Insights into Entertainment

Insights Into Entertainment: Episode 56 "Making Hollywood Magical"

March 09, 2020 Joseph and Michelle Whalen Season 2 Episode 56
Insights into Entertainment
Insights Into Entertainment: Episode 56 "Making Hollywood Magical"
Show Notes Transcript

With the opening of the new Mickie and Minnie ride in Disney's Hollywood Studios we take a look at the history of what was once considered the sleepiest theme park in Disney's collection. We'l explore how this "half day" park has been transformed into a premier destination attraction in just the last few years. From Toy Story Land to Star War's: Galaxy's Edge we'll explore how Hollywood Studio's has once again reinvented itself.

Star Wars Insights will take a quick look at a romantic proposal in Disneyland's Galaxy Edge. A rainbow sea of iconic lightsabers lit the way for a special couple to share their love and passion for the Star Wars universe and for each other, culminating in a marriage proposal for the ages. It's truly a sight to see and we've got the video for your convenience.

The Coronavirus infects our Entertainment News segment this week forcing the cancellation or postponement of several iconic entertainment related events. We take a look at how this world wide outbreak is effecting the entertainment industry in ways no one thought it would and we explore what the future impact on the entertainment industry might be.

We'll finish up with our Insightful Picks of the Week, a quickly look at some upcoming events and close the show out with a fantastic performance by a friend of the show Dan Fooks.

spk_0:   0:01
insightful podcasts, informative hosts insights into a podcast network. Welcome

spk_1:   0:28
to Inside Scinto Entertainment. A podcast. Siri's taking a deeper look into entertainment and media. Your hosts, Joseph and Michelle Whalen, Ah, husband and wife team of pop culture fanatics are exploring all things

spk_0:   0:43
from music and movies to television and fandom. Welcome to Insights and Entertainment. This is Episode 56 Making Hollywood magical. I'm your host, Joseph Whelan and my talented and brilliant co host, Michelle. Well, hi, everyone. How are you doing today, dear?

spk_1:   1:07
I'm doing fabulous. And you?

spk_0:   1:09
I'm doing awesome. So this week, we're gonna be talking about, uh, Hollywood studios And how the recent expansions in that park of kind of given in the shot in the arm and renovated it. Ah. Then in our Star Wars insights, we have a Disney related wanted galaxy's edge with a very cute proposal in our entertainment news. Um, we've avoided it talking about it so far. But the Corona virus is now seeping into the entertainment side of things here with the effects on some of the convention's coming out. So we will talk about that. We have our insightful picks of the week. Um, some upcoming events, and then we'll actually be closing the show out with kind of, ah, little special treat that we got to enjoy earlier this week related to our insight will pick this week. My insightful. So busy shoe. Yep. Shall we get started? Why not already? Let's do it. Okay. Oh, go for Disney Detective.

spk_1:   2:28
So this was, ah, interesting story that popped up talking about how Disney World sleepiest theme park became its hottest in just two years. Um, and you know, So the article basically gives a history of Hollywood studios and really, the transformation that started, you know, roughly two years ago and how it's just, you know, totally flipped the way the park started out. Um, you know, Walt Disney said himself, Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as their imagination left in the world. And I think that's something. For a long time, they kind of got away from in terms of Disney World and Disney World and Disneyland. You didn't really see a lot of changes going on in any of the parks. You know, maybe they would paint something, but, you know, um, it took them a while to kind of realize, you know, we need to to keep up with things. And I think part of that, you know, the resurgence, you know, because they had the competition from, you know, universal Studios, especially with hog warts and all the Harry Potter stuff and realized You know what you have thio update things. You have to change things in orderto keep your guests, you know, wanting and wanting toe wanting to come. Um, so for those of you that don't know, Hollywood Studios was actually originally called Disney MGM Studios when it opened as the third theme park in Walt Disney World in 1989. And it not only expanded, but it changed its identity as it transfer, you know, transformed, you know, from a sleepy half day park into now one of the hottest Walt Disney World theme parks. Um, so a brief history is in the late eighties, Epcot Magic Kingdom, you know, had their rides and things like that, and Universal kind of came along and Disney decided, Hey, we're in the movie business, too. Let's kind of create something to match Universal's you know, offerings. So the idea when the park first opened. What is that? It waas a, um Ah. Work A working studio. They were filming certain things there. You had, um, you know, backstage things that you could go see. So they had, um the couple of different stunt shows. They had things that showed you. You know how special effects were done. You would go on the tram ride where you would see, you know, the back of sets and and how they did certain things, you know. And the idea behind it was ah, different in some respects than Magic Kingdom, Magic Kingdom. It was all magical. You you didn't see things out of place where the idea, but between Bob for for, um, Disney MGM was that you were behind the scene. You got to see things out of place, actors walking around and things like that. You know, you could see how the movies were made, and over time, you know, it kind of, you know, they decided to try and throw in, you know, Hollywood Tower of Terror and rock and roll. You know, some of the thrill rides that we're still kind of themed, but the other problem, too, was that they were kind of out of place. They were in, you know, in, you know, they they weren't themed very well. They didn't seem like they belonged where, where they were. So you know. So Tower of Terror opened in 1984 and you know, that kind of started. I'm sorry. In 94 yeah, when the park opened in 89 it was it was gonna begin with, you know, So they you know, And so they kind of morphed it and changed it. And then they did Toy story mania, and that became such a big hit. Where and what was kind of funny was when we went out to California and we did Disneyland. We went on toy store or Toy Story mania was there, and there was, like, almost no line. But yet in Florida, there's always a line. There was always we just getting a fast pass, if you remember, sometimes took you 1/2 hour back in the day when you actually had to get the paper one so that you know, so again they had all these great ideas, but just kind of like sprinkled, you know, throughout and what was kind of funny. I didn't even realize this with that. In 2000 and 17 attendance at Hollywood Studios was not only the lowest of the four Disney theme parks, but was actually on the decline year over year because they, you know, they started taking various things out, getting rid of this and this didn't work anymore. And, you know, finally, they needed to really change things around. You know, they at one point they had the Osborne Christmas lights. Um and that was a big draw for them. But the area of the part that they did it in, there was nothing else there any other time of the year. So they had all this space, and it was kind

