Walt Disney World Updates and Disney’s New CEO Announcement

In this week’s episode of Main Street Talk we break down the latest Walt Disney World news and Disney headlines. The big story is Disney’s announcement that Josh D’Amaro will take over as the company’s next CEO, succeeding Bob Iger. We discuss D’Amaro’s background and his long history with Walt Disney World and Disney Parks.

We also cover recent Walt Disney World park news from Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom, spotlight the Disney Pixar Short Film Festival and the Magic Eye Theater, and look back at Disney history with classics like Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Plus, we share a helpful Walt Disney World planning tip and tease our upcoming March Madness tournament.

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Transcript

Introduction and Super Bowl Weekend Plans

Nick 0:31

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. The tips and tricks and all the park updates. I'm your host Nick, and as always with me is Joni.

Joni 0:47

Hi everyone.

Nick 0:48

We're recording a little early this week just because it is Super Bowl weekend. We have plans

Joni 0:53

and we really don't care which team,

Nick 0:55

I have no horse

Joni 0:56

for the food.

Nick 0:57

I'm in it for the food. We are making, uh, food and snacks just for the two of

Joni 1:02

actually. Well, we might have a couple of the

Nick 1:03

Oh yeah, we might a few kids over, but, uh. Yeah. So we are recording. This is, February 7th. So all news is current up to this date. I'm gonna do this a little different this week because there was big news outta Disney. I wanna spend just a few minutes on the news that came out this last week, that of course is Walt Disney Company announced that Josh tomorrow will be the next CEO. This was after a unanimous vote on Monday, February 2nd. He will take the position during the annual meetings on March 18th, 2026. And Bob Iger will continue to be at Disney for the remainder of his contract, although he is stepping down. Just he will be a senior advisor

Joni 1:42

Oh. So he is staying until December.

Nick 1:43

basically he's gonna be there for

Joni 1:46

delegating his duties elsewhere.

Josh D'Amaro's Background and Career at Disney

Nick 1:48

I saw the interview with Iger and tomorrow on uh, 60 Minutes, it was like quick 10 minute interview with both of them. And, I think Iger said something to the effect of, well, you know, I'm gonna be on, I'm gonna be around in case he needs to, or, in case somebody needs to call

Joni 2:02

he's a mentor,

Nick 2:03

and tomorrow said, yes, I will be calling.

Joni 2:06

Well, and the thing of it is, is, I mean, not many people just jump into a job without having some sort of

Nick 2:11

right. Yeah. You gotta have a

Joni 2:12

gotta be a senior advisor for sure.

Nick 2:14

I want to give you a little background on Josh DeMar. Oh, you know what I did think was funny? The online Disney community, after Josh Demaro got named CEO.

Joni 2:23

Uhhuh,

Nick 2:24

A lot of the news sources I, I follow had a catchy phrase for that.

Joni 2:29

Oh, okay. Let's hear it. It's

Nick 2:31

It's a great big, beautiful tomorrow.

Joni 2:33

Oh my word. I love it. How cool is that? Yeah,

Nick 2:38

I did not, I did not come up with that. It's very clever though.

Joni 2:41

That is very

Nick 2:41

Bay. Beautiful. Tomorrow. Okay, so here's a little bit of his history. He earned his bachelor's degree in business admin from Georgetown in 1993. He began his career at Gillette in finance. And he came to Disney in 1998. So he's been with the company for a very long time. He has held so several leadership

Joni 3:00

he was just five years out of school

Nick 3:02

when he started with Disney. Yeah. Wow.

Joni 3:04

great.

Nick 3:05

He's had roles in sales strategy and finance eventually becoming the Chief Financial Officer of Disney Consumer Products Licensing. In 2008, later served as Vice President of Adventures by Disney, and then Vice President of Disney's Animal Kingdom, where he oversaw the. Development of Pandora, the world of Avatar. He went on to lead Walt Disney World Resorts and transportation operations before becoming president of Disneyland in California. And then later president of Walt Disney World. He is currently before he steps up to his new role as chairman of Disney experiences, overseeing Disney theme parks, resorts, cruise line, and consumer products. He leads a team of cast members of about 185,000. Wow.

Joni 3:47

Wow.

Nick 3:48

So I have a few

Joni 3:49

wonder if he has to give annual reviews to each one of those

Nick 3:53

personally. A Zoom call.

