Podcast: The Ride - Living With The Land with Carlye Wisel

Episode Date: February 21, 2020

Carlye Wisel (Eater, Influencer Extraordinaire) returns to talk about Epcot's good and wholesome boat ride.  Imagineering Story Part 2 now up at The Second Gate: Patreon.com/PodcastTheRide Listen to Podcast: The Ride Ad-Free on Forever Dog Plus: http://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plus 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

Forever. Dog. Warning. Today's episode gets political. But we at Podcast the Ride feel this is a good thing. Because a healthy debate strengthens our core amusement park beliefs. So prepare for a heated yet robust discussion about grain and people possibly doing lab work. Carly Weisel returns to graze the third rail of theme park politics. Epcot's living with the land.

Today on Podcast the Ride, the theme park podcast that's not afraid to touch the hottest topics around, namely slow, plant-based, learning-based boat rides. My name is Mike Carlson. Joining me as always, some fire throwers like jason sheridan i i'm just here to talk about a great ride everyone knows and loves that we all enjoy uh and scott and i think i meant to say flame throwers not fire throwers flame yeah uh hi i'm here too i i feel somewhat counter to Jason's POV. But you know what? I would like to...

I'd like this to be... I'd like it to be a learning experience for me as well. I'd like to be taught why this isn't the boringest ride I've ever been on. Sorry, everybody. Okay, all right. But this is good. It's coming out hot. have ever been on sorry everybody okay all right but this is good yeah uh scott let me reassure you that in order to do that i'll just go ahead and tell you the technology exists and really always

we need is the courage and the innovation and the ability and the will to do it you know the will to educate you oh my god as dr car. Carl Hodges of Arizona State University, who helps create this attraction. Why are we recording? How did we end up recording this on a Tuesday night instead of first thing in the morning? I should have just drained coffee. I should have doused myself in coffee to make this possible.

I will be asleep by the end of this. I don't know. We'll'll see this might get ugly coffee the bean of course which grows in tropical that's the first bio let's bring in our guest because i like our guests this is i i think there's something i enjoy uh a fan favorite and us favorite uh a theme park journalist for so many great publications, Carly Weisel is here. Hello, good boys. Hello.

Hey, hello. It's good to see you, although I was, when this came up, it was undeniable that when you suggested it, like, well, of course, that has to happen.

I was like, well, this is how it becomes instead of two against one, three against one. Because this is becoming an inevitable topic for us. Yes. So now I'm severely outnumbered.

And you add the Facebook group to it and a lot more. It's funny because this has a real city hall meeting feel to it. This doesn't feel like a bunch of people who love theme parks coming around to just gab about rides they like. It feels like we're each gonna spend four minutes at a podium driving each other crazy i think it might we're also recording this in the exact sliver of time that the iowa uh caucus is being like uh what stolen what's going on i don't uh we're not sure we'll see we'll see in maybe a couple weeks. In a couple weeks, maybe we'll know. Maybe a couple weeks or months.

We're recording this in the fog. This episode might come out in April. I have no idea. But if that might add to the procedural, there's a very governmental order in the room, I suppose. I mean, I'm not going to be harsh with you, but I do feel that you will emerge out of the other side both staring at random strangers on a screen and in

love with this attraction this is why i i am i am glad that it's you here to talk about that i think you will make this a a positive experience uh an experience of growth, I hope. Or I'm just a raving madman by the end of it. We should explain why. For anyone who doesn't know what the tension is here. We are talking about a boat ride at Epcot Center.

It's called Living with the Lands. I would say it's not just any boat ride. I'd say it's number one boat ride at Epcot Center. I mean, I would not agree. I'd probably agree. I would agree. Yeah. Guys, madness.

Madness. This stat has already been said. I don't know if I can agree with that. Thank you, Michael. Mike is a moderate. I appreciate that. No, don't say that. What could possibly-

Mike, a general in the Klobucharmy. That's not- No, I'm not a moderate. Look, look, Scott. I'm Bloomberg, of course. You know you know what fine i am a theme park moderate i you know who i am i want reasonable before we started recording you're like old epcot must die i cannot wait to meet the spirit of storytelling i am so excited to meet my new favorite character i hope dame judy den, I hope Moana uses her water abilities

to send Dame Judi Dench to the watery depths. Let the old ways die. Let the old ways die. No, I don't know. Okay, look. Before we get into opinions, we have to explain what this is because there are listeners who don't know why this episode is like this already. Now, let's please make

sure to give its current name and its former name. Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. The current name is Living With The Land. The previous name is Listen To The Land. Listen To The Land from 1982 to the early 90s when the craft sponsorship ended. Or no, I'm sorry.

Yeah, is that correct? Should we just play some of the original Listen to the Land song real quick for everybody? I mean, let's start it off. Let's start off hot. I've never heard this. You've never heard this? This is how the ride started. This is how it originally...

You can't be mad at this. Well, I'm not. I'll explain. Oh, my God. I mean, that's the gist. It's a very John Denver-y type song. Children's choir. In the family with, you know, the energy song.

Less universe of energy and more that other one. Energy. Yes, because they were written by the same man. Yeah. Hell yeah. What you don't realize is, of course, I can't be mad at that. And you just played into my argument about this thing. Oh, interesting. I'm amazed you haven't realize is, of course, I can't be mad at that. And you just played into my argument about this thing. Oh, interesting.

I'm amazed you haven't heard this. So that's from the original 82 Epcot. I've never heard that. And I didn't think it was possible to like this ride more. But now knowing that it truly has a banger attached to it from years ago. It does. But you'll see. I'm going to flip this you'll see

you'll understand in a minute let's just explain what it is yes okay this ride and you know what i think this is good for i as somebody who is on the counter on this ride i would like somebody to go ahead and try to just just explain it with no frills and don't add any editorial anything to it somebody points to the ride and said what is this ride what do you say i would say it is a slow moving boat ride through some different show scenes animatronic animals uh different terrain that is supposed to educate you about the land and what the land gives us what you can grow in the land and what the land gives us, what you can grow in the land. And then the second half, you take a slow boat ride through some plants growing in a greenhouse. You go through four greenhouses, four different biomes,

and see a lab. You can't say the word biomes to a stranger if they're asking what it is. Yeah, I was trying to... They have to be agriculturally versed. Everyone was talking about 70s and 80s, biosphere. People love talking about biomes. Habitats, artificial habitats. 2020, how many people are we talking about biomes all the time? I would go ahead and say that this ride only gets more important

as the Earth starts to dissolve. Well, then we have another argument to get into. Global warming is a hoax uh we're changing the topic of the episode um no no okay so yes now that's that's a pretty good just fair description of the ride yes now let's add to this that somehow i've made a lot of people angry by saying i don't like what you just described. Right. What happened was when we went to Disney World a couple of months ago, I did not go on this ride. I elected not to. My wife, Erin, elected not to.

And your girlfriend, Lindsay, elected not to. And we decided it would be more fun to watch Lindsay eat cereal than to go on this slow-moving boat ride. And I said this on the show and the Facebook group, among other social media and a lot of people on Twitter lately have been very upset that I said this. Living with the land bros came out in full force. He's toxic. They're in my mentions.

I think some of them are unbuilt Russia pavilion bots. I agree with that. Yeah. Not cute bots like smart one. No, not smart one. What cereal was it? In my head, it was Cheerios. I should have paid more attention.

Lindsay will be home maybe in a little bit. So maybe we can yell at her. If you went on the boat ride, you would have remembered that. Maybe. You would have learned maybe where grains come from honestly you would have actually appreciated her eating cereal more if you had been on the right and then known what the cereal the cereal possible so that's that's what brings us to this yeah so there was no question i led us to the land pavilion and i was like well let's okay two things this is where the

chocolate there's a chocolate thing. And what that was was just a pop-up rack of Ghirardelli chocolates, but they were giving out free squares, so everyone got free squares. So point in my favor. Now, Wade, you know, you can't count that on the boat ride. I'd go into the land. It's all that for sure, baby. No, no, no, no, no.

That is a separate from the ride. That's a little bonus. Oh, okay. Now we're going to split up a pavilion. Are you going to pull a clean bathroom into this argument? A clean bathroom on the third floor is part of the boat ride? I didn't use the bathroom in the land. Okay.

So we get our free chocolates. Regardless, I was like, well, I'm going to boat ride. Is anyone coming with me? And then no one volunteered. So I stuck my bottom lip out and looked sad. And Mike went, all right. Wait, was I that resistant? You were, I think, jokingly.

You were like, I guess I'll go with the boy. There we go. That sounds exactly like it. Maybe this isn't three against one. Maybe it's three against one and a half. I don't remember being that against it. But maybe that is what happened. I don't remember being that against it, but maybe that is what happened. I don't remember exactly. I don't remember

being like, ugh, while we were on the ride or anything. No, you weren't. No. Because we also had, the ride was like very bustling. There was people working in the lab, there was people in plants, you know. We will talk about that later.

We need to bring you in on this. Agitating things and signs showing what parts of the plants growing were used in the food and wine festival. Amazing. Pretty cool. Signs. Wait, what? So, yeah, they'll have signs that say like, oh, you see these berries growing? Well, they're in the cobbler outside at the food and wine.

Oh, I've always interpreted that as being like, you know, berries? Heard of them? We also sell them here. I don't know if they're the same. I swear some of them were the same. Some of them are in food and wine. I have pictures of Jason looking longingly at a couple of the signs where it says like, this is for the pie outside.

And that has always been, that, this is for the pie outside. And that has always been, that has never changed in the ride. Them, like, pitching. Now, how true it is, I don't know. Them pitching that the stuff we create here in the land goes to restaurants. Namely, they say, the fish go to the coral reef restaurant for you to eat. Weird. Which my family always went to that restaurant and I haven't been back in

years. It's the only place I refuse to go. Really? Yeah. Is it just too morbid? I think it's rude. Yeah. I think it's real rude to eat a fish in front of fish. Yeah. This is where you're in front of a big tank so you're watching fish

go by. You don't have to eat your fish in front of the fish tank. You can eat your fish anywhere, so eat it elsewhere. That's really weird. Yeah, it would, I think, make me just astral project outside of myself. It's too much. Wait, what are you doing? It's too much. Yeah, I'd feel shame, I think.

There's a big turtle in there, though, because we ate there like six years ago, and the big turtle was awesome. I'm not going to eat the turtle. so if you're not eating a turtle well at some point they had snapper soup that sticks out my memory as a child that i've we have established that jason has had like the shredder wants to drink turtle soup have you not had turtle soup i've never had it scott i've not okay it's like an I have not, no. Okay. It's not,

I want to say it's a New Orleans thing, but I think it's more so dopes from New York City coming on family vacation to New Orleans and going to like one fancy restaurant where they're like, we sold turtle soup.

