SPEAKER_03: 3:02

Well, it's time for Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure, the podcast for cyclists who understand that writing is not just about getting to the destination, but the experience along the way. Now, here are the original cycling men of leisure, Adam and Michael.

SPEAKER_00: 3:15

Welcome to Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. I am Adam, and once again, in human format, I am being joined by my good friend, all the way from Eastern Time Zone, Mr. Michael Sharp. Hello, sir. Hello, how are you? Oh my gosh. It is a magical time here. We are still in Florida. Yes. Um we are uh we're gonna give a little little listener spotlight. We're gonna have a little trip update, and uh we have some rare trivia uh Disney uh hit uh Disney trivia. Um some research we've done and stories we've been told along the way, and then we'll uh close it out with another listener spotlight.

SPEAKER_01: 4:00

Yes, little known facts.

SPEAKER_00: 4:02

Little known facts. So um unfortunately, with us recording this, we can maybe pipe it in later, but we won't have a lot of guests for listener spotlight because of the last one that you did. And um we took advantage of being here in format, so we thought we'd do another show here. We can uh make the magic happen later in post-production, as they say.

SPEAKER_01: 4:25

We got one, we got one guess.

SPEAKER_00: 4:26

Okay, perfect, perfect. Well, you guessed St. Louis. Well, I always gonna say wrong. I tried to help him out last night by saying there's a there's an arch.

SPEAKER_01: 4:36

There's uh you were trying to get me to choose St. Louis as the listener spotlight, and you were giving me all sorts of well, I wouldn't call them they were facts, but they were I mean they were pretty they were too easy.

SPEAKER_00: 4:52

What city has a large silver arch? There there used to be a McDonald's riverboat. There you go. See, I have all kinds of good stuff for you.

SPEAKER_01: 5:03

What city used to have a town with a McDonald's that used to serve their happy meals in a riverboat-shaped box?

unknown: 5:09

St.

SPEAKER_01: 5:09

Louis. There you go.

SPEAKER_00: 5:12

Bush Stadium.

SPEAKER_01: 5:15

Sets on the Mississippi River, yes.

SPEAKER_00: 5:18

Well, we uh we uh we we went over to Universal. Whoa, what that sounds crazy, but we went to the City Walk yesterday and kind of just explored and uh kind of went resort hopping, just checking out different resorts and just kind of kind of walking around. Um that was a good time. And then uh last night we went to Sanaa. Sanaa. Over an Animal Kingdom Lodge. Yes. Um bread service is exceptionally good. Well, yeah, of course. So no, it was definitely good. Um chilly, a little chilly, not exactly when you think of Florida, what what you're supposed to be experiencing, but uh I guess it's you know, it's just that's that time of the year where you never know what's gonna happen. So if this happened in July, we got something to talk about. So yeah. Well, um we uh have been doing a lot of talking on the show, and and he and I have been uh thinking about some stuff, and we're we're working on something. It's a little slow to get started, but uh we're working on uh subscription service where those who want to hear the show two days early. Uh once we get more information on that, we'll get that out. But uh that could be something that you could so if you need to leisure early, then you can actually we we both felt as though those who uh open their wallets for us, we wanted to give them something for um giving us their hard-earned cash. So you can listen to the two clowns two days early. But well, I mean, listen. Fire up the clown car early. That's right. Well, why don't we get into the listener spotlight?

SPEAKER_01: 7:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 7:06

Um I know that uh I'm the only guy who actually guessed, but give us the clues from the last time in case someone hasn't had a chance to listen to the show.

SPEAKER_01: 7:15

Okay, are we ready? Ready. All right. Uh it has a what I oh oh yes. Let me start with the one that I had. Um it has a significant designation to the steel industry.

SPEAKER_00: 7:33

Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_01: 7:35

It was named for an English town. Pittsburgh. David Copperfield would have a love for this city in the early 20th century. Okay, and the local jail is inspiring.

SPEAKER_00: 7:54

Yeah, I got nothing on that. Nothing? No. Inspiration Hill or inspiration point? Inspiration.

SPEAKER_01: 8:01

Now, how many times have you heard we gotta go down to the jail on inspiration point? Zero point zero. So I don't build jails on inspiration point.

SPEAKER_00: 8:13

Well, look how oh well look at Alcatraz. It was a private little private island.

SPEAKER_01: 8:19

Well, it's always been owned by the government and uh was a Civil War fort before it was a prison.

SPEAKER_00: 8:25

So I mean, if they would have done their cards right, they could have got rid of that prison and they could have put a nice resort out there, like a tennis club, or I was out there. Yeah. I listened to you know, all the tape back in the day. It was a tape, cassette tape, and you walked around and they're like, oh yeah, Al Capone was here, and blah, blah, blah. In this cell, something happened. Bird Bird Mount? Birdman of Alcatraz. Yeah, bird man, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 8:57

Yes, that was an interesting thing. You know, speaking of the Birdman of Alcatraz, when I was younger, the Birdman of Alcatraz, I thought that was like the coolest thing because in my mind, I'd never seen the movie or read the book. My mind, I'm thinking, yeah, this guy built wings and flew out of Alcatraz. And then when I realized it was a guy doing bird research, although cool, I was like a little disappointed. It's like, oh man. Well, and there was a better story there.