Joni 3:55

Yeah.

Nick 3:56

There's gonna be a two minute Zoom call. And Dana Walden, she was the s. You know, the, uh, second,

Joni 4:02

she was a, another

Nick 4:03

she was behind tomorrow. Yeah. She is the co-chair of Disney Entertainment. I think this is a new position for her.

Joni 4:09

Okay.

Nick 4:10

I'm sorry. She is the co-chair. She will be the new president and chief creative officer beginning March 18th. So that's the new position. And I just read this, Reportedly they were considering making Demaro and Walden co-CEOs at one point, but they ended up going with the traditional, uh, solo, CEO.

Joni 4:30

Okay.

Nick 4:30

I have a few thoughts. I have no insight. This is just my opinions. Uh, Josh Demaro is a park guy. I've read several things where from cast members even saying that he cares about the Disney Parks fandom, he cares about. The classic Disney parks.

Joni 4:47

Oh, good.

Nick 4:47

He is constantly in the parks. You see videos of him all the time. I have n and I've seen videos of

Joni 4:53

We have yet to run into him. Yeah.

Nick 4:55

I'm just gonna call him JD if I ever run. No. Hey

Joni 4:58

go out and give him a fist bump.

Nick 5:00

He's always, every video I've seen of fans on Instagram or whatever, he's been very, very gracious to take pictures and to stop and talk to

Joni 5:07

Of course.

Nick 5:08

And a few times I've even. Seen him say, you know, somebody says, can I get a picture? He says, okay, really, really quick. But yes, we can. So this is a park guy. If you're a park fan, Disney Parks fan, I think this, this is pretty big.

Joni 5:22

Yeah.

Nick 5:23

Like I mentioned last week, he has nobody to answer to. Now if he wants to do something with the part, I mean obviously you have

Joni 5:28

he does

Nick 5:29

shareholders,

Joni 5:30

but I was like he, everybody always has

Nick 5:31

somebody. But there is not that he is the top guy. Yeah. So, it's pretty exciting if you're a Disney Parks fan. He's just gotta learn, you know? I'm sure he knows, but Disney is a huge entertainment umbrella company. Yeah. A lot of moving

Joni 5:45

he's gonna have a lot of reigns to be monitoring right

Nick 5:48

Yeah. Like

Joni 5:50

thing that Iger is staying in.

Disney Parks News and Updates

Nick 5:51

Yeah. I mean, there's a big thing in the miscellaneous news. Stuff. Yeah. There, in there, there's a big thing in the miscellaneous news. I'm gonna briefly talk about, you know, just out stuff. You don't think about being Disney, CEO, but I just wanted to touch base on the CEO. I'm excited for it. Yeah. I hope he brings back. Some classic stuff, some stuff that has went away with COVID and never came back. I mean, you never know, but,

Joni 6:17

well now I can't get the song outta my head. I've been sitting over here like thinking it in my head the whole time

Nick 6:23

with new leadership. There's always new possibilities, so, okay, we're gonna get into the regular news. Congratulations to Josh tomorrow.

Joni 6:30

Yes.

Nick 6:31

Magic Kingdom. The Cinderella Castle Moat at Magic Kingdom is completely drained now to allow crew members to get closer to the castle for there be painting. So the moat is drained, Under the sea. The journey of the Little Mermaid will be closed for one day later this month. This is presumably for regular maintenance. It'll be closed on February 11th, and we'll reopen on the 12th.

Joni 6:52

Okay.

Nick 6:53

This is exciting. Walt Disney has filed a permit for Carousel of Progress. So the thinking is the carousel of progress and by the wording of the permit, this is to put in the Walt Disney segment animatronic that they put in over at Disneyland. Oh

Joni 7:07

Oh yeah, yeah, I remember that. So yeah,

Nick 7:09

this is, uh, there's no dates announced or anything, but the permit has been filed, like I said, by the wording of it. It sounds like that's what it is.

Joni 7:16

that's

Nick 7:17

it for Magic Kingdom. Wow.

Joni 7:18

Wow. That's a little bit.

Nick 7:19

A little bit, yeah. Okay.

Joni 7:20

Okay.

Nick 7:21

At Epcot.

