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Truth? I am in the middle of a difficult chapter in my life, and I was looking for some much needed joy. So I planned a very last minute trip to LA with my good friends Hoby and Justin. We designed 48 joyful hours around 2 of my favorite things... Dave Matthews and Disney!

Listen to our day at Disneyland as Hoby, who brings a unique perspective as someone who navigates the world without sight, helps us appreciate the magic around us in a whole new way. You'll also get a behind the scenes listen as he records some of his viral videos that have taken over IG, TikTok and YouTube!

Highlights:

-We taste some coveted Disney snacks, like the classic turkey leg and the new and exciting pickle dog... and recommended wine pairings with each one!

-Hoby shares his impression of some classic and new attractions and his perceptions experiencing them without site

-We have a lot of fun and there is joy and laughter and you should listen. That is all.

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The amount of sensory that is happening standing here, from music to smell to turkey leg out of the mix, just the smells of popcorn, churros, flowers, vegetation.

Land in general, people, it's just amazing. It's an amazing sensory extravaganza, guys.

Hello.

Welcome to Sip with Nikki. I'm Nikki Lamberti here in Sonoma County, California. Thanks so much for tuning in this week.

So I'm just gonna level with you.

There has been a lot going on in my world. You may have heard from a previous episode that since December, I have been in a bit of a battle with breast cancer.

But I'm at the home stretch and after two surgeries and 16 rounds of chemo, I'm about to finish 20 rounds of radiation this coming week. And I can see the at the.

End of the tunnel and I'm feeling really good.

And I'm so grateful for medicine and my medical team. In the middle of all of this, my dad was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.

That happened just at the end of May, and sadly, we lost him last weekend.

So as I'm sitting here to record this intro, there's a lot going on in my brain and in my heart, and I want to dedicate this episode to his legacy, which was Joy. If you're a regular listener, you've heard me refer to myself as a Joy junkie.

And while he was a little bit more subtle and introverted in his quest for joy than me, perhaps he would often take in the surroundings if, let's say, we were all back home together under the same roof as adults, having a meal, and he would just look at all of us and say, this is nice. So in honor of that, I'm sharing an episode that is really chock full of joy.

Two weeks ago, I did a very last minute whirlwind trip down to Southern California with my dear friends Hobie and Justin. Again, if you are a listener, those names should be familiar to you.

Dr. Hoby was born without sight and has made it his life's work in guiding other people in all aspects of sensory when it applies to food and beverage and taking in their surroundings. And if you are not following this man on Instagram, Dr. Hoby H O B Y Literally pause this podcast right now.

I'll wait, open up instagram and follow Dr. Hoby. Okay.

Hoby has this year been doing a series of videos where he is enjoying really simple things, biting into particular fruits, talking about why you should put salt in your coffee and just experiencing them through his sensory. And these videos have gone Viral.

Now, Hobie always had an amazing following and people that know him, like me, just love and admire him for the different perspective that he brings to experiences.

You also may know that Hobie and his partner Justin are also big Dave Matthews fans like me, especially if you listen to the recent episode that I re released about my brush with Dave Matthews last summer.

So, two weeks ago, the three of us flew down to LA to go to a Dave concert, which was amazing, especially because I had pretty much written off that I wasn't going to get to see Dave this summer. Just being in the middle of treatments and back and forth to New Jersey to spend time with my dad and my family.

And we were able to squeeze it in at the very last minute, and I'm so glad that we did. Well, the way that my brain works is, hey, if we're in LA for a concert, Disneyland is right there.

And so I was able to use my Disney Vacation Club points and book us a room at the Villas at the Disneyland Hotel. And we were able to spend Saturday and Sunday at Disneyland. And this was the first time getting to experience the Disney parks with Hobie and Justin.

As you may know, I've worked for Disney for many, many years, mostly in Orlando at Walt Disney World, but I do get to visit Disneyland about once a year. And we decided to record some of our experiences in the parks, which is what you're about to hear now.

