Here We Go: Tito’s One-Day Park Hopper Challenge (All 4 Parks + Universal!)

This week on Here We Go: A Walt Disney World Podcast, Mitch sits down with Tito to break down his first-ever Disney trip, where he attempted the ultimate challenge: a one-day Park Hopper across all four parks—Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom—PLUS a stop at Universal Orlando. There’s definitely a turkey leg story, so gear up and be prepared!  Enjoy, and remember your next magical vacation to Disney is only a moment away, Here we go.

#DisneyWorld #ParkHopper #WDW #DisneyPodcast #MagicKingdom #EPCOT #HollywoodStudios #AnimalKingdom #UniversalOrlando #DisneyTrip #ThemeParkTips #FirstDisneyTrip

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

All right, lace up your shoes, scan in, and get ready to move. Because this is a park hopper day. Here we go.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Come on, everybody. Here we go.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

All right, everyone, welcome back to Here We Go, the Walt Disney World podcast where we talk all things Disney, rides, foods, the resorts, rope drops, meltdowns, and everything in between. But today we have a guest on the podcast. It's our first guest. Yay! We got my boy Tito. Tito, say hello to everybody. Hello, everybody. All right. So Tito did something insane. We're breaking down his strategy, the chaos, the wins, the mistakes, the food, the chaf. Was this secretly genius to do a one-day park hopper? Or maybe it's beautifully unhinged. But Tito, you tell us, did the parks conquer you, or did Tito conquer the parks on a park hopper?

SPEAKER_01 1:07

That's a solid question. I feel like I ultimately was the victor. You were the victor. I think so.

SPEAKER_02 1:12

What's great is so just to give you a little bit of a backstory here, Tito and I um we do improv comedy together. Yes, and yes, and good boy, because I'm the director of that group. All right, so um uh we've known each other now for almost a decade, which is crazy. Uh great great friend of mine, love uh love playing with him, and um yeah, we we always have a fun time. He's got a a newer relationship here, which I've loved watching it blossom. I Erica is phenomenal. My sugar mama, yeah. You've got a sugar mama, which is which is awesome. I I have just been in awe of the whole thing. I love it, I love where this is going. I'm I'm like eating popcorn, be like, yeah, yeah. Oh, me cute. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Literally, literally came out of nowhere. And uh God, it's weird being happy. It's it's a weird feeling for me considering like the the grind of every day for what seems like forever, right?

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Isn't it refreshing? Like when you find your person, and that's where I am in life. Like, like you know, for those at home listening, you know, Kim's uh Kim's not on the podcast today, she's with the kids hanging out. Yeah, but I mean you find your person, that's everything. And being able to go to a place that's so magical, like Walt Disney World, it it it makes it better. I think that you were I saw all of your photos. You look like you guys were in your glory. Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

She was getting a little, I don't want to say annoyed, but she was definitely not used to someone who documents as much as I do. The pictures were overkill, but um, yeah, because I'm I'm I started taking a million selfies, then she got upset that she wasn't even in them. Yeah, I'm like, well, you see me stop, you know what I mean? I would imagine that you just you know get in the picture. Um, but it's something that I've always done. I just like documenting everything.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

But that's fun. Like, so this is like your first like big vacation with one another, too. So you start learning about those vacation habits and those like social, yeah, those social situations.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

I think the last quote unquote vacation I took was in 2012. Whoa, yeah, and I've never gone anywhere uh without like family or anything other than like an extended weekend, like camping.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Um, so I've never, you know, maybe as like a kid gone to Cedar Park, but nothing anything. Oh, yeah, Cedar Point, which is like crazy. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

We did that like a few years back and we've gone a bunch, but that that's it's so much different. Even now, me being like a full-on Disney adult, when I go to like a Darien Lake or Cedar Point or Six Flags or whatever. When I go to Six Flags, I just go, Oh man, it sucks. This is not great.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

No, no, I I I noticed that comparison kind of early on, especially with the uh the lines.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Yeah, I mean the the the organization. We were talking about this before. Like, I am the perfect consumer, I am the you know consumer prime here. Yeah, this park doesn't have gum on the floor, there's no garbage. They have they have it planned so that if it's a hundred degrees, all you have to do is take three steps to the right and you're gonna hit some kind of air conditioning or fans or they're they're they're ready for the people, and their one directive is to make sure that you had the most magical vacation that you could ever have and that you will come back.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Yeah, I think they nailed it. Yeah, pretty much.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

Yeah, um that's how I felt, that's why I keep going. Yeah, I love I love seeing that and you go, Yeah, they nailed it because they that is it. I mean, they want you you could go a hundred times and they're gonna have a new ride. There's gonna be some kind of new food. You're like, what is that thing? Like, yeah, who's what do you what did we deep fry over here, Walt? Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

