[00:00:00] Speaker A: Like, can you imagine if someone shows up dressed as Thanos and walks around the ship? Like it would. It would hit so hard. Like someone's gotta do it. It would be so funny.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Too many people had marcelines.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Exactly.
Welcome back, everybody, to this week's live episode of the DCL Duo PodC, brought to you by my path unwinding travel and also by our good friends over at the DCL magazine, the WDW magazine. They had their float test edition of the DCL magazine recently, so be sure to head over there. Check it
[email protected]. if you use code DCLDUO, all caps DCLDUO, you can get 10% off everything in their store. Go help support our friends over at DCL magazine. We are super excited to be supporting their efforts. But I am going to skip all of the pleasantries this evening because we have just such a fun show for everybody and we can't wait to get our guest involved. So, Sam, I think without further ado, we gotta bring our guest. Yeah, we gotta bring her out. Here we go. There she is.
[00:01:13] Speaker C: Introducing Carly Wiesel. Carly, welcome to the show.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you for having me. Also, I realized, like, we have some real power in these glasses, you guys. Like, we're just out here bespectacled and ready to talk about cruises.
[00:01:28] Speaker C: We do, we do, we do.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: Love it, love it.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: Now, for those who don't know Carly, I mean, you've been living under a Disney rock if you, if you don't know Carly. But Carly is a, A journalist, theme park enthusiast, host, foodie, host of a fantastic podcast, the very amusing podcast. She writes for, like, all kinds of magazines in the travel space, particularly on theme parks, but also on food. We are so excited to have you on our show, Carly. You cannot believe. This is like a huge, huge day for us where we're like, just.
So I'm fangirling out a bit here. I just gotta tell you, I am.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: So honored to be here because, like, as you know, the majority of my coverage for so long has been theme park based and I've kind of been like wading into the Disney cruise waters. And now just with so much going on at Disney Cruise Line, it is a big chunk of what I do. So for DCL Duo to reach out to me is very exciting and I'm very flattered and I'm very grateful to be here.
[00:02:30] Speaker C: Well, we're super excited.
Well, before we get into talking about all things Disney Cruise Line, your favorites, your experience on Disney Cruise Line, we Got to talk a little bit of Disney Cruise Line news, because there's two pieces of news that came out in the last week. So about five days ago, Disney Cruise Line announced that they were lowering the booking deposits for Disney Cruise Line bookings. So it used to always be 20, 20% in order to book your cruise that you had to put down. And if you canceled in a certain time frame, that's what you would lose, essentially 20% if you didn't shift to a different cruise, but if you actually canceled. And now they have changed their deposit requirement to be 10%. And from what I heard, that's more just in line with the rest of the cruise industry. So it's not like they've done anything groundbreaking. The price of the cruises has not decreased whatsoever, unfortunately.
But, yeah, that was just a piece of news. Any. Any thoughts on that, Brian or Carly?
Just kind of doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but I guess nice to align themselves.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: It might be a big deal from what it signals. I mean, we've had these 30% off sales this summer. You know, card member benefits, reduced deposits. You know, I find the explanation is usually, well, we're just aligning with the other cruise lines, but, you know, they don't have to, like, they don't have to take less than 20% of your money when you book. So if they're taking 10, it's just sort of, why was that research that people didn't want to spend the 20, or maybe they're seeing some bookings down.
So, yeah, I don't know. Carly, if you have any thoughts, but that was my question.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: Honestly, generally, when it comes to covering Disney, if something costs less money, I try to just not say anything and move on, because you never know. Like, so often it is the opposite, which I think we will be talking about shortly.
If it's like, if it benefits kind of. It's like, if it benefits me and costs me less, I'm just gonna roll with it. I'm just gonna accept it and be grateful and take the win where I can.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:40] Speaker C: Which brings us exactly to our other piece of news, which was something that I think was kind of quietly announced a couple of days ago. I actually only noticed it yesterday because that's how quiet this was. But DCL is increasing the price of all adult dining across the fleet. Now, it's different pricing depending upon what meal you're going to. So for Palo and Palo Steakhouse Brunch is going to increase by $5 to $55.
Same for dinner for Remy.
Brunch and dessert experience are both going to increase by $5 to $85 and $70, respectively.
And then for dinner at Remy, it's going to increase by $10.
Same at Enchante for lunch and dinner, increase by $10. All of those will be $145 will be the total. Now this is going to roll out in staggered fashion. So the Wish apparently rolled out these new prices already on June 20. The treasure on June 21. The dream is coming up in a couple days. Magic right after that wonderful fantasy is the latest one. That's November. And then destiny is going to be.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: As soon as the Europeans are not going to put up with a price increase in the middle of the summer.
[00:05:56] Speaker C: That's exactly right after she finishes dry dock and crosses back over to the States. And so that's really. That's probably the reason for the delay. Also heard that the Wonder is exempting its Australia New Zealand sailings from that price increase for this season. So.
Yeah, it'll be interesting.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: They were already tough swallowing those prices that, you know, for the cruises and the merch and all that stuff. So.
[00:06:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:23] Speaker C: And it's. And a $5 US increase is like a $10 Australian dollar increase. It's like almost, I think 2 to 1 in the exchange rate. So. Yeah. But anyway, all that just happened that has. There hasn't been an increase in those prices for, well, it's been two years since the last increase. I think it was 2023 when they announced the last increase. And it was similar. It was about five do each meal.
I don't know. What do you think about that, Carly?
[00:06:53] Speaker A: Okay, I'm going to be real with you. And I know a lot of people won't just won't agree with me, but I just go full, fully bonkers off the menu at Paulo. I'm just ordering all sorts of stuff from all over the menu. So this doesn't affect me that much because I am bad at ordering. I spent too much money on the Wonder last week at Paulo. I'm a fool. But for brunch, I feel like a little more is fine. You know, it does seem, it's pretty funny that, like, it's a few bucks at Palo, but it's also a few bucks at Ashante. And like the percentage of what you spend there is so much higher, so it almost feels like you're maybe getting away with something. I am bad at math, clearly. But I'm fine with it if it doesn't happen. I don't like to pay more, but if it doesn't happen that often, I completely understand raising it a few dollars. And I do think you still get so much out of your meal there that I'm cool with it. How about you, Brian? That's.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: Well, that's where I. Yeah, I always have. I always look at these through a value lens and I think the value is still there for. I mean, for. Even for Enchante and Remy. The price is high on board, but it's not comparable to what you're going to pay for one of those Meals on Land. So, like, I, I think the values there.
[00:08:02] Speaker C: Yeah, you're going to pay way more at Victoria and Alberts for, like, a similar meal to Remy or Enchante and you're going to pay more for, you know, nice meal on land, then you're going to pay for Paulo. So to me, it's just.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Can't complain about Palo either because, you know, platinum and pearl means we don't really pay at all for at least one meal. So, like, I can't, you know, raise the price. 10 bucks for all I care.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: I'm clawing my way there. I'm almost there.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: Well, so, so wait, let's. Let's start there. I think we've wrapped the news. So, Carly, we're excited to have you on.
I do want to hear about how you got into sort of the, you know, the theme park journalism side of things. But one of the first questions you usually ask our guests on all of our recorded shows is like, you know, what's your Disney cruising background? Like, when did you start cruising with them? How many have you been on?
[00:08:51] Speaker A: I. At this point, I believe I've been on 8. I was just, like, tooling through the Castaway Club website. I think I've been on 8.
Sometimes the media ones count, but they're like, they don't count. I think there's one that doesn't fully count. Anyway, I've been on less than 10. That's to put it in DCL terms, less than 10.
