Podcast Episode 291 – This or That – Disney Ride Wars
It’s Ride Wars! In Round 3 of our ‘This or That’ series, Fran and Carrie take on 10 of the biggest attraction debates in the Disney fandom. Haunted Mansion or Pirates? Rise of the Resistance or Flight of Passage? Is Cosmic Rewind a must-ride or a one and done? And is It’s a Small World charming or torture? We agree on the classics… but the thrill rides split us right down the middle.
Plus, Carrie is back from a week of glorious fall weather in Orlando, with first impressions of the new, much smoother Big Thunder Mountain. And for our Pixie Dust, Carrie shows off two new park mugs and Fran shares her thoughts on Bob Chapek’s new book.
Next up in the series… Fan Culture and Etiquette!
Are you listening to the Solo Show? That’s where you’ll hear our friend Stan and his animated intros! https://thesoloshow.libsyn.com/
Find Bob Chapek’s book – Behind the Castle Walls is available on Amazon. I did the audio version that you can get here: https://link.amazon/B04QkGiYa
Find Francine and Carrie online:
Website: https://PixieDustFan.com
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Carrie on Instagram: @MuppetCrazy
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Transcript
Fran and Carrie are back with Round 3 of their AI-powered This or That debates, and this time it’s Ride Wars: ten classic Disney attraction debates, from Haunted Mansion vs. Pirates to front row vs. back row. Carrie also recaps a glorious fall week in Orlando and her first ride on the new, much smoother Big Thunder Mountain.
This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.
Welcome back
Fran: Hello Carrie!
Carrie: Welcome everybody to the Pixie Dust Fan Podcast. This is Stan Solo. I mean, Carrie and Fran. How do we do, Stan? Is that okay? Is that a little bit better?
Fran: Ew. I know, right? He said we cracked him up on the last episode because we were saying he’s so animated when he starts the podcast.
Carrie: Maybe. I know. Maybe we should maybe we should have him do so. He should coach us.
Fran: Give us like a coaching call on how to be like.
Carrie: A coaching call.
Fran: More animated?
Carrie: Hi, Fran, how are you doing? I’m good, Care Bear. How are you doing? Yeah, maybe you could give us some tips on how to come out of the gate.
Fran: Like
Carrie: Fireworks, parade.
Fran: Fireworks. Dynamic.
Carrie: Instead of sitting on the couch and reading a book, excitement, we’re going to want. Fireworks.
Fran: Our excitement level cannot match Stan’s solo. So, if you’re not listening to his podcast, you gotta go do that. So, how are you doing, Carrie?
Carrie: I’m great.
Carrie’s fall trip to Orlando
Fran: Great. Actually. I’m trying to think from our last recording. Have you been away again?
Carrie: Indeed, I was away. For I was away. I am glad to be home for a while, for a couple of weeks, but yes, I was away. I was in Orlando again. The first time I was in Orlando, if I’ve mentioned, it rained for three days straight. This time, it started off, I was there for four or five nights. It started off. Hot as heck and I’m like, oh, good grief. Why is it so hot here? Then it turned to fall. I don’t know if it’s prematurely fall there. If it was just those five days, it was glorious. It was windy as heck. The wind was blowing. My hair was like tying in knots. And I would just look at the people I was walking with and I’d be like, this weather is glorious.
Fran: That’s awesome.
Carrie: It was like cool in the morning, cool at night. You needed a sweatshirt. You could wear jeans. It was that cool. It was windy, which wasn’t maybe not the best, but still glorious. And then in the daytime, it was overcast a bit. But if the sun was out, it was nice and warm when the sun was blazing. It was perfect weather. It was almost like Orlando was saying. Don’t worry, Care. We got you. Like, you keep complaining about hot it is, and I’m gonna make this a nice week for you. I forgot. I was not looking forward to sweating and being in the disco inferno for four days, and it was the total opposite. So it was the best when it came to the weather.
Fran: So you were so happy with the weather.
Carrie: Oh my goodness. I glo I think I said the word glorious like 14 times in four days when people were like, oh, it’s nice and cool. I’d be like, it’s glorious. Oh my goodness, look at that wind. This weather is glorious. That sun, that sky is so blue, but it’s a little nippy. It’s glorious. I said that like a hundred times. So it was glorious weather, so that’s what I that’s my main takeaway.
Fran: So you remember why you love Florida in the fall.
Carrie: Glorious. Yes. But yeah, now I’m back home, trying to think.
Fran: Now you’re back home for a couple more weeks.
Carrie: Back home, back home. The cats are happy to see me. And now yeah, back to regular scheduled program.
Fran: Yeah. And the cats obviously are very welcome happy to have you home.
Carrie: Where did you and oh yeah, yeah, they were. They’re they’re sweet. Those kittens are sweet.
Fran: Actually when we started our call you were you were telling me about how they had destroyed your desk because they were just running around like crazy.
