Welcome.

Cool off.

Relax.

It's a chocolate.

Here below us is the entrance to the flight to the moon, departing for outer space every few minutes.

You know, it wasn't too long ago we had to carry water from a well, but thanks to progress, we've got a pump right here in the kitchen.

We're going to bring ghosts from all over the world, but we haven't got the ghosts in there yet.

We're out collecting the ghosts.

Kindly watch your step please.

W.

Radio, your information station.

What is the best Disney movie trilogy of all time?

Should Tower of Terror in Walt Disney World get a Halloween overlay?

And is Josh tomorrow really the right choice for for the next Disney CEO?

This week on In N Out we dive into these and many other questions from top Disney attractions and controversial updates to live action remakes, adult only lounges, and what's next for the parks and company.

And if you think you've got strong opinions, good.

Because loving Disney is only half the fun.

The other half is debating it.

And I want to hear from you.

Hello my friend and welcome to WWE Radio, your guide to the Disney parks, movies and experiences from around the world.

I am Lou Mongello and this is show number 835.

And whether this is your first time listening or you've been with me since the very beginning, thank you and welcome home.

Cause for more than 20 years I've shared my love of Disney through the podcast, live video events, cruises and our incredible community.

Thanks to you.

And I am so grateful that you are here cause you're not just a listener, you're part of the WW Radio family.

Couple of quick things before we dive in.

Please come be part of the community and conversation with over in the wwradio clubhouse@www.radio.com clubhouse.

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Please learn more and reach out to me over@lou mangello.com and when you're ready to plan your next Disney vacation, visit my friends over@m MouseFanTravel.com for completely free expert and personal planning just like I have trusted for more than 17 years.

And if you like the show, and I hope that you do, please rate review and more importantly, share it with a friend.

It helps and means more than you know.

So now sit back, relax and enjoy this week's episode of the WWE Radio Show.

Welcome back to another round of in or out, the segment where loving Disney is only half the fun and the other half is debating it.

Because I think one of the best parts about being a Disney fan is just how passionate we are.

I think we all love the magic, but it doesn't always mean that we see it the same way.

And that's what makes this so fun.

And because of that, the In n Out segment was born.

And joining me again this week are some very brave or unsuspecting guests from the WW Radio Nation and community.

And to you listening at home.

I want to hear your thoughts as well.

If you are in and out, you can share your hot takes in the clubhouse@www.radio.com clubhouse.

Or better yet call the voicemail.

Let me hear the passion in your voice.

I will play it on the air at 407-900-9391 and back by popular demand, or maybe just poor judgment.

My returning guests are here and brave enough to take on another round.

So I want to welcome back to the show and our in and out segment Connor Brown from Vacation Kingdoms and the all new at least to me.

Theme Park Happy hour question mark Question answered.

Yes, it is indeed where I am from couple couple of months old on on that one.

Happy to be back by popular demand.

Or maybe just on demand is a better way of putting it.

How I was invited here today but happy to be here as always.

I was going to use the Kermit Muppet Vision quote but I think it's too soon and that wound is still a little bit too fresh.

So unfortunately none of them showed up, blah blah blah.

But somebody who did show up is Sean Roberson from But Mostly Disney.

Hey thanks I'm.

I'm excited to be here no matter how I got chosen.

So, you know, well, listen, you guys.

Have been here before.

You know, we did the segment really was sort of a trial run the first couple of times, but fortunately, people listened.

They enjoyed it.

So if you haven't heard before, this is how it's going to work.

Or, Connor, if you forgot, I'm going to make a statement.

It could be about the parks, the movies, Disney plus Cruise line, and you listening at home.

And my guests, Sean and Connor are going to tell me whether you're in, you agree, or whether you're out.

You don't.

And then you'll have 30 seconds.

Ish.

Or so.

To make you to make your case, defend your stance, and maybe even try and sway someone to your side.

And I have a very long list of prompts ready in no particular order.

We're going to let the numbers and fate and chance decide.

Maybe a little bit of chaos.

Just one question first for the both of you.

Do you feel more prepared this time or just more nervous, or you just still don't know what you've gotten yourself into?

Yes.

Okay, good.

That's good.

I second that emotion.

Good.

That is.

That is super helpful.

So, all right, we're gonna.

We're gonna dive right in.

I'm actually gonna take the first one and make it somewhat timely.

Ish.

Just based on some podcasts that I have done recently that put me in very much this mood.

So we're going to not go to the parks first.

We're gonna go to the movies first.

And so tell me if you're in or out.

The Indiana Jones movies is the best movie trilogy because the last two don't count in the entire Disney library.

Are you in or are you out?

And I will do Age Before Beauty, so, Tater, you're first.

Well, thanks for that.

Oh, it's so Connor's Googling who Indiana Jones is, so that's why I wanted to give him a little bit more time.

That's really difficult because, I mean, first of all, Harrison Ford has starred in the best trilogies ever created anywhere, over and over and over again.

And obviously I have a top two trilogy.

And do I.

I have to waffle.

I just want to give one of those, like, lawyer answers.

And so I.

I will, I will, I will.

I will say I'm out because I think Star wars is my favorite trilogy.

Like, I think if I had to, if I were on a desert island and you said I can only have one trilogy, it would be Star wars with Indiana Jones.

I mean, literally just hanging on by a thread behind.

And I know that might be unpopular and I like all three.

Even Temple of Doom, there were no movies after those three.

But I like, I like, I like those three.

So.

And I think we did the correct order the other night.

It is Raiders Last Crusade Temple.

But yeah.

And if I have to do, if I'm doing that, then I go Empire, New Hope, Jedi for me for that.

Just to, just to really get loose some hate mail there.

I am out.

I'm out as well.

I think Raiders is probably one of the most perfect movies ever made.

But I don't think the other two live up to the hype that that Raiders alone is compared to other Disney trilogies.

I'm not going to say Star Wars.

I actually going to shock you guys because it's clearly the High School Musical trilogy.

That is.

I'm kidding.

I am absolutely kidding.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I thought, I thought it'll be Frozen or Toy Story.

Toy Story it is.

Toy Story it is Toy Story for me.

I think again, we'll leave four out of this.

So we'll start with the three.

So trilogy one, two and three.

One holds such a special place in my heart.

I think two is an exceptional movie and I think three gives me goosebumps.

Even just thinking about it brings that entire Andy trilogy together.

That's why I rated that.

Honestly.

Indy might be the second below that.

And then Star wars after.

Yeah.

You know, when I said Toy Story, I was sort of trying to make a joke because I couldn't think about what the name of Cinderella 3 was.

And then as you said it, I'm like, wait a minute.

I think he's serious.

Like this boy is mad.

But I listen, kudos to you for going.

I wasn't even thinking of it when honestly I wrote the question.

Yeah, I mean, I think that that was such a big part of my childhood.

Like, you know, Gone with the Wind was a big part of your childhood when it first came out.

Right.

And that's how this kind of works.

Remember when Connor used to come on the show?

Those were the days.

I have a potential follow up in or out question, but I have to preface it by asking you a question.

Other than Walt Disney World, what other Disney theme parks around the world have you visited?

I've only been to Disneyland, so I've only got the continental US Covered.

Disneyland, Same here.

World and land.

And also the Hilton Head Resort.

We want to talk about.

Hilton Head.

All right, so I'LL ask you this.

I mean, this.

I was going to ask you sort of worldwide, but I'll sort of adjust it.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye is a top three Disney attraction in the continental United States.

Are you in or are you out?

I'm out.

Yep.

Don't even have to think about it.

I like the ride.

I thought it was great.

And I really.

