964 – Ray Rides Rise Early

Notable Language:

• Depticle
• Scoutful
• Poutine Pinnacle

Notable Culture:

• The Sharper Image
• Dep Hair Gel
• Star Wars Galaxy's Edge

Notable Talking Points:

• Vehicles Named Scout
• The Communal Family Mug
• No Spoilers, but Rise of the Resistance was Great

Episode 964 – Ray Rides Rise Early

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER:    Hey everybody, this is Scoots.  Before…patrons, not just everybody; before we get to this episode here — and this is pretty rare that I do a break-in — but this is a Ray episode coming up after the intro, of course, and I’ve gotten a lot of feedback in the history of Ray, of…more and more Ray episodes, right?  Ray has a lot of superfans.  Patreon is a good place for Ray episodes ‘cause while anything that has superfans means it also has super-non-fans, so I’m not able to do more than about three episodes of Ray a year in the main feed without it…sometimes pushing four but about every three to four months is how often I can put out a Ray episode before it encounters a lot of resistance from listeners of the main podcast.

 

So over the years, the Ray episodes have been somewhat inconsistent but on a somewhat regular basis as well.  Those of you that follow stuff on the Patreon newsletter and are engaged with the stuff on Patreon have heard me talk about this but I’ve been trying to find a way particularly with Ray and maybe with Star Trek to serve those fans that really want more of those episodes but also do it through the main mission of Sleep With Me which is the podcast that puts you to sleep which means okay, how is this going to help me sustain making Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep?  Which means fitting it within…building a budget and making sure that it’s sustainable.  So, I’ve worked with Patreon on this, actually.  I said okay, well, what do you think?

 

They said well, this is what the statistics are and this is what it looks like, and this is the people who have succeeded with this kind of idea, which would be putting out regular Ray episodes at a certain tier and what we came up with was a $50 tier — or I came up with that after talking to Patreon — and then just a small number of patrons supporting the show at that $50 tier could help eventually put out a Ray episode a month.  But then I encountered two things; I said well, if we don’t get the right amount of patrons, then it won’t be sustainable.  Then I kinda feel like we’re giving something and then we have to take it away, which that has never…never really works.  So, I said well, is there any other thing?

 

The other thing was the technical hurdle which was that the people at the $50 level would have signed up for 2.5 times the $20 level but they wouldn’t be getting…they wouldn’t have access to all the archives or anything without me spending a lot of money to either…or a lot of my own time to go back and populate all those episodes, ‘cause it’s just a very mechanical process.  That’s why I took so long to get the archives into the $10 and $20 feed.  It’s a hand…it’s a…even though it’s on a computer, it’s a one-episode-at-a-time process.  There’s not a bulk way to do it.  Then I put stuff out in the Patreon newsletter and got feedback, so what I decided to do…and I think this will be a hybrid approach but it’s like, we’re gonna put the Ray episodes out at the $20 level and if you’re a $10 patron, don’t worry; there is a possibility of them trickling down to you if it gets fully funded.

 

So, what we’re gonna do now…and then I’ll talk about the hybrid model…’cause again, I guess the $50 point was like well, maybe that’s the wrong place to be.  So, what’s gonna happen is if you’re a $20 patron or you become a $20 patron, and this was towards the end of the month, a great time to become a annual patron at any level, is tomorrow night, Friday…or no, no, Friday night, so not tomorrow night.  Friday night, you’ll get the next Ray episode which is scheduled for four months from now, I think.  What is this, March…yeah, so it’s not even a hard schedule but it’s somewhere around June, July, August.  You’ll get that episode on Friday, in two nights, and it’s a continuation of this episode.

 

Then next month you will get the episode…the Ray episode that’s scheduled for December of this year, late Oct…or, late November of this year which is a further continuation of that episode.  $20 patrons will get that and then every month after that, I have five more Ray shows recorded that are all a continuation of this one trip and those will come out on a monthly basis and we get to that end of those five episodes that are already produced or I mean, ideally before, ‘cause it takes a while to produce episodes.  We’ll keep making more Ray episodes.  I say okay, we got enough patrons…I mean, the difference between the $50 and the $20 is 2.5, you know, so it is a question of hey, will people pay $20?

 

It’s the same thing as the $50 one; it was this question will people pay more for content they’re a superfan of, and then everybody benefits?  Then if we get enough patrons where it’s like okay, we can keep making…and that’s the cool thing about the annual patronage is oh, okay, I can see that makes sense.  I had two more things.  Oh…oh yeah, and then they’ll trickle down to $10 patrons if it’s fully funded.  Then if it’s fully funded where we say okay, now we have enough money coming every month to definitely make a Ray episode or it becomes more, we could look at Star Trek but also really doing the Ray episodes which goes into the hybrid model and then I’ll finish up, ‘cause I’m…realize you’re trying to go to sleep.

 

But this is a sleepy voice anyway…and this really is the only way, because not that many people…we’re still trying to get a good amount of patrons to sign up for the patron newsletter.  These episodes are really my main way of keeping in touch with my patron peeps.  But so, oh, and you could sign up for the patron newsletter at sleepwithmepodcast.com/patronnews and if you do, there’s a chance I’ll do a cooking show.  We just gotta get 15% of patrons signed up for that newsletter.  Okay, so then the hybrid model.  The idea of the $50 tier or even higher tiers which Patreon is like…they showed me other podcasts and stuff and said oh, look at…they have these higher tiers.  What do you think about that?

 

So, we will do…we’ll probably do an ultra-high Ray tier and I don’t know…I gotta see okay, what’s the best…that would probably be only if you could really afford it.  You say well, I’m in a position where I could really afford something big-time extra and I’m a Ray superfan.  That will come…that won’t come with any audio rewards unfortunately, because like I said when I looked at the…that’s one of the reasons I’m not going forward with the $50 tier is just, it would be too much investment of either time or money to get all those episodes in there.  Even at the $250 tier, then it would kinda…it would just defeat the purpose.  It would take so much funding away from making Ray episodes.  So, what am I saying, is that…so, that’ll probably be an expensive tier, yeah, like 250, 100, I don’t know.

 

But it’ll come with…it’ll almost be something where, I don’t know, I don’t have all the logistics figured out but it would come with some cool stuff.  But you’d be kind of funding almost an entire Ray episode a year once I…I gotta see what the…but so, so that’s basically it.  If you’re a Ray superfan…and you could even try it out…like I talked with other patrons…a couple patrons recently that reached out and they said well, why…what if you…why don’t people just upgrade once and take all the content?  I said, people could do that but it’s actually a lot of work.  So, you could wait until the end of the year, become my $20 patron for a month and listen to all the Ray episodes and then go back down, and that’s totally fine because Patreon’s designed for people that are really involved and that’s a lot of work on your end, so I totally would understand.