It's just what did you what'd you come up with this time? Yeah, you know, I I think it was um again, coming from a background of many years in like food and bev and hospitality, um, uh customer service, retail, logistics, and and engineering to a certain degree. Uh I I came in just as an open sponge, yeah and noticing everything from the trash cans, the the lack of gum to the lack of um yeah, the spots where you just get overly hot. I'm like, guys, I'm stepping in place, and granted, it's Florida, it's spring break.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

They have a plan, they have figured out mitigation for every single problem that could arise. Yeah, and all and and if something does go wrong, yeah, you they're there to like make it right immediately. They're like Costco. For real, they're like the hot dog's gonna be a dollar. They're never gonna, they're never gonna deviate from that. And I feel like institutions like that, retail institutions like that, will be around forever. Like you're never gonna get rid of a Costco. People like they're they're they're like not even putting that money in an area just to be like, hey, we know you know you want this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

You'll drive to us, you'll drive to us, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Yeah, we could, but we're we know you'll make the commitment of three hours. Yeah, hop in hop in your kia. Come find us, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Strap the strap the the paper towel to the roof, right? Right, right. Yeah. Um, so what I was gonna say before is like how this all came about is you were starting to talk about your vacation. I talked to Erica a little bit, yeah, and I talked to you, and uh I uh uh funny enough, I saw her outside of a donut place. And then she saw you, yeah, yeah. And I go, and I go, I go, you guys are only going for one day. What park? And she's just like Animal Kingdom only. Yeah, and I went, oh, because if you look and if you listen to the podcast here, I'm always like Animal Kingdom's a half day park at best. Sure, there's not a ton of rides in there. I mean, you could get lost in the food, they have great food there. Um, and the scenery, I mean, you guys went into like Avatar, yes, and and like just I mean, I could sit there. Avatar at night is a spectacle.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Uh you know, I heard that they close, I heard they stopped doing the nights because of the animals, but I can only imagine from seeing it during the day how amazing it would be a night.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

Yeah, so like you don't get to like the animals go away in like the safari of it all, yeah. But like if you go over to Pandora, they have like the floating islands, it looks like the land of Avatar. Things are like uh they have that bioluminescence going on. It's pretty crazy. But again, you guys told me that, and I just went, have you thought about getting a park hopper ticket? Yeah, and I think just like the light bulb went off within a day. You were like, Erica bought the the park hoppers. I'm like, dude, I'm telling you, if you need help planning it out or whatever, but you could get to all four parks in a day, it can be done, and you guys did it.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Yeah, uh, I I can't even imagine what because I I am not in charge of those finances, yeah. So I'm not sure. And I try, you know, I'm a very good uh guest, yeah. You know what I mean? I'm like, I'm not demanding anything, I'm not asking for snacks or trying to she's just low, she's just taking your temperature being like, oh, Tito's salt levels are low.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Yeah, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

She sees me slowing down. She's like, all right, he's at a two mile an hour walk, we gotta do something. You know, it's time to boost the sugar this guy an ice cream. But I'm I I just came in there with such appreciation uh for her, but then also um uh for what we got out of it, I would imagine it was worth the value.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Yeah, yeah. And and honestly, like people at home know like the the price of those tickets. It's not cheap by any any stretch of the imagination, but yeah, I think when you look at it, like this is the first time that my my wife ever went with me. Sure. We weren't gonna go uh even into the parks. We were just kind of in Disney Springs. We were in Orlando, sure. We weren't even staying on property on randomly, and it was her birthday. Yeah, one of the cast members came over. You know, I was looking for stuff for her. They're like, Oh my god, it's your birthday? Yeah, they have like a hole to do in the world of Disney. Get her, uh, help her pick out a pair of ears. It's like you know, ears, and then they put a birthday button on her. Yeah. Um, they they they were just like, you know, doting over her. And then she turned to me afterwards. She's like, That was the nicest lady I've ever met in my life. How do we get this? She's like, We're not even in the park. How do we get tickets to the park? And so it was like just that experience was like, okay, let's go. And it was a park opera one day, and we did we did the same thing. Four parks one day. Start at 7 a.m. Yeah. Uh, you guys, I believe you started at Animal Kingdom. Is that how it went? Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Yeah, we got a late start. Um, I think we were both eight, just exhausted because we had flown in the night before before, yeah. Yep, and then we went out and uh hit up like Disney Springs, went to the uh the boat house, got some dinner there. Let's stop there for a second.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

So the boat house, and I've said it on the on the podcast a couple of times here. That is like that's it. Like my daughter, her favorite restaurant, my wife's like favorite restaurant. We're not going this time coming up. We're trying Summer House on the Lake, which is a newer, like fancier restaurant. But yeah, what'd you guys get?

