CAROLINE, WHAT'S NEW? #32

Caroline and Conor discuss the latest and greatest in Disney news in this new mini-episode series.

Recorded: December 7, 2025

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Transcript

Conor Perkins: 0:43

Hello, and welcome to Poor Unfortunate Podcast, where Disney is what we do... it's what we live for! We are the two besties you never knew you needed. I'm Conor Perkins.

Caroline Aimetti: 0:52

And I'm Caroline Aimetti. This is a Disney podcast for grown ups because we believe that magic gets better with age. Listener discretion is advised.

Conor Perkins: 1:01

Welcome to all of our returning listeners and viewers, and to anyone new who is just joining us, make sure that you hit follow or subscribe wherever you're getting the podcast. And if you're on YouTube, opt in for notifications so you don't miss out on anything. This is a brand new episode of our bi-weekly mini-episode series, "Caroline, What's New?" where we go through all of the latest and greatest in Disney news. This episode is being recorded on Sunday, December 7th, 2025. So, Caroline, what's new?

Caroline Aimetti: 1:29

For some fun things have been going on. Let's start with the international parks. So, as I'm sure everybody has seen at this point, World of Frozen will officially open in Disneyland, Paris on March 29th, 2026. The land will feature the North Mountain, home to Elsa's Ice Palace, a Nordic village square, and all new music by Kristen Anderson- Lopez and Bobby Lopez. Thank you for that. Oh, that's I can't wait to hear that. Yeah, that's good stuff. I can't wait for that for that music loop to hit YouTube. Uh, the land is going to have its own version of Frozen Ever After. So basically the same thing, but it will have some of Disney's most advanced audio animatronics. Side note the update to the Epcot version that we talked about last Caroline, what's new, has been completed. It looks really nice. But back to obviously World of Frozen. Um, the land will also have a royal encounter with Anna and Elsa inside Arendelle Castle, a brand new daytime show called A Celebration in Arendelle, along with Quick Service, Nordic Crowns Tavern, and the Arundel boutique. Not to mention the absolutely incredible and groundbreaking interactive moments with baby troll Runa and free roaming frickin' Olaf.

Conor Perkins: 2:41

It's insane.

Caroline Aimetti: 2:42

You absolutely like you need to look up footage of him because he's unreal. It really is like Olaf jumped off the screen into the real world.

Conor Perkins: 2:50

Just walking around. And you can remove his arms.

Caroline Aimetti: 2:52

His carrot nose comes off, like yeah. It's it's next level. We could probably do a whole episode on the technology that's being used, but long story short, Disney is employing a branch of AI called reinforcement learning. So this is kind of what helps like Olaf, like it helps him do a lot of things, like move realistically, have conversations. Crazy. Um, also his snow moves differently than the hard shells of other robotic characters. He can fully articulate his mouth and his eyes, like we just said, remove his carrot nose and his arms, have conversations, like it's next level. I'm so excited to see guests interact with Olaf. He will also be making limited time appearances at World of Frozen in Hong Kong Disneyland as well. So if this interests you, um, it definitely interests me. I definitely need to tune into this. You can learn more about this Olaf in one of the most recent episodes of We Call It Imagineering. And speaking of this series, it has also showcased other recent audio animatronic advancements in some of the more recent episodes, including technology that will allow audio animatronic characters to blush, cry, and more. This is like using some for like very advanced like projection mapping, it sounds like. And imagineers have mentioned how this technology could be used for more challenging characters like Hades. They mentioned Hades specifically. So maybe we're getting a Hades animatronic in Villain's Land.

Conor Perkins: 4:14

Yeah, because then because then it's gonna be like, how do you take him from blue to when he turns red?

Caroline Aimetti: 4:19

Yes, and he's like made of flames, sort of. Yeah, just mm-hmm. I think we'll be getting one. It's sounding to me, I mean, the rumors are always swirling. It's not a it's sounding to me like Maleficent Coaster and then possible Ursula ride, is what it's sounding like, but the rumors never stop. But then I'm kind of like, maybe Hades is getting a restaurant, or maybe it's an all-villains restaurant. I mean, I don't even care. I want I want it all.

