DisLove Podcast with Vanessa and Kris

DisLove E129 Disney Cruise Line Silver Anniversary and Brian & Erika with DCL Dorks

• Vanessa Ferguson and Kris Johns with guests Brian and Erika Heil • Season 5 • Episode 129

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Vanessa and Kris are joined by Erika and Brian from the DCL Dorks Podcast and YouTube Channel. Their show is focused on Disney Cruising. During the episodes, they share their cruise experiences, tips and tricks for cruising along with input from experts/agents/vendors in the Disney space.

Earlier in the episode, Kris and Vanessa discuss the 25th Anniversary of the Disney Cruise Line which launched in May. The celebration will last through September 2023.



For all the latest news about our episodes follow us on Instagram @dislovewithvanessaandkris or on YouTube.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Disney Love podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa Ferguson. And

Speaker 2:

I'm Chris Johns. We

Speaker 1:

Would like to welcome you to show number 129 and for any listeners joining us for the first time, our show features things we love at Disney. And in each episode we have a guest who creates Disney Magic for our listeners at home or on their Disney vacations. From vacation planners to product producers, our guests can bring Disney Magic into your life. And as a reminder to our listeners, we appreciate if you take time to leave us a review at Apple Podcast or any other platform where you listen that helps new listeners find us and of course helps the show grow. And before we get started, Chris, we have a message from our friends@orlandovacation.com.

Speaker 2:

Yes. And that message is welcome to Central Florida. What's omo orlando vacation.com is that they have so many great properties all throughout Central Florida. And what's even better is if you use the code dis love D I S L O V E, you're gonna save money on your next booking of three nights or more. Use that code to save 5% off of beautiful properties across central Florida in areas close to all the major theme parks and the things that you wanna do. So again, welcome to Central Florida from our friends@orlandovacation.com. Use that code dis love, D I S L O V E and say 5% use that money on an awesome souvenir just for yourself<laugh>.

Speaker 1:

And on today's show, we're gonna venture a little bit beyond Central Florida with our topics because we are, we are gonna be joined by Brian and Erica with dcl Dorks. They have a great podcast and a YouTube channel where they share their tips and tricks for getting the most out magic out of your cruises with Disney Cruise line. And we're really looking forward to having them on the show. They are not our first people who've had a podcast on as guests, but they are definitely a great couple and we're really excited to share their story with you and of course let you hear about all of the fun things they have happening over on their channel and on their podcast as well. And I thought it was only fitting because we interviewed Brian and Erica who talk about Disney cruises, that we talk about a big milestone for the Disney cruise line.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

So right now we are in May of 2023 and Disney Cruise Line just launched to anniversary and because Chris doesn't really pay attention when I'm getting some of the stuff ready for the show, what anniversary do you think Disney Cruise Line is celebrating?

Speaker 2:

25.

Speaker 1:

You must have looked at my notes.

Speaker 2:

I did not. I promise

Speaker 1:

<laugh>. So yes, today we're gonna be talking about the 25th anniversary celebration that just started for the cruise line. It will run all the way through September, 2023. And I'm super excited. We do have a cruise booked for the end of September. I'm hoping, fingers crossed that we still get some access to some of these great things. If not though, I trust that a lot of you will be doing some of these fun things and we'll be able to catch up on your posts as well. So the cruise line did launch in 1998 with the Disney Magic followed by the Disney Wonder in 1999, which I've cruised on the wonder twice and Chris has been on the Wonder when we went to Alaska. Yes,<laugh>. So we are really looking forward, we're gonna break down all of the special things that are taking place. So we're going on our third joint cruise that we've done together in September that I just mentioned. And this will be my fourth Disney cruise. So really I would say we are avid Disney Cruise line fans right now. Very much so<laugh> and Chris has been really trying to sell Disney Cruise Line a lot to anybody that wants to listen about it. So we're gonna break down what the celebration entails and there are some fun things from entertainment to of course food. We always have to have food. And then there's some new perks for the Castaway Club members as well. So I'm super excited to dive into these. And of course Disney always has merchandise because you were just talking about saving money to buy souvenirs. You definitely need to check out some of these cool things. So the entertainment they have, if you are on a fortnight or longer cruise, they have a, some special things that we're gonna talk about these are, they have a special fireworks show that's the silver anniversary fireworks. So most of you, if you've done any cruise within the Caribbean, you know there's a pirate night which is always a lot of fun. If you go to Alaska, there's a frozen night. But what they're gonna be doing on the four nights or longer, you're gonna get a second night of fireworks for the silver anniversary fireworks. And this will be on their cruises to The Bahamas, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean. So sorry if you're taking Alaska this year, you're not gonna get to have those special fireworks. But I'm sure our friends that go on these other ones will be able to share those with all of us. Now I think it's not a celebration without Mickey and Minnie and gang having a special outfit to be able to get their pictures. So they have really shimmery 25th anniversary attire for Captain Mickey and Captain Mini. So you'll definitely have to check those out. We have some friends that are avid character that really go after for the special character outfit. So I hope that they get to see them this year. And then also there is a new song and it is pretty fun. I will put it in the show notes. It's called Silver Jubilee. And so it's kind of their soundtrack about the cruise line and it's pretty catchy. It's a nice, it's a nice one and it's kind of their culmination of the celebration of the 25 years SC and Chris, as always, we love to talk about food. Yes we do. And there is going to be some special themed food for the celebration. And one of the things of course is they always have sweet treats. They have a 25th anniversary cupcake, which if they don't have it when we go on our cruises, one of you are gonna have to share. I will say the cupcake game, the cupcakes are looking fantastic, but I feel very cheated. I don't think they taste as good, uh as they used to. They

Speaker 2:

Do not. No, there's something a little lacking. I don't, you know, there might be some budget cuts at Disney<laugh> so they're taking it outta the cupcakes but they

Speaker 1:

Make'em look nice. They

Speaker 2:

Do, they look nice. But I think it's just one of those things where you know the memory of the cupcake is better than the consumption of the cupcake.

Speaker 1:

So I'm gonna go on a cupcake tangent for a second. I was pulling up some old photos. I hope some of you remember starring Rolls Bakery at Hollywood Studios. We used to always go there because they had really famed cupcakes. Remember there was a Butterfinger cupcake. We used to get there all the time and we'd go have lunch, have a sandwich and a great cupcake. Those I think were some of my favorite ones ever.

Speaker 2:

Oh definitely.

Speaker 1:

Now if you've never been on a Disney cruise before, there are a lot of desserts and treats and all of that that are included. But things like the cupcakes are typically an extra cost. They'll have'em in the bakery area. They're snacks that you can purchase in addition to the included items. So I'm guessing the 25th anniversary cake cupcake is gonna be like that. There's supposed to be a special chocolate cream cookie that is supposed to be available on board and then a captain mini rice crispy treat. And then of course included with all your dining, there's gonna be some signature dishes for their desserts that are gonna have 25th anniversary chocolate pieces that are gonna be added to the dessert. So I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures like that. And if you are a drinker, they have a signature cocktail called Jubilee by the Sea. It has cool silver dusting and then it has a blue sugar rim. It looked super cool, even if you just want it for the picture, I wouldn't blame you. It all of the 25th anniversary stuff has like blue and silver hints to it. And of course my dad collects Coke stuff. They are having a special anniversary Coca-Cola bottle. So I'm hoping they have those when we go on the cruise, he'll be with us and then they're having all kinds of things like special popcorn, bucket specialty coffees a beer mug. So Disney knows how to get us all when it comes to the special food items. So definitely check those out. I'm looking forward to seeing real life pictures rather than just the promo photos from people. And if you've ever taken a Disney cruise, what you become a member of once you've taken your first one is a thing called Castaway Club. And essentially this is just incentives for repeat customers. When you go on the cruise, usually there's a gift in your cabin. We've had backpacks before, we've had lanyards, all kinds of different things. And I usually get something a little different because I've been on one more cruise than Chris. So what happens is they, as you travel and do more Disney cruises, you go to different levels. We're just at silver cuz we haven't gone very far in very many. But get this, they're adding a new tier so they have up to platinum right now they're adding a new tier called Pearl Castaway members and you might have to take a few extra trips than we've taken. Chris, how many cruises do you think you have to have gone Disney cruises to reach this new Pearl level? 100? Way more than what you need. What<laugh>? You only need more than 125. Way more. You are way over. Oh, way over. I think you said way more. I was like whoa. What's more than a hundred? No, so only, only 25. I guess it doesn't sound that bad when you say you only have to do 25 and of course this is gonna be like one of those elite, I think it's one of, there's always in the Disney community, I feel like there we, we get very elitist about certain things, don't you think? Definitely<laugh>. So I would say probably annual pass holders, Disney Vacation Club, certain levels of Castaway Club and definitely I think the Pearl Club members are gonna wanna let people know. So this is gonna be something that you'll probably get lots of perks. Disney hasn't announced all of them yet, but I know we have some friends that love to go on Disney cruises and I think they were at like a dozen and they had just reached the next level. So I'm sure some of those friends and other people will definitely be striving to get that pearl level. And one thing though, that's nice, don't worry if you've not gone on 25 Disney cruises. There's still some special things for the Castaway Club members. Everyone who sails during this time is gonna get a limited edition art print that's called the Silver Anniversary at sea. It's only one per state room. So like Chris and I and our daughter, we're all Castaway Club members but we would just get one print and it's really a cool um, piece of art. And he, the artist Joe Kaminsky, he's done a lot of things that are in the art of Disney at the resort hotels and other cruise line ships. So that's gonna be pretty exciting to see that. The pictures look nice of it. And one thing that we've talked about was just the decor and the upkeep on the Disney cruise ships is just really top notch. And there's gonna be some nice little touches for the anniversary. There's gonna be in the atrium they're adding a lot of shimmering blue accents. Everything is kind of that metallic silvery blue color and they're adding a lot of backdrops. They're doing uh, special actual backdrop for the photo so you can get a command photo. I'm hoping they still at least have that on board when we go. Our crews, what is it? It's like September 28th so we're like two days from the ending but I'm hoping at least the backdrop and some of those things will be able to, we'll be able to do that. And at Castaway Key there's gonna be some special decorations as well as there's a makeover of Mount Rushmore. So I'm looking forward to seeing that, that cuz I know that for sure will still be there when we go. So if you go this summer when you go to Castaway Key, make sure you check out all those things as well. And then last but not least, what is Disney? Like people to do the most? Spend money? Yes.<laugh>. So of course no anniversary could be complete without some special merchandise and it's dubbed the Shimmering Seas collection has light blue colors and sparkling fabrics. They have all kinds of things that we love. Lounge, fly backpacks, headbands, a lot of a cool spirit jersey. I even thought like for Chris isn't always into some of the over the top stuff. They have a nice embroidery, Nike Polo, great line of jewelry. So all kinds of fun stuff. I love to get Christmas ornaments, my mom and I do and they have a special silver anniversary at Sea ornament pins and then they have a collectible ship replica as well. So even if you aren't into any of the food or the special drinks or any of that, I'm sure you'll wanna take home one of these specialty merchandise items. It's always fun to have those limited edition things. I know I love some of the stuff we got from the 50th. I've already got some stuff for the hundredth anniversary. So being able to have some of the specialty cruise line, I would say this is even more unique cuz less people go on the cruises than go to the parks. So I think people will definitely be wanting to get that. So check it out. I'm looking forward to seeing all of your photos and hearing about your experiences. I'm looking forward to our cruise in September. I'm hoping we'll be able to catch some of this as well. And really this is one of the first big celebrations they've done for the cruise line. So I think it's gonna be neat to see how they translate some of those celebrations they typically do in the parks into the cruise line. And of course with the new ships coming on board in the next couple of years, I think just Disney Cruise line's gonna continue to grow. And I know for us it's gonna continue to be a part of our vacation choices for the future. So check it out, let us know what your experiences are and then hopefully Erica and Brian will have some great tips for it as well and their YouTube channel and on their show. And so we are really looking forward to sharing our interview with them. And hopefully you can learn some great tips for from their show, for your upcoming Disney cruise. We would like to welcome Brian and Erica Hele to the show. Their podcast d c l Dorks is really designed for anyone who is loves Disney cruising. They'll ta they talk about their Disney cruise experiences, tips and tricks, and of course they have all kinds of great ways to make your next Disney cruise. Awesome. And if you are planning your first trip all the way to Veteran Cruisers, they really have some great material out there. So we're really excited to have them on the show.

