Walkabout The World - A Disney Podcast - Walkabout REWIND - Revisiting The Beginning

Episode Date: April 29, 2025

Hello Travelers! This week we're doing something different. Going back to the very beginning of the podcast, setting the way back machine to spring of 2021, we bring you Walkabout Rewind, and this week - we're rewinding to episode 1! Tag along with host Jeremy on a walk from Echo Lake to Galaxy's Edge in Disney's Hollywood Studios.   If you like what we do, consider joining our crew on Patreon. These wonderful people help us keep the microphones crisp and the servers warm at night. The best zero cost option for supporting us to give us a five star review on apple podcasts or wherever you listen.   Visit us at walkabouttheworld.com - find links to all the things - attraction episodes, Insta accounts of all the hosts, and even how to buy your own Walkabout shirt!   Look us up at @WalkaboutWDW on Instagram and drop us a note to say hi.   You can now also drop us at line at [e-mail]. Say hi, tell us how you found us, and give us some suggestions on things you'd love to hear.   Walkabout The World is a weekly Disney podcast, always recorded on property at Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort with the simple goal of making you feel like you are in the middle of the magic.

Well, hello traveler and welcome back to Walk About the World, your weekly audio expedition through one of the parks or resorts of Walt Disney World here in Orlando, Florida. And this evening, you can probably tell already, we are in Disney's Hollywood Studios standing next to the SS Down the Hatch right in front of Echo Lake with the Gertie the dinosaur to our left. It is about 630 so we're about half an hour before park close here but we're going to take a leisurely stroll. The goal, if there is one, is to put you in the park to relax, to take in the sights, the sounds, to slow down, enjoy the park vibe. Along the way we'll walk, sometimes we'll talk, sometimes we'll stop and just enjoy the soundscape. The destination tonight, I think, is Black Spire.

The destination tonight I think is Black Spire. I think we'll just take a nice leisurely walk from here at Echo Lake back towards Black Spire outpost, Batu as it were, and just enjoy the evening. It is lovely out. It's been a bit hot today, but this evening it is low 80s and has a nice, nice gentle breeze. Good time to be in the park wherever you are. The ticket is on me this evening, so just sit back, relax, and you and I are going to go on walkabout. You ready? Let's do it. Hollywood and Vine to our left. Gertie the dinosaur coming up on our right. I always love these buildings over here. Art Deco vibe.

Indiana Jones outpost to the left. Unfortunately, it's closed right now. Always stop in there if it's not. Oasis Canteen being passed on our left, which is the place to get your Indiana Jones themed alcoholic beverage while you're in Hollywood Studios. If you're not in Hollywood Studios, you should definitely go to Jock Lindsay's Hangar Bar, where you can get lots more you can hear the forest moon of Indoor directly ahead of us here. Star Tours. You're definitely going to hear the soundscape change here because we are nearing Baseline just starting to go down Grand Avenue.

If you remember where Rider Stop was, we're essentially right there right now. And if you are looking ahead of us, you're essentially peering over towards Muppet Vision 3D and directly ahead of us is Gonzo's Royal Flush, which you only get one guess as to what that building is. It is lively out this evening. And I thought we would just chill and get a little vibe of Grand Avenue for a few. All right, I tell you what we're gonna to do. We're going to take a quick stroll over in the Muppet Plaza. Is it called the Muppet Plaza? I may have made that up.

It's where the Muppet Vision 3D is. We're going to walk over to the fountain quickly, and then we'll step out of there and head over through the gateway into Black Spire. Let's do this. I'm up at Vision 3, directly to you right now. I love this little area back here. I love this little area back here. Pizza Rizzo directly in front of us, fountain behind us. I like my boy Rizzo, but the best pizza maker he is not.

No offense, frizzle. But then again, what is the quality level of pizza you can expect from a small rodent? There is a significant exodus of people. Only a few of us going the other way. And you will see the soundscape change drastically here. We're going to stop for a few to enjoy it. Enjoy it. This is the area right underneath the gate of Black Spire. And I'm not sure if it's called the gate of Black Spire, or if it's just the entrance to the land.

But I'm going to call it the gate of White's Watch. If I'm not mistaken, I think this track was created by John Williams, one of my Star Wars friends that knows more than me. Correct me if I'm wrong. Alright, let's keep going. That was the case of a very expensive lightsaber hitting the ground. Let's hope the lightsaber made it through. All right, you are now officially in Black Spire, in Batu. Are you in both Black Spire and Batu? Are they one and the same? I should know this. Directly to our left is Rise of the Resistance, for which we do not have a boarding group.