Conor Perkins: 4:42

A Hades restaurant would be pretty cool.

Caroline Aimetti: 4:44

I think it would be cool.

Conor Perkins: 4:44

There's enough food in Hercules that I feel it could work, and also because you could do sort of like a it could you could have like a sort of like stand-up show, like a kind of like sunny eclipse kind of thing. You could have Hades there and Pain and Panic, like do little animatronics that like do a periodic show or something like that.

Caroline Aimetti: 5:02

Right. Or maybe if it's just like a whole club villain type restaurant and all of them. House of Villains, baby. House of Villains. Can't wait. All right, could talk about that forever. Um, but uh some other Disneyland Paris news, the Raiponce Tangled Spin Attraction will open the same day as World of Frozen on March 29th in Disney Adventure World. So this teacup style ride will spin guests in gondolas under a sky full of glowing lanterns, surrounded by frescoes depicting Rapunzel's adventures. The ride is accompanied by iconic music from the film, including I see the light, of course, and Mandy Moore recorded special announcements for the attractions.

Conor Perkins: 5:38

So that would make me cry.

Caroline Aimetti: 5:40

I know. So it's it's a very special time for Disneyland Paris. So I'm so happy for everybody over there. Hopping over to Disneyland in California, Bluey is coming to Disneyland. Bluey's best day ever will open at the Fantasyland Theater on March 22nd, 2026. The theater will be transformed into the grounds of Bluey and Bingo's School, and they will take the stage with actors and musicians to bring the music and games of the iconic show to life. Like I heard you're gonna be playing like Keepy Uppy, which is so cute.

Conor Perkins: 6:09

Oh my gosh.

Caroline Aimetti: 6:09

Oh my gosh. And Troubadour Tavern right nearby is gonna be serving themed foods inspired by the series to go with it.

Conor Perkins: 6:16

I love that.

Caroline Aimetti: 6:17

So cute. And finally, heading to Disney World in Florida. Buzz Light year Space Ranger Spin will reopen in Magic Kingdom in spring 2026 with some much needed upgrades. I mean, this ride is not my favorite ride.

Conor Perkins: 6:30

And I love like hasn't it hasn't changed much. It hasn't.

Caroline Aimetti: 6:34

It's look it was looking crusty and like it was revolutionary.

Conor Perkins: 6:38

Like when it was up, but it was like a long, long time ago. And then we got Midway Mania, which really took things to the next level.

Caroline Aimetti: 6:45

And I'm not saying we've talked about this before too. I don't need every ride. I've I think I said this like two episodes ago. I don't need everything to be 3D simulator, but it has to work. If it's a simple concept, it has to work. And trust me, as a competitive person, I don't know where I'm aiming at the end.

Conor Perkins: 7:00

That never worked.

Caroline Aimetti: 7:00

It never worked.

Conor Perkins: 7:01

I don't know where I'm aiming.

Caroline Aimetti: 7:03

No, you knew, but your your blaster did not.

Conor Perkins: 7:05

That's true.

Caroline Aimetti: 7:06

Um, so the attraction will have updated ride vehicles, new handheld blasters, and upgraded interactive targets. So you will know when you hit the target. Okay. So we love all of that.

Conor Perkins: 7:16

I like the handheld blaster sort of.

Caroline Aimetti: 7:19

Yeah, that's more fun. Yeah. So I'm looking forward to that. Not my favorite, but fine, fine, fine, fine.

Conor Perkins: 7:24

Fine.

Caroline Aimetti: 7:24

Yeah. A piece of news that is probably a big deal to me only, but is actually a very big deal to me. Some Disney World resorts are now starting to offer pump soap in addition to bar soap in their bathrooms. Because let me tell you, as someone who literally orders liquid soap with my grocery order when I go to Disney World, this is huge. And it's already offered on the Disney cruise line. So it's about damn time. And I'm like kind of just like the way that germs spread in these parks, please let people properly wash their hands. Bar soap is not sanitary.