And then you all have to order it and then you're like, it's like a fish house. Yeah, a lot of big fish houses. So you, you, Jason and Shred are all of a taste for turtle blood? Listen, not a bad crew.

I'm into it. Sure. He's cool. He is cool. Carly, let's bring you officially into this argument. Oh, you mean because I feel like I'm at a Thanksgiving dinner that's going sour very quickly? I didn't realize what I'd stepped in

when I recommended this as the episode. Now I'm very nervous. Maybe Aunt Carly will calm things down. Oh my God. Okay, so what, I mean, you recently have been tweeting

about the attraction. You're, I mean, well, here, let's step outside of the argument. Okay.

Like someone exiting Coral Reef Restaurant. Because you proposed this not even realizing the depths of it maybe. Just, talk about the attraction. Why are you fond of this attraction? So the reason I thought this would be a good one is because I, like you, once did not like this ride.

There we go. And I have grown to become someone who has wised up and appreciates what it is. This is wonderful. And maybe there's a way that this can happen uh while we're recording now now let me tell you the first thing i like about that statement besides the hope and the possibility for me i like that you validate that it is not insane to think this is an extremely boring attraction you thought this at one point oh big time okay so listen to that, everybody, first of all. In a way, it is like truly being on a trash barge, but then it's also...

No one has ever made me spit water in an episode. Thank you for that. I'm so sorry. That really made me laugh. But also, I really sat down and thought about it today and realized that it has every element of a Disney ride. If you consider yourself a fan of anything Disney, you're going to get a dose of it

here. Granted, it may be like a sleepy time tea dose, but it's still there. You know what words I kept coming across on comments on blogs and videos and stuff? People saying the words peaceful, relaxing, educational.

How many of the Epcot pavilions still stay true to that original idea of entertainment that is educational? The land, for the most part, living with the land has not changed much. There's been some changes. For the worst, for the most part.

That's what I'm saying I think this was a better ride once but that applies to all of Epcot Center yeah you gotta really hold your loved ones close like the fact that there's really no characters in this means like we gotta just keep shoving our bodies

through so that it's like people love it see see it's great and like keep it pure I got a lot of thoughts all at once here sorry i don't know this is gonna we got a lot to i don't want to crawl i don't want to yell over i want to be civil yeah i'm a moderate i believe in civility we're always talking when we get along when we go luck yeah 50 years ago your friend corn poke always talked told you about that's right tip's right. Tip O'Neill. Me and Tip O'Neill and Cornpoke were all so civil to each other 50 years ago.

So I want to be there. So you talk again. I'll collect my thoughts, and then I'll raise my hand when I want to speak. Something's brewing on that side of the room. I'm worried about that. This is kind of like. I'm just a moderate over here. I'm just talking about a friendly.

I think you can flip. I think there's a lot of possibility on the mic side of the room. You say there's no characters in this ride. There are robots in this ride. Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, like, this isn't Moana's journey through nature.

Actually, I am a fan of IP in the rides, which is like a whole other seven hour segment. See, I wasn't sure where you stood. Oh, a big fan, because I love synergy. It makes sense if you're a child and you go see a movie and you're like, I love these characters, and you would go to the theme park and see them. Boom.

Makes sense. Yeah. Well, and sometimes the argument against IP involves people saying things like, who likes this character? No one. And that person is not a child, does not have children, does not know children.

And when we're like, all right, now pull this group of children. Oh, all 100 of them love Insert IP here. It feels to me just so authentic. It's just really, it doesn't make sense that it's there. It seems like the first thing they would have cut to be like, we're slowly growing tomatoes.

Get this out of here. We could be putting anything else here. And the fact that it's still there is a small miracle. I do like that. Just like nature. I like weird little rides surviving and thriving. And you know, when I... Oh, sorry, no, no, no.

No, I was just going to say, maybe you're going to save this for's another i think there's another boat ride you would call the best boat ride in epcot that is also i think a quaint little ride that you could maybe make an argument like oh this could go away yes well i don't know we can talk about that now uh about frozen ever yeah we're sick no, no. Too much. I, no, you're probably talking about what I call Mexico Boat Ride.

Right. The Mexico Boat Ride. You esteem it so much you don't even use El Rio de Tiempo starring the three caballeros. Because that's not what it is in my heart.

In my heart, it's Mexico Boat Ride. That's whatever. I don't even know what the first name was. Was it Real Rio Del Tiempo? Always? Yeah, before Three Caballeros was it? This is why. It doesn't matter. It's the Mexico Boat Ride. That's just the way.

That's the umbrella for all of them. Yes, that is a dopey little ride that certainly could go. You just put up one construction wall and nobody ever knew it was there. But this ride has atmosphere. This ride has characters. It has animatronics. It has fireworks up on the ceiling.

It has TVs and screens and little physical comedy. There's things happening in this ride. It's now called the Grand Fiesta Tour starring the three caballeros. A much less evocative name than El Rio de Tierra. You also didn't have the esteem to say the right name. Oh, yeah. Everyone's missing their esteem today.

Where's everyone's esteem? I'm growing more and more sad for you that you didn't even go on this. Well, I have. I have gone on it. How many years ago, though? 2009 probably is the last time. You went on Living with the Land. Yes. What was the

scenario? Who were you with? Was it hot out? Did you enjoy sitting in that time, or did your joints still work? Oh, this is crucial. So maybe you have to be in worse shape for this ride to count. Yeah, you got to be a little tired. Here's the scenario.

And I'm going to create another villain here, apparently, but I think she'll own it. I went with my wife, Erin, who went on this ride and said, that was the boringest thing I've ever done. Don't make me go on that ever again. I would argue not untrue. Okay. But. But. Yes. again i would argue not untrue okay but but yes it's well i don't think now i forget i don't think lindsey had the hate that aaron had but i also think lindsey was like her blood sugar was dropping

and we had done it last time uh we had been there a year well no two years prior yeah uh i mean she also i think would acknowledge it's boring it's interesting when we say boring because i think this time when we went on spaceship earth and this might just i might just get all the hate now i think after we did spaceship earth i think i said that's the best boring ride at disney world or epcot center i think i love it so much gosh is it a sleepy little ride oh the a lot of effects are dated. Animatronic scenes are great, but also they're sleepy. Everything's very sleepy.

Loud clunking. You end up in that second half where nothing's going on. Very out of date interactive videos are going on. As the ride just glug, glug, glug, glug. And that's like half of it. It's literally like Casey Jr. You may as well hear casey jr going like as your car wheezes backwards down but it's such a great i can't i guess oh

fuck oh shit oh no i could once but no longer uh but what a great boring ride and yes still one of my favorites and it do it is not as this living with the land is not as good of a boring ride but it does fall into the genre of boring rides it just doesn't have quite as many things going on but i have to appreciate it still in the same genre of god i do like how boring this is. I really can appreciate how aggressively boring living with the land is. Which us or I teaches you about the difference between aquaponics and hydroponics?

Wait, wait. Can you explain to me the difference? Yes, I can. Hydroponics is where you grow plants in like a water solvent. So without soil. Right. Aquaponics is like fish farming

that oftentimes you can incorporate hydroponics into and create a symbiotic relationship where like the waste from the fish will feed the plants and the plants will help feed the fish. See, Scott, that just screams vacation. Look at this. He learned. He learned. He learned. This is all good stuff

and the people involved in both kind of ponics, thank you very much. You're making the world a better place. This is probably a good point to bring up, Carly, that you have a history with agriculture. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Yes, I do.

Please. Oh. I went to, yes. Yes, I do. I went to University of Illinois, which is literally in a cornfield, which is not a complete joke because they had a cornfield on the quad. It was experimental. Very cool. And because I was not smart, I had to get in through the back door,

which is what we called it. And it was through the agriculture school. So for one semester, I was an agriculture student in college. Wow. And what were, do you remember like course names? Do you remember like any specific? Yeah, ACES 101. I think it was agriculture, consumer and economics. A was in aquaponics. Yeah, aquaponics. It was all the ponics.

But it was a very, like, there was a lot of people at the school who did corn for their major. And I proudly am one of them. What does it mean to do? What does that mean to you then in your life? I mean, like, I was only in it for a semester because the, long story short,

and I'm not a total hack, I i promise the journalism school didn't really take freshmen it started junior year so i couldn't really like apply to journalism unless i was a newspaper editor at the time and it wasn't etc oh but um i transferred halfway in but it we like took a class and you like learned like rotational crops and like you learned the basics of farming not like out in the field but in a classroom with a powerpoint wow hypothetically if you if you know if the world goes real shitty and you had to just like take a little patch of land you think you could apply what you learned was it enough information for you to actually be able to grow a couple different things and um have an advanced skill like versus versus me who would just take seeds and put it in the ground? I drank a lot in college.

Yeah. So maybe. Okay. But there was a girl who did agriculture journalism in my journalism lab. Oh. So it was like they were everywhere, all these farm folk. If you found your old notes, you might be okay. You couldn't go off a memory.

I didn't do any work until sophomore year. But anyway, I had a real good time. You were ignoring your agricultural duties to drink alcohol? I think I could, but I would need like a few years. Sure, yeah. Sure. I think I could do it. Do you think that this backstory for you

enhances your appreciation of living with the land it definitely does but it's not the reason i like it okay sure uh which we can keep going into but i want you know i i feel like i just threw uh aaron my wife under the bus but i also have to bring up so then i have to bring up the other thing you told me via DM about your husband I don't want to put him on the spot oh no what did I say you said that he hates this ride oh yeah he won't go on it

there we go Aaron and I are not these devils on an island plotting against these wonderful little rides other people have these opinions people we love he's not a Disney fan. He's not someone who gathers weekly to discuss all the happenings.

Sure. Well, yeah, this is another one of those. Look, as far as living with the land, I have a big tent and we're all welcome under here as far as opinions and living with the land. So yeah, I don't want to make you feel bad. You just got to sit bad and have a beer and look him in the eye yeah listen jack we have more in common than we do we have more than we don't i mean well are you a pirates of the caribbean fan of course what do you like about that ride robots lots of them i mean What if I were to tell you about a few robots that were made out of molds originally allocated for the Western River Expedition?

Sure, I like that. That was a ride, for listeners who don't know, there was maybe going to not be a Pirates in Disney World, and there was a thing that was going to be like Pirates, but in the Old West. And they started building robots for this ride, apparently, but they did not do the ride, and they instead did Pirates in the Big Thunder Mountain. So there are, just tell me about these robots. Are they as fun as the auctioneer and the dirty foot guy and the prisoners and the dog?

