Fairytale Journeys Travel Summit | Episode 79

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome back, everyone, to the Mouse Ears Podcast. I am Brooks, and the whole crew is here tonight to talk about tonight's episode or today's episode, wherever you listen. Good afternoon tomorrow, good evening tonight, whenever. So today's episode, we are talking about the FTJ Summit weekend. That's right. We were all down at Walt Disney World for the Fairy Tale Journeys travel Summit weekend, where we got to meet up with the different vendors that we get to book with. We got to meet up with different agents, shout out to Victoria and Christy and Julia, and we got to attend a gala and dress up in our finest, and we got to do so much more. We're not going to talk about everything that we did here. We're going. We're going to go right into the episode so you can learn what all we did. And let's cue that intro foreign. Welcome back to the Mouse Ears podcast. I am one of your hosts, Brooks. Hopefully that worked out well. And we are here tonight. We are all together. We're all in this together. Finally, we have Steph in the Floridian state. Steph, how are you doing, guys? [00:01:29] Speaker B: I still wish we were in Disney. I'm not happy to be back. [00:01:33] Speaker A: Yes, we have Kelton in the great state of Texas. How are you doing, Kelton? [00:01:39] Speaker C: Howdy. [00:01:41] Speaker A: And finally, we have my northern neighbor in North Carolina, Jenny, how are you doing? [00:01:50] Speaker D: I am missing Florida also. It has rained and been cold every day since we got back. I haven't seen the sun in three. [00:01:59] Speaker C: Gosh darn days in more than that. [00:02:01] Speaker B: But yes, Double boo. [00:02:03] Speaker D: Double boo. [00:02:04] Speaker A: And in Chucktown south, cagalacky hidey ho, neighbors, it is Brooks once again, fresh with my. As they're saying my Jeffrey Dahmer glasses. These are. [00:02:17] Speaker C: They are. [00:02:18] Speaker A: These are actually prescription. Kelsey says they're bold. I say they're timeless. And I just have to avoid all sketch. I have to avoid all sketch artists between now and a while. [00:02:29] Speaker C: So. So can we make a poll just and be like, you know, what is Brooks's era? Are we in the Jeffrey Dahmer the tide on this? See, I just want to take some pictures. [00:02:44] Speaker A: Or are we in the Mouse Ears era? That's right. [00:02:47] Speaker C: Hey, focus. [00:02:48] Speaker B: The Woodstock. The Woodstock era. [00:02:51] Speaker A: Groovy, man. Oh, everyone, as we have meant, as we previously mentioned, we have all just gotten back from the great, wonderful, stupendous, tremendous Walt Disney World. [00:03:07] Speaker B: You might even call it the most magical place on earth. But, you know, I'm just throwing that one out there. [00:03:12] Speaker A: I mean, they might want to trademark that. I don't know, but you might be wondering why we were there. Well, we were there because our wonderful sponsor, Fairy Tale Journeys, the wonderful agency that brought us all together, celebrated their 15th anniversary. And they had a gala. They had a. You know, during the summit, they had wonderful training opportunities for their agents to help you, our listeners, and everyone there on radio, YouTube, whatever land you're listening. And not only did we get to talk to people at Disney, we got to talk to people at Universal, people at Sandals, people at Loyal. That Royal. My fifth grade self could not have said that phrase. It would have been loyal to Loyal and visit Orlando. We talked to a ton of people. But we will get into that. But first, we are taking it to one of our. We haven't discussed who's doing the trivia question. So whoever's doing the trivia question, we are taking it away to them. Our trivia master. [00:04:28] Speaker D: I guess that'll be me. I can't say. Don't look at me. [00:04:32] Speaker A: Don't let everyone take it at once. [00:04:34] Speaker D: We should have discussed that first. All right, everyone. [00:04:39] Speaker A: We don't discuss things. [00:04:40] Speaker D: No, we don't. No, we're just. [00:04:42] Speaker B: Kenny wants to do the trivia today. I saw him there. [00:04:47] Speaker D: All right, everyone, today's trivia question is brought to you by the Magic Candle Company. Next time you want a Disney inspired scent to fill your home or office, whether it's a candle room, spray essential oil or more, use our special promo code, mouse ears for 15% off. That's M O U S E A R s. All right, here's our trivia question, and we're going to tie this in later on in the episode. What famous song is traditionally played as the last song of the night at Jelly Rolls, which is Disney's dueling piano bar at the boardwalk? [00:05:25] Speaker B: Can I say what it isn't? Because it's what I thought it was going to be before I actually read the answer. I thought it was closing time. And it's not. And it's not. So if that's what you were thinking, think again. Yes. [00:05:41] Speaker A: Can I have a guess here? Come closer. [00:05:43] Speaker D: You're wrong. [00:05:43] Speaker A: Yeah, come closer. No. Two plus two plus. I'm having too much fun with that. Zoom. [00:05:50] Speaker B: Close. [00:05:52] Speaker A: Too close. [00:05:52] Speaker C: Not that close. [00:05:55] Speaker A: So I can tell you what other song it not is not. It's not the Pokemon theme song, which they did play. [00:06:04] Speaker C: Oh, hold on. Wait until we get to that part of the show. [00:06:07] Speaker B: We're just so excited about that part. [00:06:09] Speaker A: We're so excited and we just can't hide it. [00:06:14] Speaker D: They did not play that Song. [00:06:16] Speaker C: Not while we were there anyway. [00:06:17] Speaker D: Not while we were there. [00:06:18] Speaker B: No. [00:06:19] Speaker A: No. [00:06:19] Speaker D: Okay. [00:06:20] Speaker A: So if you haven't guessed, we did a lot during our. Feels like a brief trip to Disney, but we did get a lot. I mean, for some people it was a lot briefer than others, unfortunately. Yes, unfortunately. But again, this episode we are covering the Fairy Tale journeys travel summit that happened last week at Walt Disney World. So one thing that is good with being a platinum earmarked agency, our agents have the opportunity to go to a familiarization event to get special training to meet with different vendors and able to help our clients even more. So it's something that since FTJ is a platinum earmart agency, something been doing for several years. This was my first year being able to go. Really hate that this was only my first year there. I was even able to bring my lovely wife Kelsey, who. Yes. And she was able to also take headshots for many of our agents while we were there. [00:07:44] Speaker D: I can't wait to see those. I can't wait. Just on the little screen. They looked amazing. [00:07:50] Speaker A: I've seen previews. They look incredible. [00:07:52] Speaker D: She did such a great job. [00:07:54] Speaker A: Yes, I did get a headshot with a Roosevelt shirt too. [00:07:57] Speaker B: I come in handy. [00:07:59] Speaker A: Yep. But. So we were there officially for these for the fam event. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I got there Wednesday. I don't know what. Jen, did we all get there Wednesday? [00:08:13] Speaker D: No, I got there Tuesday night. [00:08:15] Speaker A: Okay. [00:08:16] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:08:17] Speaker A: So, yeah, we left about 6am Wednesday morning after we were up till about 1am packing and everything. And everything. [00:08:29] Speaker C: Well, you're supposed to do it. [00:08:31] Speaker B: I'll say, alarm clocks don't exist at Disney. It's just, you know, you get up because it's Disney. The sound of Disney's calling every. [00:08:38] Speaker C: Everybody should be tired, cranky, and arguing with all the family members until you cross under the archway that says Walt Disney World. [00:08:51] Speaker B: This is a hundred percent correct. One hundred percent correct. [00:08:57] Speaker D: So Veronica rode down with me. She's another one of our agents and a huge fan. We love Veronica. [00:09:02] Speaker A: Hi, Veronica. [00:09:03] Speaker D: Hi, Veronica. So she's filming. She's recording for us to go under the arches. And we were on some road that took us just next to it. And so as we go, she's like, wait, we're not going under. What road are we? [00:09:20] Speaker C: And there it goes. [00:09:21] Speaker D: And we're like, just kidding. We're not. It's a just kidding road. She is just kidding. [00:09:28] Speaker A: It's a tease. Just a tease. [00:09:30] Speaker D: That's like when you're