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Uh so I got a mix of cocktails, and it was nice. They already had like a bartender outside the doors, so even if you had to wait, you could still get a drink and hang out.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Yeah, they do that at a few of them, like Art Smith's Homecoming does that. A few of them do that.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

So gorgeous location. Um, me, I boat a lot up here, so I'm like, it just the two made sense. Uh, we had a mix of everything. We had uh a bunch of different seafoods, uh, pretty much a lot of the appetizers, the uh these slide.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

Oh I they have these like filet mignon sliders that we get a lot. I've done a lobster roll there a bunch. Yeah, but all the sea there's like seafood towers, and like there's so many good well with good company.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

I mean, her we were there with uh two of her friends that she's known forever. Yeah, uh, they are also like sharers. Okay, so we you know kind of did everything family style, which is even better. I'll eat any, I'm a trash can, I'll eat anything, but you know, so we just kind of sampled a lot of different things on the menu, and I try to keep it more seafood related.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Uh you're at the boathouse, like eat the seafood when you walk in, they have like seafood on ice when you walk in, you're like, and they're like spelling out where the oysters come from and everything else.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

So yeah, Erica's uh a pescatarian, so by default, she only eats seafood. Yeah, um, and me, I'm like, yeah, it's Florida. Yeah, you get seafood up here in New York, and it's like, you know, it's not the freshest. Like the shrimp's, yeah, we're at the yeah, we're a thousand miles away from the ocean. They're the like, I'm sure it gets bust in from like down the road. Yeah, there's some lake shrimp, yeah, yeah. And uh again, having lived in Florida, knowing uh the industry, I'm always thinking like tourist traps. There's plenty of spots in Florida where they get crazy high reviews, but it's just because they happen to have a good location and you know the marketing, but then the food subbar.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

Yeah, and like this place is not a bubblegum shrimp. No, like this place is like yeah, this isn't Joe's crab shack. Yeah, this is a real deal. I I love it there. Um, we're actually on our next trip, we're gonna try to get a brunch in, which we've never done, but it's a dueling piano brunch. Oh so when you go in there and they only play yacht rock, and so they have like the cat, it's called like the captain's brunch, and it's like parrot heads, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a bunch of like Michael McDonald, yeah, like you know, I can't stop yeah, uh oh like Kenny Loggins and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Yeah, oh my goodness. So uh yeah, we got a late start to the day, but we uh we met up with two of her other friends from college uh at the gate. Um and from the get-go, uh I'm like, wow, there's a million people here.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

Yeah, so that's called Yeah, it's were you there before the park opened?

SPEAKER_01 12:05

No. Oh we were there maybe half an hour-ish, or I think we got there like 9 30 or 10. We were we're staying in Disney Springs at a Hilton right down the road. Yeah, they're great.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

It's like a like they're good neighbor hotels or whatever that are right there.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

Traffic's insane in Florida by default. Yeah, trying to get there was a little bit nutty, but um and you guys rented a car. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mustang convertible. I saw that. I've got thoughts. I've got thoughts. Mustang, you need to step it up. But uh, I mean, it's it's Florida. It's weirdly enough, one of the last times I was in that area was with like a high school friend of mine. Uh, we also rented a Mustang convertible, but it was like I was tagging along with their like family trip. Yeah, so I didn't get to drive, I was just a passenger there. And here I'm pulling up like you know, uh Tampa Tito. You know, I get to drive, I'm you know, experiencing the whole living life.

SPEAKER_02 12:54

Yeah, all right, let's get into the parks. Let's get into the so you get into this park, tons of people, but it's go the entrance to this park is gorgeous.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Yes, yeah, yeah, it's straight into. It's it's we walked in and uh I was immediately starting to like check. So I wore a 360 camera on my chest. I look ridiculous, but I'm like, I want to get the POV for anybody like my folks that have never seen this. Yes. Uh so I I plan on editing uh like a travel video for everybody. Um, but we walk in, I'm taking pictures of the the trees and the foliage. I'm noticing like all the attention to detail in the the landscape and how cool it was, especially because it was still kind of a hot morning.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Um, and very quickly, because her friends are Disney adults, they go to the parks all the time. Um, you know, they also know what's up. So they're like, yeah, cool, take your pictures. We're rocking and rolling, we're going to the Himalayan uh right from the jump.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

So would you go to like uh Expedition Everest right off the bat? Yeah, so like that's my we haven't done it in a couple years. My wife is like amped up right now, she doesn't stop talking about it. So if you go to this park early, and I'll give this a hint to everybody at home that's listening. If you rope drop, most of the people are gonna go over to Avatar Flight of Passage, they're gonna go over there and line up for that ride. Yeah, if you're like me, I will pay the the 18 bucks or whatever a person to get that uh lightning lane, the single lightning lane for flight of passage, beeline right for Expedition Everest. You can literally, it's like a two-minute wait. You can keep on riding and riding.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yeah, I think we should I had we gone there a little bit earlier, I think that would have been a good idea. The ride was amazing, and then the experience. I mean, you get I loved all the attention to detail kind of universally across the parks. Yeah. The the distressing, the theming. Yeah, and we're walking through and we're seeing the little shack with all the Tchotchkis and the pictures of Yetis and this and that.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

