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DANDY FUN HOUSE PODCAST

DANDY FUN HOUSE PODCAST

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 Retro Pop Culture! Toys and Games, Retro Amusements, Arcade Alerts, Theme Parks and More!copyright 2024 neil smith entertainment Politics & Government
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  • WHAT’S HOT ON THE HORIZON FOR 2026! – Dandy Fun House episode 56

    WHAT’S HOT ON THE HORIZON FOR 2026! – Dandy Fun House episode 56
    Jan 1 2026
    watch the video below: listen to the podcast below: It’s time to close out yet another year of the Dandy Fun House. While all those “other shows” are slacking off and giving you retrospectives of everything they’ve already done in the past year, it is instead our tradition here at the Dandy Fun House to leave the past exactly there… in the past and instead look ahead to the brand spankin’ new year coming at us like Frehley’s Comet and take a glimpse at the coolest stuff we’ve been able to find that’s waiting for us in 2026! We’re going to look at theme parks, movies, pinball and of course the TOTY AWARD NOMINATION picks for the upcoming 2026 Toy of the Year Awards! Are you ready to get your kicks in 26? Then LET’S step into the FUN HOUSE! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House 2025 year-end extravaganza where we wear the hats and blow our hooters about the very best in retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff! I’m your host Neil Dandy and in this episode we’re going to look ahead at WHAT’S HOT ON THE HORIZON FOR 2026 in the worlds of theme parks, movies, pinball and my personal picks for the 2026 TOTY AWARDS (Toy of the Year). BUT FIRST! I have to show you these amazing DANDY FUN HOUSE T-Shirts before time runs out! Perfect for swaddling the baby new year, They have a front and a back so you don’t get cold and we even cut 4 holes in them! One to crawl your body into, one to stick your head out of and two to poke your arms through! Find them in the Dandy Fun Shop at the Dandy Fun House website at dandyfunhouse.com before the Dandy Ball Drops! Alrighty, hold on tighty and let’s get right into what’s hot on the horizon for 2026 starting with… THEME PARKS! And up first is going to be UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD (which isn’t actually in Hollywood, it’s in Studio City kind of like the LA Angels baseball team is actually in Anaheim and how they call the Embassy Suites here in Murfreesboro, Tennessee “Nashville South” which we absolutely are not. But anyway that’s a rabbit hole rant for another day.) Anyway, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS in the greater Los Angeles, California area is breaking ground on a new roller coaster where each individual car experiences its very own 360 degrees of rotation. The coaster is called FAST AND FURIOUS HOLLYWOOD DRIFT themed after the Fast and Furious movies obviously. This one is expected to peel out in 2026! And Legoland California is busy building the Lego Galaxy space-themed land including an indoor roller coaster. Over at Kings Island in Ohio they’re opening what they are calling a new “dark ride” in 2026 called “PHANTOM THEATER: Opening Nightmare.” It’s in the location that has most recently held an attraction called Boo Blasters but is apparently the site of a previous attraction also called PHANTOM THEATER and this is apparently the return of that attraction with some various upgrades. I went to the Kings Island website to get more information and there’s just a teaser video showing two girls walking into Boo Blasters and ending up in the Phantom Theater which appears to be a very loose sendup on the Phantom of the Opera. The cartoon phantom character they show in the teaser graphic is obviously based on the classic Lon Chaney silent film character, and visitors ride inside cars that resemble opera boxes. So… yeah. Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (my neck of the woods kinda sorta) will be undertaking a $50 million expansion and also opening the world’s first ever hybrid indoor family coaster and whitewater river raft ride called the “Night Flight Expedition.” Then under at Sea World, Orlando Florida they’re diving into a new dark ride called SEAQuest: Legends of the Deep. If you don’t know what a dark ride is, it basically means it’s indoors and you get moved from scene to scene. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s actually dark. Anyway, this new dark ride at Sea World Orlando will be what they are calling a suspended dark ride. The only information about this ride currently is that the rider will “discover dazzling ecosystems, legendary sea life, and breathtaking stories of resilience and wonder.” NEW MOBILITY DEVICE POLICY AT SEA WORLD! And speaking of Sea World, they have a controversial new policy which has been making the news lately that has just rolled out regarding mobility devices for the disabled. It appears that rollator walkers with seats are no longer permitted. The official updated policy from the Sea World website is as follows: “For the safety of our guests and employees, rollator walkers with seats on them are not permitted at SeaWorld Orlando. Alternative personal transportation options, including standard wheelchairs and Electric Convenience Vehicles (ECVs), are available. Walkers without a seat are permitted.” I’m guessing that more than a few guests were using their rollators like wheelchairs and it was causing some sort of safety concern in...
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    34 mins
  • HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2025! – Dandy Spook Shack episode 55

    HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2025! – Dandy Spook Shack episode 55
    Oct 25 2025
    watch video below! listen to the podcast below! It’s scary season once again which means it’s time for the Dandy Spook Shack Halloween Special! This year we’re haunting the Spirit Store to see what’s new. We’ll also have a look at the new MUPPETIZED Monster Cereals with one very conspicuous absence and I will share my favorite fright flicks of 2025 along with what’s hot on the horizon! It’s alive! Halloween 2025! Let’s step into the SPOOK SHACK! Hello and welcome to the DANDY SPOOK SHACK annual Halloween special! 2025! I’m your ghost, Necro Neil Dandy and in this season’s spooktacular, we’ll be visiting the Spirit Store to see what’s new this ghoul year. We’ll also talk about the most notable scary movies of 2025 thus far and the ones to watch out for on the creepy horizon. And last but not least, we’ll feast!… Our eyes upon the new box designs for the classic Monster Cereals by Jim Henson Studios with one very notable character that has apparently been given the deathly cold shoulder! BUT FIRST! I’d like you to drink in these frighteningly fashionable DANDY FUN HOUSE t-shirts! Woven from the threads of my dungeon spiders, you’re going to look drop dead fabulous. They come with fronts AND backs because nobody should be backless walking through the chill of a nighttime graveyard alone don’t you agree? Want to abscond with one for yourself? Simply visit the Dandy Fun Shop at the official Dandy Fun House website at dandyfunhouse.com and orders yours this evening. And if you’re watching closely watching on YouTube, we have a miniature Dandy Fun Shop set up there as well! Absurdity is Amplified at the Dandy Fun Shop! Ok, let us begin with a visit to the Spirit Halloween store to see what’s freshly alive for 2025! SPIRIT STORE 2025 We visited the Spirit Store in Nashville’s Opry Mills where the legendary theme park Opryland used to stand… but that’s a story for another time. We wanted to see what was new for Halloween 2025 and we were not disappointed. As we entered, we noticed the centerpiece for this year was haunted subway system. Very original. Of course it was monster rat infested which was quite a shock to the conductor. Once we escaped the train we took in a little animatronic target practice on a decapitated clown. Mama’s not gonna like this! Scary clowns seem to be a thing this year. Moving on from the animatronics, we find an assortment of un-welcome mats for the front door including the Bates Motel complete with bloody footprints, Mars Attacks, with Killer Klowns and Pennywise keeping the clown theme alive. M3gan seems to still be holding her own with the young ladies (you know it’s the dance)! And for the little ones we have the cutesy line of dolls known as Tiny Terrors with adorable baby versions of Chucky, Frankenstein’s little monster and Little Mikey Meyers. Moving on to more costumes we find many food items like pizza and ramen which is about all you’ll be able to afford after blowing your paycheck in this place, hard tea and you can also make yourself a few fries short of a happy meal dress as a pack of french fries. For the couples you can be chips and salsa, plug and socket, peanut butter and jelly or milk and cookie Awww! There’s also a great assortment of inflatable costumes like the inflatable banana, penguin, alien abduction, blow up chicken, big rubber chicken so you can throw yourself at Svengoolie, chicken abduction and giant balloon animal! Also I didn’t realize that Spongebob was still so popular but there’s an entire wall with every sort of Spongebob Squarepants character you can imagine and you can even buy your own supersized spatula perfect for flipping your crabby pattys and also for scraping your carcass out the door and back into the mall once your cash has all run dry in the Spirit Store 2025! Ya know, every year I always wonder just how the Spirit Store is going to top itself from the previous year and they always do. The animatronics get better, the products overall get better and there’s always something new like for example, I don’t recall seeing the Terror Tots before this year and I just thought making those iconic movie monsters into cute dolls was just a really neat idea. And speaking of movie monsters, I think it’s time we have a look over… THE MOST NOTABLE SCARY MOVIES OF 2025! Ok, now why am I calling this the most NOTABLE scary movies of 2025 instead of my favorites? Quite honestly it’s because, while I have seen my fair share of them, I haven’t seen them all. There’s just too many and when it comes to certain types of scary movies like vampires, zombies and themes that have really been beaten into the ground, it’s tough to motivate me to go see a show about a type of monster I have already seen a thousand times before. Therefore I’m going to do a rundown of the notable ones that stand out to me whether I’ve seen them or not and also give ...
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    20 mins
  • WILD WORLD OF WHAM-O! – Dandy Fun House episode 54