 

If you want to do that, you’re welcome to do that or you could see and then say okay, they trickle down to the $10 level.  It will address that people say well, what about…?  This is just about trying to run things in a responsible way.  The $5 tier has been designed for patrons that listen on a regular basis and want to give something back and get ad-free episodes and story-only episodes, and then the $10 tier has always been something extra which is all-intro episodes and all-night episodes, and the Great British Bake-Off episodes.  So, there’s…this could be a chance to delineate the $20 tier in a good way.  Oh, and those of you…there’s…those of you that happen to be listening that are $20 patrons, you’re kind of…your vote is already in for more content ‘cause it’s like, you’re already doing more.

 

You’re saying hey, I’ll sacrifice a…I’ll take…make a pizza at home instead of ordering a pizza every month to support you at $20 or twelve pizzas a year.  I guess where I live…I say…that’s another thing on my…is to one day move back to a place where a pizza costs $20.  You say $20 for a pizza means out the door with your toppings.  [00:10:00] Anyway, so…and this is…again, this is a way of giving more in a responsible way because in the past, those of you that have been listening to the show for a long time have made these kind of…gone on these side trips, gotten where I haven’t planned it out and said wait a second, the first mission is to make the podcast that puts you to sleep twice a week and have it benefit as many people as possible and the Patreon is a big part of that because realistically, a very…sliver of regular listeners ever even think to become a patron, so I appreciate everyone and this…again, I’m not taking away from any level or anything like that.

 

I could not do any of this without your support and it’s amazing, an amazing opportunity to be able to do all this.  I know a lot of patrons say Scoots, don’t do more and I say well, this is a way to do more in a responsible way that…because I’m gonna be paying people to…again, you say…the editors, I already reached out.  I said Carl, I’m gonna be doing these Ray bonus episodes.  Can you put some…put this is in your work schedule?  Then they’ll be like…so, okay, I guess I’m over-explaining stuff so here you go, here’s Scoots and a Ray episode.  Thanks, patrons.

 

INTRO:    [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing?  Trouble getting to sleep?  Trouble staying asleep?  Well, welcome.  This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep.  We do it with a bedtime story.  Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press play.  I’m gonna do the rest.  What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake.  Whether it’s thoughts you’re thinking about, things on your mind, feelings related to those thoughts or emotions or just, you know, ones that are there where you just…at bedtime I say oh, I didn’t notice you for a pretty good reason, ‘cause I’m trying to go to sleep, and shamebot…what are you, Shamebot 10000?

 

Okay, well…oh, so the feelings that that could bring up, feelings, physical sensations, time, temperature, changes in routine, daylight if you’re working the second or third shift.  I don’t know what they call the shift that news…morning news crews…I mean, I always like…I don’t know if I’ve heard from…I’ve heard from some…I think I’ve heard some morning news crews but…because that’s a tough schedule.  You gotta get outta…but I don’t know, that’s not the second or the third shift, I don’t believe.  Maybe it is.  Let’s see, you got…typically you got 9:00 to 5:00, then five plus eight…five plus five is ten, six…5:00 to 1:00, and again, I know I’m wrong.  I’m just saying in my mind.  Then I guess 1:00 to 9:00.

 

None of those are the morning news crew ‘cause I think they usually…they’re…they usually go on the air around 5:00, right?  They probably gotta get there at 4:00, maybe.  In the Bay Area, then…well, I guess the commute is not so bad at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning.  Oh, but whatever’s keeping you awake, whether it’s your schedule…that’s what I was saying, or anything else.  Whatever it is, I’m here to take your mind off of it.  What I’m gonna do is I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night.  I’m going to try to establish a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake whether it’s thoughts…oh, wait, I said that part.  Repetition…but I am gonna try to create a safe place with my voice…creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, superfluous tangents.

 

You’ve witnessed all of those already; going off-topic…so if you’re new, a couple things ‘cause I already went off-topic early.  Let me get to you, new listeners.  Oh boy, am I glad you’re here, and I hope I can help.  Now, one thing you should know…a couple things, I guess; one, if you’re skeptical or doubtful, that’s how everybody…99.9% of the people come to the podcast because of course you probably heard a lot of different things about helping you sleep.  You’ve probably tried some stuff and you really want something to work, so that’s a natural reaction.  Also, you might be like what are you up to?  When is this show gonna get…start?  So, I’m gonna try to answer those questions but I want to acknowledge that of course you may be deptical or scoutful which are accidental words.

 

Skeptical, doubtful…what did I say?  Skeptical?  Deptical or scoutful.  You’d say, I don’t know.  Scoutful sounds like it could be…I could go on a lot of tangents about that.  Deptical, I think that’s probably what I would call a garbage can in space.  You say oh, put it in the deptical.  What is the difference…?  Well, it’s a receptacle in space.  It deps whatever you put in there.  What does that mean?  I don’t know.  It ionizes it or something.  I don’t know.  I just put it in there.  I didn’t design it; I just bought it at the space version of one of those stores.  Were you gonna say a space version of Sharper Image and then you didn’t say Sharper Image?  Yeah, I did because I think that has a different…it used to be a cut…I think it’s just an airplane store now.  Okay, you better get on-topic quick.

 

You’re right; I don’t want to incur the…it used to be, once upon a time before the internet, people bought stuff out of glossy catalogs and Sharper Image had glossy catalogs I think in the 90s, probably, maybe even the 80s, that kind of portrayed a life of luxury that you would have.  You say well, I…what kind of image do you project?  A sharper image.  Holy cow, clean lines, an aesthetic.  Oh, I thought you were…oh, you’re right; I gotta get back to the new listeners.  How do…oh, I was talking about depticals and scoutfuls.  So, if you’re skeptical or doubtful, you have a good reason, right?  I can’t even put my word…I put the words together…I’m assembling the words as I’m speaking them and just kinda…you say oh, whoops, that was supposed to go with the other word.

 

But seriously, if you are, one; I’m just here to help but this podcast does not work for everybody, so see how it goes.  I don’t make a promise that it works for everybody.  I only hope it works for you but I can tell you that almost every person that’s listened to the show, it took two or three tries for them to be like…before they made a decision on it.  For most of the people I hear from that are regular listeners, they said oh yeah, after the third try, I realized I didn’t have to figure this out or wonder where you were going.  Kinda like when I go see a movie sometimes and it’s a big movie and I have big expectations for it, I have to usually watch it twice because the first time I’m saying where’s this going, right?  So, that’s natural with this podcast too, but this one’s going nowhere so I’ll just tell you that, but sometimes it takes a few tries anyway.

