Walkabout The World - A Disney Podcast - A Walkabout Listener Feedback Show At Epcot [ep 028]

Episode Date: September 7, 2021

Hello Travelers! This week's episode is all about YOU and your feedback about your favorite Disney nighttime shows and parades! Join me, Producer Josh, and his son Jude as we venture through a bustling Epcot. We start by riding the Seas with Nemo (which I hadn't done in years), then try some tasty treats, and we end the evening at the Morocco pavilion where we read your comments!    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, your weekly auditory vacation getaway. How do you like that? That's a new one. That's a new one. Always recorded live. Okay, live for us, not you. Later for you, but live in the parks here at Walt Disney World.

And today we are back at epcot epcot or epcot center today the weather is very very florida-like very tropical weather is dicey why is that because we have a massive hurricane off the west coast of florida now by the time you guys hear this because it'll be i would say two weeks before this air Now, by the time you guys hear this, because it'll be, I would say, two weeks before this airs. By the time you guys hear this, the hurricane will be long gone. But just know that those of you in the Gulf Coast, we are thinking of you. And if you are a listener from the Gulf Coast and you hear this episode, let us know how you did.

But we're hoping that you're safe and well and you get through it just fine. From your Florida peeps to you, we know how it goes. Now today, this show is yet another one driven by you, the listener, the traveler. Because our stalwart producer, I don't really know what stalwart means, but our stalwart producer, I think it's a compliment. Did you just insult me? I hope not. Our producer Josh went to Instagram at WalkaboutWDW and he posed a question. And what the heck was the question, Joshua?

In general. We want to know what your favorite or, I think it's favorite, it's been a while. What's your favorite nighttime spectacular here at Disney World, whether it's present or past? Can't really say about the future, but we want to know what your favorite... It would be weird if your favorite was a future one. We're at Epcot.

That's true. Future world, baby. Well, future world's gone, R.I.P. What was your favorite? We want to know your favorites and your memories. What do you love about the nighttime shows here at Walt Disney World? And a bunch of you responded. And believe it or not, we actually still have those responses.

Dutifully looked them up today. And at Epcot, because we're coming up on the release of harmonious i believe that is right and we're going to see the giant stargate stargate and barges later on now recently i saw some photos where they had the the sprinklers running i know that's not what they're called they're fountains not what they're called. They're fountains. They're supposedly fountains, and they were supposed to be, like, very, very full, and they were going to hide the barges, but it kind of looked like the lawn sprinkler thingies. We're going to go up and see those.

But right now, and if you can't tell, we're at the Epcot entrance area. The entrance prominent, we don't know what it's called, but the beautiful area with the fountain and the prisms. And we're here at evening. So, like, it'll be really lovely and lit up later, but not now. But what are we going to do? What is our plan? I think first we're going to head over to the seas. And after that, we have no plan.

Other than reading some of your comments, I personally have a pavilion I would like to visit because there is a very fattening food option I want to try. Are you guys doing food tonight or no? I'm going to need something to eat. I'm at Epcot. Food and wine. Okay. So some food will be involved. I'm not sure La Cava will be involved.

I don't think I can take that this evening. But yeah. Uh-oh. Monorail. Wave high. Which one is this? Monorail line Passing overhead So here we go

We will rejoin you Over at the Seas Welcome to the C's queue. Let's keep climbing. I have not done this in a really long time. Alright, let's grab a shell. All right, it's official we're in There it is. Rise up and form the form of the way. Nemo! Let's go explore, explore, explore. Let's go explore the big blue world.

Mr. Ray, we can't explore without Nemo. I sure will see him anyway. Where? Nemo! I'm trying to find him. Find who? Nemo! Where are you, Nemo?

Where's Nemo? He's my son. He's my son. We went on a huge adventure together! We did! We did! We did! We did!

We did! She has short term memory loss. She has short term memory loss. Stop playing games! I love games! I'm using a game that looks like a little game. Jellyfish! Right!

Oh, you're now thinking of something. Kind of a little game. It's Jellyfish! You're good. Dude, we get it. It's okay. You're not helping! Oh yeah, too fast for you. Stop fooling around! You're not helping! No! Oh yeah, too fast for you. Stop fooling around! There we go. Here's Brucie.