What's really fun is there were some double content creation going on. So some of what I was recording for this podcast was actually watching Justin filming Hobie for his Instagram reel.

So much of what you're going to hear now, if you then go to Instagram, you'll actually be able to watch the video that accompanies the audio, specifically the one that has gone really viral, which is Hobie tasting a famous Disneyland turkey leg and giving us his thoughts. You'll also hear some other fun snacks that we enjoy, like the Pickle Dog and what that's all about.

And really interesting to get Hobie's take on some Disney attractions and what it's like to experience those without sight, whether it's a classic snoozer like Small World or something super high tech and brand new like Star Rise of the Resistance. Whenever I spend time with Hobie, it reminds me to take in my surroundings in a different way.

And what I did multiple times while we were in the parks was close my eyes and try to experience the Disney magic like he does through audio and through smell and through the feel of the change. Of the pavement underneath his feet.

It was really such an interesting experience and I'm so glad that we were able to squeeze it in the middle of all this craziness around me. So I'm so excited for you to listen in.

It's essentially like a tip or a donation to say thank you for the hard work and all of the content that you're enjoying. And another wonderful way that you can support us is to buy our wine, Sola Vato. Buy it because it's delicious.

And I can ship to most states in the U.S. i know this is a long introduction, but I had a lot to catch you up on. But I cannot wait for you to hear Hobie, Justin and I and our weekend of joy. Here we go.

We're in Disneyland, you guys. What? How fun.

Went to a concert last night and Nikki is so sweet to bring us to Disneyland today. Nikki, Hobie and Justin and. Oh my gosh.

What?

We were just saying I'm blind, so I don't get the visual stuff, but the non visual sensory stimulation is amazing. We're standing by the Small World ride.

If you can't tell by the music, you can't have backgrounds.

Exactly. And it's one of my absolute. I'd done it one time before, like eight months ago.

But what's amazing is I did it this time and I got pieces that I never got before. First of all, you go into a tunnel and it smells like an old building.

And then as you go like a 70 year old building, it does.

It smells like a building from the 50s and it's very subtle. And it wasn't like Food smells, but different scenes around the world. Justin was explaining it to me, and the smell changed a little bit.

Like when you went from Asia to Africa, it became more humid. And then when we went over to Hawaii, near the end of the ride, there were some really strong floral notes.

And the music, it's playing the Small World song the whole time.

And now it's stuck like it is right now as we're standing here recording this in front of the attraction.

Yeah, it's a small world, but it's all in different languages. And the animals are doing their things. You can hear little click, clack and taps. And I don't know. We went by.

When we were going through northern Europe, we went by a big group of singing geese that sang with a slightly different sort of tone. I'm just like, I'm having so much fun here.

And I will say, the smell as we are standing here is classic popcorn. Super amped up. There's a popcorn cart just over your left shoulder there. And it's so buttery, the smell of butter without the chardonnay.

And it's like one of my favorite smells. It's so nostalgic.

Does this bring you back to when you were a cast member and just even your childhood?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I came to Disneyland for the first time when I was in high school.

Wow.

So we'll check in with some delicious bites in a few minutes.

I can't wait. And you guys maybe talked me into going on Rise of the Resistance.

Oh, my God. Lightning Lane, let's go.

I was nervous about it, but we're gonna do it.

All right, here we go.

We're gonna talk about the challenge and overcoming challenges and how much fun it is.

It's a teaching moment.

It is a teaching moment.

All right, all right. Here we are on the carousel. Hi, friends. Hey, friends. Have you been on before?

I never have. No. This is my second time to Disneyland, and we really didn't do that much stuff when we were here the first time, so this is amazing.

All right. Woohoo.

It's Disneyland and we're riding a carousel. Hey, I'm Dr. Hobo, your guide to some of the greatest things life has to offer.

