Podcast: The Ride - Astro Orbito(e)rs

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

Astro Orbitor. Astro Orbiter. Orbitron. They go by many names but the important thing is they're round and rounds that go up and down in Tomorrowland. Rocket To The Moon / Mission To Mars Episode up at The Second Gate: Patreon.com/PodcastTheRide Livestream tickets available for the October 20th live shows! https://www.dynastytypewriter.com/events-calendar Listen to Podcast: The Ride Ad-Free on Forever Dog Plus: http://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plus FOLLOW PODCAST: THE RIDE: https://twitter.com/PodcastTheRide https://www.instagram.com/podcasttheride BUY PODCAST: THE RIDE MERCH: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/podcast-the-ride PODCAST THE RIDE IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/podcast-the-ride Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warning, the following podcast contains godless fake meat, a countrywide French giveaway, a ahem, Ghent tree lift, and a round and round that has moved around. We're talking Astro Orbiter on today's podcast, The Ride. Welcome to Podcast The Ride, a podcast about theme parks, which once again grapples with getting 90 minutes out of a ride that goes round and round for 90 seconds. I'm Scott Gairdner. I'm up to the challenge. Mike Carlson. I'm here. My name's Mike Carlson, and I'm not worried a bit. I'm not worried for a second that we won't be able to talk about it. Think about, think about it. It goes round. That's 45 right there.

And it goes round again. That's another 45. That gets you to 90. We gotta talk about both halves of the experience. I hate to be so cocky at the top of an episode, but I am. I'm feeling very confident, very sure of myself. Well, this is good. This will resonate. I'm feeling confident, too,

because there's always the long wait for this 90 seconds, too. Yeah, he's feeling cocksure as well. That is part of it, yes. There's also so many of them. There's so many of them with so many names. That's a lot of why I thought, oh, this is

something here. Because we're talking about a bunch of rides. Do all of the rides go round and round and that's it? Yes. But by the time you collect them all, yeah. So today we're talking about the rocket round and rounds. Any of the Disney park rides over the years that have had a rocket round and round, or that have been a rocket that goes round and round,

which have been in the park since the 56 a long time franchise yes as part of our little campaign to uh keep tomorrowland alive in the show as promised and negated on long ago but first uh let me jump ahead to a period where there will be uh i imagine no tomorrowland although well there's haunted tomorrowland stuff here and there Of course there is but I'm talking about October October is on the way And that is when podcast the ride becomes Haunt cast the fright A season of tricks and treats

And haunts and puns And scary names that are Negotiated Litigated For a good five minutes at the beginning Of every episode But that means that A special treat for this year litigated for a good five minutes at the beginning of every episode. But that means that a special treat for this year as part of the Halloween season, we will be doing for the first time ever, Hauntcast the Fright live at Dynasty Typewriter in Los

Angeles. That's Friday, October 20th. Two shows, one at 7.30, one at 10. These are going to be super fun. We're really excited for them. Let's say costumes encouraged. Yeah, sure. I think so. Why not? Unless people feel humiliated

to wear a deep theme park reference costume. I should know. As they go from the parking lot to the street. But hey, that's a safe place to do it, I think. They should feel confident. They should feel cocky when they're doing that. Get that Carlson cockiness, the famous Carlson

cockiness. I'll be costuming it up. We haven't discussed this, really. We did a little. Yeah, we did a little. You threw out some ideas. Sure, yeah, yeah. Well, you gotta see what we'll be wearing. We wanna see what you'll be wearing. They're gonna be really fun shows. We're also gonna be live streaming both of those.

Thanks to Dynasty Typewriter. And those will be archived for a little bit after, too. Click a link in the show notes and you will find all that. And that's all of our business. Right? Wrong. No, we're coming to Orlando. And I think that's largely sold out.

Thank you, audience. The seats are sold out. Yes, but we still have, there are standing room spots available. There are spots for your left and right feet if you still want to make, at least as of this recording, there are. We're doing two live shows on November 10th. That's a Friday at Tin Roof on iDrive. Oh, yeah.

Cannot wait for that. Oh, being live on iDrive. What a feeling that's going to be. All the greats have played it. Oh, yeah. Cannot wait for that. Oh, being live on I Drive. What a feeling that's going to be. All the greats have played it. Uh-huh. Yes, Van Halen cover bands. Yeah. Metallica cover band.

Linkin Park cover bands. Oh, yeah. And now us, and we're going to cover different rides and facets of the theme park. That's right. Yeah. So we're keeping with the tradition. Do you think the tin roof um venue has tin roof like sundaes you're gonna have to elaborate tin roof uh you see a blizzard or a

sunday tin it's chopped nuts and chopped cherries that's the name of a specific ice cream dish uh yeah chocolate sauce or fudge yeah you're the experts. You gotta tell us. Is it called a Tin Roof Sundae? Yeah. Listeners type in comments, how do Mike and Jason not know the thing that Jason said? I just, look, I'm not as much, he's the treat boy. There's a reason why he's the treat boy. Tin Roof Sundae, and I've known Jason over a decade,

and he has never, I don't think I've heard him say Tin Roof Sundae before, so that's interesting. Loaded with layers of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, gooey marshmallow sauce, and chocolate sauce, and plenty of Spanish peanuts for a delicious salty crunch. Yeah. How about that? I think it's one with a little way of it then. This is a chain.

Tin Roof is some chain. They have like 12, 14 locations in America. Wow. Is that right? Yeah. Oh, great. I don't think I've ever heard of that. It's a chain.

I would think that they have something like that. Top Brown Roast Beef, I believe they had. They have concretes, you know, like blizzards. I know what concrete is, yes. Yeah, tin roof was one of the ones there. So I think the peanuts are a big element. Marshmallow. Would you eat a tin roof sundae on stage at the tin roof if it was available?

I don't know. Does Jason want to perform under the influence? That's the question. Yeah, but the question is, do we want the place like, oh, not kind of packed, or do we want the place packed when people hear that you're going to be eating for two shows, so it's going to have to be two different Tin Roof Sundays live on stage

for both shows. We have a lying room. You can lie on the floor, and bartenders will step over you. But that's the pandemonium there is to see Jason eat a tin roof at Tin Roof. They sell tickets across the street and hand out binoculars so you can kind of see through the window. Oh, yeah. That's the nasty voyeur ticket.

The peeping Tom ticket. Yeah, the peeping Tom. We will sell peeping Tom tickets if we break fire code with the amount of tickets sold in the building. And we would like, if you get a Peeping Tom ticket, to wear a trench coat and a hat. Yes, please. There will be some loaners, but we can't guarantee loaners for everyone, okay? Yeah, we can't. Because the demand will be too high.

He hasn't agreed to eat it, though. You know, one size does not fit all. Exactly. It's amazing what you think. We all came along, you know, we were born after the period of jackets having, or restaurants having loaner jackets of like, oh, sir, you need to put a jacket on to eat this under seasoned prime rib. There's got to be a place that still does that. Yeah, I'm sure there is.

But it's not tin roof Orlando. You don't have to wear a fancy jacket. They got a lot of food I'm looking it's not tin roof orlando you don't have to wear a fancy jacket they got a lot of food i'm looking at i desserts i don't know i don't know if it's a different menu or they're not yeah i don't see it they are missing out on a whole area um but drinks and food looks good i think i think we're gonna have a fun time there so make make it if you can if you if you can squeeze in but god bless you orlando audience or anybody traveling in for uh for grabbing those seats and joining us. We,

we are so excited about all of this block of live show fun. Yeah. Um, but all that being said, um, let's get back to Tomorrowland. Uh, as I said,

we're trying to make good on the, the Tomorrowland promise. We discussed some of this on the second gate several days ago. We talked about another, uh, since the beginning tomorrowland franchise that has changed names slightly through the years uh rocket to the moon flight to the moon mission to mars that now red rockets pizza port then alien pizza planet at least in uh so they've kept the tradition of slight name pivots and we go back to slight

name pivots with this, with Astro Orbiter, Rocket Jets, whatever you want to call it. But I said at the beginning, I threw it under the bus a little, and I said this is a ride that goes round and round. And yes, that is what the ride does. But I think there's more here.

And I don't think we would, you know, we are under no obligation to do it if there wasn't more here. The more here, two Astro think we would you know we are under no obligation to do it if there wasn't more here um the more here the two astro orbiter rocket jets all of it i think is that um it also just due to its size and due to it being a rare outdoor tomorrowland experience i think it becomes kind of a symbol of the land in a way sometimes situated in such a place in tomorrow land that it's like the weenie that imagineering term it's like the it's the the beacon calling you into the land telling you from afar telling you everything you need to know about the land

right um and in that position this is my big thesis at the top here. I think that all of these rides represent their respective tomorrow lands in big ways. I think they represent the strengths of their particular tomorrow lands. And in a lot of cases, their weaknesses. I feel like you can tell the overall health of a tomorrow land by checking on its astro orbiter it's like the i don't know what part of the body you would say but it's like well let's check that and then that might be that might indicate a greater problem you put the big stethoscope up to the astro orbiter and see right yes check on each of its orbs right see what you hear breath astro orbiter check on its on its current level of paint coat.

Yeah. That's, yeah, I think there's a lot of truth to that. It's certainly something that, yeah, especially for kids, suggests what almost all the rides should be about in some ways. It gives you like, it goes, all these rides I'm going to be doing, I'm going to be in a little ship and I'm going to be going somewhere. That's true. That is most Tomorrowland experiences over the years, isn't it?

Some are from Star Tours to Space Mountain. Yeah, other than technically Autopia being in there. But yeah, everything else is you're in a little spaceship. That's never made sense. It's like, go to a rocket. Here's three rides, sometimes four, lots of rides where you go to space. Yeah. And then here's a ride where you go to space. Yeah. And then here's a ride where you get in a car.

Yeah. A future car? No, a current car. Probably, actually, probably a 1990s car. Yeah. It makes sense, I guess, from the original Tomorrowland, I suppose, because it was just a bunch of ads for different companies that Walt was friendly with. Yes.

So it's like, and then there's like ads for paint and stuff, but it certainly doesn't make sense now. And the highway system was really being built up. Yeah, it's like, and then there's like ads for paint and stuff, but it certainly doesn't make sense now. And the highway system was really being built up. Yeah, it's true. Yeah. That's like the future is highways. Future is you will be driving on high. The future is little kids will be driving on highways.

But yeah, everything else, like you see that as a kid and like that's the, that's putting an image in your head of sort of what Space Mountain is like. So I almost feel like you're like, it strengthens Space Mountain in a way. It's true. It's a little like demo. It's like getting your feet wet in terms of elevated Disney rocket travel. It feels like the basic training for Space Mountain in a lot of ways. That's true.

At least you can see you're outside and you're not going into space, but you're in this little vehicle and it looks like space. So then when you're in space, your brain, because I know my brain sort of took me there the first time I ever went on it. Like I knew I wasn't in space, but man, your imagination runs wild with what's in the actual like building of Space Mountain. Sure. Yeah.

In addition to going round and round, let's not forget, it also goes up and down. Yes. This is true. As any good spinner ride should have, it does give you the ability to control it and control how high you get in it, which adds significantly to the thrills, especially in the ones where you're elevated on a platform already so that can you going all the way up perhaps gets you to like 80 feet in the air i think is what it is um but that's not true of of all of them right necessarily they're all a little different they're all a little bit different um they really it's it's a confusing thing to chart and we can step through them um but let me before we do any like history let me just ask you guys um any like emotional attachments or feelings you have about any iterations of this

franchise there's one or has been one at some point in all in i think every magic kingdom park right yeah they've all at least had had some equivalent well there's tokyo disappeared yeah tokyo is the only one that doesn't have it currently i think but they did have one at some point um but the the applicable ones like mostly for us in terms of childhood are disneyland and disney world um strong feelings about this attraction from any point in your life? I always liked the Disney World one when I was young. I mean, I definitely rode it when it was Star Jets, when it was the original one, and certainly rode it plenty as Astro Orbiter,

which has a lot going for it, both Star Jets and Astro Orbiter in Florida. You're high up? I like that. Okay. Okay. Technically, I guess you would take a gantry elevator, a gantry lift, some might say.

Oh, an early Disney gantry. To get up there. Wait, what? A gantry? I don't think you said it right. Can you say it in a different way? Yeah. You said it in a, I just feel like something was wrong about it.

