Beyond the Parks: Adventure by Disney | Family Travel Strategies

Jason: Grab your mouse ears and ready your wands. You're tuning in to Castles to Cauldrons, your ultimate guide to the magic, the thrills, and everything in between. From strolling right down the middle of Main Street USA to dodging fire-breathing dragons in Dygon Alley, we've got your theme park adventures covered. And now, sharing their hottest takes and best tips, here are your hosts, Jason, Micah, Rachel, and Terry. Welcome back to Castles the Caudrons episode 70. This is Terry. I'm here with Jason and Micah. Rachel is living it up in Jamaica with her family right now, so we're all very jealous of that. But our guest today is Pam, and she's gonna tell us all about her adventures by Disney's vacations. Now, Jason, take it away. Thank you for intro, Tan Terry. It sounded like a radio show. She's practicing so when I'm out, she can take it over. Yeah. I'll just then she has like the login to Riverside and she can do all that stuff now. She can be our producer. Yeah. So as Terry said, we have Pam on the episode today because Rachel is in Jamaica with her family. One last trip before school starts back for her kids. Pam, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started with magical travel? I have been with magical travel for just over ten years now. I as yeah. I started as an a side job to have a little extra joy in my life when I was getting really burnt out practicing law and ⁓ have just stuck with it. And this adventures by Disney trip was one of my bucket list items and ⁓ being a travel agent made that come true for me. It's amazing. The opportunity to hear that like magical travel gives to us and that what we do, whether it's with the company or because of the company. Mm-hmm. that we can do stuff like the Adventures by Disney or, you know, cruises and stuff like that. So it's it's always awesome to be able to say we work for a company that allows us to do fun things and promotes us to try to go and do these type of things too and like encourages us to and it's so much easier to help other people understand what Adventures by Disney is. Most people don't even know it exists. And actually having experience the the vacation really helps you be able to explain to people why it is so amazing. And it really is so amazing. Yeah. Well we're gonna get pretty deep into Adventures by Disney in a little bit, but we got some news. In the future we're gonna actually try to try to change up the way we do our our episodes and kind of leave the news for one full episode. Just take the highlights, but there's some stuff that came out we kind of wanted to mention that I thought was that was interesting. The first one is that Disney Cruise line announced that there's gonna be three ships to launch in twenty twenty nine. I thought that was crazy. Like we were getting one ever a year, maybe, one every other year or so. And now in twenty twenty nine we're going to get three. One of those is the Oriental Land Company's Japan ship for the Disney Cruise Line Ch Japan. So that's that's a lot. Yeah. I'm I'm just hoping that they don't oversaturate the market with their ships. Well, I mean, if you look at people like Royal Caribbean and stuff though, how many ships do they have? Thirty or something. Yeah, and I was thinking that too, but like you said, when one's launching out of Japan and things like it's not like they're all launching, you know, from the same spot. Like around the world, you know, you don't have to travel so far if you want to take a Disney cruise. ⁓ so the next piece of news we'll we'll talk about is ⁓ Spaceship Earth T V show. What is that? I couldn't find anything on that. I got It's just a rumor that I saw. I thought it was interesting because back in the day ⁓ can't remember how it's been a few years, but ABC actually filmed a pilot for big Thunder Mountain as a T V series. So I kinda w wondered what Spaceship Earth would look like as a T V series. Or I wonder if it would be like go ahead. ⁓ I was gonna say, I wonder if it'd be like time travel where you're traveling back to those specific times. Like the story kicks off when a time travel and space mission meant to stop a global catastrophe goes wrong. A small group of teenagers pulled from Earth's past and future must team up. They face massive a massive threat that stretches across the timeline of human history. That's from deadline via Google's AI. So it sounds like time travel. It kind of sounds like The Kingdom Keepers that they had, those books. 'Cause there was a lot of like teenagers and going around the world it via holograms and stuff like that. It's seems like it's a they could execute it not cheesy. I feel like it's a good pro because you have a lot of storylines you can build from. Like I don't feel like it's you only have this much to pick from and so you have like a couple of seasons and everything feels you know As long we throw throw the line in of Thank the Phoenicians. I think Thank the Phoenicians. Look I've taught my kids Thank the Phoenicians. Mm-hmm. I was like, if you could read this, thank the Phoenicians. That's right. I would watch it if it's good. You know, I'm a big sci fi nerd, Star Trek, Star Wars, all that jazz, so And I think having like the YA crowd, 'cause it's teenagers, I think that's 'cause I don't watch it a ton, but I know like a lot of my son's friends and especially like middle schoolers and that The Percy Jackson that's on Disney Plus, they're really into that. And I never even watched those or read the books because they were a little after me coming along. But they were really big for the kids after me. And now my kids are really into those T V shows. So I think if you capture that audience and you you kinda build in lifelong fans and then they'll look back like when they're our age, at the nostalgia, like we look back at, you know, Man Before Time, if y'all remember that show growing up. ⁓ my god, I love it. We tried to get Cova to watch ⁓ The Brave Little Toaster last night and he was getting so mad at us because the graphics were bad and he didn't want to watch it. We made Travis watch that. I was like, it's not. Wait, when you bring up Percy Jackson, this is kind of like going to the D twenty three stuff that's gonna be announced this weekend. You're I'm s kind of surprised Disney hasn't done anything with that in the theme parks. Like I wonder what Landish. Very yeah, because it would compete very well with Harry Potter with the way these young adults and kids really took on the fandom of Percy Jackson. And I don't know if it's because it might I I don't I just I just don't know. I mean the mythical part of that you've got a ton to pull f like you said, there's a Hercules movie even like you have a ton to pull from Yeah. I I wonder if it's because of like maybe the author doesn't want to give up rights too. Like they have the movies and stuff, but maybe they don't want to have stuff that way just yet, or they feel like they won't have control since it was like a whole book series before it was the movies. Yeah. I don't know. You never know 'cause all those logistics in the background can really make a difference. Working it out. 'Cause you know, JK got so much didn't get as much as Steven Spielberg, but she got We don't know how much she got, but a good chunk with her, you know, when she signed on with Universal, so maybe they're working cont but I I'm like you. I feel like that's a and it's a relatively new world that Disney hasn't pulled from the mythological stuff. Like, you know, we've got the fairy tales and animals and all that kind of stuff. This would be a a fresh idea. I don't think we're gonna get news of Percy Jackson land coming anytime soon, but ⁓ just you brought it up. I thought that was like that's something that Disney needs to look into. Even if they don't focus on Percy Jackson as much as they just focus on mythical. I don't know what to call that other than Well, they were supposed to have the mythical creatures at Animal Kingdom. Obviously, Kingdom stuff. Yeah, yeah. And it would have been cool, but you know, they just kind of drop the ball on a lot of stuff and don't ever revisit. They they say they do. And they I mean they do because we're getting the door coaster that was what, twenty years ago? Mm-hmm. So we're finally getting it. But I say maybe it could be like Hollywood Studios since it's a T V show now. Instead of putting in an animal kingdom where they're mythical, maybe they could move it to Hollywood Studios 'cause you know, it Golly Hollywood Studios like a one day park. I mean it's sometimes half day park, depending on what you're into. Right. So ⁓ Let's move quickly to since we're talking about construction. ⁓ this is this is really nothing. It's more for your if you're going to Disneyland, ⁓ in the near future, the next few years really. Disneyland has moved on to the construction phase of a lot of stuff. ⁓ downtown Disney parking is now kind of blocked off in areas. The new parking garage that's being built next to Element. So if you stay in those, ⁓ Pam Micah and I were able to go ⁓ tour the