And sometimes finding joy and magic on a random Saturday is one of the greatest things Life has to offer. Rolling up and down on these nostalgic horses is so special. My friend Nikki Lamberti is here. Hey, Nikki.

Nikki's a Disney cast member for many, many years, and we're here with her enjoying the magic of Disney today. And one of the things that I love is that kids and adults and everybody can go on this ride. And that was one of Walt's big inspirations.

Behind it is he didn't like to sit and watch his little girls. I heard this from Nikki doing the carousel on their own. He wanted to do it too. And this is what he built here.

A beautiful, clean way to just giddy up and have a good old time. Cheers, y'.

All.

Love ya.

And that was a behind the scenes listens of Dr. Hobie recording a reel for his famous Instagram while on horse.

We are in front of the castle and we just stopped to buy a famous turkey leg so that Hobie and Justin could experience this barbaric, classic Disney treat. It is.

I've never seen anything like this huge.

All right, see, this is what you want to be getting. Oh, my God.

This thing is like the size of my head.

It's huge.

Oh, my God.

That's really barbaric.

Yeah. My mouth is actually watering looking at it.

Does it look good?

Yeah.

I mean, it's huge.

I would rotate it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Perfect.

This is obscene.

It is obscene. That is. How does it smell? Okay.

It kind of smells like a hot dog.

Yeah, it's ginormous. And the skin is very golden and crispy and are turkeys. It is like a ham. Yeah, These turkeys are. We are prepping for the famous reel.

We're gonna call him Justin.

Justin is zhuzhing your turkey leg in front of the castle. You've got blue sky and crowd behind you, clouds.

This thing is, like, over a pound.

It's crazy.

Okay, where do you want me to bite from? Oh, I was gonna bite through the skin. Well, this?

Yeah.

Did you tear the skin off?

No, it's just sliding down.

I love this so much. I don't know why I love this so much. He's shushing your hair.

Justin's hair and makeup, but he's also the turkey crabber.

Okay.

Three, two, one, action.

Well, folks, I'm live in Disneyland park, reporting to you from this turkey leg. It's Disneyland turkey time. Oh, my God. Hey, I'm Dr. Hobie, your guide to some of the greatest things life has to offer. And okay, I like turkey.

Turkey legs are great, but a turkey leg iconic in Disneyland is what I consider one of the greatest things life has to offer. So it's got this little drumette here. This is where the foot would attach. And then this leg is just this behemoth of tissue and flesh on top here.

If you smell it smells a little bit like bacon, a little bit like ham. It almost feels like a small piece of ham. But this is 100% turkey.

Turkey legs have been popular since medieval times at fairs and festivals, often at Renaissance events. And currently, if you still go to Renaissance fairs today, you'll find them.

And the way that Disneyland has perfected their smoke and their brine is nothing short of stellar.

So from the early 90s when these were introduced to today, 35 years later, this is still a true Disney icon, as our tour guide and friend Nikki tells us. Here's a bite. Okay. Definitely dark meat. Delicious dark turkey. It's been smoked for long enough that it's got a nice little layer on the outside.

You bite in, and it's really nice and juicy. And, yeah, good flavor. Tastes like a good turkey. Reminds me a little bit of the holidays or Thanksgiving. A little bit sweet on the brine.

Nice savory, salty note. And I can't wait to dig into the skin either. The skin is nice and crispy. Oh, yeah. Skin's really good, too. And briny. Man, I've never done this before.

It's a turkey leg in Disneyland. Try yourself a turkey wag next time you're here. You won't be disappointed. Cheers, y'.

All.

Love ya.

That was so great. That was great. Hope he just did his reel. And now I am gonna taste this. I think I have tasted one of these maybe 20 years ago in Disney.

World for a long time, so I'm surprised you haven't had it.

Not a normal occurrence. I did want to try the skin.

The skin's really good. It's crispy.

Mmm.

And it's got good flavor.

This thing is ginormous.