Something's missing. There's a little spin you're not putting on it. No, no. I mean, I'm just saying... You're saying I didn't put enough mustard on it. I think Jason's completely missing. We both are getting it. What's the way to say gantry?

Gantry? That we know... Here's what... To be fair to Jason, there's been other times when he says something wrong and this is not actually that bit. No, no, no. It's a different bit.

Oh, okay. So this bit is... I'm like flashing back to happy memories of childhood and smiling. I realize what's happening now. And they're like, how did you say that word no one says anymore? No, no, no. I'm sorry. It's unclear. What's the fun way to say gantry in the

world of theme parks? Oh. A gantry lift? Well, it's almost there. A gantry? A gantry lift. There, it's almost there. I think that's what you were... A gantry lift. A gantry lift. There you go. All right. Sorry, sorry. There we go.

Excuse me. No, I'm sorry. It was close to the thing where we were like, what was that word? That's not what we were... I should have presented it in a different way. Yes, I know. There's one, if not more of those per episode. Yeah, yeah.

No, this is... You weren't speaking in proper rocket ease. Yeah, yeah. A gantry lift. A gantry lift. Yeah, gantry lift. It's nice to hear it. So I always liked that, and especially the big planets.

I think the big planets certainly plus it up a little. And that area of Tomorrowland, above the People Mover, you hear that great music loop, that kind of spacey music loop I always loved. Yeah, yeah. So that becomes like the onboard soundtrack there's not like music made for this ride but you you're picking up the the area music yeah yeah you get it on the people mover and walking around and in this so it's kind of like i don't know it is a unifying thing in that land and it being high up and kind of i think they painted it at

some point like i didn't remember the rockets being this kind of like shiny blue fluorescent blue almost um and i think they look good yeah yeah i think the i think the florida one is pretty is pretty spectacular yeah um. Looks good from afar. I like being up in that California grill at the Contemporary. It's kind of like the main thing you can see, you know, when it's lit up at night and got neon stripes and that kind of thing. It's a big part of the skyline there. Mike, feelings?

Do you care about any of these? Yeah, I think I said on dumbo the dumbo episode that that i feel like i'm gonna fly out of them and it's a it stresses me out even more than now that i'm older but as a kid i didn't really like it but it's too it's so slow moving that i would feel like i'm gonna fall out i'm gonna fall out and then i would be very afraid to pull it all the way up because especially when you go all the way to the top you're leaning a little yes and now you're in an angle so then i would just be like be like a little stressed the whole time so i would be very interested in going on it but then when i was little i feel like i would be like i don't want to raise it up too high

i'm like so i'm like floating on the ground and all the other kids are just looking like the coolest kids ever and every one all of the other ones are all the other kids are all the way up only yeah i'm getting in that when i i was a kid i would get in that thing and as soon as it would start to move i would just pull it of course jason's making me look like a loser as a little kid i'll do it now to save face if i'm on one of these if i'm on dumbo if i'm on astro birds i will go all the way to top because i know i have to prove to everyone that i'm cool from kid to the children you have to prove to the children that you're cool yeah from three years old to 85 years old i have to prove now to everybody yeah that i can do this because i was so afraid to do it when i was little but i

think the yeah i think if you're a four-year-old getting on Dumbo for the first time on your first trip to Disneyland, and as you get aboard that thing, I think the main thing you're thinking is, hey, that older guy in Elephant No. 9, is he cool or not? Yeah, that's what I think they're thinking. So they will say, oh, is he cool or not? And they go, oh, he went all the way to the top, and he's spending most of the ride on the top. So yes, he is cool. So therefore, no further information needed on whether this guy is cool.

Yes. I was wondering what his weaknesses were, but I guess he's cool. Is he blasting Olivia Rodrigo's guts from the elephant as well? Yes, he is. Wow. This is the new move with you is Olivia Rodrigo equals cool equals cool having listened to some olivia rodrigo i've listened to all the work you need yeah yeah yeah listen to half of it you've listened to wow this guy's elephant is all the way up he looks like a guy who's probably listened to half of olivia rodrigo's my elephant

is all the way up which is that'd be a good line in a song where I'm some sort of hip hop song. That's a DJ Kyle. Yeah. Yeah. You can't stop me. My elephant's all the way up. Yeah. I do.

I do. This is a run. I would be sad if it ever ended. If you didn't, if you stopped shouting names of albums, almost in an accusatory fashion. Oh, if things at us for maybe

thinking that you're not with it. I feel like it happened not long ago. I've heard Harry Styles. I've heard the Styles album. It's good. Hey, why are you... I'm not saying you didn't hear it. I'm not thinking about it at all. I like the Harry Styles album. Harry's House. Yeah, you've explained Harry's House.

I'm a huge Harry's House fan. I know you're a big Harry's House guy. In case you don't think I am anymore, I am. I just wanted to put that out there. If you think I stopped liking Harry's House, I didn't. I don't know. Why are you making these gestures like you want to choke us? Because I can tell Jason doesn't believe me.

Well, you got really intense. I can tell. You're like, we need to watch Don't Worry Darling without the gossip and hearsay. Don't listen to the gossip. Just listen to the music. Enjoy the movie. Yeah. Enjoy Don't W, darling, without the gossip and hearsay. Don't listen to the gossip. Just listen to the music. Enjoy the movie. Yeah. Enjoy Don't Worry Darling.

Jason, stop looking at me while we record. You're making me nervous. Do you like the sad Olivia Rodrigo songs or that really up-tempo fun song? He's only heard half the album. He might be fucked on this. There's a couple of slower ones in the first half. I don't really want to spend too much time because I do have some thoughts on this there's a couple of soft slower ones in the first half what is i don't really want to spend too much time because i do have some thoughts on this oh now all i want to do is but i don't i'm not prepared necessarily to do it i know it's not i thought you like i thought you

were cool are you cool or not i am cool i know it's not called fuck it it's fine but the song about hooking up with your ex is really catchy here's the thing some of the songs i think are trying to go for like a young like a new joan jett quality and sometimes i feel like with modern recording technologies things sound too slick and it doesn't give me quite the feeling or the feeling maybe they were going for and then you go back and listen to like early joan jett and there's a grittier, it sounds grittier to me, partly because of the recording. Well, that's my feeling about, you know,

Steely Dan's 2000 album, Two Against Nature versus like Asia or Gaucho. Sure, yeah. The songwriting's still there, but ultimately the recording is just a little too slick. It's too slick sometimes.

And some bands, it's good when it's too slick. You listen to a Radiohead album and it's like the recording is precise and clean and it just sounds like, sounds amazing, and that's right for that music. But when you're going for the grit of Jet. That's what I think, but that's kind of a first listen. So it's not an in-depth review.

I'll give my in-depth review later. What do you think about the song Love is Embarrassing? Oh, wait, that's track nine. I guess we don't know. We haven't gotten to track nine yet. Did I get to track nine? I don't think I did. You're a bad idea, wait, that's track nine. I guess we don't know. We haven't gotten to track nine yet. Did I get to track nine? I don't think I did. You're a bad idea, right guy like me.

Yeah. Yeah. All right, so plenty of cools here. I go on the top of Dumbo. I listen to the newest music. Brutal out there. I went to the newest music. I'm brutal out there. I went to the Eros tour. I am not

aging. My age is not changing. It's staying the same. In fact, it's going backwards. If I'd seen every night of Eros, it would have reversed all of my gray hairs. Too expensive. Ultimately, only some of them went backwards because I. Because I only

saw one night. There is no way you were the only man talking about the era's tour breaking down in front of you. I saw the era's tour. I was at era's. I know I was born in a different era, but I saw era's today.

Yeah. Costume changes. I'm just owning. I to beck who was i went i fought taylor swift traffic to go to beck and not taylor swift where he made reference to like all right let's get all you swifty dads up and dancing yeah yep hey i'm i'm willing to i'm willing to take uh dad jokes at my back you got a friendship bracelet that says, baby, I'm a lost cause. Yeah. That's how I feel

about keeping up. I know too much about two against nature. Once you cross the two against nature bridge, there's no going back. You just can't. You just have to embrace it and know you're not going back to cool. That older millennial is running after us trying to tell us about the best tracks on Modern Guild. Which is 10 years old.

Which is 10 years old. It's so old at this point. Really old. So, anyway, we're all cool. Now, let's prove it by talking about all the iterations of the Astro Jets attraction in the history of the Disney parks. So, yeah, look, it's been there since 56. This was called AstroJets then. I didn't realize it was considered the first major new ride to get added to Disney post-opening.

So this has proven, hey, we didn't blow our wad months ago. We got more ideas. You think we only had elephants that spin around? We got rockets that spin around. And this was like the most exciting thing there. I think so. At that time, probably, yes. Because it's always been, any iteration of this has, yes, it's a spinner ride like Dumbo, but it's always been, any iteration of this has, you know, yes, it's a spinner ride like Dumbo, but it's always been kind of bigger, kind of scarier, a little more austere, possibly. It's, you know, Dumbo is for little kids. This is for 12-year-olds at least. Or only, or 8-year-olds as brave as 12-year-olds.

Yeah. Well, the best iterations of it are up higher. They're either above the people mover. Oh, yeah. Or in Tokyo, just above because it looked better. Yeah. Oh, yeah. They didn't need to.

They didn't need to. In Tokyo, there was not a people mover, but they still built a platform for it because it's cooler. Also, very funny. The Tokyo version had the big rocket in the center that says USA on it. They kept that design. That is weird, yes. I mean, that's the, again, I think we'll find the various ways that this attraction represents the Tomorrowland or the park.

And that to me feels like what that says about Tokyo Disneyland when it opened was, let's just do all the stuff the American parks are doing down to our rocket says usa yeah we are rarely reinventing the wheel we like what they have let's do what they have and then they've come to forge their own identity you know in the years since yeah um but so we got astro jets it's not up on a platform yet um it's just down on ground level. They haven't innovated to that extent yet. Then we get the first name change. It was Astrojets until 1964.

United Airlines joins as a park sponsor for the Tiki Room, and they say no more Astrojets because American Airlines, our competitor, calls their planes Astrojets. Yes. Inaccurately. Yeah, right. So they were pitching a fit about something on the other side of the park. They're not even close.

They don't sponsor that ride, but they consider that free advertising for American Airlines' famous Astrojets. Yeah. advertising for american airlines famous astro jets yeah it's just which a little to me it's like wasn't this is just kind of gibberish isn't everything space age back then like wasn't everyone just using jet and astro and moon and you know yeah true yeah yeah that's just that was them trying to be cool back then yeah we're we're up on that space parlance um but uh yeah i think no reason to make that shame but it leads to our first slight name pivot which is tomorrowland jets it is now tomorrowland jets for several years until the entire thing is torn up the first big revamp of tomorrowland and this is where it becomes rocket jets and i remember it as

rocket jets for a long time um it's not a very like fanciful rocket situation um that's a lot of these early ones it's very like it's a little clinical it's a little yeah uh also kind of representing the tomorrowland of the era we talked about this was actually the moon it's not science fiction it's science fact right because we haven'tets to the moon it's not science fiction It's science fact because we haven't Been to the moon yet that's another Two years away Do you think in the Maybe I didn't read anything like

Were they thinking in the narrative of the spinner Ride that you were in space or since It was just rocket jets It was just we were using a rocket and we were flying Around Disneyland do you know what I'm Saying with the difference were they thinking That this was like you were going into space or are we Just simulating what it would be like to were using a rocket and we were flying around Disneyland. Do you know what I'm saying with the difference? Oh, I see. Were they thinking that this was like you were going into space or are we just simulating what it would be like to be in a rocket and shoot around the sky? Maybe it is.

What if it is considered like a training exercise? I think that's kind of the idea. Like all of us will be going to space on the regular soon. We will have, you know, your parents might not move there but they might your uncle might so you're gonna we're gonna be taking trips that's like that's like going down to san diego to see your uncle it'll be going to go into the moon so you need to get in shape for that when that comes three years from now yes and that's why it's just jet because like i think yeah you would train with a jet

to go into space, I suppose. Because Astro Orbiter, obviously, the narrative is you're in space. You think just fully. I think. Jason, do you agree with me? Astro Orbiter, it's the name, Astro Orbiter. And they've got kind of configurations of planets.

