as an individual, short on September 17th, 1954. The second, title in this set is called Bumble Boogie, and this segment represents a surreal battle for a bumblebee as he tries to ward off a visual and musical frenzy. It's a very short, like, I think that one was only three or four minutes. Mm-hmm. Um, thirdly, the legend of Johnny Appleseed, and this is based on the real John Chapman. Who was born and died 1774 through 1845. He was an American pioneer nursery man who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He was born in Massachusetts. He was a devoted Christian missionary in conservationist who established numerous orchard, often leasing land and selling seedlings to settlers. This segment was released independently on December 25th, 1955. Fourthly, we have a little film called Little Toot, and this is regarding a small tugboat in New York City who wanted to be like his father, but he couldn't seem to stay outta trouble. Fifthly, we have trees and it's a recitation of the 1913 poem, trees by Joyce Kilmer, where the music. Is features, by Oscar Rach and is performed by Fred Warring and the Pennsylvanians, and it actually, these guys sing the poem. So the poem reads, I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree. A tree who's hungry mouth is pressed against the earth's sweet flowing breath. A tree that looks at God all day and lifts her leafy arms to pray a tree that may and summer wear a nest of robins in her hair upon whose bosom snow has la whose intimately lives with the rain. Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. So that's basically what that hold. Segment is, it's them singing the poem. And six, we have blame it on the samba. And this segment is where Donald Duck and our friend Jose, now, how do you say his name? You say it for me like Cacao,

NIck

Caro

Pecos Bill: The Legendary Cowboy

Joni

Caro, something another. Um, anyway, they meet, the Bird who was featured in the three Ceros. It's known as the clown of the Jungle, and he's the guy with the little wispy all over the place, red hair on top of his head. And anyway, Donald and Jose are introduced to the samba,

NIck

Okay.

Joni

like the dance, music, whatever. Oh, like the, okay. Yeah, yeah. So lastly, we have. The segment of Pecos Bill.

NIck

Oh, uh, before we go on, I believe it's Jose Karaoke.

Joni

Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that sounds much better.

NIck

Okay,

Joni

So lastly, we have Pecos Bill and this segment. Yeah. Wonderful.

NIck

Mexican theme park, Mexican food, I should

Joni

But you know, I mean, come on. We've got a restaurant here, and it's named after this, from a 1948, just a small segment that was like 17 minutes long out of all the things that Disney has done. This 17 minute film gets this Pecos bill. It's just, it just amazes what

NIck

in the movie, Pecos Pecos Pecos,

Joni

'em Pick us bills. Um, so in any case, this is Segment is about a famous Texas hero who was raised by coyotes and became the biggest and best cowboy that ever lived. His horse widow maker, whom Bill saves from vultures only for widowmaker. To sabotage bill's wedding day by leaving his bride slew foot Sue on the moon. Due to his jealousy, the heart broke bill returns, to the wild with the coyotes, and they all now howl at the moon. Yep. In honor of bill's loss.

NIck

Yeah. And this, this started out with, some cowboys talking to some kids around a campfire, uhhuh, and they, everything was rhyming. Everything, everything was. Poetic.

Joni

Yeah, it was. And then they, the little girl was, you know, unknowingly of the story of Pecos Bill. So then they had to go into it, and then it got cartoony and then it ended with, with the

NIck

Yep. With the campfire again,

Joni

then the wolves howling. So anyway, I just find it interesting when I come across stuff

NIck

It is. And, um,

Joni

all the little hidden things that are in these parks that you don't even think of. You're just like, ah. Somebody just name that. No, it's really a thing.

NIck

Yep.

Joni

So that's what I have.

NIck

Pecos Bill, I wanna say, you know, like I just said, it's, it's Mexican theme park. Mexican food. Yeah. Joni and I are spoiled where we live. We have a lot of wonderful Mexican restaurants around here. Authentic, but,

Joni

and we love Mexican

NIck

food and we do. And I'm, I, I like Paco's Bill. I do. I'm gonna say, I know some people completely do not like it, but I, I would definitely stop there and eat.

Tips for Buying Themed Merchandise at Disney Resorts

Joni

well every time. Can I just, I'm, and not to, not to like downgrade any restaurants or, you know, franchises or anything like that, but Nick also likes Taco Bell, so

NIck

like Taco Bell. I am not gonna lie,

Joni

I'm more of the home cook style, you know, what I grew up on, but my grandma and

NIck

prefer that, but I, I do like Taco Bell once in a while. All right. Well, thanks Joni.

Joni

You're welcome.

NIck

All right, onto this week's tip or trick. This one has to do with merchandise. Let's say you have a little kid. Your little kid is a big fan of Moana, so my tip or trick is to, on your off day as your resort hopping, go to a resort. That's gonna have those specialty themed things. What I mean by that is let's, okay, we'll use the Moana example.

Joni

Mm-hmm.

NIck

Don't go to Saratoga Springs to buy a Moana themed stuff. Go to the Polynesian. They're gonna have the Moana stuff. Just like if your kid, loves the Skyliner, you know, loves the Skyliner, and, Hey mom, I want something. I want a t-shirt with a skyliner on it. Go to a Skyline resort, go to pop century Art of Animation, that's where you're gonna find that stuff. So basically it's, it's, every resort has different theme stuff. So if you want that specific theme thing, just go to that resort and see what they have. Yeah. You know, I think Moana's a perfect example. It's, you know, go to the Polynesian, they're gonna have Moana

Joni

Oh, blankets and shirts and I mean, yeah.

NIck

You know, and Disney, you know, goes to merchandise. They have hit and miss stuff all the time. But,

Joni

yeah, because we bought our villains clue at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

NIck

Yeah, yeah. That's another thing. If you want something animal themed, go to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Joni

Oh my gosh. They have such amazing

NIck

yeah. And a lot of handmaid stuff. And if your kid loves the monorail. If I wanted to buy something Monoroy related, I would go to the contemporary. I would start at the

Joni

Sure, sure.

Wrapping Up and Contact Information

NIck

If not, I would go to Grand Floridian or

Joni

anything that's on the monorail. I mean, you're not gonna find monorail stuff at Animal Kingdom.

NIck

Yep. So just,

Joni

what we're

NIck

I know that seems kind of like common sense, but people may not think about it. Right. So that's my tipper trick. Go to the resort. That makes sense to what you're gonna be buying. You're gonna get Mickey Mouse stuff everywhere, obviously,

Joni

Right, right.

NIck

Yeah. All right. Well. That's all I have this week. Do you have anything else?

Joni

do not.

NIck

All right. Well that is gonna do it for this week, our Facebook. Page is Main Street Talk. Our Facebook group is Disney World Tips and Tricks. Our Instagram is Main Street Talk podcast. Our website is main street talk pod.com. That's where all of our links are and everything. You can contact me for Disney and Royal Caribbean Vacations, nick.Garcia@jeanietravelcode.com. My services are free and we are affiliates with a magic candle company, which I have to make another order soon. I think we're down to our last candle.

Joni

Oh no.

NIck

Yeah, so I gotta make, we got, we have one more I to open. We have a Polynesian one still to open,

Joni

Mm-hmm. That one smells good. I had the hangar in the car.

NIck

I know that does smell good., So yeah, magic Candle Company, our link is on the website and use the code, main Street talk at checkout for 15% off. So until then, we will talk to you real soon.

Joni

Bye everyone.