Speaker 3:

Thanks for having us. Yes, thank you.

Speaker 1:

Now we always start off by asking a little bit about what you enjoy at the parks. And lately we've been asking people what is your favorite event at any Disney park?

Speaker 3:

Well, uh, I'm gonna go first. Uh, I'm Brian and uh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give you two examples cause when I, you know, read your question I was like, well there's like events and there's like, you know, my favorite spot where, what Brian likes to do when he just goes to the park and can get away from the family. But um, as far as the my favorite event, I think it's the, uh, when they do the, the fireworks display at the, at Magic Kingdom on the castle at the end of the night, you know, you've, you've, you've been embedded within the whole Disney experience all day. And then you're gathering there in front of the castle, it's dark and then they're just playing all these, you know, you know, silhouettes or playing these movies up onto the, onto the castle of all these, these classic movies that you've seen, you know, throughout your life and music. And then the fireworks and the lasers and the, and it just kind brings it all together that, you know, kinda caps off your, your, your Disney experience. I think. So that's my favorite event. Okay, great. Um, far as thing as, as what I Hollywood studio, um, um, uh, uh, what's Sunset Boulevard? Oh, sunset Boulevard. There grabbing a, a chauffer hoffer sitting on one of the park benches as du is kinda settling onto the park, you know, as the neon lights and all the buildings are starting to come out. You've got the, you know, the, the period music kinda playing throughout, just kinda sitting there, people watching, watching people go about the day just sitting there. Cause it just kinda immerses you as almost as if you were like it, you know, sunset b I feel like at least, you know, never to Sunset Boulevard, but at least just, it's just for myself. It's just kind a great centering spot for me. It just kinda like, you know, feels like a nice, you know, comfy place for sure. I would say for mine, I'm gonna pick something from a Disney cruise. Okay. Um, and mine is also where I like to get away from my family. I guess that's apparently is that a theme about us since we like to hide from our families. But, uh, the, on our last cruise we, uh, did the transatlantic cruise, uh, and we did a podcast about that. We have it on channel as well and it rainforest room. And what that is, is the, it's kinda a, it's a little spa that you can get a day pass or a cruise pass for and you just go in and they've got the warm recliners, they've got the, the the uh, steam room and you just melt away and it's the best hour of the day. There's, you know, there's people in there, but it's very calm, it's very peaceful. They have some special different temperatured showers, different Oh nice. Aromatherapy. And it's just, it's just amazing. And uh, it's just such a nice peaceful thing. So I know a lot of people when they talk about Disney, they think, oh my gosh, that's so crazy. You've got a plan. But for us there's a lot of peace involved.

Speaker 1:

Oh, for sure. And I think the more you go and the more you do a cruise or different things, you can take those moments to relax and enjoy those little things that you wouldn't normally have time to enjoy if you only go once every five years or something.

Speaker 3:

Well, and I think that's one of the, I guess the results of what we're trying to do with our podcast is give folks some tips and tricks. You're set, you set you, uh, set you up as if it's your third time. You know, so you can kinda get across some of those pitfalls. Maybe you might make that so you can really, I think, enjoy the cruise that much more cause you don't have all those anxiety attacks, you know. For sure.

Speaker 1:

And I know that kind of leads into our next question. We wanted you to tell us about your podcast and your YouTube channel and what are the topics that you cover connected to Disney?