I started sailing at Disney Cruise Line a few years into my journey of reporting on theme parks. I have been doing this for 10 years now, and my main focus for so long has been Disney World, Disneyland, and a bit of international parks. But a few years in, I just, I got invited on a cruise for work. I checked it out and was like, oh, this is sick. Like, this is awesome. And I, I went on a few since then, both for work and personally, like, I dragged my husband on one. I say Dragged because he doesn't love cruises. And I made him go. It was a. It was a trade for him. I know. He made me go to Colorado. He likes to ski and I don't. So I was like, okay, then we're going to go for the same amount of time as somewhere that I want to go. And it worked out great. He ended up liking it, but he'll never admit that.
And then really, once they launched the Wish class of ships with Disney Cruise Line, it has kind of been off to the races. I have been on four Disney cruises in the past year. Less than that, actually, like eight or nine months.
I just, it has become so much of what I do and so much what I report on because so many people are sailing with them now that there's so many more ships. And I think especially with the new class of ship being. And I'm sure we'll get into this, but it is really appealing to a Disney Parks fan because of what they offer on board. And just there's so much variety there. I really, it really has become one of the main things I report on. And I'm so happy. It's part of my business now. Business as I'm like, I just got back from Alaska. Rough life.
It's really great because I think Disney Cruise Line offers such a perfect Disney vacation, especially as visiting the parks has changed so much in the past five to seven years.
Cruise line is a bit less complicated than its counterpart. So I really, really love Disney Cruise Line, and I think that it provides something you can't get anywhere else.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: You know, it's funny. It's why we started a podcast about Disney Cruise Line, because we're like, oh, this is so much easier to cover than the parks. There's so much left going on. And then three years in, it's like, what do you mean you're launching a new class of ship? Wait, you're announcing four? More like, we can't keep up. So, yeah.
[00:11:11] Speaker C: And now five years in, and they've announced there's going to be 13 ships coming in the next few years. So it's, it's just exploded. Exploding. Exploded. Well, let's, let's go back to Brian's other question, which was how did you get started? I mean, I know you, your, your background is in journalism, but how did you get started in theme park journalism?
[00:11:32] Speaker A: My life is an accident. I'm not supposed to be here. I wound up at Disney World for my bachelorette party only because it was in February and I wanted to go to Wisconsin. Dells. And you can like, drag a. You can drag friends to Wisconsin Dolls for one night to be like, we'll stay at an indoor water park hotel. But you can't do that for four days with grown ad so like it. Like, there's only so much fun you can have in the Lazy river before your friends start hating you. And everything smells like chlorine. So I like, of all the places, like, I don't listen. I don't have high tolerance for drinking. I'm not a partier. No shame to anyone who is. I physically can't do it. So all of the regular hotspots weren't going to work for us. And my now husband was like, why don't I go to Disney World? And I was like, I never thought about it. I'd never been as an adult. I barely watched the films. And then when we started thinking about it and we're like, why not? It sounds fun. Like, I love. I love carnivals. I love rides. Like, maybe this will be fun for me. And I went and was like, this is it. Like, I fully was locked in and completely obsessed from then on.
It was also an unbelievably complicated trip to plan. I was what I like to call Trip mom. That's whoever is in charge. And I was planning it for 11 individual adults. And if you know the ins and outs of a My Disney Experience account, you know that planning a hotel room with 11 individual accounts and credit cards is so tricky. So my journalist brain was like, I have to find out everything about this place. I have to learn everything. And I just started writing and writing and writing. And after a few years, it was kind of the only thing I wrote about. And now I'm here.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:13:03] Speaker C: Wow. That's amazing. That's amazing. Now I'm curious.
[00:13:07] Speaker A: Go ahead, Brian.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: I'm curious. Carly, on the cruising side, have you cruised other cruise lines or just Disney?
[00:13:13] Speaker A: Great question. So as a child, I went on a couple Royal Caribbean family cruises. And then I kind of around the same time, I started doing theme parks. There might have been an overlap there. I reported on Zumba Cruise, which is one of those buyout cruises that Royal Caribbean does where it's like Rock Cruise or whatever, except it was all Zumba. I was reporting a lot on group fitness when I started doing this, because that was a big boom, like Individual Fitness Studios, New York. Like, it was. All this was happening. And so I went on a cruise ship full of Zumba instructors and the founder of Zumba. And I was there for like four Nights, and I reported the heck out of it. And it was wild. It was a wild time. It was really fun. I mean, I did, like, seven workout classes a day, so for someone with a lot of energy was great.
But it was definitely a different version of Cruising than the one I covered.
[00:14:02] Speaker B: I would just be super curious if you ever get a chance to go on a Virgin Voyages cruise. What you think about it as, like, as a Disney fan, because it's been. We've heard it called, like, yeah, we've heard it called Disney for adults, and.
[00:14:13] Speaker C: We'Re actually going on next month again. And we. I think it's.
It's the closest thing to a Disney cruise, but for adults.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: I don't want to be rude, but I'm, like, not interested.
[00:14:25] Speaker C: Totally fair.
[00:14:26] Speaker B: Totally fair.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: I'm just like.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: Yours is not an unusual response.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: I know. And my friends and my colleagues have gone and they post stuff and it looks amazing. But for me, I need the theming. I need the storytelling. I need to know that creative people toiled over telling a story, which I know is happening with Royal Caribbean now. And I am hoping to sail on one of the new Royal ships reported on them before. So I kind of just want to see it firsthand. And I need that bit of, like, intense storytelling to make me enjoy a vacation. And that's why I love Disney so much, is that everywhere you go, there's. It's not just a carpet. Like, it's not just artwork. It all tells a story. And I just. Once you have that, it's really hard to go back.
[00:15:08] Speaker B: Yeah, fair enough.
[00:15:08] Speaker C: Fair enough. Yeah, absolutely. The only storytelling on Virgin Voyages is on Scarlet Night. Scarlet Night does have a theme and a story along with it. I know people hear about it, just everybody wearing red, but it actually does have, like, there's, like, a lore that they tell, but other than that one night, there's no, like, cohesive theming or anything like that. It's very, very, very different.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:30] Speaker A: Yeah. But, yeah, I can't just be in a bar that's like, our chairs are silver. Like, I can't.
I haven't. I haven't come this far in, like, understanding Disney to be like, sure, it's a lounge with no purpose. Like, what is this tied to? I need. I need more.
[00:15:45] Speaker C: And so, yeah, speaking of theming, I gotta tell you, Carly, we had an idea, and I wanted to hear what of our idea, which is, we think, you know, Disney Cruise Line has done Star Wars Day at Sea. They have done Pixar Day at Sea. They have done Marvel Day at Sea.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: I want to know what you think.
[00:16:04] Speaker C: About maybe, I don't know, Muppets Day at Sea.
[00:16:08] Speaker A: I take my money.
Like, I. I would be there in a heartbeat. And like, they know we all would be. Like, listen, the way, the way Muppet Court Muppets courtyard closure went down. Like, we are adults with money to burn and we love the Muppets.
If they did that, I would 1000% be there. It would be a non negotiable for me. I mean, I flew specifically to Disney World to say goodbye at, like a Muppet prom that my friend threw at Pizza Rizzo. Like, I would be there. They need to do it. They need now I need to do it.
That's such a good idea.
[00:16:43] Speaker C: I know. I had to tell you because I was listening to your episode with Andrew Bartheldman the other day, and I was like, you know, kind of tearing up. And I, of course, then went onto YouTube and watched his whole video and song, which I haven't even shared with Brian yet, but I have to share that with Brian. But oh, my God, I just all the feels and I always loved Muppet Vision 3D. So I love that you did that episode. I love that Andrew did that YouTube video as you did.
[00:17:09] Speaker B: We did a VIP tour at Disney World at Christmas time, and Sam made us, like, the tour. I made everybody to Muppet Vision so we could see it one more time. And I was in there going, oh, my God, this is like, this is high stakes. If we're using a VIP tour to get into Muppets.
