Theme Park Enjoyment Index for SEPTEMBER 2025: A Tribute to Schmoofy (Iger Tweet, Empty Coke Pallet, Mr. Mardi Gras and MORE!)

*Remembering Schmoofy

I first ran into Bret well over a decade ago because of his friendship with Josh easyWDW. I was interacting with Josh a lot online, and because Josh was close friends in real life with Bret, we started interacting with each other as well. I should address the fact here that I never addressed him as “Bret” for the entire time I knew him. He was always “Schmoofy” and – even more than that – just Schmoof.

Years ago, Schmoofy’s online persona was often being a provocateur, but in real life he was a lot different. The man behind Schmoofy was kind, generous, and did a whole lot for people without expecting or wanting credit. Let me give you a personal example. Back in 2014, I stayed at Disney’s Contemporary Resort for the first time ever. This was a life long dream because when I was growing up, my parents would only stay at offsite resorts that could best be described as concrete prisons. Now that I was booking my own trips as an adult, I could check something off the bucket list.

When I got into my room I noticed there was this amazing chocolate monorail dessert waiting inside. It completely blew my  mind! Even a decade later, this is seriously one of the coolest hotel room amenities I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen a lot.

Here’s the thing, I had no idea why it was there. Later I would find out that it was sent by Schmoofy, who was working at Disney’s Contemporary at the time. With a small gesture, Schmoof made my family’s stay immeasurably better and I can’t thank him enough for it. To this day I do whatever I can to replicate that act of kindness with friends and family I know are staying onsite or taking a cruise where you can send something to their cabin. Because I remember how it felt walking into the room and discovering the surprise. I remember the smile on my face and I want to bring that feeling to as many people as I possibly can. That fire inside me was ignited by Schmoof.

Brian Miles – I shared the last picture Bret and I took together when we bumped into each other at EPCOT the day after the last RetroMagic weekend in 2023. A few hours later my friend Brendan texted me and said “I remember taking that picture of you and Bret. He was so excited to see you.”

Oft said this week is how acerbic and sardonic he could be on social media but a kind and funny soul in person. How fortunate we all are that the opposite wasn’t true. Over a dozen years of friendship he did occasionally get muted when he’d repeatedly tweet the “it is Wednesday, my dudes” frog. We saw each other once more, when he snuck up behind me while I was eating dinner a few tables away from him, where he’d been sitting for nearly an hour without me knowing. He got such a kick out of it. We hugged and off he went with his family. What a happy last memory for me. We lost a good one and I lost a friend.

*The Iger Tweet

One of the most amazing things about Schmoof is his true commitment to a bit. Here’s a great example. Over on Twitter, Schmoof had been tweeting and replying to former Disney CEO Bob Iger hundreds, if not thousands of times over the years. At no point did Iger acknowledge Schmoof’s existence.

That all changed on a historic day back in 2022, when Bob Iger thanked George Lucas for creating Star Wars. As you can see below, Schmoof’s reply to Iger’s tweet is completely unhinged and absolutely bonkers. For whatever reason, Schmoofy decided this was the appropriate time to ask – in ALL CAPS no less – about the missing crab legs at Cape May Café.

For reasons unknown to this day, Bob Iger liked this post by Schmoof. This was one of those unexplainable mysteries of the world. England has Stonehenge…Chile has Easter Island…Peru has the Nazca Lines… and DisTwitter has Bog Iger liking this tweet.

Then the unthinkable happened. Bob Iger replied to Schmoofy’s post!  You read that right, Bob Iger took the time out of his schedule to respond to something that is legitimately referred to as “$#it posting.”

It’s fair to say Schmoof was pretty happy that Iger had responded. In fact he used up an entire cartridge of black ink printing up this legendary moment to post on his fridge.

Now I’m not 100% sure what it feels like for an athlete to train their entire life, putting in countless hours of hard work and dedication to finally win a gold medal in the Olympics…but Schmoofy knew exactly how it feels.