SPEAKER_00: 9:23

Then those guys escaped and swam across. Or did they? Or did they?

SPEAKER_01: 9:31

I my theory is they didn't. They they escaped, clearly. And then what they did is they packed themselves into where the life preservers go on the boats that ferry people back and forth. They just hid in there and then waited for the next one. When they got across, everything died down, they hopped out and left.

SPEAKER_00: 9:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 9:51

Conspiracy theorist, take that one for a ride. Did they not die eventually? Well, they did. Uh, I mean, it's been enough years, but they didn't die in the water. They didn't even get in the water. They got in those little compartments and okay.

SPEAKER_00: 10:06

Is that what Josh Gates told you? No. All right. Well, there we go. There's the uh inspiration point. No, inspiration uh uh jail is inspiring.

SPEAKER_01: 10:22

Yeah. All right. Well, Bins, you're not gonna have any idea what this is. Do you want me to give you the Go ahead? Yeah. The listener spotlight city for this episode is in fact Pittsburgh. Birmingham, Alabama.

SPEAKER_00: 10:38

Birmingham. Thank you, listeners from Birmingham, Alabama. Thank you, all listeners, but especially from Birmingham, Alabama.

SPEAKER_01: 10:46

It was named after Burlingham, a town in England, Birmingham. Um has a significant designation to the steel industry in the fact that in the general area there, they find iron you can mine iron, coal, and limestone, which is really the only place on earth that has those three in very close proximity, and those are the three things you need to make to make steel. David Copperfield would have loved this city in the early 20th century because back then its nickname was The Magic City. Magic City. And the local jail is inspiring, not because it's on Inspirational Point or Lover's Leap or anything like that, it's because Martin Luther King, which his holiday was yesterday, by the way, um, wrote letters from Birmingham jail while he was being incarcerated there.

SPEAKER_00: 11:38

Great. Here I was calling it inspiration point and and everything else, and actually has some some history to do with God Scott.

SPEAKER_01: 11:48

Well, thank you, listeners, especially from Birmingham.

SPEAKER_00: 11:52

I love when we get new places. I like when we go on the app and it shows like the last four places of new new listeners. I love it.

SPEAKER_01: 11:59

We are getting lots of overseas listeners.

SPEAKER_00: 12:01

That's great. That's great. Lots of them. Either the Russians are hacking the Cycling Man of Leisure Buzz, Buzz uh Buzz Buzz Buzzcast account. Buzz spot account. Yeah. Or maybe they're actually listening.

SPEAKER_01: 12:16

Hmm. Yeah. Well, I'm not gonna bet on one or the other. I by some reason think the Russians don't have time, or the Chinese don't have time to deal with us. No one else does.

SPEAKER_00: 12:26

Listen, listen to you for a while.

SPEAKER_01: 12:29

Oh, is this the best America's got? We can take them. Uh what's this guy doing?

SPEAKER_00: 12:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 12:36

Listener, spot. Oh my God, somebody give him a job and make him stop.

SPEAKER_00: 12:41

Well, I was gonna ask you. I know it's only been like 48 hours. Any update on the job?

SPEAKER_01: 12:46

Uh, there's potentially uh interview or two maybe coming the end of this week when I get home. Nice.

SPEAKER_00: 12:52

Nice, nice. We'll hope that uh the Detroit tra uh uh snow on the ground and ice does not uh deter you from getting home since you have to go through the great city of Detroit.

SPEAKER_01: 13:02

So yes.

SPEAKER_00: 13:05

Um okay. Now, one of my favorite parts. Uh Mr. Spotlight again? No, no, that would be a very quick show. Um so any highlights for you so far from the trip since we are gonna take the since the last episode.

SPEAKER_01: 13:25

Um we weren't able to play any more golf because of the bad weather and whatnot.

SPEAKER_00: 13:29

Right.

SPEAKER_01: 13:30

Um, you've already talked about us going down to Universal Studios and wandering around down there. We uh No, it's just been we I think that yesterday was the first time ever that you and I have ever traveled together where we did not have something planned. That's right. We got up in the morning and was like, what are we doing today? I don't know. What should we do? Um generally we have things planned out and stuff. It was kind of nice. So we just kind of we did a lot of leisuring yesterday, but I'm excited because we're going to the Animal Kingdom tonight. That's always a good time. And uh and then we have to go back tomorrow. Boom, boom, boom.

