Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome to the Travel Agent Disney and Young, your Canadian connection to theme park news and travel information, practical tips, and vacation savings. I'm your host, Stephen Payne. Coming up on today's episode, we'll explore the new land known as Tropical Americans in Disney World's Animal Kingdom, as advertised at Disney's B23M Expo. Rollercoaster enthusiasts can hear all about a new roller coaster that is being added to an elite class of coasters called Macanama. I'll also let you know about a big new development in the cruise and travel industry that was announced this past week, and we'll wrap up with a travel tip and information about the upcoming World Explorers event from Expedia Cruises. As always, lots of travel information to inspire you and to help you with planning and saving. If you want more information about cruising and travel, including the latest cruise promotions and limited time offers, subscribe to my Expedia Cruises Personalized Email Newsletters. Simply click on FanMail and send me your name and email address, and I'll add you to my mailing list for the newsletter as well as for show updates and information. You can also email your name and email address to the following email stephen at the travelagent.ca. Stephen is spelled S-T-E-P-H-E-N. And make sure that you spell agent with an E H, because we're Canadian. That email once again is Stephen at the Travelagent.ca. This information will also be found in the show notes. This past week? I was in a car accident. Yes, I was re-rended while at a stoplight. So that threw me off for the week, and a few things were left undone, including my interview about the pride of America, which I hoped to air on this episode. But speaking of hope, I'm hoping to get right back to it this coming week. And maybe we'll finally get that interview done. In the meantime, I'm thinking I'd like to check out Halloween Haunt at Canada's Wonderland. And I'm planning to do that this week, so hopefully I can let you know what it's like this year. We'll see if I can make that plan work, and then I can report back to you.