Like Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, Schmoof didn’t take this win and move on to the next conquest. NAY NAY. He just doubled his efforts on trolling Bob Iger.

Another classic example of online trolling by Schmoofy came after Hurricane Milton rocked Florida. As people in Central Florida were posting pictures of streets being flooded and their cars underwater, Schmoof used AI and posted this photo of Pluto carrying a child through knee-high waters on Main Street USA. Our world being the world it is, way too many were easily convinced this was a real thing that actually happened. I can see Schmoof’s Grinch-like smile light up as Facebook groups and shady news sources used his nonsense as fact.

*An Annual Tradition Like No Other

One thing Schmoofy did every year in February was a series of Valentine’s Day cards themed to Disney and Universal. It always blew me away the level of creativity he would display when combining current news of the day with child-like Valentine’s Day cards you would give fellow classmates in school. For example, back in 2023 we had some high profile examples of a Figment meet-and-greet character falling flat on their face. The very next series of Valentines from Schmoof featured this moment.

Let’s check out a couple more of my favorites from over the years:

It is important to note that more than a fair share of these Valentine’s were NSFW (at least in terms of language.) Schmoof did not hold back and people loved him for it. I was more in the camp of “wow, I can’t believe Schmoof went there.” When Schmoof committed to a bit, he went in 100% and would not under any circumstances compromise to appeal to a larger audience.

This text exchange between Schmoofy and his wife Kristen best describes my anticipation level of his upcoming Valentine’s Day cards.

*”Did you say cheap 3D tricks?”

In between all the jokes and trolling, Schmoof actually did provide a service to the theme park community because he was always there catching details very few people noticed. Even I keep forgetting there is an official Universal Orlando blog, but Schmoof was there to catch a detail that Uni had posted in one of their posts.

@craftyashley – I think one of my favorite memories of Bret that really shows how kind he was is from last year’s HHN when we ran into him on our way into Slaughter Sinema. He ran over to us to give us the 3D glasses he had bought to experience the room in the house that had 3D elements and I asked where to meet up to give them back after. He just said “pay it forward” and wanted us to give them to another one of our friends so they could experience it too.

@drubov – Bret was just all around a great guy. Like me, he loved to ruffle some feathers but he also would go out of his way to help anyone he cared about. He leaves behind a legacy of love with his nonsense. I will miss bumping into him at HHN almost weekly – an event that he was too scared to even consider going to years ago that in time became to mean so much to him. I raise a Cosmic Ray’s cheese shot in his honor.

Caitlin and Hunter Underwood: Who was Bret?

Bret was a son, a brother, a husband, a friend, and a mentor. Bret was silly, and weird and brilliant. Bret had an endless, obnoxious volume of knowledge about theme park things nobody cared about. Bret always had a joke ready, no matter the subject. Bret cared, harder than just about anyone.

But mostly, Bret was present. Every birthday, every Father’s and Mother’s Day, the announcement of our daughter Reese, the car accident, the promotions at work, the specialty sodas and Oreo flavors he knew we’d be down to try with him, no matter how wild … Bret was always there. He never failed to make a genuine effort to celebrate us and be involved in our lives, even if only digital.

That’s why it feels like our hearts will be forever empty — because every sentence here uses the past tense.

We love you, Bret. And we miss you, so much.

*Cosmic Ray’s Cheese Sauce

There were a lot of memorable events that happened back in 2015 for theme park fans.  Jurassic World reinvigorated the Jurassic Park franchise (and eventually led to the VelociCoaster in the theme park world,) the Hat Box ghost returned to the Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, and over in DHS The Magic of Disney Animation closed in Animation Courtyard to be replaced by Star Wars Launch Bay (the very same Launch Bay that closed this past week in order to be replaced by – wait for it – the Magic of Disney Animation.) However the most important moment of the year was happening over on DisTwitter, when Rumors & Innuendo suggested that Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe in Disney’s Magic Kingdom was going to remove their self serve cheese sauce.

This got Schmoofy motivated like few I’ve ever seen, and he actually created a mission for himself. He posted to his followers that for every 10 retweets a particular post of his got, he would do a shot of Cosmic Ray’s cheese sauce.

