[00:00:00] Speaker A: My personal secret hope, even though I don't have little ones, I'm gonna have to, like, borrow my niece and take her on a cruise or something. But my personal secret now not so secret hope is that they'll turn the Bibbidi bobbidi boutique into, like, an Edna mode takeover.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:00:13] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Like, that would be like a superhero dress up. Yes. Yes.
[00:00:30] Speaker C: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode of the DCL duo podcast, brought to you by my path, unwinding travel. And Sam, we have another review. This one's coming from Walter Chase, who writes a must listen for DCL fans. Nothing gets me more pumped for a cruise and hearing other people's experiences from their Disney cruises. The DCL duo will get you prepared for your next cruise and always have a great variety of discussion topics. Thanks for the great show, and I can't wait to hear more. Well, Walter, thank you for that review and get ready to hear some more. Cause we're gonna. We're gonna have a great episode for you today and a great guest. Sam, you wanna intro our guest for everybody out there?
[00:01:06] Speaker B: I would love to, Brian. I'm so excited. We have been following Stephanie for I don't know how long now on all the socials. And so she is WDW magazine, soon to be DCl magazine. We are so excited. Stephanie, welcome to the show.
[00:01:25] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me. I have been listening to you guys for ages.
So honored that you wanted me to come talk with you today.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. Well, you obviously have been connected with Disney for a pretty long period of time, but why don't you, like, rewind us back? Where did your love of Disney come from? How did you start WDW magazine? Yeah, give us all your creds.
[00:01:50] Speaker A: I grew up in a Disney family, so all of our family vacations were always to Disneyland. I grew up on the west coast, so that was much closer. I didn't actually go to Disney World until I was teen, and I didn't take my first Disney cruise until I was, like, well into my thirties.
So we just. I grew up. My parents loved it. They went on their honeymoon there. All the princess stuff, all the movies, all of that. And I was the one. Even at seven, I was reading birn bombs and, like, planning every single thing. My parents were like, it's a vacation. Please stop planning.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:02:22] Speaker A: I would secretly plan out our days. Like, we were going to eat this for lunch on Tuesday and then just not tell them. And just on Tuesday be like, oh, let's go to Rancho Delacahlo for lunch, right? Very spontaneously. So this was kind of always my thing. And then when I was in university, and after university, I was with my then boyfriend, now husband, Danny, who is my co owner at the magazine and our creative director.
We went backpacking in Europe, and I was like, I'm never going to get to go to Europe again. Who's a grown up with money to travel in Europe, right? So I was like, we have to shell out for one day at Disneyland Paris. And that kind started the ball of getting him hooked on Disney, too. So we ended up going to Disney Paris and London and Paris for our honeymoon. And then we started going to the american parks. And in 2010, I was planning our first big trip to Walt Disney World, and I fell into, you know, reading all the blogs that are out there, like, every single fan blog you've ever heard of. And one of them was dad's guide to WDW. And I really liked the tone there because it reminded me a lot of how my family planned our trips and, like, our theories on tour, touring the parks. So I was just reading it, and one day, the owner, carl, he posted, oh, I need some help. It's getting to be more than I can manage. Maybe somebody to help with writing or social. And I applied, and I was actually his first hire. I started doing ghost writing for him on the evenings and weekends for like, giving out Disney advice, making extra money so we could go to Disney maybe every year instead of every other year. And that really snowballed. So that was like 20.
When I started working for Carl, it was like, again, my side hustle. And by 2015, he actually brought me on full time because we had started the magazine, WDW magazine, as a digital only publication in 2013. And we were just, like, growing our team, growing all the things that we were doing, adding a calendar into the mix, all this stuff, it just kept growing from there. We added a blog feature onto our WDW magazine website. We started talking more about cruises and Disneyland on Dad's guide, and it just blossomed to a place where he said to me, one day, we're going to do this as a print magazine. I was like, you're crazy. We're absolutely not doing this as a print magazine. Do you have any idea how much work that is? But over the course of about 18 months, we did a lot of testing. We figured it out, and then in 2019, we officially launched the print edition of WDW magazine. So now it's the same version, but print or digital. Every single month, we're up to. I think we're about 130 issues in now, which is mind blowing to me. And in 2022, we started our DLR magazine again, digital and print, but it's quarterly. So now my sites are set on the Horizons of doing a DCL magazine, which we are really. We're actually trying to launch it before 2020 happened. And then everything kind of slowed down in terms of those developments. That's why we actually went with DLR first. And now we're back on track with DCL. We're really hoping to be able to launch it in 2025. But it takes a lot of time for a print publication to come together.
[00:05:46] Speaker B: A ton of work and a ton of investment of time and money, let's be honest.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: Absolutely. And finding the right team. Right. We have an amazing team of writers and photographers for both Disneyland and Disney World. We have people who contribute from Tokyo and all over the world. But cruising is its own thing. You really need people who are experts at Disney Cruise, at the cruise industry, photographers who are capable of capturing, you know, those beautiful sunrises and sunsets at sea, you know, stunning photography with no people in it inside the atrium who are willing to stay up till three in the morning for those shots. And unlike the parks, we have a lot of people who are annual passholders who work with us. It's much more expensive. People are usually going on a vacation with their family, so it's a much bigger ask to find those people. So we are assembling a great team. We actually have our social accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Eclmagazine and our main WDW magazine, YouTube channel also has a lot of DCL videos on it. And so we've been assembling these people slowly. We also have online articles on our blog at dcl dash magazine.com, which just directs you to the DCL portion of our WDW magazine website. But it's nice and easy. So we are definitely making that team come together, and we're basically there now. We just need to make sure we have enough audience demand and enough people who don't just want to know about it, but will give us the money to print the magazine.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: Right? Of course. Of course.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: So our big goal right now is we're trying to get 10,000 DCL fans on our waitlist for the launch of the magazine. Being on the waitlist basically just means you sign up for an email and then every six to eight weeks we send around an email that maybe gives you a couple great online articles. We've written that could be helpful to you. Gives you an update on how we're progressing. Are we finding new photographers? Are we, you know, sailing on the magic this month to capture some content that's going to be in the first issue, those kinds of exciting, almost kickstarter y kind of updates. And then when we have enough people, we will put it on sale and see, see if enough people buy it.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: I love it. I love it.
[00:08:03] Speaker C: I've got to ask for those of you listening, you can't see the video, but hopefully we'll have this video up on YouTube of the interview as well. But I see I spy with my little eye and adventures by Disneybox in the background. So, Stephanie, have you done an ABd?
[00:08:17] Speaker A: Well, I did one. It was one ABD. It was actually a river cruise. I was doing a research for the. I think it was a very similar one. You guys did the Danube, right?
[00:08:27] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: So we did the Oktoberfest adult only Danube river cruise. So it was wonderful. And I really wanted to see that river cruising experience versus the ocean cruising experience.