I'm like, wow, and I'm like lost expedition, like things got left behind, just crates and barrels broken open.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Yeah, like you just know that they went to like Nepal and they went to like a thrift store in Nepal to get like old crampons and stuff. Yeah, so I'm like, I'm looking at her and I'm like, oh my god, like this is an old um, you know, uh fire starting kit, and this and that stuff that I know from just being out in the world, yeah, and then seeing it as like a a thematic uh collection, yeah, really putting you in there. The ride itself was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Yeah, I love that ride. Like the you know, we don't, I'm not gonna spoil anything on how that ride goes, but like you know, just feeling I mean, there is a Yeti, sure. Yeah, uh it's disco Yeti right now, so it's in B mode, but I couldn't imagine being one of the people. So that was the the animatronic that's in there, yeah, was the most expensive animatronic ever built. Oh wow. And so what ended up happening is like the first year that they had it going, yeah, it was such a big animatronic that it wasn't that the animatronic was breaking, yeah. Um, it was actually cracking the foundation of the mountain that that's there. So they had to put it in B mode where he's just kind of there, yeah. But um, yeah, that thing, if you look online, you can see it moving around. I honestly I like how it is now because I would not feel comfortable with a 40-foot tall monster moving around in there. It's enormous.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

I think we saw like its shadow, yeah, yeah, you know, it's looming presence. Yes, but then again, coming into it with the open mind, but then also the logistical behind, you know, how do they, you know, I knew Disney history, so I'm looking around, I'm like, no kidding, they really do block out the city, you know. They there you are in the ride, and all you see is the ride, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Especially when you're going the top of that, you're like, oh man, it's just we're we're going to top of Mount Everest right now, right? Right. Yeah, it's the theming of I think they go to great lengths to suspend your disbelief. Yeah, and that's the magic of the whole thing. Yeah, we're only looking just for those little tiny pockets of being 10 years old again. As soon as you're not a kid anymore, from an adult's perspective, everything is stress. You know, everything we're we're trying to get to a place where we're like, I used to say like ignorance is bliss, but it's not that innocence is bliss, and that's what they're trying to give you. You're trying to like suspend your disbelief and believe, like, hey, I'm on the Millennium Falcon right now. I'm doing this, and it's it's amazing that they can give you that feeling. And if they want to charge me uh you know a premium for that, I'm here.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

I like that with like magic shows too. I think it's something that it's it's taken a good minute to train my brain to do where I just turn off the adult brain and let the kid brain ride, yeah, and just go in there and just oh my god, this is fun. You know, there's some bands and things that I follow that are, you know, I follow a Sasquatch that plays uh the saxophone. Okay. So when I communicate, hey, I'm going to a show, I'm like, hey, they have a live Sasquatch who's been trained to play the saxophone. You know what I mean? I know what it is, and I hate when people correct me, you know, oh well, it's a guy.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

It's a guy in a suit.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah. But you know, I we only have so much time on this planet. Let me enjoy it how I want to enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

It's so much better, right? Yeah, there's been times where, like, I get, you know, having kids is like a different thing, bringing them there, right? We're at a character buffet where the characters are coming in and we're eating or whatever, and I'm like, yeah, in my brain, I'm like, man, I just want to eat. I hope Donald doesn't come over here or whatever. But the moment that he does, there's something in me that goes, Man, I hope I can hug him after the kids hug me. Like, do I get a hug too? Like, is it like you guys are getting his autograph? Can I? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, right, right, right, right, right. Just want a little webbed footprint on there. Can I just talk to him about like being remember your Christmas special?

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Yeah, yeah. We a little foreshadowing. We had a moment with one of the characters, uh, the big one. And uh, you know, I don't know how to act on it. No, that's fine.

SPEAKER_02 18:29

We don't have to go in a row. It's fine. So where did you where did you see Mick? Where did you see Mickey? At Hollywood at Hollywood Studios? At the uh Magic Kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Oh, like right when you walk in? No, uh no, Magic Kingdom, yeah, with the castle.