Being that there are planet-type items. Right. That is like an abstract version of you just are. I think so by the way got very excited when i realized i thought it was a mandela effect situation going on but that one is astro orbitor with an o and one is astro orbitor with an e yeah i was like oh yeah we're not gonna have any trouble filling this episode so many slight differences what does it mean this is we've talked about this before that um so like i thought as a big theme

park fan kid i thought that everything in the parks had significance like this is a manicured place and it must be there for a reason and done a certain way for a reason and this one brings me right back to that i'm like what does it mean that one is astro orbiter with an e and one is astro orbitor with an o what is why why did they decide that they were only open four years apart what is it what is it about what does one convey that is different than the other? I don't really know. The spelling that's correct is orbiter with an E. Yeah. But correct.

Yes, correct. You would say, but can you not dream, Michael? Can you not? Orbitor has a grandeur to it. Doesn't it feel like- I don't disagree. It is only the dreamers like hg wells and jules verne could imagine an o instead of a clinical e of course it does feel spacier and another

wrench is thrown in when you look at some of the international parks and they call it the orbitron yes right yeah and it's like well that adds a whole new wrinkle to this scenario i don't know what to think now i mean what's the better designed one from Disney World Disneyland, do you think? I'm looking just to double check what I think. Well, I think the black and white ones from Star Jet era might be the most tasteful design they've ever gotten. But I think Tomorrowland, New Tomorrowland, which is what they call the Florida redo in 94. And do they also call that out here? Was that also called New Tomorrowland?

I think just New Tomorrowland. There's been a few New Tomorrowlands at this point. I always say Tomorrowland 94 for Florida, Tomorrowland 98 for Disneyland. Sure. I'm looking back and forth. It's hard to say. They are similar. Both of these were out of the clinical 60s rocket era

and were into fanciful science fiction design. I think I like the Disneyland one better, but I like the placement, obviously, in Disney World much better. I like the placement better, yes. Do we like the gold? Do we like that being the main? It used to be more gold well i was gonna say it's like it's kind of still out of place as far as the gold the jules verne did jules verne use a lot of o's instead of e's is

that is that part of it um that's uh well let's ask the reader over here uh seems like something yeah how many jules verne's have you read i don't know i think one or two i had the early science fiction kind of like early horror is very clinical clinical very stiff reading a lovecraft book yeah i was like i'm gonna read a lovecraft book and i'm like my god the details here that feel superfluous yeah some of them are better than it definitely works well i said in short stories lovecraft i don't think i've ever read a full novel yeah um i yeah i think i like the tomorrow land one better but yeah i don't know i don't i guess it looks a little more fantastic well not much by not by much really similar zone i mean you know some of the whether you like it better i feel it comes from the broader land um let me keep stepping through historically a little bit

um so the so tomorrowland 67 let's let that redo uh this is when the big choice is made this is when we move upstairs and in doing so by putting it on top of that platform it's tomorrow people mover on the second level rocket jets all the way on the top you got to take a gantry gets you up so high more thrilling better views up there and it goes from a c ticket to a d ticket a rare attraction where it itself doesn't do anything it couldn't do before, but placement alone gets it one ticket level up. That makes sense to me. I think speaks to the virtue of putting it up on that platform. Yes.

What unlocks its ultimate form, you would think. The vibes. Yeah. The vibes massively increase. Yes. You know, the ride doesn't do anything different, but I wasn't taking vibes into account there are major vibes up there um so anyway that version is still that's the usa

that's kind of clinical modern rocket but it's from the disneyland i started going to like i'm still very fond of um pre-redo 80s well well into the 90s style Tomorrowland where there'd just be a big Coca-Cola sign and that's not even the logo they use anymore. And that neon Mickey, of course. But I don't know. It's not the most fanciful thing, but I still liked it. When they bring this to Disney World,

they do the same thing. They put it up on top of the platform. Now here's another. It's Star Jets there. Yes. Okay. Rocket Jets here. Star Jets there.

What is it in Tokyo when they open essentially this? I think it's Rocket Jets. I think they go back to Rocket Jets. Yes. Why? We don't know. Why these pivots? We aren't sure um and then what really changes it all what cracks

the whole thing open is um disneyland paris or euro disneyland at the time this is where we start breaking the tomorrowland mold they're getting the sense that these tomorrowlands are not aging very well and that everything's a little stuck in the 60s in a bad way so this is the first time that we have that notion of it's the future that never was and it's inspired by the great writers and we try to do something that feels a little future but retro but timeless and i feel like that Orbitron in Paris is like one of the biggest manifestations of that. Seems like something they were very proud of. Yeah.

To take this ride that maybe feels like a clinical round and round rocket ride and turn it into this like sculpture. This like living sculpture. I think, too, this was one of the olive branches that they they to the french people of like jules verne a national hero like a beloved figure and we're going to make like the land and the french said thank you so much merci book i said they were so excited polite spinning you know we are so happy about this we will not throw eggs at your press conferences thank you mr baxter for your jules verne inspiration we will blow our smoke to your left not in your face no cultural chernobyl compliments yeah uh yeah yeah so so here we

and this is where we also we we we don't put it up on a platform anymore. It is back down to the ground. And is that – can we go backwards? Is that allowed? If you're getting more out of it. Yeah. If you're – because what we've added are all of these like these orbs that you pass by. It is this living, moving sculpture.

Yeah. That it is this living, moving sculpture. And, you know, like, that it feels very, like, it looks like, you know, fantastical concept art from Verne era. And, like, there's, you know, like, compass type components and that sort of thing. It's definitely cool. I don't know. What do we think about this choice just at the pierce stage well it's gonna my opinion is gonna probably fall on all the all of the ones that have this extra planet stuff but i think the thought process was yeah you're elevating the experience of a spinner by now presenting yeah abstractions of space and planets and stuff. But really, when you're on an astral orbiter or any sort of spinning ride,

what you're doing is just seeing how far you can see into the distance. You're just seeing, hey, I can see tomorrow. You can kind of see the top of the building over there. You can see the treehouse over there in Disneyland. There's no way that's not going to be what, if you have an open air ride like this, you're just trying to see, oh, I can see outside of Disneyland. Like, that's all your dumb brain is doing. So I don't mind the planets even being there because it's kind of an interesting thing to go by.

But I feel it's more for the people looking at the ride than it is for the people in the cars because I don't pay any attention to these planets. That's a good point. When you're in the car, you're just trying to see how far you can see in the distance. Only as sculpture can you judge these things by what they look like in the middle, but when you're on it, you're probably not

looking at the middle. No, you're trying to see if you can see your car or something if it's parked on the Mickey and Friends parking structure. But this is one

where the Florida one is a little elevated because the planets are kind of encircling you a bit. Yes. You know, they're not entirely in the center where you could ignore them.

They're kind of- Yeah. They're getting in your vision. They're getting in the vision, even if you're focusing- But same thing in Florida. Are you staring at, oh, there's a planet. No, you're trying to see, oh, I can see- Well, sometimes they glow at night.

I'm not saying it's not cool and it's not part of it, but aren't you just trying to see if you can see the Polynesian from there? Uh, yeah, that's true. Aren't you just trying to like, oh, yeah, looknesian from there? Uh yeah that's true Aren't you just trying to like oh yeah look it's Bay Lake yeah like to me that's always what's fun about being up high on one of these things is like kind of trying to see what you can see. So does that have to factor

if we are like ultimately you know we haven't been on all of these because a lot of them are international but I wonder if we can determine which is the best and does this factor need to be entered into it. think so not just the placemaking of the ride itself but like what do you get to see yeah and so disney world to me is like a is the winner yeah if we're just judging by that probably because you can see so much i

love like everest when i'm going up that little everest climb i am just looking to see what i can see in the distance because it's the flat swamp of orlando i am just looking to see what i can see in the distance because it's the flat swamp of orlando i'm like oh i can see i can see the tower of terror from here i'm looking around i'm completely taken out of the narrative of everest i don't give a fuck about everest on that climb i do when i get back inside i love everest again but from that point out i'm just like oh can i see i drive from here oh i can see that i can see this i can see spaceship earth yeah and anytime i'm up high in a theme park thing that's what i'm looking i'm looking for I'm just like, oh, can I see I drive from here? Oh, I can see that. I can see this. I can see spaceship earth. Yeah.

And anytime I'm up high in a theme park thing, that's what I'm looking. I'm looking for other stuff. Sure. Hey, can you trying to go on Dr. Doom? It's like, hey, can you put me on this side where I can see the Tony Roma's on I drive? A hundred percent. Yes.

I want to see the rock. If I'm on knots, I want to see the rock and bruise. If I'm up high, I want to see what I can say. Can I see the Portillo's from one of the coasters? That is always exciting. Yeah. I do like seeing the tip of that rock and bruise guitar. planets will be entertainment for the riders but i not entertainment for me i'm looking for things in anaheim i can see or other parts of the park that is usually i can't see from this from this location so you gotta get up high so you gotta get up high that's the way i feel about it uh-huh um this is i've texted you guys about this a little bit uh i and uh the friend of the show buzz buzz i'm sorry i say it in every episode,

had a really fun night. Something we'd never thought about doing before, which is just bar hopping all of the sky bars, all of the rooftop bars around Disneyland. No money given to Disneyland, just fully, but exactly what you're talking about and are after, which is like it was really fun just like going upstairs at every hotel we could find okay what do you got here all right

you got a little bit of space mountain here oh here that you can kind of that kind of cuts through and you could see uh is that a lit up mark twain over there landed at a bar what was this this place is called i also like the the slight rearrangings of magical words we talk about disney oh yeah rearranging the same words over and over but all the hotels on harbor all like like the one we were at was grand legacy at the park how many it's like off-brand halloween costumes like how many words can we kind of jumble together to illustrate the exact same thing yeah castle magic lodge is that really one of the names? no no

if you're trying to open one around there that's actually an elevated one actually I got excited about it Grand Legacy at the park was pretty cool I think we determined that one's good because you can see fireworks they pump in music they briefly stop playing their in-house music

which is like a outdated version of dance remix of Red red hot chili peppers by the way which did i think of you when this came on yes i did mike yeah mike has disappeared it's just a puff looney tunes puff of smoke because he's running to this place well this is a thing i do net like i end up doing it to no one even if there's people there who won't understand what's happening something like that comes on and i do your move you point which is be a point a little smirk and like oh hear that a very obvious song that you hear almost everywhere you know what's funny you say that i don't know if i've said this on the show before i this sticks

out to me and i don't know that i was copying this woman but when i was like 19 or 20 and working at the container store i was helping a woman find something in the store and a song came on and the woman stopped and i swear she pointed up and she said oh this is kt tunstall kt tunstall for that song it's in like fucking soap ads and like wow a rare opportunity to hear that song but she was really excited about it. I never thought it would happen to me. I was working at the container store as so many of these letters started. Ooh, KT Tunstall. So you heard that happen,

and you're like, this is something I should aim for. I'm just saying, I don't think I stole it from there, but when you just pointed, I just had that memory of it all of a sudden, like somebody doing it to me. Yeah.

Someday, I dream of someday that there will be an artist named Ed Sheeran and his song Shape of You will come on everywhere that you are for two years time. And when that happens, I will point up at the speaker to acknowledge it is happening.

Mike, you remember that because that was like a turning point. That was a fulcrum. Your life could have gone in a different direction. You could have fallen in love with that woman and started a whole new. The woman was like 40 years older than me.

This is like your sliding door. What's that? I think the woman was like 40 years older than me. Yeah, but this is your sliding doors moment. Okay. I'm not saying it lasted forever,

but she could have educated you in the ways of the world. Of the ways of Tunstall? Yeah, Tunstall. And you would have been changed. She could have given me like these are the B-sides. I've never deep dived on KT Tunstall's music career.

That's the way to get cool. Hero's journey. Diving a deep Tunstall. Character returns to beginning, but changed. I disagree with some of the philosophy of what Jason's saying, but I can't disagree that ultimately

kind of anything could be a sliding doors moment. And he's right. You could have married that 40 years at 19 based on her like of KT Tunstall. You could have married. Well, it could have just been one crazy summer sort of thing. I'm not saying it could have been married. The thrill for her

too of like getting hit on by a 19 year old container store employee. I'm wearing the apron like 160 pounds. Yeah, it's true. I couldn't help but notice you like music.