And DCL magazine will actually probably our goal is to have at least one thing about ABD in each issue, whether it's land itineraries or NatGeo or the river cruises or the polar expeditions, just like we have Ohlani sometimes in DLR magazine. You know, we might have Tokyo Disney or Disneyland in Paris in WDW magazine. I feel like Abd and Dcl go hand in hand.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: We feel the same way. I mean, that's what we covered on our show.
[00:09:12] Speaker C: It was clear on our abd that DCL is the gateway drug to adventures by Disney. So half the people on there were experienced DCL. It feels like you start at the parks, then you move to the cruise line, and then some portion of the cruise line people move to adventures by Disney. So, yeah, it's slowly draining my bank account for sure.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: Oh, I know.
[00:09:33] Speaker C: Me too well, Stephanie, as a longtime sort of follower of Disney and a Disney cruise line aficionado, we always love to take time with people who are really knowledgeable about the cruise line to just kind of talk about where things are with the cruise line, what's coming up, what your thoughts are about, some of that stuff. And so let me start with, we've got the treasure coming out later this year. The wish was quite the divisive ship amongst the DCL community. Maybe perhaps only second to the adventure, which no one's actually seen yet, but we'll talk about that in a second.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: That'll be more divisive. Yeah.
[00:10:05] Speaker C: Yeah. What do you think about the treasure and some of the spaces that are going to be on there and those sorts of things.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Well, so I am a big princess person, so the wish really plays into those elements for me. But I am also a big adventureland person and I love the idea of this being like mystery and there being plants in the atrium and hopefully, I'm hoping lots of metallics and kind of shimmery things scattered around. So I think that that's really fun. I'm a little, I don't, I don't want to say concerned, but I'm curious how children are going to react to it because it seems not quite scary, but not as bright and airy and open. So I'm hoping that the little ones can really embrace that sense of adventure. And of course, there'll be the kids clubs and everything for them to hang out in where everything will be bright and cheery.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: I hope the Aladdin elements kind of bring, draws the kids in, too. Cause I'm with you. I feel like this adventure theming skew more to the adults than to the children. And I think Adventureland as a land skews more to adults than to children, both at Disneyland and Disney World. But yeah, I hope that they're going to bring because I think you're right. The princess theming of the wish really does draw in most of the children. Not all of the children. Our kid's not really a princess kid. He's not really into the princesses. But the Kids club was so whimsical that he loves the kids club there, so it's still, I think he'll be fine. But yeah, I think you're right. There is a, there is maybe that a little bit more concern as to which audience the ship is for.
[00:11:42] Speaker A: I do think that some of, some of the spaces, like Sarabi instead of Luna, I think kids will understand that more. I think tale of Moana is going to be a massive, massive hit. I thought it was so weird on the wish that the big Moana thing was the adult only coffee bar.
So I'm glad that the kids will get that. And of course, Plaza de Coco is going to be amazing for family. So I'm very excited about that.
[00:12:10] Speaker C: What do you think more generally, Stephanie, about just as I mentioned, the wish is pretty divisive just in terms of, I think a lot of people struggle with the layout. You mentioned the coffee bar, and I was like, oh, yeah, that is Moana themed. And I was like, struggling to remember that because I get there so rarely because it's like, so far off the beaten path.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: And there's like three different coffee bars.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: There, so you don't have to only go to that one. Right?
[00:12:31] Speaker C: Yeah, fair. But what do you think about the direction they're headed with these wish class ships? I don't know if, for instance, the destiny will be the last one in the class. They could wait several years and build more. They could go a different direction. Maybe we'll talk about that down the line here. But what do you think about the direction they had with these wish class ships?
[00:12:48] Speaker A: Well, so, to be honest, my first sailing on the wish was actually my second DCl sailing ever. My first sailing was in December 2019 on the dream. So I had only had that one ship to compare it to. Of course, I've watched hundreds of YouTube videos, I've read every blog, I've studied the ship maps. So I feel, you know, that I'm acquainted with all of the ships, but I didn't have that visceral reaction of like, oh, no, everything isn't exactly where I think it's going to be. My first sailing on the wish was also a media preview sailing that just had media and travel agents. So we were not competing with guests to get to everything first. Like, it was very structured. We were shown where to go. So I had a different kind of introduction. There are, I would say the most divisive thing for me is that coffee bar, because I love my coffee. I have to get it. I'm glad there are other coffee bars, but they do the really, really fancy, like the turkish coffees and stuff, only at Cove Cafe, and it is so far away from everything. And if you were cruising in the summer, you are outside in the blazing hot sun for at least two, three minutes, walking around.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: Go get your coffee.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: That's really hard.
So for me, the dream and the fantasy win in terms of COVID Cafe placement. But, you know, I'm just, I'm happy to have the coffee on the ships any way that I can.
[00:14:12] Speaker C: Yes. Yeah. Anything over Joffrey's in our book is a step up as an upgrade. So let's go back to the treasure for a second. So you talked about the show. They announced several new spaces as well. They've got the periscope pub, the skipper's canteen, or it's not Skipper's canteen. The skipper.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: Skipper society.
[00:14:32] Speaker C: Skipper society. Skipper society. They've got the new Plaza de Coco restaurant, mansion parlor. Yes. Cannot forget the haunted mansion. What are you looking forward to the most, do you think?
[00:14:45] Speaker A: For me, it's probably Skipper society because I'm a huge jungle cruise fan. We actually just did a special edition of our magazine. We do an attraction special every year. It was jungle cruise this year.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: So we really. My husband and I both really love the jungle cruise, and I love on the bayou, how there is that kind of central gathering space. I think it's really beautiful and fun. So I. And I love Skipper canteen at Disney World, so I'm really hoping all those elements come through. I know most people are gonna say haunted mansion. I do love haunted mansion also, but not to the same extent that I love jungle cruise.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: I'm with you, Stephanie. I'm on the jungle cruise train.
Like, before. I'm on the haunted mansion train. And not to say that I don't love haunted mansion, but, like, I actually prefer the nightmare before Christmas version of Haunting Mansion, the holiday overlay over the regular ride. But I love jungle cruise at both parks.
The puns, I can't lie all about the puns. And so I'm really, and I keep saying this, like, whenever this comes up on our show, that, like, I really hope that they make. The servers do. They gotta lean into it and that the puns. I really hope so. I really hope so.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: I agree. And I think that haunted mansion parlor. I mean, this is gonna sound crazy, because I go to Disney all the time. I know about the crowds, but I don't love the crowds. I don't love having to line up and have a reservation for everything. I'm sure with haunted mansion parlor, they'll use a virtual queue, like they did with the hyperspace lounge, which was fantastic, because then you weren't just standing in a hallway waiting to get in.
[00:16:19] Speaker B: Totally great.
[00:16:20] Speaker A: Like, not having such a high demand for something makes it much more appealing to me.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. Yeah. I thought the way that they did the virtual queue was really smart. You got an hour and a half. You were able to make, I think, at the beginning, up to two reservations for the course of your cruise. If they do something similar, it might be a little easier. The treasure, frankly, because of having seven night cruises. That's true, people, you know, it'll sort of spread out the crowds, even. Even better. But, yeah, I hope they do that, too, at least for the first, you know, couple, maybe month or two of sailings. I think that is a really smart way to control the crowds.
