backlotboys Disneyland Podcast

For the first time ever, the Backlotboys are recording LIVE from the Disneyland Resort in Sunny (but chilly) Anaheim, California! This is a two-part podcast, blended into one with the first segment recorded at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and the second from inside Galaxy's Edge. During the first 20 minutes we go over hopes, dreams, expectations of the new Star Wars-themed land; the remaining 20 includes our reactions to the new land and everything that goes with it!  We discuss everything from blue milk to restroom cleanliness as we navigate the mean streets of Black Spire. Watch Goodtimeswithscar roll into Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities where he is appointed the fabled Dual-phase Sith lightsaber. Two, red Kyber Crystals illuminate his Diatium-powered combat noodle, and there is no telling how many of those still hiding out on Mon Cala will suffer as Goodtimeswithscar wields this terrible swift sword.  Is Smugglers Run accessible? YES! Listen and find out how the Disneyland version of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run accommodates those needing a little extra time boarding and de-planing the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy. Whether your destined to be a pilot, gunner, or ship engineer, there is a role and requirement for everyone contracted by Hondo Ohnaka himself. Speaking of Hondo, is it me, or does it seem like it'd itch to have those horns protruding from your jaw area?  We dined on the finest, dodged the imperialist, and froze our rumps off to bring to you a live, on-site podcast from the Black Spire Outpost. The least you could do, in the comments, is let us know which Star Wars character (from A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) Goodtimeswithscar most closely resembles! 

Disney+ has been up and running for two months now and everything is broken! Well maybe not everything, but if you have a Samsung Smart TV built in 2016 or earlier, UHD or not, forget your ability to use a convenient little app to access your new favorite platform. Sorry my Parliament Pals, the UK won't be able to scope out a single one of the 7,500 titles until March 2020. The Mandalorian is walking away with the title for raddest show of the year, but let's not forget the Imagineering Story featuring the one and the only, Bob Gurr! But with all this, and Forky from Pixar's Toy Story handing down life lessons, Disney Plus couldn't keep the identity thieves away for long. Allegedly, thousands of user accounts were hacked in the early hours of the platform's release. That said, it was a Washington Post article - meaning sources are scarce and writer credentials unclear.  All things considered, Bob Iger's Disney+ is leading to more binge-worthy evenings of show watchin' and dare we say, we're not mad at that!  The Kingdom Cable covers everything from the new Solar Farm in Orlando on the Disney World property, to the new Disney Store within a store model - view-able at a Target Store near you. Disneyland Cast Members can have bushy beards, flashy performance eye wear and long, daringly dangly earrings! Scar talks about French Fry rock formations in Tomorrowland, his harrowing escape when the Rocket Rods flung him into the foliage below back in the early turn o' the millennium, and the type of weapon he'd use if he were a ghost hunter.  Star Wars Fans! Didn't you all love the Star Wars Christmas Special featuring Life Day? No? Very funny, of course you did. Well, some of the production cats involved in that feat of creative majesty helped with Mandalorian - so you know it's good. Baby Yoda can be found chugging soup and having some laughs, all while a guy that looks like Boba Fett risks it all to slay an angry old galactic rhino. It's no Solo, but we'll use it to tie us over in the meantime.  The full Simpson's catalog can be found, albeit with a wonky aspect ratio. Coincidence?  Maybe, but I believe the padding and polishing chiefs are working those kinks out as we speak to smooth things over with disgruntled fans everywhere. Big fan of puppets? Miss that Jim Henson touch? Fear not, Earth to Ned is a brand-new Disney Plus original, featuring a Muppet-packed talk show. Did that not push you to open a new tab and start your subscription? Ease on over to this little piece for a 3-hour tour of the platform, sure to get you over the fence just like Ross Perot did with his late-night infomercials: https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/disney-plus-launch-lineup-three-hour-trailer/ - or - want to just see a complete list of Disney+ Titles? Check it: https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/everything-on-disney-plus-when-it-launches/ Ladies and Gentlemen, we've got you covered! Sit back, relax, pause Waking Sleeping Beauty for two seconds, and give the boys a listen!  Don't forget to leave a comment - good, bad, or ugly - we'll take em all! Last time, the backlotboys talked about a new Neil deGrasse Tyson attraction coming to Disneyland in California - give it a listen here: https://anchor.fm/backlotboys/episodes/Is-Neil-deGrasse-Tyson-coming-to-Disneyland-e4cs2m