Conor Perkins: 7:53

I also feel like all hotels should have the option.

Caroline Aimetti: 7:57

I mean, it's 2025, almost 2026. What are we doing with the bar soap? Thank you. It's about, I mean, my number one complaint of the about the hotels. I'm I would love, I love this news.

Conor Perkins: 8:08

I'm with you.

Caroline Aimetti: 8:09

Thank you. Also, this is uh not, you know, nothing's confirmed about this yet, but I thought it was interesting. The parent company of Gideon's, obviously the ultra-popular bake house with a Disney Springs location, has filed a permit for the former Art of Shaving location in Disney Springs. So nothing has been confirmed yet, but the internet is guessing it could be for a merchandise location. But I would do anything for it to be an express drink window because I think about one of the iced coffees that I had at Gideon's, like actually once a day. I'm not even kidding. I've never been able to replicate that experience.

Conor Perkins: 8:41

The banana one, the banana bread.

Caroline Aimetti: 8:43

Yes. I think about it every day. I wish like if I'm like, if I could have any coffee now, it would be that. Um, but I can't bring myself to, especially because they got rid of the virtual queue last time I was there. I cannot bring myself to wait in the sun just for an iced coffee. So I know a lot of people really love the the drinks there, so that would be really cool. But I'm guessing.

Conor Perkins: 9:01

But also, like, even if they were to just like outsource merchandise, that might cut down like on a lot of the on the speed of the line. Yeah, because like there are some, yeah, because yeah, otherwise it's like just get your bakery goods here.

Caroline Aimetti: 9:12

Yeah.

Conor Perkins: 9:13

Merchandise, you gotta go somewhere else.

Caroline Aimetti: 9:15

Yeah. And I love it. I love that theming. So I'm in. I'm down. Interestingly, it sounds like the Rock 'N' Roller Coaster pre-show has been permanently removed from the attraction. An interesting choice considering it definitely helps set up the narrative of the ride, like you getting backstage passes and everything. But also, no closing date has been announced for the attraction yet to obviously, as we all know now, turn it into the Muppets version of this ride. Um, so maybe it's sooner than we think, but I still am just wondering why. Like, are they getting a jumpstart on the construction? Why are they what? Yeah. I don't know. Interesting choice, though. And I feel like really just like it kind of changes the experience. That's a huge part. Like, that's one of the pre-ride pre-shows that I think of when I think of ride pre-shows. So it's an interesting choice.

Conor Perkins: 9:58

Yeah.

Caroline Aimetti: 9:59

So I I don't know, it might have been your last chance to catch that already. So interesting times uh in Hollywood Studios. But to close this out in some really nice Hollywood Studios news for a fun little holiday tidbit, you can currently see costumes from The Muppet's Christmas Carol at Walt Disney Presents in Hollywood Studios. I'm guessing it's just for the holidays, but if you're going there, totally catch up what you can. I mean, you see like Bob Cratchit's costume, next to little Tiny Tim.

Conor Perkins: 10:21

I wonder if they have the ghosts of Christmas present costume. I love it.

Caroline Aimetti: 10:25

They don't, but somebody who I saw go was like, give us the puppet, give us the full puppet. Give us the full puppet. And I agree. I totally agree.

Conor Perkins: 10:31

Yeah. And honestly, ghosts of Christmas past. Give me her scary face.

Caroline Aimetti: 10:35

Her little oh my god, absolutely. Little tiny thing.

Conor Perkins: 10:38

Your Welfare then.

Caroline Aimetti: 10:39

Your Welfare. Yeah.