[00:17:01] Speaker C: I think the key for this ship is going to be, and I've said this many, many times, execution. Like, I think that the wish. I actually like that we love the wish class ship. You know, we prefer the wonder if it's just the two of us as adults. But I don't think the wish can be beat if you've got kids. Cause that kids club is amazing. So I love it. But it does feel like. And I think it's partly because of the pandemic. And material availability. And having to get things done. And just a whole bunch of things. It's always felt just a little bit like there was a huge promise there that wasn't fulfilled. And I'm really hoping with the treasure, they just fulfill the promise. Like some of the art for skipper society, periscope pub.
Like all that stuff. It just looks amazing. And all I need them to do is deliver what they showed us.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: I agree. Even something like jumbo sweets. I think looks so much cuter than the inside out sweets.
Joyful sweets. So that's cute, too. But I'm very much looking for. I really hope they have popsicles.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: If they don't like they have them in Shanghai. Come on, we need them.
[00:18:03] Speaker B: They must have the paw popsicles. Specifically, they must be paw popsicles.
[00:18:09] Speaker C: I swear.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: I also love Zootopia. So we're all about jumbo sweets as well.
[00:18:14] Speaker C: I swear I saw some. Yeah, it must have been the Tokyo ones. That somebody's like, these need to get on the cruise line. And I 100% agree. Yeah, yeah.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: They also in Shanghai have like a giant marshmallow. That looks like a popsicle. That is like the jumbo pops for the elephants. But you can feed the whole family. Because it's like the size of my face.
[00:18:34] Speaker B: All right, well, I hope they have that, too. That'll be awesome. Because it should be not. It's not going to be just an ice cream shop. It will be a sweets shop. Like the one on the wish. And the ones on the dream. And the fantasy. Where they sell cupcakes and other kinds of cupcakes. Cookie type things. Paste. Not pastries, but like fancy confections. Thanks. That's the royal. Exactly. Confections. I love that. Yeah. So I think it'll be a fun one.
[00:18:58] Speaker C: Steffi, one last question about the treasure. So again, there's lots of controversy around the maiden voyage of the treasure being over Christmas holiday. Pricing on the treasure was very high. I just curious what you thought about some of those pricing and sailing decisions. That they made for the treasury.
[00:19:17] Speaker A: I'm not surprised about the pricing. With the way that pricing is going in general. Across the parks and cruise line. And for other cruise lines as well. Most are not as high as Disney. But they're definitely going up. You could have knocked me over with a feather when they said the first sailing was going to be over Christmas.
That was not on my bingo card for 2024 at all.
So I'm happy for all those people celebrating Christmas. It also, I. I have no reason to believe that the ship won't be on time, but having lived through the delays with the wish, I'm like, you cannot miss this. You will ruin people's vacation and their holidays. So I'm sure they're.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: You listening, DCL? Are you listening? Cause you don't want to ruin the DCl duo's Christmas. You don't want to ruin Nathan's Christmas. Okay.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: Nobody's Christmas.
[00:20:05] Speaker B: Nobody's Christmas. Yeah.
[00:20:07] Speaker C: That episode will just be Nathan sobbing into a microphone for an hour for all of our listeners. No, no. He would probably actually prefer to be home at Christmas.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: He always talks about how he wants to be home for the holidays, that kid.
[00:20:20] Speaker C: And I agree. So I have no indicator this ship, from everything that we've heard through the rumor mill, she's ahead of schedule or on time. So I think. I think.
[00:20:29] Speaker A: Absolutely. And they're getting ready to pump out the adventure and the Destiny right after. So, like, they need to get that out of there so they can finish another ship.
[00:20:38] Speaker C: Well, yeah, the last photo they had of the Destiny was the, you know, the keel right behind what looks to be of almost fully complete treasure. So I think, I think. I think we're good shape. I missed in our timeline here. We should back up for a second. You and I are going to be on the preview cruise to Lighthouse Point. And so a week from today, this show will probably come out after that sailing, unfortunately. But what are you, so what are your thoughts on Lighthouse Point again, it's. I got to love Disney, Disney cruise line community, in part because the Disney community in general, everything that Disney does is divisive. Like, there's no one who just universally is like, I can't wait for this. And the whole community is excited about. So Lighthouse Point, also a bit divisive with some of the photos that have come out. Some folks, I think, expecting, I don't know why, but expecting that Disney would have gone the route of perfect day at Cococay instead. Really looks like castaway key version two.
I'm excited about it, but what are your thoughts?
[00:21:34] Speaker A: I'm really excited about it. And I could definitely see them in the future having a third island somewhere that goes more of that perfect day route if that's what they want. But I'm really excited about the cultural aspects and the ecological conservation efforts that they're doing. The bridge that goes over the reef. The fact that for many people like us, are all repeat cruisers. I would never get tired of castaway. I would just live on castaway if they would let me.
But I'm not even a beach person. Castaway is what convinced my husband and I to start taking some beach vacations, because they're like, this is beautiful. Never as beautiful as what Disney does, though. If you're a pearl level castaway club member, maybe you're tired of just getting off and seeing the same beach every time. So I love that there's all the different excursions that they'll be offering into the island, to different reefs around the island.
And I'm really looking forward to, like, having more authentic bahamian foods. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Junkanoo Russia Junkanoo celebration. That looks great to me. I have a theater background, so all the dancing and singing and the bright colors is right up my alley. I think that you're gonna find it's actually a little bit more like the ship on castaway key. You're just kind of relaxing the whole time. Even if you go snorkel for a while, I think here you're gonna be a relaxing person on the beach or an activities person, doing stuff at the play play pavilion and biking the nature trail and going to the beach bash and all of that stuff. So I'm really interested to see what people think. But I love the design. I love the colors. They just. Yesterday, I think the imagineers had their day there, watching all the pictures, all the coverage. My husband and I were already. We were zooming in to find all the hidden mickeys in all the designs. So, personally, I'm really excited about it, and I can't wait to get on another cruise that will take me to both islands in one sailing.
[00:23:33] Speaker B: Oh, yes. The duo dip, as we were calling it. Yes.
[00:23:38] Speaker A: I love that. I'm gonna steal that.
[00:23:40] Speaker B: You are absolutely licensed to you already. Thank you. Thank you.
[00:23:45] Speaker C: License in perpetuity. There you go.
The only thing that I think it goes back to my comments about the treasure, about execution, is I do think Disney has a habit of, like, with this island in particular. I'm a little worried they will deliver all of these great experiences. But then operations gets involved, and things start to change and scale. It's like once imagineering hands the project over to operations, sometimes those two things don't really mesh well. So, yeah, I'll be interested to see what happens there? I don't know if. If you've thought about that at all, but that's. That's kind of my one reaction I.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: Have, and I said, I'm really glad we're going at the start when everything is going, is going to be fresh the way it was intended. I do think a lot of times, those operational decisions are just based on what people actually like. Right. Like you've lost at Disney World. There's a ton of more, like, interesting, exotic foods that we've lost for more fried chicken sandwiches, which I also love a fried chicken sandwich. Who doesn't?
