Magic Kingdom Championship Results & Park News

 New episode of Main Street Talk is live. Our Magic Kingdom March Madness championship is here, but you’ll have to listen to find out which ride takes the crown. In this episode, we break down important updates across Walt Disney World, including transportation changes you need to know if you’re traveling soon, plus the latest news from Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We also cover Disney’s AI partnership update, upcoming free summer pop-up events, and take a closer look at coral reefs and sea life at EPCOT. Plus, don’t miss this week’s Disney history, movie spotlight, and a simple tip that can completely change how you experience rides by trying them during the day and at night. If you’re planning a trip or just want to stay up to date on Disney news, this episode has everything you need. 

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Transcript

Welcome and Intro

Nick 0:33

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 updates and tips and tricks. I'm your host, Nick. With me as always is Joni.

Joni 0:47

Hello everyone.

Nick 0:48

So we have our March madness final. Okay?

Joni 0:53

Okay.

Nick 0:54

All the votes are in, everything's been tallied. This was for the final, for the championship was Tron, light Cycle Run Verse Pirates of the Caribbean in.

Joni 1:05

drum roll.

Nick 1:05

The winner is Tron Tron.

Joni 1:07

Woo-hoo. 61%

Nick 1:09

to 39%.

Joni 1:11

Okay, so when I

Nick 1:12

it was tight. Yeah. And I put something on Facebook the other day. It was tight, and then some votes came in and um, Tron Tron edged out.

Joni 1:19

Just pulled ahead,

Nick 1:21

ahead. At the very beginning of this, I, I remember I said, I think I know I was gonna win and I had a gut feeling trauma was gonna win.

Joni 1:28

oh, quit bragging. Quit bragging.

Nick 1:30

not bragging. I'm just, I'm just

Joni 1:31

your roll there,

Nick 1:32

It's a very popular

Joni 1:33

your roll.

Nick 1:34

I wouldn't have picked it for the best ride Magic Kingdom, but that's why we vote. So, yeah. Good.

Joni 1:39

Good.

Bus Access Checks

Nick 1:40

And in the real March Madness, unfortunately my team got beat last night. Mm-hmm. I am an Iowa Hawkeyes fan.'cause we live in northwest Illinois and it was Iowa, Illinois, ironically. And Iowa lost. Iowa fell apart in the last three minutes, so congratulations to Illinois going on to the Final four, the first time in 21 years, I think. Yeah,

Joni 2:00

well both of them had,

Nick 2:01

Yeah. Iowa was

Joni 2:02

for all of both of

Nick 2:02

40 some years, so yeah. All right. Well that was a lot of fun. I think we might visit do that another park. Sometime similar

Joni 2:09

similar.

Nick 2:10

maybe over the summer. That, that was a lot of fun and people seemed to enjoy it. That was a good, good turnout in the voting. Alright, well let's get onto the news before we get to Park News. Something came across today. Today is March 29th. So everything is current as of today. Something came across today I wanted to talk about. I'm actually kind of. Recently there have been reports that cast members are checking for proof of guest status prior to boarding the Walt Disney World Buses. Reportedly, this happened at Disney Springs. They're scanning magic bands prior to boarding before they go to the resorts. Somebody said this happened to them and several other people said it has been happening and the cast members are saying this is temporary due to the Easter crowds. Yeah.

Joni 2:56

Yeah.

Park News Roundup

Nick 2:56

They don't want, basically, they don't want people parking at Disney Springs that are just parking there to use transportation to go resort hopping because it is busy right now during spring break and Easter and parking is a problem at Disney Springs when it's this crowded. So if you are going to. Disney World this week or in the near future, keep that in mind that they are scanning bands

Joni 3:20

Just to make sure that the Disney Springs guests are not right. So they'll just have to catch their Ubers or taxis,