Carrie: Oh yeah. They run around. Like right now they’re napping, but like when I woke up. I fed them and they like the kittens go bananas over food time. Like they jump on the counter like eight times. Like, I literally took Mickey off the counter like eight times before I put the food down. Because he jumps up, I put him down, he jumps up, I put him down, he jumps up, I put him down. But, anyways, after they eat, then they get a little bit of zoomies. And like, literally, when we started chatting, because we’ve been chatting for a couple of hours, like they were flying up and down the stairs. Like, I’m sitting at my desk looking at you, and out of the corner of my eye. I just see two cats fly by, jump on the bed, fly back down the stairs, fly. And I was like, oh dear. But then, but right now, but then they have a nap. So they’re in their nap era right now. They’re in their nap zone. So they are napping. And then when they get up, it’s going to be Crazy Town again. And if they wake up before we get off the call, we might have some cats, there might be some cat interrupt.
Fran: It may be interrupting. But you know what, we?
Carrie: Because I think they’ll be like, hmm.
Fran: We haven’t had interruptions in a while from the cats, so you know, they need to make an appearance every once in a while.
Carrie: They might, they might, depends how long we chat for. But anyways, right now it’s nap time. It’s all is quiet. On the western front over here, on the northern the northern front as everybody’s quiet right now, so take the So what have you been up to? Anything exciting? No.
Fran’s surprise haircut
Fran: Anything exciting? Work, work, more work. Got my hair cut. That’s not my Pixie Dust, because, so I it’s funny, like my family’s sick of hearing about it. But I’ve had the same hairdresser since I was 17 years old. Like, honestly, longest relationship I’ve had with a man outside of my family. And love him to bits, but he’s the same hairdresser that my sister goes to, my nephew goes to. And when time is busy, and I’m the only driver in the family, we all have to go together. And I don’t have time, and God love him, but he takes forever. So I don’t have six hours for us to sit there at the salon while he cuts each of our hair. So last time I was just like, you know what? No worries. You know, we’ll let him cut my nephew. My sister will have this other lady that we know there. And you know what? Just pair me up with someone. Well, the lady was an apprentice, I think. And so I said to her, I’d like it a little shorter. And I sat in the chair and then I saw her make the first cut. And five inches fell off the back of my hair.
Carrie: Oh dear.
Fran: And then at that point, I was like, well, there’s no point in saying anything. Like, she’s cut, we have to go with this now because I’ve lost five inches off the back of my hair. So I didn’t say anything. And like, oh my gosh, my hair is so much shorter than I wanted it to be, which is going to be a disaster if it’s at all humid in Florida. But it’ll grow. It’ll grow.
Carrie: I think it’s cute. You need to just let it, you just need to let it flip. So I so when I was in Florida last time and I was hanging out with one of our friends, our mutual friends, who also has hair.
Fran: So, you know.
Carrie: Like that, that reacts there. And hair that reacts like yours does in the Florida humidity. And I was, and I was saying that how I was teasing you or joking with you, saying, like, just like, let it go, like, like, embrace your curls. Like, I’m pretty sure I’ve messaged you last time you were there and said, like, order some like crazy hair stuff that works for your hair and just let it be natural. Like, let those curls go out. And she said, Carrie.
Fran: Just let it go.
Carrie: There is no product on earth that’s going to do that while you’re down here. And I’m like, I beg to differ. Like, you’re trying to tell me, you’re trying to tell me that with all the new, you know, hair care, makeup things, all the revolutionary things since they’ve made over these years, the kajillion dollar industry of hair and beauty and makeup, that there is not a hair product that is gonna hold your curls.
Fran: I’m telling you.
Carrie: Your beautiful curls when you’re in Florida. I beg to differ. It’s gotta be possible. It has got to be possible. But she said, Carrie, you know.
Fran: No. It’s crazy. Well, and it’s the it yeah, see? Good, good. Somebody else tells you.
Carrie: So then I was like, okay, well, maybe she is okay, like, you know, she has first-hand experience, I suppose.
Fran: Not lying.
Carrie: But but I think I don’t know I I think you should just let your curls be and with your short hair maybe bring a curling iron and like put some like let that like let the flip live. Absolutely. I’ve had, I’ve had, I sometimes cut my hair to that level length, and it’s the same thing. Like the bottoms kind of flip up. So dig out your curling iron and put some curls.
Fran: Let the flip live.
Carrie: I wish the next time I was going, I was staying in the same room as you because, honest to goodness, I’d be doing your hair. Like, that’s where we’re at. Like, I am determined. I am determined to figure out how to make your hair work in humidity.
Fran: Oh my gosh.
Carrie: And that’s going to be my plan moving forward. I am going to, I am going to, I am going to, ding dong, there’s going to be like an Uber delivery of a hair product.
Fran: Oh my gosh. Woohoo.
Carrie: And I’m going to be like, let’s do this.
Fran: This is good.
Carrie: Figure out your hair.
Fran: Oh my gosh. Well, thankfully it shouldn’t be too humid when we go.
Carrie: Your hair is going to be just normal. It’s just the humidity that’s.