driving with the kids and like, you know, if you don't behave. We're not going. [00:09:35] Speaker A: I mean, are you that road. Do you really. Do you really go to Disney if you don't drive under the arches? [00:09:42] Speaker D: I know. I feel like I missed something and I should go back and redo it. [00:09:47] Speaker C: I think you should. [00:09:48] Speaker B: I think I should go back. [00:09:50] Speaker D: I mean, I think it's a very. [00:09:52] Speaker A: Valid excuse and I'm sure I didn't go under the yard chase. [00:09:57] Speaker D: I know. [00:09:57] Speaker B: Haven't you gone under it like a hundred times and gone doesn't. [00:10:01] Speaker C: I don't know. Excuse me. [00:10:02] Speaker D: 200 videos does not matter. We. [00:10:05] Speaker B: We need it. We need it every time. [00:10:09] Speaker A: I will say though, I did not. I went under the arches. I didn't video it. Of course I was. I was. I was driving. And also Ellie, was she. I can't remember if she was awake or screaming. [00:10:26] Speaker D: Poor Ellie. [00:10:27] Speaker A: There's a one point where. Where the. The tablet died. [00:10:31] Speaker B: They're not even like. [00:10:33] Speaker A: And I'm. I'm trying to sing song. And I'm trying to sing songs for her and she just looks at me and goes, no, like, okay, if you. [00:10:42] Speaker C: Were singing, I'd probably cry too. [00:10:44] Speaker A: Well, Kelton, we tried to sing on Tick Tock and apparently got flagged for it. [00:10:49] Speaker C: That is true. I forgot about that. [00:10:52] Speaker B: No, I forgot about it because every time I look at Tick Tock there's a warning banner. Every time I'm just like, oh my gosh. [00:11:00] Speaker D: No. [00:11:01] Speaker B: All right, we're getting so off topic. So anyway, we're on Wednesday. [00:11:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:07] Speaker D: So Kelton hasn't even arrived yet. [00:11:10] Speaker A: No. Yeah. [00:11:13] Speaker C: In Houston, I burned a club pass for 27 minutes because they said it was going to be an hour and a half. So I said, peace out, Holmes. If my company's not paying for me to eat here, I'm going to the club. So I did. And then I almost missed the flight because there was no notification until I got one and I'm like, oh dear. So I go over to the front desk. [00:11:47] Speaker A: It's like, wait, we're departing in 2 minutes 58. [00:11:50] Speaker C: You know, boarding, like. Yeah, they're on boarding group number five. I'm boarding group two. I need to go so hard. [00:11:59] Speaker A: Is there any update yet? Yes, it left half an hour ago. [00:12:04] Speaker B: Honestly, we might be travel agents for the people of the Webernet. Well, the way that, that airlines work out of our control, even we. [00:12:17] Speaker D: I do have a rough time that we are our own worst agents. [00:12:22] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:12:23] Speaker D: We are our own worst agents. I mean, just. Yeah, I could plan it. Yeah, everything will be great. I'M going on a trip. Just. [00:12:32] Speaker B: But then when we. Yeah, all bets are off. We're just gonna wing it from here on out. [00:12:38] Speaker C: Hold on. Side note, I booked a Disney cruise. 13 days out. We're 11 days out. I have no idea what is going on. Zero. My mother is calling me. Hey, we're gonna do this. What is that? I don't know what that is. Just I don't know. [00:13:01] Speaker B: But then we walk in like a boss, like, no, we know exactly what we're doing. [00:13:06] Speaker A: But you're loyal to Royal. What do you mean? Going on to Disney cruise? [00:13:12] Speaker B: Tell the people what they want to know. [00:13:14] Speaker C: Couldn't beat the price. That's all. I mean, I could beat it, but it probably wouldn't go any lower. So. [00:13:20] Speaker B: So let the people know where you're gonna be. Not flying, sailing out of. So in case they're on that sailing, they say hi to you. [00:13:26] Speaker C: Hey, if you're on the sailing February 24th through March 2nd on the Disney Magic out of Port Galveston, I'll be there too. I would tell you what room I'm in, but I don't know because I'm in a guaranteed room. So they haven't assigned it yet. And I'm going like, I'll go on deck one with the crew. I just want to get on the ship. I mean, nothing quite like dcl, I tell you. [00:13:50] Speaker A: I mean, you can put me in the steerage with the crew. I don't care. Just put me on a cruise and. [00:13:55] Speaker C: See, that's, that's what it was. But it was one of those things. See, sometimes last minute deals do exist. And because I had a friend saying, hey, you know, are there any last minute deals with cruises? Mainly talking Royal, because that's what my mother in law likes to cruise. I do too. I'm like, well, the cruising industry after Covid has kind of, you know, exploded to a point. So it's kind of hard to get those last minute deals. But this one, you know, this one popped up for DCL and I'm like, I'm 71 miles from Galveston. I'll go, I got one week of vacation. That is not allocated yet. It is now. And we're only 30, 43 days into the year. [00:14:39] Speaker B: Smart decisions. Smart decisions. We completely, we completely advocate for this. [00:14:46] Speaker A: All right. [00:14:46] Speaker C: I forget what we were talking about. [00:14:48] Speaker D: I don't. [00:14:48] Speaker A: So Wednesday. [00:14:49] Speaker B: No idea. [00:14:50] Speaker A: Oh, Wednesday, Wednesday. [00:14:54] Speaker B: Arrival day. [00:14:55] Speaker A: Well, I mean, it's arrival day. Yeah. So we check. So we check in and Kelsey and I, of course, we brought Ellie. We originally it was Just going to be Kelsey now. Which would have been our first trip just the two of us. [00:15:11] Speaker B: Gasp. [00:15:13] Speaker A: Since Ellie. But at the last minute we were talking to Kelsey's parents and they said, hey, we would like to go potentially. So we brought Kelsey's parents, which I thought it was their first time ever at Disney. Found out they had gone to Magic Kingdom once when Ellie, when kelsey was like 10 or something. So. But they had never really been. So this, this was our chance to convert them. So we stayed at. [00:15:44] Speaker B: Converted. They are. [00:15:46] Speaker A: So we, we stayed at Coronado and the Casitas. Did I pronounce that right beautifully? A bueno. So we stayed. Which I think, looking back now, I think there were some, some agents at the Coronado. Didn't see anyone while we were there. Resort. We saw him later on. But where, where did everyone else stay? [00:16:10] Speaker B: Jenny and I stayed at Saratoga Springs. [00:16:14] Speaker D: In a lovely room. [00:16:15] Speaker B: Some might even call it Pixie dusted. [00:16:18] Speaker D: It was pixie dusted. [00:16:20] Speaker A: I heard it was the best room. [00:16:22] Speaker B: Apparently the best room. [00:16:24] Speaker D: And I did not break any cabinets. [00:16:27] Speaker B: No cabinets were destroyed in the making. [00:16:29] Speaker D: No cabinets. [00:16:30] Speaker A: Do you make a habit of breaking cabinets? [00:16:33] Speaker D: I do not. But when we release the video, you will understand. There will be a video. There is video evidence. [00:16:42] Speaker C: I'm working on it. There's a lot of videos. There's a lot. [00:16:48] Speaker B: You know, I didn't upload that video, so if you want, I can. [00:16:53] Speaker C: Oh, no, we need that video. [00:16:55] Speaker B: We will send you that video. You got it. [00:16:57] Speaker D: So Stephanie and I room together with three other agents. There are five in our, our main little core bestie group. And we stayed in a two bedroom villa at Saratoga because there was a lot. There was a lot that we were doing as far as the podcast and media and all of that. And we really wanted space to, to spread out. Saratoga is a great place to spread out. We had multiple bathrooms, which was a. [00:17:26] Speaker B: Lot of women getting ready. [00:17:27] Speaker D: Yeah, it's hard to have five ladies, especially getting ready for a gala. And there's big dresses and, you know, lots of makeup and hair tools. [00:17:36] Speaker B: Just all, not just five. And there were five women. There were more than five dresses. [00:17:41] Speaker D: There were more than five dresses. [00:17:43] Speaker A: I mean, you need options. [00:17:44] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. [00:17:45] Speaker D: There were options. But we stayed at Saratoga Tuesday night. I did stay at Veronica and I, along with another agent. We stayed at, what was it? All Star Sports. We really, we got in late. We just needed somewhere to sleep. [00:18:01] Speaker C: Spared no expense or spared all the expenses. [00:18:06] Speaker A: I was going, I was going to say, how many cheerleading groups were there at All Star Sports? [00:18:10] Speaker D: Okay, so here's the thing. At All Star Sports, I did not see any cheerleaders. I did see cheerleaders practicing in the parking lot of Animal Kingdom Lodge. [00:18:24] Speaker B: Not just saw, but hard, hard. [00:18:28] Speaker A: They were also practicing all over Coronado. [00:18:32] Speaker D: Yeah. And I, I didn't see. Now, I saw them in like the food court area, but there were none. Usually in that, that football field area of the preferred rooms at All Star Sports. That's where there's a lot of practicing going on. If you don't believe me, it's all over YouTube. I did not see. I was very grateful because I was very tired and I wanted to just sleep and not hear. 5, 6, 7, 8 or 1357. Sorry. 