 

Slowly going…we’re going somewhere but it’s more…it’s not just about the journey, but…so if you’re new, those are a couple other…a couple things.  A couple other things different about the show; one, structurally the show is different and you’re already into the structure but it starts off with business and high energy, Sleepy Supporter Zone; that’s how we keep the podcast free and coming out twice a week.  Then there’s an intro, so the…that…the first…the business can throw people off, then the intro can throw people off.  Sometimes I get e-mails about the intro, like the intro is also a commercial or something, but it’s more…I guess it is a commercial for my inability to get to the point and to go off-topic, but more a demonstration of that.

 

So, the intros of the show are around twelve to twenty minutes long which you say wait a second; so, 25% of the podcast is you introducing the podcast?  I’d say you’re exactly right.  Sometimes 33%.  Why is that?  Well, a couple reasons.  One, I want to give you a chance to wind-down and get to sleep.  Just from my perspective; one, you could just listen to the stories.  Just start the podcast at twenty minutes or be a patron and listen to the story-only versions we put out there.  But in my opinion, if I was consuming the podcast, and this is…a lot of listeners agree; if you started with hey, welcome to Sleep With Me, let’s get that story going in a minute, welcome.  If it was two or three minutes and then I went to the story, part of my brain would be like oh boy, I gotta get…I gotta get to sleep now.  The story’s started.

 

So, I want…the intro is…it gives new listeners an idea of what to expect.  It also gives regular listeners a chance to get ready for bed.  I guess that’s the majority use case.  You start playing it as you’re getting ready for bed and then you get in bed halfway through the intro.  This is imaginary, though.  [00:20:00] Then you listen to the rest of the intro as you’re getting comfortable and winding down.  Then the story starts when you’re snuggled in and then maybe you have a sleep timer.  Some people listen all night.  You could kinda see what works best for you.  You might say Scoots, I start listening to the intro once I’m in bed or I listen to the whole intro as I’m brushing my teeth, petting those pets.  Don’t forget to give your pets an extra pet tonight ‘cause Sleep With Me; always sponsored by petting pets.  Am I right?

 

You know, they recently started putting out…this…I feel like a stand-up comedian changing the subject like this; well, they recently started putting out podcasts for pets to listen to.  I said hello, the most pop…you should have called me because I don’t want to pat myself on the back but what podcast, one, reminds their owners to pets three times tonight, but our podcast is pretty popular ‘cause a lot of pets listen with their companions and they jump in bed or they get in their bed.  But also, in places where pets are…when they’re not at home, a lot of people play the podcast in those places that work there.  I get videos and stuff and that’s really heartwarming to me.  But so, that…I don’t know, that was a tangent.  So, oh, the intro…I can go off…I go off-topic, but it’s to give you time to wind down.

 

The thing is, there’s no pressure to listen to this podcast and there’s no pressure to fall asleep.  The combination of the intro and the fact that after this it’ll be a random episode.  I don’t even know what I’m gonna be talking about right this second but I know I’ll be here for at least an hour and I know the episode will be fully complete, so it’s not like halfway through the thing I start talking…I mean, I talk nonsense from the beginning to the end.  I don’t check out.  I’m here to the end because one, I think that’s what really helps.  I don’t know why, but knowing that you’re listening to a complete story that you don’t have to listen to, for some people, that puts people at ease but also no one…hey, if you can’t fall asleep, I’m gonna be here with a relatively inane but somewhat decent story.

 

Then for all my people that don’t sleep…there’s people that listen that just can’t sleep and they’re…I’m here for them, too.  I’ve heard from them over the past seven years of making this show and I’m here for you.  If you’re just up at night and…I’m here to keep you company, too.  So, there will be a story.  That will be about forty-five minutes, then there’s some thank-yous at the end of the show.  There’s also business between the intro and the story, so that’s the structure of the show.  I’m trying to think what else you need to know.  So, that’s the structure of the show, you don’t need to listen, no pressure to fall asleep.  I make the show because I believe you truly do deserve a good night’s sleep.  I’ve been there tossing and turning…I’ve been there tossing and turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep, thoughts; got those.

 

Holy cow, especially at bedtime.  Feelings; have those.  Those come up.  Physical sensations; yep, I’ve had different, you know.  I’ve experienced a lot.  I mean, I haven’t experienced everything but I’ll tell you what, I know how it feels there when you really want to be asleep, you’re really tired, and you know, I’m here to keep you company through that, to take your mind off of it even though I’m reminding you now.  I get it.  It’s a little bit of a paradox.  But it’s true, right, that it S-U-C-K-Ss and that’s why I make the show, ‘cause I say not only do I believe you deserve a good night’s sleep; I believe the world will be a much better place if you’re rested and I know your world will be, then everything branching out from your world.  Even if it’s just a tiny bit better, that’s better, am I right?  So, that’s why I make the show.

 

I’m here to keep you company.  If you’re deptical or scoutful, I mean, what would scoutful be?  I mean one, I can see the jokes.  You’d say…I’m trying to think of how I put the jokes in a sleep podcast, though.  I’d say okay, what if…okay, let’s use a very removed one.  So, you know that Zeus, right, is Kronos…here’s my history.  I’m not sure if this is Greek or Roman.  Maybe it was one of the titans.  Let’s just say it was Kronos…was this god way back before Zeus, so far back.  I think Kronos said to all the titans, maybe, or Zeus and the…Zeus’ family, siblings; hey, why don’t you get in my belly here?  It’ll be a good place for everybody.  Also, then I won’t have to worry about the whole thing with you usurping my rule.

 

Now, what they didn’t tell you is that this all happened…Zeus was in the Scouts but Zeus had a Scout meeting and so, you’d say what do you call…what did you call…what do you call Kronos after Zeus’ Scout meeting when Kronos, you know, did Kronos’ thing?  If you’re a scholar I apologize, though.  But you say, scoutful.  Kronos was scoutful.  There’s a joke…there’s a punchline without a joke.  You’re…on a regular basis, I try to give those out.  But you also say well, I’m not sure about that, so I’m scoutful.  I don’t know, I like the idea.  I think characters named Scout…well, I’m not so sure.  I’m not sold on that character name of Scout.  I’m Scoutful.  Or, I know there’s vehicles named Scout.  You say well…maybe you should say that if…I don’t know, do they sell any vehicles named Scout anymore?

 

I mean, I’m sure people name their vehicles Scout.  But you’d say…well, here’s the thing; I’m not even kidding, as I’m talking about this.  I’m scoutful about the word scout ‘cause I say well, I don’t know about that word, really.  So, let’s move on to…what did I…?  Deptical which, again, would be…I think…I’m trying to think of other words.  I guess what’s a place you throw out your hair gel?  Deptical.  That’s what I call my hair gel garbage can.  I think I checked ‘cause maybe two hundred episodes ago I started talking about Dep which was the maker of neon hair gels which had its high points in the 90s, I think.  Even though it wasn’t neon when it hit your head, it was just neon in the bottle.  Any kids listening; again, I’m not joking.  Don’t follow my lead.  I’ve already done this stuff.  It is a bad idea.