SPEAKER_00: 14:10

But so well, yeah, we've had a good time. Um absolutely it's kind of fun to show you since my wife and I used to have annual passes at Universal and had Lolly Gag. It was kind of fun to show you, at least my knowledge. And then we went we uh we went and explored an area that I had never been, so that was kind of cool. So um, and we we were able to have a chocolate old fashion uh at Tucsome, which is always good, and we have the chocolate bread, which uh That was a lot probably too way too much chocolate in one setting, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_01: 14:53

Yeah, you can't somebody had to do it. We did it.

SPEAKER_00: 14:56

Well, um yes, today we have uh I don't know, they say it's free. I I don't know about the word free. You you pay for it, but there's a uh what they call Moonlight Magic for the timeshare that we both own, and uh we were able to secure some tickets so you have to get on that waiting list, and then it's kind of controversial. Some people get you know they wait on the list, and you only can jump on the list if you have a reservation already when you're here, and um, and so then those people you know are able to get in. So at four o'clock today, um, we can get in for a six-hour period of uh again, the word free is very arbitrary. Yeah, loose. So um, but um, so we're gonna go over there and that'll be fun. And then you know, normally they give out like free Mickey bars and it'll be cold. You can sit out there and nothing better than a Mickey Dilly bar.

SPEAKER_01: 15:51

There you go. Sorry, Dairy Queen. I mixed two different companies there.

SPEAKER_00: 15:56

But hey, they taste better when they're just handing them to you. Oh yeah, hey, you're not charging me six bucks for it.

SPEAKER_01: 16:02

Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00: 16:03

Any uh any specific meal that you liked? I mean, uh anything that jumped out while we were here?

SPEAKER_01: 16:09

I have not been too hungry while I've been here, but um, you know, you cannot beat the bread service. I mean, everybody's like it's bread, but it's like, you know, uh African style type breads um with like nine different like sauces you can put on them, jams, different things like that. Um, that's always a good time. Um yeah. So I think that, and it was a good steak last night there as well.

SPEAKER_00: 16:38

That was a Sanaa. So well, we uh came back through uh Disney Springs and had to get a Ghirardelli. Am I pronouncing that right? Ghirardelli? I think so. Okay. I didn't get one, you did. Yeah, I got the mini after you wore the one the night before. Well, we didn't need to mention that.

SPEAKER_01: 16:56

Oh, I I thought, oh, okay. I thought we were just being transparent and honest here and having a conversation. And you had to get one the night before, and you were walking, and it was very cold, and you were like, oh, and you're like spilling it. It was embarrassing.

SPEAKER_00: 17:10

I spilled a couple things on the front of my shirt. Big deal.

SPEAKER_01: 17:13

It was like half the container. It's horrible.

SPEAKER_00: 17:18

Boy, we are stretching the truth here. Um let's resend that bus driving job quick, quick, quick, quick. No, yes. So unfortunately, we were walking and I thought, oh, I have to take a bite, and of course, it went down one of my nice Disney shirts. And so luckily, um, we have a washer and dryer here, and so I took care of it. No big deal. Life goes on. Um, we have had to make some adjustments to the trip just because of um the weather. I mean, like right now, my computer, as I look at my notes, has 56 degrees outside. Um, and uh it's supposed to get real cold. So uh definitely, definitely some changes. You know, I brought, I think, uh four pairs of shorts. Yeah, I wore one of them because it was that was about it. But um why don't we get into some uh some Disney uh history? Um and then where this came from is we were lucky enough to have dinner with our friend Armando, and and he gave us a few, and uh you know, he always gives us a little little little tips and tricks and things that through his years of uh Disney and um waters that are actually uh brown but technically are cleaner, and you could drink them based upon how they're chemically uh solved. It's just all part of the illusion and the magic. Um and so got us thinking, got us kind of just talking a little bit, and and we we uh we were able to to come up with a few and some I knew, some I did not know, just as my as Franklin would say, Disney adultness. Um and I'll I'll start off with the one that Armando mentioned at dinner and and he said uh he said how many bricks, you know, you know you know Cinderella's castle, you know, they got a restaurant there, and they got an executive room upstairs if you really want to. Um I guess they used to rent it out, but now they did used to.

unknown: 19:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 19:19

But I guess now if Saudi princes probably could donate enough and they would be able to stay there, but um now I guess it's invitation only. But um, you know, you always think about weather and you think about hurricanes and you think about wind. Um, and he said, How many bricks are in the castle? How many how many how many bricks uh actually make up the Cinderella's castle? You want me to guess?

SPEAKER_01: 19:43

Yeah. There are exactly 4,327 bricks, but they're cinder bricks on the inside, and it's not what you see on the outside. Boom, drop the mic, I'm gonna go home.

SPEAKER_00: 19:58

There are actually zero bricks. It is fiberglass. There's uh actually, it's a facade, it's all made to look that way to withstand hurricanes and winds and all that jazz. And so uh that was kind of the one that we had uh at dinner, and so and credit of Armando, his history gave us that.

SPEAKER_01: 20:19

But I have something to add to that.