spk_0:   8:00
of that whole streets of New York section. They're always kind of puzzled me like right, Like you were supposed to feel like you're on a monitor. There was nothing going on,

spk_1:   8:10
right? There was no activity because at one point, if you remember when you used to have the tram ride, you kind of got off there. You'd walk around and they used to back in the day, have different activities and things set up Thio, you know, to make it useful. Over time, they kind of blocked things off. And once they got rid of the tram ride and they brought in the stunt show, it became really Ah, dead area. Well, and that's

spk_0:   8:37
the thing. Like when they started, they started as an active right, you know, studio, right? We're filming things. They're so the team that they gave you was the behind the scenes look, right, right. Then they kind of switched up their philosophy, and it was, Oh, you're in the movie,

spk_1:   8:53
right? And that's really where they have taken it. Now it's not only the behind the scene, it's now be part of that movie that you want to be. So of course, they first started with Toy Story, so they had, you know, the toy story mania ride. And then what they did was they expanded on it and became Toy Story land, which really, if you if you take the time to really walk through it and enjoy it and realize how much attention to detail is put in there, you feel like you are in Andy's backyard and you're the size of a toy, just you know. And

spk_0:   9:35
they did the same thing with the bug's life playground area to where you felt like you were immersed in that

spk_1:   9:41
right? Exactly. So that you know. So it was It was nice to see it grow. And then, of course, they had, You know, they built two other rides, you know, to go along with it and really changed it in that kind of you could see that that was kind of the turning point for them. Um, you know, So you had all of the toys, you know, that that opened up. And then obviously, the big news that came around was obviously Star Wars was going to be

spk_0:   10:10
coming. Our words is there?

spk_1:   10:12
Yeah. Really? Yeah. Yeah. E think you knew that? Um, so where? You know? So the attendance had had been declining once. 20 story land opened up, obviously. You know, they got a bit of a surge and knowing obviously that Star Wars was coming, you know, and again, it wasn't just Hey, we built two new rides. Star Wars Land as we know,

spk_0:   10:38
just a mercy

spk_1:   10:39
is totally immersive. Totally. You know, the fact that the cast members don't react that they're cast members? They're sitting, you know, they're citizens of Batu and you know, And if you want to talk about how much time and attention gets put into it, you know, Thio

spk_0:   11:00
like like, you know, a couple of years back before all this open Hollywood studios really wasn't a full day part

spk_1:   11:06
right and that

spk_0:   11:07
it was 1/2 day part right now with the stuff that they've opened. Now it's Star Wars alone is a full day,

spk_1:   11:13
and we and we really did

spk_0:   11:15
not just waiting in line,

spk_1:   11:17
right? And we really when we went, we spend most of our time in Star Wars land because there was so much to see. There was so much to do. Know granted, if you're not a Star Wars fan, maybe you wouldn't have wanted to spend, you know, as much time

spk_0:   11:34
who's not a Star Wars fan.

spk_1:   11:36
I hate to tell you, but there are some

spk_0:   11:37
things you're not a Star Wars thing. You should not be watching this podcast.

spk_1:   11:41
But, you know, there's all the different experiences. They're not only having something to eat or you know, the lightsaber experience. You have the droid making experience. You know, there's obviously enough to keep you occupied in in galaxy's edge on Batu. You note Thio appreciate it. And then, of course you have, you know, Toy Story land as well. They are planning on building a toy story themed sit down restaurant. So that's in the works. So I'm sure that will be another thing, you know, to to keep you, you know, active. And then what opened this past week was Mickey and Minnie is ride. Now I know you're bidder. You're not the only one. That's better. A lot of people

spk_0:   12:27
I'm not just beer because they basically repurposed the great move right, which was a great ride. What I'm bitter about is the fact that they own enough land to start their own country down there. They're absolutely no reason for them to be reusing a basic ride like

spk_1:   12:47
well, and I think the problem Here's where I I think the problem with the great movie ride is that they didn't update it in certain areas and they they took away a lot of the little Imagine

spk_0:   13:05
the live interactions and stuff like that,

spk_1:   13:06
right? They took away that the hosts. So you got away from that? So if you never went on the ride. Basically, it was kind of like a history of movies. Um, it would take you around two different scenes from various movies MGM movies, Disney movies, You know, Casablanca. Uh um, Mary Poppins dancing in the rain. You know, they should did like, ah, western section than they had, like, a gangster section than it ended with. Ah, beautiful wizard of us. That was gorgeous, you know, And all while you're going through this, you had a tour guide, basically, you know, there would be a cast member telling you about it. And what would happen is when Depending on where you were in the set, if you stopped at the cowboy section, there'd be another actor there who would take over. Your

