Walkabout The World - A Disney Podcast - A Walkabout In Hollywood Studios For Holiday Cheer [ep 036]

Episode Date: November 20, 2021

Hello and happy holidays travelers! It's high time for some holiday cheer, and this week you and I take an evening stroll throughout Disney's Hollywood Studios for no other reason than soaking up some holiday ambience and decor. We start off at the entrance near Crossroads, head down Hollywood Blvd, take in Sunset Blvd, the Echo Lake area, Grand Ave, and end up... well, you'll hear it. You'll get to listen to multiple eras of wonderful holiday music, as well hearing me attempt to describe the incredible decor of the Studios. We wind up with a little behind the scenes Walkabout chat regarding most downloaded eps, editing, and a fair amount of rambling about experiencing the Disney parks as works of art.   As always, use good listening devices as we always record in 4 channel surround sound. We hope you enjoy the episode and thanks so much for following along!   Look us up at @WalkaboutWDW on Instagram and drop us a note to say hi! Find our producer Josh also on Instagram at @TheSteele.

Hello travelers! Welcome back to Walk About the World, a weekly auditory stroll in one of the parks or resorts of Walt Disney World here in Orlando, Florida. You know, because that's where the parks are. It is nigh unto dusk here in the Hollywood that never was and always will be. Minnie is out on the balcony here, right next to the dark room, right above the restrooms. The balcony is festooned with white garland and red and green ornaments, and there's a crowd, as there should be,

saying hi to Minnie. The goal tonight, however meager it may be, is to hunt down some holiday cheer. As I said last week, it is high time for the holidays. Apparently, I am alliterating this evening. I'm good at this, apparently. But we're starting off at the Crossroads and then Hollywood Boulevard, as you should, passing the dark room on our right. But my goal tonight was just to soak up some holiday cheer, to spend some time maybe taking in some of the holiday ambience that's playing here.

I haven't been in since they have decked it out for the holidays. And I'm looking down Hollywood Boulevard here, and they have the garland stretching across the street with the beautiful golden stars at the center. The garland is silver. It has red, looks like poinsettias, and big red and green spotlights. And then down the street, they have silver and red wreaths hanging on the windows of the shops. With some silver garland that has some ribbon that looks like film.

Very appropriate. And then on the street lamps, it looks like shooting stars with lights. So we're going to take a walk. This evening is going to be quick. We're going to take a quick stroll through the park, check out some holiday vibes, see what decorations they have up, and take in some of the music. Even though the music right now is a little frantic. It is golden hour, though.

I just snapped a couple of photos, but looking at the Keystone Clothiers building, and it is the green, I was going to say Art Deco building, but you know, everything is right here. But it is the green building to the left as you are looking towards Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. There's our stoplight sign going off, and we are at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine. Hollywood and Vine, that's where you are. But the Keystone Clothiers building is my favorite building on this street, and especially at Golden Hour.

It is gorgeous. So, I also am on the hunt for a holiday treat, and we may pop into Trolley Car Cafe here in a few, which, as you know, is the Starbucks location. But before we do, we're going to take a quick stroll. Who am I kidding? It's not going to be quick. We're going to take a leisure stroll. Who am I kidding? It's not going to be quick. We're going to take a leisurely stroll down Sunset Boulevard, turning right now. Hollywood Junction across the way. Oh, guys, you should see it. Unfortunately, I decided to start a podcast, so you can't,

but I'm going to take a photo for you. Oh, no way. Okay, we have to go listen. Here we go. Come on. The stairs. Come on, sing along. And who doesn't? No crocodiles.

No rhinoceroses. No rhinoceroses. How can you not love I want a hippopotamus for Christmas? Standing next to Sunset Club Couture. Also right next to the restrooms. I tend to stop near the restrooms, apparently. Let's go on down towards the Hollywood Tower. Also at 6.30, let's see what time it is.