Nick 3:27

well, you can't Uber to the resorts unless you have a dining reservation. So if you want to resort hop it's not gonna happen from Disney Springs. So, you know, get creative. And there was other ways around it, but yeah. But anyway, I just wanted to let that know in case people had trips coming up. Yeah. All right. Onto Magic Kingdom Disney's Adventure Friends. Cavalcade is shifting to morning Showtime at Magic Kingdom beginning April 6th. Moving from its current evening slots to earlier in the day, the cavalcade will run at 10:30 AM and 11:45 AM starting April 6th, replacing the 5:10 PM and 6:25 PM performances with Festival Fantasy. Also moving to a single 3:00 PM performance on April 6th, so if you're visiting an April or early May, it's gonna look like this. The Disney Adventure Friends ADE at 10:30 AM and 11:45 AM Festival of Fantasy at 3:00 PM. And over at Big Thunder Mountain, a new sign has been spotted out for the attraction. It's not really sure if it's new or not. Some people are saying it looks just like the refurbished old sign, but in any case, it's either a brand new sign or a refurbished sign so that it's coming along. And Walt Disney World is casting inline skaters for Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas time parade confirming that the holiday parade will return for the very merry Christmas party at Magic Kingdom. And over at Epcot, there's a question. Is there more than just a new adventure coming to Soren? At Epcot, Walt Disney Imagineering filed a permit for set elements. Quotations on March 24th for sworn around the world, the attraction will be closed for a brief refurbishment to make way for s Sorn across America. And they also did a file appointment for these set elements. So that is very interesting. And the upcoming Disney after hours event at EPCA on April 2nd is sold out. So if you had plans on going to the after hours on April 2nd, unfortunately that is sold out. Over at Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney Imagineering filed a new permit to install set elements at the Disney Junior Theater in Animation Courtyard. The theater is currently closed but will reopen with a new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show this summer. And crews began installing scaffolding around the Gonzo's Royal Flush Water Tower at Hollywood Studios. This was on Wednesday morning, March 25th, and we all know that that whole area is being re themed to Mons Metropolis Monsters Inc. So the water tower didn't say what they're doing to it, but they're scaffolding around it. So I don't know if they're just gonna repaint it or what they're gonna do to it. Hmm. Over at Animal Kingdom Imagineering filed a permit for more set elements to be installed at the new Encanto Attraction. So that's, that's exciting. Also, at the new area tropical Americas crews have constructed tall scaffolding structure around the next site of the future carousel. So that's going in place of. Where Triceratop spin was or the new carousel style ride. That's it. That's all you have for Park News. Alright, miscellaneous, this was shocking. I think this even shocked Wall Street. Just three months after announcing a three-year partnership with Disney OpenAI is now discontinuing its SOA AI video platform. This was big news. Disney signed a$1 billion contract with them to allow SOA owned by OpenAI to let them use some of Disney's ip. In their in their AI video platforms. There was no reason why they discontinued it. They said thank you to everybody that was working on it and all that, but it is no longer so I. That was a big investment for Disney to do that. So I had a thought. I, I know Josh, tomorrow's listening to this. So Josh, I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you, Josh. You take that$1 billion that you put into Sora and you put it back into Magical Express. Get us all on buses to get from the airport to the hotels.

Joni 7:24

You've been washing for that for a long time.

Nick 7:26

long time. I, Josh, I'm telling you, and in an announcement on March 24th. The Walt Disney Company said that the Disney Conservation Fund has approved grants to 25 organizations across 16 countries.

Joni 7:39

Some

Nick 7:39

of the granted organizations include Save the Elephants Bat Conservation,

Joni 7:44

your

Nick 7:45

me, bat. Bat Conservation International. I love bats. The Ocean First Institute, Monarch Joint Venture, pocito Titi, I'm not sure what that is, and the Wildlife Con Conservation Network. And this is pretty cool to promote this summer's offering. Walt Disney World is launching two cool kids summer pop-up events. The idea is to bring the event to places outside Florida to entice families to visit During the Cool Kids summer. The events will featured oversized props, photo ops, and giveaways. So this is gonna take place in Atlanta, Georgia on March 26th at Pemberton Place downtown Atlanta, like Thursday, March 26th, 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM and the cost is free and open to the public. So that's Atlanta on March 26th, and then Houston, Texas on April 2nd at the Herman Park Lake Plaza in Houston. Again, that's Thursday, April 2nd, 11, 2 3. And the cost is free and open to the public. So that's pretty cool. If you're in Houston and Atlanta you can go see some Disney popup events for Cool Kids Summer.