element and those hotels near there. All that land, I don't know if y'all remember talking about it or seeing it, but that land in front of the element, that's all a parking garage. Yeah. So they've pulled in all the construction stuff. So be patient. That's the biggest thing is you know, those hotels didn't sign up for to be built before a a big parking deck is getting built there. They putting a bridge, didn't they say something like that? Yeah, there'll be a bridge. Yeah, it'll be a bridge over harbor. So it's gonna be you know Slowly over there, but you know, this is Disney. It's probably gonna be ten years before it's done. But it's just something to keep your mind on if you're going out to Disneyland and you're staying off property on one of those harbor hotels. That would mainly like Grand Legacy, the element, the the embassy and what was it, the Hilton hotels. I'm not really Disney Spring, I mean downtown Disney, but Disney Springs, I've seen now not just influencers, but lay people, for better or worse. have started showing how they're scanning for buses. Yes. Now for so that is one hundred percent in effect. I'm assuming now that like I said, the the bloggers and the influencers and stuff that I'm not saying are paid by Disney, but sometimes get more access than other people do to things have been talking about it. But I think now people are actually they're they're putting their stuff on TikTok and Instagram of the videos of them having to scan their bands to get on buses. To leave Disney Springs. That's your band, your your key to the world card. If you don't have a magic band, you have to have a reservation to eat at the hotel you're going to, or you have to have a reservation on site to go see any other hotel. Let's move over while we're in Disneyland. We'll go to Universal Hollywood. Fast and Furious Supercharged, that was been that has been closed for about a year, I think. Maybe a year two years. It was open when I was there February twenty twenty five, but Okay. So they get closed very shortly after that. Yeah, they they closed it soon after they really started ramping up construction at the coaster. So they the rumor is that this is going to become a Twisters show. So I don't know if y'all watched the Glenn Powell movie from a few years ago. Do you not remember Terry and I having a whole conversation about Glenn Powell and his cowboy hat and white t shirt? Y'all talk about things. I was I didn't want to make the assumption, but I actually just watched part of it the other day 'cause it is actually a pretty good movie. It's actually a pretty good movie. Yeah. Yeah. And even if this is twisters based, if they don't have the twister first one cow flying over you at some point, it's gonna be a total miss. Well that's actually what I specifically remember about visiting Universal Orlando as like I would say like preteen was the entire Twisters experience. Like I have like vivid memories of being in that and doing it. Fun fun little fact is that they're talking that Twisters will also come to Orlando. Well, I think that would be great. I would make it, they're gonna make it for both. Might as well. But are they gonna have Glenn Powell there though? Yeah. I I guess if they're gonna open the thing, they'll probably pay Glenn to come down. Is he gonna be in three D somewhere in the They've said no three D too? They're they're starting taking three D. The one time we want it. You know, maybe we'll we'll do a podcast trip and let y'all go down and y'all can discover Glenn Powell opening the Twisters attraction. Terry and I are there. Yeah, I'll I'll pass on that one. If it's unless it's interesting. I ⁓ I think it's a pretty cool choice. ⁓ it's an easy little thing. I just the funny thing to me is they got rid of Twister, that's the Jimmy now the Jimmy Fallon ride, and they're going to bring the sequel back into the parks just down the street in the San Francisco area. It shows you that good IP comes back to the park. And they're they're still talking that there might be a back to the future ride at some point. So who knows? I mean, they could do so much with that too. Yeah. In fact, one of the podcasts I listened to, they were talking about how Simpsons, you know, it might be leaving Universal here in the next couple of years. Like, they're going to properly put back to the future there. And I was like, You mean go back to Go back to Back to the Future. Back to the Future. That's a all these things are very popular and I'm I'm excited to see what they can do with stuff. I really do not like the three D the three sixty tunnels like that. I think they're like King Kong does it well because you actually get a before and after for the whole show and a story arc to it. Fast and Furious was just meh. So I don't know what they'll do with twisters. It always had a very hokey feel to it. Like it didn't like you said, King Kong felt like a ride where Fast and Furious just kind of felt like a projection show you were on Well Fast and Furious always over top ⁓ is over the top. And when you have Vin Diesel jumping off of his car onto a helicopter drone, you know. Yeah. It's just it's not this type of It's so bad. And Kova loved it though, but he's also a child, so He's the perfect audio audience. ⁓ And I'm like, I don't want to ride this ride again. He's Can we go do it again? I was No, it's broken. I'm sorry. We can't go do it again. It's a line. It's all right. It's R.I.P. now. It's it's gone. Gone for good. Last bit of universal news, it's pertaining to my favorite part of the year is HHN. They have a special bar this year for annual pass holders and resort guests called the Key Holder Bar. It's going to be on the left-hand side of the plaza. One of my friends was super excited about it. He's We're going to have Great time to go into this bar. And I'm like, it's still gonna be crowded because there's a lot of people that stay at the resort and there's a lot of APs. Yeah, yeah. You're not I think going to a regular bar, unless you're getting like special AP cups or something like that. I don't know. But say is there any discount or special cup or anything you get for going to that bar? Just the exclusivity. I think being able to go there. Just say, hey, all y'all come over here so that we're not waiting in line. But if you're going to the ⁓ nightmare fuel, you're not gonna go all the way up to the front of the park. Get your drink and then walk all the way back to the back. I'm gonna always get my drink right there at the ⁓ fear factor stage. Maybe it's a way to funnel some people away from other places just so they can keep lines lower, maybe. Well, it's all about selling alcohol at HHN. And I'm not complaining because I like they have some good drinks. And I I do like to drink at H H N. So bars in the lines, yes, please. That's gonna do it for Newswise. ⁓ we're gonna take a quick break, we'll be back and talk about adventures by Disney with Pam. Are you dreaming of your next adventure but overwhelmed by planning? Magical travel has you covered. With over twenty-four years in the business, we specialize in Disney destinations, Universal Studios, cruise vacations, and all inclusive resort getaways. Our services are one hundred percent complimentary when you book a vacation package with one of our knowledgeable agents. Request a free quote. To start the planning process at www.magicaltravel.com. Mention our podcast to be connected with one of our agents you were listening to. And we're back. ⁓ so we have Pamela, like we talked about the top of the episode. ⁓ she went on Adventures by Disney. It's been a couple years ago. I think you went. Went the first year out of Three summers ago, yeah. Three summers ago now. ⁓ so first give us a rundown. What exactly is Adventures by Disney? So that those who may not have Heard of the product, know what it is and why they should go. So Adventures by Disney has nothing to do with the theme parks. You will not see Mickey Mouse. It is not a cruise ship. It is guided tours on all seven continents. And they do have do some river cruises, but for the most part, they're land tours. And I was lucky enough to go on the Costa Rica land tour. I think that Adventures by Disney. Why it's the Disney name is is really the quality and the storytelling. So they are trying to tell you a story about the destination that you are visiting. Whether that could be Europe, it could be Antarctica. And in my case it was Costa Rica. And and love that. Yeah. There there is some Mickey Mouse too. ⁓ we did not have any Mickey Mouse on our on our trip. But there if you want to see Mickey Mouse on Adventures by Disney, they have some that like the South California where you go to Disneyland. Yes. I think there's an add on for Paris. They have the hundred thousand dollar private around the world jet that takes you out of Everyone want that. Yes, we all want that. You can get Mickey Mouse in your A B D if you go to that. That is true. That is true. Overall, this is not a Mickey Mouse type of trip. This just Disney by name I'm by customer service first and foremost. I said I was gonna say I said I think the