Conor Perkins: 10:42

All right, let's talk about some Disney Plus stuff. So things that are now available on Tuesday, December 2nd, we got the 10th annual seasonal celebration, the wonderful world of Disney holiday spectacular. It featured new musical performances from Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and Aulani and is now streaming on Disney Plus. So if you missed it, you can watch it. Prep and Landing: the Snowball Protocol, had its Disney Channel premiere on Thanksgiving, ABC Network premiere on November 30th, and it's now streaming. And then it airs later this month on December 13th as part of Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas.

Caroline Aimetti: 11:16

So I can't wait to watch that. I know I still haven't watched it yet.

Conor Perkins: 11:19

Too many things happening right now.

Caroline Aimetti: 11:20

Too many things.

Conor Perkins: 11:21

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, premiered on Disney Plus this past Friday. This is adapted from the third installment of Jeff Kinney's worldwide best-selling book series. And in this, Greg Heffley returns for his next family misadventure when laid-back Greg finds himself at odds with his dad's outsized expectations. Pressure builds to turn his act around. After a series of hilarious near disasters, Greg's dad presents him with an ultimatum that just might challenge his wimpy ways for good. For good.

Caroline Aimetti: 11:51

Woo! For good.

Conor Perkins: 11:52

The first two episodes of the Disney Plus original, Are You Sure?! premiered on December 3rd. Following their unforgettable Tokyo trip in 2017, BTS's Jimin and Jung Kook reunite in the summer of 2023 for one last trip before their military enlistment, hoping to make memories that will last a lifetime. So if you are a K-pop person, this is I feel like this duo, like they're always doing stuff together. So um but this is fun because I think we talked about this a while ago. We did, I was gonna say, yeah. Stuff like this coming out. And then on Friday, we got new sing-along stop motion music videos featuring Mickey, Minnie, and the gang with Mickey and Minnie's Holiday Songs: Christmas. So if you just want a little Christmas something, I do want a little Christmas something. I watched some of the old, older stop motion, like sing along Christmas carols that they had released, like I don't know if it was last year or the year before. And they were fun. They were very, very fun. I love stuff that is announced coming soon. So tomorrow, when we are recording this, December 8th, all episodes of the third season of Star Wars Young Jedi Adventures premieres on Disney Plus. Kai, Lys, and Nubbs continue their galactic adventures as they team up with their new droid companions and face off against Rek, a troublemaking master droidsmith. Season two of Percy Jackson and the Olympians had its world premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 3rd. The first two episodes of the season hit Disney Plus on Wednesday, December 10th, with new episodes every Wednesday after. The End of an Era, the six-part docuseries chronicling the development, impact, and inner workings of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour that I talked about last time we did this. That debuts with the first two episodes on December 12th, and then that releases two new episodes each Friday until the end of December. So if you are a T Swift fan, that's right.

Caroline Aimetti: 13:46

I think I will tune into that. I'm interested. I love a behind-the-scenes anything. So I think I probably will watch that.

Conor Perkins: 13:51

That's for you then. And then the Disney Parks annual Christmas parade will be available to watch on Disney Plus on Thursday, December 25th, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. Now let's talk Disney films. So things that are now available, the biggest one, Zootopia 2, is now in theaters and open to more than a half billion dollars globally, displacing Wicked: For Good for the number one spot Thanksgiving weekend. It is the second highest Thanksgiving weekend earner ever, only behind Moana 2 from last year. It is currently tracking to gross more than $1 billion globally and would become the most successful American movie released so far in 2025. Zootopia 2 boasts an A cinema score rating, a 92% certified fresh tomato meter rating, and a 96% verified popcorn meter score on Rotten Tomatoes. So killing it. I mean, I just Zootopia was one of those things where I'm like, there's so much that you can do in this world. Like it's true, it's so easy and natural to make a franchise from this because it just lends itself to it. It's very episodic in the way that it that it works. It's a full world, like it just makes sense. So I haven't seen it yet, but I'm excited.

Caroline Aimetti: 15:09

I haven't either. I know I want to also, but it's also for people wondering, like talking about like, oh, can Disney stop with the sequels?

Conor Perkins: 15:15

Did you just hear the two most like the highest Thanksgiving earners ever are both sequels?