1, 3, 5, 7. [00:19:03] Speaker A: Domination. [00:19:04] Speaker B: So for those of you that are listening are like, why are there cheerleaders at Disney? I mean, isn't it just supposed to be like travelers and Mickey Mouse? Well, no, there's a lot of sporting events. Exactly. There's a lot of sporting events that happen. Exactly. We're not knocking you being there. However, what I will put out into the universe is that it was, I think I heard it was two weeks back to back of cheer competition. It crowded. It was for February. So. [00:19:39] Speaker D: If you've never. And it's part. When you book a package, you get, you know, a pass to do mini golf or go over to Wide World of Sports. I strongly urge you to go over to Wide World of Sports. Their facility is just top notch and they have so many opportunities for students to come in and teams and all these different competitions and sports. And I think it's a wonderful thing that they get to do all of this under the lights on a big Disney stage, you know, a platform like this and to be able to be part of something so special. I am so sorry. I'm so sorry. [00:20:16] Speaker B: Oh, look at me. [00:20:18] Speaker D: Woody's not feeling well. Aw, he just wants to cuddle. [00:20:23] Speaker B: Look at that cuteness. [00:20:24] Speaker D: He's going to join us for right now. Oh, I know, baby. He's really not feeling well. So I think it's a wonderful thing. And if you get a chance, go over to Wide World of Sports. If you've done run Disney, you've been to Wide World of Sports. That's where they do all their stuff there. But just on any given day, there's all kinds of stuff going on there. And it is a fabulous facility. [00:20:47] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:20:47] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. [00:20:49] Speaker B: But it is. But there were, there were cheerleaders when competitions are happening. Because this is one of those. We didn't have a choice we didn't have a choice. But it was very crowded for the most part. [00:21:02] Speaker D: They were very respectful. The cheerleaders were very respectful. There weren't any, you know, stunting going on in the parks. I've seen that before. They were really nice in the lines. When we were in lines with them, some were a little rambunctious and, you know, cheering. But they're cheerleaders, so that's what they do. Or doing. Chanting. [00:21:21] Speaker A: We've got spirit. Yes, we do. We've got spirit. How about you? [00:21:24] Speaker D: But for the most part, they were really. [00:21:28] Speaker A: I was a mascot. [00:21:29] Speaker D: Yeah. Kudos to their coaches. They were very well behaved. [00:21:34] Speaker B: Anyways. [00:21:35] Speaker D: Yeah, anyways. [00:21:35] Speaker A: I mean, I wasn't. I was. I was just saying it was because of the cheering competitions. The crowd levels that normally might have. [00:21:43] Speaker D: Been lower were anything but astronomical. [00:21:50] Speaker B: Ridiculous. So, Kelton, where did you stay at? [00:21:53] Speaker C: It's a fabulous question and I'm gonna tell you. I stayed over at the Spring Hill Suites. [00:22:00] Speaker B: Oh, I love that. [00:22:03] Speaker C: If you don't know where that is. [00:22:05] Speaker A: Well, it's near Coronado. [00:22:07] Speaker C: It is. And Brooks would know because I dropped him off on my home after jelly rolls. Anyway, I want to go back. There was a time there was a place. There was nothing over at Flamenco Crossing, but these two hotels, that was it. And now it's a college program. Housing for as far as the eyes could see. [00:22:27] Speaker A: It's like a local campus. [00:22:29] Speaker C: That shadowy place over there. And don't go though that. That's Claremont. Don't go there. [00:22:35] Speaker A: Yeah, the celebration. We don't talk about that, actually. [00:22:37] Speaker C: Really? It's Davenport. You don't go there. But Clermont's okay. [00:22:42] Speaker B: No, that was really good. [00:22:44] Speaker C: Really nice place. Excellent, you know, excellent hotel for all you Bonvoy members. Yeah, we get our points there. Absolutely. So it also does count towards your nights, too, to keep that lifetime status. But it was good. I think I paid like 170 a night. So it really is right around there with the All Stars. If you don't. If you don't want to stay on property or anything like that. See, that's kind of like your other option. Here's that. So I used to always be a huge advocate. Oh, stay. Flamingo Crossing. It's easy to get on property. False. Traffic is atrocious over there right now. [00:23:23] Speaker B: A lot of construction. [00:23:25] Speaker C: Not just. It's just the amount of cars. It's like seeing rush hour as I'm coming home on 59 from downtown Houston. It's like cars everywhere. [00:23:40] Speaker B: I don't want it so Disney transportation all the way. Choo choo. [00:23:46] Speaker C: Exactly. So that's where I stayed. [00:23:48] Speaker A: But I will say so Wednesday night we basic on Wednesday we basically arrived. We checked in, dropped our false stuff at the hotel and then. Which I will say I feel bad I did not get a room tour video simply because as soon as I tried to go into the door, my in laws and everyone was pushing in to drop off their stuff. So I was like, but I have to do the tour. [00:24:22] Speaker D: So they don't know the rules of traveling with the travel agent. Okay. [00:24:25] Speaker A: No, no, but they will learn. Anyway, so then we went, took him to Epcot for the first time. My mother in law, Miss Jenny. Love you. Or Jammy, as Kel, as Ellie calls her Pappy. And Jammy, she. She is a. She is an amazing artist. So naturally we had to take her to Festival of the Arts. So we got. [00:24:52] Speaker C: That sounds like fun. [00:24:53] Speaker A: Yeah. So I got to go around and see all that. And then we got in so we could. Kelsey and I could wake up early to start the first official day of the summit where we got to set up and kind of do a meet and greet with the agents during registration. We got to talk to a lot of them, I think. Was I the only one that hadn't met Elise yet? Like in person? [00:25:23] Speaker C: Yes. [00:25:23] Speaker A: Yeah. So you know, shout out to Elise. That's right. You know, doing this podcast. I think this is episode 79. Like. [00:25:35] Speaker C: Yes, I think so. [00:25:36] Speaker B: We gotta go big for episode 100. [00:25:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:38] Speaker B: Just saying. [00:25:39] Speaker A: Yeah, but it's. It's crazy that talking to a lot of the agents that we talked to haven't met very many. Excuse me, haven't met very many of them at all in person. I mean, we had met until September of last year, so. But it was nice to get. Get to talk to a lot of them. You know, one definitely give a shout out to. To one of our fans that her and her daughter listened to us every day. [00:26:09] Speaker D: Every day. Christy Ross and her daughter. Yeah. [00:26:15] Speaker A: Hey, Christy. Hey, Chris. Hey, Julia. This is. This is Brooks talking. [00:26:22] Speaker C: This is Kelton. [00:26:23] Speaker A: This is Brooks and Jenny and Woody. [00:26:28] Speaker D: And Woody. [00:26:28] Speaker B: And thank you for your support. [00:26:30] Speaker D: Thank you so much. Yeah, I think I want to get Christy on too. [00:26:35] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. I think she wanted to talk about Rundisney. [00:26:38] Speaker D: Didn't she run Disney? [00:26:40] Speaker A: Yeah, After My own Heart. But we even got to film some agent testimonials which we'll be working on and putting out here in the future. [00:26:52] Speaker B: And then can I say something about that? So what was really cool was, well, There's a lot of really cool things about this meet and greet that we did. Basically, we didn't just get to meet agents, but