[00:17:24] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:17:25] Speaker C: I was breaking down your purpose.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: Our money on that makes me very uncomfortable.
But I give it, I get it. That's true dedication. That's how people know that you're real about it.
[00:17:34] Speaker B: Yeah, there you go. Well, could you. Could you imagine the merchandise crossover if they could do Muppet towel animals in, you know, like the towel animals that they make? Yeah, like the ones they sell. That would be amazing.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: So, yeah, I would like, truly, I would just, like, suck money out of my bank account. Like, this is all. This is all I want. This is all I want now. But now you've planted a seed. And now if I don't get it, I'm going to be so upset. I need it.
[00:17:57] Speaker C: Well, I'm thinking that by us telling you, maybe you can help us evangelize and spread the word that this needs to be a thing.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: I feel like, though, there's a problem here where Disney hears things like this and they're like, nope, not Doing it? Nope, nope. Just not doing that.
I feel like if it comes out of our mouths, they're like, nope.
[00:18:15] Speaker C: I'd hear over and over again.
[00:18:17] Speaker A: It would work.
[00:18:18] Speaker C: It would work, right?
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Oh, and we've got a great comment. A salute to all attractions, but mostly the Muppet ones. I love that.
[00:18:28] Speaker A: Fantastic Heaven.
[00:18:30] Speaker B: Carly, I'm curious about some of your favorites on the cruise line.
[00:18:34] Speaker D: Now, if you.
[00:18:35] Speaker A: Oh, I was like, favorite Muppets.
[00:18:36] Speaker B: Oh, we can do that, too.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: I'm just kidding.
[00:18:40] Speaker C: Are we talking regular Muppets or Muppet Babies? Like, are we talking.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:18:44] Speaker C: Sorry. I digress.
[00:18:45] Speaker B: So it seems like you said you've pivoted hard into the Wish class ships. Have you done. Have you sailed on the original ships? Like, the Magic or the Wonder as well, or.
[00:18:55] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. So basically, when I said that, what I meant was that it just became a really big part of my coverage. Just because when you basically double the fleet, there's, like, almost twice as much to write about. So I've done all the ships that exist, and then in the past 8ish months, I've done the Wonder twice and the Magic.
[00:19:16] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:19:17] Speaker A: So I've spent a lot of time recently on the older ships, and I'm now, like, emotionally attached to the Wonder. I didn't feel that way after I sailed in March. I did Wonder out of San Diego. I did three. Three nights, and I was like, this is okay. It was fine. It was cool. And last week, I did the Wonder to Alaska out of Vancouver, and it was. I'm like. I'm, like, obsessed with the ship. The ship feels like my home. I miss it. Like, I want to go back. I. I thought it would be more of a new ship, girly. Just because the nature of what I do. Like, I tend to cover newer stuff more than older stuff. But with cruise line, I've been bouncing between all of them, especially, you know, with them adding another island with Lookout Point. Like, it's just. There's a lot happening, so I've just been able to do both ends of it, and so. Great.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: Do you have a favorite ship right now? Is it the Wonder or is it sometimes hard? It's like the last one you were on is your favorite, but yeah, yeah.
[00:20:06] Speaker C: We always say, like, love the one you're with because it's so hard, but I really.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: And I say this a lot, and I have an episode coming up where I'm actually breaking down the pros and cons of every ship because I sound like a shill when I'm like, they're all great, but, like, they really are all great. You guys know there's, like. Like, pros and cons to all of them. Like, the adult areas are different. The dining's different. Like, there are pros and cons. But I think at this point, it's maybe a tie between the Wonder and the Treasure, which is, like, a crazy thing to say, but I also.
[00:20:35] Speaker C: I have favorites, too.
Yes.
[00:20:37] Speaker A: I don't know what it is, but, like, they both. I don't know, they feel. They feel similar vibes. I haven't been on the Dream and Fantasy in a while. I haven't been on them since before the pandemic. So I do have to go back on one of those very soon so that I can remember what it's like, but I don't know the Wonder after this, Alaska sailing. Oh, heaven. And then the Treasure was. Treasure was also great. It was great. Yeah.
[00:21:00] Speaker B: The fantasy is that we were on the Fantasy, so we went on the Treasure Maiden. Then we did the Fantasy right after. So we were going for, like, two. And I will say, the one thing that the Fantasy really had going for it was that crew felt like the most cohesive. Like, just everything was just running like clockwork on that ship. And so it was really impressive. It was really. You know, it may have been juxtaposed with, like, the maiden voyage kind of experience on the Treasure, which is fantastic, by the way, but you could tell they're still kind of working things out. So then you get on a ship where everything works and it's different, but.
[00:21:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
What about.
So Sam's going to ask you shows, so I'll steer clear of that for one second and just ask.
Well, let me ask the adult dining questions we talked about at the top of the show. Do you, like, have you done Enchante and Remy? And obviously you've done Palo. Do you have a favorite from the adult dining venues?
[00:21:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I've done it all, which is, listen, a blessing, a gift. Remy was a while ago, but I've done Ashante dinner and brunch. That restaurant. I just feel like, Spend the money. Spend the money. I know, I know, I know, I know. I would not recommend you do the most expensive dining without really thinking about it, but it is, like, it is better than the best meal you will have on land. Like, it is. It is crazy that that's on a cruise ship, and it's crazy that it's on a Disney cruise ship. And it's unbelievable. And the fact that we have Something like that at our disposal when we're on a Disney vac is crazy. I highly, highly, highly recommend. But I. I really think I like, again, the two ends. I love Enchante and I love Paulo on the older ships. I really love Paulo on the Magic Wonder smaller ship. I love that setup. I love that they have the bar. I mean, no shade to like Meridian or the Rose. I just love that, that little bar that you can low key order dinner at, which I finally did on this recent sailing. I got back from a zipline too late and I got to like order food at the bar, which was a dream. And so I just, I'm feeling really partial to that Apollo on the Wonder lately. A little more than like the Apollo on the newer ships.
[00:23:02] Speaker C: Love that. I totally. I mean, I would say for us probably Apollo brunch and Remy dinner are like the two, like, again, ends of the spectrum. But we just, like, love. There's something about the theming, I think, in Remy that we just. That I like more than Enchante. I feel like it's just warmer. Like, the atmosphere is warmer. They have a lovely cocktail that they greet you with. So there's some of those.
[00:23:26] Speaker B: The storytelling. There's a little storytelling there.
[00:23:28] Speaker C: Exactly. The storytelling, right.
Enchante is beautiful.
The walk in, I feel like, because I actually think the Rose has more storytelling and then Enchante has less storytelling, you know, inside. But I want to ask about name dining. I think I like that.
[00:23:44] Speaker A: I think I like that because Enchante to me feels like not like it's within the Disney cruise bubble, but it's a little separate. And I love just thinking like they slotted in this glamorous, chic restaurant that is only a little bit Disney, but is truly like one of the best meals that exists on planet Earth. I kind of love that it's a little removed from the regular Disney of it all. As much as I like I said I will only do things that are weird.
[00:24:08] Speaker B: And I just, I want to quickly echo the. There was a pro tip from the beginning, the first part of your answer that I love, which is that bar at Paloma. So that can be a real. Like, that can be a game changer. We had some friends who we did the prima note instead of heading to main dining after a priminote on night one, they stayed behind, had a drink at the bar, and we're like, we're still a little hungry. And they're like, we can make you a flatbread. And so they just sat at the bar and had Some drinks and ate a flatbread and I was like, that's just amazing. Like that. Like I never would have thought to do that. So. Yeah, that's just amazing.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: I know. And I just keep thinking about. I haven't had this exact scenario yet, but I have, I do keep yelling about it that like you could fully be on the magick or wonder and you can just go up to the bar and for five bucks you can get like a boiling hot cauldron of macaroni and cheese and like, why aren't we thinking about that more that you could just go and get a side of macaroni and cheese, which is one of my favorite things there have that. That's what I intended to do when I went for dinner and I ended up ordering way too much. And it was not a $5 bill, but still was a glass. That and a martini. Like you can't go wrong.
