The Parkscope Podcast

It's Joe and Alex (and Beyonce) this time as they cover the Epic Universe announcement, Alex's west coast trip, and Super Nintendo World at USH.

A massive two-parter of a podcast that should last you through the winter! Joe and Jeff talk theater with friends - including an in-depth look at Sleep No More, the theater show that inspired the Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser.

Part 1 - Sleep No More (0:00:00)

Joe and Jeff are joined by Kyle to discuss the immersive theater production Sleep No More. After over 5000 performances spanning over a decade, the show is scheduled to close later this year. What is it? How did it begin? What is its future? This is a thorough look at the show knowing it will be closing in the coming months. Remember, you can never go back to Manderley again.

Find Kyle at jumpscarefactory.com

Part 2 - Here Lies Love (2:21:30)

Jeff and Joe talk about the short-lived but incredible Here Lies Love on Broadway. This immersive disco musical puts theater viewers in the middle of a disco as the story of Imelda Marcos plays out - from her rise to power and fall as a corrupt dictator to the hands of a peaceful revolution. Joe gets drunk as he lays it all on the line for this show.

Joe and Alex are live, in person, looking at each other across a table in this very very late podcast! Alex goes to Walt Disney World and rides Rat, Tron, and Guardians! Joe sees Josh Gadd and Idina Manzel on a Broadway stage together and then travels with newbies to Universal Orlando. Plus some Epic Universe talk!

Happy 10 Year Anniversary to this stupid little show. Thank you for supporting us, enjoy. Cya on October 1.

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Fantastical Beasts, Universal Decade, Future of IoA, Captain Eo, and more.

Joe and Alex discuss the full Halloween Horror Nights reveal before diving into Alex's big big big European coaster trip. Then we face a bunch of tech issues, Joe talks about Broadway, and we end with a laugh.

Today, Joe is joined by the prolific theme park writer and video producer, Alicia Stella! In this episode, we discuss pickles, escape rooms, Minion Cafe, Villain-Con's pros and cons, USF's 2024 additions, and finally Epic Universe!

Orlando Park Stop

Theme Park Stop

Mike & Nick Go To L.A.

Mike and Nick return to the show to discuss their trip to L.A.! Mike experiences Disneyland for the first time and both are flummoxed by Universal Studios Hollywood. Featuring brutally honest reviews of Super Nintendo World.

The Legend of Zelda - Buy the Express Pass (1:24:45)

Joe is joined by Hunter from Grim Grinning Hosts, Catacombs of Halloween Horror Nights, and DIS-Order to discuss all the recent theme park hot goss. Everyone is getting into the closing attractions game, from Disney's Star Cruiser to Universal and Poseidon's Fury. Plus we discuss the theory behind Universal Studios Florida's entrance, Epic Universe hot takes, and a little bit of Halloween Horror Nights.

Joe and Alex talk about all the modern things in amusement parks - Hypersonic XLC, Poseidon's Fury, and last year's Halloween Horror Nights! Plus we talk about Alex's last minute trip to Universal, Hersheypark, and no F1 talk!

Hello world!

After a hiatus, the show is back! Joe has RSV or something and is joined by Andrew Hyde from In The Loop fame. We discuss Kennywood safety, Dynamic Attractions filing for bankruptcy protection, Disney sobers up and realizes they have a capacity issue, and finally Universal's new parks.

Joe and Brian discuss the news and their last Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Trip!

Brian and Joe are sitting on a balcony at Bay Lake Tower discussing Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind. 

Sean goes to Walt Disney World for the first time as a family! Nick sits in! Joe asks questions. Genie+ is purchased, rides are rode, kegs will be tapped, men will be used.

The eagerly awaited Star Wars Galactic Starcruser themed experience/on-land cruise/LARP has opened! Turns out, friends of the site David Daut and Hastin are fans of interactive themed spaces AND attended the inaugural Halcyon voyage. All aspects of the experience are discussed, from arrival to departure, including many spoilers.

We hear reboots are all the rage now so lets reboot this podcast!

Alex and Joe discuss their recent trips along with a little bit news about Disney's new planned community.

Topics Include:

-Disney StoryLiving

-Iron Gwazi review

-Ice Breaker review

-Fantasialand & FLY review

-Harry Potter NYC Virtual Reality Experiences

-Joe's Broadway trip! Music Man with Hugh Jackman, Hadestown, Company, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Joe is back from Orlando and recording well before 2am. This episode he's going further in-depth on HHN30 as he explains his choices while writing the Touring Plans review of the event.

It’s 2am and Joe is in his Dockside room with some HHN30 hot takes. Not a review just first impressions. 

Joe drove to Columbus to be with his parents and Mike is drinking away a hurricane. Today's topics include Universal Studios Hollywood's very bad, very dumb, fatphobic tweet; the public backlash to perceived "fatphobia" at Universal in attraction design and test seats; and some more talking about Halloween Horror Nights

Well, Disney, ya finally did it! After lots of rumors, speculation, and angst, the stateside Disney Parks have announced Disney Genie and Lightning Lane products. This week Joe is joined by Hastin and David Daut to discuss the new products, our thoughts, our worries, and where the puck is going with the Disney Parks. Then we switch gears to discuss HHN30 and David's first trip to the event.

This coming September will be the 8th anniversary of our podcast.

Eight. Years.

Since then we've had marriages, births, and moved all over the place. One big change is also our lack of time. As you might have seen the podcast has gotten more and more infrequent over the years as the gang just can't get together as much as we used to. Look, when you have a job, a house, a wife, and a kid you just don't have the 90 minutes to sit down on Skype and talk about theme parks.

So lets try something new. For the next month or so I'll do a weekly 15 minute (or so) show covering one topic, just long enough to finish one drink. Hence the "pints" part. But don't think this is glorifying drinking, I'll be having water, tea, and coffee too! My goal is to have a new episode up every Friday or so.

Our first episode is about the NBA Experience, from Iger's power grab after NBA City left to closure. We'll talk about all the weird points in this attraction's life, what went wrong, could it have worked, and my thoughts on a replacement.

We're back baby! Joe! Mike! Ann! We're all slightly tipsy as we discuss Halloween Horror Nights 30 and tackle some "questions" from the UOAP Facebook group.