we also got to explain to them what we do, who we are, how we can help them. And what was really fantastic was having a lot of the their insights to see what they want to hear and see from us. Just a little tidbit. If you guys ever want anything in particular to hear from us, let us know. We're, we're for you guys. We're here for you. But it was just really wonderful to hear the support in person and having these interactions. You know, super big shout out to all of ftj. Everyone who came over to talk to us, support us. Another huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge shout out to Laura, the queen of dcl, because you may or may not have known. But on Wednesday, while we were at this event, Thursday, sorry, thank you. Thursday, Disney decided to drop some huge news for Disney Cruise Line travelers. And that is the 2026 summer itineraries. We're talking April, May through September of 2026. So in our mouse ears fashion, we. [00:28:12] Speaker C: That was rough. [00:28:13] Speaker B: It was fantastic. What are you talking about? [00:28:16] Speaker C: No, what you guys did was great. It was setting it up. [00:28:19] Speaker B: Well, I was getting there. I think I was just gonna give you and Brooks praise because you guys deserve all the praise. [00:28:27] Speaker D: I mean, always set up MVPs. [00:28:30] Speaker B: Seriously. They set up a makeshift studio in the middle of the Contemporary. The Contemporary resort. They set up a portable makeshift studio just so that we could go live with Laura, special interview with her, and then after that, get testimonials from agents. I mean, the whole thing was just chef's kiss, considering this was the first time ever we got together for, you know, an FTJ summit meeting. All these agents in person. And yes, we've talked to other agents. You've seen agents on this podcast. You've seen Shelby, you've seen Laura, you've seen Rachel Turley, you've seen a few people. And this gave us an extra opportunity to meet these people in person. Like Brooks was saying he had never met Elise. So it was just really great. Super big shout out to all the agents that came to talk to us and have been supporting this. And welcome to all the new agents that to haven't heard us and are now joining us on our lovely train wreck but also informative podcast. And a huge shout out to Suzanne and Steve with Fairy Tale Journeys, because without them, we wouldn't have had the opportunity. And boy, was it an opportunity because right after the Meet and greets was the trade show. Kelton, you want to talk about the trade show? I'm pointing a finger at you. [00:29:55] Speaker C: I can see that. And I'm like, why me? So no, the trade show was a lot of fun and I say that because. So Suzanne had brought in a bunch of fairytale journeys BDMs and I don't know what BDM stands for. So if anybody. [00:30:13] Speaker B: Business development Manager. [00:30:15] Speaker C: There we go. So for those that don't even know what a business development manager is, it's pretty much a representative from that company to the agency. Oh, we had. I'm going to. Oh, it's going to be a rough one. But we had Disney, Universal, Royal Sandals. [00:30:36] Speaker B: Carnival, Lynn Blad, Expeditions Travel Insured Global Vacation. [00:30:42] Speaker C: We had ALG Vacations. We had. Was it Celebrity, Virgin, Virgin, Virgin Cruises that was there. Sean the driver was there. So that's always fun to have him in. [00:30:53] Speaker B: Visit Orlando. [00:30:54] Speaker A: Visit Orlando. [00:30:56] Speaker C: Orlando. So, and I'm pretty sure I said Carnival, there's like two or three that I think I'm missing. [00:31:04] Speaker A: But National Geographic, National Geographic. [00:31:08] Speaker C: Thank you. So with that Norwegian that gave the agents that were there in attendance the ability to walk around the ballroom and speak one on one with, you know, FTJ's medium for that company anytime now you can, we know it's always great to, you know, to meet face to face, talk person to person, be able to ask questions, get information or anything that that company information that they can give. Meredith would not answer my questions about if we're getting, you know, the third icon of the seas here in Galveston or when is perfect day Mexico opening up? Because that is what people need to know. Which totally makes sense of why she can't say I get it, the people get it. But we all. Well, we had a great conversation with Lydia from Universal, you know, talking because we're going to have, you know, we've got the countdown to epic coming up which just a couple of days ago was 98 days. [00:32:09] Speaker A: We are 98 days out as of this recording. 98 days. Well, no, as of right now, as we're recording, it's 98 days. [00:32:20] Speaker C: February 13th. Yep. [00:32:21] Speaker A: Yeah, when this drops, it will be 94 days. [00:32:25] Speaker C: So Epic Universe is coming up and the trade show was just a lot of fun. I thoroughly. We got. Brooks got some great B roll so it should be, you know, a great video when that comes out. [00:32:37] Speaker A: And Kelsey got some great pictures as well. [00:32:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:32:40] Speaker B: So it was, there was a lot. It was very jam packed that morning between the meet and greet, the trade show I mean, it was fantastic. [00:32:52] Speaker C: At least we all had met before, you know, in person, so we didn't have to deal with that. It was just the panic of, okay, what are we setting up? How are we doing this? [00:33:06] Speaker B: We've got a lot of behind the scenes footage for all of you guys who are interested as well. So in case you wanted to see us in action, we've got that for you too. [00:33:14] Speaker C: Or panic. I think I packed a lot. [00:33:17] Speaker B: I'm so glad we were wearing black shirts where you cannot see sweat through it. [00:33:21] Speaker C: Amen. [00:33:23] Speaker A: But I want to say too, after the trade show, there was roundtable discussions set up with different vendors. So that was very nice as well. [00:33:34] Speaker B: Very educational for those that attended. [00:33:39] Speaker A: And then after all that, after all that great knowledge, came some fun with the 15th anniversary gala. [00:33:50] Speaker C: Fun indeed, yes. [00:33:52] Speaker A: Everyone dressed in their best. Kelton had his best hat and best cowboy hat. [00:33:59] Speaker C: I even had to get it shaped. I went from the round table discussions, ran over to go get it reshaped and then come back. So there went my nap. And that was a cup of coffee. [00:34:13] Speaker A: Yes, I had my. I had my flyest Roosevelt shirt on. [00:34:17] Speaker C: And ladies, gentlemen, y'all looked beautiful. [00:34:20] Speaker A: Yes. [00:34:20] Speaker B: Oh, thank you. Thank you. There was thanks to Jen. She did my hair, she did my nails, she put me together. [00:34:29] Speaker C: Well, Mike wasn't there to do it, so somebody. [00:34:32] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. [00:34:33] Speaker A: I don't know. Would you have wanted Mike to done your hair and nails? [00:34:37] Speaker C: I could see him. He would have been making a movie on the nails. [00:34:42] Speaker A: He would have been painting a fire engine red, coincidentally, his favorite color. [00:34:49] Speaker D: It was my pleasure. [00:34:51] Speaker B: It was fun. It was fun playing dress up with my girls and then all of us getting together. And you know, Jen, she had her. [00:34:59] Speaker D: Tiara on, so I wore the tiara. [00:35:02] Speaker C: There were a lot of queens there. [00:35:04] Speaker D: And I was not the only one to wear a tiara. I just want to say other people had crowns. [00:35:09] Speaker B: I mean, you're gonna. [00:35:10] Speaker A: For some reason. [00:35:11] Speaker B: I mean, if you're gonna have a gala at Disney, might as well go all out, right? And when I say all out, I mean we had a fairy godmother show up at the gala for our entertainment. Brooks, please enlighten us some more. [00:35:26] Speaker A: Apparently, I'm a little ginger snap. And Kelton is a JCPenny and Kel and Kelton is a JCPenney. [00:35:33] Speaker C: It's true. You missed that. [00:35:35] Speaker D: I missed that. [00:35:37] Speaker B: Hysterical. [00:35:38] Speaker A: We have video. [00:35:39] Speaker C: Yes, we do. [00:35:40] Speaker D: If y'all think we are a train wreck, you should see. [00:35:44] Speaker A: Well, she's a fellow redhead. What do you expect Goodness. [00:35:47] Speaker D: Oh, goodness. [00:35:48] Speaker B: So she was hysterical. [00:35:51] Speaker A: She was also Steve's comment on if someone was one strap or. Oh, someone. Someone has a one strap