Joni 7:22

according

Nick 7:23

the Disney World Calendar, frozen ever after will resume operations on Thursday, February 12th. The ride has been closed since January 26th for the installation of new audio animatronics of Ana, Elsa, and Christoff that have physical faces instead of the projected

Joni 7:39

Yep. Okay.

Nick 7:39

did read an interview yesterday. They are, doing a little bit more with their, they're like refreshing some of the scenes, some new set elements and stuff while they have it closed. So. The big one is the animatronics

Joni 7:50

Uh huh

Nick 7:50

and impressions of France will temporarily be unavailable for, routine refurbishment beginning February 22nd. At this time, there is no reopening date for that attraction and something

Joni 8:01

what would need to be done to be refreshened

Nick 8:03

Uh, just, you know, they close things just

Joni 8:05

the walls and the floor like I, the railings. I don't know.

Nick 8:10

Something that used to ask me a lot, and you haven't asked me in a while. How are the animals?

Joni 8:14

well, because I know you'll tell me.

Nick 8:16

Well, we have a new animal.

Joni 8:17

Oh, yay. Have the seed. What do we have

Nick 8:20

the seas with neon friends in Epcot, we have a baby manatee.

Joni 8:24

Oh, named

Nick 8:25

sole. S-O-L-E-I-L. Soel.

Joni 8:29

s Wait, say it again. S-O-S-O-L-E-I-L. Oh,

Nick 8:32

thinking Soleil I, I don't know.

Joni 8:33

I dunno.

Nick 8:34

But yeah, new baby manatee. So

Joni 8:37

Is that a boy's name or a girl's name?

Nick 8:39

I don't know if it was a boy or girl. I didn't, you know what, I didn't read if it was a boy or girl. Maybe

Joni 8:42

anyway, congratulations mama.

Nick 8:44

maybe when you're doing your spotlight. I'll

Joni 8:46

up Nice. SPI Okay. Yeah. How, how old this?

Nick 8:48

I just read, baby.

Joni 8:50

Oh, okay. So

Nick 8:51

yeah.

Joni 8:52

Aw. So is it out in the public? Can you see it

Nick 8:54

yet? Yeah, it's in the tank. I saw

Joni 8:55

Oh,

Nick 8:55

it. Oh, I mean, it's a big baby.

Joni 8:57

did Well, yeah, but still,

Nick 9:01

it's not something you can take home.

Joni 9:03

I know.

Nick 9:04

I didn't really have any news for Hollywood Studios, but I did wanna mention this. I was gonna put it miscellaneous. The Mind Disney Experience app has seemed to updated only for Hollywood Studios at this time. There's like. A few attractions, like Fantas Villain show Little Verbatim Beauty and the Beast that actually over the attraction on the map, they have little characters like Fantasia has Sorc or Mickey on it, like waving his wand. And, uh, villains has Maleficent over it. Oh, it's only for Hollywood Studios. Maybe they're, maybe

Joni 9:35

in

Nick 9:36

yeah, maybe they're updating and

Joni 9:37

you know, the IT guys, they take a while to

Nick 9:40

They, they do take a while, does.

Joni 9:41

sure it's

Nick 9:42

Okay. And Animal Kingdom, after Dyno Lynn has went extinct. The new paper maps, this was immediately the next day. The new paper maps are empty in that area, but they say Future Home of tropical Americas.

Joni 9:55

Well, I'm glad I got a map,

Nick 9:57

Yeah. Yeah.

Joni 9:58

I always take a map for a souvenir.

Nick 10:00

gets a map every time.

Joni 10:01

every time. Every time.

Nick 10:02

map.

Joni 10:02

many masks.

Nick 10:03

map.

Joni 10:04

Well, there's differences, you know, when they do things like this

Nick 10:07

and following the closure of Don Land, Donald, Daisy and Chippendale are meeting in different costumes at new locations. This check your My Disney Experience app for that. And the Wildlife Express Train and Vicki's Planet Watch at Animal Kingdom will temporarily close later this month due to make wave for the new Bluey experience. The website says it will close on February 23rd, 2026. It's rumored that the petting zoo area, the affection section will close permanently, but the notice still says temporarily closed. That's where Bluey is rumored to be.

Joni 10:40

Well

Nick 10:40

And the animation experience that's over there. Remember you, you've done that a

Joni 10:43

times. Yeah.

