That Time We Talked About Catching Up

This is episode number 112 of The Homeowner Show. Whether you're DIY or looking to hire, we're here to help you find the best information and options for you and your home. My name is Kevin Hackett, and here with me is Craig Williams.

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to The Homeowner Show. We're glad that you could join us for this 112th episode of The Homeowner Show. Man, I really missed having Mel as like a like a backup singer for the intro.

Yeah, she did a phenomenal job. She was like, yeah, she was getting down with it.

Y'all, she's she's she's running a contest right now. Oh, I didn't take the poopity poops out.

It's in there forever now.

Yeah. So anyway, she's running she's running a contest right now on if you can count the number of a lot. from the 2 episodes. What is that? That's episode 110?

No, 109 and 110.

109 and 110.

Yeah.

If you can count the number of a-lots, and apparently Christie went through and actually counted all of them, so they have the number. They know the number. And it was a lot. It was a lot. A lot of a-lots.

Yes.

If you can go through and count those, and honestly, it's probably just more worth your time just to guess.

Right.

Yeah.

It's just like the prices Right? Like the, the closest number without going over type of thing. Yeah, that's— that should be it.

That should be it.

I agree.

Um, but, uh, yeah, so there's some sort of prize that— there's some sort of design prize that she's giving. I think it's like a bedding giveaway.

Yeah, like, I, I think it's like a bedding ensemble.

Yeah.

Is that a thing? Some bedding ensemble?

That could be a thing.

Sorry.

If it's not, we'll make it a thing. Yeah. Sorry, Mel, if we labeled it the wrong way. We don't speak the design jargon.

No.

So, but anyway, so yeah, give your, give your best guess as to the number of a lots that came up in the, uh, 109 and 110 episodes, which we should probably just post that episode as an entirety on YouTube.

We could.

You should get on that, Kev.

Come on. I'll do it tomorrow.

Video production team.

That's just me.

That's you.

I'm the only one on the team.

Yeah.

And I get to regulate what I do.

So, which is a good opportunity for shameless plugging. Hit the subscribe button.

That's right.

Hit the like button, hit the share button, do all the things, go to the YouTube channel, YouTube channel, and hit the subscribe button, hit the notification. Did you know you had to have to hit the notification bell twice in order to actually get notifications?

What? Yes.

That, so like there's 2 levels of bell ringing on YouTube apparently. I don't understand the difference, but like if you actually wanna be notified when our content goes up, you have to hit the bell twice.

Okay, well hit the bell twice then.

Yes.

Because that's the right thing to do obviously.

Yeah, and apparently there's a lot happening right now in podcasting with search options and show designations and all, there's a lot of changes happening out there with podcasts right now, so make sure and hit those subscribe buttons and follow us on all the social media platforms so you can keep up to date with the new content. We've got a lot of fun stuff out right now.

Uh, there's that.

We, we had this post earlier this week about this funky table, man.

Oh dude.

So, and, and, and, and before, before we kind of go down rabbit trails—

Well, let me say this. We're also not going to censor the content.

That's right.

Let me just put that out there.

No censoring of the Homeowner Show. If you've been paying attention to anything going out there, other people may censor our content and for good reason.

For good reason. Yeah. That's because they've listened to the podcast.

This is just obnoxious and false. So, um, anyway, the table. Yeah, well, before we get into the table, I was just gonna say, I mean, if you're coming into this episode looking for like deep meaty content, maybe go on to the next one. Um, because Kevin and I literally haven't seen each other for like 2 weeks. And, and so we were on the phone earlier today and we're like, what do you know? We're talking about the show and we're like, you know what?

Let's stop talking. Yeah.

We're just gonna catch up on the show.

Yeah, we're gonna update ourselves on our lives.

On ourselves.

On the show live for all of you to hear.

So if that sounds like fun to you, continue listening.

If not, well, that's probably normal.

Tough noogies.

It is what 112 is about today.

So come back for 113. That'll be, you know, something substantive for you.

Yeah.

Actually, we have some cool episodes coming up. I know we got our buddy William coming in to talk about some mattresses. We got some other cool stuff coming up. in the pipeline. But every once in a while, nonsense and shenanigans.

Yeah.

And this is just the one.

Yeah. Yeah.

So anyway, we, we had this, this table that we posted, and if you haven't seen it, you can go over to our Facebook page. I don't think I put it up on our Instagram. I think it's just up on the Facebook.

It's definitely not on Twitter. I know that for sure.

Yeah, like, honestly, and even when we share stuff to Twitter, for some reason it doesn't put the picture that we have associated with the post. So it, like, it looks even more asinine than normal, right? So it's like, hey, look at this picture, and there's no picture. It's like a link back to Instagram or something. It's just really obnoxious.

Yeah.

So anyway, there's this funky physics table that we found, and we've been posting it up in some DIY groups and to some of our welding friends because it's suspended by chains. And it's like this, it's like this physics, um, conundrum.

Yeah, the conundrum is a good word for it.

Yeah, a quandary.

Yeah, if you will.

That looks like it would just like sway all over the place like a swing, but everyone's telling us like, no, it'd be really sturdy, right?

It doesn't. Honestly, when you look at it, you go, that doesn't make sense. Yeah, but most of us aren't physicists. Yep. Either.

And, you know, or, or design. 100% of the people in this room are not physicists.

Yes. True. So, but when you, when you look at it and you try to figure out, okay, what, what have they done here?

Yeah.

If you, if you really kind of look at it, you go, okay, I think, I think that might work.

Yeah.

That's what I, that's what I think whenever I look at it. I think, I think that might work.

I think that might work.

Yeah.

Yeah. And, and we may need to commission this just to see.

I would— here's the deal. If, if you are someone who could build that, Let us know.

Yeah.

And we want to partner with you to build it.

I'm willing to pay for the materials.

Yeah.

Just to see if it works.

And honestly, I mean, that's very generous of you. But like the materials aren't gonna be that expensive on this. But even if it's like a small type table, it doesn't have to be like a big like dinner table. Right? Like a—

It could be small.

Yeah. I think so. But yes, if you, if you want to partner with us on that, you just let us know. Send us an email at info@homewarnershow.com or, uh, send us a message on Facebook or something. We will, we will help you help us, right?

Yeah. So, so, uh, just, uh, so here, here's a fun update, okay? Because in the spirit of catching up, okay, I finally kicked American Home Shield to the curb.

Oh man, doesn't it just feel so good?

It was so satisfying.

Yeah, like I, I remember whenever I got rid of my Fidelity Home Warranty, I was like, this is the best day of my life.

I was so happy. Well, like, and here's, here's the interesting part, man, is they tried really hard to keep me.

Really?

Yes.

Okay.

Um, and, and what I mean by that is, so it actually took me 4 phone calls to finally get this policy canceled, and I actually ended up having to make an extra payment in the process of all this. Oh.

Yes.

So here's, here's, here's kind of what happened is I called them and I said, hey, been really unhappy with the service, I just need to go ahead and cancel the policy.

Yeah.