address. Nice. [00:36:00] Speaker C: I love Steve's comments. So he was trying to fill the void of walking them walking from the table and some of his com. It's just trying. [00:36:14] Speaker A: I. I was gonna say maybe, maybe we should have moved those tables a tad bit closer. But I digress. [00:36:20] Speaker C: Have all the ladies sit forward and the five men sit in the back. [00:36:25] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:25] Speaker B: That's funny. That was fantastic. [00:36:28] Speaker A: Yes. But they had the FTJ award show. They also presented us with a nice mouse ears podcast award. [00:36:37] Speaker C: I don't have it in here. [00:36:38] Speaker A: Mine is this blurry one in the back. [00:36:41] Speaker D: I have it. [00:36:43] Speaker B: Mine's in my room. I don't have it here on display. I really need to put it on display though. [00:36:48] Speaker D: Here it is. Here it is. Here it is. [00:36:51] Speaker B: While Jen pulls it out. What was wonderful was the, you know, not just the fairy godmother, but look at that beauty. We were not expecting beauty. [00:37:01] Speaker A: She's grace. [00:37:03] Speaker B: So what was fantastic was at this gala that our wonderful, wonderful boss at Fairy Tale Journeys put together. She made sure to acknowledge everyone who has, I don't even know, contributed, gone above and beyond, sold the most. I mean, there was awards galore up and down across the whole venue. It was really special. [00:37:29] Speaker A: The award show was 90 minutes long. [00:37:33] Speaker B: Wow. Was it really? It was fantastic. [00:37:35] Speaker A: Because I had the videos. [00:37:38] Speaker B: Well, it was very special. And beyond that, at the end, you know, once my hands were raw and red from all the clapping. Now the tears came. Now the tears came. [00:37:49] Speaker C: I cried. [00:37:50] Speaker B: And yes, Suzanne brought. Brought it when she hired. [00:37:54] Speaker A: She brought it. [00:37:55] Speaker B: She brought it when she hired. I think it's vocave. Vocave. [00:38:02] Speaker D: Voctive. Like octave, but voctive. [00:38:06] Speaker B: Thank you. Like a voice. Octave. Voctave. Voctave. I'm so sorry for the voctaves. [00:38:12] Speaker D: It's voc. Div. [00:38:13] Speaker B: Vtif. Sorry. [00:38:16] Speaker D: Well, so they were former members of the Voices of Liberty. So at least recognize. That's why you recognized him. He's amazing. Amazing. [00:38:28] Speaker B: Wow. These former members of the Voices of Liberty. Because that clearly is easier for me to say than vocte. Vocative. [00:38:37] Speaker D: You got them. [00:38:38] Speaker A: Do I Now you know how I feel. [00:38:41] Speaker D: Let's just keep moving. [00:38:42] Speaker B: Well, they ended up coming out guns blazing, singing happily ever after, while there was this fantastic, beautifully heart, you know, tear jerking video of the agency and all its agents over the years. There was not a single dry eye in the crowd. Not one. Not one. I have goosebumps. I have goosebumps just thinking back on it. And that's only how the gala ended. That is not how the night ended. Ended. Ladies and gentlemen, this is only Thursday, and the night is still young. Someone take it away. [00:39:14] Speaker C: Okay, so Brooks and I get my rental, okay? And we're like, you know what? We're gonna go live on TikTok. We're gonna jam to the best boy band around from our, you know, with. [00:39:29] Speaker A: Our seatbelts on, driving very safely, very safely, like, speed limit everything. And Tick Tock flagged us for doing because dangerous activities. [00:39:44] Speaker C: And now I have been on Tech Talk, and I have seen some dangerous activities on there. But Brooks was filming. We were both jamming and singing, and I don't understand why. But anyway, we couldn't go live for 24 hours. It was really sad. But we went over to pretty much say our farewells, closing the curtain on Jelly Rolls over at Disney's Boardwalk Resort. Now, for those that don't know or have never been. Now, I worked there for five years, lived there for 26, had never been to Jelly Rolls in my life. [00:40:24] Speaker B: Tragic beyond. [00:40:25] Speaker C: And now I know why. It cost $22 to get in. I get it. I was on a cast member salary. I was not going to jelly rolls for $22. But now I am no longer on a cast member salary. [00:40:40] Speaker D: So we went to Jelly Rolls. [00:40:42] Speaker B: Did you regret it? Did you regret it? [00:40:44] Speaker C: Not even a little bit. Okay, I wasn't saying that I regretted it. [00:40:49] Speaker B: I was feeling a little butt hurt by. By the. By the. What is that called? By the fee. Cover fee. [00:40:56] Speaker C: Well, yeah. [00:40:57] Speaker A: I mean, they're closing. I mean, maybe they could have loaded a little bit. [00:41:01] Speaker C: Seriously, give me a 50 discount or something. Atlantic Dance hall was free. Why can't you be free? [00:41:09] Speaker B: I don't disagree with this. However, those pianists are. It was talented. [00:41:16] Speaker A: Incredible. [00:41:17] Speaker B: They are talented. [00:41:19] Speaker A: They could play anything. [00:41:21] Speaker B: Anything. [00:41:21] Speaker A: When I mean anything. There was emo ballads. There was the Pokemon theme song. [00:41:29] Speaker B: We got musicals. We've got throwbacks. Disney throwbacks. I mean, these gentlemen right here that you see on your screen if you're watching us were jamming out to. This is what Dreams Were Made of by Lizzie McGuire. [00:41:43] Speaker A: Hey, hey, hey. [00:41:44] Speaker C: That is my jam. Word for word. [00:41:49] Speaker D: Yeah, we have that on film. [00:41:51] Speaker B: $22. [00:41:52] Speaker C: It's true. [00:41:53] Speaker B: For anyone that was there and got to see them, it was worth $22. [00:41:56] Speaker C: Dreams were made of right there. [00:41:58] Speaker B: But yes, Pokemon played. I mean, then. Then Jenny jammed out to dancing through life. Shoot. Thank you. [00:42:06] Speaker D: Yes. [00:42:06] Speaker C: Oh, yay. [00:42:07] Speaker A: You had to and then I jammed out too. You'll be back soon, you'll see. [00:42:13] Speaker C: From Hamilton. [00:42:16] Speaker B: Oh no, it was, it was fantastic. And we weren't alone. We had fellow FTJ agents there jamming with us as well and plenty of other people to keep us entertained. Because who does not love people watching at Disney World? [00:42:30] Speaker C: We had Bob shout out to Bob. Not sure if that's your real name. [00:42:35] Speaker D: I don't think it is. [00:42:37] Speaker B: Bob brought, he brought the energy. [00:42:42] Speaker D: He brought something. [00:42:43] Speaker A: Yeah. And a small. I'm gonna call him a gaggle of the Roosevelt insiders. [00:42:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:42:50] Speaker D: That was so cool. Yeah. [00:42:53] Speaker B: So Jelly Rolls is his hotspot. So Disney, why are they shutting down? [00:42:58] Speaker D: Please stop. [00:42:59] Speaker B: The question is, are they just moving? [00:43:01] Speaker C: I think they're moving to Disney. [00:43:03] Speaker A: Well, didn't they announce on their social like updates to come? [00:43:09] Speaker C: They did, I think. Yes. I think we're, I think they're going. [00:43:12] Speaker D: Over to the west side. [00:43:13] Speaker C: What would, what would they take? What would they replace over there? Wouldn't it be House of Blues? [00:43:18] Speaker D: No. I don't know. [00:43:20] Speaker C: Probably the old Disney quest. [00:43:22] Speaker D: I never got to do Disney Quest. [00:43:24] Speaker C: Let's move on to Friday. [00:43:25] Speaker D: Okay. [00:43:25] Speaker B: Friday. [00:43:25] Speaker A: I was gonna say this was, this was Thursday. [00:43:27] Speaker C: Yeah, because I left. [00:43:28] Speaker B: What time did we get home? Yeah, home, meaning our Saratoga home. [00:43:35] Speaker A: 45. [00:43:36] Speaker C: 5. [00:43:38] Speaker B: No, Kelton, you my friend. I got the short end of stick. Yeah, you too, Brooks. We anyways. [00:43:46] Speaker A: Well, we also had five people getting ready, but we were not in a two bedroom villa. We were in a preferred room at Coronado. But anyway, so Friday the agents got to do a training session. I'll talk about. Yes, go ahead. [00:44:06] Speaker B: It was okay. So for all of you who don't know if you are a platinum or a diamond agency with Disney destinations, you get certain perks. One of those fantastic perks is not your typical training that you do online. You get to experience in person training and lectures by fantastic cast members and people from all the different Disney destinations that Disney sells. For instance, last year we had someone from Adventures