And containers. We both love containers. We both love to rock. But what sizes and what shelves can you put them on? Well, I can help her with that and she can help me with other things she can help teach me other things you're a history of years of sexual awareness

what do you know the tunstall woman puts the record player kt tunstall search my world changes forever you walk in she's got a full vinyl collection, hundreds of albums, then you realize it's all the same. It's different copies of the same. I don't even know what that's called. You sang Woo Hoo. That is a KT Tunsil song, right? I think so.

What was Corinne Bailey Ray? That's my only confusion. Do you want me to put your records on? Is that right? Who was Feel the Rain on Your who was feel the rain on your skin never went past that in the song if i could avoid it click never i like a i like a good song that i never that's omnipresent that i somehow never finish well i've watched more obsolescence commercials than you i suppose natasha beddingedingfield? It is Natasha Bedingfield.

Katie Tunstall, woo-hoo, woo-hoo. I get all the shampoo music confused. Yeah, yeah. The mid-2000s shampoo music. Yeah. Oh, that's 2004. Wow. Deez.

My 20th anniversary. Who's got big plans for the Katie Tunstall, woo-hoo, 20th anniversary? Good question. What's a better rock woo-hoo, that or Bl that or blur oh i'm just trying all my old favorites 1-800-COLLECT-STAR-69 like all the other you just like to dial those numbers sometimes just every now and then yeah just for just to get the just for a flashback because those woohoo songs were like in in those two you know good woohoos back then um anyway just to wrap this up briefly it was like a night where we didn't even disney got no money we didn't go on a ride

and yet we had such a blast just like what are our different yeah yeah yeah yeah and i would recommend to if you're around there if or if you want to go do a bar hop of that area i send you guys a picture of this go to the top of the fairfield resort is there a bar hop of that area? I send you guys a picture of this. Go to the top of the Fairfield Resort. Is there a bar? No. Are you allowed to be in there? No. Will anyone stop you?

No. But it's motel style. One thing that was disturbing about this entire trip was realizing how easy it was to just be a guy on the street on Harbor Boulevard and then within 20 steps like just knocking on a family's door if you wanted to. Oh yeah, sure. Just like open the door. Hello, it's me from the street. Yeah, sure. We didn't do any of that. Here's what I'm saying. Go to the top of the Fairfield. It's the one with a Panera in the parking lot. And when you're at the top, look down and you will get a special treat. I don't know if I should spoil the treat. Skip ahead if you don't want to hear what the treat is. You can also see this on Google Maps.

If you look down from above, you can see the worst drawn Mickey Mouse you've ever seen in your life. Painted on top of whatever. It looks like, you know, whatever. They're like lobby top or helipad. We should put this on a shirt. This weird, grotesque Mickey.

Yeah, yeah. That's as deep of a reference as you could and I think it's off enough that they couldn't have a problem

with it yeah his ears are so floppy that he's almost becoming a mule yeah it's Mickey Mule so he's

he's a Mickey went to Pleasure Island and he's he smoked and drank and he's turning into like a donkey or a mule

yeah this is Mickey a couple cigars in. Yeah. What's happening to me? Mm-hmm. Ah. To this Mickey. To the salt mines with me, I guess.

Sorry I had one sip of beer. I thought it'd be okay because it was all foam. Being convinced by Clint Eastwood to just, you know, drive across the border a few times. Oh, I see. Oh, the mule. Have some three subs. Have some 80-year-old three subs, you know? I also, our findings from this night,

we got there too late to, like, actually hang there, but here's my big recommendation is the Westin, which is on the corner of Disneyland Drive and Cotella. It's, like, such a straight shot view of Incredicoaster and Mickey's Fun Wheel. So you time it, you get it up there when World of Color is in progress and then you're getting all your like,

you're getting your Mickey's Fun Wheel trip to the light show. And it seems superior in general, much better eyelines than Parkistry, which is the bar at the top of the JW Marriott, which connects. Not good sight lines, but it does have an exclusive door to Garden Walk, the most confusing mall in the world. So it just depends on what you're after. want anaheim if you want if you want proximity to garden walk and their restaurant huckleberries which is a full ripoff of the vibe of knott's berry farm it's clearly trying to tap into

different berry but suddenly i gotta say after this night i'm maybe coming around on harbor hoedown yeah i think it was, there's something truly perverse and fascinating about an all Harbor night. That's interesting. One of the only Tony Romas in the state remaining around there.

We got to act fast then. Yeah. Because who knows. Well, this is reversed from City Walks On because it's the fewest episode. Like it's one and a half. Is it?

Is it reversed? Well, all right. Sorry, Mike. Mike's back. The pump of smoke is gone and now he's furious the vein is about to burst was the old fudruckers on harbor no it wasn't it closed on in anaheim as well there's only a couple fudruckers left i there's some videos now people doing like deep dives on what happened to chain restaurants on youtube that i've been watching so many of so many of these. Those are good. But yeah, this sounds very interesting. A garden walk, just how much stuff is, is there a lot of empty space at garden walk?

It used to be, that used to be the case. And if you don't know, by the way, this is a park, this is a mall that's not next to Disneyland. It's like inconveniently several long city blocks blocks away and we've always theorized this is a mall that disney is trying to run into the ground so that they can buy the property and it's you know somewhat mission accomplished because all the spaces are filled but by something but by like weird things like there's just like here's uh uh half of the mall space or half of the store space is filled by arcade games and they aren't good arcade games. They're like 20 year old arcade games. And how do

they justify this is something you might want to walk into and I'll call it K-pop games. No other reflection of K-pop culture at all. I don't know. I saw that word trending. I think put it on there and I saw that word trending five years ago. It'll get a couple more quarters into our resting T3 machine.

That's not even factored in. There's the whole big environmental impact plan that came out for the Disneyland Forward project in Anaheim. And they're still like, I wonder if they're even thinking about Garden Walk at this point. There was a long thread about Disneyland forward going around, I think, based on that environmental impact. Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's a lot of maps and stuff and you can see what they're maybe planning. But I was wondering about Garden Walk. Is truly the plan is to completely choke it out until it's, please take it off our hands, Disney?

Because it doesn't seem like that's even part of the 30-year plan. Poor House of Blues, just getting shuttled around Anaheim. Poor House of Blues, indeed. Although we also, we're talking, we viewed it as like a power move that they said like, we don't need you, Disney. We can pack this, we'll get an old movie theater and make it a House of Blues. And it was jam-packed which made the parking well an

absolute nightmare they don't have to sell i'm not i'm not pro them selling it to disney i'm just saying and then there is um i who knows how far along it is but is it oc vibe is the one that's supposed to come along by angel stadium oc vibe where the eye is an exclamation point yes and there is like a themed dinner like somebody who used to work for Disney and Universal is like, I think in charge of whatever they say now, but experiences or whatever. And I see them on Twitter every now and then posting interesting stuff.

I mean, this is good. This could be the next LA Live, a bad mall that we don't ever go near. I mean, if we're already not going to LA Live, even though it's 20 minutes from where we live, surely we'll be soon not going to OC Vibe, which is an hour and 20 away from where we live. Is Shaq's restaurant down there? Is one of his restaurants? Oh, maybe.

I wanted to try that. Oh, yes. The Shaq sit-down restaurant is really good. It's like a barbecue restaurant. The Shaq fast food restaurant sucks ass. The one in Glendale. Yes. That is bad news.

But the barbecue one's good. May have closed. I'm not sure. Might have been a pandemic close. There's a yard house down there. Not usually number one on the priority list when you're dating a vegetarian, the barbecue place. Although more places have impossible meat nowadays. That's true.

Yeah. But sometimes that is disgusting. That's true. Yeah. But sometimes that is disgusting. Occasionally. Sometimes it's cooked really well. I think I'm done eating impossible meat. How are you? I understand. I don't like Beyond Meat because I always get a stomach ache. And then I was eating impossible meat and I can

handle that. But then I started looking at the ingredients and I was like, I'll just eat some vegetables. Yes. There's a barbecue place in burbank that cooks it really well yeah i'll just have some like chickpeas and vegetables i don't know there's just too many ingredients and it bleeds and i was all maybe i'm crazy maybe somebody will tell me i'm wrong but i was just like why does it bleed it shouldn't bleed i don't know it might trick your brain i've been drinking it does trick my brain but i was just like there was something about it where i was just like i'll just eat some vegetables maybe yeah maybe i'm wrong somebody tell me i'm wrong

i've been drinking these non-alcoholic beers athletic brewing makes they're really good it's the ones john moxley was plugging to get free cases oh Oh, okay. I don't know anything about him. John Moxley. He's a professional wrestler. He's a professional wrestler. I guess I should assume. He's a world champion. But if I don't follow wrestling, I don't know who he is. I thought maybe you had seen him.

He used to wrestle under the name Dean Ambrose. He's kind of a squirrely guy. Did he call him Squirrely? When he was Dean Ambrose, he was Squirrely. Now he's scary. We're going to clip this and we're going to tag him

and he's going to hear what you just said about him. I don't think... He wasn't fully in charge of that character. John Moxley's terrifying. He's just beating people up and bleeding all the time. He got a bunch of skewers stuck in his head in Wembley Stadium. He loves it. He loves it. He lives for it.

He loves skewers. He's an artist. Loves brain skewers. Guy's an artist. Shaquille's is closed. There's no Shaquille's. Don't go to Shaquille's. Don't go to LA Live.

Should we? We've not discussed if we should go to the Shaquille Halloween event in Long Beach. I emailed them a press. I said there's a press day or something, but I've yet to receive a response. What is it called? But we can still go. Shaqtoberfest? Shaqtoberfest. At the Queen Mary.

For me alone. And look, there's more Shaq stuff coming this year, I think, or at least early next year, too. Shaq is everywhere. Yeah, yeah. What Shaq stuff is coming? Well, I can't or at least early next year, too. Shaq is everywhere with themed. Yeah, yeah. What Shaq stuff is coming? Well, I can't say. I can't say right now.

We were talking a little bit. Yeah. There's Shaq rumors we can't talk about? There's Shaq stuff. There's just a lot of, I just, for some reason, the last month, Shaq and all of the- Mike has signed a Shaq-based NDA. A Shaq DA. There's a street date when his review can come out for shack's new like financial

services company or whatever shack is everywhere yeah i will only be delighted by and i would to put it back into theme park terms we want if we want if we need sponsorship to get big rides happening a general ride yeah if there's something where you could go on a little quest to help shack and the general oh my god yeah that could be the most product placement ride ever made i'd be thrilled it is time for a revive i mean shack and the general not that they ever went away but it's like okay it's time to do the full court press guys it's time to we haven't had enough we haven't had enough. Shacks aside, back to Astro Orbiter stuff. Okay, so where were we? France, Orbitron, Discoveryland, pretty successful.

I feel like for all of the faults of how Disneyland Paris went over when it opened, I think architecturally, vibe-wise, it made a lot of Imagineers think this is it. We need versions of this in the park. So Tomorrowland 94 happens. It's not quite that, but it's this difference, this more Buck Rogers 30s way of doing future that never was, which I always like for its color and its neon and all of the things that the Disney World Ast world astro orbiter has and then we get to

tomorrowland 98 this is where they just literally say let's put discovery land in but not but in like a facade way we will paint everything that's their gold and as part of that, the Astro Orbiter will, we're going to take that Orbitron, literally the exact same design. Yeah. Put that in Tomorrowland and not just in Tomorrowland, but in the front of Tomorrowland. Big rocks jutting out as part of this display as well. Something that felt a lot like something Paris did and would have done. But as mainly Astro orbiter comes down it's no longer up on its perch it's at the front of the park which i think we can all agree a successful move that added to the kinetic energy of the hub no one no no one

likes that this is one of these yeah and you started this episode you must have known this is where it's getting. And if we're, you know, we will pick apart various other things about Tomorrowland and Tomorrowland Errors, but this is a chance to just fully discuss this, tackle this. What is this? Why did this happen? Well, the thing that I came across a couple places is that they fully were prepared to put the Orbitron up top.

Yeah, yeah. I read that, yeah. And it was too heavy. Too heavy, because it's big and bulbous, and all of its accompanying set pieces didn't all fit, which feels strange, because there's something like that at Disney World up on top of that tower.