I mean, look, it's why we love Galaxy's Edge so much, because we get to pretend we're there.

And I would have worn a leather coat and gone in.

And I love Indiana Jones with all my heart.

But there's, you know, again, if I was making a list of what I have, we're going next month.

So next month it won't be in the top three things I have to get done at Disneyland.

Even though it's great.

I'm with.

I'm with Sean again.

I'm out.

I think.

I think I love that ride.

It's so great.

But the way that Sean put it, you know, are there three things I would come to mind before that?

Yes, yes, there are.

And they come.

All right, so what are they?

Very quickly, what are the top three domestic Disney theme park attractions?

In no particular order.

If you can't.

For me, I mean, I think Tower of Terror in Walt Disney World is one of the most exceptional rides the Imagineers have ever created.

I love it so much.

I think Mansion either coast, and I think Pirates out in Disneyland I think is just tried and true.

What Disney does best.

Yeah.

And Pirates is my favorite ride, no matter what park I'm in.

So that that ride would take the top three spots anyway.

I would just ride that three times in a row.

But I.

But we never miss Carousel.

We never miss People Mover.

You know, there's some stuff, because the nostalgia drives me a lot, that even though Guardians is probably the best ride I've ever been on anywhere, I would skip it for Pirates all day long.

I love to see that the classics remain the classics no matter what.

Where you come from, what generation it is, what park is your favorite.

I'm very much the same way in terms of.

If I had to pick a top three, there's a really good chance it would probably be what we consider to be classic attraction, what our kids might consider those really old attractions in the parks.

Well, let's sort of stick in that same vein.

That in terms of.

Hold on, hold on.

Are you not going to.

You're not going to stick your neck out on this trilogy?

Is that was going to go.

I mean, yes, I try.

I don't want all the hate mail myself.

That's lou Mongello at WWDradio.

Listen, I'm happy you got every part of that email address wrong.

Is the Indiana Jones trilogy the best in the Disney library again?

I sort of balance between that and Star wars.

And is it really coming down to am I really balancing Temple of Doom versus the Ewoks?

You know what?

I would probably rank the third versus the third.

God, Star wars was such an integral part of my childhood growing up.

But I did just watch all the Indiana Jones movies, and, man, those still hold up.

Those still really, really hold up.

Dang it.

Dang it.

You know what I'm gonna say?

I'm out.

I'm gonna say Star Wars.

It's just.

Because it was just such a change in the fundamental foundation of moviemaking and merchandise and fandom and everything else like that.

So Star wars deserves its due.

What has also been known as the Star wars of the Disney parks.

Are you in or out?

The Country Bear Jamboree update is exactly what that show needed.

Connor and Tater in.

I love Country Bear Jamboree.

It's not on my.

My shelf back here, but I have a bust of.

Of Al.

Big Al, right?

I was.

I don't get too nervous, I'll be honest.

When they are taking things away from.

From the parks.

That was one that I was very, very nervous for.

I got to go and have a special preview of it with D23 and getting to hear the lead imagineer, the lead show producer, people from the archives coming and talking about, you know, how they had to make this change.

And the imagineer just said this.

He said, I love the Country Bear Jamboree.

I wanted to work on this, reimagining on this project of it.

If I wanted the Country Bear Jamboree to last for 50 more years, this needed to happen.

And you go in there now, there's always a ton more people waiting to get into the next show.

Everyone is clapping along.

There's very few confused.

Looks like there were for the last few years at the old Country Bears.

So while I will miss, you know, Blood on the Saddle and all those songs, I do really, really, really love the current iteration, and I absolutely think that's what it needed.

So I am absolutely in with Connor as well.

And I also went to that D23 early preview thing and thought it was incredible.

In fact, I think I posted a video of the entire conversation.

It's not a very good, great audio, but it's really fascinating to listen to.

And I loved Country Bear as a kid.

You know, I mean, I remember it from 75, and I enjoyed it.

And I love Blood on the Saddle.

I mean, my.

My buddy Andrew from our podcast, he named his truck Big Al.

But I think they kept that exact feeling with what they did and made it for a new generation.

Because, let's face it, we are.

We are phasing out, right?

It's not necessarily my park anymore.

And I'm.

I do fear change a little bit.

I like to.

But I do reserve judgment to wait and see.

Except for the lobby of the Polynesian.

They ruined that.

There's.

I am out on the lobby of the Polynesian, but.

Oh, there's a lobby question coming up, so just hold on.

But see, but no, I love it.

The music's great.

I mean, like Connor said, you go in and new kids are just.

Their eyes are lit up.

They did a.

They did a flawless job.

They really did.

So I do sometimes, you know, I have this.

While I have such.

Such trust in Disney and the Imagineers when they are going to make a change, I do have this fear, especially for things that have personal, sentimental meaning for me, especially over such a long period of time.

Right.

Memories of going with my dad.

He loved Big Al, the man, not the truck.

And so there's that fear of taking away something that, although I didn't go all the time, it still had meaning for me.

But there is also that trust.

But like you, when you sit in that show and, you know, I watch the guests, you know, with one eye, and I'm watching the show with the other, when you see and hear the guest reaction and guest response, you hit it on the head.

And when we talk about things like, you know, cars coming into Frontierland, Love it or not, or Monsters, Inc.

Coming and taking over Muppets, they are not building those for us.

They are building those for the generation behind us that grew up with those franchises, that grew up with those characters.

And they, like us, will tell their kids, this is what I grew up with.

This is what I love.

This is what my dad took me to.

And they will pass those sort of memories and stories and experiences down generationally because a lot of kids don't know who, you know, Tom Sawyer and Becky and all these other characters from Tom Sawyer island were.

But they all grew up with cars.

They grew up with monsters.

And that is what has a lot of meaning to and for them.

So I am in.

You know, even though there's my little bit of sentimental Heart that misses.

You know, not that I want a little Buford to get whipped anymore, but I do like, I do like and I appreciate the update while still keeping one little foot in the past with some of the tributes and other references that are in the pre show and the queue and even the show itself.

So.

Agreed.

Let's go from Frontierland to Epcot Center.

I have to preface this question by asking you, have you been to, or at least seen photos or videos of the new Geo82 Lounge in Spaceship Earth.

Theme theme park Happy hour?

Of course I've been there.

Oh yeah, Sean, have you been there yet?

I've not been inside.

But you've seen pictures of it.

I have an idea.

Front of the window, like, you know, arms, arms for the tap dancing cat.

Put your face pressed against the window, which is two stories up, but it's fine.

All right, are you in or out?

The Geo82 Lounge is a sign that Disney should continue to add more immersive high concept lounges across the park.

So I want you to think about things like Olga's Cantina and Nomad Lounge and now this sort of retro futuristic Epcot tribute Sean and then Connor.

All right, so I'm in with an asterisk because I don't think this from what I've seen and I have not sat in there and gotten the full emotional experience, but I don't think this is a high concept lounge.

Like it looks beautiful to me and I think it's themed well and I'm glad it's there.

I'm not, I'm not against it being there, but I mean, Disney set the bar so high on the Treasure with that Haunted Mansion Lounge that how do we sit here with breadcrumbs of that and get excited?

Right?

Like I'm, I just want to peek behind the new Pirates Lounge coming and hope that it has 20 of that in there.

So I think it's great.

I, I love, I, I don't drink alcohol, but I still, you know, I still consume liquids.

So, you know, I would definitely do a firework show there and go sit and it looks great and I do, I do love the retro theming of it, but it, it's just a lounge.

From what I've seen, it doesn't seem like it really, you know, knocks me out of the park like that.

Like that Haunted Mansion Lounge, which is, they're going to have to step their game up to that.