Mouse Minutes: Tropical Americas

SPEAKER_00 2:20

In Mouse Minutes this week, let's talk about tropical Americas. This land will be in Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom. It will replace what used to be Dino Land USA, which had primeval whorough, the boneyard, and the attraction called Dinosaur. It's going to cover an area of about 11 acres, and within this area will be Pueblo Esperanza, which means Village of Hope in English. According to Disney, this area will feel lived in with a long, rich history. The area will be lush and sprawling with a large fountain in the center where villagers would gather and tell stories. And the space should echo the myths and magic of the rainforest. So within this area, you're going to find three main attractions. And they are, first of all, Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent. This is a ride which basically replaces dinosaur. You'll be able to go on an adventure with Indiana Jones, in which you will enter below an ancient temple ruin. The temple and surroundings will showcase Mayan culture and its connection to nature. You will join Indy in the temple near Asenote, an underwater cave that, according to the legend, is a passageway to the Mayan underworld that is protected by a large serpentine creature called the Sukan. Of course, you will get sucked into this underworld and be faced with perilous dangers like monstrous bats, larger than life scorpions, fire and flame, and of course snakes. And we all know that Indy hates snakes, right, Jock? So that's that uh attraction. And I think that they're using perhaps the same ride system that they used with Dinosaur and converted it because my understanding is the Dinosaur ride system is the same ride system they're using in in Disneyland for their Indiana Jones attraction. So I feel like they're just retooling dinosaur and turning it into something Indiana Jones-like. And I guess the other thing at the D23 that they were talking about was how that they had scanned Harrison Ford's face to get a proper likeness. So that I'm assuming there's some kind of animatronic in the ride or in the attraction, and I'm assuming that it will have the face of Indiana Jones, the original, the OG Harrison Ford. The second main attraction at this particular land is going to be called Antonio's Fiesta Dencanto. And so this attraction is obviously based on the film Encanto. Antonio has a new gift. He can communicate with animals. And it's gift day. So there's going to be a celebration of his gift. And you're invited to be part of the celebration at the Cesita, which is the magical house. So you'll board a ride vehicle that is actually a piece of furniture, apparently, assembled by the power of Cesita, to travel through the rooms of the house, eventually ending in Antonio's room. Antonio's room has been transformed into a verdant rainforest overflowing with animal species, with more than fifty species of animals represented. So that should be very vibrant and colorful, and based on the Colombian setting of the film and canto. If you've seen the film, there's lots of colors and so on. And to be honest, I haven't seen the film for a while, so it's hard for me to remember all the details, but certainly there's some magic in the house, and I can imagine a room full of up to 50 species of animals being represented in the attraction. That ought to be pretty interesting. So there's not a lot of details on how that's going to be pulled off. I'm hoping that Disney has their best magic makers on the case so that we'll all be suitably impressed when we go through the attraction. The third attraction in this area is called El Carousel de los animalitos. Excuse my probably horrible rendering of these Spanish names, but I'm doing my best. If you listen carefully, you you probably realize that it is the carousel of the animals, I think, or something along that line anyway. And that is exactly what this attraction is. It's a animal-themed carousel. And it's supposed to be quite beautiful, at least that's the plan. I guess we'll all judge it when we get there. But the idea is that there are 22 figures of animals on this carousel, and they're all hand-carved. And they're all animals that you would find from Disney and Pixar films. So I imagine there, you know, there might be a Nemo or a a Dory or a Hop, who knows? But these animals are crafted and based on the Disney figures from the various films. I imagine it'll be quite a fantastic thing to see, but it is just a carousel. But I think it'll be great for the kids, right? I think the kids will love it. What's not to love about riding these beautiful hand-carved animals around on a carousel, with I'm sure great music and who knows what other effects. So I'm looking forward to seeing more of these three attractions, but right now we just have a basic overview of what they are. Included in this area will also be a very large quick service area. Disney is bragging that it will be one of the biggest quick service areas in all of Walt Disney World, which is interesting, but I think that's probably because they're picking up on the gift day celebrations, and it will be mimicking the Colombian style of food and celebration that is there in its culture and reflecting that back in the quick service restaurant. So we'll wait and see. Again, they haven't released any detailed information on that, but it will be there, a quick service area, along with shopping, not surprisingly. And there's still going to be a play area for kids where they can unearth artifacts. So if you've been to Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom, you may remember if you saw Dino Land USA, they had this thing called the Boneyard and kids loved it. It's where you'd go and you'd play, and it's almost like a huge sandbox, and it had bones hidden in the sand and so on the kids could dig up and that kind of thing. And I guess Disney realized just how popular that was, and so they're mimicking it in this new area. So they're also going to have an area where you can unearth artifacts in tropical Americas. Now, originally when they announced this, and up until very recently, on the website, it was advertised to be opening in 2027. But everybody lately has noticed that that number has been dropped right off the webpage. And now there is no opening year or date associated with tropical Americas. And that's probably because, you know, they're working on a lot of different projects. We've covered a number of them during our episodes leading up to today, you know, Monstropolis and Piston Peak and so on. They're doing a lot of work, and I think that they may have just shifted priorities a little bit, or either that or or they've discovered that it's going to take them longer than they thought with tropical Americas. Bottom line is they're not saying 2027 anymore, so I think we could all safely assume that the opening will be in 2028. So take note, all of you who are planners, and if you want to see this land or want to arrive at Disney when all these new lands are constructed and up and running, 2028 is the year. Because in 2027, Monstropolis will open. I can't remember now what they said about Piston Peak, but I think that'll be open too by 2028. And then you have Tropical Americas, and you'll also have the Monster Monsters Inc. coaster opening up in 2028 as well, I believe. So 2028, 2029, those might be the years worth visiting Disney World if you want to see all of the new things completed. But by then I'm sure they'll be working on more new things. Anyway, that's all I've got for you in Mouse Minutes, Tropical Americas. I think I'm looking forward to it. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun and really interesting area to explore. And I'm a big Indiana Jones fan, I was ever since I was a kid, so that'll be fun. And I think just the vibe, if I want to call it that, of Encanto, the magic, the emphasis on family and fun and celebration, I think that whole land will be a lot of fun.