Mickey Mouse you get here is the Disney that people get used to going to the resorts and everything or or the cruises and that's the service and how you're treated by Disney because it's really it it really is, you know, sometimes altering or When you go to another you know, not that anyone's worse, but you go to another theme park or you go to another place or another cruise line and you're like, ⁓ this isn't Disney. Like I'm kinda used to the Disney bubble, where their name exists, there's literally a bubble around you. But I feel like the Disney name too could be like the storytelling part. They're into the storytelling of the of the pla the destination that you are experiencing. I love that that you have like a whole like story on the trip that you're on and like why you're going to these places and you get the backstory and all those things. Like I really like ⁓ for Costa Rica each day has a theme. Okay. And so you start with Tico rhythm. So Tico is ⁓ a Costa Rican local you know getting into the vibe of the place that you are visiting. Day two is make a splash day three was Call of the Wild. ⁓ day four reach for the sky. Day five, hit the beach. Day six is Pura vida. That's the motto of Pura vida is ⁓ it's like Aloha or Chow. It means hello, goodbye, have a great day. I love you, I miss you. It means everything. Pura vida. I will never remember that. I'm not gonna anything. If you go to Costa Rica, you will because you will say it a hundred times a day. Mm-hmm. Yeah, when we were in Hawaii, the whole like are you like are you Aloha or Aloha spirit? Like it was very, very much like live that's okay I love that. One thing I want to mention that I I heard in the some trainings I've been in with with Adventures by Disney when they've presented themselves was that it's going back to the Disney name. It's like the Disney name gets you stuff that other other tours don't get. So it's that front of the line access to get on the Eiffel Tower is what they used. It's coming into the Sistine Chapel after the after it's closed and being able to lay down and really take it in. So using that Disney name. And then like they said hotels. They get the most like you're getting the best hotels, but not just that, you're getting the best rooms for the best views in those hotels. And so using the Disney name really brings out that Adventures by Disney, like that that quality that you want because the price you pay. Cause these things aren't ⁓ so When we're talking about price Pam, what what's included with an A B D on for the most part? Like I know it fluctuates depending on the tour and depending on the location, everything like that. But overall, what do what do people get? Almost everything from the second you touch down in your location until you are dropped back off at the airport, virtually everything is included. So that means that someone is greeting you at the airport and whisking you to a car. And taking you to your hotel. It is the vast majority of your meals. There are a couple of places where they there may not be a meal included, and that's so that you have the opportunity to go out into the location and discover something on your own, but you are given lots of guidance on, you know, where you might find something that you would like. That includes moving your bags for you. So Most of these tours are gonna be in several different locations. The Costa Rica tour has three different hotels. And so the nights that you are moving hotels, you leave your bags outside in the morning, you go enjoy your breakfast, and then your bags just magically appear in your next hotel room. It's what people think about when they think that for Disney World is you can leave your bag outside your house and it's gonna show up in your hotel room. Correct. It also includes all of your activities. So that's the zip lining, the whitewater rafting, the hot springs. It includes all of the gratuities for all of those people you might pass along the way. It does not include gratuities for your adventure guides. And that is one of the things that does make Adventures by Disney really different, is that each of your tour is going to have a minimum of two adventure guides. You're going to have a local guide. Who is going to be fluent in the language and who is going to be ⁓ have all the contacts and things like that. And you're gonna have typically an American guide, but it might not be necessarily American, but they're gonna be an English speaking guide who again, super well trained. That is your for lack of a better term, mom on the trip. This is gonna be the person who is handing you bug spray, who is making sure you take your dramamine at the right time, who is making sure you've got your sunscreen on. Who is making sure you had your little snacky on the bus and your water bottle is filled. And everyone did their bathroom break. And I and our ⁓ so our adventure guides were Colin, who was from Colorado, and Fico, who was from Costa Rica, who were both amazing, insanely amazing human beings. But we got to spend a lot of time with Colin and he told us some amazing stories about, for example, a teenager who left an Apple Watch or an Apple phone behind somewhere and he had to try and get it back for her without her parents knowing. Whoa. That she had left that very expensive device behind. So, you know, they're he they're there to be your problem solver and ⁓ your fixer. And so they you do not those gr ⁓ adventure guides do deserve a gratuity at the end. And you're you're given before you leave, you're given an suggested amount, which is obviously not required, but so that you know ahead of time what you think you should have prepared. And they those are the only extra gratuities that you're gonna be spending. And then the only other really thing that you're gonna spend money on besides souvenirs is some alcohol. Some alcohol is included ⁓ depending sometimes it's wine and beer at dinner or on the Costa Rica trip we did a cocktail making session and obviously those were included. We did a beer tasting, a local beer tasting, those were included. But happy hour at the bar when you're just hanging out with the people that you've just met on this amazing tour are not included. But vast majority of your ex the other thing that is included is photos. ⁓ that's a big thing. All the photos. Yes. And your adventure guides are taking photos all the time. You don't even realize they're doing it. And at the end of the tour, they send all the photos to you. Wow. Like those candid pictures you wouldn't think of like while you're experiencing something like that. ⁓ I love that. Yeah. Or like it's showing your phone is like secure so it doesn't fall off and you wanna take pictures, but you don't want to drop your phone. Correct. I think it's showing the value of like doing an adventures by Disney because like a lot of times when you're going on these trips, like If you're looking at different tours like that's not Adventures by Disney, they're probably not gonna include your pictures and things like that like they do. No. No. And so for example, we did Whitewater Rafting one day and the Whitewater Rafting Center, of course, sells a photo package, but you don't have to do worry about that. Adventures by Disney is going to buy the photo package for everyone on the tour and they are gonna provide all the photos to you at the end of the day. And if there's one photo you want is the one where the water is coming straight over you and you're all everybody in this boat is flipped. It's great. Yeah, it's so good. And your adventure guides are the same throughout your entire trip. So you get to know them well, then you get to interact with them well. Yeah. And it depends on the trip. So on co for Costa Rica, you have the same two adventure guides pretty much the whole trip. In our case, you do spend one day in a w wildlife refuge. And our native speaking, our Costa Rican adventure guide is also a naturalist. So he was trained to be able to point out flora and fauna and animals and things like that to us. If he did not have that training, Adventures by Disney would have a naturalist come and add that. ⁓ I know we talked about river cruising. So the river cruises go through multiple countries. And so on those cruises, you're gonna have your one. American or English speaking adventure guide who is going to be with you the entire time. But in each different country, you're going to get a new adventure guide who is local to that country to come and teach you about their culture and and tell you about the things you're seeing and all of those good things. I do like how they, you know, like a lot of people think of Disney and they think, you know, it's very commercial. It's theme park, it's movies, it's whatever. But I do like with Adventures by Disney, it's like They're preserving the culture. Like they they know people want to visit these areas, so they're gonna get visited. But let's do it in a way where people learn about instead of invading the culture, they're kind of absorbed a little bit into it. Yeah. Yeah. Appreciate instead of going in and Americanizing everything