And they said, Mr. Williams, we're so sorry to hear that. Um, could we possibly go ahead ahead and give you 2 months free, uh, just to give you time to consider to stay with us. And I said, you know what, that, that, that's, that's very generous of you. Yeah. Um, and they said, well, we'd be happy to call you tomorrow and, and iron all this out. That sounds great. I look forward to hearing from you.

No call.

No call.

Sure, we, we know what their communication skills are like. Yes.

Yeah. So no call. And I was like, you know what, I'm going to give them a day or two. No call. A week goes by, no call. So you know what? I'm going to call them again.

Sure.

So I call them again. I said, look—

Maybe, maybe they had your wrong number. They didn't, but who knows?

They've never had a problem reaching me before.

Exactly, especially when they want your money.

So I called them again and I said, hey, I had some really bad experiences. Just really needed to cancel the policy. Mr. Williams, we're so sorry. And I explained to them, like, hey, you guys offered like 2 months free, never heard back from you guys. Yeah, said you're gonna call me, no one called me. So sorry, we'd still be happy to offer you the 2 months free. Um, would you, would you please consider staying with us? No problem. Sure, we'll call you in a couple days.

No, they didn't. Why, why can't they take care of that right then? What's the big deal?

I don't know. No, no, no. Here's— I'm going to get to the third one. The third one's the best one.

Okay.

So third time, I'm like, you know what? I am done with these jokers. I'm done with their generous offers because they are nothing. I'm just going to call and cancel this thing. So I call and I say, hey, American Home Shield, look, you guys have really screwed the pooch the last couple of times. had a bad experience, like, on 3 different occasions. I really just need to be done with you guys. Cancel my service. Okay, let us transfer you over to the cancel— cancellation group, whatever it is.

Retention is probably what it is.

Yeah. So I wait on hold for an hour.

Oh, you did not. And are you—

are you—

you actually waited on hold for an hour? I did, because at the third— at the 20-minute mark, you're like, surely it's only 1 or 2 more minutes, right? And then at the 45-minute mark, you're like, What's another 15 minutes?

Yeah. So I wait on hold for an hour.

Oh my goodness.

Someone finally picks up and they say, you know, American Home Shield, may I help you? And I said, yes, ma'am, I just, I just needed to cancel my policy. And she's like, well, why did they transfer you over here?

Oh no.

And I said, what are you talking about? And she's like, well, this is the renewals department.

Oh gosh.

And I said, well, I mean, I don't know why they transferred me over here, but this is where they transferred me. Can you cancel my policy? And she goes, I can't. And I said, well, who can? And she goes, they're all gone.

Gone?

Gone for the day.

Oh.

Because at this point, it's like 6 o'clock.

Yeah.

And to be fair, they should be home.

Right.

And I said, well, what should I do? And she goes, I don't know. And like, this lady was extremely sweet and apologetic and trying to be helpful to me. But like, this has just been my experience with this company. Yeah, like it's just one buffoonery act after the other. And like, like, like, like, they can't figure it out. They can't figure it out. And, and so like yesterday, yesterday, after like I've, you know, went on vacation for like a week and a half, um, which I know we're gonna get to later on.

Yeah.

Um, like I've finally got a hold of them and they're like, Mr. Williams, could we offer you 2 months? And I was like, no, I fell for that last time.

Right.

And they're like, well, what about if we gave you like 4 free visit calls on us? And I'm like, no, like I fell for this last time. You're not gonna follow through. I'm done. Give me my money. And they're like, they say, well, there's gonna be an administrative fee for canceling your policy before the renewal date. I'm like, what does that even mean? They're like, well, there's, uh, you, you're gonna owe us $41. I'm like, great, come get it from my cold dead fingers.

Right.

I mean, what are you gonna do?

Right.

Like, no, I'm canceling my policy.

Done.

Like, you're not getting any money from me.

Right.

Just cancel it.

Right.

So we'll see.

So, so at this point you still don't know if you canceled? Like, you think you're canceled?

No, no, I, I got the email notification today.

Okay.

Saying your Your policy's been canceled. And then I got another email. It's like, as soon as I canceled, they became very efficient at communicating.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, like, we're so sorry to hear you go. Would you please fill out our survey? And I'm like, you don't want me to fill out your survey.

No. Like, like, I know where this survey is going to end up.

You don't, you don't get my time, right, to fill out your survey when I am unhappy, right? Like, I just want to be done with you.

Sure.

So that's gone.

Wow. So have they— have you heard anything about the $41?

No.

Okay.

And I'll keep you guys updated as to—

I mean, like, was that set up on an auto draft that they could like technically like take your money? Like, I would, I would call your bank and be like, look, do not pay out.

Yeah.

To this.

So, and I, I will do that, but what I told them is I said, why don't you just send me that bill?

Uh, okay.

And so they've been instructed to send me the invoice.

Okay.

Of which I will never pay.

No, of course not.

So because they cost me thousands of dollars.

Oh yeah. Yeah.

So, well, and unless they want to see me in another venue, they will not pursue the $41. If they pursue the $41, we'll have another conversation. Yeah. with different actors.

Mm-hmm. More influential actors.

That's as specific as I'm willing to be on a podcast.

Right, exactly.

Wow.

Well, congratulations on finally figuring out how to cancel a policy.

I kind of feel like making the Mel Gibson freedom play. Like I'm no longer under the thumb of oppression.

Yeah. Well, it just, it reminds me of how different our friends over at FIXD are. Yeah, I mean, they're— so I actually looked into them just the other day. We've got some stuff that we know is going to be a problem in the future, like, um, and I, I don't know that I really want to do this, but if I— I, I, I just know some of my appliances are older, right, in my house. Yeah. And I just know I'm gonna have an issue. And so it's like, do I just— I mean, I've got money in savings. Do I just use that, or do I go get a home warranty? And the thing about FIXD is like

They have their own technicians. Like, they, they are a completely in-house company, and if they can't do it, they're going to— you know they're going to work with reputable people because it's their name on the line. I mean, some of these big home warranty companies, they just don't operate the same way, you know?

Yeah, it's— I mean, what they've done is they've created this system in which they can go, well, I can't get a hold of them and they've gone home for the day and I can't communicate with them and I can't And like what I like about fixed is they can say, like no, that's our guy.

Yeah.

Like I'm gonna call John and find out what's going on.

Right.

And and and like it's it's a much better system.

Sure.

I I honestly I I mean like I I may end up signing up with them.

Mm-hmm.

I need a cool off period.

Yeah. So it's been like two years for me, and and I'm kind of like do I get back in the game? Because when you look at their, at their most purchased plan, it's like $500.

Yeah.

A year. And that's about the same price as American Home Shield or Fidelity or any of these other places. They're very competitive.

Yes.

But just the service you're gonna get is gonna be different. So anyway, uh, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll link up their information on, on FIXD just because I, I genuinely think that that is a better option, you know?

Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. And we just love Beth. She was a sweetheart.

Yeah.

Loved having her in the studio.

Yeah.

What episode was that? Do you remember?

Uh, so I actually went back and, and looked at it because I need to— whenever I called, I wanted to get my information from the, from the show notes.

Yeah. It was like episode—

it was somewhere in the 70s, I think.

Okay.

So it's been a while.

It's been a while. Yeah.

Okay.