Nick 10:45

Yes. That is closing and it's going to be moved to the magic of Disney animation, also opening this summer at Hollywood Studios, which makes sense. They're opening the animation part of Hollywood Studios. Why wouldn't you put

Joni 10:56

Yeah, I like doing that. It's very therapeutic for me to sit there and draw.

Nick 11:00

draw. I'm terrible at drawing. I get very impatient at drawing'cause I'm just so bad at it that I took a nap when you guys sat in my chair and I took a

Joni 11:09

I like doing it.

Nick 11:09

I was fine with that. I absolutely fine with that. But you guys had

Joni 11:14

it is a, it is a decent spot and a

Nick 11:17

it's air conditioned

Joni 11:18

of time to get a, to get a quick nap in.

Nick 11:21

What it took. 30, 45 minutes probably. Yeah, something like that. That's a good nap for Disney. There is no opening a date announced for Bluey yet, but it is his summer

Joni 11:29

Uhhuh. Okay.

Nick 11:30

I thought this interesting. Joe Rodie. We know who Joe Rodie is. He built Animal Kingdom. He revealed on his Instagram prior to his retirement. He had spent 15 years trying to get tropical America's land added to the park, and even some of his plans included replacing some of Dino land. Not all of it, but some of it.

Joni 11:48

So, and then he goes and retires and then look what

Nick 11:51

And he did say he, he, you know, he did say congratulations to the team that got it done. Yeah. You know he was very gracious. He wasn't like, he wasn't like, this is my idea.

Joni 11:59

Well, you know what, and he's not gonna be like that. No. But he's still, it's still thrilling to see your idea come to life. Yeah. Whether you're the one hands on with it or not, it's still your baby.

Nick 12:09

And I think they've brought him on as an advisor. I think we reported on

Joni 12:12

have mo

Nick 12:13

in some sort of fashion. So that's it for Park News. Uh, on the miscellaneous, this is what I was talking about, like the CEO has to do things like this. After months of reports about the deal, the NFL announced that it has officially handed control of the NFL network and other media assets to Disney via ESPN. So, NFL Network is now officially owned by Disney, well,

Joni 12:37

well, there was an ESPN personnel in the running for this also. So yeah, we knew they were Yeah, tied closely.

Nick 12:44

Well, yeah. Disney owns ESPN, but uh, so if you're an NFL fan and a Disney van, there you go, and Florida residents can now purchase a Disney World annual pass with a down payment of just$99. That's 50% off the standard. Uh, down payment price. This promotion applies to all four annual pass types and includes 12 monthly payments ranging from 35 to 136. Depending on the pass you choose, all the payments carry a 0% a PR. The total cost of the pass is remains the same. It's just the down payment has been reduced. And finally after I believe two or three years there are new resort mugs. Yay. At the resorts. So don't when we're getting the same mug, you know. Well, I got green, maybe I'll get pink.

Joni 13:30

Yeah. And I don't know this designer if he's designed for them before, but I also noticed when you showed me the mugs that they are buckets that are somewhat similar to

Nick 13:39

is the same designer.

Joni 13:40

Okay. No, I knew the designer was the same, but I don't know if they're exact. Replicas from the bucket to the mug. But it's, I mean, I think that's like a really cute combination item to have

Nick 13:51

a bucket and a cup. Yeah. Yeah. They are.

Joni 13:54

I said we don't need any more mugs, but here I am like, oh, that's cute.

Nick 13:57

I'm, I'm getting the mug.

Joni 13:59

Me too.

Nick 13:59

too. These new mugs have an assortment of the Pixar characters on'em. So there's like a baby or. Little boy Woody lightning McQueen, and there's a bunch of Pixars

Joni 14:08

on it. Yeah.

Nick 14:09

So yeah, if you are going to Disney soon,

Joni 14:12

when are those coming out?

Nick 14:13

So they're sporadic right now. From what I understand. I read, I read a post on one of the Facebook pages that, somebody was outta the contemporary

Joni 14:20

And

Nick 14:21

didn't have'em out, but somebody commented and said, I was just there. Ask a cast member, they have'em in the back

Joni 14:27

Oh. They're trying to get rid of her

Nick 14:28

to get rid of her. Trying to get rid of the old ones first. Yeah.