 

But those neon colors of hair gel, they don’t correspond to anything with your taste buds, so no need to check that.  Plus, it wouldn’t be good for you.  I’m not kidding.  Not that I did it but I, you know, I e-mailed the companies and I said hey, I have a question about the lime…Lime Dep.  They said the neon…the Funk of Fusion?  I say what is it…what do you use for your lime flavoring?  Dear consumer, don’t consume…our hair gel is for external use only.  Then I e-mail back; did you say it’s really called Funk of Fusion?  They said thanks for your interest in the Funk of Fusion Fun Club.  I got a coupon.  Then I did that for the other ones.  I said could you tell me more…I’m confused by the…’cause there’s probably a yellow, then there’s probably a pink, maybe a blue.

 

I said is that a Razzamataz or Blueberry or…and they said…I don’t know what they would call it.  I mean, it would have…Ice Fusion.  I don’t know what they would call blue hair gel.  ‘Cause sometimes you can mix it up with Gatorade flavors.  Also, probably they’re probably owned by the same company.  I don’t know whether to laugh or…say actually, we make that at the same place.  That could be a pod…that would just be a segment in a pod…a bigger story in a podcast, a character that worked at…they say yeah, I worked at the Gatorade Dep plant.  Maybe someone that was really interested would say wait a second, wait, I’m sorry, what?  Yeah, I worked at the plant where…at the plant I worked at, we made Gatorade and Dep hair gel.  Fictional versions, I’m just…of course.  They said, really?  Is that two…?

 

Oh, no, no, same place.  No, I mean, it was separated somewhat.  I mean, same base…made of the same…maybe…[00:30:00] probably are made of the same basic things.  Anyway, I don’t know how I got here.  Oh, my deptical.  That’s where I throw out all my hair…in space, that’s where I throw out my Funk of Fusion.  It never made my hair Funk of Fusion, not that that’s…was really the name of a hair gel.  That was a temporary Gatorade flavor, probably, positive; like, it would be like, melon…what would you do…how would you…what would you put in a sport drink that was labeled…I mean, Funk of Fusion, you definitely want it to have a popping color.  Funk of Fusion.  I don’t know, I mean, I think you’d want it to have a three-layer flavor so that there’s some sort of melon…like a surprise melony flavor at the end.

 

Like, a hit up front…I don’t know.  I mean, I guess I don’t…I just work in imaginary flavor labs and not real ones.  So anyway, I’m glad you’re here.  I guess you got a full dose of the podcast, of what to expect.  I really appreciate you checking the podcast out.  Like I said, give it a few tries ‘cause it doesn’t work for everybody.  If you feel like it definitely doesn’t work for you, you could send your e-mails to one of those corporate offices I mentioned or check out sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou.  I don’t know, I think that’s it.  I’m glad you’re here.  I really work hard.  I hope and I strive and I really want to help you fall asleep, so thanks again and here’s a couple ways we’re able to keep this podcast free for everybody.

 

Hey everybody, this is Scoots coming to you from 20…the end of 2020.  I just wanted to tell you before Scoots from early 2020 took over that this episode was recorded in January of 2020 and I sat on it the whole year just because I wasn’t comfortable putting it out because it involves travel and I didn’t want to give anybody a sense of forlorn FOMO or encourage any of that.  But it is our most popular and comforting guest host, Ray Perkins.  I thought it’d be fun to put it out and we usually try to…most years we put out about three Ray episodes a year.  This year was a little different just ‘cause the year was different and I really appreciate all you being here the whole year for me and Ray and all the other people involved in the podcast.  I could not do it without all of you.  I really appreciate it.

 

Also, those of you that are Ray superfans, I should have a way in 2021…at some point I’m gonna redo some of the…I’m gonna create a higher-level Patreon level for Ray’s superfans ‘cause it just won’t work in the main feed of putting out like, twelve Ray episodes a year but it could…we could work a budget to get to that.  I’ll also probably have…once we get that going, if it’s successful, I’ll also add that we’re gonna have a referral program, so that’ll be a free way to support the show coming up down the road to get access to that stuff, too.  So yeah, that’s it right now.  So, I just wanted to let you know that, that this was recorded in January of 2020 from a trip in…wait, what year is it?  This is 20…2020, so it’s 2019 to 2020 when this trip I went on with Ray…that Ray’s talking about.  It was a pleasant re-listening to this episode, so I hope it’s as pleasant for you, a nice, dreamy trip with Ray tonight.  Thanks.

 

Hello, hello, hello everybody.  This is your friend Ray.  Thank you Scooter for that introduction.  I didn’t get to hear it but oh boy, was it nice.  Just to reframe things, I’m your friend Ray.  A friend of yours, a friend of mine.  Good to meet you.  Good to be in your ears once again.  I’m here talking about a trip I took with Scooter a little bit of time ago.  It was a little while since I’ve been in your ears.  It’s been too long but it’s been just the right amount of time as well.  Scooter has promised me that in the show notes there will be a link or a number of whatever episode covered our first trip, but I’ll just go over the basics with you.  I’m Scooter’s neighbor Ray and if you want to know more about Scooter…Scooter and I’s history, little Andy the Pod Boy, my friend, you could listen to other episodes I’ve been on.

 

I’m gonna get more to the business of our trip, a trip we made to Florida over the holiday season at some point, because I know these podcasts don’t come out…it’s the miracle of podcasting.  I’m not even recording this near…not that far from our trip.  This is a trip we made to Orlando and again, I say this in every episode; I realize that theme parks and amusement parks aren’t for everybody.  Ray’s not everybody’s cup of tea.  Scooter’s not everybody’s cup of tea but I…Scooter’s my cup of tea.  Holy moly is he a good friend to me.  I feel like I’m a good friend to him, but I know that the consumption or the…that that’s just not everybody’s pastime.  It just happens to be my pastime.  I like talking about it.  Scooter’s pastime is less going to the amusement parks than drinking soda and observing me, I believe.  So, I’ll catch up.

 

Now, this is…you’re joining me right in the beginning of the first…second-half of the first day of my vacation with Scooter.  So, we had flown in and then we spent a little bit of time at one of the parks, one of the Disney parks there, and then we went back to our rooms.  We took a nap.  Even Ray took a nap.  Sometimes I like to spend time with friends or chatting or more but we were at the room, we were sleeping, and I don’t know if we went through this; I don’t think we did.  Around 2:30 PM…so, we had flown all night and we kind of slept on the plane, then we went to the Magic Kingdom in the morning without napping or anything, then we went back to our hotel around lunchtime and went to sleep about 11:15, 11:30 PM…AM.  Now, that’s east coast time.  For us, it was three hours before that.  We took a nap.