by Disney, National Geographic, Disney Cruise Line, the works. This year they did something a little bit different. And I'll speak to my own personal experience as this was my third year doing this. Jen has a few more years of experience going to fams to Disney World. And to my knowledge this was like never ever, ever done. So what made this so special was that Disney Institute was brought in and did our first half of the day training. And it was so insightful, so captivating and so like wonderful. Honestly, I was emotional, I was excited, I felt Like, I learned a lot. And you know, Disney's such a huge company and there's always new news, there's always something new happening, but also the guests and the approach also has to adapt over time to keep the magic alive. And I won't give too many details because we are, to an extent magic makers even if we don't physically work at the parks. And I can just let you guys know that Fairy Tale Journeys as a whole really got some fantastic perspectives, some great nuggets of knowledge from Disney Institute. And then beyond that, we got to explore their live laboratory, which is AKA Magic Kingdom. And so they brought us to Magic Kingdom, where, again, I won't give too many details, but they were able to provide us with a different perspective on our approach and see things differently at the parks. And as you know, Disney thinks about everything. I mean, we're talking about from the color of the sidewalk to the smells that they pump out, the names of things, the colors of the buildings, everything. And so being able to physically be at the park with these Disney professionals to provide us with more knowledge than our Disney nerd hearts already have is just priceless. And we're so excited as a whole agency to continue to provide the services that we have been providing and share with you guys these things. So that was like the first half of the day, which was fantastic. Then Disney Travel Professionals provided us with a fabulous lunch. Those of us that could eat the lunch. And then the second half of the day was also very insightful. We got to hear from Disney Cruise Line and all the things that are coming. We got to hear about the Disney Dining Clan and how that's evolved over time. And so. And those are just two things of multiple different things that we heard. So that was just really, really great. We got some cute notebooks, workbooks and notebooks, some special ears. Jenny, you have the ears handy, right? Because Disney is trying to commemorate us in our sales. And as you may or may not know, but our requirements of how much we sell every year does increase. So without your continued support for Fairy Tale Journeys as a whole, we wouldn't be where we are. Yes, we might be magic makers, but you are loyal clients are the real reason that Fairy Tale Journeys can do what they do and continue to learn more, to continue to provide you with the utmost top notch experience possible when you vacation. So super big, shout out to Disney Institute and Disney Travel Professionals for those opportunities. We're very sad that Kelton and Brooks couldn't have joined us there, but hopefully next year. [00:48:28] Speaker D: Yeah, can I Say something really quick. I just want to. You know, we talk a lot about fairy tale journeys because we're agents and we, you know, and they're our sponsor and we love FTJ and we talk about it a lot. However, if you are listening to this podcast and you have an agent from another agency that you love, please, you know, keep working with them. Don't stop just because you can book it yourself. Don't. Don't stop. There is vital information and service and stuff that you know, and there's a lot of agencies that have really good agents. You know, this is, you know, specific to ftj, but, you know, if you have an agent at another agency that you love, please just keep supporting them. And if you're not using an agent, please find one. Okay. It's going to be invaluable. The. The. [00:49:24] Speaker C: You're also supporting a small business, too. [00:49:27] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:49:27] Speaker C: I mean, and that's always a big thing. Just find an agent. You're right. Find an agent. Find an agency you like. Yeah, absolutely. [00:49:36] Speaker D: I mean, if you don't have one and you want to work with us, we would love to have you, but if you already have one, by all means, please keep using them. I just want to throw that in there because there's a lot of fabulous agents out there. We're just biased. We're just completely biased. [00:49:53] Speaker B: I mean, rightfully so. [00:49:54] Speaker D: But anyway, rightfully so. [00:49:56] Speaker B: Thank you, Jen. That's actually very valid. Do you want to actually continue talking about the evening? [00:50:03] Speaker D: Sure. [00:50:04] Speaker B: Because we had a pretty good evening. [00:50:06] Speaker D: We had a good evening. So we went over to Epcot afterwards for the. For the fireworks dessert party for Luminous, and we ended up eating at Garden Grill, which was just amazing. The staff there shout out to, let's see, the hostess, Camille, our waiter, Andy, and the chef, Jonathan. Look, they are getting a very nicely worded letter on my behalf. But then, of course, to fit in with the weekend, Stephanie and I made another decision to stay out late, and we headed over to Atlantic Dance hall where there was no cover charge, but we went with. [00:50:46] Speaker C: What? They didn't charge you $22 to go in. [00:50:49] Speaker D: They did not. But the line to get drinks, There were like two bartenders and there were like 50 people in line. So there. There was a big line for drinks. [00:50:59] Speaker B: Yeah, that was not. We didn't. [00:51:01] Speaker D: That was not fun. We didn't drink, so we just. We danced. [00:51:05] Speaker B: We danced and then we danced some more. Yep, we danced some. [00:51:12] Speaker D: And I got to dance with Steve. That was fun and we heard. [00:51:16] Speaker B: Was entertaining. [00:51:18] Speaker D: It was interesting. That's on video too. Don't know if we'll release that. [00:51:23] Speaker C: I think we should. [00:51:24] Speaker D: It was a trainer, like everything we. [00:51:28] Speaker A: Do put down below. If you want us to release that video, Steve, you're not allowed to answer this question. I think he was not allowed to either, but. [00:51:39] Speaker D: And we heard the weirdest mashup of We Don't Talk about Bruno and Hit Me Baby One More Time. [00:51:46] Speaker B: No. That was disgraceful. [00:51:48] Speaker C: I'm sorry, but did it work? [00:51:50] Speaker D: It did not. [00:51:51] Speaker C: No music musically. Did it work musically? [00:51:56] Speaker D: There were lots of confused people on the dance floor. [00:52:02] Speaker B: I'm still angry about it still, because here's the thing. [00:52:05] Speaker D: I have a video of that where people are dancing and they're like, I. [00:52:10] Speaker C: Want to see this because I want to figure out if it was like, appropriate. [00:52:15] Speaker D: Maybe if you were expecting it, if you had heard it, but it was. [00:52:19] Speaker A: And maybe it was just too much beats per minute. I mean, that's, I think, gotta be key. That's right. [00:52:26] Speaker D: It was. It was odd. It was odd. [00:52:28] Speaker C: Well, yeah, I'll back off. [00:52:32] Speaker D: Yeah, I will. I will send it to you. [00:52:34] Speaker B: I want to hear what the man from Texas can say about these two songs mashed up together, please. [00:52:39] Speaker C: It has nothing to do with me being from Texas. But if you have. [00:52:42] Speaker B: No, you're right. [00:52:43] Speaker C: But if you have a musical back, I know I'm right. And Casey all the time, you know, I'm very. I'm rarely, you know, what does it say? I'm never wrong, but I'm rarely mistaken, I think is how it goes. So I'm getting virtually slapped over here, it seems like. But if it. Brooks is right, if it had. If it's within, you know, plus, minus, like two, you know, beats per minute, and especially if it's in the same key, we're golden. However, if you're taking a song that's at 100, like 120 beats per minute, you can cut it in half and drop in a song at 60 beats per minute to see you. [00:53:24] Speaker D: But you will see a lot of very confused people on the dance floor. [00:53:28] Speaker C: Well, confusion is one thing, but if it doesn't, like, mix well, that's another. [00:53:34] Speaker B: Here's my take. I think maybe it could have been like a five minute remix. Like it was long, too long. And the problem, the real problem was that one song is more like I'm a singing song, and then the other song