SPEAKER_00: 20:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 20:21

I actually knew what the answer was, but um, I have something to add to that is the fact that it is made out of fiberglass for not only that reason, but also with the way that they the materials that they use, fiberglass and whatnot, they can classify that is technically from a construction point of view from the state of Florida, is considered a temporary structure. Did you know that?

SPEAKER_00: 20:44

Well, uh you're gonna kind of steal my thunder a little bit, but that's okay. Oh, I'm sorry. No, no, don't be sorry. Uh I kind of did, and it's so they can skirt around some of the aviation.

SPEAKER_01: 20:55

That's right. It's a temporary structure, so some of the rules that would apply to a permanent structure do not apply to it. So there you go.

SPEAKER_00: 21:06

Always ways of getting around everything. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 21:09

I I've got one if you want to unless you're not.

SPEAKER_00: 21:12

No, please go ahead.

SPEAKER_01: 21:14

Okay. I got a question for you.

SPEAKER_00: 21:17

All right.

SPEAKER_01: 21:17

If you as an individual, I know you're here a lot, but um if you as an individual stayed in every single room at Walt Disney World, how long would it take you to stay in every single individual room? Ten years. To stay in every single room at Disney World, it would take you 81 years. Wow. That's a lot of room.

SPEAKER_00: 21:46

That's a lot of room.

unknown: 21:48

Incredible.

SPEAKER_00: 21:50

Did you know that Magic Kingdom floats? No, I didn't. Sort of. Uh the park sits on a massive berm with engineered drainage, and it's so effective it'd be so effective it behaves like a raised island during storms. So it can actually like based upon the water tables? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 22:14

Oh wow.

unknown: 22:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 22:16

Your turn.

SPEAKER_00: 22:16

Your turn.

SPEAKER_01: 22:18

Uh there's a lot of flags on Main Street down at Disney World. Magic Kingdom. You seen them? Oh, many times. Like tons of flags. Well, Disney's done another little way of skirting certain things. Um, most of those are in fact not U.S. flags. Did you know that? I did not. They look like U.S. flags, but they are in fact not U.S. flags. What they've done, if you look closely on those flags that line it, you'll notice that they may not all have 50 stars. They may not have all the exact uh number of stripes and all that kind of stuff. And they do it for a reason. Because the U.S. flag code requires traditionally one to be raised, lowered, flown at half staff. You know, in the morning you raise a flag, you take it down at night, you raise a flag, you take it down. Different times of the year, uh different things require flags to be flown at half staff. So basically, what they've done is they've ensured that they are not in, you know, not exactly U.S. flags. So they are not required to raise them, lower them, or put them at half staff. And they are not violating U.S. flag code.

SPEAKER_00: 23:30

Huh. Interesting. Yeah. So um this is a well-known, this is not really a secret. There are there are tunnels at Magic Kingdom. And this is not um now. If you don't know, I mean, I guess I shouldn't I shouldn't assume that, but most people know that there are tunnels. This is how staff gets around. That's why the you know the cowboys from Tomorrowland, you know, they never cross paths with the you know the future world. Yeah. Like, whoa, what's going on? Uh 626, baby, 626. So um, but um that's a number that Stitches uses. Sorry, but I shouldn't. Oh my god. But uh yes, they're those tunnels. Um, we my wife and I, we did the keys of the kingdom tour. And part of the tour is they take you around and they show you all kinds of things. Now, one of the things I'll give away that was really interesting to me is um I think you and the family have been on Pirates of the Caribbean. Yes, many times. And when you climb the hill and they take your picture now, and then you're about to go down the hill up into Barbosa's fight, right? Um, well, believe it or not, the reason why they built that was um that little hill was not just for the thrill of it. Yeah, it wasn't just for the excitement. Excitement. Underneath where you're going over and going down the hill, the train that goes around the park is right below you. And believe it or not, at that very moment you go from building A, or I don't know if it's called building A. I'd be a liar. But you're going from one building to another building when you go down that hill. The all of the Barbosas fight where Jack's barrel is, that's another building. And so they had to do that because the terrain, the castles sits basically on this first floor, and then the basement or whatever would be actually, you know, I guess it was the second second floor, and the basement is the first floor. And then the terrain that goes out, eventually they had to do something. And so, yes, believe it or not, pirate to the Caribbean, you go from multiple buildings. So my question is, why didn't they just make one big building? Um Roy Disney passed many years ago, but you may be able to reach out to his granddaughters.