[00:24:42] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: But, you know, we've lost some more interesting, unique things, especially at a lot the resorts that now just all have the same menu. I don't know if that's just penny pinching, streamlining or if that is. Nobody cares about the two dishes that I come twice a year and order, so. Chicken. Chicken nuggies for all.
[00:25:01] Speaker C: Yeah. I was pretty devastated when I found out the Sam. I don't know if Sam paid attention to this, but bar Riva's menu at the Riviera was changed, and a lot of the dishes that people really liked were removed. And so, yeah, I was. Was like, man, that was like, a great, great place to go, grab some quick service, uh, food, and have a drink outside. So. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with you, Stephanie.
[00:25:22] Speaker A: Those.
[00:25:23] Speaker C: Those decisions can get like a knife in the heart. Yeah.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: Yeah. I think it's probably a combination of both, though, to your point, Stephanie? I think sometimes it's. They are doing some, you know, streamlining because it cuts costs, and also, they're looking at, oh, well, you know, know, 99% of the people are ordering the chicken nuggets, and there's only 1% of the people who are ordering the Niswa salad, and so do we really need the Niswa salad? Feed everyone chicken nuggies.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: I agree with that. I do think with lookout key at Lighthouse Point, though, because they're so involved with the bahamian government and the cultural ambassadors, I do think we have, at least maybe not on the food menus, but I think with the activities and the entertainment, I think that's really going to stay. That's a huge partnership for them.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: I agree. I agree. I think, you know, and building there, there's going to be some, like a. Like a nature point or a lookout point. I forget what they called it. But, like, I think there are certain things like that, that even if they're not ready right now, those things, they've made those investments, and that those things are going to happen and those aren't going to get scaled back because to your point, they are. They have made agreements with the bahamian government. They've made this investment.
We'll have to see if, like french fries stay on the menu. That's really my big question.
They didn't make any agreement with the Bahamians about french fries.
[00:26:51] Speaker A: I'm sure it's Disney. I think the french fries are safe.
[00:26:55] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know what, though? But they don't exist on castaway. We have to have those lazy potato clips in the bags.
[00:27:01] Speaker A: That's true. I never thought about that.
[00:27:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:04] Speaker A: Now that's all I'm going to think about on my next castaway.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, it makes sense. I think Brian was the one who brought up this point. I can't remember who we were talking to, but the idea of there isn't a place for them to like, just easily dispose of the friar oil because they'd have to make that on the island. Whereas on Eleuthera it is inhabited island inhabitant. And so there are other facilities on the island. So maybe this makes it easier for them to kind of broaden their offerings, food wise and otherwise. I think your point about the excursions is well made, too, because they're limited on castaway. The ones on the ones on. At Lighthouse Point or look at Key at Lighthouse Point for those.
[00:27:51] Speaker A: Thanks for all those words, DC.
[00:27:54] Speaker B: This is all about lawyers.
[00:27:56] Speaker C: We just got to start calling it lookout key. All right, let's just shorten it for them.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: But I think at lookout key, because they've got this connection to the rest of the island and there are other services on the island, there's better options and more potential even for future expansion with excursions, which I think will be great. Yeah, we're hoping for maybe scuba excursions and some stuff that's not currently offered, but we're hoping, hoping maybe as they continue to go there only because I.
[00:28:24] Speaker C: Finally got my scuba certification. So.
[00:28:26] Speaker A: Yes, congratulations.
[00:28:28] Speaker B: And he wants me to go get my scuba certification, which I'm a little terrified to do, but we'll see.
[00:28:32] Speaker C: There you go. We'll see. We'll see. All right, let's talk about the destiny. I mean, we know very, very little about it other than the theming.
I mean, I guess the only question to ask is what do you think about the theming of the Destiny?
[00:28:46] Speaker B: Does it speak to you? You?
[00:28:48] Speaker A: So it does. All three of these really speak to me. I love the classic ocean liner feel of the first four ships. It's like it's its own total thing. You go to Tokyo Disney for one reason and Disneyland for another reason.
[00:29:01] Speaker B: Right?
[00:29:01] Speaker A: And so I love that it's kind of like Adventureland, tomorrowland, fantasyland. Overall themes for these ships, I think I'm less into villains. I'm not a villains person at all, but I'm very much a hero's person. So as long as that balance stays in check, if I can get my, like, blue lightsaber instead of my red lightsaber, like, I will be very happy.
I think that there's a lot of opportunity for them to do really cute things. Personally, I think that everything that stayed the same between the treasure and the wish is going to stay the same. The cinemas are going to be the same. You know, the oceaneer club is going to be the same. All of those things that they haven't touched, all Mickey's festival of foods. But I think all of the spaces that have changed are going to have this destiny overlay. Just makes sense to me. But my personal secret hope, even though I don't have little ones, I'm gonna have to, like, borrow my niece and take her on a cruise or something. But my personal secret now not so secret hope is that they'll turn the Bibbidi bobbidi boutique into, like, an Edna mode takeover.
[00:30:04] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:30:05] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:30:05] Speaker B: Like, that would be like a superhero dress up. Yes. Yes.
I'm there. I'm gonna be. I'm gonna be hero Minnie. I'm gonna get. I'm gonna get made over to be hero mini. I should.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: She's so cute in that artwork, her little, like, superhero disneybounding costume. I love it.
[00:30:25] Speaker B: It's amazing. I feel like I have to. Speaking of disneybounding, I feel like I have to put together, like, a hero mini Disneybound for whenever the Destiny sales, like, it's just going, it has to.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: They're saying 2025, so clocks are ticking.
[00:30:41] Speaker B: Seriously. Speaking of that, I feel like I've got to ask you. Okay, 2025. But when? When do you think your prediction? I mean, we have no information from Disney Cruise line as to when. 25.
[00:30:52] Speaker C: Well, except now we know. Except now we know that the adventure also has to do her maiden in 2025. So like, two maidens in a year?
[00:31:01] Speaker B: Yes. How do they fit this in? And when is this going to be? I mean, I don't think any of us think the beginning of 2025, but.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Like, Christmas again, maybe Christmas, maybe pre Thanksgiving. If everything really is ahead of schedule, I would say the destiny will be the last. I think that the adventure will come and then the destiny. They are two totally different markets. You know, there's different like prime sailing seasons between a north american sailing, which is what we assume for the destiny, but maybe not, who knows? And asian market sailing. So I think like maybe late spring, early summer for adventure. And then personally, I hope before American Thanksgiving for the destiny just because I think it's so crunchy in this space before Christmas.
[00:31:52] Speaker B: It's very strange. It would be very. Yeah, it would be very difficult to, I mean, I know they're doing it this year, but I wouldn't, I don't see them doing back to back Christmas maiden voyages, especially because it seems like this, I mean, this maiden voyage is not even yet sold out the tread for the treasure later this year. So I mean, it's close. It's probably close to sold out. Like some categories are sold out, but it's not sold out. Like the wish sold out.