because everyone wants something familiar, they send an American or s English speaking person, like you said, with you while you integrate kinda with their culture instead of vice versa. And you learn something while you're there. And let's be honest, these are very expensive trips, right? These are often bucketless trips, once-in-a-lifetime type trips. And I think where it really shines is in those locations where there is a big language barrier, right? If you're talking about going to Morocco, you're talking about going to Japan or China, I think that that's where exactly what you were saying, Terry, where you're gonna be able to be integrated into the culture in a way that you are not necessarily going to be if you tried to go on your own or even if you tried to go with a different company. Because naturally you I I ⁓ there's I could try Duolingo today and try to speak Mandarin and there's no way I would be able to learn in five years enough to go on a trip. Correct. To converse. Right. But people so I would go to the most American places because that's where I would know what to do and would translate for me. So it is nice that you can go and actually experience the culture without it being Americanized, but you are s you're so comfortable there, you feel safe. Correct. You know, 'cause that's another thing about traveling and especially like you said, these are bucket list trips. So these aren't like college students backpacking around Europe that you know, not a care in the world. These are people that older probably like my age, I'm forty, so forty and up probably that you've saved up. Excuse me, ma'am, aren't you forty one now? Yes. I said an older gold. But you know, I'm like it's like the older you get, the less safe you feel when you go to places. So you're like, I feel comfortable here in this, you know, place that I'm I'm not from. So the other thing that I think is really great about the Adventures by Disney trips is they do do adults exclusive trips. So again, we're thinking Disney, right? We're thinking kids, but they do trips that are that no kids are allowed to go on them. But the trips where they Are kids allowed are really great for families because one of the things I really love about cruising is that everyone gets to have a vacation, right? Sometimes the kids are in the kids' club and the adults can go do adult things. Well, Adventures by Disney make sure that they bring some of that into their trips too. So, for example, in Costa Rica, when we did a cocktail making experience, while we were doing that, the kids are off with the adventure guides. Doing an exotic fruit tasting. So they have all the local Costa Rican fruits and they are getting to taste fruits while the adults are having an adult experience. On every adventure, there is at least one evening where there is an adult-only dinner. In our case, it was at our beautiful, beautiful resort on the beach in ⁓ Liberia. And the kids. get chicken fingers and pizza and they watch a Disney movie and they hang out with the adventure guides and they play games and they just have a kids night. And that's usually closer to the end of the trip, you know, either the second to last night or the third to last night, where the kids have already made friends and they're all buddy buddy and they're having a great time with their new friends while the adults get to have, you know, either a a date night or an adults only kind of night. Well and then the kids aren't having to sit through that dinner and listen to the adults. Talk about what they did that day and like not get in the middle of those conversations. Or also then the parents are having to be like, Hey, mommy's having a conversation, like hold on. Like they get to go just be feral and have fun with each other and I was gonna say they don't have to sit at a table and use their manners. Right. They don't have to go sit at this nice restaurant. They don't have to eat. The, you know, seafood or the local food, they're having their comfort, chicken fingers, pizza, French fries. Jason would go with the children. That's what I was saying. I was like, I might be sitting with the kids. Jason would definitely go with the children. I will the another thing I will say about Adventures by Disney is they really just like Disney and the theme parks are on the cruise ships are really, really great about dietary restrictions. So again, your American culture adventure guide is working with your local adventure guide to ensure that at every meal, if you have any kind of dietary restriction, that that is going to be taken care of for you. And that could be even as much as making sure that there's some chicken fingers on the buffet. But there's a chicken product of some sort available. But we had we had ⁓ people on our trip who were gluten free or were, you know, had a nut allergy or whatever. And and obviously in foreign countries. They do not always take those things as seriously as they do in America. And so your adventure guide is really making sure that that's taken care of for you, even if in a country that ordinarily maybe that wouldn't be the case. Right. So that's where you're finding this value. This is why it costs as much as it does. That's a big value. Yeah. Cause you they really are. Safety is one of the, you know, Dis Disney's tenants. So they are making sure that that is taken care of even when you are, you know, in some far off land. Can you I think you've really explained how much it's worth of money to do this, but can you go into a little bit of your excursions that you did and like which ones were your favorites, that type of stuff? I know it's been a while since you done done Costa Rico, so stuff has p might have changed by the in between this time. I'll say that I did Costa Rica on my own about ten years before I did my adventures by Disney trip. And a lot of the things had not changed, to be honest. That's good. Other than the roads. The roads in Costa Rica are much better than they were 10 years ago. But my favorite excursion is zip lining. I love, love, love ziplining. On this trip, they of course are at the best zip lining course. One of one it seven zip lines we did, one of them was more than half a mile long. And they are High, high, high, so high in the air. Seriously incredible. For for ⁓ the people who did not want to zip line, because I understand that for some people that is not their thing, there was the opportunity to go with FICO, one of the adventure guides, to go on a nature walk. ⁓ they had, you know, an alternative activity for anyone who didn't want to do that. Same with the day we went whitewater rafting. Now, the whitewater rafting we did was I think level three, which is kind of right in the middle, not very intense, not baby either. But if anyone was uncomfortable doing that, there was also an opportunity to do a rafting tour that was like a level one. Nobody chose that. Everyone Yeah, if the water cold there, like It is here when you go white water. ⁓ that's the best. Yeah. That's the worst here is it's whitewater. It's so ice cold coming off the mountain. It's like in August, and it's ice cold if you fall out of that raft. Love that. That's what makes it. No, I don't want to be cold. No, thank you. Jason, you were talking about some of those exclusive experiences. So one of the things that is exclusive-ish to Adventures by Disney is there is a a day that you go to a chocolate. rainforest plantation and learn all about chocolate making and things like that. You anyone can book that and the same location, but you do not get El Chapo Guapo, who is one of the most special people I have ever met in my entire life, literally feel lucky to have ever met this person. And he is exclusive to the Disney trips and he just really makes it come alive. And he is From Costa Rica. He but he spent some time in LA as a child. So he speaks great English, but is, you know, really immersed and lives in this chocolate r rainforest and feels really strongly about preservation of their customs and things like that. And the chocolate, of course, is insanely good. So you can just leave me there. I'll just sit there and eat chocolate. Yeah. It was I'll pay for Costa Rica and just go there the entire white water after and then eat some cut chocolate. And so the other thing is, you know, Costa Rica ⁓ is not like a huge country, but it is about four hours of driving to go from one coast to the other, give or take, maybe five. And so you spend some time in the middle of the country, the wildlife refuge is in one direction, you come back to the middle of the country, and then you go out to the coast. And so the chocolate rainforest is in the middle of the drive from Central to the middle to the coast. So it breaks up the drive a little bit, right? You do a little bit of driving, you stop, you learn about chocolate, you buy a hundred dollars worth of chocolate. I don't know. Easily. Not speaking from experience or easily. And then, you know, when you get on the bus in the morning, you pre-order your smoothie and you pre-order your lunch. So again. Colin, your amazing adventure guide, is taking