Park Pulse: Bakunawa

SPEAKER_00 10:48

For Park Pulse? Well, we're gonna take a little bit of a different take this week. Most of the time, up until now, I've been talking about things related to Universal Studios or Canada's Wonderland, and I guess Cedar Point as well. This time I wanted to take a moment to look at a new roller coaster that's being built and will be ready to go in 2027. And I thought I should bring this to play today because I am myself a big roller coaster enthusiast and have ridden many roller coasters in my life and enjoy them. And also this podcast definitely has uh a theme park bent to it. And so I imagine anyone listening, many of you might enjoy a good roller coaster. And that's what we want to talk about today. A roller coaster that's being advertised as the world's fastest and tallest spinning coaster. Supposedly it's going to be breaking six world records. It hasn't been finished yet, but they're already saying it's uh record breaking with these six world records. And here they are. One, the world's fastest spinning coaster. Two, the world's tallest spinning coaster, three, the world's fastest inversion, four, world's longest stall inversion, five, world's first floorless spinning coaster, and six, the world's first upside down launch coaster. Or at least the world's first upside-down launch, I guess. So all of these can be attributed to this new ride called Bacanawa. Bacanawa, the name is from Philippine mythology. It's a serpent dragon that swallowed the moon, and is the cause of lunar equipses, earthquakes, wind and rain. It's very disruptive, I think. So it's sometimes just called the moon swallower. The idea is that on the coaster, you are Bacanawa, and you are rising from the sea and rising upward and spiraling to reach the moon and devour it. Coaster-wise, you are rising up to 382 feet in the air and moving at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. And then when you reach that height of about 382 feet, you plummet backwards, back to the earth, spinning to the shore, as if you were returning to the sea. And there is no floor in the Coaster Cars, as mentioned, and the cars spin. And during this whole experience, which lasts two minutes and seventeen seconds, you will experience three launches. The first launch, which is from at the beginning obviously, goes from zero to sixty miles per hour. The second launch is the upside-down launch that they're talking about, which is a world's first, and you would be going from 60 miles per hour to 80 miles per hour. And the final launch is 80 to 100 miles per hour, and very likely that's the one that's going to shoot you all the way to the top of the tower. The tower is like quite tall, and the track goes up and kind of starts twisting almost like a corkscrew, like the end of a serpent tail, right? So when you get to the very top, you've sort of twisted around a little bit, corkscrewed around, and eventually you lose your momentum because what's shooting you up that track is the launch and the speed that you acquired going up into the tower. At the top of the tower, you'll eventually lose all your momentum, and that's when you maybe will be suspended for a minute, but then you're coming back down and coming back down to Earth, like Bacchanawa. So this roller coaster is opening at Six Flags Great Adventure, and that park is located in New Jersey, about halfway between Philadelphia and New York City. I'm pretty sure, incidentally, that it is included in your Canada's Wonderland Gold Pass, if you have that, because you can visit Midwest Parks. And you can go back and check my show, because I listed all the parks a few weeks ago. But I'm pretty sure that uh Six Flags Great Adventure is one of those parks. And the opening date, as I mentioned, was 2027, and they are saying spring in their advertising, so spring of 2027. In comparison, I can look at Top Thrill, which is a very similar-looking ride, Top Thrill 2, which I talked about, was it last week or the week before, when it came to Cedar Point? Top Thrill 2 is actually taller and faster. So Top Thrill 2 is 420 feet versus this coaster, which I said was 382 feet. And while this coaster that we're talking about, Bakanawa is up to 100 miles per hour, in Top Thrill 2, the speeds are up to 120 miles an hour. So the only difference really is the spinning seats, and that that could be a game changer, that could change the experience significantly. So the spinning seats definitely a thing. But otherwise, if you've been on Top Thrill 2, you've been on a very similar experience. Now, on Top Thrill 2, when you go up the tower, you're going over a hill and you're coming down the other side of it with a little twist as you come down. With this uh Bakanawa, it looks like you are going up almost like a corkscrew at the end, like I say, and then you just come back down. So you never go over a crest. Well, I have never been to Six Flags Great Adventure. I'll have to look into putting that into my uh you know plans for the future. I better ride this thing before I get too old, that's what I'm thinking, because it looks like it's a thrill ride in big capital letters. Similar to Top Thrill 2. But hey, I've done Top Thrill 2, so I'm sure I can I can handle the big snake. So I'm gonna give it a shot, hopefully. I'll have to find some excuse to go to New Jersey. Just like I'm gonna find some excuse to go to Canada's Wonderland this week to check out Halloween haunt. Alright,