 

Now, at 2:30, Scooter got up first.  Now, Scooter went and went to the food court.  We were staying at the Port Orleans Hotel.  French Quarter, Scooter’s telling me.  This is when Scooter got his unlimited soda cup which is unlimited refill cup of soda and I try not to talk about this too much ‘cause I know some people said well, you talk too much about Scooter and soda.  I say well, that’s only ‘cause…so I can set up every time Scooter goes to the restroom, because I know the listeners…everybody finds that funny.  His whole family, that’s all they talk about, how accurate his trips to the soda and the restroom are.  But it’s also…it’s just part of Scooter’s mindset, so it really helps you get into his mind, I believe, because…so, he looks at the pricing.  He goes down there.  Now, he told me, Ray, you could talk about this.

 

I made a big mistake.  Also, Scooter drinks a lot of coffee, but they have…in his room they had a coffee machine or…with individual cups of coffee, and the people that were servicing his room were nice enough to make sure he had more than two cups of coffee ready…of packets to make coffee, three or four at least, which some places I say what’s wrong?  You only think we’re gonna drink two cups of coffee?  Is it really gonna cost you that much more to have the room be stocked with three or four cups of coffee?  But so, oh, so Scooter went down to the food court of the hotel which is a bit like a food court in the mall but only one company runs it, you know.  But there at the food court, they sell plastic mugs and this is where Scooter said he made his big error because one, he said I had just woke up from a nap and two, I was rushing.

 

But so, they sell these plastic mugs and Scooter will tell you they’re not exactly…one, they don’t go good when you’re mixing coffee and soda; not at the same time but over time because the inside is just plastic, so the coffee flavor, you can never really get rid of.  But so, Scooter went down there and he said…he prices it out.  We were staying there for a few…more than a few days I think, so he said well, it’s like twenty dollars but that’s for all the…you can keep…you can get coffee, Coke, hot cocoa, soda water, because they had a freestyle machine like Stan from the…Scooter’s stories.  That’s good with his little one because you say okay, you could get sparkling water, you could get stuff that has low sugar, you could also get root beer which Scooter likes after 2:00 PM, but then you could also get your Mr. Pibb…that’s Scooter’s drink, with cherry, or your cola or whatever.

 

Now, when Scooter said he made an error, his error was that [00:40:00] they had a tumbler which was new, which was stainless steel on the inside.  It was a Star Wars theme but Scooter said he was in so much of a hurry to get a drink, he saw that and then he didn’t want to do the calculations of the cost which I think was about five or ten dollars more.  But even after the first day, Scooter said Ray, that was a mistake because the stainless steel is easy to clean out the…it’s easy to clean out in the hotel sink and get rid of the coffee smell because then his daughter says pop, can I use your mug to get myself a drinky-poo?  Because unfortunately, she does have to be the daughter of Scooter which has its perks a lot of the time but he says no, no, no, we’ll share one mug because that means we’re getting over, ‘cause Scooter says whatever, they charge $3.50 for a soda.

 

If we only have one mug and then we take turns, then you know, so anyway.  So, he bought his mug.  He started drinking his soda at 2:30 PM.  It was about…and then he did some work and about 3:30 PM, the rest of us started to get up.  Maybe it was around 3:15.  We started to get ourselves together, get ourselves moving, and we took a bus to the Epcot Center.  We went over there.  We had some FastPasses.  I don’t see them on the list.  Now, it was a rainy evening.  It was drizzling.  It wasn’t pouring or anything but that wasn’t pleasant.  It was the holiday season.  I don’t know when you’re hearing this so you might not be hearing in the holiday season, but this will get you in the mood.  Not a ton of holiday coverage.

 

Now, the first thing we did ‘cause it was around dinner…we hadn’t had lunch so it was kind of lunch/dinner time and oh boy, was this…on the charts of things, this is high on your charts.  This has always been high on our charts.  You go to…so, Epcot Center is going through changes when I’m recording this.  It used to be called Future World: An International Showcase, and then Future World was supposed to be a world’s fair-type thing and they had different pavilions with different things like land and sea and space and communications and transportation.  They’re changing that around.  All things must change.  You have to roll with it.  But so, that’s just to help you if you’ve never been there before.  Is we went through the main…the front section of the park which would be called…at the time, it was called Future World.

 

We skipped that part because one, we had some FastPasses for later.  Two; it was the evening so all the lines were very long.  There’s not a lot to eat there.  Now, that’ll probably change with the updating of everything.  So, we went through to the International Showcase and if you go into the International Showcase and you go right, there’s a place…there’s…so, in the different seasons they have little stands, almost like little houses, little huts that serve different festival foods but then they also have permanent places.  Now, this one I forget what it was called but it’s a permanent place.  I don’t know what it’s called; World Cot 5000 or something, and they…it’s right by where Canada is, right before you get to Canada, and they serve poutine.  At different times of the year they have different types of poutine.

 

This time they had a poutine with brisket and it was…oh my goodness, it was so good.  It had the cheese, it had the curds, it had some brisket.  The cheese had a couple different cheese flavors.  It was very, very good, especially for a drizzly…it wasn’t cold, now.  That was the nice thing.  It wasn’t cold but it was drizzling.  So, we had that, then they had a…so, they have…everything was themes of the holidays, so they had the little food booths like I’m saying, and they also had a cookie…Cookie Stroll, they called it.  Scooter said well, I can’t do any adult beverage strolls anymore.  Those days are behind me.  So, he wanted to do the Cookie Stroll because he also likes cookies and I don’t think this was here; maybe it was.

 

I guess it looks like it, according to my notes, but he got a peppermint pinwheel cookie which was one of the first cookies on the Cookie Stroll.  Now, spoiler; I guess I’ll…so, this was…so, Scooter got a little pamphlet.  You get stickers for your Cookie Stroll.  If you complete the book Cookie Stroll, you would get a bonus cookie somewhere.  You probably can tell how it turned out by my tone.  Scooter…but Scooter rolled with it because he was on vacation, so he got his peppermint pinwheel cookie.  He said it was pretty good.  But after the poutine, that was the pinnacle level of food.  It was a little bit of…it was tough to follow up.