[00:32:17] Speaker A: The wish sold out in minutes. Right. And I think if the treasure had, that would make a really great case for let's release all the ships Christmas week. But that is proven not to be the case.
[00:32:28] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, I'm sure that DCL had some idea that that would be the case. Right. That it would. That Christmas might be a harder sell to some people and maybe they did that purposefully because now what we've seen in the maiden voyage Facebook group that we're actually adminning is a mixture of, you know, like first time cruisers through pearl cruisers. It's a very, you know, whereas the wish was, I think they said there were only two first time cruisers on the whole ship and they were like babies.
[00:33:02] Speaker A: That's not surprising.
[00:33:04] Speaker B: Yeah. So one of the, you know, very, very different mix of people, but. Yeah. So it's very, very interesting to see when they do it. I like your prediction of summer, though, for the adventure, whether or not we.
[00:33:18] Speaker A: Get actual sailing dates for these. I do think with D 23 coming up, we're going to have a lot more information by the end of the summer on both of those ships.
[00:33:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I think you're right. I think that's a really good prediction.
[00:33:29] Speaker C: Of course, the, we plan to go to and then changed our minds about. I agree. Now it's sort of shaping up for. There have to be a bunch of DCL announcements at D 23 because if they're going to sail next year, booking has to open at some point this year because they usually let you book about a year in advance for the maiden voyages.
[00:33:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I will say there's also the other d 23 happening in Brazil. So maybe there won't be be a lot of announcements in Anaheim, and they'll save some for Brazil, or maybe they'll announce the adventure in Anaheim and then destiny stuff at Brazil. We have no idea.
[00:34:04] Speaker C: I could actually see them doing a special event in Asia at one of the parks to announce something about the adventure. Cause I think.
Let's talk about the adventure for a second. I don't think that ship is aimed at a north american market.
[00:34:17] Speaker A: Absolutely not.
[00:34:19] Speaker C: I think it's going to be 100% aimed at capturing dollars and AIPAC and for those who may not understand my acronym, the Asia Pacific region.
And so I just. I think that they would be better off doing the announcement in Asia about that ship. They actually stood up their own instagram account for DCL.
[00:34:38] Speaker A: I joined it yesterday. Yeah, yeah, I agree. I had thought that possibly out of IaPA that was happening over there, you know, they might tie something in with that, even though that's less about cruising, but, you know, entertainment industry, so we'll see. But I agree. Some sort of big announcement over there makes a lot of sense. And they didn't want to stomp on, you know, zootopia or fantasy springs or, you know, Arendelle down in Hong Kong. But, like, there's so much good stuff happening over in the asian parks, and you're 100% right. The only people that this is aimed at in North America is people like us who go on every pearl level cruisers, people who are doing this as their job, and people who are massive Disney fans that are also completionists and don't mind. Like, my husband and I are traveling all over the world, so we can make sure we've been in every single park, we've gone on every single ship. That's not your normal Disney fan.
[00:35:35] Speaker B: Right.
[00:35:37] Speaker A: But they have a huge market with people from all over Korea, Japan, China, India, all of Asia, really coming to those three destinations that they already have in Asia. And I think, to your point earlier, if people were upset about the wish, they are not going to even believe what happens with the adventure.
[00:36:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm kind of hoping that those folks just won't go on the adventure. And because it really, as we've talked about, it really isn't for the north american market. It's not really for the american market, south or North America, frankly.
So, you know, as much like, I'll be honest, I want to go on it because I'm a completionist, but I'm not sure it's the ship for me either, even as like a super DCL person. Right? Like super DCL fan.
I just, it sounds too big, too many people. And, you know, it also depends on are there going to even be seven night cruises or are they going to be these three and four night cruises? I'm guessing it's going to be shorter cruises and I hate those because I can't see enough of the ship. You know, I just, I'm guessing it's.
[00:36:53] Speaker A: Going to be longer cruises, maybe with some of those mixed in. So I've been studying the most popular cruises that come out of, for any cruise line that come out of ports in Singapore, just to see, like, what is typical for the other lines. There are a lot of short cruises, usually over to Phuket, somewhere like that for a day or two, go, go to the beach and come back. But a lot of them are long. 714 21 night cruises take you down to Sydney, that take you over to Japan, that maybe take you to different, like Bali, Jakarta, like lots of different places like that. I don't know for sure. I mean, they just made a big splash about sending the wonder over there. But like, maybe they're going to stop their trans Pacific crossings if they have a ship over there, do Australia, New Zealand and Fiji a little bit and then move up and do Indonesia and Thailand a little bit, then move up even further and do Japan for a little bit. Just because, because you're out of Singapore doesn't mean every single ship has to leave from Singapore.
[00:37:57] Speaker C: Well, and leverage your newest ship to generate excitement in the market there because I think the australian market, they loved having Disney cruise line over there. It seems like they're sending them back and it's going to have another season with them. But I would imagine they might get a little bit more draw if it's like we're not sending the second oldest ship in the fleet anymore, we're sending one of the newest.
We know that people trust Disney for their vacations, and it can sometimes be a little nerve wracking to think about trying something new. Right, Sam?
[00:38:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Whether youre considering branching out to a new cruise line, an all inclusive resort, or exploring Europe, the team at my path, unwinding travel has the expertise and connections across the globe to plan almost any vacation. They can even help with the universal parks. Theyve helped us plan our vacations beyond Disney, including Royal Caribbean Princess cruise line and Virgin voyages, our team of travel.
[00:38:43] Speaker C: Professionals all understand the needs of a Disney traveler can help you decide if another option is right for you. And then guide you through every step of your new vacation experience. Whether you are dreaming of a fun getaway to an all inclusive resort, a river cruise in Europe, or an adventure in Costa Rica, the folks at MyPath unwinding are ready to help. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your next vacation even more amazing.
[00:39:04] Speaker B: If you want to learn more and take advantage of the amazing team at mypath unwinding travel, then head over to mypathunwinding.com dclduo or email
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[00:39:24] Speaker C: That'S also a ton of rooms to fill. And when we talked to people from Australia, New Zealand, one of the things they cited to go back to the beginning of the show for a second was it's expensive to sail on Disney Cruise line and those prices are not necessarily adjusted for their market. So it will be interesting to see, I guess, the most divisive question that people ask about the adventure. So, Stephanie, casino or no casino on.
[00:39:49] Speaker A: Board the adventure, I don't think there's going to be a casino because that's super anti Disney, but I think that's going to be a problem for them.
I could see them adding more smoking areas before I could see them adding a casino, and that blows my mind.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: Yeah, you and Brian are of the same mind on that. I've still been predicting a casino, but a smaller casino, right? Not a very large casino and obviously sort of set away from the main spaces. And of course, no Disney Ip anywhere inside a casino run by a third party. All of the things that would sort of need to happen. But I honestly won't be shocked if there's no casino.
And I think you're right. If there is no casino, that might hurt them and they might actually need to adjust and either move the ship or go into drydock and put a casino on. If they end up launching without one.
[00:40:45] Speaker A: There could be a middle ground if they do a really amazing arcade where you're not actually gambling money and, you know, maybe you're playing different games like.