You got a buffalo. You got a prairie dog. I believe it's a prairie dog. And you got a dog sitting on farmhouse steps who looks like the dog. Yes, he does. Pirates of the Caribbean because the rumor,

people say that that dog is modeled after one of Walt's dogs. Yes. Also, no women are being oppressed in this attraction. Yes. And if you look up to the corner, you can sometimes see Mickey Mouse

making his rounds at a restaurant. Yes. What? At a restaurant. The restaurant originally called My Turn, a rotating restaurant that overlooks the first half of Living with Land. Now it's called Garden...

What is it? Garden Grill. Garden Grill. Wait, I have the name. And who sponsors it? Because the full name made me want to die. Oh, I don't know who sponsors Garden Grill. I'd say like... Garden Grill restaurant presented by Smuckers. Smuckers. Smuckers. Oof.

And they unrotated it? This was a revolving restaurant and now it is not? Madness. Is it still revolving? It did it for a little while. I asked you guys and you said no. Did I win? I don't know the current status of it.

I guess I was sleepy that day. I don't remember any memory of that either. My brain no longer works because there's too much Disney news all the time. But it should be rotating. Well, if it's not, get it rotating. And then it's a whole other story. Hey, don't leave the chicken hanging. They got a chicken in there.

They got a chicken. And the mailbox for the farmhouse says 82. A little nod to Epcot's opening year. Oh, I love that. Yeah. And what you're going to love even more is that the second story of the farmhouse, which is not very easy to see from the boat ride itself,

only from the restaurant, is fully themed. It's fully filled with a globe and a tennis racket. It's a full bedroom. This is the standard. This is the base standard of what I've racket and a bed it's a full bedroom the standard this is the base standard of what i think it's a full bedroom i'm not gonna get attention to detail they dressed the room the thing that any job said you know you gotta paint the back you gotta paint the back of the drawer you gotta make the back of the drawers look as good as the front of the drawer i agree that's what all rides do well I think that that's nice because there's obviously, there's another tour.

I don't know if you get to walk through the robots. You don't, but there's that extra tour you could take. Behind the Seed. It's called Behind the Seed. That was on my... I will be on Scott's team because there is not a chance.

I love this ride. I will never take that tour. You would not take the Behind the Seeds tour? Absolutely not. Everyone tweeted at me because there was a whole debacle that we'll get into shortly about living with the land on Twitter that happened this past week. But everyone's like,

you should definitely take the behind the seeds tour. And I'm like, fuck no. That was my big regret of the Florida trip that I ran outside. That was on my extended get to list. Have you ever seen people on the tour while you're on the attraction? Have I seen?

I haven't maybe seen it once or twice. They are miserable. They are miserable. Don't you think maybe you're projecting, though? Not at all. It's all like parents who were like, oh, this tour is affordable. We should take it.

And they're teenage kids being like, all I want to do is be on Snapchat. Why am I here? It is bad. It is a bad vibe. Also, you're standing for an hour. No, thank you. I'd rather be sitting taking in the cool greenhouse breeze.

The boat aspect is the only points I will give this. It is a boat. And I like a boat. Do you get to wear a lab coat while you do the tour? I believe not. No. You have to wear your regular clothes? Jason, do we know?

It seemed like a lot of people in regular clothes. Do you get to do anything? Or do you just get to walk around? Well, you get to taste some of the things grown in the greenhouses. That's what Jason's after. The berries for the cobbler? Berries. Probably some leafy vegetables, I would assume.

You get to pick a tilapia out of a tank and just take a bite. Straight out. Oh, gosh. Jason Heathcliff sits. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. They rise up and pitch the bones of the fish. Someone told me they got to feed a fish, which was cool. Oh, wow.

And they got to taste a plant. But that's not what I'm in it for. I'm in it for being on the boat, taking in the sights, taking a break. Because you can't go hard all day. You need to break it up somehow. Sure. But this is where I go back to Mike's point because I think Spaceship Earth

is a great example of the glory of the boring ride. I'm just going to sit for a while. If I doze a little bit in this, it's not a problem. But I think that's as boring as I'll go. I think my boring threshold. That ride is going away. It is changing.

It will no longer be boring. This is the new boring ride. I think they can manage to still make it boring. That ride's not going to be boring. They're keeping a lot of the old, the first scene robots. They're recontextualizing. Am I wrong? Yeah, but if they're going in and redoing it. Yeah.

I'm looking at the water water like it's gonna be screaming yeah they're gonna be blasting those fucking songs the moana like i in in space yeah people have been speculating yeah characters are going in i understand so they they had one they've only released one piece of artwork for the new spaceship earth and it is what looks like a huge moana projection and everyone was like what is this because it looks like it's just going to be like hi i'm moana join me on a trip across the planet and it's going to be all characters uh from what i heard that that artwork is not indicative of what the full ride will be that was just kind of one thing that they showed

us yeah but it's going to be a brand new redone ride when it's done huh my understanding was that it was mostly the same boring scenes first and then it would be like ip because it's the power of storytelling now so michelangelo's sistine chapel he's storytelling when he's painting there's like twinkling and that ties a little tinkerbell sort of almost yeah and that ties into like, you know, whenever like Disney's new live action Rescuers Down Under that'll come out in 2023 and they'll be able to project that on the dome. So like that's my understanding

of how it's tied together, but who knows? I mean, I had like my one day funeral for it and I expect it to barely be enough Spaceship Earth, but still be, it's because it would be for someone who shows up to epcot and goes oh there's a thing in the bowl and goes in and gets the disney ride they would expect i see sure yeah is it gonna be like it's always a good time playing the whole ride like where like the yeti is roaming not yeti the uh you know what i'm talking about my husband anr that song so i don't think we get residuals, but if we didn't.

Wow. No, no. Can we do a whole episode? That good to our city, Carly Rae Jepsen, good time? Yeah. Whoa. He went to the, I don't think he's going to want me to talk about this, but he's never going to listen.

So it's fine. This is good. Now I'll know if he listened or not. He won't. He went to the video shoot and I was mad because he didn't let me go. And Carly Rae Jepsen was there. Oh my gosh. I'm a huge Carly Rae Jepsen was there. Oh, my gosh. I'm a huge Carly Rae Jepsen fan.

Same. Did you talk to her? Did you meet her? No, because I wasn't allowed to go. Imagine if Aaron spent her work day going to hang out with CRJ and you were stuck at home. Oh, my God. Yes, the jealousy. Then we would not be on the same page.

But, I mean, for my sake, I would love that to be like, you know this song? Every time I go on Spaceship Earth. Yeah, well, I mean, it sounds like maybe it'll happen. But that's not a Disney song. sake i would love that to be like you know this song every time i go on spaceship earth yeah well i mean it sounds like maybe it'll happen but i don't that's not a disney song i mean like once that's it's in the parade though yeah it's um no they use uh or it's in wreck it ralph that one's in wreck it ralph uh and then it's remixed for the parade we do this again oh oh that's the other all city song that's in the play okay okay i gotcha i'm mixing up my all city i had all hits i had a question in here somewhere oh i know um okay so i've

your pro ip but you're maybe it sounds like maybe you aren't into what they're doing in spaceship so i've been i've been doing this for a half a decade now which is terrifying uh because it feels like it's been five minutes and i still know nothing um but i generally i don't allow myself to feel nostalgia because my job is writing about things that are new so it's like you know it's backwards if i it's gonna be better if you're excited about what you're going to see or but like i can't be against new things because then i'd have no job right sure well if she doesn't want to see the new things, we wouldn't find her to see the new things. So I have to approach it all with an open mind.

But I had a few things and I was like, these are my untouchables. And one of them was Spaceship Earth. Okay. Yeah. So I've said my piece and now I've kind of transferred my love of that attraction over to living with the land. So that now is the bastion of original Epcot. To me, it has it all.

It has like flowing water through rocks. It has an animatronic dog. It has a little part at the beginning that feels like an old school Navi River journey. Yes. Yeah. It has fruits and vegetables. It has herbs hanging from a thing

that looks like a dry cleaning rack? It has everything. No, I will... Okay. Hydroponics. I will admit, I think the hydroponics are fascinating. What about intercropping? I was starting to be nice about something, and then you swatted me down with a duller

word. No. That's very interesting. They demonstrate by growing coconut and cocoa together, like around each other, so you can minimize water and soil usage. Go ahead. Jason, while you were maybe correct, I did not appreciate the tone and the way in which you cut Scott off there.

I just want to say that. Regardless, if you're correct, that doesn't matter to me. I just think you should be a little more kind and a little more polite. You just said intercropping to me on National Podcast. You just said intercropping. Why don't you go run for something? All right, Scott, as you were saying. Okay.

What was I saying? Okay. I like that there's animatronics. I'm really happy there's animatronics. I think we're overrating these animatronics a little bit. I think these are the supporting cast animatronics on a Pirates-type experience. The buffalo's nodding his head. The chicken blinks. Why am I excited about these animatronics?

I was just going to say, in defense of these animatronics, though, I do think a showy groundhog or a showy buffalo or something might take it away. You're right that these are not as distinct when it comes to animatronics. You're not getting a very specific weird-faced pirate or a country bear. But I think if you're trying to really nail what they're trying to nail on this ride they have to be subtle there has to be subtle what are they trying to nail ultimate realism an animatronic as boring as a real animal yes because yes so i think that they couldn't they they they weren't going to make this like it's not going to be like the end of splash mountain with a animal like review no and you know what as i said i like again let me go back to the mexico boat ride i this is kind of boring i find delightful and i'm

not even just talking i like the the three caballeros version i really liked before the they had and all that right i think i i like them both i think i liked it 10 more and i liked that like what is this why is there like nothing for a while and then just a a screen with cliff divers like i think that now that one i do see i just i don't know maybe that one just spoke to me more i think there's more you know what it is i think there's more mood i don't get any mood from living with well now this might be the spot to talk about some of the changes that were made because and i'm gonna shout out martin's vids uh who does very in uh intense recreations of old rides sometimes the only i watched a full ride through of listen to the land i was shocked at how thorough it was. And the first few scenes were a little more ethereal and dreamlike.

Yes, yes. I'm thinking. Pulsing plants, light pulsing through plants while that kind of singer-songwriter country song. You're not going to get a disagreement from me. I think all the way down to the lobby itself of the land pavilion, which if you saw any of these videos,

there were like cool, like light up kind of umbrella things in the land. But these were to name, to name check an Epcot restaurant. These were electric umbrellas. The land looked cool as shit in 1982. This is, I cannot disagree that this adds so much to this.