This is behind the scenes here, folks. At 6.30, I believe they light the Beacon of Magic, which is the Hollywood Tower Hotel, which is them putting the nightly Christmas projection up on the tower. But down the street here, because we're going to pay attention to this stuff, down the street here on the lamppost here, they have red and white stars. So think star shapes with red and white garland around the frames with flickering lights. And you pretty much got it. Silver and white garland on the Carthay Circle building.

Gorgeous. Hollywood greetings from Tinseltown. It says up ahead. See if we can dive into a wonderful family photo here. I think we did. Alright, I told you we were going to be a little quick. So we are very near the Hollywood Tower Hotel. It is in the foreground.

Fairfax Fair and Hollywood Scoops to the left also. They have silver garland with blue and red lights. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. The silver garland on Fairfax Fair, what I thought were blue lights, are actually snowmen with blue eyes. Okay, I don't think I'm going to go down near the Rockin' Roller Coaster. I normally would, but I'm not going to this time. I'm going to do an about face. And go back.

Just pausing because, man, it's pleasant. Also, I'm being entertained by the various people looking at yours truly. Literally in the middle of the street with a microphone taking pictures. By the way, in case I didn't mention, it's just you and I this evening. My other companions are not here. No Heather, no daughters, no producer Josh. It's just like the old days. Just you and me. Man, what a beautiful, beautiful scene. Also, a load of people here tonight.

Sunset Boulevard is packed. But looking on down the street, every single lamppost has the star. They're all flickering. I have absolutely zero idea what Christmas song this is. Also it's fun when people wave into the camera. Little do they know this isn't a vlog. Sunset Ranch pins and souvenirs to your right and Anaheim produce just beyond. What song is this?

Somebody Shazam this for me, will ya? Majestic theater to your left, glitz and glamor for every occasion. On the windows to our right, Muscle Beach Bodyguard Services. Because if you want a bodyguard, get a big muscular guy. Or person. Legends of Hollywood to the left, Beverly Sunset Boutique to our right, and we're almost back to Hollywood Boulevard. We are going to take a right over here,

directly in front of Beverly Sunset. I love, I love the signage for Beverly Sunset, by the way. The neon lights in this place make me a happy face. So we are skirting behind Sunset Ranch, I think it's called. And here's a water feature that we shall not pass by.

Well, we're going to pass by. We're going to pause. One of my favorite places to sit, by the way. This round fountain. Ah. Ah. Okay, let's go do Echo Lake area. And because it entertains me, we're going to do this sans editing this evening. And some of you may say, well, aren't all of your episodes unedited?

And to that I say, be nice, okay? I'm not a professional, but I do edit the episodes, mostly to take out dumb things that I say. I know. You wish I would take out more. But I do try to take out the dumber parts of my dialogue. Tonight, though, if it's in here, it stays. So we are... By the way, I going to talk to you about editing when we uh get over here to our final destination tonight which i'm gonna gonna leave that yet to be discovered because it has absolutely nothing to do with the holidays but we are standing right in front of SS Down the Hatch, right near Echo Lake.

And this area is amazing because they have the wonderful retro... Man, it's going to fail description on me tonight. But they have round, plastic, glowing signs attached to the lampposts. This one has a picture of bells and ivy and we also have very awesome retro images of Santa and reindeer and they are on every lamp post that goes around Echo Lake. Ah, and some classic holiday music too. In the very center of Echo Lake is the tree. And man, Hollywood Studios has a wonderful one.

I'm going to continue around the way here. Have I mentioned that it's packed? There are people everywhere. And lots waiting for PhotoPass. Which I don't blame them, because the tree is gorgeous. But it's a classic tree. Some of the other parks have, you know, like Animal Kingdom has a tree themed appropriately towards animals and wildlife. But Hollywood Studios' tree here in the middle of the lake is a classic tree.

It has a white star at the top and golden-whited garland around it and just classic red, green, and blue lighting. And out on the lake are floating the big round ornaments. Red, yellow, purple, blue ornaments out floating on the lake. Gorgeous. The ambience is subdued over here, but I'm going to wander to an area where it isn't. Here we go go let's go primetime cafe to your left as we pass. Also, I'm just now noticing... Okay, I've got to take a photo of this for you.