Cruise Contemplations: Royal Carribbean Buys Sandals and Beaches

SPEAKER_00 16:45

let's move on to cruise contemplations. For cruise contemplations, I took a pause from talking about specific ships and that kind of thing, because this week there was a rather large announcement in the travel industry that will possibly affect the way you cruise in the future, depending on what you choose. But I thought it was interesting enough to table it here in cruise contemplations. The big news was that Royal Caribbean Group has invested in Sandals resorts. Sandals and also Beaches. That's the same company. They're all inclusive resorts that are scattered throughout the Caribbean. Fairly well known. I'm pretty sure that's the resort chain that's brought up in the American The Office TV show, when uh oh, what's his name? Oh, I forgot his name. The main character played by Steve Carell decides he wants to take his girlfriend there. I don't know. It's pretty foggy, but I think you'll know what I'm talking about if you've watched the show. I'm pretty sure that was either Beaches or Sandals, probably Sandals, because Sandals is a couples-only resort. Anyway, that's an aside. Royal Caribbean Group has entered an agreement to purchase 50% of Sandals and Beaches Resorts International. For a cool $3 billion. And apparently the plan is in place for Royal Caribbean to eventually purchase the entirety of Sandals and Beaches Resorts International. So right now it's 50%. And that deal closes in early 2027. Now again, uh Sandals, their resorts are intended for couples, couples-only resorts. And Beaches is more family resorts, so you can have families, couples, and single travelers there. Sandals and Beaches have nearly 20 resorts all across various Caribbean islands. Sandals has 17 resorts across eight islands, including Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Curacao, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent. And Beaches has two resorts right now, Beaches Negril and Beaches Turks and Caicos. A third property, which was known as Beaches Oco Rios in Jamaica, was permanently closed in 2025 after that big hurricane that Jamaica had to deal with. So they just closed the whole thing down. But there are more beaches properties that are on the way, including Beaches Runaway Bay in Jamaica and Beaches Exuma in the Bahamas. Beaches Barbados and Beaches St. Vincent and the Grenadines have also been announced as part of a about $1 billion expansion. So that company is building, and now Royal Caribbean owns that company. Just a reminder that Royal Caribbean Group is not just Royal Caribbean cruise lines, there are three cruise lines under that umbrella, under that organization, under that company. So Royal Caribbean, of course, is one of the world's largest cruise operators. They have 29 ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet. There are 15 ships in Celebrity Cruises brand, which is another of their brands, and there are 12 ships in the Silver Sea Cruises brand. And also, as we learned in a previous episode, which you should look up if you want to know more about it, Celebrity has announced plans to build up to 20 river ships in Europe, starting in the fall of 2027. So Celebrity Cruises is breaking into the rivers market. So Royal Caribbean itself is quite a big company, and they are taking over or investing in another big company that's about all inclusives. And that's what's interesting. You're kind of combining a cruise company with an all-inclusive company. Now we know that Royal Caribbean already has investments in sort of private islands or private locations that are land-based. So there's perfect day, Coco Kay, and Alex Keen was telling us about the Royal Beach Club in Bahamas. And they did have one in Mexico, a perfect day they were going to open up in Mexico that's been delayed but will likely come about. They've already got some land opportunities, if you want to call it that, that they have for their cruise clients. But now I can imagine when you're putting the cruise company together with the all-inclusives, that Royal Caribbean is going to figure out a way to promote cruises combined with an all-inclusive stay, right? At one of the sandals or the beaches resorts. I can't see how that's not going to happen. And that's what's kind of interesting when you're looking into the future. It's like they can leverage this whole thing to create a more impressive opportunity in the Caribbean where you can go on a cruise and stay at an all-inclusive. And of course, both the Royal Caribbean brand and Beaches Sandals brand are well known and reliable. And so I think people will be pretty interested in that. I don't know what the cost would be. And I don't know how they'd do it. You know, maybe it's like, oh, you go on a cruise and you spend a weekend at one of the resorts. Maybe you you take a cruise, you go there, you stay for a week and you you come back on the cruise. I'm not really sure, but I think it opens up a lot of interesting uh possibilities, and that's why it's noteworthy. And so we'll watch over the next year or so to see what Royal Caribbean does with its ownership of sandals and beaches, which eventually, as I said, they will own a hundred percent of beaches and sandals. So interesting, right? Big company taking. Over another big company, amalgamating and offering experiences for travelers to the Caribbean. Hopefully it works out well for the consumer. For