So, so, well, Beth, if you're listening, if you have any updated information, send it to us. We'll, uh, we'll put it in the show notes.

Yep.

Um, we'd love to help promote you guys, right? Um, what's been going on with you, man?

Oh, you know, it's just been so— so football has begun, and so I've been just slammed with football. I— and so they're like, this week has actually been a nice little break. I don't have a a varsity game on Friday night, which is unusual. And with it being a holiday on, on Monday, Columbus Day—

It's past Monday.

Yeah, like actually 2 Mondays ago if you're listening to this on Tuesday, right? Um, and, and so I had it blocked off, and so I didn't— I, I just only gonna work 1 day this week. So that's kind of nice and bizarre kind of all at the same time. But the thing is, like I've still got something going like every night. So, so my family's like, do you live here anymore? And I'm like, yeah, I sleep here, but I don't know that I live here.

Yeah.

And right now, so it's just kind of that time of year. Um, but I'll tell you something that I am really excited about, and, and I just don't know if I'm gonna invest in it now, but Apple has just come out with their new— so first of all, they've they, they did a new event where they introduced the new iPhone 12, which is a pretty big deal. Yeah, it's a big deal. It was late because of COVID but they're still putting it out.

Slackers.

But the other thing that they introduced I'm really excited about is HomePod Mini. And so, you know, we've, we've kind of joked before about how is it that Apple has put out such amazing products, and they can't even hold a candle to the Alexa.

Right.

I mean, it's not even in the same ballpark.

It's not a competition.

Well, and if it was, they're in last place. I mean, Google is way ahead of them. Alexa is way ahead of them. Like, they're, they're at the bottom rung.

So when, when this episode airs, it will have been a week, right, since Prime Day.

Yes.

Right. And they were selling, uh, Echo Dots, like the, the most recent generation of the Echo Dots. Now they have a new one that's a sphere and it's kind of cool and does some different stuff, but like the, the 2019, right, or I guess 2020 version of the, the Echo Dot, they were selling on Prime Day for $18. See, and like, like, I don't, I don't care what the Apple one does. Yeah, I mean, because I think you told me like the new one's gonna be like $99, right?

Yes.

Yeah, it's like, I don't, I don't care what it does at that point. Yeah, it's not $18.

Yeah, it's not even close. Like, but The, the thing is, if you— there's a couple of things that you have to consider. One is—

I'm not, I'm not saying it's not a good product.

No, 100%.

It's probably a great product. I'm just saying, I mean, like, cost-wise, it's not a— it's not an $80 difference. An $80 difference is— I'm like, I need a lot of value for $80. That's, that's a massive difference. So like, I'm with you. I mean, like, like, I want to stay within the— like, because, you know, like, I'm an Apple guy.

Yeah.

I want to stay within that ecosystem, right? Because it's a nice ecosystem. But is it an $80?

Yeah, I think it all depends on how you interact with things and what type of security you're looking for. I think those 2 things make all the difference in the world. Sure. Because one of the things you can do with the, with the Apple HomePod Mini that's $99 is you can turn off its save function. So if you don't know this, Alexa is going to save all of the things that you say.

Well, let's be clear, it's not going to save, it's going to upload.

It's going to upload. Yeah, I mean, it's going to capture, right, that stuff. Yeah. And, and it uses it in pretty amazing ways. It is literally a reason you're like, I was just talking about needing a new backpack for my daughter the other day, and now I'm getting Facebook ads for backpacks. Yep, that's how that works.

And so, and I don't know, I don't know if people remember, but like one of the things, because like we're like, we are, we are now officially homeschool parents. Yeah, at the, uh, the Williams home.

That's also a big update.

Yeah, that is a big update. Um, and we can, we can, we can talk about that if you want. I mean, we have very specific reasons as why we made that decision. Um, and this is Texas. Yeah, for goodness sake.

Yeah.

Um, but anyway, Um, good.

And what he means by that is we have really good public schools here.

We have really good public schools. Yeah, I think for the most part, like, we love all of our teachers. Like, we have the utmost and deepest respect for them. But, you know, anyway, we can get into that later.

Yeah.

Um, and just to—

this is just—

I think this is a little bit of backtrack because we talked about this before. I think, I think we talked about this before. Um, my kids ever since school has been remote, all my kids have been working on Rosetta Stone to learn French.

Yeah, you mentioned that before.

And there's a reason we have an affinity for the French language and it has nothing to do with the show. But my kids, after about a week of starting French, all of a sudden, like all my YouTube ads were in French.

Oh gosh.

And like a lot of Facebook ads I was getting were in French.

Yeah.

And, and, and like, you know this because like, you know, some of them are video.

Mm-hmm.

And like when you're scrolling by and sometimes when you have the sound on, like you're like, wait, I don't know that language.

What is that? Yeah.

And it's like, that's French. Why are they— and like, and like I was getting lots and lots of French ads.

Yeah. It was crazy. Yeah. So I think that's one of the things that If, if you don't want that— I mean, it—

now, and that was on my phone.

Sure.

That's not, that's not like, that's not connected to my Alexa devices, right? It's my Apple phone.

Yeah.

Like that, where I was getting those ads. Sure. Now granted, like, my Amazon account is connected to my Apple phone, and like, all, all of that stuff is integrated.

Yep.

So like, they're all talking to one another. So like, if you think that like, just because you have all Apple devices that like stuff's not listening.

Yeah, you'd wake up. You'd have to be really entrenched, like you're using Safari only and you're, you know, you'd have to be really entrenched. But their, their security, they recognize that Google is going to capture all of your stuff, right? Their security is basically saying, look, we're going to give you the option to opt out of that.

Um, Which traditionally and to date, as far as I know, Apple has been really good about protecting personal privacy and information and all that. And been very upfront in stark contrast to other companies when it comes to this regard.

Yeah, and so that's one thing that they're really pushing. They're also pushing— And we're not getting paid for that, by the way.

That was just organic opinions that came up on the show.

And we recognize—

But feel free to send us money, Apple.

Yeah, exactly. Or some HomePod Minis.

That would be very nice.

Just to review. Yeah. But like, and I know that there are going to be plenty of people that listen to our podcast that are, you know, Samsung people or they're Android people. Yeah, that's fine. We're not saying you're wrong. We're just saying we're right. So—

No, I'm just saying I'm lazier.

Exactly.

I don't have the energy to switch.

point, I've spent so much on like apps and stuff. I mean, it's just, it would be silly for me to change. But, um, so they've got a really cool handoff system with, with the Apple HomePod Minis.

What do you mean by handoff?

Like, so it, it will interact with things in your life. For example, if you say, how long will it take me to get to Target? and then you have CarPlay, Apple CarPlay, in your car, when you get in your car, the map will be pulled up to Target.

Oh, nice.

So there, there's some—

It's intuitive.

It is intuitive. It's got this Handoff feature to where like it just knows what devices you have connected.

Yeah.

And it works.

Okay.

So, so there, it's like a lot of Apple things. Like, it's, it's the very thing that we criticized HomePod for is that it doesn't work, right? And all of Apple's things just kind of work.

Well, like, you know, like, my main criticism of the Apple HomePod was like, even if it worked amazing, it's inaccessible to the average person because it was like $300.