care of all of this for you. So you get you do your little chocolate rainforest tasting. You get on the bus for like another hour, and then you get off the bus, a chance to stretch your legs. Your smoothie is there waiting for you that you've chosen your flavor already, and it's just lined up, and you just grab your smoothie and you have this beautiful expanse to look at. Everyone can use the bathroom, etc. Get back on the bus, drive maybe another hour. You get off the bus. There's your lunch waiting for you. ⁓ again, you've pre ordered it, it's exactly what you wanted, and it's just sitting at the table ready for you to eat. There's no waiting. Like we we were try we were talking about how Adventures by Disney differs from everything earlier. ⁓ this sounds more like if you were to explain it to a common Disney person, like this is a VIP tour of a country. Yeah, you have a you have a quote a quote unquote plaid that is Yep. At the end of this ride, your here's your Mickey bar or here's your Mickey pretzel, here's your water. But instead it's here's your lunch, here's your s smooth. Well, and if you're on the bus for, you know, a an hour or so, there's gonna be an activity. So we've we did trivia, we watched Pirates of the Caribbean, that's where you get your some of your Disney, you know, and your adventure guides have a big, huge basket full of snacks. And they just walk around the bus with the snacks, you know, and they're all local things that they've picked up. you know, before you arrive. So you get to taste all these different local snacks, which is one of my favorite things to do. Anytime I go to a new country. Whenever I go to a new country, my favorite thing to do is go to the supermarket and just buy all kinds of random things that I've never seen. Again, things you're not used to, they're not in America, they not force upon you, but they're like, these are the only offerings we have are locals and they're really good. You know, but people if you have a choice, you would stay with your habitual Yeah. You know, I won't They've pre-selected all the best snacks for you. Yes. They have sweet things, they have salty things, they have chocolate things, they have gummy things, right? They have all of a a good variety. And you know, when you're on the bus, you they've got it ready for you. They've all ⁓ before you travel, you will receive ⁓ a gift in the mail. In our case, we receive backpacks, adventures by Disney backpacks, and Adventures by Disney water bottles, along with a few other little things. But they have giant water containers on the bus that then everyone can refill their water bottles. So we're not using plastic. And you get a keepsake. And you're not worrying about unfiltered water. Getting an upset tummy while you're on this trip. Correct. Yeah. This like I like how it was described like as a VIP tour of like a country because that's like the c the service you're getting, like that level of service and what they're doing with it. It really again, we're show you're showing the value. Of this trip because, like you said, they're not inexpensive trips to go on. And they're showing like these are all the reasons why this trip costs this much. Because we have this person waiting for you to do this, we're moving your bags. You're getting that special person at the chocolate plantation and talking to you. Also, say our trip went perfectly smoothly. We didn't have any crazy weather, we didn't have any crazy breakdowns, we didn't have anything, you know, but. Colin did tell me a insane story about a trip that he led ⁓ in Yellowstone during crazy storms, bad weather, the park got shut down, they couldn't get out, it was you know, just and again, here's the thing the people who were on the trip, yes, they knew something was going on because they knew that things were not going the way they expected them to go. Yeah. But they did not have to worry about any of it. It was all taken care of for them. They ended up at a insane, amazing hotel that was not on their itinerary with an open bar because Disney said, you know what? If anything makes ⁓ you relax. That goes back to the Disney name is like when when you're sitting there in a situation like that, who can who has the pockets that Disney does of Yeah, you gotta make this right? So here's this nice hotel that j that we you didn't know that existed ten minutes ago. And we're gonna open the bar up for you. And what went wrong was not Disney's fault. Yeah. Right? Because weather and just things that happen to you when you're traveling. If you travel enough, these are kinds of things that are gonna happen to you. And but they still went out of the, you know, to make sure that it went right. They went above and beyond to make sure that the people on the trip still had a good time, even though their plans that day got changed. Yeah. So other experiences, hot springs. ⁓ that's nice. Which is one of the things Costa Rica is known for, right? Because this behind so the photo behind me is an a volcano. The first time we went to to Costa Rica in twenty thirteen ish, it was active. That's not the hot spring you want to be in, is the volcano. Don't in the hot spring. Well, the hot springs were there the all this time. So the this this volcano's hot in the magma. Correct. This volcano was the view from my room. This photo was taken from my room. That's crazy. Correct. So again, best hotel. Jurassic Park in my head is behind you. Insane. So the volcano is not active anymore. ⁓ but it is still insanely beautiful and it is still powering those hot springs. And so we did have a night in the hot springs and you know, hanging out and then a full dinner. We celebrated Costa Rican Mother's Day when we were there. We had a cake for all the moms on the trip. Is that different than American Mother's Day? It is different than American Mother's Day was in August. Yeah. Okay Yep. And the last full day of the trip, we had a catamaran tour. So the take the boat out into the Pacific Ocean, open bar, lots of snacks, plenty of food, snorkeling, a slide, everyone jumping off. Again, by this point in the trip, everyone has really bonded. Everyone's really, you know, found their friends. I am still friends with many of the people who were on this trip. One of them who did do the hundred thousand dollar around the world, all the Disney Parks tours, which was crazy. Insane. So approximately how many people are in this group that like you're making friends with? Yeah. So it's imagine a large coach bus. So however many people fit on a large coach bus. Is that like I think forty is max. Around forty is the max. On our trip it was around twenty eight people. So really a nice and ours was adults only. So it was So how many were in like your party was like you and your Husband or like I was with another travel agent. I was with Amber. Okay. Gotcha. So if you're like so potentially like if you have a family of five and like you, you know, you have a good So like So that was one of the things that and this is one of the things that I talk to clients about because this was one of my big questions actually, is the discount so it's priced like a cruise, right? Where first two people are whatever price per person and the third fourth are slightly less, but it's a very, very small less. Very slightly less. So I I you know, depending on the family and who the makeup of the party is and what they want, I often recommend booking it as just the two people. Gotcha. And then two more people because then you're gonna get your own space, your own room. Yeah. All of the rooms that we were in could sleep four or more. But again Because if it's adults only and it's like two separate couples, you don't want to sleep four to a room. But even if you have your even if you have your kids with you, you might consider If they're old enough, you want to put them in a separate room. Like on a cruise. The cruise rooms are so small. Yeah. If you want an adjoining room with them that And in Europe a lot of the hotels don't sleep more than two people anyway. Mm-hmm. So it's one of those things that's really specific to the tour that you've chosen. ⁓ but definitely something to talk to your travel agent about. before you book to make sure that you're really maximizing your space and your value and your experience. Yes. I guess for those those looking at doing Adventures by Disney for the first time, would you recommend doing something like Costa Rica? Or would you say like one of the 'cause they still do they they have this thing called the escape. But we haven't touched on it. But that's like a little weekend. It's like a Friday through a Monday. It's New York City. It's, you know, I think they you have an LA one. Would you ex would you say Dip your toes in that, dip your toes in one of the theme park ⁓ related ones, or just jump straight into it for like Yosemite, co Costa Rica, Europe, anything like that. So Costa Rica is the number one first timer trip. The ⁓ people who have never done Adventures by Disney before, the vast majority of them are doing Costa Rica. And I think that's I think that makes sense because the Costa