SPEAKER_01: 25:44

So I'm having a seance, so I can ask Roy why they didn't just build one building would have made things way easier. Okay. That's fine. I can go with that. Um did you know that Disney World is only there, that is the uh only place next to the White House that they are actually authorized to use the official seal of the president of the United States in the Hall of Presidents. I did not know that. Disney can use, if you go to the Hall of Presidents, this is where they've got all these animatronic presidents, you know, like uh Lincoln's up there and does his Gettysburg address or something. You know, whatever. Um, they're all animatronics. Number one, uh, if you look in the floor, they have the seal. That is the official, official government seal of the president of the United States, and that cannot be used anywhere else other than in the White House, except Disney has the rights to use it in that particular instance, which I thought was kind of cool. The other thing to that is if you go to the Hall of Presidents, the when you know you're looking at Ratherford B. Hayes or Grover Cleveland, all your favorite ones, you know, uh Franklin Pierce, those type of people that you really love, um, those presidents, um, all of their clothes are sewn. They worked very hard to try to sew the clothes with um like the types of fabrics and the types of techniques that would have been used when they were alive. The more recent presidents, um, a lot of presidents have donated suits and things to Disney to be used on their animatronic characters. That's pretty cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 27:27

That is pretty cool. Um let's see here. I'm looking at my notes. I took oh. Cinderella Castle. Again, we'll go back to the castle. Uh, believe it or not, it contains a lightning arrestor disguised as a decor, uh, decoy, um, and it as a lightning protection system to actually so if you're around the castle and and the um the fireworks are about to start, you're thinking to yourself, man, there's a storm coming in. Is this really smart to be out here? I'm not saying it's 100% proof, but you are protected. Disney has designed it where you could be safer.

SPEAKER_01: 28:08

That sounds like PR to me. Everything is completely fine. Keep paying me your money. Yeah, buy it. Don't leave the park. There's still Mickey Dilly bars to be had.

SPEAKER_00: 28:19

They're not dilly bars.

SPEAKER_01: 28:21

I but for the P okay. Mickey Disney. You are correct. You are correct. I'm mixing Dairy Queen with Disney, and I do that for a reason because if you've never been to Disney World and you don't know what we're talking about, chances are you probably know what a dilly bar is. So it's just a dilly bar that's shaped like Mickey in the ears. So see, I'm trying to allow people to not everybody's here every three three weeks.

SPEAKER_00: 28:46

So he invests too much in Berkshire, Hathaway. He's trying to secretly tell you to buy Dairy Queen.

SPEAKER_01: 28:53

No, because of some other ice cream shop would have done. Oh.

SPEAKER_00: 28:56

That's what I'm hearing.

SPEAKER_01: 28:58

Buy the Dairy Queen. I wonder if there's an alligator in that little pond out there. Let's go take a walk. Off a short pier. That's right. Do you know they have a special green paint they use at Disney? I do actually know this. Yes, it's called Go Away Green, and this is a specific shade of green paint that they use on walls and structures, and it makes them blend in with the foliage, making them disappear from guest view. And um, so basically they use a lot of camouflage techniques to so you know you don't see just like, hey, here's a building. They got a bunch of trees and ferns and things growing. They paint it this green, and then it just all kind of flows together. Which the Tower of Terror is painted that really weird kind of pinkish, pinkish red sandstone color, and doesn't really kind of like give you the idea that it's a hotel. It's at Hollywood Studios, by the way. You know why it's painted that color?

SPEAKER_00: 30:00

To blend in so you can you don't see it as much.

SPEAKER_01: 30:04

Sort of because if you're over at Epcot, the Moroccan area, you can see the Tower of Terror. And so they colored the Tower of Terror the same color as the buildings, the Moroccan village. So when you're there looking, you don't see this big concrete tower of terror. You see something that blends in and just let's get another building in the down the road or whatever. That's cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 30:31

What else you got? I'm gonna move to Epcot. I had a couple of Magic Kingdom things, but in essence of time, we'll we'll go on to Epcot. So so Epcot uh was originally um thought about as Walt's special thing, uh, experimental prototype community of tomorrow. And in his original plan, uh they have found resources that he actually banned retirees. He did not want in this experimental area to have people who retired to move there. It wasn't like a he uh he was he feared stagnation and mandated a um a rotating population. Um again, it didn't work out because he succumbed to his cancer from smoking and um you know Disney held the plans for Epcot until 1982 and opened it up under a completely different idea concept. Um but um but yes, that was part of his original plan. I thought I would share that with you.

SPEAKER_01: 31:30

Yeah, it was gonna be like this innovation innovative city and things, which is what that whole spirit thing was for, but that doesn't that doesn't pay the bills. All right. Did you know, believe it or not? I was gonna ask. Believe it or not, Mickey has more outfits than Minnie. Which doesn't really happen in the real world very often. I believe that. Yeah. Mickey Mouse has around a hundred and thirty-six different costumes. I believe that's a lot of outfits.

SPEAKER_00: 32:04

Well, yeah, I've seen the Phantasmic. There's four in that one by itself. So that's a that's a cartoon. No. Oh no, the Phantasmic is a nighttime. Oh, the show. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01: 32:15

Wasn't Phantasm the actual cartoon?

SPEAKER_00: 32:18

Uh Phantasia. That's it, yeah. Yeah. Uh Spaceship Earth actually rests on a tabletop foundation. The sphere, big ball that you just mentioned at Epcot, doesn't actually bear all its weight. Uh support legs do. So um kind of interesting. Doesn't bear all of its weight? Yeah, the the sphere doesn't actually, but there's there's very supportive.