Fran: Hey. It should just be normal. It should just be normal, I think. So fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. We’ll see. We’ll see. But yes. So that’s what I’ve been up to. And then.
Carrie: Yeah, not a got a haircut.
This or That: Ride Wars
Fran: I got a haircut. That was exciting. And yeah, you know, that’s my life. And lots of work. And yeah, and here we are. We finally get to catch up and record this round three of our This or That.
Carrie: Oh dear.
Fran: Which you know what? We’ve had some really great feedback on it. Like people are are enjoying
Carrie: People like playing along too and picking theirs. It’s fun.
Fran: Exactly. Yeah. And then hearing what we and it’s funny because we decide, you know, I think for most of them, we know what each other would pick, but it’s, but it’s more the discussion around our picks versus the actual picks themselves. Right. So this episode is called Ride Wars. So if you haven’t been listening, we, I asked AI basically to come up with the top this or that that Disney fans argue about. And it gave us a whole bunch of rounds. So we’ve been going through them. We’ve done, we’ve already done the big ones, which were kind of like Magic Kingdom or Epcot or park hopping or not or whatever. And then last time was Food Fights. And this time is Ride Wars. Mm-hmm. So it’s going to be very interesting. So are you ready for this, Carrie?
Carrie: Yeah, I am.
1. Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean?
Fran: First one. I think I know your answer. The first one is Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean.
Carrie: Oh dear.
Fran: And then she’s going to say, is it Disneyland or Walt Disney World? But they’re both very different in Disneyland and Walt Disney World. So right? Like in Disneyland, Haunted Mansion has a much better queue. In my opinion. And Pirates of the Caribbean. Goes outside.
Carrie: Yeah, they’re both as they’re in Walt Disney World they’re l they’re all right. At Disneyland they’re like ow.
Fran: They’re very different. So, but does it change your answer? Like would you pick one in one park and one in the other? Or
Carrie: Okay, so if I know, I don’t think so. So if I was in the park. And I can only, this is a tough one. If I could only choose one. I’d pick Haunted Mansion.
Fran: Really? I would have picked that wrong.
Carrie: No, I would pick the Haunted Mansion.
Fran: Why?
Carrie: I think overall like yeah, I think that’s the ride I want to ride ev that’s the attraction I want to visit every single time regardless. Whereas I don’t always go on
Fran: Pirates.
Carrie: Pirates, yeah, especially at Walt Disney World. I don’t even know the latter, like. I go on the ride at Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom so infrequently that I don’t even remember them half the time. Like, I can’t tell you, I think of the Disneyland versions first before I think of the Walt Disney World.
Fran: Really?
Carrie: But you definitely. I pick Haunted Mansion. I love, I love like the theming, the aesthetic, like the merch. I like like everything for the Haunted Mansion is just is just so like it’s a next level up for me. So like all round, I would I would pick that. It’s a hard one. It’s hard. It’s hard. It’s almost like a flip the coin, but yeah, definitely.
Fran: It’s it’s a hard one. It’s a hard one. For me, it’s absolutely Haunted Mansion for sure. I think just the nostalgia, and you’re right, it’s the one, like if I could only go on one attraction, it’s always Haunted Mansion. But I also think it’s more comfortable. Like it’s easier to get in and out of. You don’t have that big step down into the boat. You know, like it, it’s when you’re sitting on it, when you sit on that boat in Pirates, like your knees feel like they’re up at their chin, at your chin. Whereas the Haunted Mansion, the seat is actually comfortable when you get in the Doom Buggy.
Carrie: Yeah. I didn’t think of it from that perspective.
Fran: It is. You have more more room, like they never try to seat you with anybody else, like yeah, I like it. I I and it’s usually only you and your friend, like there’s not seven people around you. It almost feels like to me it’s a more like a more private experience because you’re in your Doom Buggy with just you you and your friend or whoever. Whereas on Pirates, I feel like there’s like you’re part of a bigger group of people that aren’t n you don’t really know them.
Carrie: Oh well.
Fran: Yeah. And the merch. I mean, you gotta, you gotta give it to the, I don’t, I couldn’t tell you the.
Carrie: Yeah, like I never bought a piece of pirate merch in my life probably.
Fran: Same. I think I did, you know what I did? I did years ago. I bought the shirt that said the beatings will continue until morale approves or until morale improves. And I bought that so I could wear it to my work on casual Fridays. Per my team.
Carrie: Oh my goodness.
Fran: My boss didn’t find it as funny as I did. But yeah, that’s probably the only pirate merch I’ve ever bought. Yeah. But Haunted Mansion merch, they have really good.
Carrie: Yeah, no, but to mention it all, like it’s definitely in Florida, anyways, it’s way busier than. So it’s probably easier to get on Pirates at Walt Disney World most of the time than it is.
2. Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain?
Fran: It is, yeah. Okay, so that’s that’s Ride War One. The second one. And see now I’m I’m no, I still know what you’re gonna pick. Space Mountain or Big Thunder.
Carrie: So this past trip
Fran: Did you do it? The new one?