I will say also, I believe that the state of the land in the area inside when you walk into the pavilion hurts everything inside by the weird shopping, like shitty shopping mall feeling of it now. I completely agree with you. And I think that hurts my it's like the priest. It's like taking out a cool pre-show and even if the ride doesn't change without the cool pre-show i'm not as on board yeah i think the land was cool as hell and now it's like it's it's like a supermarket yes it's so boring it does i do believe that hurts soren and epcot yeah soren is back there it does not nearly have the cool facade we have out here yes and i like for whatever reason

psychologically i don't really feel it's as good as the one here even though the exact same right well because it doesn't make it's it's called the land pavilion and that rides about sky so that's true but you're flying over the land you're seeing the. Except when you're over the water. I think the bigger hindrance to living with the land, of all the changes, is removing the cast member narrators. Yes. There used to be guides until 2006. Disagree. Narrating guides.

You think the recording is fun. The last time I went on Living with the Land, I went on with, I think it was two or three of my friends. And because there's no one ever on the ride you can talk the whole time so it's like going to a meal or going to a bar except you're just watching something and you're on a boat and it's chill and you can gab and it was amazing i'd like to respond i'd like uh 45 to respond uh yes jason uh jason 45 seconds on the clock i will cut you off when it's done. Please don't go over. I will take that out of your time later. Okay. A few years

ago, I went on when it was narration and there was a lot of people on and the lack of a cast member in the boat made people think they could talk the whole time at full volume in many different

languages. That's impressive. Well, not necessarily at the... Not the same person speaking many languages. Not the same person, not necessarily at that same volume if you are trying to listen to the narration. And maybe they were translating it in real time,

which would be very impressive. Jason's like, I'm trying to listen to the land here. I can't hear the land. Yeah. What is it saying? I think the presence of a guide kind of people. Well, it focuses your attention, certainly. A little.

Here's what I'm discovering, is that some of the arguments here acknowledge the boringness and that is an asset I agree not a bug right is that the phrase yes uh it's and send me a feature not a feature not a okay okay uh this is helping me get around this whole thing like that that kind of argument I understand the charm of the dull because if you're trying to tell me this is actually an extremely exciting ride and I'm missing that somehow, then I don't know how to be in your brain. But this dullness being part of the argument.

It's a bit dull until you get to the greenhouse portion. That's where the magic happens. Okay. Okay. Because you're seeing things at various stages of growth and sometimes you are seeing some gourds that are bigger than you ever seen gourds um have you scott head have you considered gourd size have you considered the type of gourds well when you say gourd size i think of state and county fairs where you can see gourds that are way bigger than these gourds. Can you see them shaped like Mickey Mouse?

Like Mickey Mouse? I do like that. I will give you a point. That's not how debates work, but I will donate a point to you. I'd like to ask a question to each member of the party in the room here. What is the largest gourd you've ever seen?

Has it been something truly insane? I went to a pumpkin patch once, and I feel like I saw one that was like, I'm trying to think, maybe as big as the fireplace right here, which was probably like 200 pounds, 250. Like a pumpkin that size? Yeah. Yeah, I think I've seen about that. Okay.

Okay. 250, we think? Yeah. Maybe. I'd say that. Any bigger gourds? No big memories tied to about that. Okay. Okay. 250, we think? Yeah. Maybe. I'd say that. Any bigger gourds? No big memories tied to gourds. Okay.

Or pumpkins. Oh, I saw. Where was I? I was at, I think I went to the Disneyland, and there was a big gourd. It was also shaped like Mickey. It was right in the front of the park. I have seen this, I think. It was huge, and it was his face and the ears, and his face was carved out.

He carved it out of it. Yeah. So I think it would be that. They have to grow, I think. It was his face and the ears, and his face was carved out. And they carved it out of it, yeah. Yeah, so I think it would be that. They have to grow that every year. Wow, they do it every year, and they grow a new one. That's right. So they have to probably have the next one ready to go November 1st. The same turkey leg steroids they use for the emus. For the emus.

Inject emu DNA. They work an emu out really hard they give it steroids and HGH and then they cut the legs off and they serve it to you and call it a turkey leg and Walt's frozen head is in the haunted mansion that's right

it's in one of the busts if you cracked open one of the busts that would be you'd see Walt and it's preserved they shot it with steroids. They shot it with HGH. And he's ready to go when they solve his cancer, I guess. Tell me more about this greenhouse. What else am I looking for in the green?

The next time I go, what am I? Because I'll go. Well, I can't tell you what's in season right now. Because I haven't been in a few weeks. What do we think is the best season in living in the land? Well, because it's a greenhouse, year-round things are popping.

Yeah, they can cycle things in and out. Does anyone have a seasonal plant in their head? I mean, the pumpkin, but... How about a Guinness World Record plant? Okay. The tomato tree that produced 32,000 tomatoes in a 16-month period? Yeah, but bulk amount,

that's a size, I think. What, do you hate tomatoes? Come on. I certainly don't, but I read that stat. I want to... It's like the snake on the Indiana Jones ride. I want to see a big snake. I don't understand a bunch of little snakes.

You want the tomato that Bart grew or who grew it? Lisa grew it? No, no, no, no. When they threw it at Skinner's butt. Lisa grew it. It's like a world hunger solving tactic and then Bart threw it at Skinner's butt.

That's right. I do love seeing the eggplants. What's that? I like the eggplants. That sounds pretty nice. That's a highlight. You see a big row of eggplants? That's kind of cool.

All right. Vertical plants, the plants that are growing with the exposed roots in the air. Oh, yeah. That's very impressive. See, there's a lot of... It's like what you want from a museum, except you don't have to stand,

and there's the added novelty of a boat ride. Let me propose this. I think that if this were in a museum, I would be obsessed with it. I would probably be telling you guys, we have to do an episode about this boat ride in a museum. So if I'm judging it by museum standards,

it's amazing. If I'm judging it by theme park standards, it's very boring to me. Is there a part of it that you can say... I just made you very sad with this. I'm trying to find the pictures of Jason and I on the ride There will be a petition to get me

removed from the podcast Did you go on Carousel of Progress when you were there? Yes. Did you enjoy that? Yes There is no reason why you shouldn't love this ride if you liked that. Disagree robots, so many robots A depiction of a bizarre

1994 future that we're already past. But this whole ride is showing you truly what we're going to do about food when there's too many people running amok around the earth. Yes. This is the actual version of the final scene of Carousel

of Progress. It's not going to be some psycho oven. No, the final scene of Carousel of Progress. It's not going to be some psycho oven. No, the final scene of Carousel of Progress. Yeah, it's ovens going amok, and it's a grandma playing video games. Yeah, but we're going to be eating pills for meals unless the stuff they're working out in that lab happens. Well, I'm not against what they're doing in the lab. I'm very happy with what they're doing in the lab.

I just don't know if I need to be going into the lab. I don't want to bother them. They're going to get more work done if I don't go in there. How many rides started with such a noble purpose? With a major educational institute consulting, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture working hand in hand to grow fruits and vegetables used around the corner at Garden Grill

in sunshine seasons people complain about theme parks being a simulation or fake or phony this is reality this is real this is uh the earth i have the photos here in front of me of jason and i on the boat ride and here's just a few of the things yes please uh here's one it says pineapple uh and jason's looking at it. Oh, wow. Yeah, pineapple. And it's used on the Kalua pork slider. But I don't know if that means that pineapple or pineapple.

This is the kind. Because I know that I once ordered a salad the same day that I dragged my husband on this ride at dinner at Flying Fish. And it was before they redid Flying Fish. So I don't know if they have the same produce that I dragged my husband on this ride at dinner at Flying Fish and it was before they redid Flying Fish so I don't know if they have the same produce from there anymore but he's like you're gonna buy this $22 salad? Like he was so pissed that I got this like dumb leafy green salad

just because it was those special greens that's featured on the ride. But it was like they were shouting it from the rooftops that it was a greenhouse salad. Interesting. You're probably right that since they're bulk ordering all that food, it's just like it's coming from somewhere else and it's cheaper and not as good quality as what they grow in there. But they put like, for instance, this photo, it says banana.

And it says. Oh, you know what? I think I cracked it. It's sponsored by Chiquita. I bet they have a banana and pineapple monopoly throughout the resort. And so they're highlighting their goods. Oh, interesting, because this one is used on the Banana Almond Sunday at the Shimmering

Sips Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. To zoom into that sign, you've zoomed past Jason, who is looking observantly as if to take mental notes. I was in deep consideration and thought because I went through my photos just now.

I was like, oh, I have no photos of this. I just have photos of the, just a reminder for us to talk about at some point, the insane signs that ring Pop Century. We forgot to do something. Oh, sure. Yes. And a lot of Skyliner footage

are you guys going to put these online somewhere or is this just going to be people listening to us we'll post those listen to the pics here's one I think this is coffee they're growing coffee and then it's they write the donut box under it fresh yeast

donut with coffee sugar and chocolate espresso beans served with coffee, sugar, and chocolate espresso beans served with coffee. Sounds great. I want to hear more about your husband. Does he actually dislike

all of the... Where do you actually calibrate his theme park? He wants to go and do only the things that he wants to do, which is basically what he would call the good rides, which are thrill rides. And then he wants to leave, which I respect. He's just in it for like the hits. Sure.

And then it's like too hot and then leaves. Sure. What's the most boring ride he likes? Ooh. Like Pirates, for instance. He won't go on pirates. Really? Oh, interesting.

Okay. And why is that? Because it's too long, too slow? He's in it for the hits. And he doesn't consider pirates a hit? No, because he just wants to go on a roller coaster. Loves a space mountain. Okay.

Will do a big thunder. Will usually do Haunted Mansion because I ask him to. If he's annoying me, I will take him on It's a Small World. Punishment. But like I made him, we were in Shanghai a few weeks ago and I made him go on Peter Pan there because their Peter Pan is exceptional because they made it like after 2010.

Like I don't know when they designed it, but it came out in 2015, No, what year is it now? 2020. 2016? 2016. That park opened in 2016. From 2016. And so it's Peter Pan, but with new technology, and it's beautiful.

And I kept being like, isn't this amazing? And he was like, it's Peter Pan. Interesting. Okay, okay. But just because he won't go on this doesn't mean he's right. Sure. I think it really comes down to, you know, you want to see something special. Shibuya Crossing is special.

A sunset is special. Yes. Neither one is better or worse than the other, just different. Sure. So yes, it's slow. Yes, my dad falls asleep on it every time. But still, it's a nice break. It's a nice time to catch up

and talk at a moderate tone where people don't fully hear what you're saying so you don't disrupt their journey. It's just nice. It's cold, but you're still kind of outdoors. It's very moody at night. Now, here we go. I have not done it at night.

I've never done it at night. It is moody. I think I upset you the most by saying that I don't think there's any vibe to this ride I think there's no that adds to it you think because that pavilion like you said

it feels like a mall that hasn't announced its closing yet you know where like some of the main stores aren't there but like people are still getting paid and they work there how are they going to fill the Mervins now that's interesting because that's one of Scott's favorite places to be. Yes, but I don't like really beige, stylus malls, which is what I think the current colors and architecture of the land are.