Joni 14:31

I wonder what they're gonna do with all those un unpurchased ones.

Nick 14:34

sell'em. I would think they would sell'em, don't you think? I don't know.

Joni 14:38

you know, it's gonna store'em away, like they do their videos and lock'em in a vault for so many years and then bring them back as a vintage edition.

Nick 14:46

That's all I have for news. Okay. I know that was cool, uh, quite a bit, but I just thought that, uh, the CEO part needed

Joni 14:51

Yeah, for sure. All of it. And the new baby. Yeah, I, all of it that, yeah. Uh,

Nick 14:55

the gender of the baby.

Joni 14:56

Well, thank you. Yeah. Let me know. So let's go on. And the age, I wanna know when it was

Nick 15:00

Okay. I'm looking that up right now.

Joni 15:02

okay. So this spotlight on attraction is going to be the Disney Pixar Short Film Festival. Yeah, also known previously as, or maybe it's still currently, I don't know, in some people's minds as the Magic Eye Theater. It's in Imagination Pavilion. And this is where you don a pair of 3D glasses to experience,, three dazzling and popular Disney and Pixar short films in amazing 40 D with some incredible in theater effects such as seat motion along with other sensory elements. I don't wanna give too much of that away'cause it's quite. Quite fun.. It has about 550 seats. Uh, the theater generally accommodates high capacity crowds due to its role as a time filler attraction and continuous running. It rarely has long waits, and it is designed for rapid turnover of guests. Uh, it's theater seating with lightly padded chairs, equipped with both arm and back rest. It is a tier two. Some guests use it as a burner selection. Sure to get into their tier ones because you can get through this very quickly. Mm-hmm. And, uh, you may remain in your wheelchair or electric vehicle in the designated area in the back with leveled flooring due to limited space in this area. Only one companion can sit directly next to the guest in the wheelchair or electric scooter, while the rest of the party may need to sit in the row immediately in front. Video and handheld captioning devices are available. The duration of the film is, or the show rather, is about 18 minutes. It initially opened on EB cots opening day of October 1st, 1982. And with the latest version and the. Magic Eye Theater history timeline begins actually though in 1982 to 1986 with Magic Journeys that explored the world through a child's imagination. So that's what it was called, the show, magic Journeys. And then from 1986 to 1994, captain EO was the showings, and that's a 3D space adventure that starred Michael Jackson. It was directed by Francis Ford and produced by George Lucas, and then from 1994 to 2010, honey, I Shrunk. The kids emerged as an interactive 40 show based on the movie franchise. Then. After the 2010 to 2015, a revival of the original returned, show for Captain EO tribute due to Michael Jackson's death. So they brought that back for a little while with its final showing being December 6th, 2015. We currently have our new Disney picks, our short film festivals that started December 23rd, 2015 to current. And when it was first started, it had the three films titled Get a Horse, LA Luna, and For The Birds. However, in 2017 the film lineup was refreshed. La Luna and For the Birds was replaced with Piper and Feast. The attraction is a nice way to catch a quick break and some air conditioning, but before you enter the main theater, be sure to take a look at the exhibits that are showcased in the creative process behind these beloved stories and characters. The pre-show area is large with slanted floors and there's no formal seating, so some people just help themselves to the floor. Yeah. And that is about 10 to 15 minute segment beforehand. So it can be lengthy and just know that there's no seating. Okay.

Nick 18:42

Okay.

Joni 18:42

But that's what I got on that.

Nick 18:44

Okay. Thank you. Yeah, you bet. Got more on the, baby manatee. Okay.

Joni 18:48

Okay.

Nick 18:49

She's not permanent., She a young female. She was orphaned. So she is in there of short term care. Disney collaborates with, this is their, uh, Twitter name, I think MRP, Manatee and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to assist and recover the protection of manatees. So she will not be a permanent resident. She's there for short term.

Joni 19:11

So she's not a, she's not a child of, or a direct No. Offspring. And where she came from, or No.

Nick 19:18

But she will be released to the wild once again. So they're just taking care of her for the time being. Okay,

Joni 19:23

Okay.

Nick 19:24

so that's, well,

Joni 19:25

named her. They named her. You can't just

This Week in Disney History

Nick 19:27

it could have been named, she could have been named before she got there.