Carrie: And holy smokes, is it smooth.
Fran: Is it? So maybe it’ll be a new favorite of mine once I try it.
Carrie: Like night and day difference.
Fran: Really? Worth doing. Like worth trying again.
Carrie: Do you remember? And and again, I was complaining because I didn’t want to walk to the back of Magic Kingdom to go on it, because that’s why I never ride Big Thunder, because you gotta haul your butt all the way through the park. So
Fran: It’s not that far.
Carrie: It’s far enough, especially when that’s the only reason you’re going over there. It’ll be different when there’s Cars there. I’m sure I will frequent that area a lot more. And again, I so I don’t know if Big Thunder here at Walt Disney World is different than, but I’ve I don’t even remember the last time I went on Big Thunder at Walt Disney World. I don’t remember, but I go on it all the time at Disneyland. And you know, when you’re like coming into the station at the end of the end of the ride and like literally it stops and you get whiplash? Doesn’t happen anymore. Doesn’t happen anymore.
Fran: Oh, you’re kidding.
Carrie: Like it it like it’s a little bit, but again, night and day difference. And we sat at the back. Like, so we were flying and flailing, and it was like, it was crazy, but it’s night and day difference. So, anyways, so I’m going to pick Big Thunder because that is my favorite Walt Disney World coaster.
Fran: So do you love it more now?
Carrie: Like, no, I love it this I love I like the bumpiness. Like the bumpiness wasn’t didn’t bother me. It is what it is. But it’s it’s it is incredibly smoother ride than it was before.
Fran: I would have s I would have said Space Mountain only for the nostalgia. But Space Mountain, like it’s hard for me now. Like getting in and out of that seat and and getting in you because of course I automatically think of the Walt Disney World one. Disneyland is a little easier to get in and out of, and I like sitting side by side. But at Walt Disney World, the that seat, that bench seat, it yeah, getting out of there is hard. And plus it’s hard on your back. Like as I get older, it’s I find that one harder. But I love the nostalgia of it and I love, you know, when I’m in it, I feel like I’m 10 years old again. And Big Thunder is like it’s a good attraction, but it was always so jerky that that one, you know, I would have, but now that you’re telling me it’s smooth. I’m gonna have to try it again and
Carrie: Like, unless it’s smooth in the back and it’s not as smooth in other spots, we were the very back seat and and it was very, very smooth.
Fran: Okay, well next trip I’m gonna have to make sure I d
Carrie: To try it.
3. Rise of the Resistance or Flight of Passage?
Fran: Have to make sure I do Big Thunder. Oh, excellent. Rise of the Resistance or Flight of Passage.
Carrie: My favorite attraction. That’s not the classic. It’s my favorite non-classic attraction at Walt Disney World in Disneyland.
Fran: I know. I know. Non-classic.
Carrie: Well, I shouldn’t say that at Walt Disney World, because at Disneyland there would be Radiator Springs Racers.
Fran: Yes. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. I’ll give you that.
Carrie: Anyways. So what are you, what, what are you, I know, I wonder what you’re gonna pick.
Fran: I don’t know. I think. I love Rise of the Resistance. I love the story. I love all of it. But I also, I’m one of those people, I don’t like long rides. I don’t like when they’re too long and I feel like Rise of the Resistance is too long. By the time you get through everything. But oh, I don’t know, ’cause I love Flight of Passage. Like, it’s
Carrie: But you didn’t like the if you actually walk through the standby line of Flight of Passage, by the time you walk through the standby line and then you go on the ride, it’s the same length as.
Fran: That’s true. Same length. That queue.
Carrie: Walk with no crowds. It’s like a 15-minute walk, I think, if you walk the whole thing.
Fran: Yeah, the queue line is very long for Flight of Passage. My favorite thing about Flight of Passage is the breeze. You get when you’re on that bike and like the breeze in your face, it’s just beautiful. But no, I think I gotta go with Rise of the Resistance. That story is the whole story starts to finish. It’s one of the most immersive things. And as a Star Wars fan, I kind of gotta say. That, you know, it’s funny. People all have different parts of that attraction where they’re like, oh, that’s the amazing part. When you see the stormtroopers, you see this. For me, it’s when you’re in that car and you go in the room and the AT-ATs are there. And those things are like real life-size AT-ATs, and you’re at the, like sitting underneath them. And I like that to me just blew me away. That makes the whole attraction for me. Is seeing them so huge. You know, when you think of like seven-year-old me watching them on the screen and now I’m sitting underneath one, it’s, yeah, it’s phenomenal. Okay. All right, okay, so one for each then. I say Rise, you say Flight of Passage.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind or TRON Lightcycle / Run?
Fran: And this one, I know my answer, easy peasy. Interested for yours. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Carrie: Well
Fran: Or TRON Lightcycle / Run.
Carrie: Oh. I would definitely pick Guardians.
Fran: Really? Why?
Carrie: Well, TRON is two minutes less than two minutes long and then and both times I went on it I’ve lost my breath so I do need to ride it again in the back.