They have what appear to be very large porcelain deer. They're not, obviously, but... Also, that picture was terrible. We're going to take another one. Wow, that's terrible, too. Classic Burl Ives for you. I don't know if there is a man up there. I don't know if there is a man up there. Also, Gertie the dinosaur, which is directly in front of us now, has her Christmas hat on and a red ornament dangling from her mouth. I'm going to set you down for a moment.

I'll be easy. Okay. I think that's going to be a darn fine picture of the tree. We are across from the SS Down the Hatch, right directly near the backside of Gertie. I mean, directly adjacent to the backside. Tail in sight. But this is the best spot to view the tree. Hyperion Theater across the way. I'm just going to let you enjoy some burl. I'm gonna take a little exacto.

They're taking pictures right there. Okay. Okay, as we trudge on, we are leaving the Echo Lake area. Headed directly back towards Backlot. Eventually over towards the Muppets area. It is, dare I say it, chilly. And I know, if you are from Northern Climbs, you're going to make fun of us down here. But look, I lived in the Chicagoland area for five years, and I remember a particularly wonderful winter. Can you hear the sarcasm? Oh, there's our message. Here we go. Remember to floss. Change your clothes at least a few times a week, etc.

Anyway, I remember one wonderful winter in the Chicagoland area where it was below zero for nearly two weeks. And when it finally got to 30, I was outside in my t-shirt. I kid you not, it felt balmy. That guy is long since gone. I've been down here for 13 years and any resistance to cold is now history. And so those from the north are down here in their t-shirts thinking this is amazing. And us Floridians, when it gets to like 60 degrees

with a breeze, yep, we're putting our hoodies on. Do I have mine on? Yes, I do. The Ewoks are screaming over there in the trees to the left. Restless little guys Sci-fi dine-in Directly ahead Baseline

With a sizable crowd sitting outside And Let's hang out for a few minutes here On Grand Avenue, shall we? baseline with a sizable crowd sitting outside. And let's hang out for a few minutes here on Grand Avenue, shall we? Okay, I'm digging that vibe. Okay. Grand Avenue is a sea of people. Amazing. I'm glad to see the crowds. It feels nice. I was just going to ask you, is this Holiday Grand Avenue music? Yes. Ah, deep sigh. Ah, deep sigh.

You are next to the entrance to Grand Park, which is where the Muppet area is. We're sitting on a stone ledge here, looking across the way at the stores on Grand Avenue. You know that it's autumn here in Florida when the crepe myrtles lose their leaves. Not kidding. It's different down here. I know it's not the horticulture podcast, but many of the trees here don't lose their leaves in turn. The live oaks don't until, actually the live oaks don't lose their leaves until spring. Weirdly looks like fall and like March here. But one of the things that does lose the leaves and has a little color this time of

year is the crape myrtles and there are a bunch of them here on Grand Avenue and they look very appropriately autumn-like. I know I need this. I have a hunch you do too. I have a hunch you do too. And because I can't resist, every time I'm over here, we're going to take a quick walk over towards the Muppets area and hang out for just a minute at the Miss Piggy Fountain, because we have to. I don't make the rules.

Entering Grand Park. There's our Royal Flush. Always entertains me. And here we go. Water feature time. Hey there. This piggy looking gorgeous as ever. The wretched refuse is still sailing. Well, it's being rowed.

The little fish are still spitting. Oh, man, one of them isn't. What? Wait. Okay, just one of them. Almost all the little fish are spitting. And are there any holiday decorations over here in Muppets area? The answer is no.

Like, literally none. Somebody that understands Muppets and the studios tell me why that is. Because holidays in Muppet area seems to be quite appropriate. But nothing. Like, actually nothing over here, holiday-wise. Okay. Back towards Grand Avenue.