Is there life after Galaxy’s Edge?  This new “Star Wars Land” has raised the bar (and I’m not talking about the safety bar) for the rest of Disneyland Park, and all other theme parks for that matter. The average guest expectation around immersion, no doubt, was intensified when Universal Studios decided to jump the shark with the Harry Potter-themed regions of their Hollywood and Orlando parks. Disney Parks fan-boys/girls looked to their leader, Big Bob Iger, for a response. After much ado, we were graced with the inclusion of a brand new themed region at both Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.    By delivering such an astonishingly plot-immersive galaxy among lands, detailed down to the Coca-Cola bottles looking like thermal detonators, Walt Disney Imagineering has created the contrast of all contrasts. A side-by-side comparison where even Disney’s previous best, Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure, shows just how involved one can get while traipsing around the streets below the spire, and then feel so disconnected while standing in Radiator Springs and spotting the Incredicoaster in the near distance.    How will Disneyland and her counterparts, both stateside in Orlando, and abroad, address the now occasional lack of immersive, cohesive theming outside of Star Wars Land? By setting the bar so high, Disney Imagineering has shined a proverbial flashlight on the rest of the lands throughout each park, putting their opportunities for improvement on the news!    Come along as Scar and I take a deep dive into how we’d like to see the Disney theme parks handle this sudden requirement for evolution!    Kingdom Cable:  We chat dry ice no longer being permitted in Disneyland. We handle the topic of which smoking devices are going to be allowed in the stateside Disney theme parks going forward (trick statement - none of them are). And we even so briefly note that Disney Parks will no longer be allowing strollers for six, or those massive child and luggage transporting wagons in the parks.    Don't forget to leave a comment - good, bad, or ugly - we'll take em all! 

Disneyland's Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opens in a matter of weeks and we couldn't be more stoked! May The Fourth has always been fun to talk about, but come the last day of May, history shall be made. A land that has taken years, if not DECADES, to conspire now takes up a good chunk (14 acres) of the Northwest portion of Disneyland Park in California, USA.  "Star Wars Land" as many have come to affectionately call it, will be the gateway to Savi's Workshop where you can build your own custom lightsaber! More about that robot/droid life? The Droid Depot will get your nuts, bolts and gyroscopes adjusted and may send you on your way with a brand new toaster-sized robotic friend. Don't forget to say "hi" to BB8 for us! If you're into the eats - Oga's Cantina, Ronto Roasters, the Milk Stand and Docking Bay 7 will square you away with meats, cheeses and that Blue Banta Milk that is truly out-of-this-world! If you don't mind a few popcorn kernels stuck in your teeth, pay Kat Saka's Kettle a visit for the sweetest, most savory treat in the System!  But Wait! You can't parade around Black Spire Outpost in those blue jeans. Nope, not that Off-White hoodie, either. Supreme fanny-pack? Toss it. Once you've made the call on whether you are Dark Side/Light Side, you're going to need to look the part. Zip in to First Order Cargo and proclaim your allegiance. Foolish enough to go with the light side? Then Resistance Supply will certainly square you away with a finely tailored Tomb Raider looking getup, complete with an artisan leather thermal detonator satchel!  Alrighty, your 4-hours at Black Spire Outpost are coming to an end... BOOM!!! Millennium Falcon's don't just fly themselves! get over to Sugglers Run and do the most good! Fully functional and responsive controls surround you as you careen through galaxies once only seen in the movies. Well, the movies and Star Tours. If you can hang in there, towards the end of the year you JUST MAY be able to rise up against the resistance in... well, Rise of the Resistance! Here you'll battle the First Order in a visually captivating, heart-pounding environment. Sadly, innovation and technology still need to catch up with Disney Imagineers' ideas - hopefully sooner rather than later.  If none of that sounds interesting enough to give this podcast a listen - then maybe a little Bob Iger Vs. Abigail Disney in the Twitter ring will! Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger pulled $66,000,000 this past year. Abby doesn't think he deserves it - and while she is probably right, Disney as a company defends Bob's take-home pay by stating that it is "90-percent performance based." Iger's impressive Disney Decade has brought our $24 per-share holdings out of the red and into the $125 range, sure, but when the going got tough, didn't he stop working out? No, he didn't. He still cranks out 4am cardio sessions on the VersaClimber. Haven't been on one? Try it and see if you can walk the next day. Don't forget to leave a comment - good, bad, or ugly - we'll take em all!  Photo Credit: LUCASFILM/WALT DISNEY PICTURES