Joni 19:29

Oh. And how is she gonna tell him her name?

Nick 19:32

roll call? Present. Present.

Joni 19:35

Okay.

Nick 19:35

All right. We're on to this week in Disney history. Yeah.

Joni 19:39

Yeah,

Nick 19:40

We're gonna begin in 1940.

Joni 19:42

Okay. On

Nick 19:43

On February 10th, Pinocchio premiered in New York City becoming Disney's second full length animated feature. Following the massive success of Snow White in the seven drawers. Expectations were sky high. Pinocchio did struggle at the box office initially, but it did go on to win two Oscars,

Joni 19:59

Mm-hmm.

Nick 20:00

and it gave us a song when You Wish Upon a Star, which would become one of Disney's probably most famous songs.

Joni 20:05

Yeah.

Nick 20:06

February 8th, 1952, Disney released the animated Shore Lambert, the Sheepish Lion. This story centers on a lion, cub, mistakenly raised by a flock of sheep growing up, unsure of where he truly belongs. This won an Academy Award for the best animated short. Cool.

Joni 20:22

Oh,

Nick 20:23

And onto February 11th, 1953, Disney released Peter Pan in theaters. Wow. This was a project that Walt Disney had wanted to bring to life for a long time. When it finally arrived, it captured audiences with its sense of adventure, fantasy, and unforgettable characters. Uh, Peter Pan quickly became a classic and remains a staple of Disney's storytelling.

Joni 20:44

Yeah,

20:54 Deep Dive: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Nick 20:45

And then February 14th, 1986, the Disney Channel introduced its now iconic Wand logo, that simple sparkle tracing the word Disney became a defining image for an entire generation, and it's still one of the most nostalgic symbols associated with Disney Channel. And on February 12th, 1994, beauty of the Beast was released on home video. Now, by this point in time, the Disney Renaissance was in full swing. And the VHS release helps cement the film as a household favorite. So that's this weekend, Disney History.

Joni 21:18

The 1949 film Adventures of iBod. And Mr. Toad, we just watched this. It's one of my favorites. The iBod part is my all time. I'm like a little kid watching it, but in any case, October 5th, 1949. Was its first appearance, 68 minutes. The budget is not explicitly documented. However, some historical accounts suggest that it costs about 700,000 and the box office pulled in 1.625 million in worldwide rentals. The directors are Jack Kenny, Clyde Romy, and James Alger, the narrators and vocal performers. You have Basil Wrath Bone. Was in Mr. Toad and Bing Crosby was in Kobad.

Nick 22:04

Did he play iBod? Is

Joni 22:06

No, no, no, no. He was the voice.

Nick 22:08

Right. Yeah, that's what I mean. He voiced him.

Joni 22:10

Oh yeah. I thought you meant like act. I'm like, no, that's animated.

Nick 22:13

Boy. I know it wasn't being Crosby, it

Joni 22:15

supposed to be depiction of him, but yeah, no, he

Nick 22:19

I saw his, I saw his name on the screen at the beginning. I didn't know who he was. Okay.

Joni 22:23

So adapted from the 1820 short story, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by American author Washington Irving. And the 1908 children's novel, the Wind in the Willows by British novelist, Kenneth Graham, are the where these films are based off