Yeah, I guess it's more reinforced. But then, so the other thing i saw that kinetic sculpture okay which is called the observatron the orbitron is not the observatron the orbitron is not the observatron no that is mostly the guts of the starjet that is or no no no wait sorry the rocket rocket jets oh see rocket jets jets are not star jets. Orvatron is not made of star jets. It's made of rocket jets. Yeah.

So this is, they took off the rockets, they sold the rockets at auction, and they put these fakey satellite dishes on. But still had a spinning mechanism with arms. Just the guts. And it would come alive and play music. Now, I saw this. It did used to do this. They did it. Just the guts. And it would come alive and play music. Now, I saw this. It did used to do this.

They did it. I saw it. This was done. But it was unreliable. Somehow running it every few minutes was okay. But running it every 15 minutes made it freak the hell out. Strange. Not regular enough, I guess. Yeah. But yeah, we end up in this bizarre world of there's an astro orbiter up at the front of Tomorrowland.

And then the guts of it still are up on that platform, but just doing a little show sometimes. Sometimes, what is the show even? Satellite spin around. It was meant to convey that we're going to communicate with the stars. It's like almost, sure it's design, but it's also kind of a makeshift ET contact weird kind of, and like a light will shoot up, and it's where we're talking to aliens, I guess. It was certainly unique the first time I saw it. It scared the hell out of me. Didn't know it was coming.

Wasn't sure what was happening. You thought you were being invaded? I think I was just walking around the land and suddenly stuff was moving and there was music. Just walking with a hand with you had retrieved hot dogs and sodas for your entire family. Jason, you mind getting those?

And I was bouncing them back and forth. Yeah. Lung them in the air. Yeah, it's I think this was the only other bouncing them back and forth. Yeah. Flung them in the air. Yeah. It's, I think this was the only other place that had the room to put it here without using like, or without like demolishing something.

There's no other big, there's not a plot of land open. Right. And it's the, well, then you start going, well, why did they do it at all? And is that, is part of that that like it becomes clear tomorrowland 98 is going to be all clones we're going to move right

just exactly honey i shrunk the audience the same movie from epcot into that theater interventions which is new but cheapo um it's all just kind of we'll put a fin on that building right right racing stripes i, look pretty sharp. Yes. And then this, which is just, the fact that they could have put it up on top if they just redesigned it, but they didn't redesign it. It is exactly the specifications of Paris,

where it was rapturously received. What a wonderful sculpture they have here. So why would that not? So they jam it into the front. And that justification always felt so flimsy to me, the kinetic energy. What is that? You know what that's like for real when it's cool, when there's a bunch of Disneyland vehicles going by.

This isn't a good version of that. I would say that it makes more sense, even though I don would say that it makes more sense even though i don't think it makes more sense as a decision if you didn't have a people mover or rocket rod but the rocket rods opened and the idea was still to have the rocket rods going you got other types of rockets and no rocket rods are not rocket jets and it's not rocket to the moon which is not flight to the moon so you do have movement that's coming pretty close to that entrance, and you can see in there, and oh, there's things moving around, so. Sure.

If there was nothing else, maybe you could say that this made more sense. Yeah. But it's not that they didn't know rocket rods was going to fail and destroy the track. That it would either be deserted tracks, or it would be the opposite of kinetic energy. Any elevated platform they built before 1990

apparently is just flimsy as hell and can't support much. Disney did not know how to build elevated platforms. Yeah. So, yeah, I guess... They can send me on a rocket to the moon, but they can't build a platform that holds rockets to the moon?

Unbelievable. Yeah, so I guess that all combined i guess like they really wanted to get this in here i mean i guess my preference would be just don't put it here just get rid of it i guess if you can't i feel like ever since we've all been holding on for when they will knock it out this has it's gonna happen this has to go it will happen going to happen it's just a matter of when do we get this tomorrowland budget. When Apple buys Disney, then maybe it will be removed. Yes. And you put it up on top and you turn all of the orbs into big apples.

That's right. And it's a representation of how Tim Cook gets his ideas. This is what's happening in Tim Cook's brain. Ideas swirling around a big apple. I think he's one of those maniacs who's like i wake up at 5 a.m every day i wake up at 4 30 a.m that's also i think this seems to be your particular aversion to i find it wakes up at four tim cook wakes up at five i find it troubling i don't think it's good you would circadian rhythm you would find it

troubling if they said they woke up at nine. Jason, don't ever have children. I recognize it's begrudging. You see these disgusting CEOs getting up before 9 a.m. Jason's not opposed to rise and grinding. Just the grinding starts at 11.45. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the sun is casting a shadow. I think, though, that some of these people are lying.

Oh, yeah. I think, though, that some of these people are lying. Oh, yeah. I think a lot of CEOs are lying. I think that there's some person that tells them, like the CEO whisperer, that tells them the right lie to talk about how much they're working. It's like almost a defense mechanism against people that think they make too much money.

Because you see with actors, too, they have these insane schedules up at 4 a.m., and The is up at 4 a.m and he carbo well at least he has he can back it up by pointing at his muscles well that's true you can at least say the proof is in the pudding that's true but tim cook or eiger stay prayed up are you following him on instagram because i'll check in here and he says stay prayed up i love when he says i stay prayed up all the spokes on the wheel of the walber of f45 and uh mike are you getting alerts from the bible app from the mark i'm not yet but i will soon what's the bible app called oh i don't know i forget but i love i don't remember it he he posts non-stop on Instagram and it is fascinating.

He forces his children to be young entrepreneurs too. So you can follow them. They're like, they have like a card business. He's trying to build a big movie studio in Vegas. Yes, right, right. He's trying to build a Hollywood of the desert, which very much seems like the reverse of like Nickelodeon Studios, Universal Studios in monsoon covered

florida we have the just the blinding sun and heat of the desert so i guess sound stages you know there's something stronger than the elements and that's uh wokeness and if you can get away from that by living los angeles you can endure any weather conditions. That's true. Halo is the app. Halo. Halo be thy name. Okay. So here's, okay. I referred earlier to this.

This, I realize, might be a big objection I have to this placement of this right. In some cases, the former rocket jets, the ones in florida um are by you know there's that main drag that a lot of tomorrow lands have and sometimes up way high towards the end of it are the rocket jets astro orbit or whatever and it is the weenie it's the thing bringing you into the land by putting it in the front it's a inverse weenie it's the it's a inverted cave it's an inverted weenie um this is something no one wants an abomination that is blocking you literally blocking you from coming into the land it's almost like it's telling you stop here this is as crazy and stressful and we got nothing going on back here yeah only come back if you want space we know you like Space Mountain We know you'll end up here You'll have to

But like you know Anything else You might want to back up Yes I Yes I don't I There was a lot of problems

With Tomorrowland 98 Number one being money So I wonder if this was just like I guess Gotta go somewhere Like It all feels All of the decisions

In Tomorrowland 98 Numbers wise We gotta put a ride in here Yeah Capacity We can't lose Design Like it all feels all of the decisions in Tomorrowland. You merit numbers wise. We got to put a ride in here. We have this ride designed. All we got to do is build it again. And it was just like, well, maybe this will be an interesting, like this will just draw people toward Tomorrowland. And it sounded interesting.

And the concept art looked interesting. I don't think I would have hated it just in concept. No. I don't hate it, but I wouldn't have been like, bad move, big mistake here. I would have been like, oh, yeah, that's interesting. The front of Tomorrowland, okay. It's almost like there's the castle,

and then there's a big ride here, and it's kind of not what happens at Frontierland or Adventureland, where it's like the mystery lies past the entrances. It makes it uneven, and it doesn't match the others. It doesn't match the others, essentially. But I feel like almost, imagine the reverse.

Okay? Rocket just say up top, they put a kinetic sculpture at the entrance. Now that's probably difficult because of the audio soundscape of Mains. There's just so much going on. You probably can't blast like twinkling,

you know, from the earth to the moon soundtrack from Paris or whatever. But imagine if the star jets had just stayed up top and they just painted them gold and bronze. I mean, rocket jets, but sure. Rocket jets.

It's going to bother me. I don't want to fuck it up. We all need, we need like a, we need a swear jar in the middle. Every time that we get one of the minute name differences wrong. I also focused on the Orbitron. It's not the Observatron. I'm forgetting about the Rocket Jets. And if you could say Rocket Jets in Rocket Raccoon's voice from now on also.

It's the Rocket Jets. Take the gantry lift to the Rocket Jets. Take the gantry lift to the rocket jets. Take the gantry lift to the rocket jets. Which ain't the astro jets. Wow, you can see Neon Mickey really good from up here. Yeah. Well, I would say just what they should have is a sign that says Tomorrowland. And then the good stuff comes when you go into the land.

I mean, they put up a couple of those in the last, what, five or six years or so? Well, they got rid of those big rocks. Yeah. Now, I'm going to bring this up, and I don't want to be sacrilegious as we discuss Wahlberg and Hallow. I don't want to say anything against who we believe in the most. But I feel like this has always been pegged as a tony baxter problem i'm sorry i'm sorry i said it i don't want to say anything rude to this man and i and i of course i like at least in my am i crazy i feel like i've thought uh this whole thing of

it being up front and the rocks being there and because he really liked that Orbitron in Paris, that this is somehow, in my head, it's always been his fault somehow. But is this false? Is this internet fan theory? And do you put this on the pile with probably Eisner golfer, and I still think probably Space Mountain fans. Well, I've heard him talk about it.

Is that why we know this? Yeah, because he was in charge of Disneyland Paris. So much of it was him, and he's the Jules Verne guy. Because that all came from Discovery Bay. Yes. His long ago proposed expansion for Disney. He has like a Jules Verne time machine in his house. I've seen the video of it.

So he's a big Jules Verne guy. So I've heard him talk about Tomorrowland 98 and he said basically, he acknowledges, I don't know that he acknowledges the placement here is wrong, but he says that they didn't have a lot of money to do this, and in hindsight, he thought that they were doing the best they could with the money, but he's like, I think he said the point like,

the guests don't know the budget ultimately, so it's like they're not taking that into account. And I think he thinks of this as sort of a failure, and I don't know that it's like they're not taking that into account yeah and i think he thinks of this as sort of a failure and i don't know that it's completely obviously not his fault that there wasn't enough money but yeah yeah i think that but what about this thing do you think that this specific placement you're saying oh yeah and i saw comments saying that uh people were uh going a bit over but this is message board stuff so you can't trust this but i saw people saying uh this is there because of ego he wanted his precious orbitron in the park come hell or high water and it's interesting question oh you can't it's too heavy to put up on top of the platform i don't

care put it anywhere it takes it must be there i don't know if i believe this sounds like the kind of when people are like broadcasting theories about showrunners on shows and like well you and then you talk to somebody who was actually in the room and like yeah that is all made up that's all a bunch of shit yeah it definitely sounds like narrative writing I think the legitimate narrative is like budgets failing and falling apart and necessity being the mother of invention we have to do something yeah and i think that that kind of overshadowed actual guest behavior of like well this line's going to be really long and people are still going to wait in it but it might be unpleasant and also this long strip behind it is going to become stroller parking. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, nobody thought about that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, if we can ever talk to him again, let's ask him. Mm-hmm. Was it your ego that put this shitty place? Let's talk about your ego. Yeah.

We'll talk about his ego for a while. I want to see if we can get, because he said there was supposed to be a sponsor on Rocket Rides that rocket rides yeah did you call it rocket rides i think i did well no that's the topic today rocket ride quarter in the jargon jar i'm selling rocket rides i i think that sponsor was supposed to shoulder some of the financial burden sure uh the The late 90s Disney company kind of losing its footing in a lot of areas, so there was definitely some of that in the air, but it's like I'm still so curious, like who ruined Tomorrowland with their pulling the budget?