It's hard to hold.

It is like Thanksgiving.

It is. And it's a good, high quality.

It's delicious.

Yeah.

There is smokiness. There is sweetness. And whenever they cure it with or brine it with. Yeah. Look at that piece. Justin, look at you.

Yay. He did it.

Justin's been intermittent fasting all morning, but now he's gonna break his Fast. With this beautiful turkey meat here. Let's see what Justin thinks. Well, he has a mouthful right now.

Definitely brine. It's very good.

Yeah. And it doesn't taste very processed. That's what I like about this. It tastes like something that you would cook at your house. And.

Oh. Are you challenging that statement? You're challenging that statement with your mouth full.

He is. Challenge me.

It definitely. I mean, there's no quick way to do this. Like this has been slow roasted for a long amount of time. Right.

Never tasted anything like this.

I think it was delicious. I had that one bite and now I'm kind of like, why is Justin hugging it? I'm ready for another bite.

I know.

Which is one of the things that they say about it is that it's kind of addicting. It's a little bit because of the salt and the savoriness and it's a.

Little bit like beef jerky or something like that.

Yeah. Take another bite, sir.

There you go. For you.

Okay.

Oh yeah, it's good. It sort of makes me want stuffing and cranberry sauce.

Yes.

But it's very good. And it's nice. You know, it's a lot of walking in the park.

And one of the things that would be so nice about this is you just carry it around with you.

It's a portable snack. It's not even a snack. It's a meal. I would like to know the wine pairing with this guys. What do you think? I'm thinking Pinot. Ah, Jinx.

Or Jinx Or Zinn.

Yeah. Cause the smokiness.

Zin. Could be interesting. Zino. I think you're right.

It's really good, you guys.

It's really good.

Nicely cooked and it's juicy.

It's better than I was expecting it to be.

I'm sorry, can you say that again, Mr. Skeptical?

Better than I was expecting it to be.

Uh huh. Yep. See, I'm not gonna steer you wrong.

Gotten like an anomaly.

Nikki does not steer us wrong. And man, we just went. I was nervous about going on the Star Wars. What was the exact name of it?

Rise of the Resistance.

Rise of the Resistance. And we went and we were in a ship and saw some enemies, some people that we didn't know what to do with. And we fought them off.

What was your perception of that ride? How did you perceive it?

I was totally excited to be in the first room where we heard kind of a story and we set the scene. Then we went in this funny little people mover thing that didn't really move. But it had the illusion optically that it was moving.

And what's crazy is tactically as well, it felt like it was moving. They were able to simulate this forward sort of rolling motion. It was wild. And they told us a story.

We found the enemy ship and we went and got in these little cars and rolled. Apparently, this ride is more complicated, according to niki, than the SpaceX rocket.

It has more technological components than a SpaceX rocket, is what I learned in an info session about the construction of the ride.

That is insane, because all these little cars, they're not on one solid track. They're all moving independent of one another.

And the part I was really nervous about was going up in an elevator, and then at some point you drop down. So it's like a 10 to 15 foot drop. It's no big deal. But it was still like, whoa, am I gonna be okay with this? And ended up loving it.

Nice. So the motion was okay for you? Motion was great. Cool.

Motion was great.

All right, Justin. Thoughts of rise of the Resistance with a mouthful of turkey leg.

Well done.

Yeah.

Yep.

Okay.

Very intricate, very high tech.

Yeah, yeah. Good storytelling. Disney storytelling at its finest.

Disney storytelling with all elements, sound, touch, smell, and looks.

Well, that's kind of like where we're standing right now. We are at the hub of Disneyland between the Walt statue and the castle next to this turkey leg cart.

And just the amount of sensory that is happening standing here, from music to smell to turkey leg out of the mix. Just the smells of popcorn, churros, flowers, vegetation, land in general, people.

It's just amazing. It's an amazing sensory extravaganza, guys.