SPEAKER_02 18:40

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So when you walk into the right, uh when you come in, there's Mickey's like right there. Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Uh we went and did a ride there, and then on the way back, as we were scuttling to get to the next park, and her friends were driving us. Yeah, um, they're like, Well, you you gotta meet Mickey. So we were leaving as the parade was going on for that place. Also, very cool that the parade is just isolated sounds. Uh we're like running against the grain, so we're fast forwarding or reverse, whatever. Like, and you hear, you know, the under the sea theme, the Aladdin theme, and this and the as you're yeah, it's like it's like going through movies as you're yeah, yeah, yeah. Something like this is great. I'm like holding up the 360 camera. They're you know, they've been there, they know they're just running. I'm like, this is amazing. Yeah, and then as we get there, they knock and they're like, Oh, uh Mickey's working up his magic to be available. And uh, I'm like, Yeah, I know what's going on, but the second I saw him, you know what I mean? I just in disbelief.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Dude, that one blinks, does it? Yeah, you gotta watch. If you stay there long enough, he hit that hat. All right, let's say it all Mickey blinks. Let's just say Mickey's blowing up.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

I'm gonna check the 360 video because I had it on, and then I was just so in awe. And uh, you know, I first thing I did is again the adult brain was on. So I'm like, I'm looking through the mesh in the eyes, yeah. And I'm just like, this person, yeah, I'm like, let me just turn that off. Yeah, and then uh you just let myself lean into it. And uh one of her friends had a really special moment. Her her dad had passed away not that long before we went, maybe like a day or two.

SPEAKER_02 20:10

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 20:11

And you know, she we'd been fine, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

Were they like, did they go to the parks together a lot and stuff? Um, I'm not sure of the history.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

I just again, these are more like her friends, and yeah, um, I'm there just to tag along, you know. But she's like, I'm fine, you know, this and that, like it's it's a fact of life. We knew things were happening. Um, but then the second you know, she saw him, and then Mickey gives her like a big hug and just breaks down, and then she starts crying. Yeah, I start like I started crying because I, you know, I have my things that have had like happened, and you know, I'm like, I'm not ashamed of it. It's it is what it is, and I think that's just the the magic of of the this what they've cultivated. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Like you feel because I I would hate to have to go to these places with armor on, yes, and I don't have it on when I go there. Yeah, I think in regular life, you've see you see me, you see how I I I like go through life. You know, I can let my armor down when I'm comfortable with my friends performing comedy or whatever, but then there's there's times where you know the daily grind, you got your armor on. When you when I enter those parks, yeah, the armor only goes up if you're if you're in front of me with an iPad and I'm trying to watch the fireworks, and it's like I'm like, uh excuse me. That's the only way Karen comes out. Yeah, yeah. But like for the most part, you go in there so soft, ready to receive anything that the park's ready to give. And it's like it I think that that's why there is a subculture, that's why there are Disney adults.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

You know, it I think if you're able to have the ability to turn that switch off and just go in there, you know, defenseless, right, and just enjoy it for what it is. Uh, I think it really lends to the experience, and it also lends to uh kind of I think that's they it's a yin yang, they both play in each. Other, you know, I walk in and there's a crazy so one of the things that I think they did well, which was like ah sneaky sneaky. It looks like there's no line. Yeah, you know, it looks you know, if you go to Darien Lake, you know that there's gonna be a three-hour wait because everyone's in Q like cattle. Yeah, and this place, let's say uh Pandora, where we went to uh right after the Himalayan ride, it was like 120 minutes.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Did you get on flight of passage?

SPEAKER_01 22:22

Yes, phenomenal, right? I I liked it. It was again, I I leaned into it, I I kind of looked over and I would see oh, yeah, that you can't do that.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

So there's there's another ride. Did you go on Soren in Epcot? There's a ride that's like similar. So Soren's like that, but if you get the bottom row in Soren, like it's kind of the same thing, like you're flying over things. Oh, you see other people can see other people's feet kind of doing it's a yeah, like that's always the thing. If you're in the bottom row of Soren, you're like, oh, and here's you know, here's Mount Everest, and the and here's the Grand Canyon, and that guy's cross.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

I like I I kept noticing that, like um and kind of throughout my experience in Florida with the Disney ride and the Universal stuff. Yeah, there's a lot of rides that just spit on you.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

Yeah, water.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Yeah, that was a little bit new for me. I'm like, okay, I get it, but then also I'm like, I'm like Universal loves that. They're like, here, yeah, where does water come from? Yeah, like I hope this is just like some distilled deionized water, not like Florida tap water.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

Yeah, that's Florida, it's like gator water.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Um Erica did not like the Pandora ride. Oh, okay. Yeah, but that's only because she's seven feet tall. Yeah. So she didn't fit well in it, and it was like pinching her legs. She's majestically tall. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She was she like she stands next to like the avatar figure. I'm like, that's you. Like your avatar couldn't be bigger.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Spray paint you blue and floating. Here's a tail.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Yeah, yeah. Um, what I what I liked about it though is again the the difference with the lines. The entire time uh I'm just noticing and appreciating all the details. Yeah, and every couple of minutes you fast forward and you're in a whole new zone. Yeah, you're in like a laboratory, you're in the mines. Uh I think it helped a lot.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Guardians of the galaxy.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

I think you could have April.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

It broke down, right? It broke down.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

We walked past one of the ships and it looked cool, but we didn't get to ride on it. Same thing with uh the spaceship earth. It broke down. She was by that time, it was nighttime. She was done.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

I love spaceship earth.