Speaker 3:

So we, uh, our podcast is available, Disney's available on Spotify, apple Podcast, Amazon, all the podcast places. And we also have a companion YouTube channel. So it is basically, uh, we do some, we have some shorts. Um, but then basically it's just the video of our podcast, um, as we're learning this endeavor. Um, and we talk 99% of the time it's all about Disney cruising. Um, it is everything from, we've done episodes on how to decorate your door, um, how to do a fish extender. Uh, we've gone through some of our cruises. We interviewed our son one time. Cause you know, teenagers love it to be involved in whatever your parents are doing. Sure, right.<laugh> uh,<laugh>. But, uh, and you know, try to get the team perspective, you know, from that. So we really try to, um, help anybody that is thinking about doing it because there is, there's so much and you can get so overwhelmed, just like how people do when they plan to go to Disney World or Disneyland for their very first time. Cause you can just go down so many different rabbit holes. Um, and so if there's any way that we can provide a map, uh, in order to help them. I even wrote a book this year, um, and it's available on Amazon and it's a, it's a first time cruiser. It's a guy just for first time cruising on Disney cruising. Uh, and, and it talks about the Castaway Club. It talks about how to get reservations and how dining uhrotation, you know, rotational dining works because on other cruise lines they don't have that rotational dining. Um, how the kids clubs, you know, you don't have to pay for the kids clubs and, and those types of things. So whether it's your first cruise ever or your first Disney cruise is kinda like all the things that we wish we would've known prior to getting on the, the ship for the first time. Now

Speaker 2:

With that, what are some of those things that you wish you would've known before you cruised?

Speaker 3:

I would say the first thing was is you're not going to get to do it all, no matter whatever it is. You know, it's just kind of like a trip to Disney. You're not gonna get to do it all. So go in with that expectation, um, because you're gonna get your money's worth. Yes, Disney cruises are more than a carnival cruise, but the experience in my opinion is better. The, um, one thing that surprised me and Brian can speak to it more from his experience was how elevated everything is on the Disney ship, um, with the attention to detail, right? I mean, like, you know, even like, you know, all the, all the, the public restrooms, you know, you think, oh, they're gonna be kind, you know, overused and maybe under they're, but no, I mean, you can go, in fact, I almost prefer using those restrooms to my own state room cause it's cleaner than my state room. We have a couple of teenagers showing, sharing a room with you. Um, but just attention to detail that they keep the, the carpets are always clean. The paints always touched up the outside of the ship. I challenge anyone to find a piece of rust, anyone on the outside of a Disney cruise ship. But if you look at some of the other competing, uh, brands out there, you'll find Russ coming down the side of the ship. That's the engineer in him. You can, um, but I gonna say thing that I liked about what I wish I would've known before my first cruise, being an engineer by a profession, I like things neat and tidy. Um, and just knowing some of the tips and tricks of the organizational things, the magnets that we can bring. The, the shoe organizer you can hang on the back bathroom, uh, door. Um, bringing the, the collapsible la laundry hamper, things like that that can set you up for success in your room so that everything has its own place so that you're not always like scrambling to find something because, you know, it's a, it's a cruise ship so the rooms can be kind of small, but if you have a organizational going into it, then you can make, I think that the trip that much more, uh, enjoyable. And then also the fact with Disney, having the two bathrooms per all their state rooms have, I shouldn't say two bathrooms, but two, the deluxe rooms deluxe where you, you know, have one room that's got the toilet and a sink and then another small room that's got the, the shower slash tub and a sink. So if you've got a family of four sharing a room, you can, you know, two people can be getting ready at the same time. So that was say something that I was, you know, uh, very surprised by when I first got on the ship. And it just, you know, it, it eased my concern, you know, sharing a room with, you know, 4, 4, 4 family members and we'll make sure, I think

Speaker 1:

That your book will be a great resource for people. So we'll make sure to share that in our show notes as well, the link to get that book as well.

Speaker 3:

Thank you. Now

Speaker 2:

With that, what was your inspiration to start the podcast?