Chevy. Who can actually be blamed for this? Hummer. I don't know. Disneyland Paris, I think. I mean, that ultimately- That's what destroys the Disney decade. That's what destroys-

Yeah. Well, I hate to- I'm sorry. I'm going to bring this up. The ornate nature of Disneyland Paris. Was this not informed by the level of detail of Mr. Baxter and him wanting to for it to be like the most elevated disneyland park that there was now of course this is all approved by eisner who's like chasing this european credibility that he never quite gets right um but uh and i don't want like

i don't want to throw either of these men under the bus of course i'm whispering it that's how much i don't want this to get out when you, when you're involved in a company, you know, you're not, it's not all home runs, you know. I'm sure you can look at any Imagineer and maybe there's a few things that didn't work as well. Yeah. You know, so. For every, look at Katzenberg. For every Shrek, there's a Quibi. Yeah, right.

I mean, not for every Shrek. He made Shrek 2 and 3 and he didn't make that many. Maybe. He probably didn't make a lot number of upstart companies that didn't work yeah so yeah I mean it's a good question I I don't know specifically and it's so much of even as much as like a books Imagineering books are out there there's so much that's just not quite known and will maybe never be known because it's just not as documented as other stuff in Hollywood.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, certainly not if the books are published by Walt Disney or Hyperion publishing. Yes. If you want to stay in good graces of Disney, you're not going to show all the details.

I think the expectations too with France, they should have just sent every citizen a free ticket. They should have sent it. Treated it. Every citizen? Everyone gets it. Every citizen with France. They should have just sent every citizen a free ticket. They should have treated it. Every citizen? Everyone gets it. Every citizen in France. There's not that many of them. Population of France.

Look it up. Look it up. No, I'm saying- Wait, wait. How much do you think there are in people in France? 30 million? That's a lot of people. That's a lot.

Yeah. And it's 67 million. Oh, okay. Still, not that many. Under a million. Not that many. Not that many. Okay, 67 million. Oh, okay. Still, not that many. Under a million. Not that many. Not that many. Okay, 67 million at what price?

Eisner would have had a heart attack if you said that to him. Let's even go down. Another heart attack. Let's say 60 million times. Here's what I'm saying. They were trying too hard to tailor an American product to French taste, maybe. If they try the American way of, like, a fire sale. Like, come on in.

I love the idea that the fix for Disneyland Paris was don't appeal to the French culture at all, and then give them one free ticket. No, appeal to them, but get them in the door. Oh, okay, so you do want them to, like, change the Haunted Mansion around. Yeah, don't change anything. Oh, you say don't change anything

because like they change on a mansion and like main street is different because it was like the idea was like this isn't going to appeal to the french aesthetically i think all of that is successful but you need to get butts in the seats you need to get people through the turn styles you know let's say i i rank i marked this down a little bit let's say that it was 60 million in 92 and let's say that the tickets were 50 euros from at the time this is this is three billion dollars they have now given away three billion dollars so that's what they needed to do as a starting point was give away three billion dollars okay but how many in in 2009 2010 free ticket on your birthday how many did they give away that year okay that's not a bad point

i see i see not a terrible point but that's still that requires you to like know about you don't get it in the mail you're not sent to that a free thing it's like the u2 album on your ipod something everyone loved yeah very successful beloved uh uh i wonder i mean i would imagine they had to do some stuff like that just not as widespread as what you're you're you're saying for okay how about smaller free school field trips for a few months okay you get the kids hook them. That's not a bad idea. You get the chaperones, you get the teacher and they're like,

oh, this is pretty nice. This is kind of good. We can't say anything about chaperones. We've done too many. Yeah, there's too much. Too many, too many. You're stuck with it.

Yeah, yeah. I wonder if there was anything like that that happened. Because they were so worried about outreach and stuff, and they were worried about the reception to it.

So I do wonder. Maybe there's a story of what they tried to do in regards to that. It's a fresh baked baguette with Mickey ears. Maybe that's all they did. They just posted a picture of that baguette, and they said, come and eat. They didn't even send them. Yeah, they didn't send them. Yeah, yeah.

They showed a picture of a baguette. Here's what you could buy. Their mouths are water. We understand the French. They'll be- That's a question for Eisner or Tony of what kind of things- Because McDonald's has certainly tailored part of the menu to local tastes. That's true.

I mean, they have the classics, but- That's true. They do do that. I mean, all the fast food changes a little bit depending on where they are in the country but i think they did a bunch of weird fake the well the french like it this way so we'll do it this way and then they ignore just like yeah they didn't care massive ones that they want to drink in the parks that's true yeah yeah they just they overthought like you know they like the sun so that's what but they also don't like the red so we'll put these uh promenades here, you see,

that, and they're like, booze, give us booze. I've been, I've said this before about a couple of times on the show. I've been skeptical of like hearing Tony back to me, like the French like scary and they like funny, but they don't like scary and funny together. I'm like, is that true? Who said that? Yeah. Some of this is a bit. And is the Haunted Mansion that funny?

Are you laughing like crazy on the haunted mansion and then you laugh and you laugh i i'm amused by the haunted mansion now the film of course we're all still laughing but yes it's hard to know even which but yeah so i was like i don't know the math the masterful scene stealing of hassan minaj and of course. We know all that, but yes, sometimes- Was he lying about those ghosts too? Don't know what to think anymore. It's hard to know. We'll ask Tony about that as well. What do you think about

the Netflix special, The King's Jester, and the factuality? I am sure, like when I asked him if he ever thinks about imagineering a Seinfeld ride on TV, and he was like,

very much, I watch old movies. So he should definitely know like a recent stand up. Yeah, up to date. What did you think of Nanette? Yeah. Okay.

What have we missed? So I guess we've missed more complaining about this. Have we gone at all? It's just, okay, here we go. Something you were saying earlier, something that I think makes or breaks

one of these orbiter type rides. Astroorbiter, you know, of course it's not up on a platform. So the view is lesser already. Can't see your car in the parking lot. But beyond that, I watched ride throughs of almost all of these. Oh yeah, yeah.

It started to give me a sense of what you need. And I think it has to be not a claustrophobic spot, but also near enough to one thing, one landmark, so that you feel like you got kind of close to that. Like that Space Mountain is so spectacular in Paris, in Discoveryland. Right. So when you whip kind of right by it, and especially at night, you know, little neon swooshes looking really cool everywhere. And you maybe want to get, even if it's distant, you want to have a pretty good castle view, an elevated castle view that you wouldn't otherwise have. I feel like Shanghai, I watched the ride through, and like, oh, that's a pretty good way to see that castle, which is a beautiful castle.

The hub, you would think, well, that's cool because you're in the famous Disneyland hub, the original park, and there's the castle. But it still is very small. It's still pretty far away. You don't feel like you got, it's maybe only cool if you got a double-decker bus right there or if fireworks are going off. But basically, it's maybe only cool if you got a double-decker bus right there or if fireworks are going off.

But basically, it's neither here nor there. It's very tight, so you don't get a grand vista, but you're also not close enough to anything cool. Right. This really is what I think kills Disneyland Astro Order. Yes. Yeah, yeah. You're losing in every category. Yeah.

Essentially. Mm-hmm. Yeah. As opposed to, sorry, as opposed to disney world where disney world you get yes temporary way back there in a night view of contemporary yeah a stunning piece of uh of 20th century american architecture yes uh and way off in the distance uh which you couldn't see from down below so that that's a cool thing there yeah fireworks you can time florida like the people mover probably harder to do with the astro orbiter

but you can time it in theory with fireworks yeah yeah yeah i think that's actually a good criteria for these being in the disney parks is that you need at least one of those you at least at least need height to see things that are cool and you can't see. Or you need it being even cool and you can see like a close by ride or building or interesting thing. It's height, but proximity could give you points too. And design of the ride itself. Which is like third, I think. It's pretty far back there.

But it is cool, but it's not. It's more for the people looking at it than it is for the people riding it yeah let me bring up the area where you might have to give some points and this area is innovation where we're doing things that are different than the other round and round rockets in the other parks and i think there's been innovation uh in the more recent chinese parks uh h Kong, it's called Orbitron. We're back to Orbitron there. And this one, usually all of these rides are 12 vehicles and you get two people in per vehicle.

Hong Kong, you've got 14. They fit 14 in there and it's these bigger, wider flying saucers and you get four per vehicle. So you're not stuck in a really boring line. Besides that, there's not too much going on that's unique about it. But a flying saucer is kind of a neat thing. But you can get your whole family in that car, maybe. Side by side in Hong Kong, right?

Side by side in Shanghai, which is jet lag. Oh, you mean that you, yes. As opposed to somebody in front of you, behind you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Sure, sure, sure. Mike, you should have taken one of your par-mores. You should have ridden a-

Par-mores? Par-mores? One of your ill-fated, like- He means paramore, but that was a truly strange way of saying it. Oh, yeah, paramore. I fucked that up. What are you talking about? Paramores?

No, that's just a comment. No, that's just an error. No, I'm saying, like, you should have taken one of your, you know, the ones that got away when you were in Florida. You should have been like, let's go ride Astroworld. Because it's like lap seating. Oh, right, right, right. Because you kind of, yeah, you kind of. Because you grind up against the bat. Yeah.

Well, it's like the Matterhorn. Scott has his Matterhorn story like this. Yeah. It's a brief. I know. We get to be in a bumpy car with lap seating right next to your mom. That might have fixed. What a grand date this will be.

That might have solved all my problems is just taking a nice young lady on the Astro Orbiter. Yeah. This is all. We're sort of coded referring to something that happened on Club 3 where Mike told, I i want to say the most scandalous story in history there were some people online they were like this fucking story this is nothing and i'm like you're not wrong you're not wrong but it wasn't inside your head right your head it bounced around it bounced around uh like the excellent sound quality at the sphere soon to open yeah it was magnified just as much as a you as a edge guitar riff inside the

sphere that is that should be maybe one of the spheres like where you if the sphere is like a representation of your own brain and you can go in there maybe they do like sort of therapy for you in there like you're alone you pay a lot of money obviously and then you just get like hit with all your memories in the sphere and then it like cures you of any angst you've got. Would it? Tailor? Well, it depends. Yeah, I don't know.

If you're talking about ASMR or sound bath, maybe. If I really analyze the thing I just made up 30 seconds ago, I guess what I mean is that they tailor make a sphere experience for you and all the psychological problems you're dealing with, because it's just such a big immersive space that there's representations of all the history and your past and the

sound is so clear. What are the representations? Does Darren Aronofsky have to make a movie for me? Yes. Darren Aronofsky is involved in what I'm talking about. So it's a big therapy where you have to get a very famous director involved. So award winning director is constructing some sort of nightmare for you to live. By the way, there's only four rich people in their therapy.

Oh, well, there are better. Well, yeah, of course. They get up at 5 a.m. So obviously they're better than us. Scary time. I don't like it. It's kind of coming up. I can't get back to sleep.

I got to use the bathroom yeah the nightmares are gonna be like this is like your name is Tim Cook your alarm has gone off

at 520 AM no no yeah right I can't rise and grind no 15 story alarm clock

animated alarm clock and it's ringing and the ringing is so clear from the speakers and then he leaves and he goes I'm perfectly cured

thank you Darren Aronofsky by the way are they up converting like Requiem for a Dream and Pie and Mother for the speakers I don't believe

that's on the cards but maybe I don't think they have an overall Aronofsky deal no I think he went and filmed some elephants for them

but you think he gets his friends and family like, guys, we're going to watch another Real Big. Oh, maybe. We're going to watch the whale. On the Real Big. You want to go see the Real Big? You think there's maybe- Yeah, y'all want to go to the Real Big?

And the emoji outside, it's like, Greg Rodriguez played inside, and the emoji outside is making the kissy face. It's like, regular for a dream's played inside and the emoji outside's making like the kissy face. It's the poop emoji. The last couple of months of the sphere before it closes, do you think it'll just be like showing Rocky Horror at night?

By this you mean in 2024? 2024, late, early 2025. I don't know. Like either time. Depends on when it opens, exactly. I may die Rocky Horror. I mean, the place would just be, that many forks being thrown at the screen. Well, I don't think it would work because of the different, like the curve of the seats.

I think you're just hitting people in the next row with your forks. Do they throw forks in the Rocky Horror show? Oh, at midnight. Yeah, when you watch it at midnight, there's a lot of participant patience. What are the forks for? I don't know, Jason. Or are we not conflating the spoons at the room? Isn't there toast?

Well, that's where it came from. Is this forks? Do they throw toast? I always thought they threw toast. I've never done that. They have to bring toast? Forks, Rocky Horror Picture Show. I thought it was forks.