spk_0:   14:04
guy would interact with the environment while you were all

spk_1:   14:07
right. So you had somebody that interacted with you in the western. Or if you were further head somebody that interacted with you in the gangster section so that that would always happen, And then as you would go through, you'd get to a section that was the Indiana Jones Temple of Doom. Um, not Temple of Doom. Ah, Raiders of the lost ark and there would be a whole little magical thing that would happen. And your tour guide magically, you know, came back. They saved the day, and that was kind of cool and different and and, you know, if you

spk_0:   14:42
would but it's not looking you're seeing, but you

spk_1:   14:45
can't go see it anymore. But what was neat was that, you know, you never knew where you were, which scene would stop, and then at one point, they just got rid of it. You didn't have

spk_0:   14:57
a tour guide. I drive through,

spk_1:   14:58
and it was just a drive through. You didn't have the same because what would happen, um, during the western scene is like the building would go on for, the bank would go on fire so they would show you the effects of how they, you know, could have things on fire without them really burning down. And then during the gangster scene, it would be a gunfight with obviously nobody getting hurt,

spk_0:   15:20
ribs and stuff. Yes, it was all

spk_1:   15:22
this magical movie stuff, and then over time, they just stopped doing it, you know, and the right kind of became,

spk_0:   15:30
But that's the thing. Like why would you stop doing that? It was a good ride, right? You can update it. You can put your movies and

spk_1:   15:37
totally with so

spk_0:   15:39
many other rides to keep them fresher could

spk_1:   15:43
totally agree. I totally agree that yes, Mickey and Minnie deserve their own attraction, but they didn't need Thio

spk_0:   15:52
repurpose and many a Mickey Reid should have been a magic kingdom should not have been in Hollywood studios

spk_1:   15:58
because it's a movie. So it's that just hey, don't shoot the messenger. I'm just saying. But anyway, this past week, Mickey and Minis Reid has has now opened. This is the first time ever that Mickey and Minnie have had their own ride in any theme park

spk_0:   16:19
which, in and of itself is kind of a travesty.

spk_1:   16:21
Yeah, it is when you when you kind of think about it. Um, but S o, you know, from videos that I've seen, it does look really kind of cool. It kind of uses the same part of the same ride technology that rise of the resistance using ride the free, you know. So there's some scenes that you see where there's multiple cars moving in multiple angles, but there's no drops or anything. So it's, you

spk_0:   16:52
know, drops and rise of the reserve, right? There's

spk_1:   16:54
no drops in rise of the resistance. Um, so you know, little kids can go on it. It's not, you know, scary in anyway. So if it looks cute, would I wait 300 minutes thio online for it? No. Um, so it'll be

spk_0:   17:10
interesting rates world.

spk_1:   17:11
Well, that on opening day, of course it was because everybody and their mother was

spk_0:   17:15
And what it may institute the curing like they did with rise of the reason, I don't

spk_1:   17:19
know and the other

spk_0:   17:20
was successful, right? And that's

spk_1:   17:22
and that's the other thing is, I don't know for how much longer the cue that they have a rise of the resistance is going to be going on because I don't

spk_0:   17:31
think our ongoing our colleague from work is going down in a few months. And their cue they weren't able to do the Q could accuse going away before they go down.

spk_1:   17:39
Okay? Yeah, So I knew at some point it was going away, but I'm sure it's going to be a fast path. But then again,

spk_0:   17:45
of the new friends,

spk_1:   17:45
so they got a fast pass for, So that will be interesting to see once the queue is gone, What the actual wait time will be for that. And I'm sure it will be 300 plus minutes for that once a day. Once they opened that and then another thing that they kind of, you know, thio add to the whole Hollywood studios is now they have the skyline, um, the skyline, er, that's now Well, it's it's, you know, it's another thing that kind of got added. So it's an easier way to get to Hollywood studios and Epcot. Um, the new resort, the Riviera is right there. Um, you know, some people were saying, You know what? It is a little bit faster than the bus. You don't have the smell from from all of the, you know, the exhaust for the diesel from the buses.

spk_0:   18:40
Some people have it so good.

spk_1:   18:42
Yeah, that's true, too. But again, you know it. It's another little added thing. So it's It's interesting because within two years they really did, you know, turn it around. So it'll be interesting to see because it cuts really like the next one that's really getting

spk_0:   18:58
getting some huge team.

spk_1:   19:00
That's getting an overhaul, too. So it'll be interesting to see how much you know that changes. So again, you know, a really interesting article to see, you know, the difference. I obviously I've you know, I've been to the part. I've been going to the park long enough that I have seen, you know, all of these changes. And, you know, I do see it for the better. Um, and I'm interested also to see again. Where happens? Going

spk_0:   19:27
with two. It pains me to point this out, but all these changes happen under Bob Iger. So it makes me wonder once this new set of changes that's already in place, it's finished, right? What direction do we go? Because the person who's now CEO was in charge of the parks before this. Right. So are you going to see Maur favoritism towards the parks? Because that was where they came from. You know, that's where I'm curious to see how what impact this is gonna have

spk_1:   19:54
her. But that's the other thing, too. Is that once all these changes air in, Do you continue to make changes or do you you know, is it going to be something like, Okay, we made these changes. We don't need to do anything for another 10 years.

spk_0:   20:09
Well, and I think a lot of that's going to be determined by your competition. I mean, had had universal not come in there and the Holy Land experience not coming in there you would not have seen. Didn't really

spk_1:   20:21
want to know if anybody has ever done the Holy Land experience. Please, if

spk_0:   20:26
you're ever in entrance a little

spk_1:   20:27
training and tell, you know, I don't know anybody that's ever gone to it.