Speaker 3:

My inspiration to make Brian do the podcast with me, uh, was came about actually while I was in the rainforest room at Census Spa. Um, we were getting, we're on probably day 10 of our 12 night, uh, transatlantic cruise. And I thought, I don't wanna get off this ship<laugh>, what is it that I can do to continue the magic in between sailings? And so we talked about it and, and I had wanted to do a podcast, um, previously and we tried to think about what we liked and what I could, you know, have them join me with. But that's really where it, it, it stemmed my, my bachelor's is in speech communication, so I always have had that kinda, um, that focus. But really it is how to extend that and to extend that magic because when you go on a Disney cruise, if you join the Facebook group for your each particular sailing, that really helps bring the magic, um, before the cruise. Yes. Cause you can join those fish extender groups. You can do meet and greets. You can pre-me a lot of people and, and that gives you more excited and helps create that excitement. But then once it's over it's kind of like you left camp, you know, left all of your friends behind. Yeah. So that's kinda where, and, and at home then when you talk to people in reality, you know, your normal daily life, they only wanna hear about 45 seconds of how your vacation went and then they're gonna go on the next topic. But it's something that you wanna just talk about more and more and more. And then that's kind of how that started. Well, and to extend on that, that was kinda how I got know, brought into it then as well. Cause even when we would talk to friends and coworkers when we cut back from theses, you know, I'd be involved in these conversations as well, just going back and forth, kinda playing off each other, talk about all the great things and how much, cause most of the people when you tell'em we're on Disney Cruise are like, oh my, all the characters running around. And the kids, it's, you know, you know, they make, they make it, they, they think that it's like, just like may you know, hundred percent of the time, yes, we would explain to people, well no, like, you know, there's certain areas that are much more bustling than others, but if you need to get away as an adult and you know, cruising as an adult, we've cruised 50% of the cruises we've been on. It was just the two of us. And when people hear that a couple are going without kids onto a Disney cruise, they're like, well, you know, why would you do that? It's like, because there's a lot of nice adult areas on the, on the Disney cruise ships. And so when we would tell people all these stories, yes, we enjoy telling it, but you could tell that, you know, maybe they, you know, had heard enough at one point<laugh>. So we thought, what, what can we do to kinda get this information out there to those that really wanna hear about it?

Speaker 1:

Well, and that's our experience too. We've been on Disney Cruise. We actually, we got married at Disney World and there's a group with a lot of people from that are other couples. And we travel sometimes together. And we had a cruise that there was probably, I think 30 of us and it was all adults. And that was kind of, that was Chris's first Disney cruise. But then since then we did an Alaskan one last summer and Chris has told everybody that was the best vacation he's been on.

Speaker 3:

Oh, I can't wait to hear about that. We'll have to have you come on ours and tell you tell us all about it. That'd be awesome.<laugh>.

Speaker 1:

Now we've talked a little bit about how you think your show kind of adds that magic. And we always ask people specifically, how do you think that your show can add Disney Magic to the listeners' lives?

Speaker 3:

I think it can provide a couple of magic different in different ways. One, it can help build that excitement. You know, sometimes when you pay that deposit and you, you book it, you see that in the price and, and going on that you, there's a lot of things that you can really do, um, to help make the experience better and understanding what the lingo is. You know, there's this whole vernacular and Disney world has its own vernacular. Disney Land has its own vernacular and so does Disney cruising. Um, and so understanding what all the abbreviations mean but really help put a lot of people's minds at ease as well. That it's not going to be too overwhelming that you are gonna have a great time with your family no matter, you know, no matter what it's that you do. Um, that the kids clubs are that amazing. Um, I I think that's, I think that's what we can, we can offer and also help people who like to talk about Disney cruising, but, and like to hear about it and give that kind of, that magic in between your sailings so that you can still carry on that spirit of Yeah, I, I am really looking forward to going on another one again. Or I, I shouldn't go book another one again and my, cause my family will find it rewarding and I hope that's what we're able to do. It's, it's funny, we haven't been able to go on a Disney cruise since we started the podcast. We, cause it was the, basically the result of the, of the cruise we went on in September. Sure. So this next September we're gonna go on the Fantasy and then we're gonna go in December on the Wish. So we'll have hit all of the ships. Um, and so I'm really excited to see how, how that now that we'll be cruising while having the podcast, how we could e add even better value to our listeners.