Awesome. We're on the search for the pickle dog next. Cheers.

Cheers, guys.

So we just stopped and got a pickle corn dog at Downtown Disney, and Hobie is going to taste it for the first time and then do his magical reel.

I don't know. They're magical, but I want to hear what all of us think. I want to hear what. Nikki, I think we should talk about what wine to pair this with too.

Oh, okay.

Yeah. Because I don't know, guys.

It's a hot dog stuffed in a hollowed out pickle, breaded in cornmeal batter, and then panko crusted and deep fried, and it's served with a side of. What is it, Nikki?

Peanut butter, peanut butter jelly. Peanut butter pickle dog time. Peanut butter pickle dog. Peanut butter pickle dog. All right.

Okay.

Don't drop it. It's like $15. Don't drop it. On the ground.

And it's another very heavy thing.

It is.

Take a bite, right? Yep. And then dip.

And then dip.

Okay, so I want to try it with and without. You like it? Like a reporter mic today.

That was so funny. You can still want to bite it. But I won't.

He's a drippy.

I still want to bite it.

Should bite it. Just take a bite.

No, you have to. It's, like, pristine. For the video. Okay.

I get corn dogs. I get pickles. But a pickleball in Downtown Disney?

What?

Hey, I'm Dr. Hobie, your guide to some of the greatest things life has to offer. And sometimes greatness is in the form of uniqueness. Disney is all about magic and joy and creating these moments that are memorable.

Well, I've never tasted a pickle dog before. I've had plenty of corn dogs. I've had plenty of pickles. But this is literally. It's made by a shop here called Blue Ribbon.

It is a hot dog that is then stuffed in a deep fried pickle, which is then battered with cornmeal and then panko crusted, deep fried, and served with a side of peanut butter, of all things. Now, I like pickles, and I like hot dogs, but we're gonna see how they go together.

So let's give this a bite without the peanut butter and then taste it with the peanut butter. Interesting. All right, Nikki, third bite. Go ahead.

You need me to bite it down for you so you can then get to the pickle?

That's right. I want you to try it. Super fresh.

Oh, I got pickle.

Is it good? I like it.

All right, pickle. But I want to make it look good for a video.

Yeah, okay.

Okay, There we go.

There we go.

That's so good.

Okay. Flavor's super interesting. Sweet corn batter, really nice. Salty, crunchy pickle. And then a hot. Hot dog inside that's salty and tastes like a hot dog.

It actually works really well together. It's like a hot dog that you put dill relish on. Now, here's the key. I want to taste this with the peanut butter.

Standing by with peanut butter off screen. Okay, the lid is off. Do you want me to just hold it and you just want to dip it? Sure.

I'm just gonna do it quick. Okay, so now we gotta try this in the peanut butter. All right, There we go. Taking a bite. What? Holy cow.

That dog really, really works with the peanut butter. It really changes the flavor. It adds a little bit of sweetness. It elevates it, and there's A nuttiness about peanut butter that kind of.

I can't describe it any better way than peanut flavor. He's, like, really delicious with pickles. And some people actually put peanut butter and pickles on sandwiches together.

I've heard of it.

And here, that works. Wow. Peanut butter pickle dog. Cheers, y'. All. Give it a try if you're ever in Downtown Disney. Love ya.

Awesome. All right. So good.

So, Nikki, what do you think of the flavor of the dog?

I think it's delicious. I mean, just the fact that it's hand battered and dipped and fried, made to order, so that panko breading is super crispy and fresh. I like it.

What's not to like? I love hot dogs, I love pickles, and I love fried stuff. So what's not to love?

What I find a little hard with this one is that the pickle gets so hot, you know, in the fryer. It's like that watery pickle.

Sometimes you just gotta deal with a hot, watery pickle. Hobie. You know, I mean, this is life. This is life.

This is life. And there are worse things in life.

All right, how was it when you went and dipped it in the peanut butter? Cause that seems like just a whole nother level of what and why it's weirdly unexpected.