The post got nearly 200 retweets, which – if you’re not on social media all that much – is a huge amount. Undaunted, Schmoof lived up to his word and brought his iron stomach to Tomorrowland.

Sonny Eclipse wasn’t the star of the show on this night, as Schmoof accomplished the Herculean task!

Alas, later that year Schmoof delivered the bad news that Cosmic Ray’s did get rid of their cheese pump and replaced it with a condiment station. Irregardless, memories of that day continued in the theme park community as other members would use the hashtag #SaveTheCheeseSauce in support.

Megan Stump: I have so many ridiculous memories of Bret, including us and a big group of friends being delirious on the People Mover during one of the 24 hour days, which led to inside jokes that have lasted for years. Or maybe the time we did a monorail bar crawl and he named my Lapu Lapu. One of the most ridiculous times has to be the time Bret decided to post that he would take a shot of hot plastic cheese from Cosmic Rays (back when they had the cheese out on the toppings bar) for every 10 retweets. Well, the tweet got almost 200 retweets, and next thing I know, I have a text from Bret asking if I wanted to meet him at the Magic Kingdom for this nonsense. Of COURSE I said yes, and that dude ate 20 cups of cheese that night. When Bret told me about his cancer diagnosis, I knew he’d go hard and fight it. Rest easy Schmoofy, and try not to break any doors ok?

*Schmoofy Being Schmoofy

Sam the Eagle: Will you stop this foolishness?
The Great Gonzo: What foolishness would you like to see?” – Muppet*Vision 3D

There was nothing Schmoofy wouldn’t do when it comes to making a joke. For example, for those who don’t know, there are a pair of Nanny Chairs at the Disney Boardwalk Resort. They are possibly the two creepiest pieces of furniture in all of WDW.

When “face swapping” was extremely popular on social media apps, Schmoof used the opportunity to make the most bizarre face swap in history. One that was truly frightening and almost impossible to forget (no matter how hard you tried.)

Presenting the Space 220 Galactic Lobster Globe ala Simba from The Lion King? Who else but Schmoof.

I wish that I loved anything in life as much as Schmoof loved Typhoon Lagoon. When the Walt Disney World Resort reopened after the months long Covid 19 shutdown, one of the things that didn’t immediately come back was the Typhoon Lagoon water park. Schmoof apparently took it as his personal mission in life to get the park open, and would troll reply to any official Walt Disney World social media post – even multiple times per day – with “reopen Typhoon Lagoon.”

Schmoofy’s constant trolling of Disney led to this incredible reply from the “Doctor of droll” himself, Josh easyWDW.

Let’s take a quick aside here. I mentioned earlier that I was first introduced to Schmoof because of his friendship with Josh easyWDW. These two guys were a pair that beats any three of a kind and could make anyone laugh. For a brief time they also worked with Blog Mickey on a theme park podcast called Walt Loved Podcasting that is worth going out of your way to check out. The podcast showed the true level of love and appreciation that Schmoof and Josh had for theme parks. Yes, they joked around, but you also got the serious side of them which they rarely showed on social media. They gave listeners a look at the parks that was far from the standard fluff we usually got and instead was insightful, educational, and – most of all – entertaining.

They also loved to break each other’s balls in public. Schmoofy has probably been responsible for more muted words on Twitter this side of a Presidential election season. In one post, Josh showed Schmoofy that he had muted the words “Typhoon Lagoon” so that he wouldn’t see any of Schmoofy’s incessant posts about the subject. Schmoof replied that he constantly mispeclled the word “Typhoon”, so Josh was going to see them anyway.

In a reveal straight out M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, Josh then revealed he had also already muted Schmoofy’s misspelling of Typhoon. Exchanges like this are exactly why these two will be immortalized on the Mt. Rushmore of DisTwitter.