[00:40:58] Speaker C: Plinko or something like that.
[00:41:00] Speaker A: And you know, like those, like, not necessarily little for prizes and not necessarily like little kid arcade games, although they'll probably have that too because it's a family line. But I think that, like, when my husband and I go to Vegas, we're not big gamblers. But like, I'll go, I'll throw $20 around the casino, like, in the penny slots, whatever. Have a little drink, and, like, I have a good time, but I love it when there's, like, a Star wars slot machine that I can play, and it's more like being in an arcade and you're piloting something, and then you have to pull the slot machine. So if they did that without it actually being gamble, I could see that. I am curious. I don't know for sure. Maybe Disney's announced it, maybe they haven't. But the fact that they've launched a separate Instagram account makes me wonder if it's not going to be run by magical Cruise, LLC or whatever. So if that's the case, it could be a totally different branch, much like how Tokyo Disney is the Oriental Land company. And if that's the case, maybe that's the loophole where they're like, oh, it's not really Disney, so they can do what they want.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a really good point.
I hadn't thought about that. If it is, if it's part of a different legal entity, would that change the landscape? Will Disney Cruise lines see it a little differently?
[00:42:14] Speaker C: My worry is they put a casino on the thing, and it's successful, and they figure out it's generating revenue, and then all of a sudden, the ships are going into dry dock and getting casinos on there for the north american market, which I think, really, I think that that is a. As much as people sort of like to have them on cruise ships, I think it's a big differentiator and draws some people to the ships who hadn't, whether who would not otherwise sail.
[00:42:35] Speaker A: I I agree.
[00:42:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:42:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:37] Speaker C: It'll be interesting to see what happens there.
[00:42:39] Speaker B: I wonder what they're going to do on food. I think this is actually a topic we haven't talked to anybody about in previous discussions about the adventure.
I'm curious, Stephanie, have you given some thought to what kind of food they would serve on board the adventure? Will it be authentic asian food, or will it be our. What we dcl standard american food fair?
[00:43:06] Speaker C: I thought you were gonna say, well. I thought you were gonna say, well, it'd be americanized chinese food. I was like, that would be offensive.
[00:43:12] Speaker A: No, I think it will be both, but kind of flipped. So right now, let's say you go to cabanas. Most of the menu is much more american or maybe european inspired a little bit, and then you have, like, one great curry counter or something. I think most of it. You'll have a curry counter. You'll have, you know, like noodles. Noodles and dumplings and all sorts of delicious little things like that. Probably lots and lots of fish, maybe lots of sushi for all the different markets that they're going to be in. And then you'll have one grill at the end with your burgers and your hot dogs and all of that stuff. I do think the format of food and beverage service is going to be the bigger issue because even if you're going to Tokyo Disney, you're not expecting to have a cheeseburger everywhere you go. If you are, you're going to be very surprised. But in asian cultures, for the most part, walking around with your food and beverage is not good manners. You don't go to Starbucks and then leave and walk around with your Starbucks. Right. So I think there's going to be less of those grab and go food opportunities. More seating and what, maybe, maybe multiple buffets, I don't know. But more seating in those areas, more seating in sit down restaurants. And I don't think there's going to be so much of, like, get something by the pool. It's going to be go sit down, have your thing, and then go enjoy the rest of the ship. And that will be change.
[00:44:35] Speaker B: Yeah. That's so interesting. I hadn't thought about. So having not spent time in Asia, I'll be perfectly, we've never been to any of the asian parks, actually, and I have, and I've never spent any time in Asia, but that's something that would not have occurred to me as an american traveler, that if I went over there, I would be expected. It would. The expectation or the norm is to sit down in Starbucks, drink your beverage, and then go walk. Because to me, I'm always walking around the parks with my Starbucks.
[00:45:02] Speaker A: Oh, me too.
[00:45:05] Speaker B: In line before we get on the ride.
[00:45:07] Speaker A: Exactly. So I do think, and I also think languages is going to be very different. You may have seen with all of fantasy springs coming out, people commenting, oh, I can't believe they did these rides in Japanese. Why wouldn't they be in Japanese? They're in the japanese park.
But I do think if, especially if they're going to have ports in multiple countries, I can see there being Mandarin and Korean and Japanese, several different languages, always English as well. But they might do the shows. It might be like today's show is a Mandarin, tomorrow's show is in English, and they just do the same show back to back. Who knows?
That's something that really interests me, actually. I want to see how they handle that.
[00:45:49] Speaker B: Yeah. That will be super interesting because for right now, the stage actors, for the most part, are north american. I mean, you might get some Brits or Aussies mixed in there, but most of the stage actors are american or canadian, really, let's be honest. Yeah. So that should be interesting to see if that changes. Obviously, I've heard from some of the crew on board, particularly the indonesian crew. They're really excited about having a ship out in Singapore because it's close to home for them and. Yeah. And so they have, a lot of them have family members that live in Singapore that they would get to see on a regular basis if they got stationed on that ship. So I think it will be interesting to see how the crew changes in that market. But again, I say I think it'll be more different as far as, like, entertainment crew might be different, whereas I think, you know, serving crew. Crew will maybe be similar. Right now, it's a lot of Indian, a lot of Indonesians, some South Americans. Yeah. Just super interesting. Yeah. What do you think about the fact that they're going to have to hire, like, I don't know, 10,000 new crew members or something in the course of a year? I mean, we've got one coming out in 2024, December 2024, and two more coming out in 2025. How does that work?
[00:47:13] Speaker A: Hiring is one thing, but training and getting them up to Disney standards is the real trick there.
Even when the wish came online, and there was a lot of times when they were, you know, half a new crew and half an old crew, I was on a sailing like that. It's Disney. It's still magical. But I was like, I can tell who the new people are, and it's not as much of a well oiled machine. So I think that's going to be a challenge because Disney cruise line purposefully holds themselves to such a high standard, and that is what people know them for and love about them and really what you expect. So I think that that is a potential sticky point for them.
[00:47:53] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's gonna hit the whole fleet. That's the thing. I think people are, people maybe aren't thinking about the fact that, like, it's not that the crew on the Destiny is going to be less trained, the crew overall, because they'll spread out, as they tend to do whenever a new ship comes online. They try to kind of staff all of the ships with a mix of crew that are experienced and a mix of new crew, but it absolutely spreads them thinner as far as their experience. Crew, when you, particularly when you have three new ships coming on within like a twelve month period. It's crazy.
[00:48:25] Speaker A: That's absolutely insane. I can't believe you're doing that.
[00:48:28] Speaker B: I know. I just. Yeah, we really thought, I'll be honest, until. Was it yesterday or the day before when they put out the reel? Yeah, yesterday when they put out the real showing Captain Mickey as the whole character and saying 2025, we were of the prediction that it, or we were of the mind that they were going to push back that 2025 release date for adventure. And so especially because it's the first of its kind, whereas with the Destiny, they're just replicating what they did on the wish and the treasure, for sure with new theming, obviously, but less, less.