is more like I'm a dancing song. And as soon as you would try and find your footing to the song because you're trying to Figure out the groove. Then they would switch it and you're like, no, totally. Like I cannot do the same steps. My groove is off. My groove is off. Like, you know what's the cool story? [00:54:08] Speaker C: You've thrown off Steph's groove. [00:54:10] Speaker B: Yes, that's exactly what happened. [00:54:13] Speaker C: Yes. The group specifically for Steph. Steph. Screw. [00:54:16] Speaker D: All right, so we got in way too late again and then again for Saturday. We were up way too early for. All right, so there was a picture at the Castle boat Castle. Yeah, we decided. We decided that we were going to rope drop. [00:54:39] Speaker B: Decisions were made. [00:54:40] Speaker D: Decisions were made. [00:54:41] Speaker B: Decisions were made. [00:54:43] Speaker D: But we were able to ride seven dwarfs mine train and in eight minutes. [00:54:49] Speaker B: Eight minute line. [00:54:50] Speaker D: Eight minute line. And then I think it was a 14 minute line for Tron. [00:54:56] Speaker B: I thought it was 22 minutes. Was it 22 sounds better. I don't know, it could be wrong. [00:55:00] Speaker D: It was ridiculous. We got this done before, before our photo. And we weren't even really sorry. [00:55:06] Speaker B: 8:30. It was before 8:30. We did both those things. [00:55:09] Speaker D: It was before 8:30 dot yeah. [00:55:11] Speaker B: And so that was fantastic. But here's the kicker. When we arrived to the park, actually scratch that rewind when we get to the bus. And yes, me and Jenny are so tired because our roommates made the responsible decision to not go out two nights in a row. Unlike us, of course, they made it to the bus way before we did. And they were stalling shout out to our girls because we had to run for the bus. [00:55:39] Speaker D: I'm just saying we ran. [00:55:40] Speaker B: But that's not the problem here. The problem is you can't see the hand in front of your face because the mist and the fog and everything in between was so dense, so dense you didn't know if you were hot or cold. But in reality it was just humidity. Really, really, really humid. And when you got to the park, eventually, the darnest thing I've ever seen, you couldn't see the castle from main street at all. Now it wasn't taken over. [00:56:13] Speaker D: Non existent. [00:56:15] Speaker B: Yeah, it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen or not seen in this case. And I'll be honest. So when we went on seven Dwarves Mine train, I was having tech issues. But I'm able to potentially grab some clips. Can you imagine us being on the roller coaster on the outside and you can't see anything in Fantasyland? It's just like this eerie mist. It is eerie. [00:56:37] Speaker D: It was foggy and wonderful. It was foggy fog. [00:56:42] Speaker B: But anyways, eventually, for the picture, it somehow cleared Up. And we were convinced there was going to be no picture. That's how bad it was. But alas, we did and the picture came out. Fantastic. Shout out once again to Kelsey Walker. She is our photographer and our MEPs for life. And then. Well, you can't end your morning with just a regular old picture. No, no, no, no, no, no. We need the social media videos. That's right, people. FTJ took over the double decker bus from Main street usa. [00:57:18] Speaker D: Yes. [00:57:19] Speaker B: And not only did we take over, but dear old Shelby. Shout out to Shelby. [00:57:25] Speaker D: God bless Shelby. [00:57:26] Speaker B: Shelby ran after the double decker bus all the way from the castle, through Main street, back through Main street to the castle in this massive loop while holding. I am not even kidding you. Her phone to take her video. A Starbucks coffee, a water bottle and jeans. And she looked beautiful doing it. [00:57:51] Speaker D: Yeah, I shout out to Jennifer. I can tell you. [00:57:54] Speaker B: I can tell you. Within five seconds of me walking off that bus, my hair grew five inches from the humidity. So, you know, I just don't know how certain women do it. She's one of those women that can do it. My hair can't do it. Nope. Just. It's not. It's not a thing. So anyways, that's how our morning, Saturday morning went. [00:58:16] Speaker D: Yep. [00:58:17] Speaker B: It was fantastic. Honestly, very, very memorable. I mean, Jen, actually, do you want to mention what we ended up doing afterwards? Our ears. [00:58:25] Speaker D: Four. Okay. So some people took their ears down Main street and got their names embroidered. And a lot of people know that you can do that. You can get your name embroidered on ears. We went to the Is it the Ye Olde Christmas shop. And for $5, double P and an E. So for $5 you can have them write your name or do some artwork on ears. They also have regular ears that you can choose all kinds of things. So I went with my name in 2025. I don't know if you can see that. So I got my name on my ears. And you just pick out what you want and drop them off and they give you a return time and they text you when they're ready. And they came out. So cute. I'm so glad we did that. But that is a great little souvenir. You can also have that done with celebration buttons, so. [00:59:19] Speaker B: And ornaments. [00:59:20] Speaker D: And ornaments. [00:59:21] Speaker A: Got it down with leather ears. With the leather ears. [00:59:24] Speaker B: Yes. [00:59:25] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:59:26] Speaker B: And she did, she did. Didn't she do like fireworks or something? Because there's different designs you can do. Comes out fantastic. Look, really just cute. [00:59:33] Speaker D: Yeah, the fireworks looked adorable. I went with stars, but yeah, that was. That was a lot of fun. [00:59:41] Speaker B: And get this. This is like the pro tips of the pro tips. Did you know. [00:59:46] Speaker A: Get closer. [00:59:47] Speaker B: That. Come here. Get closer. Did you know at the Ye Olde Christmas Chape over in. [00:59:56] Speaker C: What is this? [00:59:57] Speaker B: This is Liberty Square. Liberty Square. They have a mailbox. They have a special mailbox to send letters to the North Pole right next to a Christmas tree. Sleigh. Little sleigh with. With these cute pieces of paper and crayons so that your little ones can send their Christmas list to Santa from the most magical place on Earth. So you know those letters are going to get there. And that is. [01:00:30] Speaker C: You don't get many free things in the Magic Kingdom. [01:00:32] Speaker D: No, but that was adorable. [01:00:35] Speaker B: It was. That was adorable. And then all the different things that you can do, like Kelsey's leather ears came out. Beautiful. Our ears. I love how they came out. And it's really not expensive. It's such a cheap souvenir if you ask me. And they do such beautiful calligraphy. I mean, wow. I wish. But anyways, I thought that was awesome. I feel like the rest of the day we might have been a little bit dragging. [01:01:06] Speaker A: Well, we got some dinner at Columbia Harbor House. [01:01:10] Speaker B: Yes. And Ellie, dear Ellie, Ellie passed out on Kelsey's hand. On it just. [01:01:17] Speaker A: She grabbed her hand. She grabbed her hand, put it on the table and put her head on the table and just. [01:01:22] Speaker B: It was adorable. [01:01:22] Speaker A: Ms. Rachel was blown out. [01:01:23] Speaker B: Conked out. [01:01:24] Speaker D: She was out. Yeah. [01:01:26] Speaker B: And then, sadly, Brooks left. So from four now there were two. And Jenny and I were able to do a few things, but in all honesty, by 3:00, we were done. We were. We were done. And we went back for a nappy nap. And unfortunately, the information relayed to us was that the crowd levels were so bad that it was just not worth going back. And we would be lucky to be able to see anything for happily ever after without an elbow to the face. So we chose. [01:02:01] Speaker A: At least it wasn't the. The power outage night that they had. [01:02:05] Speaker B: Recently at Magic Kingdom that was bad. So we decided to go to Disney Springs. And that's where Jen bought everything. Yeah, everything. There's a lot of great merch right now. A lot of great merch. [01:02:17] Speaker D: There was some really good merch. It was not busy there. And I was. I was banking on that. I was telling Steph on the way because she's like, I don't know. It's going to be busy. It's a Saturday night. And I was like, everybody is in the parks. Everybody's in the parks. [01:02:30] Speaker A: And I just realized this was the first trip, I think, ever that I didn't set foot at Disney Springs. [01:02:37] Speaker B: So