Well, it's different, right?

One is a storytelling themed experience and this is just more in terms of Design and decor, Connor.

I do, I, I keep those separate as well though.

Like Geo82 for me is not something like an Oga's or like, you know, the Pirate Tavern coming.

Right.

I do think Disney should continue with this though.

I think I'd prefer more things like Ogres, more things like the Pirate Tavern, more things like the Haunted Mansion Parlor right on the Treasure and soon to be the Destiny for me.

The thing with, with Geo82 and Sean hit on it as well is it's whispers of Spaceship Earth.

I will say it's a motif of Spaceship Earth.

It's not necessarily like you're part of the story of Spaceship Earth.

Right.

It's beautiful in there.

It's a great place to chill.

It's a high end cocktail program.

Right.

It's not a.

I'm going to pop in there.

I do this all the time.

If I can get a quick walk up at Oga's, I go in, I grab a beer.

I'm happy with that.

G82 is just not that kind of kind of place.

So I would love to see more lounges like this, but maybe a bit more akin to an Oga's or more, more pirate style things.

And I think to both your points, the Haunted Mansion Lounge on the Treasure has set the bar on a different stratosphere, I think, than even places like Oga or Nomad in terms of theming.

I will, you know, continue to say as of the day we are recording this, I think that the Haunted Mansion Parlor on the Treasure is the single greatest storytelling and placemaking experience for guests, period, in terms of being able to step into something and feel immersed in it because it doesn't feel like it was inspired by the Mansion.

You feel like you have, you are in the mansion or they picked up a room from the mansion, it brought it and stuck it into that space.

Which feels very different than the Hyperspace Lounge does on the Wish.

But I have a follow up.

I have a follow up in or out question from this because unlike many, I think really all the other places we mentioned, Geo82 Lounge is adults only.

It is 21 and up.

So are you in or out?

Disney should add more adults only experiences in the parks and resorts.

I'll go first.

I'll jump on this grenade first in, right?

And I'm saying that as a childless millennial, right.

I do think that, right.

I think over the last 10, 15 years, Disney adults, whatever you want to call it, has swung that way, right?

Like this is a market.

These are people that are Coming to the park in droves that I don't know was the same amount, you know, 10, 15 years ago.

So I do think that, that there's a huge opportunity and I would absolutely love to take advantage of, of those if Disney continues to do it.

So I'm in.

And I'm, I'm.

Again, I'm in as well, you know, again with a caveat.

As long as, like, I don't think Geo82 takes away a kid's space.

Right, Right.

Like, when I go to the park, anything I can do to get out of a child's way, to have their thing is what I do.

Like, I will leap into a bush.

I just want them to, to feel the way I feel, you know, 40 years from where they are or whatever.

But, and, and again, we're on the cusp.

Our last one goes off to college in a couple months, so it'll be just my wife and I.

But we've, we've grown our Disney love through family trips of all of us to being together.

And there's phases.

Right.

It's not always.

You're not always holding hands.

It ends, guys.

And I hate it, but it does.

And so we're at a place now where the kids could go off and ride guardians and Kay and I could go get a cocktail or a mocktail or whatever and, you know, relax.

So I like it as long as it doesn't get in the way of not quoting Walt that he wanted a place where families could go together and enjoy and you could be in two different places in the same park and enjoy it and still what.

I would be considered together.

So I think it's fine.

You.

I was that close.

For those listening to you home, my two fingers are closer.

Man, you had me that close to just breaking out in literal sobbing, borderline convulsing tears as you talked about kids growing up and going off on their own and doing their own things.

And I hate being an empty nester.

That's why I travel so much.

And this is another thing too, because I've been to G82 and it is a very elevated experience.

It's wonderful in there.

But I'm also a parent and my kids are older.

They're 21 and almost 20.

So this is a little bit sort of almost less applicable to me than it was before.

Um, but I do look around and I see these families with young kids and I'm like, well, I don't, I never like places that exclude anyone.

Right.

I don't, I don't love Private clubs.

I don't love things that, you know, there's a gatekeeper behind it.

Whether it's, you know, a members only lounge insert, whether it's DVC, Club 33, whatever it is.

I mean, I like being able to be invited to go there.

So please don't stop.

Like, but, you know, I don't like someone to have to walk by a place and go, we can't go in there because A, B, C and D.

I do think, and based on how popular it is already, I do think that adults do like having this option.

I think you said it right when, as long as it's not taking something away that was once for everyone, you're not necessarily losing something by gaining this.

And I think G82 is interesting because if you don't know it's there, you almost don't know that it's there.

There is not this obvious doorway that, you know there's a bouncer standing in front of going, I'm sorry, you're not an adult, you can't come in.

So because it's sort of subtly blending into the background, I think it's less pronounced for people.

So I think it does, I think does.

It does serve a purpose and have.

Look, having been there and I do want to go back and do a live review of it.

If only there was somebody, anybody who would go with me.

But I do think is what raising my hand where Barry's raising her hand?

Yeah, I think, I think you have to just sort of start to be careful of starting to create too many of these adult only experiences because then you run into the problem.

Well, you know, if we're adults and we want to go and our kids can't go, what is the option?

Right?

If our kids are, you know, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, maybe you're not necessarily comfortable with them just like, hey, here's a roll of quarters.

You know, go run to the arcade for a few hours.

I'm not saying that my parents wonderfully did that as a kid a lot, but, you know, he can't necessarily do that in Walt Disney World.

So I can certainly argue it for both sides.

As long as we are sticking with the lounges and the drinking and adults only experiences.

I'm obviously not even going to spin the wheel.

I'm just going right to the next question in my mind, which is the Grand Floridian.

The Birdcage inspired lobby bar is a great idea and should be replicated elsewhere.

Are you in or are you out?

All right, I'll.

I'll do this one first because we've, we've had some, some lively discussion around our house about this and, and to kind of give my wife credit, and she brought it up and because I'm not really a details guy, I forget these things.

But the Polynesian has a bar, and even though it's not next to the check in desk, it's, it's right there.

It's visible.

Same with contemporary.

You know, you've got outer rim.

It's right there.

I see more people drinking coffee and doing work on their laptop there than really, you know, pounding shots of Jagermeister or whatever.

But it's already.

There's a precedent set and I, I think for me it may come down to more.

Will it change the atmosphere?

Like, I don't think it's inappropriate to have a lounge there, though.

It seems like you could take an elevator up and already go to a lounge.

Right?

Like, I mean, they've, they've done a couple iterations of, of doing that, and this does kind of jut out into it.

And I know the, the first.

Well, I won't say adult because no one calls me an adult, but the first trip my wife and I did without kids was to the Floridian.

I had a sales conference and I, you know, gave the piano player 50 bucks to play our wedding song when he walked in.

And, and that quiet atmosphere.

She was able to notice that song was playing.

You know, she thought it was by accident, but I mean, you know, it worked out perfectly.

Will some dad from, you know, somewhere else sitting at the bar because he's mad at his wife.

I don't know, you know, I mean, I haven't seen that.

I haven't experienced that.

I have people, oh, you go to Epcot at night, it's crazy.

Like a lot of night, A lot at night, and it's not very crazy.

So I, I think if I really had to give an answer, I would say out because I don't think it's needed, not because I care that it's there and, and maybe just because I have that distortion syndrome where I like things the way they are and don't want people messing with stuff.

I, I first want to say Sean paid that piano player $50 to play the song.

Jokes on him.

They would have done it for five.

So just for future reference, he played it really well.

Yeah, it was unbelievable.

It was a $60 song.

I think that that at the Grand Floridian is the biggest piece.

Right?

It's.