Speaker 1:

Now. We actually, we're going on the Wish in September too. We're going on one of the Halloween sailing. So we're super excited. Oh,

Speaker 3:

I have not done Halloween on the high seas.

Speaker 1:

We've not, we've done the Christmas but we've not done Halloween. So we are super excited for that. So we'll definitely be talking about that for sure. Now

Speaker 3:

Do, yes.

Speaker 1:

Now do both of you have a favorite episode or maybe you each have your own favorite episode?

Speaker 3:

Trying to think. I, I think with mine, I think it was, I did a a, a couple of different shorts. Um, and they're shorter episodes, but I think some of my favorites are how to decorate your Door. Because one of the great things that gives people do on Disney cruises they don't typically do on other cruise lines is the guests decorate their door. Yeah. Yeah. And you can do that for free. You know, there are Facebook groups where that you can go out and you can make, you know, they, they have the, the porthole designs already pre made for, all you have to do is print it out, laminate and slap a magnet on the back. Right. Um, and, and really that's something that the kids can get involved with. It's great cause it helps you find your door because they all look the same<laugh>. Um, something like that where I really think that that's really gonna enhance their visit. Understand. And then I have an episode where we teach about what a fish extender is and how that process works of giving pixie dust, giving gifts to other people throughout the cruises. There's a, I wouldn't do an episode. Um, I need to find someone who is really involved in, um, hiding rubber ducks on Disney cruises because that is all the rage now. Um, people hide rubber ducks and they find them and you can re hide them or not. Um, but there's all these different little things that really make the, the experience better for people. And those are the, the kind of episodes that I like to do. Uh, we do a lot of the, of our experiences. Um, but it's also good to also be able to provide, um, helpful, helpful things too. I think, uh, my favorite is when I just talk more about some of the, the adult areas, the bars and things. Cause again, one of my other, uh, uh, little, uh, uh, favorite spots that I like to go to when I'm on a Disney cruise is the Cove Cafe. Cause it's, uh, it's open, you know, from 6:00 AM to to midnight. But they don't just serve coffee in there. They also serve, uh, uh, your, you know, all your, your drinks as well. And for me, it's just a nice place to, it doesn't have a lot of traffic through there. I get to know the bartenders and the baristas that work back there by day two, they refer to me as Mr. Blanton because I, you know, coming in for another bourbon. And, uh, so I, I I talked about, we had one, uh, podcast that really was just kinda talking about all the, the adult, um, uh, bars really and lounges, you know, on, on the ship. And, um, you know, I I just kinda, that's one of the things I always think about when I'm thinking about wining a cruise again, is to just, you know, putting myself back in the Cove Cafe, sitting at the, on the, on the bar stool, getting to know the, the server on the other side because you know, the workers that you run into on these cruise ships, they, they love Disney and the cruise lines as well. I mean, you hear about, you know, how long they've been working for the company and, and you know, they're all, you know, when some of them were just getting ready to transfer to the, on the last cruise we were on, they were all super excited about that. That's flagship, flagship, uh, uh, ship of, of the, of the, of the line. So we do have a lot of content geared towards the adults. And I think that that's important because when a lot of people think, okay, it's Disney, it's just for the kids, right? How am I going to have a good time? And because I'm not, you know, some people don't gonna go on the water slide and are they, am I just gonna be surrounded by kids? And we really enjoy the adult portion of it. You know, we'll play, we play, I mean, we, we do love our children. We think that they're really neat. You know, we bring them sometimes if they're lucky. Uh, but we'll, and we play trivia with them and do those things. But what we like is that they're able to explore the ship. And so the episode where my son talks about going to the Vibe lounge and, and getting to know those kids there, um, you know, they go and build, meet up and play on the beach and cast away key. And I think that's, you know, there's, it's a great opportunity so that everybody can get something outta that. So I think that, uh, we do have some episodes that are geared just for the adults because we're the ones paying for it. Right.<laugh>.