It was way too expensive.

And like, people aren't willing to spend $300 to be experimental.

Yeah, and it wasn't all that good. I mean, really, I mean, the things that it the things that it would do, people weren't like—

It wasn't blowing you away.

Yeah, that's not— it's not a $300 amazing product, right? You know, and so I think that some of the things that Apple HomePod Mini is saying, look, we can do that, is, is pretty cool.

Yeah.

So if you're wanting to stay in the Apple ecosystem, there's a new option that's kind of cool. So I would— that's something that you, you know, you ask, what are you doing? What's going on? Like, to me I geek out on that kind of stuff.

Is the— so it's the HomePod Mini, is that what it's called? Is that the— okay, so is it in any way close to what the Amazon Cube does?

I—

are you familiar with it?

I'm not familiar enough with it to know that.

The Cube is an Alexa-enabled device that plugs directly into your TV.

Oh no, no, no, no, this No, it did— you have one.

Yeah, I do.

Yeah, I've seen it.

That's why I'm asking.

No, it does not. It does not do that.

Okay.

It is very much like an Alexa device.

An Alexa, okay.

And, and, you know, like, one of the things that I think Alexa can do is if you put 2 of them in a room, they'll, they'll play stereo. Is that, is that something that they will do?

Well, uh, it depends. So like, not Dots.

Okay.

Dots won't do that.

Okay.

But like, uh, there are certain Alexa devices that will do that.

Okay.

Um, and then you can actually pair them up with an Alexa Sub. Oh yeah, yeah. So if you remember, I mean, like way back—

That unboxing episode we did? Yeah, that we didn't record.

Yeah, so I, I still have that setup in my upstairs living room. Okay. Which is an incredible setup.

Sounds great.

It, it's so good.

Yeah, so I, I guess So all of the Apple HomePod Minis will do that.

Okay, they, they—

but they're, they're at a price point that they should, right?

Absolutely.

If you put 2 in a room, they will play stereo. Like, they know to do that, right? So anyway, just— I geek out on that kind of stuff. I— oh yeah, I enjoy the, the new technology that comes out. I've always enjoyed new tech.

I mean, like, if they want to send us one, I'll be happy to review one. I mean—

oh yeah, yeah.

But like, like for my own personal use, I'm pretty entrenched in the Amazon ecosystem for my home.

Yeah, I've got one Echo Dot.

Okay.

That's it. And it was given as a gift.

You need to upgrade, bro.

Well, I— if— but I kind of feel like if I'm going to do that, I would probably go with the, with the Apple products. Just because, just because I'm— my whole family is entrenched in Apple stuff. So it makes more sense to have the functionality of that.

I think that was true like 5 years ago. Um, I think what's different now is Apple has opened themselves up to integrate with other products.

And they do. And, and so like my, my thermostat and my, my door locks and all that kind of stuff, they work with my Apple TV as a hub. Like, you're right, those things are not specifically Apple products, but they work with them, right? Yeah.

Um, but like If Apple, like, Apple has not come up with a good answer to the Alexa Cube.

No. And I don't know that they will. I mean, maybe they will.

That is a big problem.

Yeah.

Because for people like me that have little kids that constantly lose the remote, Voice activation on my television system is incredible.

Yeah.

Like when I can walk into the room and I can say, Alexa, turn the TV on, and she does it. And she doesn't just turn the TV on, she turns the TV— and like, because we've gone through this whole thing of setting up the integration through the HDMI cable, she turns the TV on, she turns the surround sound on, and then I can say, Alexa, open Netflix. Hey Alexa, play, you know, what's the new series? Uh, I think Blood Blacklist just dropped their new season. Alexa, play the newest episode of Blacklist. And she just does it because I've integrated my Netflix account into the Cube and Cube has my password and they just start playing the newest

episode of Blacklist.

Yeah, but one thing that my only pushback to that would be that Apple TV will do that.

Not with voice activation.

Yes, it will.

No.

Yes, absolutely. With Siri, it will.

So here's the issue with Siri. Is you can't, you can't walk into the room and, and go, hey Siri, you have to turn that on. And Apple TV does not have microphones in it.

No, it doesn't. But so it does have— and I understand your, your point here— it does on their remote. On the room— on the remote, which is different, which is totally— It is. But you can also use your phone as a remote and it works with that as well.

Well, and you can do that with Alexa as well. So the Alexa— the, the, the Cube itself has a microphone, the remote has a microphone, and you can integrate your phone as a remote that has a microphone that will use the microphone as well. So in, in, in that regard, I mean, like, it's 33% less superior.

Sure. No, I, I, and so I'm just saying there, that's my main pushback, is that Apple TV will, Apple TV will kind of do that. It's not as, it's not as good, right? But Will they get there? I don't know. And then they may not ever care, honestly.

They may not.

Yeah.

And then my other big thing with the Apple products, one is the price point.

Oh yeah.

And, and 2, this— and this is the biggest one for me just because like I enjoy doing housework with music. My house is 3 stories. I Simultaneously stream music throughout the entire house. That Alexa Cube integrates with my Dots, my other Alexas, and streams simultaneously whatever I tell it to on my porch, on my living room, in my kitchen, in my upstairs living room, in my bedroom. I can walk from one room to the next, and if I've told it, Alexa, play this, everywhere. It's going to play it everywhere.

Yeah.

So, and at an affordable price.

Yeah, that's the difference because, because Apple HomePod Mini will also do that.

It will do that, but like at $99 a pop.

Oh yeah, it's more expensive, no doubt.

Get out of here.

I will tell you this, one of the cool things about the Apple HomePod Mini, well, and like, is that it'll recognize your voice. Well, and it'll recognize your children's voice. And so So if you say, play my playlist, it'll play your playlist, but if your wife says, play my playlist, it'll play hers.

Right.

That's kind of cool.

To be fair, Alexa will do that as well. And man, I forgot my train of thought.

Sorry.

There was something I was going to say about that.

It probably wasn't important.

It was really important.

Sorry. Well, either way, I think it's a cool new product. I'm glad they finally have come out with something that seems like it's going to work.

I'm excited for Apple because it's like, it's, it's actually an attainable device.

Yeah.

Because I think that, I think that HomePod before, was it like $300? It was at least $299, right?

It was too expensive.

It was ridiculous.

Yeah, it was too much.

So, and then like, um, I think Alexa actually came out with their Studio Alexa, which was like to be their premier sound. Yeah, all-in-one device.

And it wasn't that much.

It wasn't even that much. I think it was like—

It was like $100, right?

I think it was $150. I mean, I don't know.

I don't know. It— whatever it was, it was less. It was what the HomePod was.

Yeah, whatever it was, it was less.

Yeah.

Uh, it was, it was, it was ridiculous. And, and like, I've, I've, I've gone and I've, I've kind of played around with it.

It's legit. Yeah.

Like, it's— I'm like, like, and here's the thing, man, it's like those, uh, those, those skinny tall tower Alexa devices, which I don't even think they're making anymore. Yeah, those things sound really good.