[00:25:07] Speaker C: Yes. They call that fancy Mac and cheese Cavatappe, I believe Pasta for those not in the know, it doesn't say Mac and cheese, but it is Mac and cheese. Mac and cheese and cheese.
Mac and cheese.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: That's Mac and cheese.
[00:25:18] Speaker C: It's better than.
[00:25:19] Speaker A: You can't fool me. You can't fool me with words.
[00:25:21] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:25:23] Speaker C: Our 11 year old will disagree with me, but I say it's better than Mickey's Mac and cheese. Well, I want to move us over to main dining because main dining is where most cruisers, you know, spend most of their their nights eating.
We think in across the industry. Disney's main dining is of course top notch. But I'm curious which main dining rotational dining restaurant is your favorite. And maybe that's because of the them. Maybe that's because of the food menu, maybe it's the atmosphere. I don't know for whatever reason. Carly, but what do you think is the best main dining across Disney?
[00:25:57] Speaker A: Okay. Currently. And I am biased because I have been on this ship more lately than I ever have before. Currently in the number one place is Tiana's on the Wonder.
I think that restaurant is just the perfect example of what Disney can do. I also feel that way about the second one, which I'll get to in a second. But I hadn't experienced both nights at Tiana's before. I love that there's live music. Also the. This is like, you know, we're cruise people. We can get into it. The acoustics and the way the show is set up at Tiana's I think is way better than at its counterpart on the Magic with the Rapunzel dining, Rapunzel Restaurant. I just think it's. I just think it's like a better show. It's a better vibe. I think the acoustics on the magic are off. I think it's way too loud in that room. It's a very brash show. I just think, like Tiana's. Oh, it's just perfect. It's perfect. Like the Mardi Gras parade. It's also wonderful.
Number number two, second place would be Plaza de Coco on the Treasure.
The mix of like the cuisine, them taking that property and bringing it to life with, you know, the show in the center, with the way that room is decorated on its own is fantastic. Like, I had the opportunity because that was a work cruise we were reporting. So I got to like really take a look at all the facades and go up close when no one was in there. And it's stunning. It's absolutely stunning.
Also like a show on a cruise ship where they take a moment to honor loved ones who have passed and they like, it works and it's a wonderful night out. What they've accomplished with that between entertainment and cuisine is fantastic. And then third place, I finally got to do second Night Animator's palette. And I'd never done it before.
Oh, my God.
[00:27:31] Speaker C: I'd never drawn.
[00:27:32] Speaker A: I know, I'd never drawn. I'd never done it. I usually go on short. I go on little shorties. And so I got to finally try.
Yeah, so I got to do it. And it was, it was amazing. It was amazing. I've been waiting for years to do it and it really. I knew it was gonna happen and it was still magical.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: Nice. Nice.
[00:27:48] Speaker C: Oh, I love that. You got to do that and you got to do that then on the Wonder on your seven night cruise. Oh, see, this is why. I mean, the Wonder, we have such an affinity for the Wonder as well. There's something we always tell people. It's like. Well, I mean, the Treasure is amazing and we love the theme park theming of all of that. But like the Wonder, there's something like warm special about the crew, about the spaces. I don't know what it is. It's like that thing I can't quite put my finger on, but there's just something like incredible about the Wonder. And that's why, I mean, she's, she wasn't our first ship, but she's always gonna hold like that special place for us, I think. Yeah, yeah.
[00:28:26] Speaker A: I'm real wonder brainwashed at the moment. Like you're getting me at A time where I've been on the Wonder twice in the past three months, and being on it in Alaska, I talk about this a ton on my podcast that's coming out Wednesday. But, like, like, it. Something about it. Something about the Wonder in Alaska. The guests are so happy. The crew is so happy. There's just this very joyous vibe. I liken it to the way you feel when you go to, like, a DVC hotel, like, Old Key west, like, when you're there and, like, nobody's sprinting out the door to get to Magic Kingdom. It's very like, we're all here. We all, like, have chosen to be here. Oh, sorry. My alarm to feed my dog is going off. Even though I said that two weeks ago, and I don't need it every night.
A peek inside my brain.
It just. It was like, going off the entire cruise, and I never turned it off. That's so embarrassing. Okay. Anyway, it's just like a very. The, like, the vibe on the ship was immaculate, and it was wonderful. And it. This sailing made me fall in love with the Wonder because, like, the Wonder took me to these ports in Alaska, and then I came back and I kept seeing the same. The same cast members, and they were all wonderful. I sent in. I sent in five cast compliments, and I had to stop myself because it already felt aggressive. It was just, that ship in Alaska is heaven.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:29:35] Speaker C: I love that. Okay, I gotta ask you about shows, because my favorite thing to do on Disney Cruise Line is go into the Walt Disney Theater and see Disney shows. No shade to the variety acts. The variety acts are great. I've seen some really great ventriloquists and mentalists and magicians, but what I'm there to see is Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, Tangled, Tale of Moana, all the shows. I gotta ask Carly. And maybe you gave a ranking, too, because I love that you gave us a ranking for the dining rotational. Dining. Because there's so many good ones. But, like, give us maybe your. Your top couple or top, you know, 1, 2, or 3, depending upon how many you want to put up there. But, like, what are the top shows? You think? Now I know you're someone in la, and so you get great shows. Great theater. I grew up in New York. Great shows, great theater. You know what? What's the best?
[00:30:29] Speaker A: Okay, so I will. I will say that the past three out of the four cruises I've been on recently have been with my child, who is now 2. So I have been on a ship with a toddler a lot Lately, and that is not always conducive to live shows. I have. I mean, we got, like. I think we got 10 minutes of frozen on our Alaska sailing, which is more than I thought we would do. But for me, I. It's not ranked, but it's just a hit list for me. Sees the adventure. I was, like, screaming with joy the entire time I saw that on the Wish Media Cruise. It was, like, the first time we had ever seen it, and we were losing our minds. I'm a Goofy fan, so that one, for me, is huge. But I haven't been able to seen it since, so I'm, like, desperate to go see Seize the Adventure again.
My mom and I saw Beauty and the Beast on the Treasure Sailing, and I don't know, I didn't really, like, expect it to be.
How do I say? I don't want to say. Like, I didn't expect it to be that good because these shows are always amazing. But I didn't expect it to have that many, like, shocking surprise set pieces and, like, people jumping through holes and, like, stuff. It was crazy. Like, I can't believe they're doing that in a ship. They're out of their minds. It's amazing.
That one moved me more than I thought.
And then what else? I think, like, I'm not as drawn. It's all about properties for me. Like, I'm not as drawn to Tangled. I'm not as drawn to Frozen. They are incredible shows, but those aren't really the stories I'm dying to see played out. So for me, Moana was really special because I had. You know, I'd heard that there was this big finale. I didn't really know what it would be like when they translated this to the stage for Disney Cruise Line. And the end of it was crazy. It was crazy.
And then.
[00:32:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:13] Speaker A: And because it was. That was, you know, a media trip. That was a work trip. We had a special opportunity to go and see the large figure, the puppet, afterwards. And it was, like, I was, like, too scared to get close because it was so impressive. I was like, I don't want to be anywhere near. I don't want to trip. I don't want to want to touch it. Like, it was. It was unreal from up close and from the last row of the theater. So I think those are the three that I'm kind of desperate to see again. And then I got a shout out, Golden Mickeys. Because how can you not love the Golden Mickeys?