spk_0:   20:33
But seriously, though no true had had Universal not given them a run for their money and shown them what modernized rides, Condo's Disney probably would still be resting on their laurels.

spk_1:   20:45
Absolutely. Because look at for how long? You know, certain rides, you know, didn't get update. And there was no need to, because that's

spk_0:   20:55
what they think. The tourism, right, right.

spk_1:   20:58
But I'm also wondering, too, with Universal. Since they've opened, they've really only as far as I know have only opened one new ride. The one that

spk_0:   21:09
opened the Harry Potter is

spk_1:   21:10
the Harry Potter, you know, really launched. So what are they looking?

spk_0:   21:15
Harry Potter world. So it's kind of like Star Wars. True, You don't really have to do all that much as long as you capture that right. True, True. So but interesting. Interesting to see the turn around there. I mean, we've been going for 16 years together now. Clubs do it almost almost 60. I ran

spk_1:   21:36
over. Our gay anniversary is coming up,

spk_0:   21:39
and we've seen a lot of changes happen across all the parks. You know, definitely a lot of changes. I mean, the big draw for us. You would basically hit all your rides in the morning and then hit all your shows in the afternoon, right? Right. And then, you know, if you wanted to stick around, you hit one of the restaurants, right? And that's the thing. Like Hollywood Studios does have some really cool themed restaurants, which again they were designed to capture that nostalgia of the movies, right, right. And going back to the fifties and you know, your prime time cafe and stuff like that. It's a cool experience dining there and then I still think it has probably the best night show with Fantasmic.

spk_1:   22:25
Hands down! I still cry it Fantasmic. I've seen fantasmic for 20 something years since I first saw at in California. I still cry. I still don't know what's gonna happen. And yet I cry

spk_0:   22:41
Well, and, you know, the testament to this is the fact they built an entire theater for just

spk_1:   22:48
for it. You know? You know, you have a good show when the only thing your theater does

spk_0:   22:53
is that

spk_1:   22:53
is one or two shows a night. That's it. Yeah. Yeah.

spk_0:   22:56
So you know, they eat. I think Disney even acknowledge the fact that it wasn't They didn't have the rides to make it a full day part,

spk_1:   23:02
right? But they had the other other

spk_0:   23:05
things in there to give the experience you had. You know, I can't imagine too many people went through the Walt Disney Experience history,

spk_1:   23:13
right? But that was also much later, like, I don't know, if you remember, would they had the fully theater? That was actually when we went that time and you got your hand solo in carbonite?

spk_0:   23:28
Oh, so we went to

spk_1:   23:30
the theater, so that was actually a little theater that they had. I know at one point, it was somebody else that start in the movie but they had another. Where Drew Carey was was in it. And basically it was like this corny little movie with all the sound effects. And they had people

spk_0:   23:47
they weren't expecting.

spk_1:   23:48
Well, no. They had people from the audience that you could play the fully stuff and they would. Okay, you gotta hit this now and they'd record it with the movie and then play it back and you'd realize how hard it really was being a Foley artist. So that was a cute little thing. Thea

spk_0:   24:06
American, I'll experience American

spk_1:   24:08
Idol experience, which is now the frozen. But they also had, you know, when it was a working studio, they had the Disney artists there, and they had a tour that you would walk through that was hosted by, um, Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite, showing you, you know, the artists and you could actually look down because that's where the Star Wars one area became, where you could look down and you could watch artists, you know, drawing different things that were eventually gonna be, you know, part of the movie. So, you know, it's interesting again to see how you know it's gone through with its phase. They

spk_0:   24:50
have certainly done things there to try to keep you interested in the inner team other than just rides and that they're moving more towards the right side of things bright. When you see the way they've done Toy Story land

spk_1:   25:07
because we don't go on roller

spk_0:   25:09
Reg, you know they're still putting that experience here so you could just enjoy the joy.

spk_1:   25:15
And that's the thing is like for Toy Story land. We don't go on Slinky Dog Dash, but our daughter does. But we get to sit and enjoy all the ambience and feel like a toy in, you know, Toy Story land. So

spk_0:   25:30
very cool. Shall we move on? Let's move on. All right, let's talk about our Star Wars insights. Tell us about this stunning proposal.

spk_1:   25:46
So here's a little Star Wars Disney crossover. So Disney marriage proposals are obviously nothing new. Um, you know, they probably happened at at the park's almost every day, but this one was kind of ah, different one and one that you would definitely, um, appreciate. So there was a Star Wars loving couple that decided to jump to light speed and took their relationship to the next level in a galaxy far, far away. Ah, so Lana and Glenn are clearly too dedicated Star Wars fans. She is actually dressed as kylo ren. And it seems that there was a huge gathering. Um, that was happening at Galaxy's edge in California, where a ton of fans, you know, they kind of did like, um, I don't want to say like, a lightsaber flash mob, But basically, hundreds of of guests were there with their light sabers, and it was at night. So it was beautiful. And she decided that this was the perfect opportunity to propose to her boyfriend, um, surrounded by all these other Star Wars fans with, you know, all of their light saber so you can see Ah, the video. Like, that's a lot of light sabers. Yeah.

spk_0:   27:09
Good to see there's some sit right in there. Yeah.