    WILD WORLD OF WHAM-O! – Dandy Fun House episode 54
    Sep 22 2025
    watch the video below! listen to the podcast below! Hula Hoop. Slip n Slide. Frisbee. Super Ball. What do these names mean to you? To many, these are just the names of some fun toys from years gone by. But to others, these names all culminate into just one… WHAM-O! And in this episode of the Dandy Fun House, we’re going to tell their story, have a deeper look into some of their most iconic products and discover what’s on the horizon for this epic company! Bam-O Slam-O let’s dig into WHAM-O! And let’s step into the FUN HOUSE! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House Video Show, Podcast and Blog! This is where we slam right into the very best in retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff. I’m your host Neil Dandy and in this episode, we’re going head first into the world of Wham-O! But first! I want to stick your head into one of these slammin’ Dandy Fun House t-shirts! Woven from the leftover strands of recycled superballs, you’re gonna look like a million bouncin’ bucks or no money back! They’ve got a front and a back because winter’s on the way and we very thoughtfully cut four very strategically – placed holes in em! That’s right! One to crawl your body into, one to stick your head out of and two to poke your arms through! How much would you pay for luxury like this? It really doesn’t matter because we’re not changing our price! Just head over to our Dandy Fun Shop located inside the Dandy Fun House website at dandyfunhouse.com and see for yourself! And if you enjoy this show on YouTube, we have a miniature Dandy Fun Shop set up there too! That’s the Dandy Fun Shop where we have Absurdity Amplified! OKAY! WHAM-O! Where do I even begin with an enigma like this? Wham-O is THE toy and sports product company responsible for such instantly-recognizable products such as Frisbee, Slip ‘N Slide, Hula Hoop, Hacky Sack, Super Ball, Boogie Board, Trac-Ball, Silly String and many, many more! You might think of Wham-O as a classic novelty company from the 70s and 80s but their history actually goes back farther than that. MUCH FARTHER!!!!! The year is 1948 and two eager upstarts freshly graduated from the University of Southern California named Richard Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin who were friends found themselves frustrated with their post-grad occupations and decided to team up and start of all things a business making extra-powerful slingshots out of Richard’s garage. Why slingshots you ask? Both being falconry enthusiasts, they would use slingshots to shoot food up into the air for their birds. They called their line of slingshots the WHAM-O Slingshot and it was made from ash wood. They promoted and sold the Wham-O Slingshot by visiting various sports clubs and holding demonstrations. Both men were very skilled slingshot marksmen and their product quickly popular amongst these clubs for competitive target shooting and small game hunting. DANDY FUN FACT! The name Wham-O was derived from the sound of a slingshot hitting its target! Knerr and Melin quickly outgrew the garage and rented their first proper business location on S. Marengo Avenue in Alhambra, California where they remained until 1955 when they once again found themselves in need of a location that could handle and even greater capacity of manufacturing. So they relocated to the neighboring town of San Gabriel, California where they would remain for the next 3+ decades. With a greater capacity for manufacturing in place, they began looking to expand beyond the business of slingshot-making and came across the idea of re-branding the Australian bamboo exercise hoop, producing them from a type of plastic called Marlex and trademarking the name these hoops had been loosely called by since the 18th century “Hula Hoop.” And the rest is history. Within 4 months of releasing the Hula Hoop onto the world it became literally the largest toy fad in history, catapulting Wham-O to 25 million units sold. Within 2 years, sales of the Hula Hoop would exceed 100 million units. Hula Hoop mania continued to rage through the end of 1959 and by the time the world stopped spinning, the 1950’s came to a conclusion with Wham-O netting a staggering $45 million (which would be around $500 million today). These two college friends who just a few years earlier were making slingshots out of a garage found themselves riding into the 60’s on a gravy train with biscuit freaking wheels! Not ones to rest on their laurels, as the Hula Hoop fad was beginning to wane, Wham-O was looking for their next big thing and they found it in 1957 when they purchased the design of a plastic flying disc called the Pluto Platter from an inventor named Fred Morrison, quickly changed the name to Frisbee And once again, Wham-O had another hit on its hands! ANOTHER DANDY FUN FACT! The name Frisbee was...
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    17 mins
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