SPEAKER_01: 32:43

That's why those those triangular things are on the side. Well, speaking of Epcot, did you know Epcot is the only park in Disney World that has two entrances, two main entrances? I I did. Yeah. Uh if you go to any of the other parks, Animal Kingdom, Magic, Magic Kingdom, all that kind of stuff, you enter one thing, one one main area is the only way you can get in. In Epcot, you can enter through a front main gate, or they have another main gate that comes off of boardwalk and the Skyliner. So that's correct.

SPEAKER_00: 33:17

Uh, I knew that one. Did you know that in Epcot they specifically made the streets uncomfortable to walk on? Now I know that sounds crazy. But what they did is they were concerned about um the way that they had the park built and the ideas and the plans, uh, but they wanted to make uneven stones to actually slow walking speed um and also to increase pavilion dwell time. So here you're walking and your feet are a little uncomfortable, and you get to the like German pavilion, you're like, oh, I'll rest more, and it gets you to stay at the pavilion longer.

SPEAKER_01: 33:54

I need a German Mickey Dilly bar. Good luck to you, buddy. Um, here's one. Uh Main Street USA. You've been there. Um actually, let's step back. Let's not go to Main Street, let's go to Liberty Square. And Liberty Square, for the people that don't know, Liberty Square is the square that looks like uh, you know, um 1700s, 1800s colonial village. And um they've tried to make it like really historically accurate. It kind of looks like something you'd see at um, I don't know, someplace back east, um, colonial type of village. Well, what's interesting is there are no bathrooms in Liberty Square because at the time that they're depicting Liberty Square, there would not have been public bathrooms. That's why everyone just goes and That's why there's an outhouse around the back of the no, I'm kidding. Uh yeah, the outhouse is out around back behind the uh the uh gift shop. Uh no, there's no bathrooms in Liberty Square. And if anybody knows Disney, they're going, wait a minute. I have been to the gift shop, and there's a bathroom in the back of the gift shop. Here's how they get around it. The back half of that gift shop is actually in a different land, so they're not in Liberty Square.

SPEAKER_00: 35:15

There we go. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01: 35:17

They're tricky here. They are very tricky. Anything else?

SPEAKER_00: 35:21

Uh, going back to the Pirates of the Caribbean, the water, and this is in honor of Armando, is chemically aged. It's tinted and treated to maintain uh a uh a blackish look. Why do they want it blackish? Because it's pirates of the Caribbean. They don't want like clear, like blue, like, oh look, it's everything's peachy. Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 35:42

Have you ever been to the Caribbean? It's nice and clear and good-looking water.

SPEAKER_00: 35:46

Uh not when it's dark and dingy and fiery and going, yo, ho, yo, ho, a pirate's life. For me.

SPEAKER_01: 35:53

Um, can we drink it? Is it safe to drink? You better ask Armando that. Dip in my cut. Oh, that's interesting. They are they I will give uh Disney this. They are very environmentally conscious, and uh, so I think that's good. Um I had one more that was a really good one, but uh, I don't know what that was now.

SPEAKER_00: 36:17

Well, while you're thinking about that, uh I found this very interesting by doing some research, research, and you know, I've been there many times. There are ride vehicles that um are not perfectly level on purpose. So you think, you know, you buy a boat, you you know, or like you, you have a camper. Um, and I imagine that you spend some time while at camp leveling it out, you know, so when you're making the eggs.

SPEAKER_01: 36:40

Yeah, otherwise you're like leaning like this the whole time, or you're rolling out of bed one way.

SPEAKER_00: 36:44

It doesn't work. So what Disney did is is they specifically like they were afraid of ride breakdown, and so to obscure or maybe curve standing when the ride breaks down, uh they purposely purposely uh purposely have it unlevel so it's uncomfortable to stand up. And I thought that was I thought that was actually interesting.

SPEAKER_01: 37:05

Wow, they've thought of everything. Hmm. Interesting. Um, you've been on the Walt Disney Railroad train that goes around Magic Kingdom, right? I have. Yeah, yeah. It's a it's a pretty good standard. Uh, did you realize that uh that is actually pulled by a steam engine?

SPEAKER_00: 37:21

I did, a real one, yes.

SPEAKER_01: 37:22

And they have actually in their fleet, they have four steam-powered trains that were originally built between 1916 and 1928. So that means that you might be on a and uh being pulled by a steam-powered engine that's actually a hundred years old or more. How cool is that?

SPEAKER_00: 37:41

Actually, there if you really enjoy some of the Disney history, you can go uh uh Disney Channel, Disney Plus, has them re reconditioning or remaking or re um, I guess reconditioning the engines, and how Walt used to love uh he absolutely demanded that the engines had to be real, and um that's why when they built Tron, they had to uh raise Tron up and and make a tunnel for the track. It's because that they took all that time to redo the engines, and so um the train was closed for a long time, but it's back now.