How intrusive is it going to Be to the piano player, right?

How intrusive is it going to be taking away from the atmosphere that's currently there, right.

I don't know how much it's going to add to it.

I don't know if it's a popular opinion or whatever.

I loved Misners back in the day.

Up in the top, it was so small, it almost felt like you stumbled upon it, right?

So when Enchanted Rose came and it was massive, I'm like, ah, this is totally different, right?

Took away the big band that that was out there.

So that took away atmosphere from it.

I don't have an issue with the bar being there as well.

I'll be there when it opens, right?

I'll cozy up to it, I'll get a drink, I'll sit in the.

The chairs there, I'll sit at the bar there.

I think my biggest thing and my biggest hesitation is is it going to take away from the atmosphere?

If you check in right then and there and it's really humming because of that bar.

And I know they want to call it a lounge, but that is much more a bar than it is a lounge, especially when you compare it to what's upstairs.

So I don't know if I said in or out, but I guess I'm in between.

Yeah, it's one of the look and you have to imagine that Disney has figured it out, but we have to wonder how that is going to impact positively, negatively or otherwise.

That peaceful, very restful.

And you know, I think we have sort of lost a little of that without the Grand Floridian Society Orchestra there.

The same way that they used to be.

That Victorian elegance that that lobby has.

There is a sense of serenity there that also makes it feel like an elevated experience.

Is having this bar there going to start to make this space a little more cacophonous?

Does it change having the piano player in there where when you walked in, there's just this very low hum.

You know, I think we as guests, we sort of like maybe subconsciously sort of lower our voices just because of where we are.

And the piano player is such an important part of what the auditory experience is like now that you're going to get this, you know, we don't know like how many people are going to be there, what it's going to be like in, you know, at noon versus where it's going to be like at 10 o' clock at night.

You know what, you can design a space and think that it's going to be something until you actually put People into it and then see that it doesn't necessarily work the same way.

Disney Wish layout.

I'm looking at you.

However, I think it has to be one of those things that I wait and see.

I think people like having a place to just go to and just sort of gather around, whether, you know, maybe the family has gone upstairs and maybe mom or dad or both want to go down or meet some friends or other people and have just a drink in the, you know, the sort of the lobby bar, which is such an important part of, you know, many resort hotels.

But because of the way this space is designed, as opposed to being it behind semi closed doors.

I just wonder what the atmosphere is going to look and feel and sound like is really what I'm starting to think and wonder in that space.

But are we in or are we out that the bird cage is gone?

Because birdcage is a little creepy.

This is very.

The bar will be, you know, inspired by the bird cage.

But are we in or are we out that the bird cage is gone?

I.

Is that it's gone or being replaced by this?

Like, I don't.

You know, I would have cried, right?

I wouldn't have sort of cried if just the birdcage was gone.

Because it's not like something I needed to go and see every time I was there.

So.

I don't have an opinion, honestly.

I mean, it was fine there.

It was a little creepy, but it didn't bother me.

I think Gwendolyn from Kickbake should probably design a new birdcage roof for that over there.

I think Gwendolyn should design a new space inside of the Grand Floridian.

That would be the perfect fit there.

I haven't done a live review there either, by the way.

Have you eaten a quick aside?

Have you eaten a cake bake?

Yes, I've had cakes, but not like the food.

Yeah.

Okay, here's a crazy opinion.

I think the food is better than the cake.

I'm in.

I'm in 1,000%.

Yep.

I thought I was gonna get hit on that one.

That.

That was the best po boy sandwich I've ever had in my life.

I mean, it was unbelievable.

Believable.

Yep.

I actually went to the original one in Carmel, Indiana.

I was there for a wedding and I think I walked in and there was some sort of American Girl doll convention going on because I was like, wait, this isn't for me.

And I turned and I walked back out.

So I haven't eaten there.

I have tried some of the cakes, though.

Connor if you would like to take me out to lunch, I would be more than happy to join you there.

Got it.

I heard you take me out.

Heard.

Yep.

Most people do that.

Yeah.

And Shawn, I agree.

The food is better than.

I mean, the cake is almost sort of the gimmick to get you in the door.

And you almost wouldn't think.

The menu is extensive.

It is delicious.

And you want to talk about, again, an elevated experience as well.

Yeah.

Now.

And we went there right when it.

Pretty close to when it opened, and it was a flawless experience.

Like, there's nothing to complain.

The service was great.

The room was great.

The food was great.

Everything was perfect.

I'll share a very quick story.

I went there for a breakfast meeting and we sat and we.

We had our breakfast.

We were hanging out and the staff was wonderful.

Like, listen, if you want to just stay and hang out and have tea or coffee and just do your thing, we were there so long that we stayed.

We just moved tables and had breakfast and lunch at the Cake Bake Shop.

You're my hero.

That's legendary.

They call that the Mongello special at most places.

And by the way, as a very quick plug, Gwendolyn Rogers, the founder of the Cake Bake Shop, is going to be keynoting at my Momentum weekend workshop conference in Walt Disney World this October.

It is going to be what I anticipate is a very fascinating conversation and interactive Q and A to not just about how she built her business, but how she started to work with Disney.

I think there's gonna be a lot of lessons and takeaways for creators and solopreneurs and entrepreneurs from her.

She's also, by the way, the nicest person in the world.

And she is brilliant.

She's brilliant.

She is very, very, very smart.

I'm very impressed by her.

So, yeah, her story is amazing.

Like, yeah, it was.

I left motivated and.

And about 25 pounds heavier, but.

But reading her story while we were having lunch and glitter on everything.

Right?

How can you go wrong?

I mean, it's just like Connor's house.

There's glitter on everything.

God, just threw that up for you.

Loaded.

All right, let's.

Let's go from the magic to the movies.

Are you in or out?

Disney should keep making live action remakes because they work.

And I'll.

I'll qualify.

What I mean by that?

Despite what people might say online, despite the hate and the comments and, you know, just log on to insert social media account of your choosing.

Despite what people say online, the box office tells A different story.

People say they don't want live action remakes, they want new ip.

But films like the Lion King and Aladdin, Aladdin and Little Mermaid have made huge amounts of money while original IPs, which we've been asking for, like Elio, struggle to get traction, even with great reviews online.

So are you in?

Disney should stick with what is working from a, from a shareholder and a financial point of view and keep reimagining the classics.

Or are you out?

Are you out with the remakes?

And it's time to take more creative risks and invest in something new and then we as fans, by the way, have to show up.

Although I do think that the marketing for Elio could have been a little bit better and attract us more.

But that's a side tangent.

So are you in or are you out, Tater than Conor?

All right, I'm, I think I'm out.

As a shareholder, I want to, and that's not financial advice to, to buy Disney stock.

But I, I, I do think that, look, Walt made all those movies.

Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Light in the Forest, you know, all these live actions funded his animation.

Right.

As I understand it, I, you know, I'm still learning a lot of Disney history, but, you know, so I get it and I, I respect it and I'm the kind of person, hey, just scroll on by.

I'm, I'm.

Pete's Dragon was one of the worst movies I ever saw.

I, I just, the live action version, I just didn't watch it again and moved on with my life.

Right.

However, I wonder, as I often do, we, I went to see the first four or five of them, right?

Like whether I liked them or not.

And my kids were of the age, but it was Disney.

So I'm there, right?

I'm, I'm all in.

And now I'm like, I'm gonna wait a little bit.

I'm gonna, well, maybe, you know, and so I wonder, is the money good?

But does it do some brand damage?

Because now you don't, you can't trust it.

Like, before I could trust that if I went to see a Disney movie.

I got my hundred dollars in movie, you know, tickets back for the five of us.