As I said, loved the land for the first 10 years or so, and I think it's deeply bland these days. Living with the bland. I can't be living with the bland. Let's touch on something we haven't talked about yet. The original ideas for the land, which was going to be these giant biomes, these giant greenhouse crystal things.

This is good. That quickly got scaled back from the blue sky. But the ride was originally pitched as a suspended dark ride called Blueprints of Nature. Okay. That was... I've never heard any of this. This is news to me.

Okay. Traveling underground I've never heard any of this. This is news to me. Okay. Traveling underground to a carousel theater pre-show, guests would be introduced to the attraction's host, the Land Keeper. The Land... No, we've heard of... We've heard of... Beyond Inn.

Stop. We've heard of the Land Keeper. We haven't discussed him in a while, I feel like. Oh, boy. I don't know if I believed in fate until this moment. From there, the land keeper would take guests on a hot air balloon trip through the four seasons and a series of simulated biomes located in greenhouses at the front of the pavilion.

This was scaled back. The craft came aboard as a sponsor, and it became a boat ride. A lot of these ideas were rolled over into Journey into Imagination. Wow. He became the- We looked at some pictures, I think, when we talked about Landkeeper, which feels like it might have been two years ago already. I think I forgot.

Yeah, I forgot and relearned Landkeeper. He looked like this. Whoa, like a Colonel Sanders. Like a rainbow Colonel Sanders. I can't see that far, but it just looks like a Flamin' Hot Cheeto in a rainbow sash. Like a ripped horn. He's quite far from me. Or no, Rip Taylor?

He looks a little bit like Rip Taylor. Oh, I was looking at the thing next to him. There was a red blob. No, that was him. That was a closer shot of him. So he has a very Captain EO-like shirt. Yeah. Yes.

He has like a rainbow stripe across a white. A little pocket. A little pocket. He looks, he's very much, you could see, like they were going for Dream Finder relation. He's like some weird link between EO and Dream Finder. Yes. Wow. Can, okay. he's like some weird link between EO and Dreamfinder wow

okay will anyone say that living with the land is better than that would have been I couldn't possibly I'm very happy I'm very happy with it

well I mean this is a problem we run into on the show a lot. Does the blue sky version, a place you could never have been, is that realistic to hold that standard, hold actual things that do exist to that standard? Well, I will never ride the knights in white satin ride. There's no... The Little Mermaid ride.

We've seen the better version of it. We've seen the better version of it. On the DVD of Little Mermaid, what the cooler version would be than the one we have. But is it fair of us to judge the new one based on the seemingly ride that would be better? Yeah, it's got the land keeper. It's better.

I unfortunately have to agree with Scott. It's got this guy with a rainbow that's coming out of his top hat. And how is that going to not be better? Y'all weren't accounting for the rainbow. Yeah. I mean, the land keeper, unfortunately, yes, puts it over the top. Honestly, the ride itself sounds more exciting, more cool, or whatever. But as long as there's just a white-haired old man.

Why couldn't they just remove this guy to the boat ride? That seems like a crappy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, white haired old man. Why couldn't they just remove this guy to the boat ride? That seems like a crappy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where instead of candy, you get grass. Like it's just pointless. You say crappy. I am a little, I do have a few questions about the land because one, if you're, so the land is dirt and greenery and that's an all white suit.

You gotta be a little crazy. And also, he doesn't look like he's in perfect health. If you want to push what you give with the land, the bounty the land gives you to sustain you, I don't know if this guy... He's bulbous. This guy seems, you know... Certainly true.

I mean, maybe, though, he... Maybe, yes, he's got like a sip and savor pass to one of these festivals he seems like he's mostly interested in what they're doing with the land and like islay or dublin but yes i look i hear what you're saying but also we like you know i i'll just speak for myself i really like see i like the rides being connected with characters if we have we open up the the uh finder world you know we opened up the keeper world on our our uh downtown disney ordeal this is the finder world multiple finders everywhere even though he's a keeper you classify him as a

finder he's clearly a cousin of the dream finder yes Yes, that's what I'm basically, yes, I'm saying. Keepers can be finders. Keepers can be finders. I want everyone to repeat that with us who are listening. In your car, if you're alone right now, keepers can be finders. Yes, just like you guys said it. Now, the thing, though, if they had built the ride like this, they may have pegged it for demolition quicker.

Because it's more out of date quicker, more complicated to run. You're saying they would have bulldozed the Land Keeper by now in 2022. By making it a more practical, functioning greenhouse. He would have been replaced by a toilet like Dream Finder was on Journey into Imagination. Well, it's the little toaster,

the brave little toaster, and his new friend, the toilet. The brave little toilet. They would have added, to add IP to the ride, they would have added the brave little toaster. Hey, it's me. What if instead of toast,

I put a stink bug in me yeah i mean toilet on the ceiling they got the toilet we're talking about the redo of figments ride which is just a travesty yeah which i assume you agree with us on that yeah yeah okay um that final room scares me every time it is scary yeah i'm a grown woman i know it's coming every time the big buzz thing that had'm a grown woman. I know it's coming every time. The big buzz thing that happened. What is it? It's like a big horn.

It's the walls drop. It's loud. It scares the shit out of me. It's really unpleasant. It's like Horror Nights when you can see, yeah, Horror Nights specifically, when you see something coming and you go, oh, there's a person right there. They're going to scare me. And then they have the sound and light cue, which you cannot help but be scared by that so it's an extra thing that even if you know it's coming it's not it's still your body's gonna have a

visceral reaction to it yeah scariest ride at disney world i have i have i have a thought while we're talking about this right okay we have just said a ride that you would almost certainly list as lesser than Living with the Land? What other rides at Epcot Center would you put or attractions? I'll open it up. Would you say are lesser? What does Living with the Land

outrank? All of them. Come on. I think at this point in my life. You agree? Mission Space. Mission Space. Mission Space. uh come on i think at this point in my life you agree mission space mission space no mission space for sure it all raises space goes on i would rather wait wait no no no wait we're saying mission spaces we're listening what's worse wait i'm saying what is worse than living with the mission space yes yeah 100 mission space test track at this point not kept up not maintained feels awful like my car will break for me at this point if I don't do it.

I don't need to be driving a fake car to see if it can resist wind. We all slammed into our seatbelts while we were still next to the ride operator. Something went wrong. Like, that was the start of test track. I haven't done it lately, and I haven't gotten to do it with the Tron-esque vibe. That is not... Mike, you've done it., and I haven't gotten to do it with the Tron-esque vibe. That is not... Mike, you've done... You're as the moderate.

I'm thinking here. I don't want to declare both of them equal. I am not denying that Test Track has its issues and maybe belongs in the scrap heap at this point. Maybe that's controversial. It sounds like it's not. Well, I mean, we didn't... On this podcast. jason went on the trip by we didn't go on it i had gone on i've been on it a couple times uh i will say these are my personal opinions and not um those of my employer which is myself but enjoy whatever they would yes there's a difference between

podcast guest carly weisel and writer writer journalist Carly Wiesel. I'm like, ooh, that story I just wrote of all the rides ranked that does not line up with this. That is like- Those aren't your opinions as much as- I understand for many reasons, certain rides are considered and will be deemed better than others.

But according to me for my own life and how I spend my time, Sure. I'm going on the boat ride through the greenhouse. Do you remember from your list in like this public facing recommendations list that is less your personal opinions, do you remember

what you ranked lower than living with the land? I actually, I redid it like a month ago. I'll look it up. Glutton for punishment. Let's post this woman's address. Let's find her phone number. I got some real interesting screenshots from friends who saw it being shared on the internet.

Nice. That's probably all I'll say. But if I'm going to Epcot these days, which is usually alone or with my family or with some friends, it's not like my once in a lifetime trip. I'm spending my time there. I'm hanging out. I mean, before I would really only go on Spaceship Earth. That was the one I had to go on.

And now that I've kind of said goodbye to that, living with the land is my jam. Do we have an official like goes down for refurbishment on Spaceship Earth? I don't think they've announced it. In my brain, it's in hospice yeah and it's kind of like if i get to see him again great it feels like a masculine right is that gonna be are they're gonna have it down for the 50th i believe so right well i would say yes

but that's only things i've heard from the rumor mill so i can't really trust it. TBD. Okay. Now do you, is there any truth to, and I know there is, but when will Galaxy's Edge get converted to be based on the live action Aladdin? Oh, didn't that happen last week? I think, oh, did I miss it? Oh yeah, it's already. Wow.

Yeah, we went on Rise of Jafar's gang. That was the ride. I was about to make a joke that could really get me in trouble, and I'm not going to. Oh, man. It's Aladdin's world now. Okay, I'm looking through the ranking. Oh, interesting.

49, Grand Fiesta Tour. Haven't seen Living with the Land yet. Wonder what I ranked it. Oh, sad. Oh, no. 44, a real solid 44. Okay, okay. Is the only Epcot ride Grand Fiesta Tour?

43, just above it. A little solid 44. Okay, okay. Is the only Epcot ride Grand Fiesta Tour? 43 just above it. A little bit better. I said Primeval Whirl because it is a coaster. Okay. So it has to be Tomato Ride. Are you then not a fan of Grand Fiesta Tour? I think it's fine. I really wish that you could drink a margarita on it.

Oh, yes. I think that would be a game changer. I think if it was like the history of tequila or something, it would be a hit. And I would like to see plants and manufacturing. Yeah. Now we're in my interest. Okay, let's replace the entrances.

You put Living with the Land in the Mexico Pavilion. You get the great the mexico pavilion amazing oh my god one of the greatest things you get as you're saying some margaritas you you can look at cool little trinkets and stuff yeah i love it we all love it if living with the land was put in there i think the thing goes up on a letter grade does it does that imply that the beginning of the ride goes through like past the restaurant like you're in then yes because that i think is a big reason to like grand fiesta two or more because it's atmosphere that room is cool that's like by you that's like beginning of pirates i don't buy you? Living with the land literally goes

under our restaurant. Under though. It doesn't, it isn't as quite as fun to see. It doesn't quite have the ambiance. That's what I,

it's not, you're not in a swamp. You're not in a cinematic scene. Grand Fiesta Tour is literally downstreaming the ambiance of the rest of the pavilion and just riding it through

and then you're like, wait, why am I on this? This ride stinks. Living with the land, you start with a bunch of what's happening here? Why is there flowing water across rocks? It's beautiful. And then all of a sudden, you're like, whoa, I'm outside. Am I? No, it's a greenhouse.