[00:49:00] Speaker C: Training for crew on the Destiny. It's interesting someone actually mentioned this with regard to Lighthouse Point, and I hadn't thought about it, but the sailing that we're on, Stephanie, will be the first time crew set foot on Lighthouse Point to staff these locations. So, yeah, I, you know, just pack your patience pants out there for anyone on those first few sailings because it's not like the crew has watched videos. The crew has been told what to do, but they have not set foot on the island for training, as far as we know.
[00:49:25] Speaker A: So it's like any new hotel, any new restaurant, any new ride. You know, there's the excitement of being one of the first, but also sometimes it's better to be somebody two months down the road.
[00:49:36] Speaker C: Well, and unlike a new ship. Unlike a new ship, they can't do like a bunch of cast member previews and stuff like that.
[00:49:43] Speaker B: Yeah, same with like, a new hotel. They can at least do dress rehearsal in the space, right?
[00:49:48] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:49:48] Speaker B: They haven't even done dress rehearsals sort of in the space because they haven't. They haven't there yet. Haven't been there. It's crazy. Yeah. It should be super exciting. We're excited to see what's next. I think, you know, the last topic before we wrap up and.
[00:50:04] Speaker C: Oh, no, no, no. I have some more questions here, Sam, so don't. Don't wrap me up.
[00:50:09] Speaker B: Don't wrap up.
I want to move on to a different topic. Go ahead. Which is the magic and the wonder. Right. We've got 25 more than almost 26 years for the Disney magic.
20. Almost 21 years, I think, for the wonder.
What is your prediction personally, Stephanie, about what's going to happen?
When does the magic get retired? And. And if. And when it gets retired, what is Disney going to do to replace it?
[00:50:43] Speaker A: Well, I think that it will get retired eventually, but not as soon as most people think. If this was any other cruise line, I'd say it's already done. Maybe you get two more years. They just did some nice upgrades to it in dry dock, like, they put money into it. They're not trying to get rid of it. I do think there won't be any further, probably for a decade, new ships, unless these ones just sell out overnight, nonstop. But if that's the case, I think when new ships come on the line after the Destiny and adventure and the treasure, then maybe that is the time or shortly before. I also think kind of, you know, gearing up with these bigger, more of these bigger ships will allow them to absorb if in five to ten years, they want to retire. The magic and the wonder.
Disney takes really good care of their ships. It's very hard to tell that they're as old as they actually are.
And if they're still running, you know, maybe they are gentle on them. Maybe they start putting them on the two and three night sailings just to cast away key and back, something nice and gentle right out of San Diego, up to Catalina and back. But I think that they're around for a while still.
[00:51:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, I hope you're right.
[00:52:01] Speaker C: About that, because I think there's some indicators of. So the two things I would say is indicators of that. That one is we're seeing cruise lines start to build, like they're saying, instead of building the next biggest ship, I'm going to go back maybe a few stages in the fleet and build some smaller ships or just build smaller ships that are new to the fleet. So I think we're seeing that happen. I think that's in part a response to the fact that finding ports for these gigantic ships, it's getting hard. Ports are closing down to them more and more. And so I think that you're going to want smaller ships to get into less known ports or just ports of call that will only take those smaller ships in the fleet.
[00:52:40] Speaker B: Right. Or one of the Vancouver bridge. Right. Isn't there the bridge in Vancouver and the ones that can fit under the. The bridge that is over by the canals or the Panama Canal. Right. So there's like, there are some limitations of where you can travel. So for, like, those ships that are going to do most of the time on the west coast and do Alaska, they do. Are going to want smaller.
[00:53:03] Speaker C: And the magic, the magic and the wonder sell out. That's the other thing, is if they get rid of them, you might lose some people who would sail those ships. So.
[00:53:09] Speaker A: Yeah, and people who have been sailing with Disney since the beginning are now getting to their very senior years. You know, it's maybe harder for them to get around a big ship. They don't want the bells and whistles of something like an icon of the seas. They want something that's more relaxing, that's easier to manage, to not have to fit all of these things in, maybe pay for things that you're, you know, if you're not going to use a go cart, go kart track, if you're not going to use all the water slides, if you're not going to use the casino, why are you paying for a ship that has all those things? I wouldn't pay for a hotel that has a bunch of amenities I wasn't going to use. So I think that, you know, maybe that is just the Alaska ship now. Something nice geared towards that demographic.
[00:53:53] Speaker C: All right, I have one last question for you, Stephanie, and then we will shift to rapid fire. So my last question is, I always love to ask people, what do you think is the biggest opportunity for Disney Cruise line? The thing that they're not doing? They maybe haven't signaled that they're going to do. Like, what do you think their biggest opportunity is?
[00:54:10] Speaker A: I honestly think it's more itineraries. Like, I get a little. I haven't even done them all, but I get a little bit bored when I look at the Disney cruise line ports of call that they're going to, the excursions that they're offering, very similar to many other cruise lines. But when you look at some, they are a small cruise line. When you look at the big cruise lines, there's like 42 different Norway itineraries and an itinerary down to Africa and all these different things. And Disney's like the same things year after year. Something I was just looking to do a New Orleans cruise the other day. I was like, oh, they're not even sailing out of New Orleans right now. That would be another good one for the magic and the wonder.
To go back and keep doing the.
[00:54:53] Speaker B: Wonder out of New Orleans is a no brainer. It's so amazing to be on the wonder out of New Orleans because you've got the Tiana's theming. It just works. I know.
[00:55:01] Speaker A: And so as much as I love castaway and I assume I'm going to love lookout, I want to see less three and four day back and forth to Nassau kind of cruises or the same amount as now and then all the new stuff let's do something interesting. Let's go see the world. And that really ties into what they keep trying to push the envelope with. With ABD. They're constantly introducing new things there that could be a good testing ground to see how excited people are about Japan or Columbia or wherever.
So I think that's it. Because if you're bored of going to castaway key every year on your vacation, let's go to France.
[00:55:42] Speaker B: Yeah. I love that. I think you're 100% right. Yeah.
[00:55:46] Speaker C: Yeah. It's one of the complaints we hear every itinerary release. Well, this looks like more of the same, so. Yeah. I would be so excited. I was so excited when they announced New Orleans as a departure port, and they had that big. The big to do in New Orleans with. And with Tiana's bayou adventure opening. And, I mean, it just feels like, let's get. I definitely get a ship back to New Orleans, but I agree with one.
[00:56:08] Speaker A: Of those, like, short AbD escapes. Right? Like, start or end your trip with that. That would be amazing. Take my money.
[00:56:15] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:56:15] Speaker C: For sure.
[00:56:16] Speaker B: For sure.
[00:56:16] Speaker C: Well, Stephanie, it's been fabulous talking to you, but we have reached that point in the show where I need to hand you over to Sam for some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules, and a dash of judgment of the round we know as rapid fires. So, Sam, take it away.
[00:56:29] Speaker B: Thank you, Brian. All right, Stephanie, I'm going to ask you your personal favorites. We're going to start with General Disney, and then we're going to move on to the cruise line, because obviously that's our bread and butter. We've got to know all your favorites on the cruise line. Okay, who is your favorite Disney character? And Disney means everything. Oh, you're. You got.