Okay, back to our Typhoon Lagoon story… FINALLY, at the end of December 2021 Disney announced that Typhoon Lagoon would reopen for business in January of 2022, and Schmoof was there at rope drop in a way that only Schmoof could…

Schmoof exhaustively covered Typhoon Lagoon in the way that Jane Goodall is known for covering primates or Albert Einstein in the world of science. He lets us know about the cabanas, reusable beer cup hacks, and even the flow of traffic affected by busses going to and from the park.  Thanks to Schmoof we also discovered that Disney itself was using artwork by SAT SIX Artist Spotlight’s own Ava Buric on the cover to their cocktail guideline book for the Let’s Go Slurpin’ bar. In fact, this was also how Ava herself found out!

Tom Corless: My fondest memories after having moved to Orlando are nights of park-hopping with Bret & Josh that would often culminate in a visit to Belle Vue Lounge for a drink and a few rounds of “Shut the Box”. Certainly, we would discuss other things in life, but the conversation rarely meandered away from our fandom. If there was someone more passionate about themed entertainment than Bret, I have never met them. However, as passionate as he was about this nonsense was as caring of a friend as he could be.

I like to believe he has joined Josh somewhere and they’ve picked up where they left off, arguing about crowd control on Main Street or if filling in all the available space actually matters. I can’t imagine why two such vibrant lights and great people would leave us so soon if not to keep each other company.

I owe Bret so much for all he contributed to my life and know so many will say the same. Thank you, Schmoofy.

*Mr. Mardi Gras

During Mardi Gras season at Universal, Schmoofy took it up a notch. He almost seemed to be an official walk around character for the event.

One unique thing Schmoof did at both Universal and Disney was hand out his own piece of merchandise: the official I Met Schmoofy button. A true status symbol in the DisTwitter community.

In time, Schmoof also had a button featuring both him and his wife Kristen, as seen in this photo by CoreyWDW. The pins are a fun gimmick, and looking back with the knowledge we have now, an important keepsake for friends who now have something that will instantly bring back good memories.

@Jodicab22: Bret was a true staple in our community, sometimes a handful (in the best way), but always with an immensely kind heart and smile to back it up with. He went above and beyond for his friends, his family, and even perfect strangers he met online. Typhoon Lagoon could never pay him enough royalties for being back open, and no one will ever wear that Mardi Gras suit quite like he did—though I’m sure that many will try. I’ll never be able to look at a cheeseburger with a face and not think of him, ever again.

@Cheeksadam: Bret and I only ever met twice in person. Most of our interactions were on twitter, just goofing off about something or posting the same gif back and forth until one of us got bored and I’ll miss that nonsense immensely.

Bret also offered me a job opportunity as soon as I posted that I was moving to Florida with zero plan. While I didn’t take him up on it, I’m still in awe of his immediate reaction of generosity and incredible kindness. We need more people like Bret.

*SAT SIX Investigative Reporter

Speaking of meeting Schmoofy, while I’ve known Schmoof for well over a decade, believe it or not I’ve only met him once in real life. Back in 2019 we put together an all-star lineup of theme park photographers to photograph a single item at House of Blues in Disney Springs. It was all part of a SATURDAY SIX Special Investigation on Theme Park Food Photography, one of my favorite articles I’ve ever been a part of for TouringPlans.

Schmoofy and I were pretty much the only two people in the entire group who weren’t first ballot Theme Park Photography Hall of Famers, and he noticed that one of the customers in the restaurant was taking a big interest in what we were doing. Probably because the guy thought we were completely nuts (and rightly so.) Schmoof asked the guy if he wanted to be a part of the photoshoot, and that led us to the photo below. That’s who Schmoof was, wanting to bring others in on the fun.

I’ve often said that it takes a village for the SATURDAY SIX to be able to exist and one of the chiefs in that village was Schmoof, as he was always tagging me when he found cool and unique merchandise. Schmoof knew how much I loved pressed pennies and that it drove me nuts that both Disney and Universal seemed to be moving towards collectable medallions and there was nowhere to store them in the pressed penny books you could buy.

When Schmoof saw items that were completely out there, like a Disney lollipop saver for their outrageously large lollipops, he made sure to let me know.