Canadian Compass Travel Tip of the Week: Travel Apps

SPEAKER_00 22:10

the Canadian Compass travel tip of the week, I thought I would talk about travel apps briefly. Just to acknowledge, essentially, that when you're planning a trip, it's always good to consider what travel apps may be of use to you. And get them on your phone and get familiar with them before you leave. Now, there are a lot of options out there for travel apps, and many of them are unrelated to specific travel companies. They're just made for people who are interested in travel. So you have to be careful not to get lost in it all. But definitely I think you want to look for apps that correlate to your travel plans. So, for example, there are apps from travel suppliers like WestJet, Sunwing, Air Canada, Vacations, KLM, and so on. So either companies that you've booked an all-inclusive package with, or companies that will fly you to various destinations, they all have apps. And those apps are useful for information, for updates on flights, uh, for checking in, and so on. Right? So that's one kind of travel app that you would want to have. I know last time I flew to Europe, I used KLM. So I used the KLM app, and that was extremely helpful, just again, for very basic things, for checking in, for paying for luggage if I needed to, and those kinds of things. And after I got back, I found it very useful because I ended up making a claim because my flight had been delayed and I was able to submit a claim right through the app. Other apps that you might be interested in when you're traveling is apps like Nexus. Nexus would be good for anyone staying at an all-inclusive in the Caribbean, for example, or somewhere in the south, and other locations as well, it's not just the Caribbean. Nexus provides you with transfer information, for example, because Nexus does specialize in transfers. And so if you have booked your transfer with Nexus, or if your travel provider like Sunwing, for example, who works with Nexus, books you on a Nexus transfer, if you have the Nexus app, it's so much easier. You can see the pickup times and locations, and it all gets updated for you if there are any changes and so on. Also on the Nexus app, they usually offer information about excursions and so forth. So you could even book excursions on there when you're at your all-inclusive. Then often the places you're staying have apps. So think of hotel chains that you're staying at, or in the case of all inclusives, which I'm kind of focusing in on right now, there are apps for your all-inclusive location. So, for example, if you were staying at a Bahia Principe Resort, you can download their app. And if you have that app downloaded, you can enter your trip information and you'll be able to check in early. You'll be able to look at the hotel activities that are going on while you're there, and you'll be able to make reservations for dining or activities. You can book a la carte restaurants and you can discover information about the hotel, the room. You can even get information about the weather. There's lots of opportunities to get information to access what you need and to make the reservations you need using that app. And especially, you know, when you think about an all-inclusive, if you're able to book restaurants or a la carte restaurants ahead of time, that's a fantastic thing. Because sometimes I think you know, if you've experienced this, that you can get boxed out of reservations for some restaurants just because they're all booked up and busy. Then there are also apps for tourist destinations, which also can be very useful. So my example for that would be the Sagrada Familia app. So when we were in Barcelona, not last summer, but the summer before, we visited the Sagrada Familia, and I downloaded the app. And I think that when you buy the tickets for this attraction, they recommend you get the app. So I downloaded it and it was very useful. On the app, you could access your tickets. When you're looking to get admission into the building, you can show your ticket through the app. And then within the app, there was all kinds of information. In particular, I remember there was like an audio tour, and I understand that that audio tour is in 19 different languages. So great opportunities there for a lot of different people to listen in their own language to the audio tour. And they also had an augmented reality feature where you could use your camera to look at something in the basilica and be able to get more information about it. So that was pretty good. I used an app for other things like Park Guel in Barcelona. I'm pretty sure I used it for the Vatican in Italy. And so I guess what I'm saying is these apps are very useful. And as you're planning on your vacation about where you're going, I would consider where, you know, what attractions I'm going to, where I'm staying, and so on. And I would plan on whether I should maybe have an app for whatever that is for that tour provider, for the hotel, for the attraction, and so on. Because I think you can really benefit from the app. And it kind of takes me back to I I always tell my friends and family to download apps for restaurants, like McDonald's or that kind of thing. I use apps regularly if I'm deciding to dine out just locally. Because on those apps are usually specials or offers that you don't see if you just go into the restaurant and order. I'm not actually a huge KFC fan, but I do occasionally go there. And like on KFC, there's even a spot on the app for online offers, exclusive online offers. So I think I've saved a lot of money using McDonald's apps and KFC app and uh Little Caesars and so on. So I always tell my family to use these restaurant apps, and I feel like it's the same thing with the apps of when you're traveling. Using apps while traveling can make your life easier, can possibly open up opportunities you don't see if you're not looking at their app. So just to be an informed traveler, I think travel apps are very useful. But as I said at the beginning, there's so many different travel apps, you know, you have to sort of filter them out. And I would say just get the ones that definitely relate to the travel plans you have. So specific to the attractions you're going to, or specific to the resort you're staying at, or specific to the travel supplier that you're using to get there and back when you're going somewhere. So that's my travel tip for today. I think it's a good one. But you can test me out by using in the apps the next time you go. I'm hoping that a lot of you already do that. Oh, I forgot to mention, you know, I I've got it down here in my notes, but I was gonna say for cruises as well, right? I think most people who cruise probably do use the cruising apps because it's very handy for check-in and so on. But just a reminder that those apps are very useful as well in case you are one who hasn't used an app before. You can do check-ins, you can do reservations for dining, you can do reservations for excursions. There's also day planners in a cruising app where you can see what's being offered for entertainment on the ship during the day. It gives you up-to-date information, and you can do your mustard drills on them, which is handy as well. A lot of times you can just watch the video on the app and check in. Alright? So again, apps, travel apps, tip of the day.