I wonder if clownfish taste funny. Nemo! Why don't you drop by for a little lunch? Oh, what's up, sir? Welcome to the EAC! Here we go. It's the EAC! Now I fucking want to... Watch out, Nino! It's the AC! Oh, what about it, dude? Hey, check out what I can do!

Ah-ha! Righteous offspring! Awesome! That's right. Sing it, everybody. Sing it, everybody. I'm gonna go explore in the big blue world. We're ready to go. In the big blue world. The big old blue. I'm gonna go explore in the big blue world. Things I've never seen before.

Totally dears. I've never seen before. Totally dears. I've never seen before. I've never seen before. I'm Tondori. I've never seen before. I've never seen before. I've never seen before. I've never seen before. I've never seen before.

I've never seen before. I've never seen before. I've never seen before. I've never seen before. Why are the bushes making noise? Well, that was fun. Haven't done this season in a while. And I love the pavilion. We didn't hang around very long. There's not a whole lot to record in there.

There's a lot to see, not a whole lot to hear. What are we going to do next? I literally don't know. Let's walk about and let the walkabout take us there. That's right. We'll meander and see what we run into. The only way it could be more humid is if we were in one of the tanks inside. It's not insanely

hot, but dude, it's humid right now. You guys didn't need to know that. Anyway, we're going to take off, see what happens. Here we go. Turns out, not everything you hear on the internet is true. Shocking. For here is the Innoventions loop that many feared we had lost. Where are we?

We are across from living with the land next to the crater of future world and some walls so maybe they're playing the music as irony i'm not sure however living with the land has been down did you know of this i did see this uh week yeah i'm wondering if it had anything to do with the folks that decided it was okay to jump off the boats maybe they're out of cucumbers i don't know i'm afraid though don't mess with my land epcot don't do it hopefully we're all good but anyway it's very good to hear the old interventions music still going speaking of still going segue segue Segway. Segway. Remember when they used to have segways?

Segway into segway? Interesting. Heather and I were talking about that the other day. We were like, didn't the managers at Manager People cruising around with the segways? What happened to segways? Are they just gone? These are the things that nobody

cares about. I don't know. I think I've seen they still do tours like... Segway tours? Segway tours of like Key West and things like that. Old Key West or actual Key West? Actual Key West. Monorail. What color?

Lime. Lime. Going by. Or green? That's green. Is it lime or green? Lime is the one with the blue. Lime That's green. Is it lime or green? Lime is the one with the blue. Lime is indeed green. Oh, yeah.

But lime has the blue deltas, yes. All limes are green, but not all greens are lime. This is true. Journey into imagination with figment is ahead. No doubt a one-minute wait, but we're not going to do... We're not going to visit our purple little buddy today. Which way? You pick it. You pick it. We'll go by it. We'll go by him today.

It is nice to see the monorail back at Epcot, though, I will say. It really is. Felt like it was missing something for a while. That was a big missing link. There was no Epcot loop. This part is called a walk and talk about. We weren't doing that. We are now. That's what happens when you don't plan.

Wait, do they not have the little squirty water things anymore? They do. They do. See them? The jumping fountains are jumping. But what is up with the upside down waterfall the water's only going like a third of the way up the that's very strange i must stop and take a picture of this you guys know this the fountain that goes upwards next to image works and it normally shoots all the way up but yeah it's having a trouble having problems today. Not sure what's up with that.

I'd like to speak to a manager. Zach Ridley, where are you? I'd like to speak to you about your fountains in general. Get away from your floors for a moment and talk about your fountains. That man can design the heck out of a floor though so the crowd level on the touring plans app which you have surely is a one today and the and the

rides are hang on hang on one second the rides are very low but there's a ton of people walking around still a great number of them walking out because it's been raining. Anyway, we've noticed something. Completely, probably unimportant, but what is it? There is some kind of a flag, or maybe a very small flag.

It's a pole of some kind. It is a pole. Atop Spaceship Earth. A rod, as it were. Noticed it in the parking lot. it now lightning rod why now my guess is it maybe had something to do with the the new lights or yeah because the little uh the little tap light things are all installed now. And I say that with love. I think they're actually really cool.