SPEAKER_01 24:21

So I sat there and I was kind of just cruising by myself, and I think it broke down like four times. Yeah, and I started. It's one that has a hard time.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yeah, they've always I mean, it's the ride that's inside the golf ball of Epcot. So like they've been working on that thing forever, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

So it was cool for what it was. Interesting uh animatronics, and uh one thing that was a little annoying to me was when people it's just a general pet peeve, people that take pictures with flash in the dark.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Oh, I need the dark rides where people are taking photographs, right? There is you're doing flash, yeah. Come on, it's it's like the same thing if you were to go to like a play or something, right? I don't like being taken out of that, like the you know, the disbelief suspension that I am in. Uh so yeah, that's a huge pet peeve. Yeah. Uh did you get to ride? Let me ask you, did you get to ride Pirates of the Caribbean? What what are your let's do this? What are your favorite things that you rode on that trip? Because we're already at a half hour.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Oh my god, we can do this for a while.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

I know I could have done this for like three hours.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Uh definitely a fan of the Himalayan uh Expedition Everest, yeah. I love that ride. Yep. Uh I kind of liked the the zoo part of Animal Kingdom, but I have my suspicions as to whether or not they're real animals. I'm like, I don't know. Because the way they and again, I studied biology in college. I'm like, I don't know how real.

SPEAKER_02 25:34

I love that there's like uh conspiracy to the animals, like they're like animatronic flamingos. Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

Well, the one one girl who had been there, she's like, the eggs are definitely fake, they're always here. Oh and then I look and I see a couple fiberglass like as uh ostrich eggs. Yeah, so I'm gonna post the the POV footage, and if they're in the same spots when other people go, you'll know. You'll know, yeah. Yeah, the the hippo is always in this, you know what I mean? Yeah, casually on the casually the the king of the jungle is on the pride rock and he's just sleeping all the time. There's a movie in like has like Chinese characters where like or Korean where the uh the zoo is failing and they can't afford the animals, yeah. So they have the employees of the zoo dress up and they're like the really nice suits, and at a distance, you know, if they don't do anything crazy, they're passable. Yeah, I I believe it. Um I I liked the the gondola rides in between the parks, and I did like the uh the Mickey's uh perfect picnic day.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

Oh, was that like the show, or did you do Mickey and Minnie's uh runaway railway? Runaway railway, yeah. So I love that. I yeah, those trackless dark rides are really cool. There's a bunch of them. So they have that one, there's the Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, yeah, and then they have Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, yeah, which is like they're the same thing. Did you ride any of those?

SPEAKER_01 26:44

No, just Mickey's press for time. So we get to see a lot of stuff, we just didn't get to ride a lot of stuff. That's fine. Did you eat anything that was phenomenal on this trip? Uh not anything super specific at the park. I mean, it was good. I just don't some I think sometimes what happens is like uh commercially people tend to like overly sweet and salty. Yeah, and I I I used to be a chef, like I it's a little bit too much for my uh senses, yeah. But then also I wasn't super hungry, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 27:12

I on a guest, you're a good guest. Well, I didn't buy anything, I didn't eat the food. She's Erica's got you in a backpack, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

What are they called? Um one of those uh carry-on for babies, yeah. You're in a double wide stroller. Is he okay? He's good. Oh my god, I'm on a stroller. Uh she thankfully put up with me, but um I I just I didn't I generally don't run too hungry. I'm more in excitement than anything.

SPEAKER_02 27:37

And those, I mean, if you're gonna run excitement through those parks, yeah. And I'm glad that you got to see all of them. How about um what was your favorite park?

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Oh, that is a good question. Um, I I like them all for different reasons. I probably would lean towards um was it not Hollywood Studios? Hollywood Studios.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

I like that one because again, it's more stuff that I can relate to, different Star Wars, the Toy Story Lands Crazy, the Toy Story Land at night, too. Like, but both of those lands at night, yeah. Whoa, they have that Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster, and at night, yeah, um, they've got the lights that look like Christmas lights that are going all around in there, and they're you know, giant Christmas like strand of lights.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

That's pretty amazing. But in general, I think it was all pretty amazing. And again, even though there were some crazy lines, and I'm like, I can't believe we're because as soon as I turn you get in, it's like, all right, it's not too bad. Yeah, and then you turn a corner through a hallway and you just see people spaghetti back and forth. Yeah, like oh, okay. Yeah, they got me. They got me. They got me.