Now I'm like a little more judicious in racing out right now.

We haven't seen Leo, but that's just been because of timing.

I am very excited to see that or Elio, whatever it is.

But Snow White pass.

You know, what was before it?

Don't remember.

You know, I don't know.

Does it does it diminish the magic of the original films when you do something like this?

Especially if it does not do.

Some obviously do very, very well, but some that don't.

Or even if either way, does it diminish the magic and maybe even the integrity of the original film?

I will say this.

We went and saw Lilo and Stitch and we are a house divided.

Like I'm the last Android person in my house.

Everyone else is Apple.

Though I, I did get a Mac just for Ecamm.

But, but I will say that I liked it the first 25 minutes or so.

I thought it was a line for line remake and I was not interested.

I thought they took the story was better.

I liked some of the characters.

It still wasn't great.

I'll probably never watch it again.

But I, I thought that was okay.

I, I, I, I was glad I spent the money, right?

I was glad I saw it in the theater.

So I'm in on them continuing to do this with my caveat of saying I'm not going to see any of them, right?

Like I probably won't, to be totally honest with you.

And I think there's a couple reasons.

One, Sean, to your point, you're talking about you take your family, the movies, it's $100.

The reason Disney is probably doing this is because are you willing to take $100 gamble on something you know nothing about?

Or are you more inclined to take $100 gamble on something property wise?

You do know, right?

Whether it's good or bad, at the end of the day, I think that's besides the point.

What gamble are you willing to take now that tickets are more expensive than than back in the day?

I think if we look to the other company down the road, right.

Universal did a live action remake this summer as well.

For a film that is very, very, very new when compared to these other live action remakes.

Right?

Disney's kind of doing the same thing.

And next year, the year after, I can't remember when it is with Moana, right?

So I think what's happening now is they are targeting the people that love the original in hopes to get them out for that.

Not everyone's going to love every single original, but the people that love Lilo and Stitch love it because of their time growing up, right?

The Moana kids are going to go because it's still the most popular streamed movie on Disney plus the animated one, right?

I am in for the sole fact that they work.

They might not work for me, but I hope that all that Money coming in gets funneled to projects that I do enjoy, whether it's in the parks, whether it is some swings that they are still taking with new property like Elio, like other things that might not be working out, but they are getting a lot of money in for it.

Yeah.

And look to your point, Connor, I.

I just saw how to Train youn Dragon in theaters.

Like I paid and went with my whole family.

And that was money really, really well spent.

Like it's scene for scene, shot for shot, angle for angle, a remake of the original.

And I loved it.

I absolutely loved it.

And I'm like this, this is the way I want to feel when I see a Disney live action remake.

But I do also understand too, as someone with kids who sometimes you're like, hey, kids, sit down.

I want you to watch this movie that I loved growing up.

And they're like, oh my God, dad, this thing is so old.

It's so lame.

Does this afford parents the opportunity to say, I know you might think that the Lion King is old, I know you might think that this is old, but here is a remake that I understand because I know it is going to be the shot for shot, but now I can have this shared experience with my child.

We keep sort of talking about this generational interest in things, whether it's in the theme parks or in the movies.

Clearly it is paying off.

Like, clearly there are a lot of people who are going to see it and probably a lot of people going to see it more than once.

Like, you know, a lot of us did for movies that we loved from Disney in the past.

Agreed.

Mic drop.

Yeah, sorry.

So where we're.

Where it's.

It's almost July in the time of recording this, which means it's almost spooky season in the parks.

You guys have talked about how you've been to Disneyland.

Have you gone to Disneyland during the fall or winter during some of the seasonal overlays for attractions there?

I have not.

I've been there for Christmas time.

Okay, so whether you've seen it or not, I think you can still answer this question because I love.

I love spooky season.

I love Halloween.

So the Tower of.

We were talking earlier about, you know, well, themed attractions and storytelling.

The Tower of Terror in Walt Disney World should receive a seasonal overlay for Halloween.

Just like Haunted Mansion Holiday.

Haunted Mansion Holiday in Disneyland.

Are you in or are you out?

The Tower of Terror should receive a seasonal Halloween overlay.

I don't know.

It's a slippery slope for me.

I'm out.

It's a slippery slope for me because I absolutely love Guardians of Galaxy mission breakout, right?

Which was the former Tower of Terror in California Adventure.

The reason I love it so much is because we still have our original Tower of Terror in Walt Disney World.

And again, I think it's just a perfect attraction for me.

It's a slippery slope because I think, okay, we have this overlay now what?

Right?

I mean, I don't think the Twilight Zone is pulling people in.

People are getting drawn to that attraction because it's massive and it looks scary and it's so thrilling and it's incredibly well done.

What's next, right?

All of a sudden, there's.

There's an overlay.

And now, you know what?

We're actually going to redo it fully.

That's where I get very, very, very anxious for that.

And then the Haunted Mansion Holiday aspect of it.

I have seen Haunted Mansion Holiday out in Disneyland.

It's awesome.

But it's like six months of the year now, right?

I mean, it's like August all the way through into January when they have to shut down and redo it.

That's a huge, huge, huge time frame.

So I don't know how.

How long it would.

It would occur for.

For the Disney World version.

And I think I'm going to go out, too, and.

But not for me, for other people.

So.

And because I don't mind it, I think it's fun.

And I've been.

I've seen Tower of Terror, you know, I know what it's like.

I've got it ingrained in my heart.

But like Connor said, you know, it's kind of Rodney, you know, oh, Lord, looks good on you, you know, kind of thing.

You know, you guys do that in California.

That's a great idea.

But I mean, that's the thing is, if I had never thought of this.

But you know, when there's so many people that come to Disney World who are coming once, right?

Like, it's such a destination from Brazil or England.

And these people who are scraping together because I know what it costs to go, to get there, to go.

Haunted Mansion has been the wait.

What?

There's.

Who's here, you know, Jack Skell, I hated, you know, if they hate it and you, like Connor says, you've taken up six months of the year with a month on either side to put it up and put it down, you know, now you've maybe ruined somebody's trip or something.

Pretty temporary.

And I hadn't even thought about the fact that if it gets adjusted a little, maybe it gets adjusted all the way.

Now I'm.

Now I'm really scared.

But I will say monsters After Dark out in California.

Right.

I don't know if they still do that, but wasn't it like the last hour of the night they would do this special overlay at Guardians of the of the Galaxy during the Halloween season.

So it's.

It's.

Maybe that's it.

But again, all of a sudden it's one hour at the end of the night and it's two, then it's three, and then it's 12 months.

Well, something.

And.

And if you could flip a switch and do it right.

Like so.

Right.

So when we did.

When we did, like, I was involved when Lou did his Tip Top Club event, which if you don't follow, you know, and.

And you're not a member of the nation, please subscribe.

There's no affiliate link for me, but.

Right, exactly.

The cool thing about.

And it's been gnawing in my head since then, um, that you could do that anywhere and press a button and it's, you know, bluey.

And you press another button and it's Star wars.

And you press another button and it's an NFL draft room.

I mean, the way the room was set up with all these LED screens and.

And then the permanent things really fit about 94 different decors.

So if you could do that, like Connor suggested, hey, at midnight on Halloween night, we're going to do Tower of Terror.

Haunted, you know, whatever.

And so for the last two or three hours, then it's something different.

But tomorrow when, you know, Nigel comes over from Kentworth and it's his one time to ride it, you know, he still gets to see what he paid for.

That would be cool.

Yeah.

So I think.

I think there's a couple of things in play.

And look, I love.

And that's probably why I was asking you what you've experienced out there, because I love Halloween and Halloween time and Christmas time out in Disneyland.