Nick 22:40

Okay,

Joni 22:40

The Wind in the Willows, which is the Mr. Towed segment of this film, is set in England on a countryside along the river, Tims, and gives a very British Edwardian era vibe with motor cars, courtrooms, and cozy countryside settings. The legend of Sleepy Hollow, the iBod segment. Is set near Tarrytown, New York. And to be even more specific near the Hudson River Valley in the late 18th century, early 19th century, which was post American, revolution era, key places are implied, which is the village of Sleepy Hollow and the old Dutch church. The first half. Mr. Toad segment from the Wind and the Willows follows, the Reckless and Wealthy Mr. Toad whose obsession with motorcar lands him in trouble after being arrested and losing his estate. Towed escapes from prison and along with his friends Mole rat and Badger, he works to reclaim Toad Haul from the weasels who have taken it over the second half with iBod. Entitled, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells the story of Kobad Crane As a superstitious school teacher in a small New York Village, Kobad competes with the local hero Brahm bones for the affection of Katrina van tassel, only to face terror on his way home when he encounters the legendary headless horsemen. Together the films blend, lighthearted, comedy and spooky folklore, moving from whimsical adventure in England to Erie Legend in early America. The film won a Golden Globe for best cinematography for use of color in 1950. A little bit of bonus information is this film is considered the final and most polished of Disney's wartime post-war package features. So all those films that we were, have been talking about where there was multiple segments, right to cut cost and whatnot. So this is it. This wraps it up. Okay. After this, Disney returned to the single story classics. Starting with Cinderella. So Cinderella was made right after this one., In 1950. There are a few Easter eggs that I always like to go over and I think they're kind of fun to find. So, Mr. Toad Easter eggs is during the courtroom scene. Several background characters are caricatures of Disney animators and staff from the 1940s Really. Yeah. And, the layout of Toad Hall is subtly matches the British Manor houses that Disney artists sketched during research trips in the 1930s. And some of those sketches later influenced castles seen in Alice in Wonderland and sleeping beauty, So toad's friend Badger, his underground home used to design elements that were used in Snow White's, dwarf cottage, and Winnie the poo illustrations. So some of the iBod Easter eggs is the horseman's laugh and galloping sounds are layered using reverse audio and then slowed down animal recordings, which was an experimental technique that Disney rarely used again because it scared the test audiences so well. I'm

Nick 25:52

I'm not going to see a Disney movie. They're

Joni 25:53

Yeah. And actually I read it somewhere else that there are still, that Disney still gets correspondences saying that that show scared their child.

Nick 26:04

The headless

Joni 26:05

The Headless Horseman. The Headless Horseman show the Sleepy Hollow. Yes. And intentional. Visual rhyme that is hard to miss is during the chase where IBAs shadow briefly resembles the headless horseman, hinting that the monster may be in his head, or the iBod is becoming the thing he fears. And at the end, the broken pumpkin left behind is identical in shape to the one that Bram bones is later seen holding Disney never explains this outright because it's their quiet way of siding with the Brahm. Did it interpretation.

Nick 26:38

Mm.

Joni 26:38

So it's never been confirmed nor denied. Some Easter eggs that goes along with the parks is the windmill and the jail in the Mr. Toad segment, directly inspired scenes in the Mr. Toad's wild ride, and the ride included nods to the courtroom scene and the weasels takeover that are not obvious unless you've seen the film closely. I never rode on the ride. You probably

Nick 27:00

I did. I, I was

Joni 27:01

but it was so long

Nick 27:02

I was very little. Yeah.

Joni 27:03

So I can't. Say it one way or another, but I thought that was kind of interesting. I love how they tie stuff in like that. Yeah. Also, we cannot forget to pay tribute to the performance of the headless horsemen for the Halloween parade.

Nick 27:15

One of the most parts is

Joni 27:16

they initiate. It's just so like eerie and quiet

Nick 27:19

of the

Joni 27:19

and just, yeah. And it's such a massive horse.

Nick 27:23

pretty cool.

Disney Tips and Tricks: Refurbishment Schedules

Disney Tips and Tricks: Refurbishment Schedules

Joni 27:23

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride opened in Magic Kingdom October 1st, 1971, enclosed September 7th, 1998, which was replaced with the many adventures of Winnie the Pooh. But you can find Mr. Toad's tombstone in the haunted mansion graveyard for the pet cemetery. And that was put in around 2005 as a nod to the ride.

Nick 27:46

Yep. He's back there.

Joni 27:47

Yeah.

Nick 27:47

Yeah.

Joni 27:48

I wondered if I, I don't know. I thought we had talked about it, or maybe there was word on it, or maybe I dreamt it. They were talking about moving it. I don't know. That's why I asked you earlier. I'm like, is that still there? I don't know. I don't know. I have a little bit of a cold, so Yeah,

Nick 28:01

we're, we're a little, we're kind of sick that bear with us, please.

Joni 28:05

So that's what I have for the iBod and Mr. Toad. You bet.

Nick 28:10

So onto this week's tip or trick. I'm fairly certain we've mentioned this before, but I'm gonna mention it again because I saw something online again. I saw somebody well, lemme tell you the tip first is always read

Joni 28:21

the

Nick 28:21

current refurbishment schedules before your trip. Always. Or just listen to us because we tell you the refurbishments every single week when a, a ride or something's gonna be down, we, uh, we mention it. The reason. I'm bringing this up again. It's because I saw a person online that paid some extra money to stay at Pop over All Stars. I can't remember how much it was. It was three or$400.

