It's the very last episode of Park People! We look to the future, which includes:

• Epic Universe, the new Universal Orlando park opening in 2025
• Super Nintendo World in Florida and California
• Avengers Campus expansion at Disney California Adventure
• The slump to the finish line of EPCOT's transformation
• Dinoland's replacement at Animal Kingdom
• What's "beyond Big Thunder" at Magic Kingdom
• SeaWorld's surf coaster
• Carowinds' 50th anniversary

and more!

What started as a quarantine project turned into two years of celebrating our love of theme parks and connecting with all of you who love them, too. Thank you for listening! You are all honorary Park People.

It's time to take a trip to the place where the Carolinas come together: Carowinds! We chat with the legendary Jerry Helms, former VP of Operations at Carowinds, who was first hired in 1973, the year the park opened.

Jerry shares decades of stories and insight, including:

• who named the park
• the origins of the Top Gun coaster
• Carowinds creator E. Pat Hall's infamous visit to Disneyland in the '50s
• his go-to philosophy, "You can only ride something for the first time once."
• leadership principles for embracing change, managing people, and stewarding relationships with huge movie studios and IP partners

and a lot more from truly an icon of the industry. We hope you'll enjoy our conversation with Jerry and share it with a friend! You may even want to have a notebook ready to jot down his wisdom 

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Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or the link in our profile.

Look alive, because it’s time for what many consider the greatest theme park attraction of all time, Haunted Mansion!

In this episode, we discuss:

• the creative tension of “silly vs. scary” 
• the flawless Nightmare Before Christmas overlay
• international versions of the ride
• the iconicity of the Eddie Murphy movie
• the perennial debate: When does spooky season start?

and more!

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Resources

• YouTube: The Gruesome Scare Maze of Hong Kong Disneyland by ReviewTyme
• Book: “The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering A Disney Classic” by Jason Surrell
• The Imagineering Story on Disney+
• Behind The Attraction on Disney+

We're excited to welcome our special guests, Halle Watson and Lindsay Underwood from "We're Obsessed" Podcast! This episode is “grand and miraculous,” just like our topic, Spaceship Earth.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The appeal of this opening-day attraction
• Judi Dench boldly going where no Dame has gone before
• Walt Disney’s vision for EPCOT
• When Spaceship Earth became the Death Star... really
• The Prince of Egypt, for some reason

and more!


We're Obsessed

• Listen to We're Obsessed Podcast
• Follow We're Obsessed on TikTok
• Follow We're Obsessed on Instagram

Things mentioned in this episode:

• Vic Perrin version of Spaceship Earth
• Walter Cronkite version of Spaceship Earth
• Jeremy Irons version of Spaceship Earth
• Daniel Craig introduces "the weekend"
• When Spaceship Earth became Mike Wazowski
• When Spaceship Earth became the Death Star

Resources:

• YouTube essays
  • Defunctland: Walt Disney's City of the Future, E.P.C.O.T.
  • ReviewTyme: What the heck is EPCOT?
• Books
  • Walt Disney's EPCOT Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow by Richard Beard
  • The Thinking Fan's Guide to Walt Disney World: EPCOT by Aaron Wallace

We've all been there. Those moments in a theme park when you made the right call and it led to something amazing! And also, those moments you regret, when should've taken an L. In this episode, we each count down our top 3 best and top 3 worst decisions we've ever made in theme parks.

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• YouTube video: The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow at Disney's Hollywood Studios
• Apply for the Disney College Program
• Visit Tweetsie Railroad
• Expedition Theme Park: The History of Virtual Magic Kingdom
• Learn more about different tours:
  • VIP Experience at Universal Studios Hollywood
  • Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour at Disneyland
  • Keys To The Kingdom Tour at Magic Kingdom
• Sign up for a free Disney Vacation Club presentation at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, or Aulani
• YouTube ride-through: High In The Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride at Islands of Adventure
• The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen at Universal CityWalk 
• Early Entry info at Walt Disney World
• Disney's All-Star Movies Resort

The magic is calling! We “answer the call” to Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary, the World’s Most Magical Celebration. We break down everything new as part of the 18-month festivities, which continues through March 2023, as well as what it was like to be at Magic Kingdom for the park’s actual 50th anniversary on October 1, 2021. 