spk_1:   27:11
Yeah. So this was, you know, So she figured this was the perfect opportunity. Um, you know, So I guess there were, you know, photographers there? I don't

spk_0:   27:23
know, like she felt. Sure she if he said no somebody There was a lot of people that would influence,

spk_1:   27:30
right? He'd be frozen in carbonite or something. um, so, yeah, you know, Disney does the, um uh What's the, um, they had, you know, there's always something going on. Um, fan fan wise. I know. There was, like, a jungle cruise day. So

spk_0:   27:52
is this a specific event that they decided to do this?

spk_1:   27:55
Yeah, I think this is, like a month. I don't know if this is a monthly or bimonthly Star Wars fandom,

spk_0:   28:02
because I see a lot of people there in costume, which is generally not allowed,

spk_1:   28:06
right? Well, see. And that's the thing is some, you know, kind of like dapper day, How you can kind of get away with or the Disney bounding. I'm guessing some of these air kind of like, you know, the the sixth floor. Not like the Star Wars bounding, I guess. Because when we were even a galaxy's edge, there were a couple of people that were, ah, little dressed up, not like ah, 100% you know, dressed up, but at least in in something. So, you know, tons of Star Wars fans around, and, you know, you are my light in the darkness. And you are my king and my warlock. Um, you know, and And I think she actually gave him a Khyber crystal, I think as as, like, the engagement ring type thing. And I think

spk_0:   28:55
it's kind of cool that she proposed to him. Yeah, that that was really

spk_1:   28:58
I think he gave her a Khyber crystal or Ah, Star Wars ring or something. Will you join me in the fight for life, you know, and be mine? Oh, you know. And of course he said yes. If not, he would have had his shop to shop. So I thought that was you know, that was very, you know, very cool. And

spk_0:   29:22
that's very cute. Yeah. See, that was nothing like how he proposed to, you know, not talk about that.

spk_1:   29:29
Now. That'll be another. That will be a special edition, you know, anniversary.

spk_0:   29:35
Yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll see anyway. So that was all we had for Star Wars insights this week.

spk_1:   29:44
That was it. Something kind of cute and romantic. That's nice. Ah,

spk_0:   29:49
we will come back with were and her team at news of the week. Tell us about washing your hands along,

spk_1:   30:02
so you know you can't escape it, unfortunately, and, um, you know, so earlier in the week, There was an article that I had found talking about how the Emerald City comic con was still gonna be going on. Um, but that they, you know, were allowing people to

spk_0:   30:25
know Where is Emerald City? Comic con?

spk_1:   30:27
Emerald City comic con is actually in Seattle. Washington

spk_0:   30:31
somewhere, obviously. A major number outbreak a Corona virus, Right?

spk_1:   30:38
Exactly. So they were still planning on doing it. They had posted on Thursday, you know, saying that they, you know, they had been talking about it. They decided to still go forward with it. But basically, use your your judgment. You know, if you feel like you, you'd be OK going. Come. If you don't, we'll give you a refund. And they had a link to their website about you know,

spk_0:   31:06
least they're kind of cool about that,

spk_1:   31:08
right? They weren't being jerks about and say no. If you're not coming, you're not coming? Um, the one artist, uh, Karen, uh, Hallion, who I follow in love, all of her. Her work. Um, she was actually supposed

spk_0:   31:24
to be really got some of that, didn't

spk_1:   31:25
you? I did, for my birthday. So she actually had posted that she was very upset that she made the decision not to go because she lives in the Boston area. So she was gonna have to travel, you know, fly on. She said, you know, I'm really sorry. I'll be there next year. I just think at this time, you know, it's best if I move. I stay home. And as I was putting together the show notes yesterday, obviously things have changed. And now, um, Emerald City has now postponed it till sometime this summer. They you know, they're not even doing it at all. Because it was supposed to be, you know, in the next couple of weeks, um, you know, And they said, you know, with everything going on with so many people affected, and you know they couldn't do it, they didn't wantto cause more harm, you know, for people traveling, you know, because it's supposed to be such a fun time and everything they just couldn't see causing heart, which is

spk_0:   32:33
this manager Not only the danger but the stress of the whole experience. And this certainly is the first convention to two.

spk_1:   32:42
Yeah. So this is, uh, you know, So they're hoping they don't have a date yet. They said basically, you know, keep, you know, keep checking in. Um, I think they were still going to be issued. So from the article, I believe, Ah, they are issuing refunds. So it's not like, Hey, hold your ticket and, you know, so submit your refund. It'll probably take about 30 days to get it. And then once they have, you know, a set date for summer of 2020 Go and buy, you know your your tickets again. And unfortunately, we're going to see, you know, ah lot of this. And, you know, in our next story, it's another Yeah, And

spk_0:   33:26
honestly, it's the responsible thing.

spk_1:   33:28
Absolutely, absolutely. You know, we we were talking about it, you know, last night that you know, N c A A you know, basketball tournament. They made the decision. You know, it's not, you know, the sweet 16 or anything like that, but it's a smaller level where two of the schools that are going to be playing they're not playing to anybody is going to be them. Not even their family is allowed to come, and they just they're taking precautions now. I did see an article this morning that the n B A is kind of. They haven't decided to do that yet, but they basically said, Be prepared to play games in front of nobody. And I think LeBron James came out and he's like, Well, I'm not gonna play if nobody's gonna be there But then that's not being very responsible, because you're you're you're asking people to come and

spk_0:   34:21
you want people to risk their lives just to watch you play a game

spk_1:   34:23
right where you know what, I rather watch it on on television, you know? So it you know, in this day and age, you know, do you go out and still participate in these different activities or, you know, d d stay home. You know, that's where I guess ah, lot of it. You know, you have to live your life, but you have to live it smartly to you know, it's one thing you know, when 9 11 happened and everybody you know was scared to to do things because you didn't know when the attack was gonna happen, you know, and there were people that wanted to stay in a bubble and they didn't want to go to two different events or things like that. And then there were other people that were like, You know what? It's gonna happen. It's gonna happen. I can, you know. And I think there are people that are, well, that's

spk_0:   35:13
that's completely different things. Well, in this case here, you're talking about being part of the problem. Absolutely. If you go out to a convention someplace and there's some of that sick and you're become a carrier for right, you're then spreading the disease

spk_1:   35:30
is, and that's where you know. Let's

spk_0:   35:32
let's be honest, these air conventions, they're not life right altering events, not saving people's lives. There's no ultimate M price to it, right? These air recreational things at at best, they might be professional conventions you're going to write. It's not worth the risk.