Caroline Aimetti: 15:22

Sorry. That's not gonna be changing anytime soon.

Conor Perkins: 15:25

Yeah. And also, I'm just like, listen, maybe we can like kind of stop with some sequels or whatever. But Zootopia is one where I'm like, no, no, no, more sequels actually make sense because it's not like I don't know, it's it's it was an introduction to a world more than a lot of other films. Yeah, and it's like, what's the next adventure in this world? What other things can we do? There are a lot of questions that got posed by the world building itself that we can now answer of like, where are the reptiles? Of course, now we have a movie about the reptiles.

Caroline Aimetti: 15:52

Gary De'Snake! Also, I fully have to own that I have still I watched it. I didn't sit down and concentrate on watching Moana 2 yet. I saw it in the background once. But that to me, I don't know, that felt like Moana was a complete story. So it's the kind of thing where I would have naturally been like, I don't need a sequel, but it clearly doesn't matter what I think anyway.

Conor Perkins: 16:08

So it doesn't. They don't give a shit.

Caroline Aimetti: 16:10

Nope.

Conor Perkins: 16:11

And then stuff that is announced coming soon. So Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third in the Avatar franchise, had its world premiere in Los Angeles on Monday, December 1st, launching its press and premiere tour, which continued in Paris on Friday with the European premiere. And then the movie hits theaters later this month on December 19th. So, you know, if you are a big James Cameron fan and want to go see the latest and greatest in visuals and everything like that, make your way to the biggest screen possible so that you can go see. I mean, I'll probably go see it.

Caroline Aimetti: 16:41

Like Yeah, you saw the last one. I saw the last one. Did you see it in IMAX?

Conor Perkins: 16:45

I saw it in IMAX 3D. I think it was IMAX 3D.

Caroline Aimetti: 16:50

Okay.

Conor Perkins: 16:50

So like they had, these weren't like you didn't get your real D 3D glasses. These were like glasses, glasses, kinds of like things that like put on. They were they were like heavy duty. And that was how James Cameron was like, that's how you were supposed to see it. So I'm like, listen, James, tell me how you want me to see the movie, and I'll see the movie that way.

Caroline Aimetti: 17:12

Okay, let's wrap it up. Uh, first of all, uh, I've been watching so much footage from the Disney Destiny, and I really, really want to go on it.

Conor Perkins: 17:21

I want to go on it.

Caroline Aimetti: 17:22

Why does Disney Cruise line do this to us? It looks great. I need to see Hercules. I need to eat at the Lion King restaurant.

Conor Perkins: 17:30

The Lion King restaurant looks super.

Caroline Aimetti: 17:32

If anybody wants to send us, we're available.

Conor Perkins: 17:34

We are.

Caroline Aimetti: 17:36

Anyway. Man. Frozen is now open at Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey, starring Mary Kate Morrissey as Elsa, one of the best Elphabas from Wicked ever. Samantha Williams, also fantastic as Anna, Daniel Yearwood as Kristoff, Todd Buonapane as Olaf, and Sam Gravitte as Hans. The production runs through January 11th, and maybe a little bit more to come about that. So you should just stay tuned.

Conor Perkins: 18:07

Stay tuned.

Caroline Aimetti: 18:08

And finally, in true poor unfortunate fashion, some big news for us. We have a return of Disney Parks toys to McDonald's Happy Meals. So there is a series of toys celebrating Disneyland's 70th that are now available. There are 70 figures of iconic Disney characters, and it sounds like you get two per Happy Meal.

Conor Perkins: 18:29

Two?

Caroline Aimetti: 18:30

Two. Remember they did that with the other one that came in the what was that for? Where it was the 50, wasn't it the 50th or for Disney World? Remember, there was one where they came in a box and you got two.

Conor Perkins: 18:39

It wasn't for the 50th for Disney World because the Golden Statues one, they had 50 of them and you only got one.

Caroline Aimetti: 18:46

There was some other Happy Meal where you got two, and it came in this beautiful box. Like, I don't know. So I don't know.