Yeah, those speakers in them are good. Yeah, yeah. Well, either way, I'm, I'm glad to have an option, honestly. Like, we're not the type of people that want to integrate the same way. Like, I, you know, the intercom system's kind of nice, like, if you want to be like, hey, you know, do this or do that and talk to your kids.

Or— We use it for that more than anything.

I know, but you've also— your house is set up in a way that It makes it difficult to do that.

It would totally make sense in your house, man. I mean, because your your house is like got such a big footprint on the ground.

That's weird.

I mean, getting getting a message from one end to the other.

Yeah. I mean, it would work. We just have never really felt the need to do that at the moment. Yeah.

So anyway, but it's because you haven't experienced it.

You need that.

You need that Alexa dinner bell ringing through the house. Yeah, you're probably right. Do do do do do do.

Yeah, so that's, uh, I don't know, it's kind of the biggest update for me. Um, but yeah, you just got back from a vacation though.

Yeah.

You know, we've talked about vacations on this, on the podcast before.

Part of it's like a 3-week series on vacations.

We did, and it was really good because I, I think one of the things that just in general Here in America for sure, and I think the world's like this in a lot of places, we get so busy that, you know, it— there are places in the world now— in fact, we have a friend, you and I have a mutual friend whose business, they're a nonprofit, they have decided that their employees get an unlimited number of vacation days.

Hmm.

And what they found is in doing that, they don't take as many vacation days.

For sure.

You know, and there's, there's psychology behind why that's true. But even for me, right, right now, the number of vacation days that I've taken versus the number of—

Which we need to confer about this because I don't know who you're talking about. I know I don't want you to say their name on, on the show, but like, I, I don't know who you're talking about right now. Just, I mean—

Yeah, we'll talk about it later.

Okay.

But so, um, The thing is, right now, the number of days that I've got to take off versus the number of days I've taken, it's about a third. Now, granted, 2020 has been weird.

Just to be clear, you've only taken a third of the days you're allotted. Is that right?

Right.

Okay.

Right. And that includes days coming up. Like in 10 days. But both days that I've taken and days that I've yet to take but are on the schedule.

Okay.

Like Thanksgiving, for example. Okay.

Okay, um, do those count?

What do you mean?

I mean, do those count as vacation days? Like, no, national holidays? Okay, Thanksgiving—

like, for instance, Thanksgiving Day and actually the day after Thanksgiving don't count. However, I'm gonna take the whole week, so I gotta take 3 days of vacation for that. Okay, it's not that big of a deal, 3 days, but I get a week, you know? Right, not that big of a deal. But my point is Even doing that, knowing I've got vacation coming up, I've not taken but about a third of the days that I have allotted. So what does that mean? To me, it just means that I work too much, that most people do. Like, I think there's a lot of people that are real diligent about taking all of their days. There's other people— and I got a pretty flexible schedule in a lot of ways,

so—

Yeah.

You know, I feel freedom to be able to do some things differently, but you were able to get away in a pretty tough time. I mean, you know, we're still smack dab in the middle of COVID Yeah. And not only that, we're in the smack dab middle of school, and you already said that you're homeschooling, which lends itself to the opportunity to take a vacation.

For sure.

So anyway, I'm— I want to hear— I mean, I know what you did. But I don't know what it was like. We haven't talked about this. So yeah, uh, let's talk about what you did.

Well, and, and to be, to be completely fair, we kind of snub our nose at the public school system in October anyway. Yeah, I mean, like, we always leave the first week of October no matter what, right? Um, and we, and we always give our teachers a, a heads up and we're like, hey, listen, like, just so you know Like, we're gone first week of October no matter what.

Right.

So gird your loins, you know, whatever work you want us to get accomplished, we're happy to get it done ahead of time, whatever it is. So that, that's always been the way it's been in the past, just because like that's when we go. Um, and, uh, there's, there's personal reasons for that, that we, that we, that we, that we do that. Um, And, and honestly, they're not going to be interesting to anybody on the show. There's nothing like scandalous about that.

No, but it's family.

It's family stuff.

Yeah, that's a, that's a good reason. Yeah.

And it's, it's, it's a convenient time, honestly, to, to be away from the business, from school, uh, all sorts of different things. So this year was just a little bit different because of COVID Yeah. Um, and the kids were already at home anyway, and so we decided to take a little bit more time and stay at Florida a little bit longer than we usually do. Um, so we, we did, uh, 4 days at the beach, we did 4 days at Disney.

Yeah.

And, uh, it was awesome.

Yeah.

Honestly.

Yeah.

Um, and this— and, and here's the other thing is like, this wasn't— and I think we talked about this before— this wasn't the first trip that we took in, in the middle of a pandemic. We took another trip to Arkansas earlier this year, uh, which was awesome as well. Partly because, I mean, that was like the height of the pandemic.

Yeah.

And we—

That was early.

Yeah. And we went to the wilderness where like there was kind of nobody around, um, which was great. Um, we went to some, some national parks and some state parks and, and different things like that, and it was great.

Yeah.

Um, we were able to do some stuff and experience some things in different ways than people normally get to experience them. Um, and that was definitely the case with the beach and with Disney.

So let's start, let's start with the beach.

Okay.

What did you— what types of things were different about your beach experience?

Um, I just, just less people in general.

Okay.

Yeah, I mean, that was really the big thing. Um, there really weren't any like specific regulations. And it, to be fair, like 2 days before we left to go to Florida, And I think it's DeSantis is the governor?

Yeah, DeSantis.

Yeah, DeSantis. Okay, um, DeSantis had issued an edict to the state of Florida. It's like, look, everything's open now, 100%. Yep, do whatever you want, right? Basically.

Yeah, and, and there, there's a lot of weird things surrounding that. A lot of Florida had been a hotbed for a long time, but then you've got—

I mean, mostly because there's so many old people that live there.

Sure. Sure, but then there are, are big major corporations in Central Florida that has, for the most part, have handled the pandemic pretty well.

Oh yeah.

So, you know, specifically with like Disney, Universal, you know, even SeaWorld and some of those places, like they've handled the situation well.

Yeah, they've been very cautious.

Yeah.

Um, so, so our Our beach experience, and like, we, we had a house on the water.

Nice.

On the Atlantic side.

Yeah.

Um, and, uh, and so like, so I, I feel a little weird in even commentating a little bit on it because we were pretty isolated because the house has like basically a private beach.

Okay.

Right there on the Atlantic. Sounds perfect, dude. Like, for, for people listening to the show, if you've never been to New Smyrna Beach in Florida, it's in Central Florida. It's just south of Daytona. It's the only beach town that Highway 1 doesn't go through.

Oh, um, but you— this isn't the first time y'all been to that beach?

No, I've been going there since I was little.

Yeah.

Um, and as a family, we've been going there for, gosh, close to 10 years. I mean, since I got married.

Yeah, it's important.

Yeah, so we go there pretty much every year. It's really affordable, it's really quiet, it's a cool little town. It's some of the best surfing in the world. It's also the shark bite capital of the world.

Interesting.

You can also get some of the best seashells in the world. It's some of the— like, people shell there all the time. There's also a lot of metal detector people that go up and down the beach. A lot of high tide, low tide. action going on at that beach. Um, really, really cool beach. Um, on the south side, there's actually a nude beach, um, that a lot of people attend, um, near, uh, what is it, Mosquito Bay, something like that.