Joni 8:49

Yeah.

Nick 8:49

I would head to that if it was coming to my

Joni 8:51

sure would.

Spotlight Coral Reefs

Nick 8:53

And Michael James Scott, the longest running genie in Aladdin on Broadway, has announced his final performance as the iconic character. Scott, who is an original cast member in the show, will play his, final performance at the new Amsterdam Theater on May 3rd. His replacement has not yet been announced.

Joni 9:10

announced.

Nick 9:11

That's it. That's what I got for news.

Joni 9:13

All right, cool.

Nick 9:14

pop-up events. If you're in Atlanta and Houston, I wanna repeat that. Atlanta, March 26th, Pemberton Place. Houston, April 2nd. Herman Park. Lake Plaza. pretty cool. Free event. You don't get Disney and free a lot, but there you go.

Joni 9:29

Cool.

Nick 9:30

Alright, that's what I got. Let's go on to spotlight on attraction. What do we got today, Joni?

Joni 9:34

We are gonna visit a couple of things still over here in the aquarium. I was gonna talk about all of the Disney animals, but I broke it down a little bit because I think that each one is important in itself. So we are gonna combine the coral reefs and the reef fish today. So, as I said in the aquarium area. Of Epcot, the nursery module for the re fish and the corals is on level two. There's an elevator.

Nick 10:05

Mm-hmm.

Joni 10:05

Mm-hmm. So level two is where you can observe coral growing, which happens in specialized tanks, so they can transplant those into the, and do the aquarium. So. Let's start with the Disney animals. The coral reefs discover the colorful under sea world of coral reefs, which covers less than 1% of the ocean floor, but are home to 25% of all ocean species. And then let's drop down here to the reef fish. Discover a dazzling variety of fish that just keeps swimming amid our colorful coral reefs. As I said, there's an elevator. There's different things happening on floor one, floor two but both of the reefs and the fish opened in Walt Disney World in Florida in January 15th, 1986. The coral reefs are so rich in life that scientists call them the rainforest of the seas and coral are tiny animals called polyps that are related to sea an. And jellyfish. The polyp uses minerals in the water to create a hard exoskeleton to support and protect its body living. Coral reefs are diverse ecosystems built by large colonies of tiny coral polyps. Coral reefs not only support a vast array of marine organisms, but they also help provide natural protective barriers that guard against. Coastal erosion. The Walt Disney Company Conservation Fund helps fight against threats to the coral reefs with the main threat being directly or indirectly is caused by greenhouse gas emissions and climate changes. So that's what I have for the coral reefs. Now we're gonna jump into the three fish. On level one you can look for clownfish yellow, tang Regal blue tang and cleaner shrimp. You can also see hermit crabs, other types of shrimp and butterfly fish as well. On level two, you can visit the Explorers Club to see giant clams and sea stars reef fish in the wild. Live in coral reef structures that tend to be located in shallow, coastal, tropical, and subtropical waters. Coral reefs and reef fish are incredibly important ecosystems that are home to, as I said previously, almost 25% of marine life. When I went snorkeling, when we were on vacation, I just had to be very careful and my instructor.

Nick 12:37

as

Joni 12:37

Everyone who's snorkeled or scuba or has ocean experience, but this was my first time. You just, you kind of wanna lay horizontal as much as possible because if you try to step or support yourself, you're going, you're, you're actually stepping on creatures. Yes. So they said just try to stay as you know, leveled out

Nick 12:57

Don't, don't touch, don't stomp, don't stand.

Joni 12:59

right. That's right.

Nick 13:00

I was in the boat. I, I don't do the ocean.

Joni 13:03

that's right. Coral reefs and reef fish are so intricately interconnected that the disappearance of a single species of fish can throw the entire reef ecosystem out of balance. The Walt Disney Company is passionately committed to the protection of reef fish and their coral homes through the conservation fund. Disney helps to reduce these threats to the reef fish and they help preserve the reefs in during their research. Restoration. And then they're replanting, which, you know, we see the little ones in the

Nick 13:35

mm-hmm.