Fran: I
Carrie: I don’t know. I like Cosmic Rewind because it’s smooth and I like the music. Like, I don’t mind. I’ve probably ridden it maybe five times now, four or five times. And I still am riding it. So I thought it was going to be a one and done, and I’d never ride it again because I thought it would just be too much with like the motion and like this this like the screens and like it’s not like a screen, like a 3D, but like there’s so much to see, but. I am yeah, I I still survive it, so. I still haven’t heard I still haven’t ridden with September, so I’ll be riding it until I ride it with September.
Fran: ‘Cause I’m amazed. Until you get September?
Carrie: And then I may never I may never ride it after that. That may be my swan song for sure.
Fran: Because I thought for sure that kind of ride was going to upset your tummy.
Carrie: For me, it’s not so much like I don’t. For me, I can handle if it makes my stomach feel a little queasy. It’s more like in my head, like the motion simulator, like the 3D stuff. Like, it’s more how it makes my head feel, which with those types of rides, like. When I was there this last time, like we were riding it at the end of the day, like I didn’t bother riding it because, like, a long day hot, tired, whatever, like that to me is just a recipe to feel kind of icky, even at the end of the day. So, for me, it’s more like you go in the morning when you’re kind of fresh. And that’s when I usually do it. Anything, anything, even if I was gonna go on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster or go on TRON or whatever, like. Probably at the start of the day before, you know, especially when it’s hot. If it’s hot, there’s no way I would want to go on any of those rides. Anything that might that may aid me not feeling the greatest from from riding it, so so but TRON, I need to ride it sitting in the, in the, in those, I’m just gonna sit in the seats in the back because it’s really scary if you lose your breath on that ride. Like, I seriously thought I was going to, I was so worried I was gonna faint or or whatever, like pass out. I’d never been I I usually and I’m not and I’m not nervous like if
Fran: That’s not good, that’s that’s not you, yeah.
Carrie: Is not. No, it’s not like I’m nervous before. It’s like it is what it is. It’s only going to be two minutes. It’ll be two minutes of fun or two minutes of terror, but it’s only going to be two minutes. So. But you rode on TRON a few times. You’ve been on it a few times, right?
Fran: Yeah, yeah, for me, it’s TRON hands down. Like Guardians was a one and done for me. Like I felt so, oh, like I lost my breath. I was, I thought for sure I was gonna hurl my cookies. The minute that thing started, I was done. And yeah, it was. I couldn’t even tell you what song was playing. I don’t even know. I was screaming so loud, I didn’t hear a thing. So yeah, Cosmic Rewind is one and done for me.
Carrie: I know we’ve said this before, but like I don’t know how they can make a ride that someone can go on it like, you know, as many times as they possibly can, and then someone else can go on it and they say they’re never going to ride it again. Like, I don’t understand. Like, that’s the part, that’s what boggles me the most about this experience because what other Walt Disney World attraction is like that. That it’s either, unless it’s a motion simulator. Like if something like Star, like Star Tours, like if you don’t do motion simulators, you don’t do them. You feel horrible. Like that’s just a yes or no. You know that you just steer clear of them. But like a ride. Yeah, like it’s just weird that there’s a ride that’s so…
Fran: Yeah, it’s such a different kind of, yeah, it’s a different kind of ride. And you’re right. Like some people love it and have no issues. Like we have friends who are much, not much, but older than me. And they both did it and had no problems. And I, so I was like, okay, I can do this. What’s wrong with me? And then I get on it and I was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Like getting off it, I thought I’m going to fall down these stairs. Like my head was spinning.
Carrie: Like the when I was getting when we were like the last time we rode it and I didn’t ride it, I still went through the queue and I did the and waited for people. And when we were coming out, like we were kind of laughing because when you come out of the ride. You have to walk like you’re on a ride that either you love so much you want to live on it or you never ever ever even want to hear the word Cosmic Rewind in your life ever again. Yet you get off the ride and they make you walk up like 24 stairs and then walk down 24 stairs.
Fran: What is wrong? My legs are jello and I’m trying to do stairs?
Carrie: If you’re not feeling like I’ve seen people come off white as a ghost, red, sweating, because it’s been like so terrorizing for them. Like you may fall up or down these stairs. Forget about the legs of jelly because you’re nervous. It’s like, what if you tumble down these stairs? So we were kind of giggling at that. Like, it’s like, it’s great for the people that love it, but for the people that don’t love it, that is the last thing you want to do: walk up and walk down all those. There’s a lot of stairs too. It’s not like five stairs, like it’s a lot of stairs. Like, I would say there’s probably like 18 or 20 stairs.
Fran: It’s a lot. I know. I found that so crazy. So for me, and I thought for sure TRON, I thought TRON was going to be a one and done for me.
Carrie: It’s a big staircase.