Okay, you just— okay, you can't just jump into what you just said. Okay, you, you said, first of all, a nude beach, which, uh, I'm out.

Um, let me, let me clarify that statement. It is a nude beach that you do not want to attend.

Exactly.

It is not a sexy nude beach. It is a lot of old people naked.

Yeah, and isn't that what most nude beaches are? Like, from what I understand, most nude beaches are kind of that. They're, they're, and they're kind of like— I mean, all the, all of whatever fantasy you have about nude beaches, it ain't it. No, no. Whatever you think it is is gonna be the exact opposite. Yeah. Not only that, you said mosquito? So in the same sentence.

Yeah, so let me, let me give some like geography lessons real quick. So we're at New Smyrna Beach. It's south of Daytona and north of Cocoa Beach.

Okay.

Okay, Cocoa Beach is, is very, very close to the Kennedy Space Center.

Yeah.

Right, so where they make all the space launches and stuff like that, which is right off the St. Johns River. Part of what makes Daytona and New Smyrna Beach such a cool surfing spot is that's where the St. Johns River kicks out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Okay.

Okay.

It makes waves.

Yes. But part of that is that the St. Johns River curves behind New Smyrna Beach and creates, uh, almost like coves and, and areas.

Cool.

That for that river that basically make New Smyrna and Cocoa Beach almost like an island That sits out into the Atlantic Ocean, but it's still part of Florida.

Okay.

And so there are areas of stagnant water, um, that create what they call mosquito marshes.

Yeah.

Um, and, and it could still be pretty in, in beautiful areas of Florida. It's just a different kind of water. It's, uh, actually where you see a lot of the manatee action. You can see a lot of manatees in New Smyrna if you're willing to go on the riverside.

Okay.

As well as river dolphins, which is very cool to see.

Yeah, they are.

Um, and very active and social and things like that.

Interesting.

Um, so it's, it's a cool part of Florida to go and visit. There's actually like, uh, springs, uh, in Wekiva that you can go in and actually see, and, and that's where the manatees will actually swim upstream in the winter to stay warm.

Yeah.

Um, so it's a very cool part of Florida if you know what to go and look for. And so we're, we're there typically there in October. October is a good time to go and actually see the manatee migration.

Interesting.

Um, that would be fun. Yeah, it's, it's very, very cool. Um, so, so anyway, so it was, um, it was very chill, honestly. I mean, uh, you know, you still had to wear masks going into and out of businesses and things like that, but once you're inside, take them off. Yeah, do what you want. Um, and like I said, The governor had opened the state fully like 2 days before we arrived.

Yeah.

And so, um, there was a lot— there was honestly like a lot of confusion.

Yeah, because it's like, do what you want to, and, and, and people are like, but what does that mean?

What does that mean? Yeah. And, and so basically businesses could do what they wanted to, and most of them opted for the, the highest level of caution, right? Um, and even, even the house that we stayed in had extra, uh, hand sanitization stations and things like that installed throughout the house and, and different measures put. And it's a big house.

Yeah.

I mean, I think the house we stayed in sleeps like 18.

Wow.

Um, and then has like its own private like walkway out to the beach and things like that. So it's, uh, so it was a little bit, a little bit different of a situation. Now once we were on Disney property, it was a totally Totally different story.

Okay, let's talk about that.

So the— like, everywhere you go, you have to be in a mask.

Yeah.

The only exceptions to that would be your room, a restaurant, and the pool.

Okay.

Other than that, you better have your mask on. And, and now they will be very polite about it, but they will constantly remind you of putting your mask on. Um, and we went into it thinking like our younger 2 are going to be the most difficult, like they're going to want to be constantly taking their mask off and, you know, you know, not regarding the rules and different things like that. And honestly, it was our older one that was the biggest problem. And, and our, our oldest daughter, and she's, she's 11 at this point. And so we were constantly hearing, hey princess, could you put that mask over your nose?

Nice.

And so, it wasn't even like, hey, could you put your mask on? It's like, hey, we need that thing to completely cover your nose.

Right.

Hey, we need that thing to go underneath your chin. And she, on a couple of occasions, got visibly frustrated just because she was tired of doing it. And I don't blame her. It was annoying. It was.

Yeah, it's interesting. You said that it was easier for your younger 2. I've found with my younger one, he forgets he has it.

it on. Yeah.

Like, it's just kind of like another thing.

Yep.

And so he like— we'll, we'll come out of a store or something and he just has them like, hey buddy, you can take that off. And he's like, oh yeah, yeah, I forgot I had it on. Exactly.

Yeah, yeah. No, those are just— they'll just keep it on all the time. They don't care, right? Because they don't notice as much.

They don't.

But the older one was like constantly pulling it below her nose and different things like that. And I know she wasn't trying to be rebellious, but I was like, hey, like, like, unless you want to get fussed at Right. And they— and eventually, like, she got to the point where she was just ignoring them. And I was like, that's, that's kind of rude.

Yeah.

Like, we can't do that.

Yeah.

Like, you know, like, even though, like, I'm okay with you not wearing a mask.

Sure.

I think it's okay.

You're on private property.

You're on— you're— I mean, this is somebody else's business. This is their policy. If you want to enjoy their amenities, we need to try and adhere to the policies that they've put forth, right? Um, and, and, and like, it wasn't that bad. Um, and I, I don't know if you've heard, but like, like Disney has extended their park reservation system through '21.

Yeah, yeah, through the end of— through the end of '21, possibly to— I've heard a couple conflicting, uh, one said the The end of 2021, someone said through January of 2022.

Yeah, so like they're anticipating continuing to operate like this for at least another year.

Yeah, they, they've not come out and blatantly said what their capacity is right now, but it's kind of understood that they're around 25% capacity, which is pretty low. Now on the weekends, that jumps up a little bit.

Let me, let me tell you this, man. Like, we did 3 parks while we were there. Yeah. And the second day we did Hollywood Studios, which is by far right now the most popular park that they have because they have Galaxy's Edge, Toy Story Land. It's got—

Brand new Mickey and Minnie ride.

Yeah. Um, like, there's no way, absolutely no way they're operating at 25% capacity.

That's, that's You think that's high or you think that's low?

I think that's low.

You think they're under 25%?

No, no, no, no, no. I think they're operating well above 25%.

Okay. For that park.

And I think they're operating well above 25% for Magic Kingdom as well. Um, you know, when, you know, I, I, I'm sorry. I mean, like, I don't know what park capacity is at.

Yeah.

I don't know what that number is.

Yeah. But— Well, you also have to understand that most of the time 100% capacity, you will never see. You're talking like Christmas Day, right? New Year's Day, right? I mean, these are— I mean, you're talking about a, a park that, you know, like Magic Kingdom, I think its capacity is like 60,000, and you're on an average day, you're probably at like 35,000 to 40,000. So, you know, to have— to say you're at 25,000, you're still way below that, right? What normal is.

And I, I think, I think Magic Kingdom, yes. But when we were at, uh, Hollywood Studios, I mean, when, uh, the newest ride, which is Mickey's Runaway Railroad—

Yeah. Is that right? Runaway Railway.