spk_1:   35:48
Oh, absolutely. What?

spk_0:   35:49
Maybe you know, you may may be overly cautious to cancel you. Rather, you'd rather do that than have the the situation that you have in other countries that have not had these controls place, right? I mean work to the point now where we're not just talking about not going to conventions. There are communities that are talking about instituting self isolation programs of people and it's It's to the point where if you're told, you need to isolate your community for 14 days, right? How are you gonna live? How you gonna get food? I'm right. This is what it's coming down to you and for people to worry about going to a convention, silly for professional athletes to take this irresponsible stance of, Well, I'm not gonna abide by this or I'm not gonna play because it's idiotic. Think that way. Right. Where is the right thing? And you let it burn itself out within a couple of months. I think you can go back to life, right? The problem is, is that this is this is it so hard spread so fast? And at this point in time, there's over 100,000 infections with almost a 3% mortality rate. With this at this point, which, you know, everyone says all well, the flu has killed more people. Yeah, but if you look at a percentage wise right, there's a better 1% mortality rate on the flu. Right? This is literally twice that at this point in time, right? So this isn't something to mess around, you know, and going to a convention just simply is not as important as your health,

spk_1:   37:24
right? Exactly. And if it means, you know, renting something from Netflix, you know, and and staying home and binge watching, you know, various different things than do that and wait for it. Thio, pass and wash your hands.

spk_0:   37:41
Emerald comic cons. Not the only one that has canceled. Yeah. So now

spk_1:   37:45
we have south by Southwest, which is an annual tech film, a music conference that's held in Austin, Texas, and they have now canceled. And this convention actually goes from March 3rd until March, 20 seconds. So this is usually, ah, much longer. Um, festival that that goes on, um and, you know, it's obviously a big surge for their economy, you know, in Austin. So, you know, this is the first time in 34 years that it's actually being canceled. You know, they said they were devastated to share the news, but they know that it's the right thing, you know, to dio, um, several days leading up to it. Various, um, people backed. We're backing out guests and and presenters. Twitter was actually the first company to pull out. Um, saying that they had a new policy restricting all business travel because of the virus. Facebook, Intel. Ah, and other you know, cos followed suit. Um, you know, and there were some companies that were gonna be trying to still present. But through Skype, um, you know, or other, you know, means like that. And then, you know, they were able to get other guests to kind of fill in, But then, as time went on, it just made more sense, you know, because you're talking, you know, thousands of and thousands of people that, you know, we're gonna be, you know, you know, coming any room into the city,

spk_0:   39:18
even your company is institute, you know?

spk_1:   39:21
Yeah. Probably ended options. We ended up getting an email basically saying that anybody that had airline ticket for the middle of march and on for, like, the next 2 to 3 months, it was gonna be cancelled. Any hotel rooms, we're going to be cancelled. Any meetings that needed to be done would have to be done through Skype. Um, no large gatherings of any sort, you know? You know, foreseeable, You know,

spk_0:   39:51
I don't want to turn this into a political thing, right? Because I hate dragging that stuff out. But I think a lot of this thes, self initiated ventures that companies and conventions are doing really are in response to this overall lackluster response of the federal government. At this point, I think there's very little confidence that people have right now lease from the accounts of people that I've talked directly, that the federal government's doing what needs to be done, which is kind of ironic. Given all the criticism that the United States has lodged at North Korean, China and all these other countries who tried to cover it up. It's handled it. You know, people are coming down on Italy for their outbreak because they did nothing to contain it there. And you know, the message that we're getting from our government Here is a mixed batch of contradictory statements and someone being put in charge of the crisis, who has absolutely no qualifications to handle such a crisis. Absolutely. So I applaud, you know, the organizer of these events. Oh, absolutely. We're taking the initiative themselves, right? For doing things that the federal government should already be. There should have

spk_1:   41:08
been doing it months ago. Absolutely now. And,

spk_0:   41:12
um it's It's nice to see that that people are intelligent enough to do common sense things like this when the federal government fails us utterly. Lake, it has. Right. Okay, that's all for my political statement. Okay, um, I think that was all we had for our entertainment.

spk_1:   41:31
Yeah, because you know everything else, You know, the I didn't put the story in here. But one of the other things you know we've been talking about for months is the new James Bond movie that was supposed to be opening up in April. And they've actually pushed that back to November now. So, you know, it's starting to kind of trickle, you know, throughout the whole entertainment. You know, I'm sure they're, you know, are probably concerts that are are being pushed out and moved around and things like that. So

spk_0:   42:03
as long as we don't miss out on the return of the Jedi in concert at the Man this summer, I'll be fine.