[00:32:44] Speaker C: That's Brian's favorite, so he's really excited. That.
[00:32:48] Speaker A: So good. I'm like, never change it. Never update it. Keep it the same forever. Keep, like, the same interstitials. Just keep it. Don't change the.
[00:32:55] Speaker B: Yeah, Well, I loved it when they brought. When they brought Iger back. I was like, they don't even have to change the show. Show still has Iger in it. It's great. Perfect.
What's the. You mentioned you're drawn to particular properties. Like, what's the show? I mean, I know they got Hercules coming on the Destiny. Someone's asking us your thoughts on the Duffy show coming to the Adventure, but.
[00:33:13] Speaker A: Oh, my God, what's the property you.
[00:33:15] Speaker B: Wish they would translate to the stage on Disney Cruise Line.
[00:33:19] Speaker A: Oh, my God. Monsters, Inc. I don't know why I didn't even think about it. That's just a gut reaction. I think it would be so fun to see that stage. How would they do the. Like, the Doors. How would they make. I feel like it could theatrically work. I really think it could.
I would love to see that. I don't think they'll ever do it, but selfishly, I'd love it. And then, you know, as I see a comment about Duffy, listen, I'm a Duffy freak. I'm obsessed with Duffy. I cannot wait to see what they do on the adventure. But, yeah, anything Duffy. But also, I guess Monsters, Inc. Is what I feel in my bones and my consciousness didn't even know it.
[00:33:55] Speaker C: I love that. I love it.
[00:33:56] Speaker A: I want to know your guys. What are your.
[00:33:58] Speaker C: Like, I purposely wore my Duffy shirt today in honor of you coming on the show because I also love Duffy and. And. And a friend went to all three of the parks in Asia and brought me back Duffy stuff from all three of the parks. I have never been to one of.
[00:34:11] Speaker A: The Asian parks brought me back this stuff. Yeah.
Hold on. I should show you this. Look at this pencil case. Are you kidding me?
Are you kidding? My friend just bought this back from, I think Shanghai.
[00:34:24] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, my God, I'm dying. I love it. For me, gosh, I would say so. I love Hunchback. I love the movie. I think the music from Hunchback is just incredible. I've seen a stage production of it. Brian and I went to. We actually went to Vegas for a weekend for the purpose of going to this theater in Utah called the Tiwakin Amphitheater that is like this outdoor. It's, like, surrounded by red rocks. It's this beautiful amphitheater, and it was a professional production of Hunchback. And it then Traveled to a couple of other places. I think it played in New Jersey at Paper Mill Playhouse. I think it may have played somewhere in la, but it didn't go to Broadway.
But I'm still holding out hope. I know the theming is a little bit adult, so I'm not sure they'll ever bring it to the cruise line. But if I could put something on the cruise line and also put it on Broadway, because that's where it deserves to be, I would absolutely do that. Brian, do you have one? Brian's not much of a show person, although he loves Golden Mickey.
[00:35:34] Speaker B: I loved Moana. I loved his.
But I think to Carlo's point, I'm drawn to particular Disney stories. And oddly enough, although I grew up in the golden age of kind of Disney movies, I've been drawn to some of the more recent stuff. And so.
But the two I would put on there, they aren't currently musicals. So I was thinking of Zootopia or it would be really fun to see a version of Ratatouille brought to the stage, I thought. But they're not musicals, so they have to write a bunch of original music for those shows, which I think could be tough.
[00:36:02] Speaker A: But for argument's sake, if we're talking Disney Cruise Line, they can make any of these into a musical. You've seen what they can do.
[00:36:08] Speaker B: I just can't be funny.
[00:36:08] Speaker A: We can just start at the property we want and then what happens? You go through a bedroom door and where are you? It's Monsters, Inc. But now you're in.
[00:36:17] Speaker C: You're with Bell.
[00:36:17] Speaker A: Like they can make it work.
[00:36:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:19] Speaker A: You can make your dreams come true, Brian. It can happen.
[00:36:21] Speaker B: For sure.
[00:36:22] Speaker C: For sure. I love that.
[00:36:24] Speaker D: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation. Great news. The fabulous team over at My Path Unwinding Travel can help guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. My Path Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, Adventure Adventured with Disney, Relaxed at Aulani, and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park vacation, or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, My Path Unwinding Travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you have already booked, reach out For a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head over to mypathunwinding.com DCLDUO or email DCLDUOMYPATHunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks. My path unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:37:19] Speaker B: Episode.
[00:37:23] Speaker C: Speaking of making dreams come true, if you could design, like, a. I want to. I wanted, like, a bar space, for example, on Disney Cruise Line, we got. We got a haunted mansion on the Treasure. We have, you know, Scat Cat. We're going to have the deville. Deville's lounge.
You know, there are so many, like, great themed bar spaces on. On Disney Cruise Line right now. I want to ask you your favorite one, too. But first, I want to ask Lee if you could invest vent one or decide. I'm gonna put that IP in a bar space on a cruise, you know, on one of the cruise ships. What. What would you pick, Carly?
[00:37:56] Speaker A: Okay, again, I don't know what is happening in the back of my brain to immediately have an answer that I don't even know if I agree with. But what.
What I have chosen, apparently, is that I would love, like, a bar.
Like, like, okay, we're talking, like, top deck, outside, like, a monorail bar that just somehow, like, rotates in a circle. Like, it doesn't even have to go the full perimeter of the ship. Like, we'll save that for, like, attractions. Everyone can go on, like, that's separate. I don't want to take up too much space. But something where it was, like, even, like, in the, like, an area of the deck where, like, a monorail bar could just move in a circle or, like, move a little around. I think that, like, a monorail bar that moves at sea, I think would be so cool.
[00:38:37] Speaker B: I wonder if they could adapt. Sam, remember that bar that they have on Royal? I mean, it's. It's the bar on the big oasis ships called the Rising Tide, where you start on deck three and this, like. And it slowly rises up and it's.
It'd be so that could. That could be your monorail bar. Yeah, you could kind of like something. Yeah. Yeah, that'd be fun.
[00:38:56] Speaker C: I love. I love that idea. I think that's awesome. All right, well, you've been on the Treasure, obviously. I know. A couple of times, probably. Mostly, I'm sure, for media stuff. When they first. When they first opened the Treasure. I'm. I'm curious.
Obviously, the theming and the bar spaces and the Treasure Is is above and beyond, I think. But what's your favorite bar space across the fleet? It can be from the Treasure, but it can be from one of the other ships as well. There's so much great ip. There's so much great theming. It's so hard.
I've had.
[00:39:27] Speaker A: I've had really great times at the Rose. I think that I. I love like a little even if you. Because even if you're doing the standard dining and you just want to like get away a little and just like have a little escape, I really love, love maybe any of the Apollo adjacent bars, any on any of the classes of ships. I always think those are really special. And it just feels like even if you're getting the same drink, I'm getting the same drink everywhere I go. I'm getting a vodka martini. And even if I do that, it just feels like a little more special there. I don't know why, it just does. Maybe the way it's situated with the views just feels more special. But I mean, for me, it's gonna be Haunted Mansion parlor all day. I, as a theme park person, just the level of detail and what work they put into that space, like it could have been just Haunted Mansion themed a little bit, but they really made it an attraction and I think that they made it a space that you can comfortably sit in for a while. That was something I was concerned about when I first saw it was like, will this be too, like too much, too much lightning? Like, will it be like too much movement, too much going on and you can really hang out there so much. And I, I think that they really nailed that one. They really did. And they made it a great space to be in. So I think those, those are my favorite. But I do think that I'm going to be a huge fan of Devilles, which is going to be on the Disney Destiny. I went to this like crazy cool press event earlier this year where they kind of recreated it in a ballroom at the Disney's Contemporary resort. Which is a insane thing to say out loud, but they like brought it to life and they had her and they had a pianist and they had live music and they had kind of elements of what could happen when you're in there. And I think that that, that might be my favorite use of that space across all three of the Wish class ships. I think adding in a character like that who has such a perspective and a point of view into a bar where she naturally can interact with the guests and heckle them is so funny. It's so funny that they approved that, that they're going to have a character, like, possibly walk around and make fun of your outfit. I think it's amazing.