SPEAKER_01: 38:17

So interesting.

SPEAKER_00: 38:19

There are ride blueprints that Disney refuses to digitize. Why would you think that is? So people couldn't copy them?

SPEAKER_01: 38:26

Uh some remain paper only for intellectual property protection concerns of being able to copy them out, and so because let me tell you, I'm just sitting around waiting for those big thunder plans to come out so I can build one in my backyard. That's so wild, just riding a wilderness. Very interesting. Um, speaking of uh factual, um Disney uh Disneyland out in California. Back in the day, uh they had 20,000 leagues under the sea. And um Walt was very, very pleased with the fact that at one point he had the largest submarine fleet in the world. Now, I mean it only went around the little circle, but technically they were in fact operational submarines. Right. And he had the largest fleet in the world for a while.

SPEAKER_00: 39:23

And unfortunately, they got rid of it in Florida. So Yeah, it was a great ride. Believe it or not, in Walt Disney World is so big that there are undeveloped resort pads with utilities ready. Roads, plumbing, power exists for hotels, never announced. And that's why when all of a sudden you get the marketing material in your mail, they've already been thinking many years in advance. So interesting.

SPEAKER_01: 39:50

I think that's all the good ones I have. I have a lot of other ones, but they're not like, you know, super awesome.

SPEAKER_00: 39:55

Um, the room numbering avoids unlucky sequences. Uh, entire number blocks are skipped quietly on purpose. So there's no room 13s? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01: 40:08

Hmm. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 40:11

At Disney World, because the trees are so important, they are actually insured. Every tree at Disney World is insured with replacement values. And so that's why when they have hurricanes, they can actually get the trees replaced. And when you come back two weeks later and you have no idea, but they have new trees on it.

SPEAKER_01: 40:30

How would you have to insure them? Uh I mean, you could I get it, but you could just have a bunch of growing out here in the many thousands of acres you don't have developed and just take one out and put it back.

SPEAKER_00: 40:46

Seems like a kind of an unnecessary cost, but Disney has its own soil lab used to test plant compatible compatibility and drainage. Um and I think most people know this, but Walt never saw Magic Kingdom completed. And even the design choices past 1966 were interpretive for them. They weren't actually his ideas, but of course we all say Walt Disney World. Um I've got one.

SPEAKER_01: 41:14

Okay. I just came up with an okay. Did you know that the monorail used to be the fastest ride at Disney?

SPEAKER_00: 41:25

I think that's that's since moved on, huh?

SPEAKER_01: 41:28

Well, probably later than you'd think. It it it became it then dropped once they brought in the test track.

SPEAKER_00: 41:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 41:37

But it took up to the test track for it to be ousted as the fastest.

SPEAKER_00: 41:42

Huh. Interesting. Um couple things here that I thought was kind of interesting. Uh Disney World has its full disaster recovery plan for hurricanes and space debris. And then because of the proximity to Cape Carnaval Carnaveral, it actually requires it due to the population that's here.

SPEAKER_01: 42:02

So uh Well, Walt Uh Disney World itself is in fact a city of its own. And it has its own, it does its own power and its own lights and its own police force and all that kind of stuff, and has has to have its own stuff because it's a a uh municipal entity. I did not know about the space thing, but that makes sense because Cape Canaveral is just 50 miles down the road. Pretty cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 42:32

Um, and the only other one that was kind of interesting is uh it's ironic that you like if you bear with me, Disneyland, the airport code is LA, and then you know, LA uh and LA fits in land, and then Orlando, O R L, you know, is Orlando for Disney World, kind of interesting. So and then uh actually I'll I'll finish with this because this was actually something that was part of the keys to the kingdom tour. When Walt was coming here to Disney World, and uh the idea was to grow another amusement park, he was so afraid that people would compete with him and he would have to, you know, buy the property and and he was afraid of you know the secret getting out. And so he didn't actually use Disney World as the project. Uh even though they knew they were going to call it Disney World with all these other lands and worlds and everything, he called it the Florida Project. And then he would never um, as you mentioned, you know, he would never get off the plane for a while. All the he would land here, he would fly in, and then they would have meetings on the plane or sneak him out of the back of the plane because he was afraid of being seen here, and then the property value is going up as they were gobbling up all the property here.

SPEAKER_01: 43:45

Disney's here. My uh price for my land just went up a million dollars.

SPEAKER_00: 43:49

Exactly, exactly. Well, we just figured since we were here and and there's all kinds of stuff that you hear at this very large um you know facility, 26,000 acres. Um, so uh what's next for us? Uh where are you you were you're on the hunt for a job. Yep. Um anything you're excited about besides job coming off?

SPEAKER_01: 44:14

No, I just really want to get back into work because you know that kind of just throws your life all all over the place. Just really want to get a job, get back into work, and then my life can get back on track and I can figure out what I'm doing, what we're doing, all that kind of stuff. But um it'll get there.

