Tall Guy Talks Travel with Rick Dougherty

A small town built around a chocolate factory has turned into a huge tourist destination. That transformation exists because Hersheypark decided to change from an amusement park into a theme park. Partially copying the Disney model, Hersheypark has become a place for fans of roller coasters and sweet treats to visit; transforming the area surrounding it.

Josh D'Amaro has taken over as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company. Rick and Sarah Says will talk about D'Amaro's resume and what they expect him to do down the road for Disney.

Rick and Maz talk about how Disney's theming has been overshadowed by convoluted new policies and the desire to "keep up with the Joneses" on social media.

With another new Frozen-themed land set to open in France later this month and at least two more sequels on the horizon, it is beginning to look like the company can't survive without the franchise that started in 2013. In today's episode, Rick and Sarah Says talk about how reliant Disney has become on Frozen, and how it got to this point.

Disney is starting to send out surveys to guests asking about how they would feel about The Simpsons being incorporated into the theme parks. Of course, Universal currently has the theme park rights to the intellectual property, but that might change soon. Rick and Gillian talk about The Simpsons this week, and what they think might happen in the future.

On Monday, Michael Eisner's interview with Graham Bensinger went live. In that conversation, Eisner discussed topics from Jimmy Kimmel to Donald Trump to Steve Jobs to Harvey Weinstein. In today's episode, Rick discusses the various topics discussed while adding extra context.

This week, Sarah Says and Rick continue their conversation from last week about the Hamilton musical on Disney+. With the 250th anniversary of the United States coming up this year, we are talking about the historical figures being portrayed in the musical.

On our fifth anniversary of the podcast, Sarah Says and Rick start a two-episode conversation about the musical Hamilton.

Rick and Maz discuss whether or not the changes that have happened and are coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom have or will fundamentally change the original theming of the park.

Over the course of the past two years, Disney has drastically changed its policies and practices for disabled guests. Many of these changes have hurt disabled Disney fans in dramatic ways. The DAS Defenders are trying to work to return these policies to the previous incarnation. The organization also wants to help disabled theme park fans find a community of those who are dealing with disabilities.