I could be wrong. I thought the spoons thing was a nod to Rocky Horror. Now, I've only seen Rocky Horror once, and I don't nod to Rocky Horror. I don't, now I've only seen Rocky Horror once, but I don't remember any fork business. You didn't see a midnight screening of it. No, no. Because that's when the nonsense happens. I'm searching some articles for forks. I don't think this

is a thing. I swore there was throwing stuff at the screen. There is throwing stuff for sure, but I don't know. I think toast might be correct. Okay. I think it's toast. Maybe it's toast. A guide, here's a guide. Yes, toast, toast for sure. I don't know. I think toast might be correct. Okay. I think it's toast. Maybe it's toast. A guide. Here's a guide. Yes, toast.

Toast for sure. I don't know if... Toast makes more sense because you're not going to hurt anybody if you hit them. Yeah, that's true. Forks just seem dangerous. Yeah. I wonder, is there anything...

Well, Brad refers to having taken the wrong fork in the road a few miles back. Okay. Maybe everybody throws forks at that. Okay. All right. It could be... I don't know. I legitimately don't know but this i don't know we feel like conflating the the room i'm not sure uh but we'll know when

we're seeing it on the sphere screen at midnight in late 2024 early 2025 because they're not sure what else to do all right we're doing porns all right everybody cut your you're allowed to jerk off you just saved it you just saved the whole thing there is a lot of production of that sort of thing in Las Vegas so you know you just let it out

like if it's we got to get butts in his seats and if that's if what it takes is looking at butts and showing your bare butt and touching somebody else's butt this sphere is for orgies now my james dolan world you've saved the sphere my goodness lauren bobert can get whatever she

wants grabbed in here whenever she wants if maybe her specific thing is beetlejuice we will play beetlejuice we will play a film version of the musical. We'll play the first movie. We'll play an early cut of the second movie that I can't believe they're making. Okay. Other innovations. In Shanghai, we have finally stopped using all of the same words. Wait, that's not true because the word jet is

in there. It's not Astrojets. It's not Tomorrowland Jets. It's not Rocket Jets. It's Jet Packs. And here, finally, we've got an actually new thing. Is it still a rocket round and round? Yes, but you now have restraints on, it's that kind of ride, and sorry, Mike, you got dangling legs. It has become a dangling

leg ride, but good views, picturesque, sweeping views of, you know, you get your Tron ride in there, which looks cool, you get your beautiful Shanghai castle. But it's finally a new type of experience. It's similar. Which also speaks to Shanghai in general, I think, kind of an innovative park.

Yeah. Let's not just do the same exact stuff. So I give them credit for doing jetpacks. Similar to like the silly symphony swings in California Adventure or like an old carnival. Does that bother you? Yes. Really? Yeah, yeah.

Especially if you're on the outside of it. That freaks me out. I'm like, I'm going right into the water. I'm going right onto the concrete. Sure. I'm exposed here. I always liked it as a kid, but the older I get, even the more.

Did you like when it was the big orange? Because at least you were enclosed a little more. Did I like the big orange better than the simple? Maybe. I felt comforted by being inside the big orange but then you might just go slam against the wall of i was still stressed probably if you smacked that orange uh what what about uh zephyr golden zephyr do you feel more enclosed in that because you're kind of surrounded yeah i guess so it's a similar thing but yeah i'm legs not dangling on

the golden zephyr that's true so i'm in a little thing, but yeah, I'm legs not dangling on the Golden Zephyr. That's true. So I'm in a little vehicle. You're worried that something's going to cut your foot off? It just feels too exposed. I don't know. It just feels like I need to be in a little bubble. You know, like Jason says, he likes to get under the pillow fort or like the,

what does he say? His research fort. His research fort. Yeah, yeah. I like to be in that in a vehicle, a ride vehicle. I like to be just nice and cozy., a ride vehicle. I like to be just nice and cozy. Or a ride womb.

A ride womb, yeah. Okay. So, I mean, I'm sure there's an example that I'm not thinking of that I'm okay. Soren, my leg's dangling

and I'm comfortable with it. Okay. But that's such a gentle. It also may be, maybe the quality of Soren makes you just like, I'm gonna deal with it. Yeah, maybe the music.

You don't give that up for silly symphony swings. Right. That's ultimately just swings. Are you not going on, if you make it to Shanghai, are you going on jetpacks? I'll do it, I'll do it, look. I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna prove to all the kids and the adults and the old folks that I'm cool still. Well, you gotta learn how to

say, I'm cool in Chinese. Of course, yeah, that's number one. That's number one, yeah. I don't know if jetpacks, if you control it. I don't know if you've got a joystick. Oh, that's a good question. Yeah, I didn't see that. Or does it just go all the way up,

or does it like up and down in a pattern of their own design? That's a good question. I was thinking too that there was some element of like jetpacks that they were going to do for that initial Avengers ride that looked, because you were legs dangling and little chairs it i don't know if it like it looked like it was like bungee cord like but there was going to be some version of you're in that

type of a chair and then you're being swung around in front of a screen or something oh yeah yeah so i feel like that was a part of it at least from that art we saw maybe they'll get it in a different country because it's not happening here it's not happening here um so uh oh and then here to keep speaking to uh innovation to throwing out the rules i think tokyo has done the ultimate tokyo thing and in the recent past they have said why do we need a jetsets ride? This is gone. It is replaced by Happy Ride with Baymax, which is one of those kind of whip arounds like Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. Sleeper ride. Very pleasant genre of ride.

Very cute. With the Baymax aesthetic, great. Yes, really like the name. It seems like it's a fun little light show in there. And just like physically such a fun fun feeling a much more fun feeling than you would expect seeing it yeah yeah just such a really cool seems like nothing but then also like like it it felt like a little thrill to me so i was nervous taking my then two-year-old on it but he loved he just laughed and laughed at it so it wasn't like too much for him right sure um so it's a good whole family ride so that's really smart and this is also right next to that i believe

am i correct that tokyo has no atopia anymore the true way of the future right they are so i clearly tomorrowland needs to be followed on all fronts which might include here in disneyland are we is it killing us if we have no version of this ride in Disneyland at all? I don't think any of us care. I don't think anybody cares. I mean, it'd be neat to get it back up on top of that platform, but not a priority. Way down in the list. Yeah,

well, Tokyo is getting that cool Space Mountain redo, too. That is gonna, that's a true game changer. They're suddenly if we're measuring Tomorrowlands, isn't that going to get that one up to number one? Oh, yeah. If in California they were to do that and then do Tron like half a block down, imagine. Yes.

Just these cool looking future-y oddball buildings like that. Very much so. Yeah. Well, I think the Tomorrowland discussion is going to have a lot more plus it up. What do we do? Then maybe typical stuff that we discuss because a lot needs to be done. Is there any version of Astro Orbiter that is salvageable besides the obvious of putting it back on the platform how do we make this more of something is it is it going with this jetpack thing is there some way to incorporate an

ip or a story dare i say which somehow makes it more essential yeah uh uh it's a good question i don't know it would have to be like Star Wars or Guardians, I guess, at this point of space-ish. Could you do, could this somehow be an experimental Tony Stark vehicle? Yeah. Yeah. Which then once you see it just goes round and round. But if you could get some VO from a fake Robert Downey Jr. They've got the guy.

We're going to work on a couple of them. Yeah, we're going to work on a couple of them. We're going to work on a couple of them. Three guys. You need to test them up. Oh, you think we will? We'll do it. Yeah, yeah, we'll do it. Hey.

Let's get those three guys at once. Pepper. Pepper. Yeah, we can do it. That's a good key. I guess that's how you do it, huh? Pepper. Hey, happy.

That's the key. Hit the ignition, babe. Babe. You're doing it. That's like a Sammy Davis. Dennis Miller. Dennis Miller. Yeah, yeah, happy. Hit the ignition, babe. Babe. That's like a Sammy Davis. Dennis Miller. Dennis Miller, yeah, yeah, yeah. Climb aboard one of Dennis Miller's experimental rockets.

Now we're talking. Dennis Miller is the character that's in for this ride. It's a representation of the whirlwind you're in when you're in one of his sets of references. Hey, look, babe, it's not the longest, okay? okay it's not the longest jaunt but it's at least something you're gonna be flying faster than a tomato aimed right at michael eisner's head in 87 uh uh tony yeah you could do it like jetpack style and their little iron man kind of suits on the out like on the back of it this This is pretty good. And that would be fun. Kids would be into that. Industries.

I don't like this being in the front. I think you got to move that. It's weird to have like, here's a big Marvel thing right at the entrance. This ain't bad. If they're going to have, and we don't have a lot of Marvel rides yet, to be honest.

So this kind of simple ride, having a nice little, this is kind of a legit good idea. Okay. I'm going uh toss this out one of the things that i had been most delighted by in the last few years the um in toy story land the little green men version of the baymax ride and the mater ride is like kind of enclosed and they're playing like loud techno covers of like the Toy Story songs.

And they're like, by the way, by red hot chili peppers, maybe. Oh, no, sorry, Scott.

And there's just crazy like colored lights going. If you could, you want to enclose this. I don't want to enclose it all the way, but sort of like the orange or sort of like the Disney World Astro Orbiter where there's some stuff on the outside. You get some colored lights on those things. The only way I agree with that is if it has to be on the ground

and you're not going to get to see, because I like to see the sights. So if it has to be on the ground and you want to give some more lights and stuff to look at then maybe um i could see what you're saying but then where does that go is that a hub thing yeah i don't know that also i think i think that's a that's an alien thing not a green army men thing no the little green sorry the little green man demolish the pizza planet, right. In the demolished version of Tomorrowland Redo in Disneyland, then you got options.

This ride also being, I don't think I like this as much as Tony Stark's experimental spinner machine. Yeah. But it being something where you're like strapped in with the aliens, that's something. I mean, they're already represented in Astro Blasters, I guess. Right.

This is going to be the last space. We're not getting anything else that works for space. Tomorrowland bombed. Properties will not be our... John Carter 2 is not coming anytime soon. No. Unless you just... I don't want them to call these the Tron jets

and then we don't, and you make it look like Tron, but then we don't get the real Tron ride. There's still talk of Tron 3. They're still talking about it. Oh yeah, right. The guy was mad that he couldn't make it because of the writer's drink.

Yeah, he was mad at the writer's drink. So, yeah, I guess. Please let me make another bomb with Jared Leto. Disney, one IP bomb with Jared Leto is not enough for this company. Please let us pay this man more to not deliver for us. Yeah, so maybe, yeah, it's another little Tron offshoot. Maybe? I don't know.

Yeah, there's nothing like this. Wait, wait. If they all look like the, you do the flying saucer kind then it's the discs now we're doing the uh you know flying discs yeah yeah yeah okay frisbees i'm into that call it the tron frisbees that's what everybody's frisbees game grid game grid frisbees yeah a general bigger oh god this is take i mean i still again this doesn't replace the roller coaster but you take that stupid carousel building and that is the game grid that's a big that's a giant arcade now why isn't

starcade a tron i yeah that should be a flint and wreck-it-ralph mashup they that was so great when they made it an arcade for uh wreck-it-ralph and i think the Flynn's Arcade they put over by Electronica in California Adventure. That was great. That was really cool. I just think money-wise, they don't think that that's worth it other than just a promotional opportunity to have an arcade. It just doesn't make sense budget-wise.

That magic keyholder lounge with tiny electric billboards for West Side Story was really bleak. I never went. I never got to go. Well, I got a slip of paper that once I entered a code and went through several levels on a Disney website, I got a gift card for Disney worth $10.

Ooh. Well, well, well. So, yes, I made money to give back to them by figuring out what the hell that lounge was. By one and a half sodas. Yes, at Disney prices, yes. Yeah. It's one and a half Dasanis.

The sleeve of a T-shirt. But, I mean, something. That ain't bad, I think. I think you put it up top. You give it a little story. Because, you know what? One thing, maybe the only thing that helps the Disneyland version is that little, I do kind of like that voiceover, like the Astro Orbiter.

Oh, yeah. I love that. Do you guys ever go on this ride? That kind of only passed by. Not for a while. Yeah, it's been like, this is like a once a decade. It's an unpleasant line to stand in at Disneyland. Really boring.