Joni 13:36

That they're rehabbing for. But they've, I'm sure they've got larger ones elsewhere that, that they go out. And I did read I didn't put this in here because it was dealing, it wasn't dealing with Walt Disney World specifically, but the long nose eel.

Nick 13:49

Yeah. Or, or,

Joni 13:51

I'm sorry, urchin. I, is that an Neal? Is it urchin and Neal The same thing. Okay. So anyway, in The Bahamas area, those coral reefs are high risk for extinction because the urchin population is decreased and so the corals are prone to having a lot of algae on them, which blocks the, from getting sunlight to help them grow.

Nick 14:14

And the urchin was eating the

This Week in History

Joni 14:15

And an urchin actually comes in, they eat the algae so that, that's why they're in shallow waters because they need the sunlight to help grow. So

Nick 14:23

all animals are important. Yeah,

Joni 14:25

that's right. Some of'em look creepier than others, but so do we humans. Some of us look creepier than others. So anyway, that's what I have for that's gonna take care of our coral reefs and reef fish under the Disney Animals section.

Nick 14:39

Okay. Thanks Joni.

Joni 14:40

you bet.

Nick 14:41

Onto this week in Disney history. April 2nd, 1940 to fund the a massive expansion of the Burbank Studios. Walt Disney production issued its very first stock to the public at$25 a share. March 29th, 1951, Disney's True Life Adventure Shore in Beaver Valley wins an Oscar for best short subject proving Waltz and major documentaries were a hit even with the critics. March 29th, 1963, the live action film Miracle of the White Stallions premieres telling the daring true story of saving the Lipin horses during World War ii. That's interesting. I didn't know that. I think we should, well, we'll watch it

Joni 15:23

What's a lipin

Nick 15:24

I don't know what a lipin horse is, but I would, that's something I would, I would

Joni 15:28

was the name of that movie?

Nick 15:29

Remember that movie, miracle of the White Stallions? Can

Joni 15:32

Can I have a year, please?

Nick 15:33

1963. April 4th, 1990, the Rock and Roll Beach Club opens at Pleasure Island and Walt Disney World. It was a high energy dance spot until its closure in 2008 to make way for Disney Springs that was in downtown Disney when it used to be Downtown Disney, March 29th, 1993 at the 65th Academy Awards. A whole new world from Aladdin Wins best original

Joni 15:57

a whole new world

Nick 15:58

that is, I've told you this before, that is my favorite Disney song.

Joni 16:01

book.

Nick 16:02

I don't know why. It just is. And I wasn't even like that big of an Aladdin fan. If anyone could

Joni 16:08

If anyone could see us

Nick 16:09

now,

Joni 16:09

I'm just looking at you like, what? Yeah, but I knew that

Nick 16:13

April 1st, 1995, Disney's Blizzard Beach Waterpark officially opens at Walt Disney World featuring the 12 story drop of Summit plummet.

Joni 16:24

Yeah. No thank you for me.

Nick 16:25

No. Maybe 20 years ago,

Joni 16:28

Yeah. Well, didn't you do it?

Nick 16:30

No, I don't.

Joni 16:30

Which one did you do when you were like,

Nick 16:32

no, we went to Typhoon Lagoon. I can't remember the name of that one, but my back was hurting. I remember not really. It was hurting from rubbing on. The friction from the slide is what it was hurting from. It was burning.

Joni 16:43

I watched from

Nick 16:45

Yeah, I

Joni 16:45

no way.

Nick 16:46

wish I would've watched

Joni 16:48

I watched this guy on, on social media who does videos, and I don't know his name, but he always says, there ain't no way. That's why I'm like, there ain't no way, no way. I'm getting up there.

Movie Vanishing Prairie

Nick 16:58

April 3rd, 2001 to help handle the growing crowds at Walt Disney World, the massive interchange between Osceola Parkway and Interstate four opens. It was a major$33 million infrastructure project, March 29th, 2002. The baseball Classic. The rookie starring Dennis Qua hit theaters. April 4th, 2009. Playhouse, Disney Live on stage makes its debut at Walt Disney Studios Parks in Paris, bringing characters like Mickey and Handy Manny to international audiences. And on March 29th, 2023, the Mandalorian continues its cultural reign as chapter 21, the pirate premieres on Disney plus. I don't know much about Mandalorian, but that must've been a pretty big episode'cause they mentioned it. And that's all I got this week in Disney History.