SPEAKER_02 28:36

I mean, you did go on a weekend day, right? So it's a Saturday that you went and it's gonna be busy. I'm glad that you guys got to go and at least experience all the parks. I think that's important. Yeah, on a day where you're gonna go, it's busy, you know. At least you have to see different things, and now you'll know next time we come back, this is what we want to go see, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:54

Um, they did crowd management really well. Again, the lines were the lines are what they are, but uh we had also went to Universal the day after, and the experience for that felt more like Darien Lake up here. Yeah, yeah, like it's just like crowd, like it's felt like a six flags, like you're just so I I like I leaned over and I asked him, like, is this more affordable? Like just the the type of people that we encountered. I'm like, these people do not care about you.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

It's like everyone's like pushing and shoving and a little bit more rude, different crowd, right? Yeah, yeah, different crowd. And I think that that's why the things important that even me having you on the on the podcast and saying somebody's first experience to both of these institutions is there's something magical that Disney has created, I think there's something they can cultivate for us to go. If if I gave you a thousand dollars and said, Hey, you have to go to Disney or Universal tomorrow. I'd pick Disney, you'd go to Disney, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's like and and it's like for me, I love thrill rides, yeah. But still, I think Universal's got the thrill rides, they do.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

I think they the rides are great. I like them, you know. Did you do Velocicoaster? It was amazing, amazing, like super fast, it's so great.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

And it's like crazy like to say, like my my wife's the same way. We love thrill rides, yeah. But if you were to give me a free vacation tomorrow, I would go to Disney in a heartbeat. Yeah, there's just something about it.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Well, that and uh like we were talking about uh service. So we started off Universal Rough. We were like, all right, we're gonna go to the Hulk ride, yeah, right. And again, I I come in thinking I'm a consumer, I'm here to you know experience this, I want to share this with my friends and family. I got the camera on, and we go to the Hulk ride. Oh boy, did I learn my lesson? They said no to the camera. Worse worse than the TSA. This guy, brutal. So A, um the locker system's insane. I hated it. Oh, the lockers, you're gonna put everything in the locker in there. When you go to scan your card, and we'll we'll have to maybe do a subsequent episode explaining all that. That was its own pain. And when I got to like the front before they let you onto the ride, they're patting people down, they're groping. They uh asked uh Erica to like lift her shirt to like see if she had any. I'm like, what do you think she's hard range? So it felt like you know we're gonna ride this with like a gun or something, like so. From the jump, like because you go through security to get into the parks. It's it's just I don't know. Right, I feel like Gussie wants you to share the experience, whereas Universal's like, this is proprietary, blah blah blah. Like, all right, dude, calm down. You know, I'm here to be a guest, I'm here to enjoy the stuff. Don't treat me.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

What rides did you ride at Universal? You got the Hulk, Hulk. You did Hagrid's. We did Hagrid's, which those lines are insane. Insane. Did you do Hagrid's like last or something?

SPEAKER_01 31:33

No, uh, we did them pretty much right after the Hulk. Okay, we went from the Hulk to the Harry.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

Two hours, two hour wait for Hagrid's. Yeah, yeah. It's a tough one, but man, that ride to me is the closest thing that they have. It's like something that that Disney would produce. Yes, like Hagrid's like, all right, it's immersive, the track system's different, like it's definitely something, and I think that's why I like Hagrid's a ton. I mean, Velocicoaster is amazing, right? But I could see the VelociCoaster also like breaking someone's femur, yeah, like this filet.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

Yeah, you know, me. Um I generally run just with my settings set to chaos. Yeah, yeah. So I was eating like a turkey leg as we entered Velocicoaster, and we had time, right? But I didn't finish it. If you've listened to the podcast, but you haven't yet.

SPEAKER_02 32:13

Uh, we always uh just poo-poo on the turkey leg. Oh yeah, yeah. Or turkey leg aficionado. The turkey legs are like, what is it? What is why do the turkeys have 35 tendons on?

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Yeah, yeah, that's just it. So funny you mentioned that. So that's exactly what happened. I'm like, I'm eating it and we're in line. And they're like, what are you gonna do with that? Because you have to like put everything in the locker. I'm like, I'm just gonna put it in my pocket, just have it like grease-stained throughout. But I was like, so I told, I'm like, well, I'm at the point now where I've eaten enough to be satiated, but I'm about to get to like the tendons and like the rough bit of the experience. So I'm like, I can't continue eating.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

You're like, why is there BVC?

SPEAKER_01 32:54

I'm like, I I've eaten enough turkey lakes to know where I'm at with it, right? I've sat there with all the I'm like, if I keep eating, I'm gonna get to that part and it's gonna be insane. Yeah, so I'm like wrapping it. I'm like, uh she she got a popcorn bucket.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:08

We get to the locker. I'm like, put it in your popcorn bucket. She's like, no. I'm like, all right, well, let me see if I can break the bone so it'll I'm in line. Trying to snap the bone of my own femur so I can like fit it in her popcorn bucket so it fits in the locker. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:22

Oh my god, this is too easy. You just what's funny is at the beginning of this podcast, you told me that you were a good guest.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

I didn't realize that was uh Babuda. So I'm glad I didn't I'm glad I didn't listen because I can come at this earnestly.