If you've seen online, they have tons of patterns and stuff they can do on Spaceship Earth with those. But they're all installed. Maybe there's a rod involved too. I like it when we're going the opposite direction of 80% of the people in a park. I don't think that that means anything bad at all. More park forever? Last time I said that I was in Animal Kingdom and everything was shut down, though. Joke was on me.

Alright, I'm going to shut up for a minute. We're going to go see if we can find some food. Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Horses, hold your breath. What is the apple seed orchard? And where is it?

Oh, wait. Where they had the different beers and stuff. Is that the Circle Vision Theater? I think so yeah. Do you want to check it out? I thought that was the kid car. Well it's like where you exit out. It kind of is. That's a kind of weird place for it. Pours and plates. Let's go look. Let's check look. Yeah, let's go look. Except you literally can't go that way. The apple seed orchard has an apple crumble tart, I think, that's going to have to happen. And then what is this? Hearts? Some ciders.

Some ciders. Both non-alcoholic and alcoholic. All right. Yeah, let's do it. Dessert first. Man, the confluence of these food booths over here is delicioso. Smelly. Wonderful.

Also. Why can't you hear smells? Also, name the song. Did you even come to Epcot and pass Canada if you didn't hear the record of the Edmund Fitzgerald? Super sad song, dude. It doesn't have to be sad because it has no words. It's a particular arrangement. Yeah, I guess so.

Oh my, oh wow. God, that popcorn smells good. That was a nice big one with caramel corn? Caramel corn, yes. Caramel apple corn. So we are in front of Le Cellier, also one of the most picturesque places in Showcase. Here's the Edmund Fitzgerald. But if you're a gardening fan, and nobody is, but I am, this is a wonderful area to tour.

The planting over here is amazing. Okay, let's go to the apple seed orchard. And we are next to... Pylons, yeah, pylons. Yeah, that's right. I always want to call them beacons. Like from Lord of the... Light the beacons!

But it's the... I always want to call them beacons. Right? That might be better than pylons. Yeah, that's right. I always want to call them beacons. Like from Lord of the... Light the beacons! But it's the... I always want to call them beacons. Right? That might be better than pylons. Better than pylons. It's number 16 over here next to Canada and directly across from the otherworldly Stargate, right in the middle. And the sprinkler system isn't on this evening, so it's just the big black behemoths.

And I'm trying not to be cynical about it, but these things are really huge. I'm just pausing because it's really pleasant. Heat went way down. Crowd's lively. I'm going to eat an apple tart though. Be right back.

Thank you for your cooperation. Just caught the last bit of it. It feels like home, doesn't it, John? It does. If you've been with us from the beginning, you'll remember our old friend, the announcement. The announcer. Although the voice has changed, the message is back. That's right.

Brush your teeth. Brush your teeth. Give an apple to your teacher. Change your... No, I'm not going to say that one. But it's back. It's a limited announcement, but I actually didn't even know it was back. So to date ourselves, you now have to wear a mask inside and on transportation but not outside. So I think that's why we have an announcement again.

Anyway, back to eating. So the verdict is the apple tart was amazing. Don't skip on that one. How was the crumble drink thingy? If you're a fan of frozen beverages, it's quite lovely. It's got little cinnamon apples at the bottom. Apple strudel at the top, crumble at the top. We have spotted a Disney bunny near the edge of the lagoon.

Two of them. An entire herd of Disney ducks. Is it a flock of ducks? Is it a quack of ducks? Is it a waddle of ducks? It's a gaggle of geese. Yep. You guys can tell us what this is. Okay, we're going to attempt to get some real food next.

We've done the dessert first. I don't know what we're going to have. Let's find out. All right, bridge to France. Here we go. What's that? Macarons. If that gets. Some escargot.

Pass. Some escargots Pass Some performance of some sort Over at the American Gardens Theater Can you guys hear? Some of my favorite Little details In the World Showcase are On the banks of the water in France. If you've ever been to Paris, it's very similar. The only thing that's missing is people camping out. Homeless people camping out. But other than that, it's dead on.