It is Christmas time at the Disneyland Resort in sunny (albeit cold) California! Your Ho-Ho-Host GoodTimesWithScar surprised his parents with a very special holiday trip to The Happiest Place on Earth! The sugar on the churro of this trip was the lodgings - Scar and his parents holed-up at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and bring YOU along for the ride! From giant gingerbread houses, to Star Wars Land (Galaxy's Edge) sneak peeks, this Disneyland vlog leaves no crypt unexplored, no Monstropolis unscathed, and no Honey Hunt un- ummm... hunted? So sit back, relax and enjoy your trip! 

The Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim California has seen many face-lifts since its 1955 inception. In fact, it was the first hotel to feature color televisions in the guest rooms! But did you know about the secret stairwells? The private bathrooms? We'll uncover the hidden passages and much, much more! Today's Kingdom Cable, brought to you by GoodTimesWithScar, focuses on the Walt Disney Company's content streaming service and what movies and shows we can expect from the Disney + Fox catalog! The Disneyland Resort in California sees 18 million guests per year. However, they don't all stay at the Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier Hotel, or the Grand Californian Hotel. Back in the 60's and all the way through the mid 90's, you could keep the fantasy of your vacation going by staying at motels themed after 50's Space-Age, the Western Expansion, the Watergate scandal, and even an Alpine Lodge (still there today)! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the cast!

Disney World's Hollywood Studios gets Pixar'd out with the new Toy Story Land, aka Baybel Land! We talk Alien Swirling Saucers, Slinky Dog Dash, Woody's Lunch Box, and a park bench made out of used popsicle sticks! Wondering what they ever did with Aladdin's Oasis at Disneyland Resort in California? Well, nothing for a while there, but now it's going to be the Tropical Hideaway... goodtimeswithscar will be updating us on all things Tiki Room and how that relates to the Aladdin show of old. Kyle shoots an update on the decrepit Walt Disney World monorail system and livens up the rumor mill with deets on the possible Disney partnership with Bombardier and the $250 million transportation refurb. With all new trains, one would assume an actual functioning AC unit, right? Florida is swampy enough as it is amiright?? The Innovia 300 is entirely automated and is the Wayne Gretzky of monorails... listen for more details!

Disney, or rather, Bob Iger, battles Comcast (Brian Roberts) for FOX, and the Disney foreign parks release a barrage of park improvements to take place over the next 4-5 years! The DOJ has approved Disney's merger with FOX, bringing them one step closer to a fairly large portfolio increase. Although anti-trust SEC regulations will require the piece selling of FSN and most likely The Simpsons, Disney still stands to gain a book of business that will bring them more IP opportunities in film and in the parks. And it goes without saying, merch! John Lasseter, the head of the animation studios and wearer of about a thousand other hats has stated his tenure at the Walt Disney Company will officially cease at the end of 2018. Pete Docter will be taking over as CCO at Pixar, and Jennifer Lee as CCO at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Otherwise, the bulk of this ep surrounds the MASSIVE list of updates coming to Tokyo Disney, Disney Seas, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris! Enjoy!

Avast there! Come join the backlotboys in our Disney podcast as we recall the good, the bad, and the absolutely ATROCIOUS aspects of your favorite seaside area, Paradise Pier at Disney's California Adventure Park. Over at Disney Imagineering in Glendale, they've been busy conceptualizing and are now physically prepping the pier for its re-skinned, Pixar-washed debut as Pixar Pier. But before the walls come down and The Incredibles eat those Adorable Snowman edibles, let's remember... Let's remember a simpler time, when the likes of the Maliboomer, California Screamin', and yes, your favorite Disney nighttime show, LuminAria occupied the cement seaside of Paradise Pier. So whether you are excited to see King Triton get the boot, or are shedding crocodile tears at the departure of the Cove Bar, sit back, relax, and enjoy the podcast!

Paradise Pier is now Pixar Pier at Disney's California Adventure Park, and blood is in the water as the Backlotboys suggest their alternative attractions to those of the Walt Disney Imagineers.