Had to appreciate and respect his desire to find the craziest merchandise in all of Walt Disney World.

The weirder the better.

But Schmoof was also there getting really cool stuff, like DVC branded board games.

We’ll never know how high Schmoof’s cholesterol soared in 2021 when he ate countless chicken McNuggets to get the entire set of Disney 50th Anniversary Happy Meal toys, but we can rejoice in seeing the fruits of his labor.

When the VelociCoaster opened at Islands of Adventure, Schmoofy caught that the pre-show had a daytime version…

…along with a nighttime one. Just amazing.

Schmoof was rare with the compliments, so when he gave one to you it was treasured like a major award.

But he also made sure to remind you that you were mortal and keep ya humble.

*The Infamous Pallet of Star Wars Coke Bottles

One thing to remember about our next story is that it took place during the moment of time when both Disney and Universal had shut down their parks due to Covid 19. Theme park fans were bored out of their mind while they dealt with the quarantine. Then one day some magic happened. Everyone was minding their own business when all of a sudden a bomb was dropped as one person posted that they lived near a store which was selling cases of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge soda bottles for just $6.99.

That’s right, cases upon cases of heavily discounted Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite bottles.

An entire 12 pack of the SWGE soda cost just $6.99, the price of a single bottle when purchased inside the “planet of Batuu”. At the Disney Outlet Stores in Orlando, this is the type of super discount we usually saw reserved for items from Pandora: The World of Avatar.

So it turns out, the store selling these Cokes was a small supermarket located in Alabama.

Seeing this incredible deal, Schmoof said “feet don’t fail me now!” and made the pilgrimage up to score a case, only to discover a horrifying fact….

The community had been following Schmoof’s travels and found out what happened to all those sodas in short order.

It wasn’t long after in which many of these unopened cases were available on eBay, a slap in the face to our pal Schmoof.

This was a story that brought a lot of smiles to people’s faces during a time when everyone needed it. It broke up the doldrums  of quarantine and gave us all a laugh. I would also use this coke bottle story to mercilessly make fun of Schmoof over the years. For example, when theme park social media maven Brooke McDonald posted about repurposing the Coke bottles…

…I made sure to have some fun at Schmoof’s expense.

In fact, anytime you see an empty pallet featured in the SAT SIX, it’s referencing this legendary Schmoofy moment.

Clint Gamache: As soon as I learned of Bret‘s passing, I eventually took to my phone to find a photo of us together to share on social media. I slowly began to realize that I did not have a photo of us together at all. Even with the multiple encounters we had at the theme parks over the years.

My heart sank because of this, but then I began to slowly realize that maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t have a photo of us together. Because every time I ran into Bret, we always had fun, genuine conversations. No cell phones, no social media, just good fun full-hearted conversations.

And I think that is the one thing that I’m going to miss most about Bret. The conversations that we had together in the theme parks when we ran into each other.

He was the type of person that would stick up for you, fight for you, as that is what he did with me multiple times. As big as a troll as he was sometimes online, he had a huge heart for those around him and those close to him. And I will be forever grateful for his friendship and the moments we shared together.

I will soon be heading to Galaxy’s Edge and raising a “thermal detonator” Diet Coke in your honor. Rest easy, Bret. – Clint

We love you too Schmoof. See you on the other side.

Special thanks to artist Dan Schull for creating the amazing drawings of Schmoof seen in the header featuring some iconic moments we had with this legend over the years.

Writer Derek Burgan, when not cleaning Len Testa’s pool, can be found reading comic books, watching professional wrestling, organizing his various Tsum Tsums in alphabetical order, and taking his dog Bacini to Universal and Disney.. He will not, we repeat not, be found at a Disney Outlet Store. An official DisTwitter Influencer, you can interact with him @derekburgan

Digital Artist Scott Walker hails from Scotland and is the fifth most famous person from this country following Alexander Graham Bell, Ewan McGregor, Gerard Butler, and Groundskeeper Willie.