There's two things.

One, when they do the overlay, which is not even really an overlay, but they sort of switch the Guardians experience.

There it is, you know, for all intents and purposes, the flipping of a switch because the screens change, the music change and that.

That's it.

And that they can swap back and forth.

Whereas Haunted Mansion Holiday is a process that takes months.

The attraction is closed.

When people go, it's something new.

I think that the.

The dichotomy of the.

The.

And I'm over Generalizing, sort of the crowds that go to Disneyland.

Disneyland is, Is very much a locals park.

So if an attraction is down for a little while and then there's something special there, it's not a big deal when it's closed and it's an enhancement when it's opened.

I think Walt Disney World, where the quote unquote, average guest, you know, comes with, you know, mom, dad, the two and a half kids, once every, you know, 4.5 years, they're coming to see the Haunted Mansion, they're coming to see the original.

They don't necessarily want one.

It to be closed to maybe something that's an overlay for a movie they don't like.

They don't associate with whatever it might be.

They want the original, the classic attraction.

Going back to some of our earlier conversations, the thing that they love.

So I think it does work in Disneyland because of the crowd and the demographic and, and the expectations there vs Walt Disney World and just how quickly and easily they're able to swap that out and swap it over for all, you know, whether you like attractions that are screen based or you don't like ones that are screen based, it does afford the opportunity.

Star Tours the Adventures continue.

I'm looking at you to upgrade, enhance, change and improve just by, you know, putting a new tape in the vcr.

So not using tapes and vcr.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know what either of those two things are, but the Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind here in Epcot, they had a holiday overlay, their first holiday season as well.

And it easy to do.

Right.

But didn't fit for.

For a number of reasons.

So I think it's.

It's definitely tricky to get it done correctly.

Well, what about Jingle Cruise?

Like, I think Jingle Cruise is okay because it's still the Jungle Cruise with an eye.

Right.

It's still the.

The complete essence of the ride with a couple of different jokes and some Santa hats, you know.

Yeah, yeah, it's a great example, but it also.

The attraction's not down, you know, for months at a time, too.

So, yeah, I think there's a lot of different factors in play.

All right, I want to be respectful of your time, and I have like 300 questions on here that I can ask you, but we're running out, so I'm going to.

I'm going to save.

I'm going to ask you one last.

Gosh, I'm between two that I want to sort of end off with.

All right.

Bob Iger, the current CEO of the Walt Disney Company is stepping down, or so we expect at the end of 2026, which is going to be here sooner rather than later.

Are you in or out, Josh?

Tomorrow would be the perfect next Disney CEO.

I think this is the perfect time to announce that I am actually taking the role of Disney CEO.

I thought it over with my family and I.

And I'm in.

I'm in for Connor being CEO of Disney.

I trust him implicitly.

Let's go.

I think he has the absolute charisma, stage presence business, you know, acumen, or at least appears to as someone who could easily step into that role.

Right.

Would he be Bob Iger?

No.

And I think that that's like the most difficult thing for people, right?

I think the.

The big thing for so long previous, Bob Chapek was the first one to come from the parks to be the CEO.

Right.

So that other huge, massive part of the company, that is how it started, movies and entertainment and taking care of talent and directors and producers, it's a very, very, very hard skill to understand.

So that's the only thing going against Josh tomorrow right now.

Right.

I think he's, again, so personable.

You see him in the parks.

He's always friendly, right.

He's stage presence on stage at D23, getting interviewed by.

By Lou Mongello.

Right.

Like, he's, he's open, and that's so, so, so great.

I do think he would be great on service level, but I think there are some nuances there that I don't know if.

If he fully understands or for that matter, somebody else, probably a sense of that role, doesn't understand the nuances of the parks, of the fans of the cruise lines.

Right.

So I think either way, it's not going to be 100% Bob Iger at the beginning.

Yeah.

And I'm in with him from everything I've seen.

Right.

Like, he seems like a good steward of the mission, right?

Of the.

Of the.

Where we have to go in the future, where we were in the past.

You know, he seems like he really encompasses all.

He seems like a fan, right.

Like, every time I hear him talk, whether it's on a, you know, a reel, somebody met him somewhere, or an actual interview, he feels Disney.

Right.

And we.

And we need that.

I love Iger.

I.

I didn't never got to know Bob.

Check enough to know whether he was great or not.

You know, just.

It could have been coincidence.

I don't know.

I'm.

I'm gonna choose the good guy.

That's why I'M here with Lou, but I, I do.

If I had my druthers, I want to see a team again.

Right.

Because that seems what's worked the best when you had, you know, Eisner and, you know, dreaming and someone else finding the money or letting Roy figure it out, you know, card walk, all these people.

It's always seemed to been a team because you have both.

I was, I was on a church camp board and we had the mission for the church camp and then we had to pay the bills.

Right.

And if you had someone who was, you know, tying square knots and doing archery, that's great.

But he doesn't understand, you know, depreciation and a cost based accounting system, you know, so you really need either a split personality person or another dynamic duo, which is what I, I pray for at night when I go to bed.

So I'm going to start by saying I agree with you 1000% and I think that's the key.

And I mean this in the most respectful way when I say that the Eisner Wells business and personal relationship was akin to the Walt and the Roy.

I think that.

And I think now more than ever, I think the company may be too big for.

And I'm qualifying this.

There's a lot of asterisks everywhere because Bob Iger's done an exceptional job.

Is the company so big that one person will have a very challenging time trying to navigate all of the different divisions of the company?

If you look at all of the Disney companies holdings from entertainment to sports to media and everything else across the board, it's not 5, 10, 15, 20 companies.

There are hundreds of companies across the board that one person, man, woman, I think is, is no matter how talented you are and wherever you're sort of your zone of expertise is.

And I think Bob Iger has a very wide, very, very wide spectrum and zone and breadth and depth of knowledge and expertise in a lot of areas, I think it's challenging.

I would say that I'm out on this and I'll explain why.

I like both of these gentlemen personally and professionally.

I've had the very fortunate occasion to meet and chat with Josh more than I have with Bob Iger.

What you see is what you get, right?

The man that looks you in the eyes and is having that conversation with you and makes you feel like you are the only person in the room.

This is not just me.

I've watched the dynamic as he walks the park, as he talks to cast members, as he talks to guests.

He is personable.

Connor you're right.

He is clearly a fan.

And what he speaks comes not necessarily from a teleprompter, but from his heart.

I think he's incredibly well spoken, he's very, very, very intelligent.

And he also has his finger on the pulse of not just what we as guests want and expect and are looking for, but cast members as well.

It is why he is so beloved.

And I think if you put him in the position of CEO, you are now taking him away from those literal and figurative touch points that he has with cast and with guest.

That I think is so critical not just to the cast member success, the guests levels of enjoyment and having expectations exceeded, but I think for him as well.

I think he very much seems to feed on that.

I think Bob and Josh are a great combination, a great pair.

I've watched them.

I watch the dynamic of the two of them on big stages and small stages and how well they complement one another.

Is Disney potentially a little hesitant to bring another parks person in post Chapek?

Possibly.

Because Josh's experience clearly is in this, you know, in this sort of theme park vertical.

And there's a lot more to this company.

I would not want to be the person listening.

God bless the person that steps in Bob Iger's shoes because they are monstrous and I don't know that you can fill them.

And again, this is a bad comparison.

But understand my meaning.

It's like stepping into Walt's shoes.

Look at the success that Bob Iger has brought this company.

Look at the growth domestically, internationally, across multiple mediums, the acquisitions of companies, the expansion onto not just the big screen, but the small screen, the theme parks, the cruise line.