So I was not expecting the peanut butter to do what it did. I was expecting it to kind of mellow the flavor, lighten the flavor a little bit, but instead, it really brightened it.

It took the dill and the pickle and made it more dilly, and the hot dog was more smoky, and it was this wild, weird.

So the sweetness made the herbal more herbaceous?

I think so, yeah. You know, peanut butter has that thing like peanut butter and bananas, peanut butter and jelly. Peanut butter and pickle.

It kind of does the same thing.

Yeah.

You know, it kind of enhances the otherwise savory, in this case, character of whatever it is you're eating.

Justin, I feel like you're less enthusiastic about this snack item. What are we thinking?

I like the flavor combination. I think that the watery ness of the pickle is a little much like it contrasts with the crunchy texture of the.

It sogs out the dog a little.

Bit like it's bad. It's just that could lose the pickle.

Okay.

Be happy with just the dog.

Got it.

So you just would go for the classic corn dog.

Grab the pickle on the side, maybe.

Oh, there you go. So a cold, crunchy pickle on the side of a nice classic corn dog.

Okay. All right. Last question. Wine pairing with the pickle dog.

That's an interesting question.

I'm going. Wait for it. Champagne. I am going dry, tight bubbles, tiny bubbles, like palate cleanser. Because there's a lot of flavors going on there.

And then I would have even like a Veuve Clicquot or a Blanc de Blanc from Schramsburg would be delicious. Just some beautiful sparkling wines.

You know what? Even Prosecco? Yeah, even Prosecco.

I'm going sparkling.

Sparkling. The other thing about this, I would also do this. I could see doing this with like a really good, crispy, unoaked chardonnay.

You know, like a nice green apple Chardonnay.

Yeah.

From stainless steel ferment only.

Yep.

The other thing, like I just want to point out, I totally agree with your champagne pairing.

But the thing to me that's so much fun is sometimes that the more classy looking beverages that you would pair things with, like, you know, think about champagne and caviar and that sort of thing.

I love champagne and fried chicken.

I love champagne and pickle dogs.

I love champagne and nachos.

I do too.

So I feel like this is in that same school of.

And don't worry about pairing things that are less quote unquote fine foods with otherwise fine wines. Like, there's no problem.

Agree.

My favorite pairing is cabernet and a hamburger. So good.

I agree. Well, that was a fun one. Thanks, guys.

More to come.

All right, welcome in, my friends. All right, thank you. Woohoo. Woo.

We are on a Disney Ferris wheel now. We're going up.

We're going up. Okay, Nikki.

We are together on a Disney Pixar Ballaroon Ferris wheel.

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here at Disney's California Adventure. And thank you for getting me on attraction that I have actually never done. I'm very proud of time on this for me.

This used to be called Mickey's Fun Wheel down at the picture are here, but it's the big Ferris wheel essentially.

Yay. And I'm so excited. It's a very rare occurrence that I find something at Disney that you haven't done.

I'm in.

So we did it.

We did it.

So how high up are we?

Okay, so right now we've rotated. If the wheel is a big clock and we got on at 6 o', clock, we're at about 3, so about 45 degrees up right now.

Got it high enough that you wouldn't want to fall and hit the ground. Ground from up here.

Definitely would not want to fall from here. And we're going higher as we speak. And now we basically have a bird's eye view of the whole park. And we've got the Incredicoaster judging next to us.

Oh, my God.

Crazy noise.

Now that we're high, do you feel the breeze?

The air totally changed.

Oh, it's fresh up here.

Nice. Because it was warm down below as we were boarding.

It was hot. And now we're getting those trade winds coming off the Pacific.

Yeah, it's really beautiful. And I brought one of my favorite Disney snacks on board.

Did you really?

Oh, my gosh.

What you bring.

So it's not unique or different or earth shattering, but it is a classic. I got some theme park popcorn.