Railway.

Yeah.

Um, I mean, when the wait time for that at some point during the day reaches 105 minutes— Wow. Um, Like, there's no way— there's absolutely no way that the park is at 25% capacity.

Yeah, the only thing is like there's not tons and tons of rides at Hollywood Studios right now.

No, no, no, there— I mean, like, out of— other than Magic Kingdom, of the 4 parks, it has the most rides.

Yeah, yeah, no, true. But there's— I mean, some of them are more age-appropriate than others.

I mean, like That is, that is true. Um, but when you're walking through the park, I mean, like, you're not—

Self-crowded.

Yes. Yeah, big time. Yeah, big time. And like Galaxy's Edge, um, and which is incredible, is massive. Yeah, I mean, like, you can probably fit— I mean, it's, it's as It's at least as big as all of Frontierland in Magic Kingdom.

Oh, wow.

Um, if not bigger.

Okay.

It's massive.

Yeah.

I mean, with all the shops and the, the rides and then—

Restaurants.

Yes, it's huge.

Yeah.

Huge, huge, huge, huge. And, and much, much bigger than Toy Story Land. Toy Story Land is, is in comparison pretty small.

Yeah.

Um, I, I'm— I would even say it's, it's smaller than all of Adventureland in Magic Kingdom. which is probably the smallest area in Magic Kingdom. Um, so like, it was, it was kind of bizarre in, in comparison because we did Magic Kingdom the first day and everything was pretty much a walk-on.

Okay.

I mean, like, we never waited more than 5 minutes, 10 minutes for just about anything.

That is really unusual at Disney.

Yeah. So that's a pretty awesome experience. My litmus test for Magic Kingdom is always Peter Pan.

Oh yeah, always.

Which is almost always—

Over 60.

Yes.

Yeah.

And I think we waited like 7 minutes to get on that ride.

That's, that's just absolutely unheard of.

And that's what I think— what's important to note about that is we waited 7 minutes to get on Peter Pan's Flight without there being any shows.

Yeah, so there's— I mean, in character meet and greets also, because like, none of that's happening. Those are quote-unquote people eaters, right? They just, they soak up people.

Yes.

And they're not being shown right now, and the character meet and greets are not being done the same way.

Well, to, to a certain extent, right? Like, you can't, you can't walk up and hug them, you can't walk up and see them, you know, but like, they have character interactions.

Yes, but they're not meet and greets.

No.

Yeah, they're different than that.

No. And we, we experienced multiple different, you know, what they're calling cavalcades.

Yeah.

Um, the coolest one honestly was seeing Merida ride a horse down the middle of the street.

Yeah.

In, in procession with other princesses and things like that. That was probably the coolest one.

Yeah.

But they were doing some other Halloween-themed stuff while we were there, which was also cool to see. Yeah. Um, but You know, we, we probably waited like 15, 20 minutes for like Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain.

Okay.

And different things like that. Um, but because we knew that the day was kind of go— gonna go like that, we took like a, a long leisurely lunch in the middle of the day, um, which was great.

Yeah.

Um, and you know, it was, it was a different Disney experience. They did the absolute best that they could to make it a, a positive a net positive experience, and it was. Yeah, my kids had a blast.

Sure.

Um, they got to ride everything they wanted to ride, and at one point we even split them up and said, like, what do you want to do? And they kind of got to go do whatever they wanted to go do.

Cool.

Um, but there was lots of things that they weren't doing. Um, and, and then that's important to note because there was no shows, right? There was no fireworks, there was no parades. Um, you know, there was lots of stuff not happening.

Yeah, and, and, and to be clear, you're still paying the same amount of money. I mean, I know y'all had, y'all had some tickets you had won at an auction, but—

Yeah, we had a little bit different experience with the ticket prices.

But for the average person going to Disney, the price point's the same. Oh, for sure. And, and you're not getting certain things. A lot of people are hammering Disney like How can you possibly charge the same amount of money and when you're not offering the same experience? And, you know, they're still a business, they've got to make money. Oh yeah, billions and billions and billions of dollars has been— have been lost by Disney. So, you know, I think they're doing the best they can.

Oh yeah, well, look, at the, at the end of the day, they're doing everything they can. Yeah, I mean, like, they're probably over and above. Yes, I would argue that.

Yeah.

And like, there was a lot of things that I didn't get to experience on this trip that I usually get to experience that are like must-dos for me. Like, like a big one for me, like the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Yeah, that's shut down right now, right? It's just closed. Um, crazy. Uh, which may not be a big deal to a lot of people because there's so many new experiences within Hollywood Studios.

But man, that's one of the nostalgic ones that's still there, you know?

Yes.

I mean, there's no Backlot Tour. There's, you know, even, even things like Lights, Motor, Action, which you know, I, I didn't love in comparison to the Backlot Tour personally, but a lot of the things that were at Hollywood Studios, or actually MGM back in the day, um, it's one of the, the originals. Yeah, it's one of the originals.

Yeah. And like, well, I, I'll give, I'll give a shout out to one of their unsung heroes of their new experiences is the Lightning McQueen experience.

Oh yeah, yeah, that's, that's over there, um, between Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror, right?

Yeah, well, I mean, it's—

I mean, in that area, you actually have to like walk past the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster to even get to it, which is hard to think about if you've not done before.

I mean, it's kind of like that's a corner. It is, it is. It's a weird corner. Yeah. Um, but that was a great experience, like, um, because my youngest is not tall enough to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. And so I told my wife, I was like, hey, take the older 2 going Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. I'm gonna take the youngest one over here. We're gonna go check out this, this Lightning McQueen thing. Yeah, it was awesome.

Nice.

Um, really, really cool. Um, and they've been kind of teasing this a bit for the past couple of years with some other cars that they've had. And it used to be out by the Toy Story—

Yes, by, by, uh, Toy Story Mania.

Yeah. And so they've moved all that over by Rock 'n' Roller Coaster now. Um, and so that was really, really cool to get to take my 5-year-old on. And, and like, what they're doing with that kind of stuff is incredible. Um, how they're making that character a live-action, right, thing.

Yeah.

That you get to see and experience is really, really cool. Um, but like, uh, I mean, like, as, as far as like all 4 parks, we did not do Epcot. this, this trip, but of, of the 3 that we did, I mean, like, uh, Hollywood Studios was by far the, um, the best experience that we had.

Even though it was the most crowded?

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah. And, and so we, we got to do everything in that park, which is incredible because, like, there with the Rise of the Resistance ride, um, you can only get in the virtual queue to even get into that ride And so you have to have a smart device to jump in the queue for that ride to even get to ride it.

Right.

And we were in one of the reserve groups that probably should not have gotten to get on, um, because I mean, statistically that ride has had a lot of like technical issues.

Yeah, breakdowns. Yeah.

And it just didn't have any that day and we were able to get on. Um, and it even had some technical issues while we were on it.

Oh really?

I noticed just because like I'd been paying attention to what was going on. Um, but even though like that small 10-second window of technical glitch, what an incredible experience.

I have intentionally done zero looking at, at any type of ride experience or any type of information surrounding it because I want to be surprised.