We're going to take a left. And you know where we're going. I'm going to end up tonight in Galaxy's Edge over by the Aluminum Falcon. I did that on purpose. Stop it. Over by the Millennium Falcon, because it makes me happy to see folks hanging out over there and taking pictures with lightsabers, and I haven't done it in a while. By the way, there is a Discord group called Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Discord,

and they have saber meetups, and they did one last night for Life Day. What is Life Day, you ask? Well, have you seen the Star Wars Holiday Special? Well, if you have, you know what Life Day is. But they had a Life Day Saber meetup yesterday. Looked like a really good crowd and a good time I wanted to come but I couldn't okay ambience change no more holiday now we're going off-world Rise of the Resistance Q is packed, as you would expect.

And man, Galaxy's Edge at night is the way to experience it. I dig it during the day but in summer in Florida Galaxy's Edge feels like you would imagine Tatooine feels and though it may be cool to visit Tatooine yeah, I'm over it but here it's 60 degrees at night and I know you Californians are like

that's my every single evening ugh yes, I'm jealous. But anyway, at nighttime, this land really, really comes into its own. Beautifully lit from every single angle. Mountains, blues and purples, and the buildings, warm oranges, yellows. Creatures rumbling off in the woods to our right. Okay, let's see. Because I am so conditioned, I always think,

should I go through the marketplace? And I'm like, ah, no, I can't. I have to stand in line. Well, guess what? You don't have to do that anymore. You can just walk in. So let's go through the marketplace real fast. Using terms like quick and fast, who even are we tonight?

I'm going to talk to you about editing and an episode once we get in here. Let's head into the market. Here we go. Sounds like the flusher is flushing. Right in the middle of the marketplace now. We're going to drive a spaceship. We're going to go fast. Creature shop to your right. Toydarian toy makers to your left.

Store that sells the Jedi uniforms also to the left. Ooh, I'm pausing here. They have a really cool Millennium Falcon hat. It says Black Spire Outpost on the back. I'm kind of digging that. I don't see anything else new in there, so we're going to head on. All right, we're going to go past Ronto Roasters, and there's going to be a lot of hissing from the cooking engine so bear with me here. All right, we're next to the outdoor seating area for Docking Bay 7. Doc Ondar's Den of Iniquities to the right.

I know it's antiquities. Fun audio tidbit fact is that the hissing from Ronto Roasters is so pervasive that any time I record over there anywhere, any time I've tried, primarily that's what it picks up is the hissing, so I don't try anymore.

But here we are on the outdoor area outside of Docking Bay, overlooking the beautiful Millennium Falcon and the mountains that surround it. And this is our goal for the end of the night. I'm going to go down here and see if I can annoy somebody by sitting next to them on one of the crates. Let's work our way down. And I don't really do that. I'm actually a good guest. I'm taking the ramp down instead of the stairs,

even though I don't have to because I'm used to. See, I'm just... It's exposition, folks. It's off the cuff. Because my sweetie wife utilizes a wheelchair in the parks, and this is the way we always go. Plus, I don't trip and fall and drop the microphone entrance to Smuggler's Run on your left at the bottom of the ramp here

already see Jedi and like every other area of the park a large crowd and are there any seats available over here? No, no there are not. And you know what, I don't blame these fine folks. They have the whole area decked out with snacks and everything. So what we're going to do is just walk around in front of the fountain for a minute. Did I call it a fountain again? I told you, no edits. It's a falcon, Jeremy, not a fountain. All right, let's just barge on in over here and get in the middle of a bunch of photos. What an amazing

place. A little bit of park enjoyment exposition here and then I'll shut up about that. But Heather and I were talking about the different ways for guests to explore and enjoy the parks, and the thought occurred to me that though these are parks that have attractions, they're also theme parks. Duh, we know this.

But I think more people should try to experience these parks as works of art. And maybe you're thinking, duh, we do that every time. But I know, I know folks that jet in and they do the rides and they jet out. And though I'm not judging here, I'm saying you're missing something because the incredible next level artwork of these parks because you need to think about these lands as art. They were created by artists. Think of this fountain.

Dude. Jeremy. I'm getting on my own nerves. No editing tonight. Look at the, not the fountain, the falcon. Every tidbit of that meticulously designed, set decorated, lit, built by talented artisans. And all of the buildings incredibly weathered and detailed to make them look like they've been here forever. Anyway, I could go on. But Animal Kingdom, the same.