Fran: But it’s so short. I like it because it’s so short. Because, really, by the time I start to get freaked out, or maybe I don’t have my breath, or I feel a little nauseous, it’s over. Like, so by I don’t really have time to feel sick on it. It’s just like a quick adrenaline rush, and then I’m done. So I’m okay with TRON, although I will say getting onto the bike is kind of difficult at at a certain age, I would assume. Getting your leg like I can get my leg up over it, but when I was trying to get off, I needed some help. So yeah. You gotta be pretty nimble to
Carrie: Nimble.
Fran: Nimble to straddle that bike.
Carrie: Oh that’s awesome.
5. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure: great re-theme, or do you still miss Splash Mountain?
Fran: Okay, number five. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure: a great re-theme, or you still miss Splash?
Carrie: I don’t know. I’m fine with Tiana’s. I don’t I more like the fact that it’s a log flume and it’s got a drop. It’s more the drop for me. Again, I don’t have a lot of nostalgia to to a lot of the stuff, so
Fran: I’m this I don’t either. You know, it’s funny. Like, Splash Mountain was around for years and years, but I never understood, I didn’t know the story. Like, maybe if I’d known the story, maybe, but I didn’t really know, I had no affinity to Br’er Rabbit. I just knew he was a rabbit. But I didn’t really know the story. So I didn’t feel any kind of connection to it. So when they got rid of it, I was like, okay, well, like it was fun that I liked the little song, the How Do You Do?
Carrie: The music was snappy, but so’s the do do do do do do. Yeah, for sure.
Fran: Like that part was fun, but I didn’t really have any heartstrings attached to them. So, with Tiana’s, I feel like there’s a story there that I know. It feels almost familiar to me. And of course, I love Mama Odie. So, like, when you, you know, when you have her in the thing, that was awesome. And, yeah, I think they did a great job with it. I really like I mean, I love that movie, so that might probably sway me a little bit too. Is I think it’s such a great movie that and I love the songs so. Okay, Tiana’s. All right. So we agreed on that one.
6. The new Test Track or the original?
Fran: Number six, the new Test Track or the original.
Carrie: I’ve been on the new Test Track, the newest Test Track.
Fran: Oh no. Like they’re trying to bring it back almost to the original a little bit. I want to say like the
Carrie: But like if this question was like the middle Test Track, then that wasn’t very cool.
Fran: The middle Test Track was not very good. I didn’t like it. Like, I like the OG OG Test Track, I thought was really fun. I like the way they were teaching you about how they put the cars together and what they could do and how they road test them and, you know, all of the crash dummies and stuff like that. I thought that was really, I thought that was fun. It was like educational, which is what it was supposed to be.
Carrie: The thrill of it is like the end of the ride so like do they like that draw that will draw people regardless, I think, of what the other, like the first part of the ride is. So you almost think they could have just maybe updated it a little bit. And maybe that’s what it is now because I do think it looks a little bit more like the original. So like I think all they needed to do was tweak it.
Fran: Like they’re getting back to that story.
Carrie: Yeah, make it a little make it a little maybe update it. But like, yeah, the crash test dummies, that’s funny.
Fran: Those are hard seats to get in and out of too. Those are like very low to the ground.
Carrie: But yeah, I haven’t ridden it since it’s the new one.
Fran: I noticed that I have this thing about seats.
Carrie: Even though I’ve been to even though I’ve been to Walt Disney World five times since it reopened, I still have I still haven’t been on it.
Fran: You’re gonna have to add it to your l you know what I don’t like. I don’t like the whole build your car, like all of that kind of stuff that they do.
Carrie: Yeah, I don’t think they do that anymore, do they? They don’t do the build the car thing.
Fran: I don’t think so. I don’t think so.
Carrie: But I’ve heard someone I was there this past trip, someone said to me, that was my favorite part when they were there. Someone’s like, oh, there I’m and they were like, oh, that was my family’s favorite part, like dra like building the car.
Fran: Kidding! Oh my gosh.
Carrie: So it’s like if they were on this
Fran: Weird.
Carrie: They would be like, I want to build the car.
Fran: I would not, yeah, no, I hated that part. I guess the kids liked it. It was something to do in line, but yeah.
7. It’s a Small World: charming or torture?
Fran: All right. It’s a Small World. Is it charming or torture?
Carrie: Charming, absolutely.
Fran: I went through a phase where it was torture to me. I will say it was my mom’s favorite ride. So she always made, like, that was the only thing she ever insisted. We always go on, we always go on. So after she passed away, I had a really hard time going on it. And it’s so funny, like, of all the things you do in the world after you lose a parent. For some reason, the hardest hit for me was It’s a Small World. I had such a hard time with it. And that lasted a few years, but now now I’m I’m totally good on it and and and it is charming and it’s lovely and I love the story and I love I love the song. I wouldn’t want to be trapped in it for an hour, but but I do, I love the story. I love, you know. I love the nostalgia of it, but I also love the message of it.
Carrie: Yeah, me too. It’s awesome.
Fran: I think it’s just it’s just awesome. It’s just awesome.
Carrie: Oh golly. Totally agree.
8. Front row or back row?
Fran: Now. Okay. Front row or back row?