These are massive, massive shoes to fill.

And I don't know.

I don't know who the perfect person is for it.

Tater.

I think that you're right.

I think it needs to be almost this Walt, Roy, Bob and Josh, you know, Michael and Frank type of combination.

Now you can't necessarily do that.

You have a CEO that like Walt.

I think.

I think.

I think Bob Iger was also like Walt in that they surrounded themselves with the people who were the very best at what they do.

Right?

Yeah.

And I think Bob Iger surrounded himself with.

With, you know, with staff.

I think he also surrounded himself in terms of acquisitions.

We as a company are not, are not necessarily reaching this demographic.

We're not doing this well.

Let's just go buy that company.

Right?

Let's go buy Pixar.

We're not reaching, you know, teenage to young adult boys.

Let's go buy Marvel and Star wars and it works.

But it does sort of follow, I think in my mind, that same idea of surrounding themselves by the people who are the best at what they do.

That is the sign of an exceptional CEO.

And while I think Josh can do the job without question, I want to see him where he is.

I think he shines here in that leadership role.

And I think he also is this very human, very personal sort of touch point that I would not want to lose by seeing him move up the ranks and out to California.

I think one big thing though is these people are very, very, very ambitious.

Right.

It wasn't too long ago that Josh was just in charge of adventures by Disney.

Right.

And now all of a sudden he's in charge of everything, parks and merchandise and all that stuff.

Right.

When you're kind of getting groomed and trained for this potential position, even though you've been somewhere your entire career, if you don't end up getting it, where does that leave you?

Right.

How much is your ego in play with that?

Right.

I think that that's another scary part of it too, that if he doesn't get it and he stays in his current position, is he a growth, you know, junkie and he just wants to continue to grow and he's going to look for a different opportunity.

And now maybe you, you lost out on, on that too.

Yeah.

I don't envy anyone who is in this position, though I do envy them because I'll take a board seat.

I'll just one I don't need.

I'll give it a shot.

I'll give it the old college try.

Right.

But yeah, I think that that's, that's the thing and I agree with both of you.

I think we should bring back Eisner said that, right?

Yeah, I don't know if I said that I would bring back Eisner, but I also don't know.

Look, you know, again, I think, I think, and this is not to take, and I certainly don't know Josh well enough to speak to this, but you know, I think the concern might be is he so theme park focused for a CEO role that also has to oversee media and streaming and global strategy, which clearly is a huge focus for the company right now, not just in terms of theme parks, but cruise line and other experiences and again, online and streaming media as well.

So if not Josh, then who, Right?

Is it, is it Dana Walden Waldman that the, the co chair of Disney Entertainment who does oversee that massive TV and streaming and content leader she has a history of very strong leadership background over at 21st Century Fox before the acquisition.

Less experience with parks, consumer products again, maybe sort of company wide branding.

I know Alan Bergman's name has been thrown around as well in terms of he's been on the film side, the Marvel Pixar, Lucas animation.

Been with Disney 25 years.

Again, we don't.

He's not somebody that has a very high public profile.

You know, what, what and what is the leadership strategy that they're looking to follow Bob Iger with?

Right, Is this continuing this idea of more growth, more expansion, more, more, more.

Listen, whoever walks in the door has got $60 billion to spend on the theme park.

So they're, they're in a very enviable position in, in that regard.

But does it all trickle down from that?

You know, it all started with the mouse.

You know, I mean, I mean some companies, GoPro or whoever they own, you know, who cares?

You know, they're not, that's not really their focus on that.

But streaming cruise ships, everything, you know, does it all apex right at the top, you know, with the, that park mentality and what, what they do for their, their customers because that, that Disney customer service elevates everything and can you run hard businesses and still chay true to that?

I, I don't know.

Maybe that's what Roy, you know, and those guys and Wells did.

Maybe they deflected all that so that you could keep that mission alive.

And that's, you know, you put somebody who's an accountant in charge, they're gonna do the business well, but they're not gonna have the brand, you know, cradled properly.

It's tough.

I'm with you.

It's, it's.

I mean I was thinking you guys were talking on, on an episode of the podcast about whether a casino would go on the Japanese cruise, you know, the Asian cruise ship, you know, because that's a huge part of their culture and just because it's not ours and it's very anti Disney here in America.

Does that make it anti Disney somewhere else?

And who makes that decision and where does you know it it's going to roll uphill, you know, which is, is tough.

So.

And look, I don't you know, and not sort of go down this road of, of you know, the, the prior Bob the middle.

The middle Bob, the, the Bob Chapek who you know was a finance guy, he was a business guy.

I think he was brought in to do a very specific job in terms of, of the economics and maybe clearly did not necessarily resonate with fans and maybe executives and, and cast as well.

You know, that's a, I think that's a tough.

And look, you know, I was thinking back to remember Tom Staggs, the former chief operating officer.

He seemed to be Eisner's heir apparent for a long period of time.

He has since left the company.

But he was somebody who had very deep experience in the parks and finance and operations.

Very familiar with and you know, I think sort of bored Disney's DNA.

I'm not sure that there's any, you know, that there's any scenario where Tom Staggs comes back.

But you know, what, what seemed might, what to us might seem, well, this is clearly the person who's going to step foot in.

It does not seem that anybody has really taken a very clear step.

And maybe there's hesitancy from people too.

Maybe they don't want this role, which, you know, I have to imagine to a certain degree is thankless and comes with it.

A lot of pressure.

I know they make a lot of money too, but there's a lot of day to day pressure.

And I cannot imagine what it's like to be Bob Iger for a day.

Ever since the guy whose name is on the door, Walt Disney, decided, hey, I'm going to market my company by putting myself out there, right.

By going on the shows, by becoming Uncle Walt.

Right.

That role, the leader, forget the name.

Whether it's CEO or president, right.

Or chairman, the leader of the company is outward.

Everyone knows him.

They know the name, they know the face.

Right.

He started that and from there, that's why the CEO of Disney is probably the most well known CEO in any of the major American companies.

Right.

And that's why I think it's so, so, so crucial and so difficult.

And it's, you can't compare it to, you know, the CEO of Target.

Right.

It's like, you know, this person, they're out there, they're marketing the company just as much as they're running the business.

And that's where all this extra baggage comes into play.

Well, and it's nice because Disney fans don't have strong opinions and they're very forgiving about change and trying new things.

So, you know, it's really a really nice sandbox to play in where you have complete autonomy and forgiveness from everyone.

Yeah.

And you know, Connor, when you were saying that, it made me think, you know, not every executive is public facing the same way.

Whether you liked him or didn't like him, whether you liked his Persona or not, you sort of got the sense that Michael Eisner wanted to be a little bit more like Walt.

He wanted to be on tv.

He wanted to be in front of the camera.

He wanted to be not just the executive leading the company, but the face of the company, the voice and the personality of the company.

He certainly was not Uncle Walt, but if you remember, he was on TV and in the theme parks, you know, in on screens a lot.

Bob Iger, Bob Chapek, certainly not.

So as much, you know, do we as fans, we want more of that.

I think it obviously depends on the person.

And I think the next, you know, 12 to 18 months as we get close to figuring out who the next CEO was going to be and that transition, what that's going to look like, what the leadership style, what the strategy is going to be going forward across this very large, very wonderfully entangled, you know, corporate strategy, both domestically, globally, in real life, in the theme parks, emerging technologies, etc.

There is a lot to unpack and uncover.

This is not going to be this, nor shall it be the last time that we talk about the, the future CEO of the company.

We could talk.

Listen, I've got plenty more questions.

I have plenty more to talk about in terms of just this.