Yeah.

So So I, I, I've done very good at that, like staying away from the spoilers and all that kind of stuff because I want to experience it for the first time as the first time, you know.

You know, and here's, here's one of the things, I don't know if any sort of online spoiler could ruin it for you. I'd be surprised if it could because it's such a— it would be difficult to capture Everything that you experience in that ride, uh, moving from thing to thing. Yeah. Um, and I'm, I'm not gonna spoil it for you here.

No, please don't.

Um, but like, you, you literally move from like— Yeah, the whole— the whole different environments.

Yeah, the whole queue is an experience in and of itself, from what I understand. And then you get to the ride eventually.

Yeah, which, um, You know, as far as our experience, so like we did Magic Kingdom, then Hollywood Studios, and then Animal Kingdom, and we had never waited in the longer line for Flight of Passage.

Oh, okay.

We'd always done a FastPass over there, and so this was actually kind of a unique experience for us because they're not doing FastPasses right now, right? We had to go through the whole line, and to go through the whole line at Flight of Passage was incredible.

Yeah, so it's, it's kind of like Peter Pan, like if you go through the if you go through the FastPass line of Peter Pan, you just kind of show up where the ride starts. But the, but the queue of Peter Pan, from what I understand— I've never, never done it, um, the new one— is pretty cool. You need to go through it.

It is. But I will tell you this, I mean, like, we, we went through it this time and like all of the special effects were turned off.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So that was, that was actually disappointing because I was actually really looking forward. Um, if you've never done it before, Um, you know, one of the big things in the story of Peter Pan is that his shadow gets separated from him.

Yes.

And, and then Wendy has to sew his shadow back on, right? So one of the things that they do in the queue of that ride is they allow you to play with your shadow in some different ways, and it's really cool. I've done it before, and that's, that's the only reason I know about it, is it's really cool how they've figured out how to let you play with your shadow.

Yeah.

But that was all turned off for some reason. Um, and I don't know if it had anything to do with the construction that was going on across the way.

With Small World.

With Small World.

Yeah.

But that was under construction while we were there.

Yeah.

Um, the other thing that I'll say about it, and this was definitely the case in Magic Kingdom while we were there, is the lines appeared to be extraordinarily long.

Part of that was because of the social distancing, right?

Part of that is the social distancing. Well, and I, I wouldn't say part of that, most of that is the social distancing. Where— so I mean, if you've ever been to Magic Kingdom, just for context, we stood in line for the Haunted Mansion. We got in the line basically near where you get on for Tom Sawyer's Island.

Oh my goodness. That's like, that's like all the way around the lagoon.

Yes.

But that is, that is, that is a really long way.

Like, people—

that's—

and that's— And it was integrated with the line for what you typically get on the riverboat with.

Okay.

And even then, it was only about a 15-minute wait.

That's incredible.

So like, what looks like a 3-hour line. Yeah, is only a 15-minute wait.

Interesting.

So, um, and I— the other thing that I'll mention is we, we had one, um, janky, uh, experience with the whole thing.

Oh, okay.

Um, and that was our last day in the parks, which thankfully wasn't our last day on property. Um, but we were waiting in line for Kilimanjaro Falls Okay. Which is like the, the river rapids ride at Animal Kingdom.

You get really— you either get soaked or dry. Right. Yeah.

Um, and I, I honestly, I'd never ridden it before. Oh, this is my first time.

Okay.

Um, and so I was kind of excited, and, and my wife was like, oh, this is— I love this ride, I've ridden this many times. And I was like, for some reason I've never been on it.

Yeah.

Um, and we were waiting in line, and on all the Disney rides now, right now they have the, the markers on the ground that say, you know, wait here, right? You know, it's a 6-foot protocol.

Sure.

That they have. And there was a single guy in front of us, and for, for whatever reason, this was a particularly longer line than what we'd experienced during the day. Like, at Animal Kingdom that day, we'd pretty much— like, just for context, my wife and daughter had been able to basically walk on to Everest, which is one of the more popular rides at Animal Kingdom, 4 times.

Oh my goodness. So unheard of.

Yeah. And so we were waiting in Kilimanjaro Falls, and it, you know, we'd been waiting about 10 minutes at this point, which was long for that day.

Yeah.

Um, and my kids were just getting restless.

Sure.

And like, they don't understand like 6-foot protocols. They don't like, hey, wait here. But Like, my youngest one, like, she can't read.

Yeah.

She's 5.

Yeah, and on top of that, she has a mind of her own. Yeah, it's weird.

She's gonna wander about.

Yeah.

So anyway, this— we've been waiting in this line and it's probably been 10 minutes. And we've been going back and forth and my kids are starting to chase each other.

Okay.

And play. What children do.

Yeah.

And there's a single guy in front of us and he's standing on the line and my 5-year-old is chasing my 7-year-old and they're kind of going in circles and he turns to me and he points at them and he throws his hands up in frustration and he goes, there's marks on the ground for a reason.

Oh, did you ask him what the reason was?

I did not. I politely apologized.

Sure.

And said, I'm so sorry, we'll keep them back over here.

Yeah.

In my brain, I'm going, why are you here?

Yeah, you're alone, first of all.

Yeah.

At least in this line, and you're obviously concerned.

Yeah, you're, you're like, you're like panicky concerned about catching COVID from my children.

Right. Right.

Like, and like, here's the other thing, man, is like to enter these parks, you have to go through a medical screening.

Yeah.

To even get in.

Yeah.

Like they're, they are screening you, they are temperature checking you. There's all sorts of protocols that they have to go through to even let you in the park.

Right.

And it's like this morning at 9 AM, none of my children were running a fever.

Right.

And, and so like you're gonna to pitch a hissy fit because they crossed the 6-foot barrier and, and they're wearing a mask and you're wearing a mask, right? Like, why are you here? Yeah, like, if you're so concerned, go home, get in the bunker, and wait this thing out, right?

Right, and good luck.

And let the rest of us enjoy the, the day. Yeah, like, go home.

Yeah.

Like, I'm sorry that you're so miserable.

Yeah, that makes sense.

I did like— and like, to like try and like say that we're— I, I, I, I just—

there's also nice ways to say things.

There's very polite way. Hey, hey sir, I'm, I'm very concerned about my health, right? Could you, could you try and keep your— like, there's polite ways to do that.

Sure.

Instead of like throwing your hands up and wringing your hands and be like, hey, there's reasons there's markers on the ground. I'm like, yeah, I know there's reasons there's markers on the ground, you moron. My 5-year-old doesn't understand that.

Right. I'm sorry that obviously I've got children.

Yeah.

Yeah. I'm sorry for me.

No, I'm sorry for you. Yeah, exactly.

Exactly. Well, real quick, uh, we're gonna wrap this up. We got plenty more that we could talk about, but we're at an hour and 15 minutes already almost. Um, real quick, tell me about your resort stay.

Oh, that was fantastic. So we, uh, we ended up buying points—

renting points.

Renting points. Okay. There's like— we definitely paid. We, we paid for them. Yeah. Um, so there's, there's different ways to stay at Disney, right? So like you can actually pay to stay at one of the resorts.