There’s a lot to do for the 50th:

• Beacons of Magic at all 4 Walt Disney World theme parks
• New entertainment and favorites returning for the first time since before the pandemic
• Nighttime spectaculars Enchantment and Harmonious
• Riding through Paris with the rat of all our dreams on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Blasting through the galaxy with the Guardians on Cosmic Rewind
• Julie Andrews bamboozling the theme park community

and more!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• “The Most Magical Story on Earth: 50 Years of Walt Disney World” documentary hosted by Whoopi Goldberg on Disney+
• “A Portrait of Walt Disney World: 50 Years of the Most Magical Place on Earth” by Kevin Kern, Steven Vagnini, and Tim O’Day
• 50th anniversary merch collection on shopDisney
• 50th anniversary celebration overview - video posted by Disney Parks on September 30, 2021 featuring Julie Andrews

Not the gumdrop buttons! Travel with us to Far, Far Away as we celebrate the legacy of Shrek 4D at Universal Studios parks. It may be all ogre now, but there's a lot to remember about this show that ran for nearly 20 years.

Our friend Blake Reed joins us as we discuss:

• Which Shrek film is superior
• What preceded Shrek 4D in Florida
• Shrek 4D's place in history with Mickey's PhilharMagic
• The alternate versions of this attraction globally
• The rumored replacement of Shrek 4D in Florida
• and more!

Follow on Instagram @ParkPeoplePod.

Hey hey hey HEY! It's time for Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon at Universal Studios Florida, plus Jeremy's experience attending the live recording of the real Tonight Show in New York City!

In this episode, we discuss:

• How to get tickets to The Tonight Show and your other favorite live productions
• The legacy of 30 Rockefeller Center
• How Jimmy Fallon pitched his own ride to Universal
• Race Through New York’s predecessors, Ghostbusters and Twister
• Would Universal make an SNL attraction?
• and more!

Links:

• Jimmy Fallon Tours Race Through New York with Mark Woodbury from Universal Creative
• Jimmy Takes Blake Shelton on Race Through New York
• Jimmy and The Rock Prank Universal Guests
• Race Through New York Grand Opening
• "Vacation" Parody Road Trip to Universal Orlando

30 years, 30 fears. Get your pizza fries, grab a selfie with Lil Boo, and inhale that fog because it's time to take a deep dive into Halloween Horror Nights 30, Universal Orlando's signature event that returned in 2021 after a hiatus in 2020.

Join us as we talk through:

• All 10 haunted houses, including fan favorite Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin
• The event's 2 shows
• Scare zones
• Food!
• How to navigate HHN as a first-timer
• How HHN30 stacks up to previous years
• What we'd love to see in HHN's future
• A moment of mourning for Shrek 3D
• and more!

What was Walt Disney World like when it first opened? How about even BEFORE it opened? Today on Park People, we celebrate the decade Walt Disney World opened, the 1970s, just in time for the resort's quickly approaching 50th anniversary on October 1, 2021.

We're joined by some special guests –– our moms! –– who share their memories. Caleb's mom got to tour Walt Disney World in a hard hat while it was still under construction. Blake's mom lived in Central Florida shortly after Walt Disney World opened and visited often with her family.

We're so excited for you to hear all of the amazing things they shared with us, from retro classic that are no longer with us like the Mickey Mouse Revue, to bygone systems of the past like ride tickets, to opening-day classics that have now endured for five decades.

Follow @ParkPeoplePod on Instagram.

Resources if you want to learn more about Disney World in the '70s:

• The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World on YouTube
• The Mouseketeers At Walt Disney World on Disney+
• The Imagineering Story on Disney +
• Behind The Attraction on Disney+
• Project Future by Chad Denver Emerson
• A Portrait of Walt Disney World: 50 Years of The Most Magical Place On Earth by Kevin Kern, Tim O'Day, Steven Vagnini, and Fabiola Garza
• Disney World At 50: The Stories of How Walt's Kingdom Became Magic In Orlando from the Orlando Sentinel