Speaker 2:

Now with that, you've mentioned this awesome podcast. Where can people go to find it? I know you mentioned it before, but say it again.

Speaker 3:

Sure. So our podcast is Dcl Dorks and it's available on Spotify. It's available on Apple. Um, we're uploading to Amazon, so it'll be up there. And then also, um, all of our episodes are also videotaped, videotaped, uh, recorded. Um, and, uh, we, and we have our YouTube channel. So that is, uh, dcl dorks also at YouTube. Um, our Instagram handle is dcl dorks. You can get, there's a pattern here,<laugh>. Uh, and we're also on Facebook as well with the same. So, um, you know, we're really starting to kind of get into all of that. You know, we just started this, uh, I believe November 1st. So, um, we're, we're, we're still growing and we're just, we're working on making sure we can get some quality content out there, um, for, for folks to, to hopefully, uh, listen and enjoy. And we'd love all the feedback we can get so people can, uh, can, so we can give people what they want. Awesome. Well, and I think we, we drop something every week. Usually. There's usually something Oh, nice. Every week.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well great. I will make sure to put all of those links in the show notes. And we really appreciate you both joining us today. Thank you for being on the show. Thank you for having us. Yes, thank you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you again to Eric and Brian for joining us today.

Speaker 1:

And now on to our two minute trivia and our wisdom from Walt quote. And Chris, you are up with trivia.

Speaker 2:

So we talked a lot about cruise ships and how awesome Disney cruise ships are. Yes. Part of the magic is what each employee brings to the experience. And I can remember our, our server and what's the, I guess the assistant server called

Speaker 1:

Assistant server? I don't know

Speaker 2:

<laugh> that person. And then is it, was it our cabin attendant? A cabin attendant wonderful person. Yeah. So for the Disney Wish, how many employees, staff, the Disney wish, and I'm just picking this boat as an example cause we're gonna going a is the new one, but roughly how many employees are on the ship during a cruise to serve all of the wonderful Disney passengers?

Speaker 1:

I'm gonna go, do I get an over under on this? Because this seems like a very big number.

Speaker 2:

Um, no, you don't. You have to guess

Speaker 1:

9 0 3.

Speaker 2:

One more guess, but go higher.

Speaker 1:

1102,

Speaker 2:

Wrong.

Speaker 1:

Okay, what is the answer?

Speaker 2:

1,252 employees will be staffing the wish. And that comes out to roughly a passenger to staff ratio of 2.8 to one

Speaker 1:

Pass. Passengers are 2.8.

Speaker 2:

Correct. Because there's, but you figure 3000 people, 3,500 people on the ship. And then there's, so that makes, you know, one staff member for every 2.8 passengers.

Speaker 1:

Wow. So that means we have one staff member for the three of us, essentially.

Speaker 2:

Correct. Wow. I'm gonna request my own personal staff member

Speaker 1:

<laugh>, they're like, sorry they can't follow you through the whole ship.

Speaker 2:

I would be like, well, my family is 2.8 people<laugh>, so please serve me. Thank you<laugh>.

Speaker 1:

We'll see how far that goes when we get on the Wish.<laugh>.

Speaker 2:

Ah, that's my Disney wish.

Speaker 1:

Oh, look at that. All those puns. All right. Well thank you so much for joining us today. We're gonna end with our wisdom from Walt quote. I thought this one was fun cuz we were talking about anniversaries and then it talks a little bit about the looking to the past. So this one is, I love the nostalgic myself. I hope we never lose some of the things of the past. And hopefully with Disney Cruise line, Disney Parks everywhere around the world, we still hold true to some of those values and sentiments that keep us all going back over and over again too on a Disney vacation. So thank you for joining us today on this episode of the Dis Love podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa.

Speaker 2:

And I'm Chris. This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company or its holdings and it is intended for entertainment purposes only.