 

Then we went to another place where they sell shirts and things, ‘cause they also had a treasure hunt where you were searching for a wreath with Chip and Dale on it in every country, and Chip and Dale in every country in this world’s showcase were holding an ornament and if you got all the ornaments, then you got…you could turn it in for an ornament.  Now, you were paying for the map and the cost of the ornament but still, something fun for his daughter to do.  It turned out, it was very difficult at first.  We didn’t get it right away.  Then we went to Mexico.  They had a food booth that had a nice tostada with some beans on there and I believe some…something else but it was mostly a bean and cheese tostada.  It was good; it was a very good tostada.

 

Then we headed to Norway which, they were supposed to have this holiday show that Scooter has not seen in like, eleven years, and he said Ray…so, before I knew him, he said Ray, you gotta see this holiday show.  It’s so funny.  He said you’re gonna love it.  So, it was a Norway holiday storyteller talking about Norwegian holiday traditions.  But we went there, but because of the rain, they had canceled the show.  Then we tried to find the Chip and Dale ornament and we must have spent about fifteen minutes looking for the ornament and we could not find it, so then we went back to Mexico ‘cause they have a boat ride there, and we went on the boat ride which is a fun little ride.  Usually that line, much like Pirates of the Caribbean, moves pretty quickly even when the line is long.

 

The inside of the…that pavilion has the inside-outside look.  So, we went in there and we did that.  There was…oh, then we got off the boat and Scooter was very happy because they had mariachis performing inside and they had dancers.  Scooter was in…this is Scooter’s element.  He loves street performers or performances of street…what do they call it?  Streetmosphere, I think they call it, for Disney.  Also, Scooter was pointing to me of how many people were having fun.  People were dancing with the dancers and then they did Feliz Navidad which is a hit.  I realize it’s…what do you call that?  It’s…some people say well, that’s not real culture.  It’s just a pop song.  But people love singing along with it.  So, that was fun.

 

Then we had our FastPass for…now, this is gonna go away too and they’re gonna change it, so I don’t know if they’ll still call it this but it was Spaceship Earth…is a story of communication with animatronics.  Dame Judi Dench was voicing it, I believe.  If it’s Helen Mirren, oh my goodness, I’m sorry, but…and so, that was very nice.  It’s a relaxing ride.  Sometimes you could fall asleep but they have the old-fashioned animatronics which, you know, they’re coming back with some more of these.

 

But I…to me, and I think Scooter and maybe even his daughter…and this is a delicate subject but this is the kind of thing that’s kind of like the excess of these parks in kind of a good way, is the idea that you’d make these robotic figures to show the history of the news or super computers or papyrus or the Gutenberg Press, or all these things that you invest in these figures that you’re just going by briefly creates a little bit of a sense of wonder because even though they don’t look real, they look almost real, and they look more…I don’t know.  I mean, I always…I don’t know.  I think it’s something that they said well, that’s boring.  They’re just talking about newspapers and stuff, so stuff like that.  I could see both sides of things but we really enjoy that ride and I know by the time this comes out, maybe it’ll be a little bit different.

 

Of course, we didn’t — we had a FastPass, so we didn’t have to wait in line for that.  Then we went to Living with the Land.  [00:50:00] It was night time and this is a boat ride.  It talks about the history of agriculture.  It’s a agriculture-type ride but then you go through all the greenhouses.  But because it was night time and the holidays, they had a holiday overlay with all sorts of holiday lights and little hidden figures.  It was really fun because you still had the ride part where they talk about well, this is our corponics, fisherphonics or this is what happens in the desert, but then they had the holiday stuff.  I really liked that.  That was nice there.  Then it was really raining.  We went on a ride in a place called The Seas and we went on a ride Seas with Nemo and Friends which is a nice little ride.  Maybe you’ve heard me talk about it.

 

You go in a clam-mobile or a shell and  you go looking for Nemo.  Then the ride ends in a actual aquarium so that was fun, and there’s lots of good opportunities for pictures after the ride but oh boy, was it…that’s a nice one.  Then we got off that ride.  It was really raining but it…again, it wasn’t cold so we said well, we all have rain coats on, so it’s not that big a deal for that.  So, we went back to the countries.  Scooter’s little one wanted to have maple popcorn, a little bit more like kettle corn than caramel corn.  Also, this was another money-saving technique, depending.  You could say money saving in context because you can buy a reusable popcorn bucket and I believe it’s…it’s not inexpensive but then you can get that bucket refilled throughout the parks there for about $2.00.

 

I realize that a thing of popcorn in the real world costs about $0.25 but here you say $2.00 is a bargain to refill your popcorn.  Even some of the flavored popcorn places, you could get a refill.  So, we got the maple popcorn.  Scooter did get a bottle of Coke and then we started going to some of the more…the other food booths and we got a soup there.  I think it was in Canada.  Maybe it’s someplace else, with wild rice ‘cause Scooter’s little one likes wild rice and then we went to L’Chaim and got…Scooter got a pastrami on rye, an egg soda, and a black and white cookie.  He said the pastrami on rye was actually really good.  The egg soda was too costly for Scooter to enjoy for such a small drink ‘cause he said I should have…I think he said I should have just got a Yoo-hoo.

 

Then he said the black and white cookie was okay but it had a little…some of the sugar cookies there at the Epcot, they have…instead of…some of them have a citrus within the base and some have vanilla in the base.  Scooter said he just naturally prefers the vanilla-base sugar cookies versus the citrus-base sugar cookie.  Oh, it was citrus hint, I guess.  I don’t know which is…I’m saying, yeah.  Then we went on…we went and got some soba noodles and a boba tea, a boba drink.  Ray’s not…I’m new to boba even though it’s been a thing for a while.  So, I only looked at it.  I haven’t…Scooter said you’ll like milk tea.  His little one likes the boba.  Kids love boba.  That was in Japan.  Scooter’s handwriting here…oh, Scooter wanted to get some pizza but they weren’t selling pizza at night.

 

They only sell it during the day, supposedly, for some ridiculous reason.  Then we had a FastPass to ride a Frozen ride which was a boat ride where you get to see Anna and Elsa and Olaf.  Unfortunately, we were right about to board the ride with a FastPass; we were the next people to get on the boat and the ride started to not function, so much so that they were letting everybody off the ride that was in the ride.  They didn’t even get to complete the rides.  Like, all the boats had stopped moving.  Now, we didn’t even get on there and they said oh, we really don’t have any idea when it’s gonna start again.  So, they said well, you could just use your FastPass in another ride, so we went and went on the ride Test Track.  Scooter considers this a very thrilling ride.  Your friend Ray, I do enjoy this ride as well.