Carrie: Of what?
Fran: That’s it, that’s the question, front row or back row?
Carrie: I’d probably say front row.
Fran: So really?
Carrie: Yeah, you see what’s coming.
Fran: And I automatically go to the
Carrie: Yeah, front row, like if think about front row if you’re on Pirates or your front row on wherever else when you’re, but you get, you don’t got any, you don’t got anybody’s head in front of you as a short person.
Fran: As a short person, that’s important.
Carrie: Not just front. See, this question is about front row and back row on a roller coaster, most likely. Was the intent of it?
Fran: Well that’s where my brain went, but you went to Pirates as a short person.
Carrie: But but I’m thinking if if we’re just gonna say general with Disney attraction. I’m going to say the front and the back, like that back of Thunder, oh my goodness, was bananas. And I sat at the back of the last trip. Not this one, but the one before when I went on Guardians, I sat at the back of Guardians because the person I was with was like, that’s the best one. Like ridonculous. So, like, the back of a roller coaster, certain roller coasters, you just like fling and fly like nobody’s business. So but the front you see what’s you kinda see what’s coming, so I don’t know. But, anyways, but I think for other attractions, when you’re shorty and there’s people in the way or you’re squished in, like you almost feel like you own that pirate ship because you’re at the front of the pirate ship.
Fran: Yeah. Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, the front.
Carrie: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep, there’s lots of I think examples of where that would be better being in the front.
Fran: Yeah, I didn’t think of that. I didn’t think I didn’t go immediately to attractions like that. But you’re right, like in Pirates and things like that, you want to be at the front. It’s a Small World at the front. Yeah, like you definitely want to.
Carrie: Why not?
Fran: At even Safari. Kilimanjaro Safaris. You can hear the driver better if you’re up front. Sometimes I can’t hear them when I’m at the back.
Carrie: Good point, good point
Fran: Yep, and then you see things at the same time the driver does. Yeah, that’s true. But I immediately went to for some reason, dark roller coaster. So I went to Space Mountain.
Carrie: I’m pretty sure that’s what the what the question is about.
Fran: I thought Space Mountain and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. And I prefer the back, not because they go faster, but because you can see what’s coming if you’re at the back in those ones, right? Like if you’re on Space Mountain, if you’re in the back, you can see the car in front of you, that you can see the turn just before it happens. So you can brace for it, right? Because it’s so dark, you can’t see anything. So that was immediately what I thought of: I like to sit at the back of Space Mountain because then I can see what’s coming. Because I can see the heads in front of me whether they go right or left.
Carrie: That’s funny.
9. Single rider line: smart move or lonely?
Fran: Okay, we’re on question nine. Single rider. Smart move or is it lonely?
Carrie: Depends on how bad you want to get on that attraction is my like for instance, at Disneyland at Radiator Springs Racers. Like, I can’t even count how many times I’ve done the single rider line there because I really, really, really want to go on the ride and I can go on it multiple times early in the morning with the single rider line. But I think it depends on like who you’re traveling with, right? Like, you always want to go on that experience as a group. Like you want to experience like you want to experience things with your family or with your travel party. So that’s where it’s like: the single rider line, in my opinion, is the good for once you’ve been on the ride to experience it the right way the first time with your family, with your travel partners, and then subsequent rides on the attraction. You really love the ride enough, the single rider line all the way. You just chit. Sometimes you’re in a single rider, you ride. Like, I used to always do Expedition Everest single rider line. Like, you know, you chit-chat with the people you’re sitting beside. It’s like, not really that. Maybe sometimes it can be weird, but you know, probably eight out of 10 times you’re chit-chatting and laughing it up with the person, the stranger that you’re sitting beside. So
Fran: You meet nice people in line. Yeah, I think you’re right. I think I prefer to do an attraction with the people I’m with.
Carrie: Yeah, yeah. So.
Fran: You know, so we can all experience it together. It’s kinda like I think about the Falcon. You know, they have a single rider line there. And if you want to do it again, great. But you want to be in the Falcon with your friends and your family. So you don’t want to be separated from them like that.
Carrie: Yeah, for sure.
Fran: So this I think the single rider line is a great way to get on an attraction multiple times. But if you’ve got a travel if you’ve got travel companions with you, it’s better to do it all as a group.
Carrie: Yeah, you want to experience it the first time.
10. Dark rides or thrill rides?
Fran: Absolutely. And the last one. Dark rides or thrill rides?
Carrie: Oh, dark rides all the way.
Fran: Me too.
Carrie: Even even even when I was younger and liked f roller coasters. More thrill rides more. Like the the reason why I love the parks is because of those nostalgic old dark rides. So
Fran: Me too. I love the old dark rides. I think they’re so much fun. They’re so… They’re just, they’re pure, they’re like, they’re just pure joy.
Carrie: Like if they didn’t exist at Walt Disney World, I would not have invested the last thirty years of my life in in the theme in in trips to Walt Disney World. If it was all thrill rides, I would have gotten over it pretty quickly.