spk_1:   42:09
I hope so. Well, it'll be the summer by then. Hopefully,

spk_0:   42:12
hopefully this this'll have passed a metal taking the right steps. Hopefully, Yeah. All right. We will come back and we'll talk about our insightful picks of the week. Okay, a new one for us.

spk_1:   42:29
I d'oh! So I have been wanting to see this movie for Ah, while it definitely seemed like it was something I'd be interested in. And so last weekend, I finally got around watching it, and it is knives out. It is a 2019 American mystery film written by your best friend, Ryan Johnson. At

spk_0:   42:53
least it's not Star Wars.

spk_1:   42:54
At least it's not Star Wars. Um, S O he ah wrote. He directed and produced the film along with Rahm Bergman, and it is a modern who done it. Um, and the film follows a family gathering that has gone awry after the family's patriarchs. Death leads to a master detective to investigate. Um, it's a great ensemble. It's Daniel Craig. Speaking of James Bond, we have Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson cheeses humping all these Toni Collette, um, you know, and Christopher Plummer on. And he plays the father, and so it's a great cast. It definitely reminds me of like an Agatha Christie whodunit. Um, you know, basically everybody had motive Thio doing this. Um, you know, and it's just interesting to see all of these actor. You know Don Johnson. I can't remember the last time I saw him at anything and he played this really sleazy dad, you know, in the in the film, you know, he

spk_0:   44:03
could do that.

spk_1:   44:03
He really did. And Chris Evans was like a jerk, like here, you know, Captain America saving the world. And now

spk_0:   44:13
he was a small pot guy.

spk_1:   44:15
It was awesome of. And here he's like a jerk. You know, you're kind of like, uh, like, you like this, um, but, you know, funny in different, you know, aspects. And then Daniel Craig actually plays the detective who he kind of has this, like, Southern New Orleans. Weird accent. He's kind of like yet it was very hard, you know, listening to him and and whatever, but really, you know, a really good good movie, you know? And what was actually interesting was that in February that they are talking about a sequel. But basically what it would be is that, um, it obviously since they found out who you know, who really murdered the, you know, the patriarch of the family, it would actually be Daniel Craig's character. you know, basically going in solving another murder mystery type type thing. Um, so really interesting. You know, again, Ah, if you're into the whole who done it? You know, Agatha Christie type, you know, murder on the Orient Express. You know, it's, Ah, modern twist on it, you know, of of who done it. So

spk_0:   45:35
nice break. Thank you. So my pick this week is kind of repeat pick. Ah, a few weeks back, we were hosts. Lucky not to play host to Dan. Folks from the financial fixed up CEO on a podcast about financial responsibility on our insights into teams podcast. Well, it turns out Dan is also a very talented musician.

spk_1:   46:09
He's like a jack of all trades.

spk_0:   46:10
He is, um, a man of all trades. We were invited to come see him play live at a local establishment nearby, and we went out on Tuesday. Was it

spk_1:   46:24
Tuesday night?

spk_0:   46:25
Tuesday night we went out and we got to see him play. He is a one man band, thanks to the use of some creative technology that he has. And ah, he was doing ah to our set at this establishment. Um, playing acoustic guitar at some accompaniment with his technology there. And we

spk_1:   46:49
had a very good time. Yeah, we did.

spk_0:   46:50
Um, he's very talented. Um, played pretty much all the kind of music that I like to listen to. A lot of classic rock stuff there

spk_1:   47:01
with some modern stuff,

spk_0:   47:03
Something so modern stuff mixed in there. And ah, I was telling him that the more I interact with him, the more impressed I am with hey is he is a very talented, intelligent young man. And, ah, I thought he deserved another plug on the show here. And we'll actually be closing out the show today with some footage from that set just to kind of, ah, drive home The point of how talented this young man is. I am a huge Eagles fan. The rock group myself. Are you he that Oh, my God. Together. How long now? He was kind enough to treat us to Eagle songs during the set, one of which is what will be closing the show out with today. Eso props to Dan. Um, great mind financially, when it comes to money, great talent. When it comes to music as well, Dan actually does piano lessons too. he teaches piano lessons as well. So he's a very enterprising young man on, and you can check him out on Instagram at www dot instagram dot com slash dance. Folks, that was my pick. Very good pick. So we'll come back. We have a couple of upcoming events, but we're not going to go into all the details. And there's, ah, one to know one that are in there. So what do we have this week? They're

spk_1:   48:41
so obviously like we've been, you know, kind of talking with, you know, the other various conventions that have been postponed or pushed out. As of right now, everything is still a go for some of these local ones. But, you know, we're a week away. Who's you know, who knows what what could happen. So and

spk_0:   49:03
we've not. We've not. There's been one outbreak in North Jersey. One outbreak in Pennsylvania. We've known Hit. We're not I wouldn't say outbreak of the infection, right? We've not been hit with the large outbreaks. That right there actually is one

spk_1:   49:18
in in South Jersey that that did pop up yesterday. They're still testing so again, nothing as major as some of the bigger city. So

spk_0:   49:28
So what is on the schedule?