Yeah, they got some bikes down there. Boat, easel. Okay, so now I'm hearing Journey blasting. And I was hearing like Fife and Drum. This is Epcot, baby. All right, now you're in France. You can hear some of that ambience, along with Journey off to your left. This is the legit Epcot experience right here.

Alright. Bruce and Josh just bought me the griddled cheese with pistachios. Dude. Really? This thing is amazing. Told ya. Don't skip on the griddled cheese. Okay.

Wait. Here we go. I hate Uber Eats. I can't do it. I. Wait. Here we go. There you go. You heard the full thing. So, a bit of news here that makes me really happy. And we're looking right at... Okay, so it is dusk and we are at the japan pavilion which is beautiful beautiful but tokyo dining are you a fan please say yes because i am a fan it is one of our favorite places to eat and showcase it has been

down the entire time since last march it just came back this week and i'm looking up there and seeing the people eating in Tokyo Dining. Makes me super happy. I'm going to set... No. There's a table. There's a festival table. And by festival table we don't mean trash

can. No. Trash cans are fine too. Let's sit here and eat our slabs of cheese. Did you guys actually think we could make it through an episode without going to a water feature? And we are going to go up to the Katsura Grill? That used to be the noodle house. Am I wrong?

Didn't it used to be called the noodle house or something of that nature? was yakitori yakitori house or something like that okay okay jack torrey all right we're gonna go up there and grab some grub i'm gonna take the circuitous route temple on our left. Not sure if I've mentioned it, but I probably have by this point. But Japan Pavilion, by far my favorite. I love it. Big stands of bamboo over here on the left and then up here at the top near the restaurant

there's this lovely wooden bridge what are you thinking? and another waterfall also it's got a Remy perched atop the rock I'm guessing that's part of the hide and squeak trail that they do here hanging lanterns man this place is beautiful

alright we are in the very back of the Morocco pavilion I'm going to just wander over here because yeah here we go. You know where that is, right? No dummies. It's not what you think it is. It's actually the little fountain over here.

But we are right next to... Man, I feel bad now. What's the restaurant? Restaurant Marrakesh? Is that what it is? And facing the alleys, all the little stores closed. But it is time for you. It is time for your comments.

Favorite nighttime shows from... Or parades. Was that an option? All right. From the Walkabout listeners. And in no certain order whatsoever. We're just going to go down through the list. A bunch of you commented. And I don't have a favorite,

although everyone who said Illuminations wins. That's all I'm saying. But no, I don't have a favorite. So starting off the list, my list, Josh and I are both looking at lists here. They may not equal. But Carla Easley says SpectroMagic. I'm going.

That is a solid choice. I miss it so much. And of course I miss it because that was my... That's the 90s nighttime show at the Magic Kingdom. That's what I grew up with.

The music, the visuals, and I miss it, especially since now there's nothing. No, no nighttime parade, sad trombone. All right, what's next, Josh? Who you got on your list next? I've got the Let's Talk Disney podcast.

Hey, guys. They went with a Fantasmic. Another solid choice. Can't go wrong with Fantasmic, man. Have you been, Mr. Jude? Fantasmic. Another solid choice. Can't go wrong with Fantasmic, man. Have you been, Mr. Jude? Fantasmic? Yeah? You dig it?

I used to be terrified of it. He was. When he was younger, he did not like that dragon and the nightmares. Oh, he did not like the nightmare sequence. Way to go, Disney. Make a kid cry. Okay, so next on my list, and forgive me, I'm no doubt going to say this wrong, but it is Kara PST. It could be Karapsed.

I doubt that it is, but Kara PST says Wishes. Wishes. You have to sing it. I really can't. The Dislife Podcast also chose Wishes. Okay, so a couple of early votes for Wishes here, and it is a classic, and it was around for a good while. I'm not going to talk about the new show quite yet. Maybe somebody will mention it, because I haven't looked ahead. So the next one is Loungefly Dude. Loungefly Dude says, the Epcot presentation of the world, pure magic. Now, Loungeflydude, I fully admit, I don't know of this. You?