Joni 17:43

Okay.

Nick 17:44

All right, let's go on to our movie of the week.

Joni 17:46

well, another documentary today's film is the 1954 Vanishing Prairie was first released in August 17th, 1954 to the US Runtime is 71 minutes. Budget was approximately. Just over 382,000. Very successful, I think more than they had anticipated, pulling in 1.75 million in US and Canadian rentals, directed by James Alger, written by James Alger and Winston Hier, produced by Ben Sharpstein and Walt Disney cinematography by N Paul Kenworthy. I'm sorry, Kenworthy No s and Music by Paul J. Smith. So this was a pioneer, pioneering nature documentary that captures the wildlife of the American grasslands using innovated closeup photography that falls animals like bison, prairie dogs, and the the big horn sheep through the changing seasons. It features rare footage of a bison giving birth, which I thought was quite fascinating.

Nick 18:52

was, yeah.

Joni 18:52

there was some controversy about having that in there.

Nick 18:55

They didn't hold back. I mean, they, they showed the birth, they

Joni 18:58

they showed it all. And it's rare footage, like, who else has the footage of a bison giving birth? I mean, come on. Especially what this time anyway. Right? And the struggle of the species, like the whooping crane. It also raises early awareness and emphasizes the struggles for survival amid the encroachment of human civilization, which has been happening for a long,

Nick 19:18

Mm-hmm.

Joni 19:19

We just feel like we own everything. A 43 piece orchestra recorded the film's music. Over several months, a team of 12 to 18 photographers spent years capturing footage that spanned from the Gulf of Mexico to the plains of Canada and to get closeup pictures of the animals without startling them. Cameramen even went as far as disguising themselves. And they were not above wearing bison hides

Nick 19:48

and

Joni 19:49

intermixing in the herds. Like I would be scared out of my mind. Right. Those are some big animals to be just, and how do you make yourself so big? Like there's the runt. I mean, come on. They're

Nick 20:00

the only thing I have in my mind right now is Ace Ventura when he is in that side of that rhino

Joni 20:04

oh no.

Nick 20:06

and he has to get out of it.

Joni 20:07

This is, this is supposed to be suitable for children.

Nick 20:10

it, well, it's just,

Joni 20:11

It's fine. Okay.

Nick 20:12

Ace Ventura.

Joni 20:13

Yeah, that's true. So I was just, when I read that, I was just like, you've gotta be kidding me. So primary filming locations include Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming for significant portions of the wildlife footage. Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota gave additional prairie and wildlife scenes. The University of Wisconsin, the Madison AUM in Wisconsin is the site for the fame famous prairie Fire sequence.

Nick 20:40

sequence

Joni 20:41

That they had. Yeah. And it was actually a controlled berm that was filmed. And then later they spliced in the footage of the buffalo herd because they are very easily startled. Yeah. And once they get going, like, what was it, was it lightning coming? Or like a roll of thunder or something? Yeah. And then it was just, it was off and running. There were hundreds and hundreds of them. Yeah.

Nick 21:03

Nebraska

Joni 21:04

landmarks were also used, such as Chimney Rock and Scott's Bluff. They appear early in the film to establish the setting in Minnesota. A second unit crew was dispatched to specifically stage a sequence of duck landing on a frozen lake. And macro photography of an ant colony was filmed in a California backyard using specialized equipment.

Nick 21:28

Oh wow.

Joni 21:28

Oh, wow. So they literally were all over the place. Over, yeah. And I have to say, I was cracking up when we were watching these birds.

Nick 21:37

S

Joni 21:38

Come in for their landing and you know, the, the early arrivals for the season and they are just like, it looks like bowling pins. They're just, they're trying to land. And we had our 4-year-old granddaughter over and she was watching it and she was lap belly

Nick 21:53

so hard.