And I think that that will really be a hot spot on that ship. And I can't wait to see it.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: You know, I want to change my show. Answer. I think Cruella could be a really good. I love that movie. I love what they did with that movie, that origin story movie. I think that could be a really fun stage production. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
[00:41:38] Speaker C: I think. I think one of the great things that we're seeing with what's going on, the Destiny, is that character interaction piece. Like, I think, you know, we've got this idea of we don't know exactly what it's going to be, but where Loki's going to come out and take over the ship. There's going to be some sort of storyline there, and we don't have that. And we do have amaz storytellers on the Treasure, but it's. It's different. They. They tell specific stories. And so I think it's really interesting to see what we're. What they're doing and what they're planning. I'm curious, Carly, what. What you're most excited about with the Destiny coming out. And then, of course, we'll talk about the adventure as well. But let's start with the Destiny.
[00:42:15] Speaker A: I think, for me, I'm. I'm really excited that this is the third version of a ship that many of us have been on in, like, in two different versions of it. And I think it's very cool that they decided to do this heroes and villains.
I think that theming the ship to conflict is so cool because you can do that across any of the Disney properties. And so I'm really curious mostly to see how that plays out on board the ship, because we know the big pieces like you mentioned, like Loki will take over the ship atrium, which is, like, so funny, and that makes so much sense. It's so cool. But I'm really curious, like, the smaller ways that might come about. Will you be in certain. Certain spaces on the ship and you'll see character interaction you wouldn't see on a different ship because it wouldn't make sense with the story or will, like, that come through with character costuming? Like, there's a lot of smaller things. I'm really interested to see how that comes through with. And I'm just excited. And I'm really excited for what it feels like to be a guest on the Destiny. Because when you have heroes and villains, you kind of. You split teams. It's like color wars. Like you're kind of choosing a side. And I'm interested to see how that affects kind of the camaraderie and the community of people on board. And if we start to see people like Ren rallying together for characters and forming like little clusters of groups, I think there's so much potential there. So I'm. I'm very excited to see how it plays out.
[00:43:32] Speaker B: One and cruise line guests go all out, like, with costumes sometimes. So I could totally see people showing up and being like, for, for formal night. Like they're direct decked out, like their favorite villains. Yeah, I could totally wear their favorite heroes.
[00:43:44] Speaker C: I mean, you're gonna have people in Avengers costumes, no question. And then of course, yeah, you're have the villains.
Yeah, I love that.
[00:43:51] Speaker A: But can you imagine if someone shows up dressed as Thanos and walks around the ship? Like, it would, it would hit so hard. Like, someone's got to do it. It would be so funny.
[00:43:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
Too many people and Marcelines.
Exactly.
[00:44:08] Speaker C: I mean, you know, I always, you know, 50% of the people I remember during the restart post pandemic, and while there were ridiculous reduced, you know, options of things to do. Right. They didn't have as much programming and whatnot. It was kind of nice only having 50% of the people on board ships at some point.
[00:44:28] Speaker A: I get it. I get it.
[00:44:29] Speaker B: So, Carly, I'm curious. Are you going to be an early sailor on the adventure? Are you going to try and get over there right away to see that ship or, you know, and if so.
[00:44:38] Speaker A: What are you looking forward to? I, I don't know. I'm still kind of in the process of figuring out if I'm reporting on it or not. Not so at the moment, I don't know. But I know that I will, I will get on the adventure at some point. Because I, I once, I'm telling you, once, like the first video drops, I'm gonna be like, I gotta be. I gotta. I gotta book a trip. I gotta book a trip.
I, I went to Singapore semi recently, so I don't really have a solid excuse to fly there. If I hadn't been, I'd be like, great.
But I do, I do think I will if I don't end up going for, like, work, like on an assignment, on a story where, when it starts, which again, I haven't fully pitched those stories yet, so I'm not entirely sure, but if I don't do that I will go on my own for the podcast at some point in 2026, again traveling internationally. It's really been a strange parallel because Disney has launched so many ships during the point that I have both been pregnant and had a infant and toddler. So it's like my approach to travel has changed so much. I used to be like, I'm gonna go buy, and now you need infrastructure. Like, there's like, who am I going with? Who am I bringing her? Is she staying here? There's a lot that is keeping me from immediately dropping things and going to Asia. I have been able to go since I had my daughter. I've been able to go to Japan twice, which is amazing and fantastic. And I went to the park, obviously, both times. Yeah. And they were short trips. I mean, they were kind of as short as I could do. So if you're going to Singapore, I'm like, I'm there. I want to extend it. So I might have to wait a little bit just because of the family of it all, but I am. Am. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got to see it. I got to see. I'm such a Duffy freak. Like, I got to see it. They have a Duffy store. They're going to be there on the ship. Like, I got myself to see Duffy. Like, I will be there. I just. There's a lot of factors at play.
[00:46:22] Speaker B: It's going to be such a unique. I mean, it will be unique to begin with because it's the only one of its class, but it's going to. I guess the experience is going to be really wild to see how they pull it off on these, like, shorter sailings with so much. Much to do on the ship. Like, I just can't. I can't wrap my head around what that's going to be like.
[00:46:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I will tell you both different. Oh, my God.
[00:46:44] Speaker C: Yeah, I will tell you both. I did hear a rumor that they are so far behind in working on the adventure, like, just the stuff inside the ship that they might actually be canceling all of, like, the preview stuff that they were going to do out of Port Canaveral. This is a rumor, so I can't verify. Like, I. It's. I've heard it secondhand, and there's someone who tells me their source is reputable, but.
[00:47:09] Speaker B: Yeah, so everyone's source is reputable until it is.
[00:47:13] Speaker C: Well, it's not my source, so, like, my source is not direct.
My source is indirect. And so that's why I just. I can't vouch. For how much credibility to give this rumor, but that's what I've heard.
[00:47:27] Speaker B: I don't believe anything until I see it from Disney anymore. It's just, you know, I mean, like, you just don't know. Like at this point, like, yeah, you just don't know. You just don't know. Carly, I want to ask you about the. So that we've got the, you know, addition of the adventure coming. We've got another Wish class ship going to the, you know, Oriental Land Company. We've got three new ships of a Wish class.
[00:47:46] Speaker C: Also don't forget the fourth class to the U.S. yeah.
[00:47:49] Speaker B: Yes, yes. And we've got, we've got another three ships coming of an entirely new class. Like, let me ask the question this way. Like, what, what is the. What do you think is the big opportunity for the cruise line in your mind, since you cover the parks, you cover the cruise line. Like, what do think? Is there a big opportunity with these ships that maybe they just haven't, they haven't hit upon yet? Is there something that you're thinking they got to do this or they got to go there or like.