Rica trip, you are covering a lot of ground and you are doing a lot of activities. And like I said, I did do this a very, very similar trip on my own. And the logistics of making it all happen is a lot. Yeah. Even for an experienced traveler. And like I said, some of the roads in Costa Rica, they're much better now. But ten years ago they were really bad. And so even just renting your own car and trying to do all the places is is a lot. And it's really difficult. And we didn't do half of what Adventures by Disney is able to do because of being able to do the logistics. For me personally, I didn't find the value in some of the shorter excursions, especially like New York City. I think the Disneyland trip, ⁓ you do get a lot of very special experiences that you cannot get otherwise, things like seeing Walt's office. Dude. Stuff like that. I don't think they see Walt's office. That might have been on the around the world. Yeah, because Siobhan and Jerry haven't seen the office I have. Well, on the around the world trip you definitely get to. On the around the world trip. You get to stay at Skywalker Ranch too. ⁓ don't tell my son that. He will die. That's the thing is like the Southern California one, you get to go to Imagineering, you get to go to those studios, you go to ⁓ Tam o Shanters to eat, which was Walt's favorite restaurant. Yeah. I think Lucasfilm is in there at some point maybe. Maybe. And then you used the what you used to be able to do And you do the parks. Yeah. Used to be able to do the Muppet. Yeah. They got rid of that now because John Mayer owns the Muppet Studio that was out there. You go to El Cap though. You get to go to the Disney Yeah. Theater, which is really nice. I think for for people who are really, really into Disney and into the history of Disney, then that might be a worthwhile tour. But for a more casual Disney fan or a more casual traveler, I think that Costa Rica maybe is a better value. But I think that's really, really specific to the people that are looking to travel. And like I said, I really do think the value is in in this case in Costa Rica, I think the value is in the logistics of just the sheer. getting to do so much in in such little time. The logistics and planning is crazy hard. Cause like I said, it is hours and hours between different things in Costa Rica. So renting a car or having to figure that out on your own is really difficult. And then anytime I think that there's a la a a big language barrier, I think that that's a huge, huge value. Well, that's what it made me think about when you said that you stay in different hotels and but you put your luggage outside the door and it's magically at your next. It's you know, and a better it's almost like bougie backpacking. Like you're getting the experience of backpacking, like you're not in just one resort for seven days in Costa Rica. But you're you know, you've made it so far in life and now you don't really have to backpack. Like you can actually like have other people do the hard stuff for you. And you actually just get to enjoy and I think that's something that a lot of people take for granted. And like here in our city, the school my son goes to, every spring break, they go to Europe or they go like this year they go to Iceland. But it's all planned and everyone says, Hey, if you can go on these field trips, go on these field trips because literally you can't pack anymore into this field trip for the price that they give you because You under like if you think you're gonna plan something by yourself, you grossly underestimate what there is to do and how to do it and you get overwhelmed by yourself so easily. So if you can especially have your travel planner plan an adventure by Disney for you, like you literally get this great vacation and you didn't have to plan anything but the destination that you wanna go to. Yeah, and like I said, your adventure guide knows every detail. And knows how to communicate every detail to you. So if you're the mom in the family, and you don't necessarily have to be a female, but if you are the mom who is taking care of everyone when you're traveling, this is the trip that you actually get to have a trip. So on a white water rafting day, for example, in the morning the night before, we were told you're gonna pack two bags. You're gonna pack one bag for all the things you want on the bus: your phone, your water bottle, your sunscreen, et cetera. You're gonna pack another bag that's gonna have your dry change of clothes in it. And that bag is gonna go underneath the bus and you're gonna take your sunscreen and all that stuff with you on the bus. Yeah. So we have our bags on our bus, we get off the bus, we go whitewater rafting. Everyone is now soaking wet in their clothes. So what's the mom? The mom is going, Don't get on the bus all wet. The seats are gonna be no, no. Your dry change of clothes is under the bus. Colin is waiting for you with a towel and a plastic bag. And a wet bag for your clothes. Correct. That's So you take you grab your dry clothes out from under the bus, you go get changed, you put your wet clothes in the plastic bag that's been handed to you. You have a nice fluffy dry towel that you don't have to deal with or wash or Exactly. No, whatever. And and nobody no wet people are getting on the bus making the bus all gross. No sitting in soggy swimsuits for the two hour ride back. Correct. No offense to Jason. So I'm gonna say this and I'm not dads don't think further than like the pool. When they take the kids to the pool, it's like pack your get on your swimsuit, throw on maybe some sunscreen and grab your float. There's no towel, there's no snacks, there's no dry clothes for the way home, there's no extra sunscreen to put on dir you know, it's like So your adventure guide is making sure that that's all been taken care of and thought of and handled. Like I said. you're on a long bus ride, he's gonna say, Okay, in about 30 minutes, we're gonna be hitting the part of the ride that's really twisty turny and buppy. So if you have motion sickness issues, take your dramamine now so that it kicks in before we hit that part of the ride. You know nauseous. If you're the person who is going, ⁓ where are we gonna eat? Are we eating it? No, you don't have to worry about that because it's already been planned for you. You literally ordered your breakfast, your lunch that morning, and when you arrive, it's sitting there waiting for you. So you you just don't have to literally think about anything. It is all taken care of for you. And as a mom, that's worth because one of our biggest complaints if you listen to vacation podcast is that during Disney World, between lightning lanes and planning quick, you know, your you know your meals, like you're always on your phone. Like Correct. I want to enjoy my vacation as well, but who's gonna plan the next lightning lane? Who's gonna order the next quick service so it's ready when we get there? You're not even worrying about taking the pictures. You're not even worrying about, hey, there's a photo pass photographer over there. Can we please get a picture? No. Yeah. Colin and Fico are just taking care of that for you. They are just making sure that everyone has gotten their photos. So your whole family's like, no, I don't want another picture. And you're like, I pay for this no photo. You don't have to worry about it. Colin's gonna make sure that it's fun. Yeah, and Exactly. And they're getting like the pictures that like they're the fake smiles, like you know, they're getting the fun going down the zip line or getting you know tossed about in the whitewater rapids. Exactly. You know, that's that's well worth ⁓ from a mom's point of view. I don't know from anyone else's, but that's well worth the extra. Well and even just sitting here talking, I went on to Adventures by Disney and I was just looking at the different things and how they already have the entire thing. written out so you can literally go in and look and see what the itinerary is, what you're gonna be doing, what the alternate things are. Like on some of these river cruises, they have options A, B, and C that you can choose from for your excursions on what you want to do. And like just to already have all of that information because us as travel advisors, like I planned a land trip for someone to Alaska and I was booking each individual hotel. I made sure they had a rental car. I was sending them tour ideas along the way, like where they wanted to go. And like that was a lot of time and effort that it takes to do that. And that I could book this and go, I want to go to the British Isles and has all the things I want to do. Cool. Let's do that. Like I don't have to worry about anything else. Before you travel along with that beautiful little fun package, you also do get a full guide of more de more even more details than what you're seeing there. So it's going to give you what to wear, what the weather might be like, what to pack and a a really detailed packing list. All of those kinds of things are taken care of for you. And you really just follow the directions and you're