Ooh, okay.

Would you like to try some for breakfast this morning?

I would love to try a colonel.

Here you go.

Thank you, my friend.

I don't think there anything better than this.

Oh, sitting on the Ferris wheel with popcorn. Oh my gosh.

So just the smell sticking my nose in the box.

It's so buttery.

Mmm. Yeah.

And that compound is called diacetyl. It's the stuff that, when butter is churned, makes butter smell like butter. It's that kind of iconic European butter smell.

And Nikki, where else in our world.

Is diastolic when people say, I don't like a buttery Chardonnay? And I've talked about this on previous episodes.

When you have a Chardonnay that has that very buttery note to it, it's because there is diacetyl in the Chardonnay. But Hobie, how did it get there?

So Chardonnay is one of these fun ones where we often undergo what's called partial malolactic fermentation.

Mala. What? Say it again.

Malolactic fermentation.

Fermentation.

So malic acid has two acid groups and is really sour. Lactic acid only has one acid group and is not so sour and more mellow.

The thing that does that, fermentation from malic acid to lactic acid is called lactobacillus. And it's a cute little bacteria that loves chomping on malic acid and producing lactic acid. One of the other things it produces is. Wait for it.

Diacetyl.

Woo hoo. So that's why some wines, especially Chardonnay, will have that perception of butteriness because they've gone through that process.

So if you want a non buttery Chardonnay, you just need one that hasn't gone through malolactic fermentation. My listeners, here's a fun fact.

Nikki, the Guy who did a lot of the pioneering research on diacetyl in wine is a food chemist by the name of Ron Buttery.

What? You're making that up.

I think he chose his career based on his last name.

I think it was fate. Here. Do you want some more popcorn?

Sure, why not?

So why do you think, from a chemistry standpoint and flavor profile, why do you think popcorn is just always and forever one of the favorite snacks?

Oh, man. Disney or otherwise, popcorn is just special, right? Because it's crunchy, it's got carbs in it and just feels satisfying to chew on.

It does. And the salt. It's the salt. I mean, let's be honest.

It's the salt and the butter. You know what? It kind of has the same sating effect for me. It's a little bit like eating sunflower seeds.

Oh, okay.

You know, it's kind of. That just feels good to snack on. Okay, so now it sounds like we're coming in.

We're back down at the bottom. Is that it? Is that the end or do we go again? Nope, we're going again.

Okay, so that was one lap.

That was one fun rotation around the sun.

This is a huge Ferris wheel.

It is big. And we are not in one of them. But it has some cars that swing and kind of slide in the center of the wheel.

We are in the non swinging car because we thought easier for recording, eating and recording and no eating and swinging. Even though we're not supposed to be eating our popcorn on dish. Don't tell Disney police. Don't tell.

And we got our own cartoon.

So can you perceive, like, can you tell when we're moving and when we're not?

Kind of, yeah.

In your equilibrium?

A little bit. And I can feel the wind get stronger as we're moving.

Yeah.

So now we're going back up, right?

We are. We're almost at the top again. And the view up here is amazing.

Oh, my gosh. Can you see over to Downtown Disney?

Yes. I can see Space Mountain. I can see the Matterhorn. Wow. I can see Galaxy's Edge. I can see. See the Grand Californian Hotel behind us.

So you're looking over into Disneyland park from California Adventures.

Yes. It's amazing. It's so beautiful.

But I will say, especially getting a bird's eye view up here is a great reminder of how landlocked Disneyland is here in Anaheim.

Yes.

Versus Walt Disney World. If you get a bird's eye view like this, that's, you know, so spread out almost 50 square miles for Disney World in Florida.

Whereas here, when we get the panoramic view up top, we see all the Disney things around us, but then immediately we see Anaheim, we see the city, and then.

So we actually can see the city from up here.

Yes. Yep. Yay. All right, this is probably our last rotation. Let's get our or we pick it up with a diacetyl conversation.