SPEAKER_00: 44:31

I'm going through a remodel in my studio. Um, so might look a little different for those of you who watch on YouTube my my uh breaking. Getting rid of your whiskey collection. So close. Not gonna happen there.

unknown: 44:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 44:46

It's gonna look a little different. Gonna look a little different. So we'll uh we'll leave that for a little surprise. So just for those who like to watch us on YouTube, or we'll uh we're uh I got it all broke down. And so matter of fact, I had to move stuff to my basement, and then because of the whiskey, when you have that many, it's you gotta grab like six of them in a box, and then the boxes are like lining the outside of my bedroom. My wife's like, You have a problem. And I'm like, No, I don't have a problem. And so uh, but yes, that's uh that's that's what I'm coming up against. And then of course, as as I probably have mentioned on this show, but also with you, and I've also got conference season coming up, so I'll be traveling a lot for work. So, but that's okay. I'll still be working on the project. I'm excited about it. Um got it got it all in my head, and so uh I see.

SPEAKER_01: 45:35

So I redid my studio, so now you have to redo yours.

SPEAKER_00: 45:38

Well, actually now hold on a second. Uh you were a little bit of inspiration, sure. I I won't deny that, but also I was a photographer for 20 years, and then um that room has been the same, and it's always the I I I actually did a lot of research back in the day when I was actually uh processing and editing photos that a good color on your eyes um that would allow you to focus on the pictures, and they had recommended these this this this pan tone of gray. And so that way, you know, it's like you know, gray is the absence of color when you do photography. And so you don't use that um to actually measure. Um, I'm sure you know this, but I mean those of you who are not in photography, use gray to sometimes measure your black and whites because believe it or not, it's as funny as it sounds, the camera can't see black or whites, can't focus on like when you shoot a bride. Um, I always had to focus on their face because the camera, if I put it on their dress, would just go, you know, the automatic focusing would just go nuts. And so you'd have to like focus on their face and hold the trigger down, blah, blah, blah. And so I actually painted my office this gray color. That's what you see in the background, and it's been that way for 20 years. So uh the rest of my house, uh, I've mentioned on this show we've we've done and So it was time for that. And so what better way of being in our five-year uh anniversary of the of the show? I said, you know what? I'm kind of mixing some some uh technology and with redoing it. And so um that's part of the plan. So we'll we'll give a little play-by-play as we move forward. Um, but I figured I would just mention that. Um we are working on something about the subscription service, so let us get that kind of polished up where we really jacked everything up, and um, so we'll uh we'll figure get that straightened out.

SPEAKER_01: 47:27

And we all we also have some other new things that we're doing. It's gonna be exciting. Uh, I suspect in the next couple episodes you'll you'll uh we're not changing anything, we're not making anything drastically better. Um okay, I'll just make the announcement. I'm getting a new co-host, but no, I'm kidding.

SPEAKER_00: 47:45

Well, look at that. The golf course looks like there's people out there.

SPEAKER_01: 47:49

I will see you later. Uh no, uh, we are doing some things um that's gonna make it uh a little bit sound sound a little bit different, better hope. Um you'll hear uh probably in the next couple of episodes. So be looking for that.

SPEAKER_00: 48:03

No, it'll be good. I'm excited about that. Um well uh I think we should finish it up with uh listener spotlight.

SPEAKER_01: 48:15

Got it written down here, and I had to do it this uh covertly, so uh Adam wouldn't cheat, but I don't think he has any idea. All right, this town permanently settled in the 1600s. Uh there have been five flags that have flown over this city. Um it's named for a native people who lived in the region. The city likes wings. The city likes wings, and here's a good one for you. The story of Ron Burgundy would not be the same without an influence from this city. What do you think? Detroit. Wow. Adam only knows two cities in the entire United States, that is St. Louis and Detroit. My guess is Detroit. Okay, guess all you want. Why Detroit? What in there would say Detroit? Read it again. All of them? Permanently settled in the 1600s. Five flags have flown over it. This city likes wings, name for a native people who lived in the region, and the story of Ron Burgundy would not be the same without an influence from this city.

SPEAKER_00: 49:42

I was just mentioning like the Detroit Red Wings.

SPEAKER_01: 49:45

I thought maybe that was kind of like a Well you know, all of the all of the clues have to match. You can't just pick one and go, that's it. You got to make the other ones match too.

SPEAKER_00: 49:59

Well, uh Detroit, 1701. Okay. You can actually look it up. Well, look at that. Fort Pontra Train. Uh yep, I'm sticking with Detroit. Thank you. Uh Mic Drop. Ladies and gentlemen, as always, thank you for following along with our uh shenantics. And and um I'm sure it's a good day for a bike ride here, but somewhere, somehow, it's a great day, also for some leisure.

SPEAKER_03: 50:31

Thank you for coming along with Adam and Michael on road adventures with cycling men of leisure. If you have enjoyed this, please subscribe to the show and the podcast app of your choice.