My first inclination was to think maybe that was pre-Illuminations or the original Illuminations, before Reflections of Earth. Because they did definitely have shows prior, and I don't know what they were. You know, they light up each country or something, maybe. I know Epcot had the thing where they had, like, the guy in the little airplane flying around. The little... Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that wasn't a nighttime show, though. That was a daytime show.

Oh, that was a daytime show. Anyway, what do I know? Okay, so Fab Hatter. Hi, Fab Hatter. He says, Illuminations, Reflections of Earth. Excellent choice. nighttime show though that was a daytime oh that was a daytime show anyway what do i know okay so fab hatter hi fab hatter he says illuminations reflections of earth excellent choice that is the correct one no it's it's a it is my absolute favorite show i have so many good memories here stop and blab um because i also asked you guys to share some memories and a few a couple of you did but for me a couple that stand out first off when my kids were little um that's code for i'm old but when my kids were small we watched and you know that like it's florida and it gets windy and when you have tons of fireworks going off and you're on the

wrong side of world showcase that night it blows all the smoke and all the debris over towards you and it did such it did so in such abundance that we actually packed home a couple of big old firework shells in our backpack. And that was before we lived here. And so I remember my little girls dancing to the music and then packing home firework shells. And then lastly, I was here the last night of Illuminations. And we were still living in Daytona at the time.

So we trucked down here an hour and 20 minutes and then took forever to get out, and it was worth every bit of it. It was worth it. It was packed. It was like elbow to elbow. That was then the before times. That's that being part of history, being part of Disney history. It's always a big deal. There was crying.

There was cheering. But yeah, I love Illuminations. All right, shut up me me and let's move on Josh, what's next? We got Glenn Hey Glenn Glenn Winters He's got Reflections of Earth or Bust

He's not even giving you a choice No Amy Lee 24 Hi Amy She says Spectro Magic and Wishes Another Spectro Magic one I gotta switch my list out Josh doesn doesn't we got cg max yep cg max illuminations hands down he says hands down you guys are dogmatic i i'm not gonna say this yet

but i'll wait okay till we're done but i have i have a thought all right so i'm gonna just mispronounce everything like just that's the way it's going to work here. But Anne Brian 152 says, wishes. Dream a dream. Wishes. Your arms, my hearse. That's Matt. Spectro.

Hey, Matt. Spectro magic. Spectro magic. Hannah Nolte says, wishes and illuminations. Now, wait a minute. Can you have two favorites? I guess we already had one. It's spectro magic and, yeah Hands down. Now, wait a minute. Can you have two favorites? I guess we already had one. Spectra Magic and, yeah, okay.

So, fine. Breaking the rules, Hannah. Way to go. We did not specify it had to be one or, you know, it could be what's your favorite at this park, what's your favorite at this park. You can find a loophole there. All right, all right. KateCat29. Hi, Kate.

Spectro. Another one for Spect. Hi, Kate. Spectro. Another one for Spectro. Another one for Spectro. A wonderful person. HeatherHunt74. My wife says, Illuminations. Good job, Heather.

And we've got XRS54. So he wasn't sure of the name, but the Animal Kingdom show, Rivers of Light. Rivers of Light. There were a couple of, and that one now Animal Kingdom show, Rivers of Light. Rivers of Light. There were a couple of, and that one now defunct, but there are a couple of versions of that one as well. Yep. I never saw it.

I was never there in person. I only saw it once, and it was windy, so the screens just were useless, and I just never cared to go back. And it took so long for them to even start it. It went through so much just to get it. Yeah, a lot of iterations. Yeah, because the floats weren't, the barges and stuff wouldn't work. The lotus flowers weren't opening and all that. So is that the deal where they have the water screen they project on it?

So I'm guessing windy means like blurred nonsense. Yeah, you couldn't tell what you were looking at the shout out to xrs54 because nobody's mentioned that yet that's the only one phantom funky also a great name wow phantom funky main street electrical parade it's about time that's all i'm saying phantom funky got some really fun artwork check it out sweet yeah i can't go wrong with the electrical parade. I'm going to switch my list again. No, you absolutely cannot.

What? I think the last one's Holly. So it's a jolly Holly day. Oh, really? Is that the last one? Spectro for Holly. Holly says Spectro? Yep.