One of the things about diacetyle is, is that if you ever eat, like, spread in a tub, like, I can't.

Believe it's not butter.

Yeah. That's a liquid. And then the spreads are going to be more your soybean oil. And so they're a little more coagulated.

All those butter substitutes, those fake butters, are flavored to make you think they're butter with diacetyl that they just add after blending the butter.

Kind of cool. Is that what makes butter so delicious and addictive, just like popcorn?

Well, I think butter's just got yummy fat and it's delicious.

Yeah, it's.

But I think that diacetyl helps.

I would like to know, since we are sadly at the tail end of our fun packed Dave Matthews and Disney weekend, heading to the airport here shortly after lunch, what has been a highlight for you and or the most delicious thing that you've put in your mouth on this trip?

Oh, my goodness. Well, we ate a turkey leg yesterday. I think that takes the maybe not most delicious, but most unique and iconic. That was amazing.

And really a highlight for me was, you know, we all had dinner with amazing friends last night.

Shout out to Jeff and Patrick.

Shout out to Jeff and Patrick. Yay, guys. They're amazing. Amazing.

Dear friends who live in the area who came and met us for dinner. Also, cast members, spontaneous after dinner excursion into the Disneyland park because Hobie wanted to ride Tiana's Bayou Adventure. Yes.

Which we did it. We did it twice and got soaked and ruined. It has been a long time since I have closed down a Disney park.

It was crazy. We left, like, right as they were closing.

We did.

And that was a real highlight. And then the other highlight was going on the Star wars ride with you.

Rise of the Resistance.

Rise of the Resistance. Getting to do the drop and feeling those carts move all every which way. They're really impressive how they move.

The technology is pretty advanced on those vehicles. Resistance. Yeah. It's epic.

It's just like choreography with all these different vehicles moving through the scenes and forward and backwards and like on a 360 degree axis. It's crazy.

And we're kind of dancing with the.

Other karts, aren't we?

Kind of.

Yeah. That's a great way to put it. Yeah.

Choreographed. You made me think of the word dance with the use of choreograph.

Yeah.

The other thing is that. So that was a highlight.

And just being with both of you, Nikki and Justin in the park and doing this whole adventure solidified the fact that, you know, I think we are really, really good travel buddies.

We did great and I think we.

Had so much joy.

Amen to that. That's why I keep you around, because I'm a hashtag joy junkie.

I love it too. And that's why we hang. The other thing is that of course the concert was amazing, but they're always amazing.

And that was what number Dave Matthews concert for you?

I don't know, it was like 100, I think.

Yeah, it was about 50 for me.

50.

Heck is pace Fantastic. So our grand finale after we get off the Pixar pal around wheel momentarily is lunch at Din Tai Fung.

And when I told you they had one here at Downtown, you got very excited. Is this apparently one of your favorites?

I love it.

Yeah, well, they're known for their soup dumplings and I think there's going to be quite a few of those in our table.

Bite in and it just squishes.

Yeah, it's so good. Well, this has been so fun. Thanks for taking a ride with me and enjoying this classic Disney snack popcorn.

Thank you for creating a weekend of magic, my friend.

Woo hoo. My pleasure.

So much fun. And I hope that you were able to feel like you were right there with us in the surroundings.

And I encourage you to approach even a normal Tuesday with the same curiosity, joy, excitement that Hobie does in a day at Disneyland. If you enjoyed hearing from him and would like to hear a little bit more, scroll back in the catalog of episodes.

There's at least four other episodes, all the way back to last year featuring Dr. Hoby and they're easy to find cause his name is always in the title. If you'd like to be an angel and support the podcast, you can do so with a link in the show notes and I would be forever grateful.

And check out our Solevato wines for some delicious small lot handcrafted with love sustainably grown wine here from Sonoma County. Whatever you do between now and next week, I hope that you find some joy and sip well.

Wow.

It.