[00:48:13] Speaker A: Yeah, the thing is, like I, I don't as much cover Disney Cruise Line from a macro sense. Like I, I kind of COVID it like there's this new sailing, there's this itinerary. They have a second island destination. But I'm not really thinking of future in the sense of like where they need to go. I kind of just let them steer that ship in a way where I'm like, you guys are building, I guess. I guess we' cruising now. And on my end of like actually like helping people plan trips and reporting on it in kind of the granular sense. I think it's really interesting because their confidence in growing this fleet in the way they have in the past few years and heading out into the next few just really shows me that cruising is becoming very of the moment and very in vogue. And it's not really what I expected from Disney. I thought parks were going to be the real kind of like the gold standard of what is happening. And cruise line was just adjacent to that. And so it is really interesting to see that, you know, we have a lot of parks growth coming, but not a lot is is currently up. Like we are still in the construction, as Joshua Morrow said, like, the dirt is moving. Like we are still things are happening, but we're not quite there yet at these big, big, big openings. And it's really interesting to see like a lot of that Transfer over to Disney Cruise Line and to see so much newness coming out of Disney Cruise Line. So in terms of destinations, I. I don't off. I don't really fly personally. I don't fly out of the country often to go on Disney Cruise Line. I typically leave domestically. So my personal options are limited. But I'm just really excited to see what, what new spaces they have on the ships, what the ships will look like, how they'll reinvent things for the future. Because just what they've done with the three Wish class ships, I really was not expecting. I didn't think they would have these distinct themes and I didn't think they would feel so different. And I really didn't think the Destiny have heroes, villains like that really opened my eyes to what is possible. So I'm just curious more in terms of not where the vessels are located or where they go for ports and destinations, but what happens inside of them.
[00:50:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I realize on the favorite side of things, we forgot to ask you about where you fall in the great debate of castaway key versus lookout key.
And I think I'm honestly gonna say, like, I don't think you have to have a favorite. I think they both offer different experiences. But like, what do you think of the new private island as compared to, you know, cast passed away?
[00:50:38] Speaker A: I think it's beautiful. I. To really compare the two. I have only been once to the new island and I was there with my, with my child and she ended up going back to the boat with my mom. So I had like seven minutes on the adult beach and I was just like, oh, I really, I really, I really need an afternoon on this beach to really be able to compare like I really did a little more time. It was like blissful. It was like the end of the day, it was perfect.
And I think that they're different but equally great. I love that. I really, really love that Disney wasn't, wasn't like it's another island and like Mickey Mouse is there. I love that they embraced the culture. I love that they really did it. They did the thing and you know, Castaway, he's pretty locked in. I went to look out to really like. It was the first time I went. It was like a review. It was early coverage. And that's. It's kind of a weird parallel from my perspective to compare the two because like Castaway, they're not going to change anything. I think there are a few improvements I would like them to, to make. One of the things that I've said on my podcast is that. I know, like, the walkway is a whole thing. I know. I know. We're all talking about the walkway. I think the walkway could really benefit, obviously, from shade, but also from storytelling. I think that there is more storytelling that can be done on that journey. And I genuinely feel like if they made. If they added little plaques of what you can see in the water, if they explained why the walkway is there, like, I think there's some messaging that needs to go wider. And if they, like, Disney excels in storytelling. And I really think if they explained that, if they had, like, a scavenger hunt along the way, if they kind of made that walkway part of the story, like, you're entering for the first time and set the scene, I think it would reframe a lot of the things that people. I've seen people say about the island destination. However, it is so beautiful. It is the most beautiful water I've ever seen in my life. I had an incredible time.
Junkanoo is so cool. I bought the best Disney souvenir I think I've ever gotten. I got, like, a little, like, a Donald purse on the island that someone stitched themselves. It was wonderful.
And I. I think they're both great, but I.
I don't know if I can compare them until I go back and have, like, a proper. Because right now I'm like, yes, it was great. I hung out with my mom. We hung out at the beach. We had no worries. We chilled, and it's like, that was not my day at the other one. So I think they're both great, and I think they're actually quite different. More different than you would anticipate.
[00:52:50] Speaker B: Yeah, no, totally.
[00:52:52] Speaker C: And I totally agree with you on the storytelling. We. We've talked about it on our show. We feel like, you know, they made these two characters, the lizard and the crab. Lizzie is the lizard. I can't remember the name of the crab, but I. I feel like they could do some kind of storytelling on the pier, on the walk with those characters, or they could do storytelling about the island. Either way, it needs that storytelling element in order to make people just not so upset about having to walk that walk in the sun. And some sun shades would really be helpful as well. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:53:25] Speaker A: Because when you find out the reason why they built it, and it's to preserve the habit, like, cool. That's awesome. But unless if you don't know that, you just think it's a little strange. And I think that.
I think that more information about how they created this and why they did it this way. I think that would really help kind of complete this destination, in my opinion.
[00:53:45] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, for sure.
[00:53:47] Speaker C: So I, I think, I think one thing that our listeners are definitely going to want to hear from you, Carly, is who you think a Disney cruise is for versus who you think a Disney parks trip is for. Because you are, you know, a theme park expert and aficionado, but also I would say a Disney Cruise line devotee. And we are obviously all in on Disney cruises, but I will tell you, we have, you know, we own DVC at both Florida and California and of course Aulani. So we are also parks people, even though our first love is cruise line. But I'm curious where you think these sort of things fit in. Like who, who should go to a park for their vacation versus who should go on a cruise for their vacation.
[00:54:33] Speaker A: I think, just to put it really plainly, I think if you've ever gone to Disneyland or Disney World and you've had a day where it was like you walked away and you went, that was really fun, but it was kind of stressful. I think if that was your takeaway, get yourself on a Disney cruise. Like, I think if someone who understands and like enjoys the Disney theming, enjoys the Disney magic, but maybe didn't love the lightning lane, found the booking to be stressful. Like, someone who wants to vacation with Disney is pretty into what's happening. Whether or not that is a family vacation, a multi generational trip.
Just, I mean, I'm from, I live in la, like driving to Disneyland with friends and be like, that was tight, we should do that again. But like, oh, the phones, like, if that is your takeaway, I think there is Disney Cruise line is really, really good for you.
And I still, like, I don't, I don't cruise other lines that much. I will probably go on Royal Caribbean at some point in the next year to check out what they have. But even, like, even me, I went. This is the longest Disney cruise. I went on the one to Alaska. I just did. And I was like, oh my God, almost a three at sea days. Like, I haven't done that. Am I gonna, am I gonna feel weird? How's it gonna be? And this is what I do for my job. And I did it and was like, oh, this was amazing. It was amazing. So like, just give it a try, give it a shot. Book a short one, see what you think. And if you're into theme parks and Disney, like, I think you'll end up really liking just this high caliber of service and execution and experience.
[00:55:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:55:54] Speaker B: I will be so curious to hear your reactions to Royal. And actually someone in the comments reminded me Royal has a train wrestling restaurant now that like.
So that's your monorail themed place.
[00:56:04] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I. I forgot.
[00:56:05] Speaker C: I will move our theme. Right. That could be a people mover themed restaurant as well. Yeah.
[00:56:10] Speaker A: Oh my God. I reported on. Oh my God. Does my brain still work? Royal Railway, Utopia Station. Still got it.
I did an episode on it because I was like, what do you mean there's a train at sea that doesn't go anywhere? And I got like really obsessed with it. But to me, like I. When I'm thinking of monorail bar, I'm thinking of like a rotating restaurant.
[00:56:27] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:56:29] Speaker A: And if they built it like even around a funnel, like anything that physically, kinetically moves in space, like an outside views. Oh my God. Love it.
[00:56:36] Speaker C: I love that idea. It makes me think of the Space Needle.
Well, it's not a restaurant anymore. They just have a bar up there. But definitely that's what I was envisioning when you said the monorail theme. I love that. But I still think we got to get like a train themed restaurant on Disney Cruise Line. But I think it should be, like I said, I think it should be people mover because if you don't have Harry Potter ip, you just can't really do a train perfectly. So that's just my personal opinion. But you know, you know, I'm curious where, you know, you have a two year old Pearl and you talk about her in your, on your podcast and I'm curious, like, what is your favorite type of trip to take her on? Because I think it's different when you're doing a trip when it's just you or just you and some adult friends. But like, would you rather take Pearl to, you know, a day in the parks at Disneyland or trip to Disney World, or would you rather take her on a Disney cruise?