[00:56:49] Speaker A: You're like, I love her.
[00:56:50] Speaker B: Donnie on the spot. All right. I love it. Okay. Favorite Disney movie.
[00:56:54] Speaker A: Oh, sleeping Beauty. Oh, I love the music, and I love the animation style, the colors. They're just beautiful.
[00:57:03] Speaker B: Awesome. All right, favorite Disney song.
[00:57:06] Speaker A: That's hard. But the one that came to mind is bare necessities, so I think we're gonna go with that.
[00:57:11] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:57:12] Speaker A: I do love the jungle book.
[00:57:14] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's a great song. Okay, now we're gonna move on to a Disney cruise ship anyway, of the fleet. Tell me, what is your favorite Disney cruise line main stage show?
[00:57:25] Speaker A: The frozen one that's on the sea right now. That's amazing.
[00:57:30] Speaker B: It's fantastic. I love it. Okay, your favorite adult bar space on any of the Disney cruise line ships?
[00:57:39] Speaker A: Nightingales.
[00:57:40] Speaker B: Oh, beautiful. I love that. Okay, favorite onboard activity. So favorite thing to do on a ship. Hmm.
[00:57:49] Speaker A: Does it have to be one of the, like, hosted activities or just anything that I like to.
[00:57:53] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:57:53] Speaker B: I just like to be reading in the COVID That's exactly.
[00:57:56] Speaker A: I like to go sit at the COVID and have coffee with my husband and just have, like, a nice coffee date. We don't do it enough at home because, like, just grab our Starbucks and run. So I just like to go sit there, have a nice little espresso, some little cookies, and have a date.
[00:58:09] Speaker B: Love it. I love that. Okay, your favorite rotational dining room on any cruise. Cruise line ship.
[00:58:17] Speaker A: I think it's going to be Arendelle.
[00:58:19] Speaker B: Wow.
All right, well, it is a fun show.
[00:58:22] Speaker A: It's a fun show. And, like, I have scandinavian heritage, so all the food is really, like, comforting and familiar to me.
[00:58:29] Speaker B: Love it.
[00:58:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:58:31] Speaker B: And you're a frozen girl, so there you go. Yeah, exactly. Well, you're a princess. You like all the princesses.
[00:58:36] Speaker A: All the princesses. As you've seen in all my answers.
[00:58:39] Speaker B: It works. It works. Okay. Your favorite space to just kind of chill on the ship.
[00:58:46] Speaker A: Satellite falls.
[00:58:48] Speaker B: Yes. That is the right answer. Absolutely. Okay, we're going to talk a little bit. Food. Now. A favorite sweet item and then a favorite savory item on a Disney cruise line. Ships. We'll start with the swede.
[00:59:01] Speaker A: I'm going to say the grand Marnier souffle, which I actually like better than the Paulo one. I find the Paulo chocolate souffle just. It's too chocolatey for me.
[00:59:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:59:13] Speaker A: So I like the grand Marnier, and then savory was next.
[00:59:17] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:59:18] Speaker A: Black truffle pasta, percent. Yes, of course.
[00:59:22] Speaker B: Black truffle, percent for the win. All right. Love it. Okay. All right.
[00:59:27] Speaker C: I think people are just pandering to you now, Sam. I think that's.
[00:59:30] Speaker B: I don't think so. This was not planned, you guys.
All right? Now, you've been on all of the ships now.
[00:59:37] Speaker A: I have not. I've actually only been on the wish dream fantasy. This is my first time on the magic. I have not been on the wonder yet.
[00:59:43] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Okay, okay. Well, this. I can still ask you this question. I just have to take out one of the options. Okay, so controversial question.
Aqua duck. Aqua mouse.
[00:59:53] Speaker A: Aqua duck.
[00:59:54] Speaker B: All right, fair enough. Okay. Another very controversial question. Of the ships that you have been on, which one is your favorite fantasy? Oh, interesting.
[01:00:06] Speaker A: I love the color palette in the atrium, and I love the Europe theming of the bar area. I think it's much more cohesive than on the dream.
[01:00:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. The theming is way better on those bathrooms.
[01:00:20] Speaker A: Those like Barcelona inspired bathrooms.
[01:00:23] Speaker B: Barcelona is my favorite place to go to the bathroom in the whole world.
[01:00:28] Speaker A: There you go.
[01:00:30] Speaker B: Okay, the last question of every rapid fire is, what is your bucket list cruise? If you could go anywhere in the world on a Disney cruise line ship, it doesn't even need to be someplace that Disney cruise line currently goes. I mean, we were just talking about how there aren't enough itineraries all around the world. Where would you, Stephanie, go?
[01:00:49] Speaker A: I would go to Antarctica, which I don't think those ships are going to do, but that is like, that one is in my sight lines.
[01:00:57] Speaker B: I love it. Awesome. Well, thank you for playing. You passed with flying colors. I would give you. I give you an a plus plus or maybe plus plus plus. Okay. So you get three pluses. Yeah. Fantastic. Love it.
[01:01:10] Speaker A: Thank you so much.
[01:01:10] Speaker B: You're welcome to come back anytime, Stephanie.
[01:01:12] Speaker A: Oh, thank you so much for having me. I've had a great time. Would love to chat with you too. To anytime.
[01:01:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:01:18] Speaker C: Well, yes. Stephanie, just let me add my thanks for taking some time out of your very busy day managing across three different magazine publications, one of which you're trying to launch, to chat with our listeners all about your thoughts on Disney Cruise line. And just, Stephanie, remind folks one more time how they can find you, how they can sign up for that waiting list for the DCL magazine and all the places where they can find you.
[01:01:40] Speaker A: So if you actually go to bit ly DCLmagazine, that's gonna take you right to the waitlist that you can sign up for and get more information as we have it. And then that will just send you to a thank you page that's on our main website. So you will find all of our DCL content there, and you can find our DCL specific channels on Instagram and Facebook. Eclmagazine.
[01:01:59] Speaker C: Amazing. Well, Stephanie, one more time. Just thank you so much for taking time. We really, really appreciate it.
[01:02:04] Speaker A: Thank you so much.
[01:02:09] Speaker C: Well, thanks to everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows. So be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us live, we have a live show now every week, Monday nights. 05:30 p.m. pacific 08:30 p.m. eastern over on YouTube.com dclduo. So be sure to head over and check that out. If you want help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course, you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor, my path unwinding travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to mypathunwinding.com dclduo or email
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[email protected] comma or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590 that's 40 241-355-5590 the DCL Duo podcast is not affiliated with Disney Cruise Line, the Disney Company, or the Disney family of theme parks. The views expressed on the show are solely those of the individuals on the podcast and in no way reflect the views of the Disney Company or Disney Cruise line. If you have questions about a Disney Cruise or a Disney vacation, please contact the great folks over at MyPath unwinding travel or Disney directly or your own travel agent. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time for another fabulous adventure with the DCL duo.