spk_1:   49:30
So as of right now, Monster Mania is scheduled for next weekend. That's at the Crown Plaza in Cherry Hill. Um, that's supposed to be the 13th 14th and 15th. Then the following week, this one kind of popped up is Theseus South Jersey toy and Vinci is vintage collectible show. And that's gonna be at the Wyndham Hotel, which is in Mount Laurel. So not too far from the Crown Plaza. That one is vintage toys, collectibles, posters, rock memorabilia. Ah, that one is actually just on Sunday, March 22nd from 9 to 49 being the early bird admission 10 o'clock. Everybody else, uh, $5 for early admission, $3 for for regular mission. So really inexpensive. Um, toy show. Ah, that's that's kind of close by. Ah, Then the following weekend is the Delaware Shows, which are, Ah, the Toy Show, The Delaware Train Show on Saturday, March 28th and then the April Fool's Toy Show, which is on Sunday, March 29th. Both are at the new shrine, Um center in Delaware, Newcastle, Delaware. So that rounds out march for April, the beginning of April we have the great Philadelphia comic con. Um, that's April 3rd 4th and fifth at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. Um, and then, you know, kind of making its way. Ah, As the warmer weather happens is ren faire season starts up. So, uh, the 1st 1 that kind of hits our area is the ren faire at historic Smithville. It's actually free. There's no cost for it. Um, but if you've ever been Thio, Smithville either want to get there early for close parking or you know you're gonna be parking miles away and and I don't even know if they do buses or or anything like that. And probably because it's free. Um, and that is going to be April 25th and 26th in the historic village of Smithville. Um, and they'll have Ah, the cast that actually walks around is part of the New Jersey Renaissance cast, along with other, um,

spk_0:   51:55
which will be having later on in the season,

spk_1:   51:57
right, That happens wth e end of may, you know, into June. Um and then one last one that that kind of you know, starts the beginning of May is the Philly Ren faire, which it's okay, That's fine. That's actually held at the historic Fort Mifflin. Okay, that's the one

spk_0:   52:18
with its relax. That was,

spk_1:   52:20
that was your first experience throwing at, um, so that one's an interesting one because the four Fort Mifflin they do pirate theme things they do renaissance. They do.

spk_0:   52:34
Ford itself is a history of Revolutionary War Fort that was built along the Delaware River south of Philadelphia, and it was designed to to guard the Delaware in Philadelphia against British invasion and do, ah, ton of stuff there. It's a great

spk_1:   52:54
right, and what's neat is usually when you have when they have these different events there you Actually it's included in your price of admission. You can actually go around. They have, like, a couple of little museum areas on, you know, a couple years back, they actually found what was it? A magazine. A case on that had been buried. They didn't even know it had.

spk_0:   53:19
It was It was a case on that had been used as a prison cell drying the civil war right on. It was discovered by the groundskeeper mowing the grass

spk_1:   53:29
actually fell, and what's need is, you know, from where the prison. You know, there was writing that they found, um various different ghost hunting shows have been out there. They do ghost hunting events a couple of times a year or

spk_0:   53:43
so. One of the most, uh, power Normally active air. Uh uh. We'll have to try your camera thing. That's time

spk_1:   53:50
ago. There's an idea. So, yeah, they do a cute little ren faire there. So not too big, couple of different shows. Um, you know, with with food and different vendors. So you know, if it's something where you don't want to do a big crowded one? Yes. And that's how I knew about these dates. So what? One of the one of my Facebook friends is your friendly neighborhood? Shakespeare? He's hysterical, you

spk_0:   54:15
know. Oh, God. What for? Five different looking.

spk_1:   54:19
Yeah, you know, So he actually was the one that posted all the different members because he not only does local ones, but he goes to Texas. He goes all I'll even throw those dates in for anybody. That's not from our area. You know, if you're listening, you know, just just to go see him, you know, I would totally pay just just

spk_0:   54:37
tea watch. It wouldn't pay to go to Texas to see him.

spk_1:   54:40
Well, now, locally, Locally, I gotto I'd go to see him. So that's it. Because as we go on, you know we'll update.

spk_0:   54:46
We're not gonna give you the whole list every every episode.

spk_1:   54:49
Right? And again, hopefully, you know, the ones that are supposed to be next week. They don't, you know, postpone

spk_0:   54:55
or cancel anything so well. Fingers crossed. So I think that was all we had this week. Yes. We'll close out and contact information. No, That too. Yeah, I guess we do. Should invite you to contact

spk_1:   55:08
if you want it. If you don't, that's fine. We're not upset. It's okay.

spk_0:   55:11
Feel free. Never

spk_1:   55:12
call. You never write.

spk_0:   55:13
It's fun. Stay off my long Your kids, uh, feel free to e mails at comments at insights into things dot com

spk_1:   55:22
are on Twitter at insights Underscore things.

spk_0:   55:25
You can get our videos on YouTube at youtube dot com slash insights into things

spk_1:   55:30
on the Web at insights into things dot com

spk_0:   55:33
You get audio podcast that podcast dot insights and entertainment dot com

spk_1:   55:38
or finally on facebook at facebook dot com. Backslash insights into things podcasts

spk_0:   55:44
or we need this. You can get a streaming you can five days a week on twitch at twitch dot tv slash insights into things. Something your daughter points out on her podcast all the time.

spk_1:   55:57
Wow, Good for her. Oh, and we do have two other podcasts that we can plug. Since she's always nice enough. Toe plug ours. There is the podcast that you and our daughter do insights into teens. Usually you guys stream live on Fridays for the most part, um, And then there is the monthly podcast that you and Sam do, which is insights into tomorrow.

spk_0:   56:26
I think we've covered everything I

spk_1:   56:27
think we have.

spk_0:   56:28
Let's have Dan Player sound. Let's do it. Show Forsythe you, you you you not a pretty pretty boss She calls trails down three cell A swim. So now to remember I asked you, star captain, please bring way that spirit. He's bosses cold way Just here. Wait. Years old way, way, way You stab it with Justin, but I just can't kill these. That way you can check out