SPEAKER_02 33:37

Beginning of this podcast, you're like, Yeah, I'm a really good guest. Also, can I put my turkey leg in your popcorn button?

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Yeah, she's like, no, absolutely not, because she's all she doesn't eat meat, so it would further contaminate everything everything's that's held sacred in her life and try to kill. But then just people around me watching me try to snap this turkey leg in line. Like, well, maybe I could put it on the metal bars.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

Universal police, like, sir. They weren't having it. Oh my gosh. Um, well, that's wonderful. So, all right. Um, I think we'll have to we'll have to have you back on the on the podcast at some point. We didn't talk about the chafe. Oh, yeah, we didn't talk about the chafe.

SPEAKER_01 34:13

Oh, yeah, I learned my lesson hard. I should have known I don't walk that much. Yeah, you know, I I work at an office job, I don't I I hike and stuff, but it's I'm not often just scuttling 20 miles in a day.

SPEAKER_02 34:23

So was it was it uh did you have a hard time like like at Disney or Universal?

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Universal is rough because it was the second day, yeah. Disney halfway through, I'm like, oh, it's this is gonna be bad later.

SPEAKER_02 34:35

Yeah, you almost like there's so many different things. Like, yeah, I'm going through packing right now, but I've gone 20 times, and so now I'm just like, all right, yeah, three different pairs of shoes. Yeah, I need like deodorant for my arms, but I also need like some kind of uh deodorant for my legs or dust for my thighs, yeah. You know, I gotta watch out for the chub rub. Yeah, but it's uh it's it's crazy crazy, yeah. Uh uh just to think about all those elements. Dude, I've been there before with all of a sudden it downpours. Oh, and now you're talking like wet socks all day, wet feet. Yeah, you have like trench foot by noon, just stakes on the right. Yeah, you're like, oh man, what do they do? And like it's hard. And like if you brought one pair of shoes, now you're like trying to buy like the Disney shoes$89 Disney Crocs and a woman's XL.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Fun fact I'm a woman's 11.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

Yeah, yeah. I didn't know this. I just found out. Sir, your Mickey Crocs are falling apart. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

They hit someone off the ride. No man. Oh my god. I think that and the smell. Uh Disney has a distinct smell, which I noticed. It was like musty and sweet. Yes. And at first they're pumping out like popcorn and churros and cookies or something. It's like so good. Within uh within 50 feet of any food stand, I'm like, they're that's gotta be a candle. Fake, right? Like I always say it, I'm like, are they pumping like popcorn smell?

SPEAKER_02 35:51

I've never been I don't eat that much. Never been that hungry. Yeah, they're like they get me.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

I'm like, yeah, but I'm like just you know between all four parks, I noticed because they it just registered. I'm like, huh, interesting. And then we go to the next one, and same thing, interesting.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

Uh they got it done, like we said, this is the best retail institution that we'll ever know in our life. As far as like commerce goes, yeah, they are the kings of commerce. I can't think of anything else that's more immersive. No, and I mean, I th listen, I'm not gonna like there'll be times where I'm gonna talk about Universal on this podcast for sure, and I love it for what it is, yeah. But at the end of the day, Disney's just doing something for me that I don't think Universal can ever give back. If you were talking to me Universal when I was a kid, I used to go a lot, and they used to have Back to the Future, ET, uh, Jaws, King Kong. They had some of these crazy rides that were just amazing, yeah. But they're now they just have ET and he can't even get my name right. He'll get he'll say Tito, but for some reason he's never said Mitch.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

There's like uh maybe has like an accent or something. Well, maybe you don't want him to say that.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

Yeah, oh man. Well, listen, uh, you know, we're we're running long here. We got to get into it uh with our with our comedy group right here. Yeah, uh, but it was awesome having you on the podcast. I'll have you back uh you know in a few weeks and we'll we'll just chat, you know. This was uh it was a lot of fun. Yes. Thanks for coming on. I'm glad that your your trip was a success.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 37:18

Tell Erica that everyone here from the Troop loves her and thank you for uh taking care of our Tito. Oh, I'll let her know.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

I I I invited her to join us, and she's like, no, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

Yeah, she's like an introvert.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

Well, sometimes you think, but um, I don't know. I think she just isn't super big about being like in the limelight with things, which is fine because she makes a great uh audience. Yeah, you know, but I'll see if I can't like bend her arm. That's fine.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

Yeah, maybe the next time it would be fun to have around the next time we can kind of talk about things. I'll see if I'll gaslight her into it. I love her perfect. Yeah, all right. Well, thanks for listening at home. Uh, make sure that you rate, follow, share, and just remember, folks, your next magical vacation to Disney is only a moment away. Here we go.