What's a greenhouse? Let me learn. This is where just the personal, I think I just don't feel those feelings I don't think I like I'm not swept up in the mood University of Arizona horticultural expert Dr. Carl Hodges talk about his his work how is their program I didn't apply there Dr. Hodges uh Dr. Augustine, Dr. Rogers. He seemed very intelligent. I believe, who is the singer in the same Epcot special? I only saw the clip of it.

I didn't see his introduction. But someone, he sits on riding the boat ride, strumming a guitar, singing, This land is your land. Yikes. Going through the ride. Here we go. Let me direct it a little more

because I sense that this is a room that is not 100% on Frozen Ever After. Not me. I truly love Frozen Ever After. I really do. I'm weary to say this publicly. You don't have to. But I hate it. Whoa. Interesting. I really do. I'm weary to say this publicly. You don't have to. But I hate it.

Whoa! Jason. That's fine. I'm with Mike. I love it. And I love Maelstrom. Now, Maelstrom way better to me. I wish there was still Maelstrom, but I do think they did a good job. It's good robots.

It's that drop. Good robots. Every scene is good. Every scene has a little something that I like. Rock monster thing. I don't want to get you in trouble. Say what you're willing to say. I mean, I don't want to turn this into a Frozen Ever After debate. We can do that in a different episode.

But one of the most painful rides at Walt Disney World, that shift when you get to Elsa where you go, it's so painful. Really? Yes, extremely painful. On like knees or back? Back. It just jolts you to the side.

Then when you're going backwards as she's singing, you go through a tunnel that is completely unthemed. There is no excuse for a Walt Disney World attraction having a stretch of a ride that is just black nothing. It is a long black tunnel. Put up. We're seeing magic. We see magic up to a point.

And then it stops and it goes, shh, and they put some smoke in and then it's just black. It doesn't make any sense. I've never even noticed that. You won't not notice it now. Okay. It infuriates me. Also, the contouring of the projection, their face is projected on,

but just, you guys don't know what contouring is. It's weird. I get what you're saying. Just into barely their neck, and then you're like, that's not them. And they're like, it's the most advanced animatronic ever.

And you're like, she can move a finger? Like, what? I don't care. I'm not impressed. They've already, the footage they have shown of like the bell and the beat

like that are coming. It's like, well, this already looks rough. Like this already looks rough compared to this great. I went on it like two days after it opened. It looked bad.

The solution of the like shiny monitor faces that Anna and Elsa have is a little strange. I feel like I forget which scene is better. I mean, I have to rewatch it. There is one scene

that looks extra weird. The very last one to me. Maybe it's the last one that looks really... That's where they're like, goodbye, like in Haunted Mansion, but except there's two of them

and it's creepier. It's bad. That's why I'm like, living with the land really might be my favorite attraction of Epcot. Also, and I know Maelstrom is insane.

Like, yeah, I get it. Kids nowadays don't like Maelstrom because it was insane. But you know what I think is more interesting than Frozen is the culture and people of Norway. And call me a square, but I guess I'm just old fashioned. I guess I'm just old fashionedfashioned i think we would call you old-fashioned uh on that podcast that you were on tomorrow society yeah i listen i think it was on that i listened to a guy who worked on the maelstrom and we'll do a maelstrom episode i'm dying to do that yeah like he explained he had a guy on who worked on that ride who explained that

it is it's exactly what you think it was fun and validating to hear this that there was a version that they did that was like all trolls and scary stuff and then so he said no no they're not gonna like that do all vikings and they presented it to the norway people and they were like no no no we are about oil barracks and then marty sklar says okay you have to figure out how to make something out of all this that makes everybody happy and that's why that ride is this bizarre mix of all of that. Which I love. I think that it's insane. It's kind of insane I love. I think that's

a great necessity as a mother of invention and Frozen Ever After is a little more like Apollo 13 like alright they got this. We need to make this fit into this. And we got these two things. We got this is what they have in the ship. Do you think Frozen Ever After is worse than The Little Mermaid ride?

Oh, God. I think expectations. Oh, man. I have the same issue with both. Okay. All right. A wonderfully done sidekick, but terribly replicated lead character. Yes.

I think they got Ariel better than Ananasa. I'm going to have to say Ariel wins because you're in a little shell. Even if her face scares the shit out of me. Plus, Buddy Hackett, at least to sound alike. Points for Buddy Hackett, at least a sound alike, you know. Points for Buddy Hackett in a ride.

Buddy Hackett sound alike. I call me old fashioned. You enjoy the humor of a Buddy Hackett. I love a Buddy Hackett. Get out. Hackett in. His performance should be terrific. If Hackett was doing all of Gad's roles, if Hackett was LeFou,

if we could get a Hackett, if we could Gad's roles. Oh my God. If Hackett was LeFou. Oh. If we could get a. I mean, yes. If we could get a Hackett. If we could get, you know how they bring celebrities back for commercials. Jimmy Stewart learned a great voice actor in his last role, Five Over Goes West. Oh, yeah. It's the sheriff dog. There was actually a couple of minutes ago when you were delivering a line and I said, he sounds like Jimmy Stewart.

It's like your voice is slowly turning into Jimmy Stewart. I do want to say for the record, before everyone yells at me on the internet, that I don't really go on the aerial ride, but I do go on Frozen Ever After because every time my friend Todd Martins, who is a wonderful Disney reporter, he loves Frozen and he loves that ride.

And we have gotten into very public fights about this at like one in the morning. And everyone's like, you guys got to calm down because I hate it and he loves it. And so I keep going on it to try to learn. I want to know why he loves it so much. And I can't get there. So if you see me on Frozen Ever After, I'm not a hypocrite. I promise.

I'm truly just trying to do right by Todd and learn. You swear you're not having fun. Well, I try. I try. I try. It's still living with the land. This is what I need to do, clearly, with living with the land, although I won't because it's far away. I will try.

I should try. I'm going to say this, guys. I didn't like it when I was a kid either. My mom didn't like this ride. I think I might just be like, this is a Gairdner family genetics thing. I don't have a memory of being a kid. I don't actually have any. I don't have a memory of being a kid. I don't actually have any. I don't have a memory of being a kid in general.

No, no, please. It's my whole life. I don't really have strong memories of it as a child. I just remember going on it when I went back at 18 or something. Or not 18. I don't think it's intended for you to remember it. I guess that is probably right. It's just the thing you

do. It's kind of like how you have to drink water to survive. You don't really like doing it, but it breaks up the day and you do it to make the things that taste good taste better and compare. Yeah, you are supposed to remember to respect the land.

That's what you remember. That argument says that things are better than okay but you got to keep in mind of like 2020 framing you're at disney world you've made it you either showed up and ruined your trip by not planning anything or you are an adult who very likely woke up at four in the morning to try to get a fast pass and didn't get the one you wanted like you are entering this trip with a lot of baggage and a lot of stress. And you're like, oh, Soren, oh, I didn't get the fast pass, but it's an 85 minute wait. I guess we'll do it.

There's some dumb game in the queue that we can like point out city capitals. Sure. So then you go through this and you walk way too far to get to the entrance of Soren. Just like an unbelievable length of space where there's a one direction escalator and a staircase. And you're like, which one do I go on? You finally get to Sorin. You wait in line and then you're like, that was cool. And then you got out of there and then you go to the very busy but very large bathroom. And then you're like, well, what do we do now? It's not time for lunch yet. And next to you is magically a ride that has almost no weight where you can sit

and it's indoors and you can avoid the rain or avoid the heat which one of the other is always happening and you can just sit after waiting and toughing things out you can just board it and enjoy and i think that's the magic yeah well what i'm sorry what you're describing is exactly how i feel about mexico boat ride it was a horrible horrible storm and we needed somewhere to sit and every single bench was taken and then I thought there's one place with a bench. It is this ride. I will get on the bench on the ride, and the sitting and the resting was completely the appeal. So I get it.

That makes total sense to me, and that is a facet. I can admit that. I think the greenhouse and the show scenes should be swapped. I think the greenhouse should start the ride. I think the animatronic should be second. That would be cool. That's an interesting idea.

I also think this would change the perception of the ride because it's such a dry learning thing. If all of a sudden in the middle of a real life, oh, we're in the real life, but wait a minute, now we're not. Here come the animatronics. Here comes the mood. Here comes the great sandstorms showing us. I think that also gives the ride a different vibe.

I would advocate now that they don't have it a very impressive entrance way. I would be advocating they flip it somehow. You don't think all those quotes from children about the land, they solicited 800 quotes about uh i think it's a less exciting way to finish the ride oh i meant i meant in the queue i meant oh i see i see uh yeah yeah that could certainly uh be plussed up i mean they're not going to do that that would be impossible you may as well just uh trash it but that's my feeling i'm saying like this is all i have left they can't what could they like here's what could they do well they did yeah they did they've

plussed up august of 2019 here we go they redid the footage and i think they may have replaced the screen i do not remember inside the ride and i know because i went on with a friend who was writing for a website at the time that That's like a Disney World News website. I won't mention the name. And we were on the boat. We were like, new scene, new scene. And we were so excited. And we saw this crisp new footage.

And it was very exciting. What is the footage? It was just new footage of some corn and a tractor. I believe there's a ladybug. It was just nice and new. And it's the type of thing where like You know now we have like phones and electronics To keep us busy but once upon a time

Like tops were entertaining And I think it really you know channels That less is more Aesthetic that's what I love I mean that's for you know kids Love that bugs Farm equipment trucks I love that Stuff as a kid.

We've been saying that the Anna and Elsa ride is shit. And we're saying, kids love bugs and tractors. Kids love bugs and stuff. Well, the tractor footage, which I believe may not actually be footage, it looks digitized and fake. It still looks more real than Elsa's face at the end of that ride. Sure. Take a deep fake fake tractor heading down. Okay, okay.

Let me say this. And, you know, we do our plus it up stuff, and that can be like bits sometimes. But let's try to actually do this a little. Because I, all right, the idea of we're just going to like ham-fistedly insert some character semi-P into this ride, I don't think that's the solution. Is there a way to just like, there's more going on in those scenes. There's more going on with those animatronics.

We actually go out with a little more of a bang. You talk about tractors. Can we have like farm equipment, like moving around or do it? Can we have like big show pieces? And they like, it seems like one's going to like, you know, crash into you, but then it backs up in time.

You're saying not have like mater on the ride or something you're saying like a real life if people if anyone think is thinking well scott probably just wants ip on the that's not what i want right i think there's something in the character of the ride uh i can we have let's bring the well first of all the song bring the song back why did we take the song out? I think some of my issues are all we've done is remove. We removed the tour guide. We removed the song.