Joni 21:54

It was so comical. And then of course, the late comers come and, you know, they just glide right in the water. But, oh my gosh, if you guys haven't seen it, at least go watch that part. It's hysterical. And

Nick 22:04

And bring your kid.'cause our, our granddaughter, like Joanie said, she was laughing hysterically.

Joni 22:09

even rewo it so we could re-watch it and the laugh was just as intense the second time around. So very fun. So that's what I have for that. It is the 1954, the Vanishing Prairie.

Nick 22:21

Okay,

Day vs Night Rides

Joni 22:22

Next we have 20,000 leagues under the sea and we are both very excited

Nick 22:26

I am. I have not seen that movie in probably, I think I, I think I watched it in grade school. I think we had to watch it before we read it or after we read it or something. I don't remember. But we did watch it in school. I remember that.

Joni 22:40

Mm-hmm.

Nick 22:40

So

Joni 22:41

Well that's next. And then we got Davy Crockett following that up.

Nick 22:44

See two. Good. I'm excited for both of them.

Joni 22:46

Yeah. Okay.

Nick 22:46

Thanks Joni.

Joni 22:47

you bet. Temperature

Nick 22:49

of the week. This is,

Joni 22:52

it's

Nick 22:52

the same spot day or night for different vibes. I'm gonna go a step further. I'm gonna say ride a ride during the day and ride it at night now. There's some rides that are just obvious, like Tron. I mean, Tron at night is absolutely breathtaking. You know, launching through that blue light in the dark. But one that we, I thought, and we even talked about it at the time, I thought I would not enjoy as much at night in. Was Slinky Dog. Because I remember we went to Hollywood Knights and we went right to Slinky Dog. That was our first ride. We did, I believe, or maybe it was the second ride, whatever. But it was dark out. But the reason we wanted to do it, we just wanted to get it outta the way and do other things. But it was night and that ride I thought was much, much better. At night.

Joni 23:39

yeah,

Nick 23:39

You would not think Slinky dog would, would be much better. But it

Joni 23:42

I think that whole area,

Nick 23:43

whole, yeah, the whole area. Well,

Joni 23:45

I don't know, because Pandora's pretty awesome at night. I mean, it's just, I don't know. I, I love Disney at night. Yeah. I absolutely love Disney

Nick 23:52

night. Obviously the indoors rides don't matter, but even another one comes to mind is Tower of Terror. I love Tower of Terror at night.'cause you know when those doors open, you can see out and everything's lit

Joni 24:02

that's true. Yeah.

Nick 24:03

yeah, that's another good one at night.

Joni 24:05

Well, and then riding the, yet.

Nick 24:08

Oh, Everest Night is another good

Joni 24:09

and because the moon, I mean, what times we've been on it, the moon is right then it

Nick 24:13

Yep. Going

Wrap Up and Plugs

Joni 24:14

it's kind of, it's kind of, I mean, it, it's eerie, suspenseful, like, you know what's gonna happen, but it's just a completely different vibe.

Nick 24:21

Yep. So, yeah,

Joni 24:23

you guys know if, you know, you know,

Nick 24:26

try a ride during the day and the night. Like I said, I did not expect that from Slinky, but I, I, I think I told you, I was like, I don't, I think we should ride this at night every time we ride it.

Joni 24:34

I just absolutely love Disney at at night when all the lights are on and yeah, I think it's beautiful.

Nick 24:40

All right. Well that's gonna do it for this week's show, and you visit our website, main Street talk pod.com. The Facebook page is Main Street Talk. Facebook Group is Disney World Tips and Tricks. Instagram is Main Street Talk podcast. You can find us on YouTube, just audio only, no video. Contact me for travel nick.Garcia@genietravelco.com. And like I said, I am booking all major cruise lines now, not just all Disney stuff. And if you want to bring the theme park sense home with you, we have a link to the Magic Candle Company on our website. As we are affiliates. Use the code Main Street talk at checkout for 15% off. We will be back next week with more news tips and tricks and 20,000 leads under the sea. I'm very excited about.

Joni 25:29

Yes. Let's go watch it.

Nick 25:30

Let's go watch it. We, we should, so we will talk to you guys real soon. Hi.

Joni 25:34

Bye everyone.