good to go. I love this. So it's amazing. Like someone who loves to plan. It was nice to do something where you don't necessarily have to plan as much, where you can essentially like, okay, I paid for this. Here's my packing list. I'm packing. I don't have to worry about anything else. Correct. I don't have to worry about anything other than what souvenir do I want to bring. Correct. Yeah. Like I said, so nice. The the one day that we did have one lunch that was not included. It was the only meal on our entire trip that was not included. And we ziplined in the morning and then they brought the bus to the town and sort of did like a little circle of the town in the bus. And while we're on the bus, Colin and Fico were pointing out like, this is this kind of restaurant. This might be good if you want this kind of food. This is that kind of restaurant. You might this is where you might buy t shirts if you want t shirts. This is where you might buy, I don't know, you know, whatever other kind of souvenir. So they gave us a little bit of a kind of tour on the bus before they let us loose. Yeah. And so you weren't left again standing in the center of the town going like ⁓ where am I gonna eat now? Yeah and you're pulling out your phone and you're like ⁓ wait is my internet work is there a restaurant close by and you're trying to look at it. No. Yeah. That being said, your favorite thing you ate while we were in Costa Rica. I mean I I know. Lots of chocolate. Lots of chocolate. I mean honestly the food in Costa Rica is kind of amazing. It's a lot of rice and beans and I could eat rice and beans all day. Mm-hmm They have a sauce. It's called Lozano sauce. My family thinks it kind of tastes a little bit like A1. Okay. But it's kind of like tangy sweet. They eat it on everything. Like anywhere you go in any restaurant, they're just like huge bowls of this stuff. And I literally go to a grocery store nearby that has it that has more of an ethnic food section because I love it. But ⁓ rice and beans they'll eat it on, they'll eat it on their ⁓ A Rose Conn pollo, chicken rice, eggs in the morning. It's amazing. But so one of the other things, I keep thinking of other things. One of the other things is at the end of the trip, ⁓ your adventure guides will give you a little gift. And in our case, we received Costa Rican coffee, which is so good. And ⁓ li bottles of Lozano sauce. ⁓ that's nice. Yeah. I know that ⁓ on the Disneyland trip, ⁓ they all got personalized ears. On the hundred thousand dollar round the world trip, they received iPads. Well, I mean they can do an iPad. I guess I'm going to book me one right now so I can do that iPad. Yeah. Twist my correct. Yeah, correct. ⁓ but yeah, it's always something special. And I think each adventure guide gets to choose what they give too. So it it varies a little bit depending on ⁓ you know, who your guides are that that trip. They also let us take all the rest of the bus snacks. Even better. So everyone just kind of took their favorite things. Wait, but could you imagine being the adventure guide for the around the world Disney like I cannot like that would just be nuts. Like to be that that one. Like you're so good and like at knowing all the parks and like also just the information they have to retain and know because I'm sure they're not reading off of a phone or an iPad or a script. Like they've memorized all of these things. The around the world isn't just the parks either. You're stumping in like Cairo. Yeah. Yeah. You're you're stopping in the cities for for a day or two. Yeah. They do India, they do the Taj Mahal before it opens. They get the Princess Diana photo. Yeah, it's insane. It's literally you know, I mean, with the way that the As soon as they win that lottery. You know, I was like, is it the mega millions or Powerball that said nine hundred million? Everybody won one person. Everybody won one person, one ticket. In like Illinois or somewhere like that's really sad. It's really sad. Really good to I was I was really hoping that the ⁓ tickets my husband bought last night. I was like, ooh, maybe this adventures by Disney. Yeah. That was our time. Yeah. We don't have I won't tell anyone I won, but there will be signs. There will definitely be signs. Since speaking of like other countries and everything, I know you went to Costa Rica and you've probably had all this, but will they tell you like you need to have your passport? Yes. They are collecting that information out of time. And ⁓ I know somebody I follow ⁓ is doing China. And so there are a bunch of visas that you need for that trip and they are make giving you instructions on how to get those and what you need to do to ensure that you have all the property. They will guide you to make sure you get the vaccination. Exactly. They're gonna make sure that you know what you need to do and in plenty of time to do it. And that's a good thing too, because like, you know, the UK has changed some of their their stuff and how to get into Europe and whatnot. So yeah. Being able to have somebody yeah to contact you that's right. Other than ourselves, because we we will contact you too about like, hey, did you make sure 'cause I had some ⁓ clients just go to Norway for a Disney cruise and I was like, Hey, did you do this? I'm still getting emails saying make sure you've done it. So I'm just yeah making sure about it. So we will will contact on top of Disney contacting. Right. And they can't get the visa for you. You do have to still do that on your own, but they won't give you all the information instructions. They're gonna walk you through as much as they can correct you. They're gonna annoy the crap out of you. Correct. I was gonna say anything, any other email, they will and every trip might have you know, I've had some clients do the river cruises and things, and every trip has some different little different things. One of the things that they need to know for ⁓ Costa Rica, unfortunately, is your weight because of the ziplining. So they, you know, they make sure that they have ⁓ whatever information that they need for every little piece of the trip, they will make sure that you've provided. That's when you don't want to fudge. 'Cause you're ziplinning. So you don't want to fudge them. Correct. Well that's been a anyone I've ever known that's gone to Costa Rica. Whether backpacking or on a luxurious vacation. Everyone's always ziplon. So it must be like it's what they're known. It's one of the things they're known because of the rain it's like mostly rainforest and it's incredible. ⁓ I did it both times. I went to Costa Rica and everyone is a little different. The coast the one I did the first time, like a Tarzan swing, that's like what they're known for. Yeah. That was actually really cool too. But I don't think But their zip lines weren't as long or as high as the ones that Disney does. And sin I mean, just and because it's Disney, you know it's safe. Like you know they've vetted they've vetted all the people. The platform I'm sitting on's not gonna collapse. When I go down this, I'm not gonna it's not gonna drop. All my harnesses are gonna be locked in because it's Disney. They're not gonna skimp on anything like that. I don't think we've ever talked about zip lining on this podcast and then the past volcanoes. I mean, this is the first role. Yeah, no, we talked about ziplining when I did N ⁓ Jamaica because that's what we did in Jamaica on our cruise. I did not zipline on my cruise. I did not either. You didn't zipline a perfect day? I ziplined a perfect day too. No, it we we didn't have any kids, so we were just kind of lazy. I'll be honest. We thought we were lazy. I'm ⁓ I'm a little bit Overweight, so you know, I don't get to be able to zip line. One of the other things that I thought was really cool about the ⁓ so I will say this two things. The weight limits on the zip lining are pretty high. I mean, there are weight limits, but they're they're pretty generous. The other thing that I thought was really cool about the zip lining facility that we did with Adventures by Disney, which was different from other places, is that There is also a minimum weight for zip lining, right? Anywhere you go, there has to you have to weigh a certain amount or else you won't go. This facility had the ability to put either a kid with an adult or two kids together in a joint harness to make sure that they could go. So if you had a kid who I think it was around 75 pounds is the minimum. If you had a kid that was under 75 pounds, which could be an, you know, an eight-year-old, six, seven, eight-year-old could be under seventy-five pounds. They could be linked up with their big their bigger sibling or with one of their parents so that they could still experience the zip lines safely. Well that makes sense why we were in Jamaica, they kinda like my son only weighed like fifty eight pounds then and kinda like yeeted himself. Like they literally would like sh like push him on the thing. And it was just like Yeah, to make sure you get to the other, ⁓ my gosh, like ⁓ They really pushed him and he was having the best time. But still