Yes. And so it's just literally lesser than it was when it opened. Yes. Except for this new footage of a tractor and a ladybug. This deepfake tractor. Deepfake tractor. Okay. Two things come to mind for how they could improve this ride

yes one live actors put an actor on like that fake ass porch in front of that house have it kind of be like the thing in the tram tour universal studios hollywood where he like comes out with a knife and you're like oh no you want norman bates on the porch it should be like american gothic come to life. Yeah, Farmer Brown with a big bushel. And being like, remember when we, it's just like a boomer yelling at millennials. Like, that's what I want from that farmhouse.

The other thing. I like this. This is good. Corn used to taste better. A man with a musky yell, and stay away from my daughter. Yes. All of this would be brilliant.

The other thing, give me a free banana at the end. Think about it. Sponsored by Chiquita. Drive the point home. I would do anything for 20 minutes to not pay for a resort banana, which is usually like $3.

That was my main expense on the trip. Pop century bananas. So there must be a 700% markup. Yeah. It's really insane. If you go on that ride and you get a free banana, and what if the Chiquita sticker has a Mickey Mouse on it, so then your kid puts it on something? Come on. This is

really good. Easy to do. This is great. Can we have a bunch of bananas on a conveyor belt, like whirring around like a simulation of what if you were in a packing plant and what if they talk about that thing where apparently bananas will go extinct that's educational that's interesting should i be in marketing yeah i was gonna say though you

know like because when a reporter goes and covers you know a political event or something they are worried like where i don't want to become the story but right now you're verging on giving such great ideas do you think yeah i might have to go internal this might be this might be the shift that's kind of what i'm saying is this is it are you in danger in a good way of that happening maybe i i if i can if i can work for big banana i'd be thrilled sure um i okay I've got a couple things. First, here's my plus up. You know, there's been a lot in the last few years of, like, you know, Imagineers and Universal Creative, like, you know, experimenting with, like, directing people's attention to places. The Harry Potter ride swings you at what they want you to look at.

You know, the Pirates ride in Shanghai. The boat rotate. It's like a director telling where to put the camera here, and the viewer will look at this. In this boat ride, they have RFIDs to cue the narration, but they're not going to be able to move that boat ride very much. But if so much of this grow house stuff is modular, as you narrate, like, look at this thing.

Swing that planter towards the boat. Oh, boy. Swing it. Oh, yes. Swing it. Like, look at this. This is where we're directing your attention. So you go in and you take in a wide shot of it.

And then when it's telling you about the intercropping, like, yeah, push a little of that towards the boat. I like. As if the land is reaching out to you. Lighting cues. Things could light up. Lighting cues. Perfect. Very, very simple to do.

A simple theatrical trick that I think people would like. Would the lights, though, interfere with the greenhouse? Well, now that is, they do have, like, sounds and light. Like, they do have to manipulate that a little. Like they said, there are certain sounds and winds and stuff to simulate

the environment. If there was a strobe light constantly going in a greenhouse, would it fuck up all the plants? That probably depends on the plant because in the fish farms, in the aquaponics, there's red lights which are there to stop algae from growing.

And that's where my point of clarification. So I've watched old ride-throughs of this and one of those tanks is baby alligators. Did they yank them? Or am I mis... gone right there's just uh there's like a something in there shaped like a mickey i think it's like a hose or something yeah but it's like fish tank fish tank fish tank empty yeah like i okay so the memory is a tricky thing but i was like i know there were they're gone right like i know they a bunch of loose ones on top of a cage. Yeah, but I think they've removed a lot of Gator stuff

from Disney World on purpose. Do you have a pitch on what to put in the tank? Because I do. Full-size Navi. Oh. Yeah. They're growing it? They're farming a Navi?

Or what about a bunch of baby ones? Sure, yeah. Oh, no, no. Of course you like that, and Sure. Yeah. No, no, no. Of course you like that and I don't. No, no, no. Baby, I love baby Shreks. Baby Banshees. I like baby, oh, baby Banshees. Oh. Are they in water?

I think the Avatar have to be in water. I think there's water stuff coming in this next one. Oh, for sure. There's a big whale in the ride. Yeah. Whale kind of thing. Baby versions of that. Can we talk about, is there a finale that we can do here that would be more satisfying? And I'm saying that slant.

We were going back and forth on Twitter about this. Yeah, we got something to talk about. Okay. I'm not even going to say forth on Twitter about this. Yeah, we got something to talk about. Okay. I'm not even going to say my own thoughts on it. I haven't brought this up yet. There is an article that was in Gawker a couple of years ago about living with the land. I didn't see this.

I'm a Thiel man. I don't recognize the land. There is, uh, it is, it is, are several people who like some of the assets that you like about it, namely,

uh, sitting, but they do, they don't necessarily have great things to say about the ride in general. I felt seen when I read this, uh, they, one thing they said that I liked was the name of this ride doesn't even

attempt to make it sound interesting. It might as well be called The Land is a Place. Okay, but the thing that they brought up was the finale of the ride and they quote this article. The strangest part of the ride to me was the very end when our boat sailed by

a screen flashing pictures of people wearing the same colors as food. It is like, you know, 12 trapezoids. And there's photos of very Kodak stock models. And I was trying to look at specific ones. There's a boy in a blue shirt, and he's in front of a bunch of blueberries.

And there's a girl in a red beret, and she's in front of tomatoes. And that is the grand finale of Living with the Land. The problem is there's not a ton of room. No. To expand. Well, I would actually say the problem is not the ride, but it's your perspective.

Because I recently went on this ride with my friend Christine. Yes. And at the end, she lives in Orlando. I don't know if this is a local thing, but at the end she goes, I'm so and so who are you and i go what and she goes oh yeah you choose we choose who we are so you like choose choose a totem so you let one of the people there represent you she brought an interactive element

to the ride that was not there before i'm i'm blueberry boy yeah you decide who represents your feeling that day. Who are you? Do you remember? There was some woman in a strange hat, and I selected her. Oh. I was like, I am woman in hat. Like a meme when there's some crazy picture, crazy tweet going around the internet, and they say, tag yourself.

Yes. I'm like- Tag yourself. I'm young boy with blueberries. Yes. Yeah. Well, okay. That's fun.

That's a lot of fun. Doesn't that make it better? That's what your friend brought to it. I don't know to do that. I also argue that that's like the underground tiki bar of the ride. What? That it's like, ooh, a hidden- It's like a speakeasy.

Yeah, it's like a speakeasy experience of living with the land. You got to be in the know to know that that's your- Wait, to know the thing that your friend did? Yeah, to know the fun game it did. Well, it is now, but it wasn't until your friend did it. Yeah, but it's really- I like it now. It's going out.

Yeah, it gives- See, you make your own fun. That's what this ride is telling you. Yeah. That's why you have to do it. You're the creator. You're the creator. You're the land creator. Can I propose that, okay,

maybe there's a solution that isn't removing the wall of 12 trapezoid people. Is there some way to, if, say, there were an insane, mentally ill person who thought this was not the most exciting ending to a ride, are you willing to budge on anything, or does it have to be the still? Maybe like, can it tell me like choose, choose your, your avatar?

Like, can we play that game officially? Can they be videos? Can Blueberry Boy talk to me? What if it's like the technology at the end of the Haunted Mansion in Florida and it like removes your head and puts it on one like Blueberry Boy? Yes. Yes. You got it. Now we puts it on one like Blueberry Boy. Yes. Now we're talking. I'm Blueberry Boy. You are actually

Blueberry Boy. Which is a new theme for a character we've created. The kid from Dragnet who does drugs and then he's just covered in blue paint. I do know that reference. It scared me as a kid kid I was just complimenting the Dragnet movie

but I don't remember no no no the 70 year old show the pilot of Dragnet from 1960 the pilot of Dragnet is about a kid

who does drugs Jack Webb Harry Morgan what happens oh he's just covered in paint for some reason like a drug addict

like a drug head honestly the kid could have done drugs once and he's painted blue and they're like acting like he's gonna kill a city. Yeah. Nick and I used to use that

in their commercials a lot now. I was like, oh, what is this blue boy? I think we should. I think Jason should. Nick and I, they're like,

you're transitioning from like, from all that and then you're being told, and then watch Harry Morgan nail Blue Boy. That's how I got very into the Mary Tyler Moore show when I was young. Oh, yeah. That was a good transition, actually.

That and I love Lucy. Yeah. When they started introducing the 70s shows, that was like, oh, nostalgia is evolving. I get to experience the 70s now yeah that was those are good times i well look nick at night was there first like some of that nickelodeon program it took a few years to like ripen you know it's a few years make no mistake nick at night came first night was going for a few years before you got into all that and a

snick and that sort of thing oh yeah certainly yeah yeah start a campaign to reboot drag dead and have you be Blue Boy? Oh, is he a recurring character? Prestige TV Dragnet is a funny idea. Prestige TV Dragnet with you as Blue Boy. This just becomes the wire, a more wire kind of take. I have a pitch going off something currently new in the land.

Awesome Planet is the new film that's in the theater upstairs and I think it's like similar to the BBC Planet Earth and Netflix thing that is just Planet Earth that the BBC should probably sue them for.

They should just take those super high def cameras and film a bunch of plants and project in that area. Yes, that's fun. I don't think it would take much, and I don't think it would change the character of this ride. I think there's a way to make me like this thing more.

It isn't like- You wishing death upon Blueberry Boy? He can stay. He's grandfathered in, but can we add something else to the hallway? American farm? I mean, high to the hallway? American farm? I mean, high def of real small American farm. I mean, they're suffering with this trade war stuff.

It's insane subsidies for American farms right now. Yeah, what if it shows how hard it is to be a farmer these days? Yeah. Or how we transitioned to corn-fed animals and how that was a poor choice. Yeah, all of our cereals replaced rice with corn. A bunch of Mons're drinking corn syrup. A bunch of Monsanto heavy corn syrup.

Yeah. Slashing tires. This would be good. This would be legitimately educational. What if you put headphones on and listen to It's Always a Good Time

by Owl City during the ride? I would love that. And that's another little hack. You have to bring your own music. My family would love that. Because they don't play any anymore. Yes.

There is a major part of this that we have not discussed yet. Mm-hmm. The lab. The lab. The lab. Okay. The lab. Yes.

Uh-huh. So I knew that we were going to do this, and this was not intentional at all. And I was just like, I work out of a co-working space, and it's like a long walk to the bathroom, whatever. And I was walking to the bathroom, and then I was like, I wonder if anyone has ever seen anyone in the lab. Like, truly truly just was curious has anyone ever seen someone working in the lab that you see in the end of the attraction

and we're now what's uh if there were people in there what hypothetically would they be do what kind of lab is um like a science tubes microscopes my only reference is the theranos documentary oh yeah good it's like high school science then the next thing i is the Theranos documentary. Oh, yeah. Good. It's like high school science. Then the next thing I saw was Theranos. They'd be like jiggling tubes or be like checking levels, pipettes perhaps. And so I tweeted it hoping that I'd maybe find two people who'd seen someone in the lab or been like, oh, I once saw someone holding a Petri dish.