Joni 28:44

Mm-hmm.

Nick 28:45

She was there at Disney and she did not know the Skyliner was down. The reason she paid the extra money was because of Skyliner access, which a lot of people do.

Joni 28:56

Sure.

Nick 28:56

Now if this is your first time going, you know, stuff happens. People that go every year know the Skyliner is down at some point in January. Now how is everybody supposed to know that they're not? But when they announced this stuff months and months and months in advance, and there's

Joni 29:12

really have a wait on yes, your selection of hotels.

Nick 29:16

hotels, when you go to book your trip. If you're like on pop century and you're for that week, it'll say the Skyliner will be under refurbishment this date, to this date, just as a warning or a pool refurbishment, whatever the case may be. Now those refurbishments are announced months and months in advance. Like I said. Now, if something, if the Skyliner broke down. And they had to close it for a week. There's nothing you can do about that. Right. But just to make sure,

Joni 29:41

Well, and then you might have some, like, I don't know, how far are you being agent, you might be able to know this a little more than me, but how far out can you even book a trip for somebody who's planned? Can you book out 12

Nick 29:52

Yeah, you can. Disney kind of has a weird schedule, especially like they, they'll book for the, or they'll open up for the year except. Like, uh, November and December I think it is, but they wait till like halfway in the year. It's very weird, but you can book out plenty, plenty in advance.

Joni 30:09

Well, what I'm, what I'm getting at is if these people, you know, and the refurb was announced after the initial booking, they wouldn't know. Well

Nick 30:16

keep checking. Okay. Especially with the skyliner and, and. Like that's what I'm talking about. Just know it's gonna be sometime in January. It always is. It didn't, they didn't do it last year for some reason, but this year they did. It's usually an annual thing. So yeah, just, just check that. And like I said, same thing if, if you're booking a resort,'cause you like a certain pool that's gonna be under refurbishment. Yeah. It'll be closed. Another thing this popped in my head for the skyliner, let's say you, you have to go in January for whatever reason, your kid's school, whatever it is. You don't, they haven't announced the skyliner yet. You can still put your book, your trip for whatever week, the week you want. You can move that date, you know, keep checking the skyliner schedule or the, uh, the website to see if there's anything up. And if it is during your week, if you're flexible, move your week. Disney will move your week for you. I mean, it's, it's a matter of a phone call or online or your agent can do it, whatever.

Joni 31:08

Yeah. So, well, those are all the little behind the scenes things that need diligent attention and they are, you know, if peop some people,

Nick 31:16

That's, that's the thing about Disney is you have to

Closing Remarks and Announcements

Joni 31:19

small details that need to be tied up, but they're really not small details. It's just one of the many details

Nick 31:25

There's a lot that goes into planning a Disney vacation. I'm not gonna pretend there's not, especially if it's your first time. It can be completely overwhelming, but you know, one step at a time.

Joni 31:34

We, we researched for months, tackled

Nick 31:37

one thing at a time. One thing at a time.

Joni 31:39

we had a great time. Yep. Everything worked out perfectly.

Nick 31:42

So that's our tip or trick.

Joni 31:43

trip. Yeah.

Nick 31:44

Read the refurbishments. Listen to this show. We'll tell you about the refurbishments.

Joni 31:48

So yeah,

Nick 31:49

that's all I had for today. Okay.

Joni 31:51

Okay.

Nick 31:52

Or this week I should say.

Joni 31:53

I don't have anything to add. Big

Nick 31:54

game on tomorrow. A big, big food day for us, actually. So. All right. Well. Our website is main streete talk pod.com. Facebook page is Main Street Talk. The Facebook group is Disney World Tips and Tricks. Instagram is Main Street Talk podcast and my travel email is nick.Garcia@genietravelcode.com. My service is our free if you wanna play on that Disney vacation and we are affiliates of the Magic Candle Company. Use the code, main Street talk at checkout and the link is on our website. I forgot to mention, we are doing this March Madness tournament soon. Okay? So we we're, we're figuring it, we're getting closer to getting this done. So until next week, we will talk to you real soon. Bye everyone.