[00:57:32] Speaker A: There is something that going to Disney World does to my brain where I'm like, this is everything I've ever needed. Like bringing her to Disney World even though the flight is. It's like the flight is not. Listen, nobody's thrilled about flying with a toddler, but being at Disney World with her is like peak joy for me. Just something about it. I'm like, I'm like, I'm a mom. I'm in charge of things. I can like use this card in my pocket to book something to make my baby be here. Like, I can't really wrap my head around it. It. But. And anybody who listens to my podcast, I apologize because I. You will hear this again. On Wednesday I got off the ship. Like Monday. I think Monday of this. What day? Oh, last Monday. Okay, today's Monday. Last Monday. And then last Friday I took her to Disney California Adventure and I was at DCA and I was like, oh yeah, cruise. Is it like the toddler on a cruise? Way easier than this. Way easier.
[00:58:23] Speaker C: I knew you were gonna stay in the car.
[00:58:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:58:26] Speaker A: And like we're locals. We go for three hours. I have a magic key. She is currently free. Like it is so low key. Our only goal was for me to get a cold brew and for her to go on the mater ride and I was still like oh boy.
And being on a cruise I. It's just so to be contained and like everything is just in that little bubble in that little world. Like everything's carpeted too, which is huge. Like it just. It's. I think Disney Cruise Line. It's like Disney World and Disney Cruise Line are as much as I take her to Disneyland all the time and love it. It's just those are places that we thrive at. And Disney Cruise Line easier than Disney World.
[00:59:00] Speaker C: Yep, absolutely. And you got a little childcare if you want it for. You know, if you need some. Some time to go to the spa or to go to an adult only restaurant, there is childcare available, which is a wonderful thing. We have an 11 year old so he's off at the edge and he doesn't want to spend any time with us anymore. But you know, but when he was and had to go to a kids club, you know, that was a really nice benefit. So I. Absolutely. I gotta ask you one more question because somebody's asking us to ask you about Oluamel. I'm not sure why they want us to ask you about Olu Mel.
[00:59:37] Speaker A: Oh boy, I'm getting in trouble. And also I was gonna tell you. I know I said I had a heart out. I actually have a little more time than I thought. But I could lie and say I don't answering this.
Okay, so long story short, I have said some harsh words about Olumel. I am a Duffy and Friends fan.
I love them. I just think this originally began my beef with Olumel began because I thought he was a little bit of a hanger on.
Like Duffy and Shelly Mae met him at Aulani. He was just like hanging out, just chilling and then he just like follows them home and I thought that was a bit odd. And I, I just, it stuck with me and I have talked about it maybe more than I should, and eventually I have. You know, I've done a few podcast episodes with the team behind Duffy and Friends because I'm like, I'm just always screaming about how much I love. Oh my God, there's a turtle. There's a turtle in the comments. I'm stressed.
I'm always. I love to report on Duffy. I love Duffy so much. I want Duffy and Friends to be like a massively global franchise. Here they are over there now, which is fantastic. But like, I really want them to be huge in America. And so we've done multiple podcast episodes and I fully got called out about only Mel by the creative team who works on Duffy and Friends.
And it was not a good look for me personally and professionally. I will say they were in the right and I, I regret it to this day, but I have decided to embrace Olumel. I am open to Oluamel.
You know, he's not one of my favorites, but I. We are very the beef and we are okay and I are good. And I will even say in some of his outfits he's very cute.
[01:01:22] Speaker B: You know, he is pretty. It's fascinating to me. We can't make Duffy a thing over here, especially on the cruise line because that's how he got his start, right? He was Mickey's teddy bear when he went to sea. So why is he not on the Disney shows?
[01:01:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I think we're gonna get there. I think we're gonna get there because Duffy and Shelly Mae are in the 70th cavalcade at Disneyland. So at long last, you can see both of the them in Disneyland every single day, which is huge. Like, we've been, we've been dying for this. But like you got Santa, Duffy showing up at Jollywood nights, like, slowly, slowly they're coming back. And so I know that the merch that they've been selling at one of the stores in Downtown Disney has been selling really well. So I'm hoping, I'm hoping there's a resurgence.
[01:02:03] Speaker B: Well, Carly, it was so much fun chatting with you. I, I hope we can find a way to have you back, back in the future. We'd love to love to hear about more of your thoughts on Disney Cruise Line, especially with all these ships ro out. I mean, my gosh, give us, give us a couple years and there'll be like a double sized fleet here. So it so much fun chatting with you. So thank you for spending some time with us, spending some Time with our audience, of course.
[01:02:25] Speaker A: This was so much fun to like ch. This is all I ever want to do is talk about cruises and now I get to do it with people who love it just as much as I do.
[01:02:33] Speaker B: Amazing.
[01:02:35] Speaker C: We love it too. Carly, why don't you tell folks where they can follow along on your adventures on all the socials. I know you've got a website as well and, and where they can regularly read your articles. I know you're in different magazines all across the travel spectrum, but where, where can they regularly find you or link to wherever you're at?
[01:02:54] Speaker A: I spend an aggressive amount of time online on Instagram so I'd highly recommend that I am at carlywisel on all the platforms I'm on Instagram. I'm like not on the other ones as much. Sometimes I'll dip in and dip out. But Instagram is really where I'm at. You can listen to my podcast, very amusing new episodes every Wednesday. You can find that where you know you find podcasts and yeah, anytime I like write a story or anything I do, I post on social media. But really, really Instagram. I also have a Facebook group called the Foamily on Facebook. It's a community of people who love theme parks, who love travel, but also like everything happens there, life related, people selling T shirts to each other, people asking for travel advice, everything. So if you're looking for a group of people to hang out with them, the Internet, the Foamily is there for you.
[01:03:39] Speaker B: Awesome. Well everyone out there, if you have not already been following Carly, please head over and do that for everyone out there watching and listening. We will be back next Monday night five the regular time, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern. And Sam, you got to remind me who's coming on next Monday.
[01:03:57] Speaker C: We've got Cindy Leichner coming on. She's going to be talking a side by side cruise meaning she's getting off of one ship and onto a different ship with one day in between. I believe it's the dream and the I can't remember if it's a dream and the treasure and she's traveling between two parts.
[01:04:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it was the treasure.
[01:04:16] Speaker C: I think it's the dream in the treasure. Yeah. So we're gonna, she's gonna do a little compare contrast for us and a little bit of a trip report kind of mixed together. But it's going to be a great show. So make sure to tune in as Brian said, next Monday, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern and we will see you all next week. Thanks again Carly for joining us. Bye everyone. Thank you for having me.
[01:04:36] Speaker B: Bye.
[01:04:41] Speaker D: Well, thanks 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 alive, we have a live show now every week, Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm 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 them at DCLDUO mypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. If you've got questions or you'd like to connect with us, the best way to do that is to head over to DCLDUO.com and that's got links to.
[01:05:38] Speaker B: All of our things.
[01:05:39] Speaker D: Full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast links off to our vlog, a link to our Etsy store where we sell some fun fan inspired magnets. Link to our Patreon. If you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also has a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here at least, and a few blog articles that we've written. So DCLDUO.com is the best way to get connect with us. You can also of course email
[email protected] or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590. That's 402-413-5590. The DCL Dual 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 reflective use of the Disney Company or Disney Cruise Line. If you have questions about a Disney Cruise or Disney v Vacation, please contact the great folks over at my Path 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.
[01:06:43] Speaker B: Good night.
[01:06:58] Speaker A: It.