Like just hoping, just a pipe dream. And what I got was an onslaught of people who see someone in the lab every time. Jeez. I did not know that I was the one who had the rare experience. I thought it was just normal to never see anyone in the lab. And apparently a lot of loud people on Twitter seem to think the opposite. The Land Bros. It was like it's busy.

Everyone's like, yeah, I always see people there. We saw someone. We saw someone. By microscope. I've never seen anyone. We saw someone and they were doing something. Stuff was being agitated. Yes. Stuff is all I've seen. I think I saw Agarar maybe saw some agar

i truly like the reason agar is the like gelatin like substance that you grow stuff in oh oh interesting that must have been second semester of my program you would have gotten that yeah uh but i i truly like i tweeted that to just kind of fact check for like oh i'm gonna go on this like i should make sure so that I don't say the lab's closed. It's non-functional. That it's, and apparently

the lab is fully functional to the point where one person, I wrote her name down so I wouldn't forget it. Where's she at? Her name is at radscorpion69.

She said that she used to work somewhere where they processed the purchase orders for the lab, and they spent almost $13,000 on mixers. Nice. So some serious science is happening in there. Whoa, whoa. Yeah. Epcot in general, because they have these massive fish tanks and stuff,

there's still so many people that are maintaining these facilities there. It's pretty crazy. Yeah. There's people doing tests. Yeah. Wow. Ghosts that I've never had the privilege of seeing. They need to do a better job of showcasing those people.

Because as I was being flippant by saying they were doing something i don't know what they're doing we can't see i know that's maybe for the upcharge behind the sea behind the seeds tour i get that dollars per adult twenty dollars per child right see and that people like it because that is probably the most affordable tour on property yeah but like like if they if the scientist could like hang out the window and yell at each boat what they're doing but that's something. Yeah, that's good. Can we get just a kind of a display that says like today's

period. That would be good too. Like the tram tour. Like the tram tour at Universal Studios Hollywood. Here's what's filming today. Yes. That would be nice. When I watch their Ghost Whisperer always and only Ghost Whisperer. Great. I remember hearing somebody whoperer always. Always Ghost Whisperer. Great. I remember hearing somebody who was a guest star on that show

that Jennifer Love Hewitt said that a ghost was actually haunting her at the time and was moving furniture around in her house. What are they doing in the lab? Are they learning to whisper at ghosts? What are they doing in that lab? It could be really interesting stuff. This is a very good plus up. Let's make sure there's people in that lab.

Let's finance. Let's make sure it's teaming with people. Is there a way to make the. Can we get anything like into the greenhouse area? You were talking about swinging plants. Would a robot in there bother anybody? It depends what kind of robot. It can't be something with too much personality

though. I'll tell you that. These are the rules of living with the land. Yeah, if it can be a barely moving ape of some kind. Barely moving though. And in the distance, far away.

It can't be close. They've gone back into Epcot's past for design elements for like next generation Epcot. Yeah. So I think you could design a pleasant, interesting looking, smart one, robot butler-esque. Oh, interesting.

I thought you were going to say like kitchen cabaret, have all of the real food gone and replace it with singing food. Oh, that's good too. Make real food sing? I would love to see them like in line and the Guardians coaster and Rocket like, look at these idiots. Oh my God. These songs are terrible.

I like the idea. They're talking. I don't want to give too many spoilers on the new Star Trek Picard, but they're talking about androids that are created basically with real bone and skin at this point. Could you make an animatronic vegetable

really from a real cucumber? So a cucumber is going to talk on this thing? Yeah, but it's built out of a real cucumber. It's not like, you know. And can it kind of follow the boat like Olaf does? Like Olaf does? Yes.

Bouncing along. You know what? I'm going to declare yes. This is what I believe it could be possible. If it's this, then yeah, absolutely. I will say. It's still pretty exciting, actually. Too exciting.

Is it only a cucumber? Or does he have, do we get an eggplant in there? Oh, I do love those eggplants. What about a... If his little stem part is like a hat. What if they had something growing but sped up? It's like you go past very slowly in that boat, and they have an example of how quickly things grow.

It's like those videos where a baby goes from nothing to this. Like time lapse. Yes, that's the word that I thought would arrive in my brain. Oh, so something like instantaneously goes from a little seedling to like to a you know, a massive gourd. Like that? Okay,

that's good. Yeah, I like all this stuff. I also think genuinely you have a smart, maybe it just is alright, if we're getting nostalgic for old Epcot stuff, where's smart one at? The little robot when epcot opened and he doesn't even have to be doing anything i don't i actually think you could take uh you know with awesomo and his still appearances on the utopia do that with smart one he's like checking on the hydroponics he's in the lab looking at a microscope.

He's, I don't know, delivering mail to the farmer at the beginning. Four unmoving smart ones throughout this ride, and I'm 20% more in. I can't disagree with that. You paint one green. You put a straw hat on another. You put a lab coat on a third. And the fourth one's holding a musket.

Oh, like get off my... Get away from my daughter. It's Smart One's country home. It's where he went to retire. It's in peace and quiet. Damn boats are rolling through. I would perhaps enjoy, at the end, not to say Blueberry Boy should go. He will stay.

But I think that the core of living with the land, which they don't maybe play up enough, is that things die and decompose, and from that comes a new, which is kind of happening in Epcot right now. That's true, yes. So I wouldn't hate the end using that as an analogy for everything we love from the past having to change to make new Epcot be born.

Oh, yeah, yeah. And there's still the old spirit. You needed the old one for the new one to grow. Because very soon this area will be called world nature. Yeah. And that is still strange. It's getting gerrymandered. All the Epcot pavilions.

Everything. World nature. After the census. World nature is pretty weird. I am interested in that. I do like Moana, the movie. And I think the way of water, the journey of water, I do think that's an interesting idea for a pavilion.

And I'm like, oh like oh okay i'm fine with moana teaching me this but in part of me it's like well it could also be some dry water scientists it'd be some very dry you know i'm hoping there's some education you wow you love to learn i love to learn yeah I'm the target audience for like you know 1982 Epcot yeah wow yeah what are we thinking are we thinking we've

well I guess I would make a statement here I wanted to say you know please America listen up if the four of us can come together in this room and all arrive in a very similar place, I believe so too can our nation.

So listen to this episode and share it with your friends, Republican, Democrat, it doesn't matter. If the four of us can reach a majority consensus on the issues with the Epcot Center ride, living with the land, don't you think that you can too? I believe our nation heal with this podcast.

A full standing ovation. You can't see it, but we're all standing. Thank you. That is a good, the rarely, maybe never achieved full standing ovation. You can't see it, but we're all standing. Thank you. That is a good, the rarely, maybe never achieved full standing ovation. All hosts and guests. Thank you.

Mike, you've healed the nation with your moderacy. Thank you. Okay, yeah, good. I mean, you can't. There's no way to. That says it all. And I believe Carly Wiesel, you can't. There's no way to. That says it all. And I believe Carly Wiesel, you survived Podcast The Ride. I don't think I survived yet because I don't know if your opinion has changed.

Well, you know, well. Consider this the boats hitting each other at the end of Pirates. Oh, I thought we were done. And then, you know, well, what I was thinking in terms of these mission statements as well. And I think what I'm seeing is that the boring is part of it. I think we all, everybody, I was saying boring in an accusatory way. Everybody else is saying boring like it's a nice thing. And I am not proposing. I believe

there is a better future for living with the land. I think there are changes that can happen to it. And I believe that Mike is playing music. I believe there is a better brighter future for living with the land. One that unites

the people who have loved it from the very beginning and the people who called it boring as hell uh on this very podcast and i think the common thread is boring it's what we can all agree on about this ride but i've come to realize that boring can be good and i do not wish to insert IP. I wish to do what you wish. Keep the land weird. No, not weird. Fuck.

I was saying that phrase in my head. Keep the world weird. No, wait. We're pulling the music in. Forget that ever happened. I want to do what you want. Keep living with the land boring. Hmm. Does that kind of, does that sound insulting? keep living with the land boring.

Does that kind of, does that sound insulting? I don't know. That is what I think. I think there's a version of this that makes everybody happy. I agree. I just want you when your next trip to actually physically go on it

and see it through the lens of this episode and hopefully you will enjoy it. Well, I like the sound of that because I really enjoyed this episode. I'm going to guess that Erin is not going to do any of this, but I will promise. She could eat cereal. I think she'll love it.

Okay. You know what? This was nice. I think it was a fun mix of... There was some fussing and a feuding, of there was there was some argue there was some fussing and a feud and but there was a lot of agreeing that's right uh and a lot of uh i can't think of another word for agreeing uh so let's just all officially wrap it up thank you for uh for proposing this for walking into the hornet's nest did not know what i was getting myself into thought it'd be a fun time talking about pumpkins.

And oh boy, I had a great time. Well, I did too, you know? I feel great. I feel hopeful. And it was wonderful. Now, we need to have you back for something where, you know, it's not like this. This was the one! No, no, no. I keep coming for like the random ones and it was like this is

it we're gonna do a ride we're gonna finally make something real out of it and then i show up to like a high school debate class accidentally but it i will come back and talk about anything well you made you made excellent points and uh i do love this great guest as always uh uh so yeah thanks for being here and let's let's exit to the gift shop. Past Blueberry Boy, is there anything you'd like to plug? To the kiosk outside the Soarin' Bathroom? Do you want the Star Spangled Banner

playing in the background while you plug? Do you want Listen to the Land? Ooh, Listen to the Land. Yeah, yeah. All right, that'll play us both. Okay, so plug away. Oh, you can find me on the internet. It's real weird, real weird with the backing track yeah i know i wish there was uh i wish there was an instrumental

i i write a lot of stories about disney but i spend more time on instagram so i would highly recommend finding me there instead is where the most carly can be found yeah all right um and and let's listen to podcast the ride the second gate at patreon.com slash podcast the ride where we'll someday cover behind keep going keep playing no this is division

we're not agreeing anymore girl talk just walked in and he saw two songs and he's like this is gonna be one song we're the land of America, the beautiful mashup. And three bonus episodes every month. No, that's why

I said that part already. I'm so confused. Keep Portland weird. Fuck, what am I saying? For more Podcasts to Ride, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Oh, it's good time.

Do we have to hold for you to throw a third in here? What else? What do I play? I don't know. I'll play Let It Go. If you play more than 15 seconds of this, UMG's lawyer will be on the show.

Oh, yeah. Bring it on, I say. Okay, here we go. Wait, let me get Let It Go in there. Thanks for listening. Wait, I didn't care. Talk to Aaron's new account. Take me anywhere.

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.