That seems to be an ongoing issue with me. Right now we are entering, see I describe a lot of things I don't know the names of, but right now we are entering the marketplace area of Batu. We're not going to get in line right now. You have to get in line to go to the different stores, the different stalls. We're not going to do that. I did want to walk in and just get a little bit of a soundscape this evening. It was amazing. Down here a little further, you're right underneath a speaker that's playing some banging tunes from Oga's Cantina.

You can hear a little bit of that. There's a stairway that leads up into the other side of the marketplace area. Directly in front of us there's a ramp that leads up to Ronto Roasters. Notice we didn't say Ronto's Roasters because Ronto is the creature being roasted. And so I don't know the name of the droid doing the roasting and we should know that too. We should look this up. Let's do that before we come back so we can properly say hi to this guy. He just stands there. He's just roasting. Let's walk up the ramp to Ronto Roasters. All right. To our left,

Toronto Roasters has seating area. I don't think it's open right now. There's no one in there. I'm guessing it's closed for the day. They have been allowing folks to sit in there. If you get food from Dr. Bay 7. not sure if that's the case tonight though. We may, we just may go in Docking Bay 7 to procure a beverage or a snack. Right now what we're going to do is have a seat across from Dock Ondar's, Den of Antiquities,

or Den of Iniquities. I honestly think it could be either. You can go either way. I think Doc is about to close up his store for the day. The Now passing Docking Bay 7 at the overlook for the Millennium Falcon and if you, or the Falcon depending, but regardless if you are a Star Wars fan, can't help but love it. Again, more of those beautiful mountains of Black Spire behind the Falcon. It's situated in a small bowl-like area, kind of an amphitheater-shaped area. The buildings around the Falcon are easily the most Star Wars of anything in this area. I just love them. They look like they could have been taken right out of the prequels.

I won't get too geeky on you. But it is a lovely area. It's a land that has really grown on background, things are being loaded. Ships are coming and going. Not a huge crowd here tonight. Lively but not huge. I believe a Sith is about to get his picture taken near me, so that's our cue to move along, travelers.

We're going down the ramp that leads to, it's a double back ramp here, that leads to the entrance to Smuggler's Run attraction. Nearing the bottom of the ramp. Now with the attraction and the Falcon on our left, we're going to come out here into the main area. And so the Imagineers really outdid themselves with the lighting of these buildings in the mountains and the way that the Florida Sun catches these in the evening. Beautiful. Mini a photo being taken at the moment and I don't blame it. As I said, lots of picture taking going on right now. We have procured a seat. It's really a cargo container of some sort here across from the Falcon up against the

wall. What we're going to do is just take in some of the sights and sounds of the Batu. Let you hear some of the ships coming and going and I'm going to be quiet and soak in the vibe a little myself. It's been a long day. We deserve to relax a lot. Let's do that. Thank you. Falcon powering up now. The All day. Common problem with a Corellian freighter of this age. Now if you are a Star Wars fan of years ago, I probably wouldn't even need to tell you

what that sound was. The Younglings are the fun part of this family up ahead getting a picture with a first order a first order trooper that's about two and a half feet tall. 20 minutes standby right now for smugglers run so pro tip don't leave the park early hang around in Galaxy's Edge until right near Park Lowe's and you can enjoy a very small wait time normally for this guy. Okay. Are you ready? I'm hoping you will agree that what Imagineering did with the soundscape here is incredible. When the parks reopened in July, they were so empty. You know, because Disney and everyone was being very careful, which I understand, but they were so empty that it lacked the...

Oh man, words are failing me this evening. I'm just watching folks. But it lacked the buzz, the hum that an area like this really needs to feel lived in. And it's not packed over here this evening, but there are probably a hundred people all around this area. And it's kind of great. Thank you. Travelers with a nice relaxing few minutes spent in front of the Falcon and Black Spire. I think our expedition will come to a close this evening. If you can look us up over on Instagram at walkaboutwdw. Give us a message. We'd love to know how and when you listen and if you have a piece of the park that you just love, and you would just like to relax in it a bit, enjoy the soundscape, let us know.

And we will attempt to go make that happen for you. Send along any questions or comments you may have. You may be featured on a future episode, you never know. Thanks for going on Walkabout with me this evening, and remember there really is a great big beautiful tomorrow. It may not seem like it some days, but there is, and we will see you in one of those on another Walkabout the World. Good night.