 

So, it’s like, it’s a ride where you’re pretending to test a car.  It’s a test track for a car because it’s like the history of automotive…there’s no history in there.  It’s all just an…for fun.  Now, in Disneyland, in California Adventure they have the Cars attraction, Radiator Springs Races.  It’s similar.  This is just themed much differently and it’s fun, though.  At the end, it goes and it feels very thrilling but it’s not too thrilling for most people.  It doesn’t go upside-down or anything like that.  Then…oh, then it…this was around about 9:00 PM and then we said you know what?  We’ve had a full day.  We were up all night more or less flying; let’s go back to the hotel.  So, we walked to our bus around 9:15 PM and by 10:00 PM we were all in our rooms which was very, very, very nice.

 

Now, those of you that are hardcore theme park people are really gonna enjoy this next segment and those of you that aren’t, don’t worry about this because it’ll probably be in a new evolution at this point.  But in the evening we usually like to plan out what we’re gonna do the next day.  So, as I was just talking about last evening, we were kinda saying well, what are we gonna do tomorrow?  Because your friend Ray likes to be at the parks before they open, then you could get a lot done.  But also at this particular time, this was when recently in Disney Studios, they had opened a Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge which is the Black Spire Outpost.  It’s the mythology behind it.  That had just recently opened its second attraction.

 

It had opened in the summer with one ride called Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run but then a few weeks before we got there, not only had the new Star Wars movie come out but this ride had opened called Rise of the Resistance.  It’s a very ambitious attraction.  I don’t think you could call it a ride.  I would call it an experience attraction.  Because of that, Disney had made some changes to how they normally operate things because it was so…there was so much anticipation and so much demand for the ride.  Over…you’ll…if you’re a theme park enthusiast, you’ll know they had a lot of tests they did at Disneyland and Disney World trying to figure out how to manage the crowds for these things.  This was also the busiest time of the year.

 

Now, we happen to get there on a day…so, this was the second day of our trip.  We’re talking we’re heading into the morning of the second day of our trip.  This was before the holidays officially.  This was actually…I’ll tell you; it was December 23.  The park was officially opening at 7:00 AM.  Now, the day after that it was starting to open at 6:00 in the morning.  I don’t even know if Ray believes that, a theme park opening at 6:00 in the morning.  But it goes even deeper than that.  So, the park would officially open at 6:00…7:00 AM, right?  Okay.  Now, I’ll explain to you a lot but so, now, we were in a bit of a pickle because one, 6:00 in the morning or 7:00 in the morning for…that’s 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning for us Californians.

 

But also, we were staying at a hotel where you took a bus to the park and the buses don’t start running ‘til 45 minutes before the park opens.  So it’s…the first bus we could get was at 6:15.  Now, we could have taken a Lyft or whatever but then we were like, that’s a little bit over the top.  We’re supposed to be on vacation.  I’ll explain more but so, at 6:15 we were already up.  We got up at 5:45 AM and at 6:15 we were at the bus stop and the bus came at 6:15.  The bus was busy and then we got to Disney Studios and it was very, very busy.  [01:00:00] It was also drizzling once again.  Now, it wasn’t cold even though it was early in the morning which is always important if you’re gonna get wet, and we had our rain coats and one umbrella.  We did split up, so we split up ‘cause Scooter took the backpack and went…’cause they go through your backpack.

 

So, we went and got in line and the line was already pretty long just to get into the park there.  The thing was, they start letting people into the park around 6:00…between 6:00 and 6:30.  I think this particular day they started letting people into the park around 6:30 because the line wasn’t moving at first, I don’t believe.  But we were in line…well, let’s see.  Why don’t I have a time written down?  We were at the bus at 6:15 which meant Scooter was probably through getting his bag checked by 6:40, maybe.  I’m just guessing.  Maybe 6:30, 6:35.  Then we were in a very long line to go through the gates to get into the park.  Now, the key is, you wanted to be in the park before 7:00 AM when the official park opens.

 

Now, this is much different than Ray’s normal strategy even though it sounds similar because at 7:00 AM, what happened at this time was they open up something on the app they have and you would open the app and you would get what was called a Boarding Pass to be able to go on the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride.  There was no line for the Rise of the Resistance that you could get in.  You could only get on the ride if you had a Boarding Pass, and the Boarding Passes would run out within like, twenty or thirty minutes or less.  So basically how it works is, so we got into the park at 6:50 AM, 6-5-0.  The park was gonna open with the rides and the Boarding Passes at 7:00.  So, then they start walking people back towards the rides or they were already doing that, so we’re walking towards Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, there.

 

Actually, about 6:55, we were like, we’re not gonna get to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.  Let’s just step to the side of the road here and we’ll get our apps ready.  Also, it was raining and we could get under an awning.  Other people were doing the same thing.  Then at 7:00, you open your app and just like if you’re trying to get something else to load, you’re refreshing it and refreshing it until it says Get A Boarding Pass and you kinda have to include the members of your party.  It’s not that simple but it’s not that complicated.  Now, the key thing is, they’re kind of giving them out as some randomness, but also they’re giving out…the sooner you get it, the sooner you could go on the ride, so we were opening, closing it.  We got our Boarding Pass by like, 7:04, 7:03 AM.  I think it was Boarding Pass 38 or something.

 

Maybe I have it written down later in here, which meant that…maybe it was 68 which meant we weren’t gonna be able to ride for a few hours.  I think 38 ‘cause I think they do about ten groups an hour.  A boarding group doesn’t just mean your group; it means a group of a hundred or so people or something.  But so, at 7:05 we had our boarding group, so that’s one win for the day, and then we went and we got in the…so, let’s see, got Boarding Pass to ride the Rise of Resistance, then we went and got in line for the Millennium Falcon.  Now, according to the sign, it was a thirty-minute wait but it ended up being a bit more, like closer to an hour ‘til we got off the ride.  So, but you know, it was the beginning of the park, everybody’s going to that place anyway, and throughout the rest of the trip, that line would end up being much longer, like 90, 120, 180 minutes.

 

That ride is a little bit like you’re in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.  There’s six people.  Each person has a little bit of a job, so it’s a little bit like a video game and a motion simulator.  But it’s pretty cool ‘cause you’re looking right out of the Millennium…it looks very real, so it was a very entertaining ride and that was nice.  Then we had…at 8:10 we got…that was when we got off the ride.  Scooter used the restroom ‘cause he had already had some coffee.  Then we had churros for breakfast.  Scooter also had a Coke for breakfast but he said Ray, I need…I gotta get my spirits up, you know?  Then we headed to Sunset Boulevard where there’s two rides down there and we went…we waited thirty minutes in line for the Tower of Joy which is still based on the TV show Twilight Zone but in Disney’s California Adventure, it’s a Guardians of the Galaxy ride.