Deals Dish: World Explorer Event

SPEAKER_00 29:42

And for Deals Dish, what do we have for Deals Dish? Well, last week I talked to you about the Holland America World Explorer sale, which goes from October the first to the seventh. So it hasn't actually started yet, but I gave you the heads up. It's going to start in a few days. I guess it's actually what isn't this coming Thursday, I think is October the 1st. And you'll be able to get extra onboard credit and some discounted uh deposit and crew appreciation paid for if you want to book a Holland America cruise. Now that is preceding a bigger World Explorer sale. So that was called America World Explorer Sale. There is another sale coming up called Just the World Explorer Sale. And the reason it's called Just the World Explorer Sale is because it's going to branch out and be much broader. So it won't just be Holland America, it's going to include a number of cruise lines as well as a few land tour operators. So I wanted to tell you about that. That's going to start on October the 8th. So when the Holland America World Explorer sale ends, the next day the World Explorer sale begins. And this one runs from October the 8th to the 31st. So quite a bit of time in there to figure out where you want to go and make your reservation and get the special offers. And as I said, it includes a lot of suppliers. And as far as what's being offered, you're getting either a discount on pricing, or you're getting onboard credit in USD, or some kind of combination of both of those. So let me run down very quickly the basic offers. I'm not giving you the details because there's so many variations within this offer. But here's an overview. So first, Azamara, a luxury cruise line, they're offering up to $500 USD onboard credit. Celebrity Cruises is offering $100 on board credit. Cunard Lines, they're offering $700 off per stateroom and up to $300 on board credit and more, so they say. Explora Journeys that has an exclusive offer of $800 journey experience credit. And I've said this before, the journey experience credit is similar to onboard credit. And it's in USD. Holland America Cruise Line is in on this one as well. And they have an offer of up to $150 onboard credits. But honestly, if you're thinking about Holland America Cruise Line, you probably should get in on the sale that's going on from October the 1st to 8th or 1st to 7th, because there's additional things available there. Oceana Cruises, they're offering up to $1,000 on board credits per stateroom. Princess Cruises is offering $100 onboard credit USD per stateroom. Plus, uh they're giving you a coupon brook, which I think is worth about $900, they say, and they're offering a reduced deposit opportunity. Regent 7C's is offering savings up to $5,220 Canadian. Seaborne Cruise Lines is offering $300 USD onboard credit per suite. Silver Sea is offering $500 on board credit per stateroom. Viking is offering $300 onboard credit per stateroom. So that's all the cruises. So there's a variety there. You've got luxury cruise lines, you've got contemporary cruise lines, you've got princess, you've got exploration cruise. So there's a variety, lots of possibilities there. And you've got these land suppliers. The land suppliers that are listed in this sale are G Adventures. They offer a lot of guided tours. And their offer is up to 20% off tours. Globus is offering $150 off per person. Globus also offers guided tours and bus tours and things like that and across the world. And Fresh Tracks. I don't know a lot about Fresh Tracks to be honest with you. I imagine it's another touring company, and you can save $100 per person on any itinerary. Looks like I'm going to have to brush up on Fresh Tracks. I really don't know too much about them. Alright. And that's the list of all the offers in an overview. Of course, if you want more information and more details, you're certainly welcome to contact me and I will give