Conor Perkins: 18:51

A lot of a lot of the happy meals now come in little boxes.

Caroline Aimetti: 18:54

Yes, I I enjoy that. It's very classy. Yes. They know who they're they know who it's who it's for, which just cracks me up to no end. Um I hasn't been confirmed. I have not had one yet. We're gonna get them soon. I have to fully admit I was busy getting the Grinch Meal.

Conor Perkins: 19:08

I was just about to ask, I'm like, were you getting the Grinch Meal? Did you get the socks? Yeah, I did. Oh my god.

Caroline Aimetti: 19:14

I loved it. The Grinch meal was a 10 out of 10 for me. The box, fantastic. The separate bag to shake up the Grinch salt to make pickle fries, fantastic. The socks, wonderful. No complaints. So I had to get that first, and now I will move on to the happy meal.

Conor Perkins: 19:33

Oh my God. I'm so proud of you. I didn't even realize it was happening until like it had already happened.

Caroline Aimetti: 19:39

I totally would have told you, but I got it at like, you know, it was probably like one a two AM on like Thursday night.

Conor Perkins: 19:47

Hell yes. Yeah. They're all gone now, probably, right?

Caroline Aimetti: 19:51

No, I actually think they they were like a few locations and then within the week they were everywhere because I think they were like, Oh yeah, people, people want this.

Conor Perkins: 19:58

Maybe maybe I'll go out and get one today.

Caroline Aimetti: 20:00

You absolutely I couldn't encourage it more.

Conor Perkins: 20:02

Oh shit.

Caroline Aimetti: 20:04

So we'll obviously at some point or another we'll do some sort of happy meal reveal opening. Because why wouldn't we?

Conor Perkins: 20:11

Why wouldn't we?

Caroline Aimetti: 20:12

Why wouldn't we?

Conor Perkins: 20:13

It's us.

Caroline Aimetti: 20:14

It's us.

Conor Perkins: 20:16

Alrighty. Well, I think that's gonna do it for us for this episode. Thank you so much for joining us. Make sure they hit follow or subscribe wherever you're getting the podcast. Leave a rating, leave a review, leave a comment.

Caroline Aimetti: 20:25

Please, please leave a rating or review. Have you done it yet?

Conor Perkins: 20:28

Yeah. Yeah. Have you done it?

Caroline Aimetti: 20:29

It takes it takes a minute. Yeah. And it does so much for us. Yeah. So thank you to everybody who has done that so much.

Conor Perkins: 20:35

And then follow us on social media. We're @poorunfortunatepodcast everywhere. Join the fam. You can follow the links in the episode description and on our social media accounts for how to do that. And we will be back with okay, so we lied last time when we said that the 100th is next. The 100th is not next. We have another bonus episode coming for you. But that's right. You'll be glad that we did, but that's only because it kind of happened relatively quickly and unexpectedly. And we want to get it in now for you all. So the hundredth is coming.

Caroline Aimetti: 21:09

So I guess I'll say we kind of cut off the submissions for messages already online. But all this to say, if you want to send us any sort of message, you can email it to us. You can DM us on social media. We have a number that we'll put back, maybe we'll put it back up on social media. Just if you want to send us any kind of greeting, if you want to send an audio recording, we'll feature it in the episode.

Conor Perkins: 21:29

Or a video recording too.

Caroline Aimetti: 21:31

A video too, we can put that in the episode. Anything saying happy 100, what's your favorite episode? Well, how did you start listening to the podcast? Anything you want to tell us, we would just love you to join in the celebration because, you know, we're damn proud of reaching 100.

Conor Perkins: 21:44

Yeah, we are. We're damn proud of it.

Caroline Aimetti: 21:46

We really want to celebrate it. So we would love to have you be a part of it. So it's it's actually not too late. So if you want to send us something, you can totally do that.

Conor Perkins: 21:54

Great. So until next time, Beluga Sevruga!