Like, these parks are works of art, and along with the rides, you definitely need to stop and just take some time, take some pictures, enjoy the artwork and the ambience that's been created for us. So, I wanted to end up over here. It had nothing to do with the holidays for a couple of reasons, one of which I already told you. I wanted to see the lightsabers, and to the left here, I already see big pilot Jedi.

I see red, green, orange, purple, all kinds of lightsabers, people wandering around. It makes me happy. But also, as I posted in the story on Instagram at walkaboutwdw, you do follow us, right? I posted in the story that the most listened to episode of ours is a little episode called Galaxy's Edge Evening Rain Ambience or something along those lines. And I thought I would talk about that for a minute just for fun. Because I don't check the numbers often.

It had actually been a month or so that I'd even looked at the download numbers and I was I sorted them by most listens and was utterly surprised that that episode was the most highly downloaded because other Galaxy's Edge episodes we've done in the past they just didn't get a lot of downloads and that's fine that's okay we're more Disney than Star Wars here Star Wars just has happens to be a part of the Disney Parks now but some fun tidbits about that episode. I came here that night with no intention of recording in Galaxy's Edge, really, other than just popping in and out. But it started to rain, as it does in Florida at that time of year.

And the genius host of yours didn't bring an umbrella, so good job, me. And I was kind of trapped as it were over there in galaxy's edge where you see the photo taken for the episode underneath that ledge that stretches across from ronto roasters and so i just i turned my binaural mics on and just recorded for about 25 minutes just stood there literally listening to the pitter patter of the rain and the guests going by almost no other sounds in that area. So all the other things that you hear... So after that, when the rain finally did slow down,

I wandered around the land slowly and recorded a bunch of ambience, over here and by Docking Bay. And I layered those pieces of ambience in post when I edited. And I also doubled and tripled up pieces of the rainfall to make it sound like it was raining harder. It actually wasn't. Magic. I have no... Wait a minute. Here we go. I can feel the bass in my feet. It just never makes it.

But I don't know what I'm doing with the editor. I am a very dangerous novice. But I thought I would give you some backstory on that episode because it just made me smile to see that so many people had to listen to it because I am a huge Star Wars fan, as we've mentioned many times. Ships coming in, and to the left, the cargo vessel on top of Cargo Bay has its engines lit. Revving up. There are certain areas of the parks that just have a lot of life.

Others tend to be thoroughfares. Others are places where people just congregate and hang out. And this area has definitely become one of them for the fans. And I just love it. It makes me happy to be over here. So what is the plan from here on out? Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to finish up here and I'm going to go get a treat at Charlie Carr Cafe. See what I can procure for myself. I want a holiday themed treat. And I was told by the wonderful cast member at the... What is the thing where you show your magic band when you're driving in? Whatever that place is.

She said, I need to go to Trolley Car and look up a holiday cookie, so I'm going to do that. But for now, I hope you've enjoyed this brief little foray into the parks for some holiday goodness and a little bit of Star Wars goodness at the end really appreciate you guys thank you for listening we're not out searching for a big crowd here we're just having fun just going through the parks a little bit every week and taking you along that's always the only goal. Haven't done an attraction in a while, and that's on me.

Just because of what I've been dealing with, some of the queues, I haven't really felt like doing that yet. But we'll be jumping on some attractions soon. For now, though, please follow us at walkaboutwdw on Instagram. That is our one and only place where we interact with you, the traveler. Follow our producer and artist behind our logo, Josh. Also on Instagram at TheSteel with an E. I know, little one, it's late. It's not late, actually. It's just dark.

Boo, daylight savings time. But yeah, give us a follow over there. Drop us a note. Tell us how you listen. Tell us how you listen. Tell us where you listen, if it's appropriate. And remember, even here in Star Wars land, there is a great big beautiful tomorrow. Another bright sun's coming up and we will see you in one of those on another walk about the world. Thanks for listening and good night everybody. those on another walk about the world thanks for listening and good night everybody