 

Either version is very delightful.  Ray likes that I can go on both when I have time.  So, we went on that ride, then there was a long line but we still did it; we got in line for Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster about 8:45 AM.  But it looks like after Tower of Terror, we went on Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster.  We got in line there about 8:45 in the single-rider line which is…which was usually a little bit faster but the park was already busy at this point.  Now, that’s where things are probably changed by now, and I think they’ll have opened up one more new ride at that park because when the park has those popular rides and it opens early, Ray’s usual rope-drop strategy doesn’t work because so many people get to the park so early that kinda all the rides instantly have a long wait.

 

So, you gotta be willing to take a little bit of a Six-Flags-type attitude and be like okay, well, I’m gonna have to wait in some lines, here.  You could reduce that by using Len Testa’s Lines app, you know, a good friend of…we like Len.  But so, anyway, we…the…I guess probably the ride was not functioning properly and that’s why the line was also so long ‘cause they did make a bunch of announcements; your wait’s gonna be longer than normal.  But we got in line for that at 8:45 and by the time we were halfway in line, our boarding group for Rise of the Resistance had started, I believe.  It may have started even earlier.  The latest we could have got to Rise of the Resistance was 10:30 AM.  They give you a window.  I think it’s like a two-hour window or something but our window was gonna close at 10:30.

 

So we thought when we got in line at 8:45 we would have been fine which we were, but we did cut it close.  By the time we got off of Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster, it was about 10:00 in the morning.  I guess we probably waited in line about an hour there.  We were playing the…what do we call it?  A Ticket to Ride on Scooter’s phone, so we were having a grand old time.  Scooter had bought another map, European map, so we were…actually isn’t really that bad.  But so, at 10:15…so 10:00, we headed over to Rise of the Resistance and I’m not gonna tell you anything about this ride at all because it would ruin it for you.  But so, at 10:15 we got in line.  It was about a…even though you have the Boarding Pass, it doesn’t mean you get on the ride immediately, you know, which, you know, you come to accept.

 

So, we waited about thirty or forty minutes to get on the ride but I could tell you it was worth the rigmarole because it was one of the pinnacles…it was an experience.  It was amazing.  Will I say it’s the greatest thing ever or it’s waiting in…worth waiting in line hours and hours and hours?  Maybe.  I don’t know.  You’ll have to decide that for yourself.  If you heard about the ride, you won’t be…it won’t ruin it for you but if you don’t know anything other than it’s called Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and you ride it, you’ll be so surprised.  It is so surprising.  We knew nothing.  Scooter said he had seen one or two videos but it didn’t…it was just…oh, boy, what a ride.  It was really…it was a great ride.  So, it was worth it.  It was not worth it…now, it was not such a great ride that we were ever willing again to get up at 4:00 in the morning.

 

Since the park was opening at 6:00, you’d have to get there at 5:15.  We were never willing to wake up again at 4:30 in the morning.  So, while it was the best ride we’ve ridden in a very long time, it was not…it did not make any of us say well, let’s get up at 4:00 in the morning, 4:30 in the morning to try to ride it one more time.  Then we went over to the…a restaurant called ABC Commissary, [01:10:00] more of a fast food place.  We were pretty happy with that because they have…what do you call it there?  They had mobile orders, so Scooter could put our order in, but they also…because it was so busy, they would only let you sit down if you had a tray of food which did cause quite a bit of controversy with a lot of people, including Scooter.  He said, I want a table.

 

They said well, when you have your tray, you could have a table.  He said okay.  Other people were a bit more, you know, vocal about it but it was nice because then when we had our tray of food, we had a clean place to sit down right away.  That did take two staffers to keep an eye on that but we had…I think we had burgers with salads or something.  Scooter thinks he might have had chicken nuggets.  We ate our lunch.  It was a pleasant little lunch there.  We were kinda running out of gas, so we went to…they have these street performers that are supposed to be from old Hollywood, the Hollywood Studios Streetmosphere performers, so we watched a little bit of one of their shows.  It was kind of a game dating show, like Match Game or something, and there was someone from the crowd there and then the actors and actresses.

 

It was very funny.  It was enjoyable.  Then, holy moly, so then we went to…now, Disney also opened this amazing thing, totally getting undersold because it’s…you don’t have to pay to be in the parks but they have this thing called the Skyline which is basically gondolas, gondolas that connect parks with one another.  This has been…I mean, I have to say from…a lot of times I say well, you’re not doing anything futuristic or whatever.  This is one of the improvements of the parks that I’ve never…that I said wow, what a big improvement.  What a pleasant thing.  I hope you do more of it.  Even if you just do this, it’s wonderful.  So, and I’ll tell you about it but it’s basically…okay, I guess I’ll just tell you.  So, you leave the Hollywood Studios.  We said well, let’s…we’re not ready for our nap yet, so let’s ride the gondola.

 

Actually, I think it was the little one that said that.  So, we said okay, why not?  So, we went there and the gondola goes from the Disney Studios to the Caribbean Beach Resort.  That station happens to be a transfer station, so you get on a gondola car just like you’d see up in the mountains.  There’s two nice benches in there and there’s a beautiful view.  It moves in a way…it’s a detached one, so it’s going fast when it’s up in the air but then when it’s down, it’s going slow.  So, and I realize those things aren’t for everybody ‘cause some people say well, I don’t like being up…the…I know what you’re saying.  But it’s very, very pleasant and relaxing.  You get a view you just never had before.  So, we took it there, then we transferred and took it to…they have one that goes from the Caribbean Beach Resort to Epcot.

 

It goes into the back entrance of Epcot.  We got off there and then we walked over to another hotel called The Beach Club there because they had a gingerbread carousel with hidden Mickeys and also a soda machine.  So, we went, we looked at this gingerbread carousel, we tried to find the hidden Mickeys on there, and Scooter got himself another soda ‘cause he had his unlimited soda cup that works at all the hotels.  Then we got back on the Skyline and took it to another hotel called the Riviera which was new and so we said oh, let’s check this hotel out.  You know, you go to the lobbies, you look at how they had it decorated for the holidays, and you know, just walk around.  It just gives you something a little bit less intense and pleasant to do, and Scooter…Scooter and I, we love to walk.

 

So, we looked at the pool there, we looked at the lobby, then we called a Lyft, a Lyft thing, a car to come pick us up there.  We took that back to our hotel, just a short little jaunty away.  But we decided to do that so we could get some rest instead of taking the Skyline back to Hollywood Studios and then taking the bus.  Then according to my notes, Scooter took about an hour nap and his daughter took a fifteen-minute nap, and I took a two-hour nap.  I mean, that was it for our…yeah, and then I’ll…I mean, I guess I’ll tell you more about it later, the second-half of our day because yeah, then we went to the Magic Kingdom after.  But we took a nap and that was…so, that was a little bit of time with Scooter and your friend Ray at the parks.  Thanks, everybody.

 

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