you more details. I do have more details, I just don't want to go through them all because there's so many of them and you might only be interested in one specific one. Now, most of these offers that we're talking about, they can be combined with other offers that are currently in play by the cruise lines or the land suppliers. So you can combine the offers you're getting in this World Explorer sale with the sale that the cruise line, for example, is having at the time. So if they say they're offering, you know, 40% off their cruises, you're getting that, but you're also getting the additional uh savings that are being offered in this sale. So basically you can stack them, and that's always a great thing to do. More money saved, more opportunities to spend your money elsewhere. So with the World Explorer sale, the only thing is it's an Expedia Cruises sale, it's exclusive. So if you're interested in any of the offers in the World Explorer sale, you'll need to make your reservations through Expedia Cruises, as they're the ones who are putting on the sale. But there's no extra expense, you know, in using a travel agent or in using Expedia Cruises. In most cases, they don't charge you any more than you would if you tried to book it online yourself. And in fact, sometimes they can get better rates and they can get extra onboard credit or extra deals like this World Explorer deal that you can't get yourself. So I highly recommend you use a travel agent, and I highly recommend, of course, that you use Expedia Cruises, because that's who I work for, and they have this great sale.

Outro

SPEAKER_00 35:34

Alright. Well, we've run through our different features of the episode, and so it's time to talk about next week. In next week's episode, I plan to talk to you about Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival that's happening at Walt Disney World in the new year. And so I thought I'd talk about that because some of you might be anticipating traveling to Walt Disney World in the winter or the springtime, and maybe you can time it so that you can see the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. And then for something more local, I want to tell you more about this year's version of Halloween haunt at Canada's Wonderland. I think I mentioned earlier, I'm planning to go this week, and then I can stake it out for you and see what's going on, and maybe bring some information back. For cruise contemplations, I'd still like to air my interview about the Pride of America's Hawaiian itinerary. But if that isn't ready, because I haven't done the interview yet, it's just planned. And if that's not ready for next week, we'll default to exploring the new cruise ship, the Disney Believe, which launches in late 2027, and I think that's worth having a look at that. And we will, of course, as always, have a Canadian Compass Travel Tip of the Week and a current deal for Dealsdish. That's next week. If you're enjoying the information and inspiration provided in this show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or any other podcast reviewing platform. Links to the show's page and to Apple Podcasts can be found in the show notes. Also, feel free to follow me on Instagram, just search up at the travelagent. Spell with an E H. If you want to respond to anything I've talked about on the show, or if you want to offer topic suggestions or ideas, or stir up a debate, please send an email to stephen at the travravelagent.ca. I'd love for you to be a part of building the content for our community, and um it was always fun to talk about things that you suggest you want to talk about, or argue about what's the best attraction, all that kind of stuff. So that's it for this week. I'll be off now, hoping to begin Halloween season with some jump scares, creepy clowns, and frightening mazes. I'll tell you all about it next week. Until then, keep dreaming, keep planning, and keep exploring.