I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. [01:02:40] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:02:41] Speaker A: Well, we stopped at the emporium on our way out. Got this lovely spirit jersey, which, for. [01:02:48] Speaker B: Those of you that don't know, half of the emporium at magic kingdom is under construction. And the walkway in between the emporium and Casey's is currently closed. [01:02:58] Speaker C: Ooh. Mm, Dear. [01:03:01] Speaker B: So. Oh, yeah. But Brooks, phenomenal spirit jersey. Absolutely love it. Great purchase. Jenny made some great purchases as well. I decided to buy a Valentine's present for Michael. [01:03:14] Speaker A: No. [01:03:15] Speaker B: Yes. It didn't make it home. What do I mean by that? Yes, I know you want to hear. So I ended up buying a little petite cake in the shape of Mickey mouse from amoretz. [01:03:27] Speaker C: Did you eat it? [01:03:28] Speaker B: No, no. [01:03:29] Speaker C: Michael sat up on the Florida turnpike and ate it. Traffic. [01:03:33] Speaker B: I mean, I would have, but here. And you know what's so fantastic? You know, the cast members, again, so amazing. They. I told them this is a Valentine's day present, you know, for Michael. Please. You know, I'm so excited. I've never even eaten here before. And they're like, oh, we're gonna write happy Valentine's day on it and make it extra special. Oh, so sweet. Thank you. Well, you know, I underestimated just the heat of the car while I went to animal kingdom for the footage for our wonderful listeners. And I was determined to get. It's tough to be a bug. And when I get home and I'm like, michael, happy Valentine's day. He opens, and he's like, is this a prank? And I'm like, what do you mean? I'm like, oh, there's nothing in here. It's just a red mushroom, literally. And I was like, what do you mean? And when I look over and there's just nothing. It was supposed it was this beautiful dome Mickey. Beautiful dome Mickey cake with white chocolate mousse, red covering. I mean, it got everything. It had ears. It had a tail. It had little buttons. It was so cute. [01:04:46] Speaker A: Red mush. [01:04:48] Speaker B: I was so depressed. I mean, it was. I already had the Disney blues from having left Disney. And then not only that, but my Valentine's present just didn't make it. He's like, yeah, I'm not gonna eat this. So I said, I bet it's still good. [01:05:04] Speaker A: And it was delicious. [01:05:06] Speaker B: I ate it. [01:05:08] Speaker D: Was it good? [01:05:10] Speaker B: It was fine. It was. I was just eating through the Tears. [01:05:16] Speaker C: So we've learned two things that the Florida sun can do. It can melt a cake, and it can also warp a black cowboy hat. So don't put them in the sun. [01:05:29] Speaker B: Where did you get your hat refitted, by the way? [01:05:32] Speaker C: Cavenders. [01:05:33] Speaker B: It's nearby. [01:05:34] Speaker C: Yeah, it's right. It's up Palm. Go north on Palm Parkway, cross the new bridge. That's there. That's pretty cool. It's spitting distance now. My other option was Boot barn up at Millennia. And I was like, no way. That's far, too far. [01:05:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:48] Speaker C: For those that don't know that's going towards Universal. [01:05:51] Speaker B: That's awesome. You were able to get that last minute, too. [01:05:53] Speaker C: And I knew. I knew it was gonna be like. I knew there was one. Close, but good. [01:05:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. You know, when you're in the Disney bubble, rationale just goes out the window. That's why having a travel agent is fantastic. They do the thinking for you. [01:06:09] Speaker C: We're better than our own trips. [01:06:12] Speaker D: We are. [01:06:13] Speaker B: Well, in all fairness, there was so much running around. There was so much excitement. There was so much going on. [01:06:19] Speaker A: And I didn't even talk about, like, all the footage that I got Friday while y'all were doing the training, which we will be releasing here soon. Got a Ride along for Dinosaur. Got Muppet Vision 3D. Hey, I. I put the. I put the 3D glasses in front of the camera so it's not blurry. Jenny, I think you. I think you got that same video as well. [01:06:45] Speaker D: I did it for the finale. I did it only for the finale before. I was like, hey, maybe this would work. [01:06:52] Speaker A: But, you know, so we have that for viewers to be coming up soon. But that was just that. And that literally, we did not cover everything at all, too. [01:07:04] Speaker B: It was a whirlwind. [01:07:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, because we. The dessert. The dessert party. And watching Luminous, which. The video of the fireworks show is up on YouTube. So if you haven't go on and watch that, go watch it. To me, it's one of the best views you're ever going to get. Not being in the park. [01:07:22] Speaker B: Zero obstruction, so. [01:07:24] Speaker A: And shot in 4K. Thank you, DJI ISMO Pocket 3. I really want one. But that's just a small taste of our trip. But we did have a trivia question. [01:07:36] Speaker D: We did. [01:07:38] Speaker A: So, Jenny, do you want to take us back to our trivia question? [01:07:42] Speaker D: All right. We had some guesses that were not correct, but the trivia question was, what famous song is traditionally played as the last song of the night at Jelly Rolls? [01:07:54] Speaker A: Rocket Man? [01:07:55] Speaker B: That's a good guess. [01:07:56] Speaker D: That was a good guess. You're close. [01:08:01] Speaker A: Does it have the word man in it? [01:08:03] Speaker D: It does have the word man in it. [01:08:05] Speaker A: Man, I feel like a woman. There we go. Hands down. [01:08:11] Speaker D: All right. Piano man from Billy Joel. [01:08:15] Speaker A: Makes sense. [01:08:16] Speaker D: Yeah. At the end of each night, the crowd joins in to sing Piano man while the performers play one last time. So, Piano Man. So you were close. [01:08:26] Speaker C: When that closes, like, final, that place is going to be at capacity. No Cap. [01:08:35] Speaker D: I will gladly pay the $22 for that. [01:08:38] Speaker C: I would pay the $22 for that show. [01:08:41] Speaker B: Oh, without a doubt. That it is. Honestly, if you haven't been. Go. Go. It is the perfect adult getaway at Walt Disney World. [01:08:54] Speaker A: And for. For people that like. Because, you know, I'm everyone's DB designated buddy. And it's. It's fun. Just. I was. My voice was hoarse the next day from singing, so it was fun. Yes. I mean, it's just fun being with y'all, you know? [01:09:14] Speaker B: I couldn't agree more. Yeah. I wish we would have planned our next trip, but alas, there is no endless pit of adults. [01:09:24] Speaker A: Hopefully we have another trip before our second annual MEEPS meetup, because I want to make that an annual thing in September. [01:09:34] Speaker D: Yeah, Food and wine. [01:09:36] Speaker B: See if Epic's in there. Yeah, we'll see about Epic. [01:09:42] Speaker D: Speaking of which, really quick. [01:09:44] Speaker A: Yes. [01:09:44] Speaker D: Calton and I both went separately, but went over to Sea Epic and Stellaluna. [01:09:51] Speaker A: I'm so jealous. [01:09:53] Speaker D: And Stella Nova. Stella Nova. I'm sorry. Terra Luna, Stella Nova. And got some footage in the gift shops. And you can see the Helios Hotel. You could see they were running some of the coasters they were testing. It looks magnificent. So cool. I'm gonna throw that in there because that was exciting. [01:10:11] Speaker B: Mousear's dedication. [01:10:13] Speaker D: Yep. [01:10:15] Speaker A: So, Lydia. I mean, come on, Lydia. [01:10:19] Speaker D: Yeah, come on, Lydia. [01:10:20] Speaker A: But with that, I think that just about does it. For this week's episode of the Mouse Ears podcast, don't forget to join our Mouse Ears podcast Facebook group and follow us on it's stillaround TikTok and Instagram for all things travel, but mostly Disney and X. That's right. Formerly Twitter. I'm still not used to it just being X, but also, we've talked. We have talked about this whole summit weekend. And if you're interested in having a Fairy Tale Journeys agent book your next trip, visit fairytalejourneys.com and let them know that the podcast sent you. And it's ftj, not fjt. As Avawana Travel kept saying. Lastly, if Joy or Weakness episodes of the Balancers podcast, which why wouldn't you because it's your favorite train wreck of the week and we would love for you to leave us a review wherever you listen to us or watch us until the next episode. Thanks everyone. Bye bye. [01:11:25] Speaker B: Happy Valentine's.