Okay, so also two people shared some memories here. Let's hear them. Kara PST says, Main Street Electrical parade, wonderful sights and music, greatly missed. And Fab Hatter says, memory from wishes. My dad was leaning against a construction wall, had me lean on it as well and feel the cannon blast shaking it, and he remembers that. Wow. He was shook by it. All I got is bad jokes, folks.

All right, I'm going to say this now. All right, go ahead. Get on your soapbox, Josh. Well, it's not so much a soapbox as... Dang it. You're probably going to fire me. I've been waiting on this. Yeah, this is how I go.

This is it. I never cared for illuminations. It's okay. It's okay. We have a big tent here. I liked... Well, here's the thing. I enjoyed, like, the free music for Illuminations, but then...

The show is pretty cool. Yeah, and then I usually would end up leaving. And I don't know if that's just because I'm not a nighttime show person. Like, fireworks are like, eh, because I grew up with them. That's the other thing. Okay, that's fair thing that's the other thing that i like to talk like i often think about that how we're spoiled like we have true yeah well we had at least they're doing fireworks now right yeah yeah so they're back now but you know we have uh fireworks every night. Every night at at least three parks. Yeah, and the majority of the people on the planet, or at least in this country for sure, in the country,

they get maybe two days a year that they love their fireworks. Fourth and the first, maybe. Yeah, we get them every night, and I feel kind of spoiled by that. That's why I never really cared for fireworks on the 4th of July and that kind of stuff. Well, we always lived just far enough from Disney where we didn't want to stay because we had an hour and 20-minute ride back, so we would just jet out late evening. And so we didn't stay a lot for these things. The time that I had mentioned we had seen Illuminations,

we were actually on vacation staying on property. And then we drove down to the last one, as I mentioned. But that's why we've never seen Fantasmic. Because it's all about, do we stay? And we're just like, oh, we're back so late, such a long drive. And now we do live close, but that's not going right now, right? I don't think it is. I got to say, though, I do have good memories of, childhood memories of illuminations, the original illuminations.

And my grandmother would always call it luminaries. She couldn't remember what it was called. I'll take that. Yeah, she'd always call it luminaries. We know what she was saying. And I also, I liked the lasers and stuff. I thought that was really cool. It was the 90s, man.

It was. How can you not like lasers? Yeah, the lasers were stuff. I thought that was really cool. It was the 90s, man. It was. How can you not like lasers? Yeah, the lasers were cool. And can you guys hear Sweet Child of Mine blaring in the background over there at the American Gardens Theater? We actually retreated from the Japan Pavilion because after Take On Me,

it just, it didn't go well from there. And we were like, man, we won't even be able to hear you guys. Well, we still can't hear you guys. We were hearing us talk about you guys. All right, guys, thanks for joining us this evening, tagging along. Thanks for all the comments. Really appreciate you guys giving us your feedback on favorite nighttime shows and parades.

Had a good night at Epcot. It is nice and cool now. We are back by the entrance. The fountains are blue and purple. What is the thing that goes around the entrance now? It's like a LED strip of color. It used to just be white. Chases itself around and looks really cool with the flags.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks for hanging out with us look us up on Instagram at walkaboutwdw drop us a line over there look Josh up at the steel also look up the adventurers project Josh runs that really cool stuff

some of you even have the stickers as gifts along with your walkabout stickers by the way that Josh created thanks Josh Jude thanks for hanging out with us, man. Yeah. I'll hopefully be back. He will. He did good.

He did good enough to be back. Walkabout debut tonight. Podcast debut. Walkabout debut. Josh, thanks for hanging out, man. Yeah, thank you. Had a great time, as always. And thank you, listeners, for all the support.

Keep listening. Because it would have been really weird if we had like two comments to read. So thanks for making that a little better for us. As always, even though we're at Epcot, there is still a great big beautiful tomorrow. By the way, that's Monorail. What is that, Josh? Monorail Teal? That's right.

Monorail Teal is exiting, as are a lot of others. And we are too. See ya. Good night, everybody. Good night. Good night, Paul. Of course. It's always my aunt Paul. as are a lot of others and we are too see ya good night everybody The Lundsjö, Lundsjö, Lundsjö Thank you.