I was like, That's a little scary. I'm scared of height. I still did it, but like to see them do that and then they just had him dangling there at one point. And I'm like, Can you just not do that? Can you let They wiggle the line to get him down. Yeah. Well, they do teach you how to like turn yourself around and hand over hand. Somebody on our chore did a have to do that. Like I mean, especially when you're on a line that's like a half mile long. So long. Yeah. So long. It's kinda like when you're it was incredible. The the rafting position when you get out of the boat, when you get thrown out, you know, they put the rafting. But your toes toes toward down water and your head up and your butt down. Yeah. Yeah, it's like turtle. And I said that's the last instinct you have. The first instinct you have is to try to stand and don't do. And you're like yeah. That's all I've tried to stand and go. You get your feet stuck in the rock. Yeah, they're like turtle. We'll catch you downstream, turtle. So I just turtle until they call me downstream. That's a that's a lot of a lot of information for Adventures by Disney. One other thing that is unique to Dis Adventures by Disney that is you know, just a little something extra is pins. So if you are a pin trader, you receive a pin each day of your trip that is themed to the day of the trip. So so it's And it and those are Disney. So it might be goofy zip lining or Mickey whitewater rafting or you know, something that is unique to the day of your trip and there's a whole little thing they do each night and give you your pens. So it's like a nice little extra. They also have the ⁓ like a castaway club, right? Is the Correct, yes. And and is there tiers to it too? I just know that I don't think there are tiers. I think it's just if you've ever been on one. You get into the club. You're in the club and you occasionally they run discounts. So for returning. They do do kind of like a bounce back, what we would call a bounce back or a placeholder. If you book your a new adventure within a certain period of time of returning from your first adventure, you do get a discount. They occasionally run discounts for people who have done Ventures by Disney before and you do get to book ⁓ earlier than people who have never done an Adventures by Disney before, which for some of the dates and some of the the tours they do sell out right away. So that is a nice ⁓ perk if you have something specific you really want to do on a specific date. Sometimes they'll throw those to the the theme parks too. Like if you if you've been on Adventures by Disney, you can get up perk by booking something a little earlier or something like that. It's not all the time. I I think they've they've done it a few times in the past. But that's I mean, everybody that's listening to this podcast has probably been on a Disney person or something like that. I was good at the Disney good at rewarding your loyalty for things. Yes. One hundred percent. But ⁓ yeah, that's I've I've always looked at Adventure by Disney. Our our last cruise last summer was do we want to go to Southern California? And do an A B D or do we want to go to Alaska? And we chose Alaska because with that Southern California, what we kinda touched on is you can do all that on your own for a little bit cheaper. Yeah. You know, I can't go into my just walk into Imagineering. That's a Disney thing. But Alaska was different. But doing Costa Rica, doing Paris, doing stuff like this that only Disney can get you, that's that's really gonna be if you're planning to go to those locations anyway. Yeah. And the other thing that You know, Jason, you were asking about some of those escapes. A lot of those escapes line up with cruises. Right. So they do an escape in Alaska and they do actually a longer trip in Alaska to do Denali and all of that, and which you can pair very nicely with a cruise. But they especially the escapes, they'll do a Rome escape on those cruises that depart from Rome. They do a Barcelona escape on those cruises that depart from ⁓ Barcelona, some of those British Isle ones that you were looking at, Micah, line up with some of the cruises. So there is ⁓ a nice way to to really extend your trip if you want. Yeah, they I think they did one for f for Orlando back in the day. Yeah. A lot of the escapes didn't last. Yeah. They just they just didn't catch on like the actual A B D's do. I think the price Right. Because it's still price. It's a price. It's a price. Yeah. Yeah. And then you're cramming a lot in. Like they still want to give you that. So like the New York City one, you were still going to GMA, you were going to the Disney headquarters, you're going to a sh a Broadway show. You were doing all this Disney stuff in New York over two and a half days. Two days. Right. Yeah. It's a lot. Yeah. So there was no you're exhausted by the end of those two and a half days. Yeah. I mean, we really did it did feel like we were go, go, go, but there were still plenty of pockets of downtime where we did have time to relax in the these beautiful resorts that we were in or enjoy a happy hour with people and things like that. So even though there were like two to three activities every day, ⁓ it I still felt like I got a vacation. I still felt like I had downtime. I didn't feel like I was like rushed all day like or overstimulated, overwhelmed. So it's a good mix of like that relaxing vacation and also having like more difficult of I feel like it's like a it's a for people that don't necessarily want to deal with the Disney crowd, but they want a nice vacation with all the perks of going to Disney. Like you get the Disney experience with the service and all the perks, but you're just maybe not a theme park person or maybe you want something different, you know, a discerning kind of customer or client. Obviously you're gonna meet a lot of Disney fans on this trip too. So you know you've already got sort of a built in icebreaker. Mm-hmm. Right? Like almost everyone who does an adventures by Disney trip has been to a Disney theme park or been on a Disney cruise. And so probably has some affinity to the Disney brand or a character or a you know a an IP or something. So you're You're already with people who are your people, right? Yeah. They have an appreciation for the same things you need. Right. I don't I don't think it was mentioned, but ⁓ I and correct me if I'm wrong, Pam, but I I remember right, if you do s if you decide that you don't want to do the excursion that day, you can still you don't have to. Yeah. It's not manageable now. Naturally you're spending like the Costa Rica trip, ⁓ when I just looked it was like six thousand dollars per person at the starting price. You're spending that money, you're probably gonna do it. But if you're not feeling like that's something you want to do and you want to go insightsee on your own, you can you're more than welcome. The only time that that doesn't work is that sometimes, like I said, the the excursion is part of the transportation to the next place, right? So we arrived, we stayed one night in a hotel. Whitewater rafting was in between our two hotels. So you know, you're gonna have to at least get on the bus. Yeah. You don't have to get on the boat. And and frankly, you probably don't have to get on the bus either, but you're gonna have to figure out how you're getting to the next place. Right. Yeah. Pam, it was great having you on talking of Adventures by Disney. I'm hoping it got a lot of people excited about it. I'm excited about it. I've always been excited about it. It's something I really want to experience. How can people get a hold of you to plan an adventure by Disney trip or any of the other things? Or any kind of Disney trip. They can find me. ⁓ email me at pampam at magicaltravel.com or my website is www.pixiepam. Do you have Instagram you want to share? Sure. My Instagram is magical travel by Pam and Facebook as well, Magical Travel by Pam. And she's also one of the good agents that keeps her Instagram stories up when she's out and traveling and sightseeing and stuff like that. It's good to follow along. Yeah. I like to wake up and see where Cams flying every now and then. Yeah. Some agents I feel like they don't ever stay home. Yeah, they're always fine. I do my best. At least once a quarter I try to get somewhere. You can find all that information. We'll keep her ⁓ we'll put her email address for you in the the show notes below so you can go find her and email her. For the rest of the magical travel team, you can find us at magical travel dot com. Any of our great agents will be glad to help you with any type of travel that you want to get to. For Castles of Cauldrons, find us anywhere, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram. If you find this interesting, share it with somebody who who's thinking about going on adventures by Disney. Maybe this will help them convince them that they need to go. Or maybe it's your your husband, your wife that you're trying to convince. Let them listen. See what it's all about. Until the next time, we will see you on the next episode. Bye. Bye.