Fran: Yeah, those they make the park. They do. Awesome. Well that was our Ride Wars, Carrie. What did you think?
Carrie: Pretty easy that one. There wasn’t
Fran: Yeah, well I think
Carrie: Much
Fran: There were a couple that I was I was I was a little shocked. Not gonna lie. So, our next one up is going to be Fan Culture and Etiquette on our next episode. That’s going to be fun.
Carrie: Is that and that’s is that the last one? Have we done them all at that point? Or is there m
Fran: No, Fan Culture and Etiquette and then Movies and Characters. And then there’s one last one.
Carrie: Probably skip that one.
Fran: It’s called Lightning Round. Yeah. And that one’s just a fun one. The movie characters, yeah. I I don’t know that how
Carrie: We probably can skip that one.
Fran: I don’t know how well we do there. We might be able to stick that on the end of the fan culture. There might be a couple questions we could answer. But yeah, I think this was fun. So we got a couple more that’s still in our to-do list here. So.
Carrie: It was.
Our Pixie Dust
Fran: Awesome. And if they’ve made it all the way to the end of the podcast, now they’re going to get to hear our Pixie Dust. So, Carrie, something that brought you joy this week. What was your Pixie Dust?
Carrie: Well, I didn’t really have any joy when I got home, I don’t think. I just had to like clean litter boxes, feed cats, clean the house, do like, you know, all that laundry. I don’t know that I can I don’t know that I can conjure any Pixie Dust up from that. But when I was away, I bought a new mug. I bought a new mug. I bought a Tiki mug. It’s got all the Tiki birds hanging in their little. They’re on their little perches from the Tiki Room. And it’s like Tiki Room green, and in the inside it says all the birds sing words. It’s beautiful.
Fran: I saw that mug. I love it.
Carrie: And I bought two mugs. I bought the same, the Sam Eagle, distinctly patriotic, semiquincentennial United States of America mug. Because I thought I needed something to keep my coffee warm, even though I have loads of coffee cups that keep things very warm. They’re really tall coffee cups. And they hold a lot of coffee. So I needed something that holds, even though the quality of this isn’t very superior, I’m sure. It has a lid. It has a lid. It’s a metal cup. It’s got a lid, but it’ll fit just a reasonably sized cup of coffee. Whereas the other ones we buy are like
Fran: And it’s got Sam Eagle on it.
Carrie: They hold like two or three cups of coffee and it takes me the whole day. I barely drink at all. I drink like a quarter of it. This is like a, I’m going to feel accomplished, but I’m going to make a cup of coffee and I’m going to drink it. So, my two, I’ve been at my two Pixie Dusts are these beautiful mugs I bought and I haven’t bought mugs in a while and this time I bought two.
Fran: Look at you. I’m very proud of you.
Carrie: And there was actually more that I wanted, but I didn’t. I just bought two.
Fran: Well the next trip you’ll have room in your suitcase, not to worry.
Carrie: I brought a mug home from somebody from a mug home from somebody else for I did some I did some shopping for people while I was away, but but just two mugs for me. Anyways. What’s your Pixie Dust?
Fran: Good for you. My Pixie Dust is I just, you know, I don’t read a lot of books. I don’t have time for a lot of reading, but I just finished a book. I didn’t read it. It was an audiobook, I’m not going to lie. Bob Chapek’s book. I finished that. So the former CEO of the Walt Disney Company wrote a book, and he actually narrates the Audible version. So that was kind of fun to hear it in his voice.
Carrie: Oh, you did? Interesting.
Fran: Very, very interesting book. Very interesting. He really does not like Bob Iger. It was very, very apparent. I think my issue was that he came across a little bit bitter. So I don’t know.
Carrie: Well
Fran: I don’t know if some of his tales would have resonated differently for me if he didn’t have that. It felt like a chip on his shoulder. And I don’t know how much of it is true, right? What he talks about.
Carrie: That doesn’t help.
Fran: But it came across that way. So it was, it was so, it was fascinating to go through the journey because even parts of the book he’s talking about were in Bob Iger’s first book, like things that they were working on or things that were happening in the company. So I almost feel like I need to go back and listen to Bob Iger’s book again to see how he talks about it. But yeah, it was a very interesting listen slash read if if anybody’s looking for a book. Bob Chapek’s book is very interesting. Very interesting. And then I heard that Bob Iger’s coming out with another book. So I wonder how much of that is to counter
Carrie: Combat what he said. I don’t know what the other Bob said. Interesting.
Thanks for listening
Fran: Yeah, it’s very interesting. So, yeah, I would recommend. I’ll leave, you know what? I’ll put a link in the show notes for anybody to the book. But yeah, that was my Pixie Dust. Well Carrie? This has been a delight. As always, we did it. And if you’re listening, please leave us a rating and review on your podcast player and share it with someone you think might enjoy listening to us babble for a little while every couple of weeks. And we’ll be back in two weeks with another episode.
Carrie: It yep, no. Indeed.
Fran: Thanks for listening.
Carrie: Bye.