But I want to hear from you, our friend who is listening.

What are your thoughts?

What are your hot takes?

I'm going to put all these questions in the Clubhouse over at www.radio.com clubhouse.

You can come be part of the community and conversation again, whether it's who the next CEO is or anything else we've chatted about.

I'd love for you to call the voicemail at 407-900-9391.

That's 407900, WDW1.

Leave your thoughts.

Let me know if you are in or out on any of these things and I will play it on the air.

Taylor Robinson and Connor Brown.

Thank you guys.

It is always so good to see you.

Next time we do this, we should do it together in person somewhere in Walt Disney World on one Connor Brown.

But in the meantime, please, Tater than Connor, tell people where they can find you.

I think you can.

Well, usually kind of lurking around the WDW Nation clubhouse.

So I'm on there a lot, but mostly Disney.

If you, if you just Google, but mostly Disney.

I think I have everything locked up there.

YouTube channels, some social media.

We do a live podcast with another WDW member on Tuesday nights.

Swing by there and jump in the chat and I would feel bad about advertising that but lose the one who started it.

So it's your fault that it exists at all.

I love good people who are doing good things and Connor.

So that's why I want you guys to share out because I want people to come listen.

I've always believed man.

And you guys know this.

At least I hope you know this.

I think there's room for us all to like, all of us to win and all of us to reach like minded people who are just sharing good stuff.

So that is why I want people to try and find you.

That's why we love man.

You can find me at Momentum this fall in October, four days.

So don't miss that.

That's what we call a tease.

Looking forward to that.

I.

I am an Orlando local as well.

So each week I send out a weekly newsletter where I talk about the one thing I did in the parks the previous week.

Go to vacationkingdoms.comemail to sign up and then you can also find me at Vacation Kingdoms and at theme park happy hour across the social medias.

Nice.

I'm gonna have to check out that theme park happy hour thing one of these days.

It's not Drunk Disney.

No, no, no.

I'm getting some bad press.

Some bad press?

That is not the name of it.

All right, my last question to you.

As long as we're talking about places to go and just, you know, whether you're having a cocktail or a non alcoholic libation, end this off by telling me if we could just snap our fingers and the three of us just get together at any lounge.

What is the best lounge in all of Walt Disney World?

Well, I just checked the weather so that we could know what, what temperature it is right now when you're snapping those fingers and it's 78.

It's very nice right now.

I'm gonna go Geyser Point.

I love going there.

I love just chilling, watching, looking out at the lake.

You know, it is, it is pristine.

There and I, I think at that temperature too, I might sit over at the new Polynesian Tower at the.

Yeah.

Oh man, I'm.

I'm falling in love with that place.

I just tried their burger.

It's incredible.

That Spam.

Oh my gosh, it's so delicious.

And apparently it has the best non alcoholic pina colada on property.

So arguably the best view of any lounge on property.

Waialu.

You know, at first I almost said Nomad.

Then I'm like, God, so far away.

And if you don't get the good seat outside and the big cushion chairs.

And then I'm like, oh, yeah, you're right.

No guys are point.

It's totally guys are point.

And now I might be on the wailulu trail.

It may have the best food of any lounge on property and definitely the best food view.

All right, we're going to have to make a Wednesday night, Wednesday night live show and, and record or something or just eat something there.

Oh, yeah.

Together.

Fellas, thank you very much.

Really appreciate it.

Thank you, Lou.

Thank you.

Bye, Connor.

Bye.

It's time for this week's Disney Trivia challenge to see how well you know the magic, memories and hidden treasures of Disney.

If you think you know the answer, you can enter for a chance to win a Disney prize package.

This week's trivia contest is brought to you by my favorite foodie event of the year, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food and wine Classic.

Happening November 15th and 16th.

It's a Friday and Saturday right in the heart of Walt Disney World.

It is an amazing night of incredible food, drinks, live music and true Disney magic under the stars.

Because your ticket includes, get this, unlimited, I'm not kidding, food and beverages with dishes from award winning chefs, wines, beers, creative cocktails from around the world all as you stroll the beautiful causeway between the Swan and Dolphin resorts.

It really is one of the highlights of my year.

And look, if you love Disney food and just having a great night out, you are going to love it too.

I would love to see you there.

Tickets are on sale now and you can get all the details over@swandolphinfoodandwineclassic.com and I really hope to see you there this year.

Now, before we get to this week's question, let's go back review last week's and select our winner.

So last week we were talking all about Indiana Jones in the Disney parks and your question was to tell me what's the name of the interactive mobile game that you can play in the queue at the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland.

First, thanks to so many of you entered got this one correct or didn't even know that this game existed, but that the answer is of course, the Indiana Jones Adventure, the Gifts of Mara.

And this is an interactive mobile game that you can play in the Play Disney Parks app and it's completely free and it's really designed to help enhance your Q experience for the Temple of the Forbidden Eye attraction because you get to become an archaeologist assisting Dr.

Jones.

So while you're waiting in line, you can look through Dr.

Jones diary, decode some of the ancient Mara glyphs, translate the inscriptions, collect digital artifacts and treasures, and learn more about the legend of Mara and the three gifts promised, riches, youth, and visions of the future.

It really helps add a deeper story layer to the queue and reward guests for exploring the environment around you.

It helps turning the world wait into a fun, free little adventure, and it helps make the experience more interactive, more immersive.

You sort of forget that you're waiting just as if you were part of Indy's expedition team.

This is something that is very cool.

It's still active.

I'm actually going to go play it when I go to Disneyland next week during and then after our WWRADIO Group Adventures by Disney trip to Disneyland in Southern California.

And I'll try and share some of that experience with you all on social and maybe record a video as well.

Anyway, I took all the correct entries, randomly selected one last week you were playing for a WW Radio keychain stickers pin and a mystery prize.

And last week's winner randomly selected is Amanda P.

So Amanda, congratulations.

Your prize package is already on the way.

And if you played last week and didn't win, that's okay because here's your next chance to enter in this week's Walt Disney World Trivia Challenge.

So in this week's in or out segment, we talk about some of the current and future lounges coming to the Walt Disney World Parks and resorts.

But tell me, what was the name of the original bar or lounge at Disney's Grand Florida and Resort and Spa before it was rethemed and became the Enchanted Rose?

What was the name of the original bar that was in that location before it was the Enchanted Rose?

Now I'm going to give you an extra week to answer this because I'm going to be traveling next week for our Adventures by Disney.

I'm going to be staying in California for a few more days, so I'm not going to be sure if I'm going to be able to get a show up.

And if I do, I might not be able to get the trivia done.

So I'm going to give you until Sunday, July 20th at 11:59pm Eastern to go to www.radio.com click on this week's podcast, use the forum there.

And in addition to the keychain stickers pin, the mystery prize I'm going to give you in next week's prize package is going to be from Disneyland.

So good luck and have fun.

Thank you again for listening, playing along and being part of the WWO family.

I am so sincerely grateful for you and I hope that you found a little bit of magic, some laughter, maybe even learned something along all the way on this week's show.

I am leaving this Saturday for our WW Radio Group Adventures by Disney to Disneyland and Southern California California.

I'm going to be sharing a lot on social primarily on Instagram so please follow along connect with me there.

I am at Lou Mongello on Instagram as well as on Facebook.

I'll be posting in the clubhouse@www.com clubhouse and of course going live when I can so turn on notifications there.

And as always my friend and you are my friend whether we have met yet or not.

All I ask is that if you enjoy the show to please help spread the word, share the show and tell a friend.

Remember to be kind to choose the good.

Have a great day and even better tomorrow.

So until next time stay hungry.

See ya.