And it's what, I forget, there's a term for, it's one of those lines where it just it stops switch no not switch that's the wraparounds yeah yeah but there's it's just one of those lines where you know it doesn't continuously move which always psychologically better yeah it's a stop and start line yeah you just stare at it yeah so wonder and you see people walking by next to you free with their yeah their futures ahead of them. Right. And I've put myself in a line cage. Yeah, and it's not a fun line to stand in. And ultimately, it's like, it rides real short. Yeah. And you just, you don't go.

I assume I'll go when the child is old enough to go. We'll do it often because it's an early one. I'm not as germaphobic as I was in the last few years, I feel like, but I try to avoid packed elevators when I can still. Oh, for Disney World, you mean? Yeah, anywhere. Packed elevators are a little mentally still like,

oh, this feels nasty. Sure. So you won't be going for a little while? Huh? You don't like the Disney World one either then? Well, that's what I know. I'm saying you were saying't like the Disney World one either, then, like, you're getting that. Well, that's what I, no, I'm saying, you were saying problems with the Disney World one, waiting in line,

that one you had to get in the elevator, which for a while, they were setting up one party at a time. Oh, right, yeah, yeah. Which seems- That seems like it's gonna take a while. Like folly, yeah. Very, very slow, yes.

Yeah, I wonder if that was a reason to move it, too. We don't wanna just, like, the elevator boarding system is pretty- Yeah, for a ride that doesn't have a ton of capacity yeah to have to like make people do an extra step to get to it i understand like if you did put it up in front of like space mountain or something right there and there was a way to easily load like that's at least it's elevated and it's not yeah you don't have to send an elevator up if you have ramps and things and yeah yeah sure but if you're blocking passageways well this is all a lot of marks down i'd say for for florida but what do we do we think having examined the mall and it's hard to say because we haven't done hong kong we haven't done shanghai what do we think's

number one of this genre oh good good question um It's hard because, yeah, like the elevation at Disney World seems great. Yeah. I've done it, so yeah. I think I still give it to that. I think that wins. Aesthetically, it is the best of both worlds. You've got your planets. I think those are painted wonderfully, vibrantly.

Yeah, they still look good. They keep those pretty up to, like still looking good. I think Hong Kong has the flying saucers. Yeah. Just having four people per vehicle, 14 vehicles. That's nearly 50 people every go around and it's more comfortable. Yeah.

I'll tell you though, the sights aren't as good. You don't get the sights. I get that. You're not. Well, I mark it down for that. It's going to be hard for people of a certain age to turn down seeing the contemporary from far away. Yes. That's really what it comes down to.

I think your point earlier was correct. Even if you don't like that, you know, there's neon and there's Space Mountain. Yes. There's other stuff that's good, too. But for this group, it's hard to beat being able to see the contemporary from a ride. It makes me sad. I love looking at it from afar. Then I love going in it and being up there and looking back the other way and seeing the Astro Orbiter with an E from there.

Yes. Yes. There's also that, well, this should be on the pre-do tomorrow late but that giant platform about like loading space mountain just that big empty nothing mike was kind of saying that right you're that's just with the target right yeah yeah yeah yeah what is excuse me why is it there that's just what the movie theater is below it yes yeah there's so much weird the old space mountain like line and like it's so much better i mean that's yeah the speed ramp right up to it that's my era speed ramp era yeah right right yeah it just there's so many like

it's never gotten the biggest renovation so it feels like all these different decisions have just led to it with all these kind of confusing things being stuck the fact that i mean it did get a big renovation but they had to undo all of it. Yeah, that's true. It was so unpopular that it just went all the way backwards. Yeah, but not the money that it needed, I guess. It did get renovations, but it felt like it didn't get its new Fantasyland. Both parks got a new Fantasyland,

and especially the Disneyland overhaul of Fantasyland, when you see what it looked like before is unbelievable yeah because it feels like the trash it looks like shit the old disneyland fantasy land it is carnival and you're like wow i this feels like it's been here forever of course it looks as good as this and then you see the old video but like it's tomorrow has never gotten like full it doesn't ever get the full thing it needs no it never gets the love it never gets the full love really what we need ultimately for tomorrowland is love well love is certainly the most important thing um you know is disneyland the worst one of these oh interesting maybe i think so i think the other ones have little facets that make it

jetpacks is new hong kong loads better japan's is blown up the placement is really paris is the same ride but it's prettier it's got prettier stuff around it placement out of the equation so maybe it's not so cut and dry if i don't think about the placement at disneyland but i see no other option if you put the placement in it's not so cut and dry if I don't think about the placement at Disneyland. Mm-hmm. I see no other option, though. But if you put the placement in, it's for sure the last one. Yeah, yeah. I'm whispering again because I don't want to. I have a, this is like a, this makes me sad to ask, but I feel like I have to ask it.

Is Astro Orbiter the worst ride in Disneyland Park? Wow. That's something I hadn't even considered. Because like, and it's not even, I think that's actually a strong park. Yeah, it's a really strong park. If that's the worst. Yeah.

But like maybe by, what is, and let's, so we take California Adventure out of there. Oh, okay. It's only Disneyland Park. This was a grim thing to realize. I feel like it might have to be. That's interesting. It's a lot of heavy hitters in

that park it really is and they don't have any of the like you know actively bad journey into imagination with figment stuff that decayed yeah yeah there's nothing that is so but i mean i don't like autopia but yeah people like it yeah there. You get a little more of something. There's some scenery. I got to do it with a kid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got to do it with a little kid. That's true.

Kids like to drive. Yeah. I want it to be something else. We just spent, we made it to 90, I believe, talking about this ride. I don't want to end the episode by saying this is the worst ride in Disneyland. It feels so grim. Gadget's Go Coaster? No. No, that is the worst ride in Disneyland, feels so grim. Gadget's Go Coaster? No, no, that's kind of fun.

Jason, Jason. It's kind of fun. This is kind of, Astro Over is kind of fun. I haven't done the new, I don't know what they did to it. I haven't done it. They didn't do very much to it.

Not much, I don't think. Do you have to bring in, this feels like throwing, this feels like, you know, like throwing relatives under the bus or something. The Main Street rides. But that's only because they like are very modest in their expectations i mean like lincoln no like the buses oh oh oh the omni bus he's gonna choke you he's gonna get as mad as i got earlier you say that the buses are the we're not gonna be able to breathe all the looney Tunes smoke that's going to be left in this

room is it this what's what are we missing something it's bottom it's not Casey Jr that's great so I don't Dumbo is it feels weird I don't even like calling

Astro Orbiter the worst what about the term least essential maybe yeah that might go softer because it's i don't think astro orbiter is actively bad i think if i went on it tomorrow i'd have a great time but you just weigh all these things against it and what it could be and that it just that it it but it clogs up the pipes of this part. I could comfortably say bottom five. Yeah. Maybe I could say that. Wait, wait.

Finding Nemo submarine. Well. Yeah, that's pretty unpleasant. Are you chilled that I even said it? That is another one where I don't know exactly what the support for it is. Mm-hmm. Because I don't love going on it. I would rather do Astro Orbiter.

If I had a choice, I'm picking Astro Orbiter. I might too. Yeah, the Nemo. I don't know if that's going to be interesting to see if that's it. That's another like Tony saved it ride supposedly and the older folks or the submarines are so important to Disneyland and that's another one where I don't think the three of us care that much about it. Yeah, yeah.

And I like the lake being there. That's great. I like't think the three of us care that much about it. Yeah, yeah. And I like the lake being there. That's great. I like in general the idea of it. And I like the aesthetic of all of it, but- I'm sure we'll talk about the history and think that's cool, and they have the mermaids out, and they do, but I don't, that Nemo thing is never- I never go on it. No, I don't ever do it.

I don't remember the last time I went on it. Maybe I went out right when they did the redo. Yeah. But I think that's it. I think I just almost want to throw it to that so that we don't end an episode about the attraction by calling it the worst ride that's good yeah and if we then do finding nemo submarines then i might feel the same way and say astro you know what astro orbiter is the one that sucks maybe i'll fall in love with it yeah i i'm curious here i'm

just gonna what's the oh this is carly weisel Weisel. Ah, what did she say? What did she call the, she put, ooh, interesting. Oh, on her list. Storybook Land Canal Boats at the bottom. And then Nemo, then Casey Jr. Uh-oh. No, no. Someone say Astro Robiter. Astro Robiter.

Astro Robiter bottom five. As far as Jason's concerned for putting that, the Casey Jr. so low. I mean, Casey Jr. is delightful. Storybook, boats, that's a boat. It's a functional boat. You at least get to ride in a boat. You're in a boat. There's something.

Yep, yep, yep, yep. Yeah. The Nemo subs I'm more comfortable with. She says, plagued by two small rocket pods. Yeah, and reliably lengthy sun-soaked weights. Yes, at a minimum, it's dizzying i'm comfortable saying bottom five i don't know if i'm comfortable saying worst ride yeah she put it right at it is five she put she i almost feel guilty but she's not wrong you i think you in this

conversation you have to have roger rabbit's cartoon spin unless they get it up to tokyo quality which i said i went, and it's spectacular there. I think it's in top 10 in Tokyo, but bottom five, Disneyland. Interesting. They don't maintain it well, and that stupid Jessica Rabbit thing. Well, ever since they put the coat on, it's raised levels in my mind. It's top 10. So that was my big problem with it. You give it modesty points.

Yeah. So ever since they covered up Jessica Rabbit, I've liked the ride a lot better. And I like that she looks like a peeping Tom. Well, right. Please come and peep at us in Orlando. But hey, look, you determine what you determine. And I think we all, we have to admit this doesn't go very high. Do I want there to be rocket type attractions in the parks?

Absolutely. I challenge Disney to set their sights for the future and elevate this thing. Perhaps literally just put it on top of the platform. It's not that complicated. You could just put it up high, yeah. Yeah. You got to rebuild the platform,

but that's not so crazy. You have to do that. It's not so crazy. For the people mover, just make it what it was. Just go backwards. The past is the future, okay? It's what we all want. All right.

It's so obvious. Don't kill the past. Don't do The past is the future. Okay? It's what we all want. All right. It's so obvious. Anyway. Don't kill the past. Don't do what? Despite the future. Last Jedi. Don't do it. Oh, that's a Last Jedi quote.

Does Yoda say kill the past or something? Destroy the past? Kill it if you must? Memorable lines there. Not. All right. You survived the podcast. That's the ride.

Hey, once again, click on links for these live shows. Really excited. If you can't make it in person in LA, the Hauntcast ones, we'll live stream those. Orlando, sorry, we're not live streaming it, but we'll put them out as podcast episodes. It's going to be a blast if you're there in person. Find us on the socials, MerchantRTPublicStore. For three bonus episodes every month, check out Podcast The Ride, the second gate, where we just talked other Tomorrowland stuff.

Or get one more bonus episode on our vip tier club three you will find all of that at patreon.com slash podcast the ride and on my way out the door i think i thought of another good one this is this one's more blue sky i don't know if they're gonna do it but i was like what else do we talk about in this episode that we have positive feelings about that we could inject into this embattled ride shack why take space out of it the tower is shack and he is trying to swat at basketballs oh my god block them to defend his team and you are in the basketballs we've all heard of shack foo but what about shack future i don't think we can say anything after that what about it what could be full shack overlay of tomorrowland would anyone have a problem here's the answer shack all right go with me it's outside of the outside of the box

shack shack everywhere blue sky if the budget's high enough yeah great start middle of star tours Shaq. All right. Go with me. It's outside of the box. Shaq. Shaq everywhere. Blue sky. If the budget's high enough, yeah, great. Middle of Star Tours. Hey, Star Tours. What's going on? It's me, Shaq. I know I'm from a different galaxy and time. I just want to check in, make sure you guys are good, need anything. You know, a good place where I can

reopen my barbecue restaurant. I'm taking investors right now. Be better than Pizza Port. Hell yeah. Forever Dog. This has been a Forever Dog production. Executive produced by Mike Carlson, Jason Sheridan, Scott Gairdner, Brett Boehm, Joe Cilio, and Alex Ramsey. For more original podcasts, please visit foreverdogpodcasts.com and subscribe to our shows on Apple Podcasts,

Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keep up with the latest Forever Dog news by following us on Twitter and Instagram at Forever Dog Team and liking our page on Facebook.