The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[Disgruntled Walt]

Ya know, I've popped into Dollar Tree a few times over the years but can't recall the last time I was in a 99 cent store. I know Dollar Tree is in the same boat likely not too far behind...

Dollar Store just raised their prices to 1.50 up from 1.25!

 

[Consumer]

Dollar Store just raised their prices to 1.50 up from 1.25!

We used to be a proper country.

 

[Disney Irish]

This is horrible.

99 Cents Only stores closing all 371 locations, liquidation sales starting Friday

The operators of the 99 Cents Only stores announced Thursday they will shut down all 371 of the locations throughout four states, with liquidation sales starting Friday.

www.cbsnews.com

These were never very popular near me so this is no surprise. All the same type of "Dollar" budget stores were always in low end strip malls that no one ever visited.

 

[TP2000]

It was my party source for paper plates, balloons and ice. I suppose I'll have to find a new place for celebratory supplies.

I had no idea they had that stuff! Now I'm upset that I never popped in there just to see. Although for the life of me, I can't think of where one of these were near me when I lived in SoCal. We have Dollar Tree here, which I assume is the same?

I'm going to pop in to one next week, just for fun. I assumed the stuff they sold in there was all off-brand and things like cheap plastic pencil boxes or back scratchers or fly swatters and discount cleaning supplies from Mexico that I wouldn't be able to translate the label for.

According to Google there's 3 of them in Anahiem not far from Disneyland. And a whole lot of them in central and north Orange County. The commercial real estate market in California is already teetering on the brink, so another chain closing all 300+ stores immediately isn't the best news for that situation.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

I had no idea they had that stuff! Now I'm upset that I never popped in there just to see. Although for the life of me, I can't think of where one of these were near me when I lived in SoCal. We have Dollar Tree here, which I assume is the same?

I'm going to pop in to one next week, just for fun. I assumed the stuff they sold in there was all off-brand and things like cheap plastic pencil boxes or back scratchers or fly swatters and discount cleaning supplies from Mexico that I wouldn't be able to translate the label for.

According to Google there's 3 of them in Anahiem not far from Disneyland. And a whole lot of them in central and north Orange County. The commercial real estate market in California is already teetering on the brink, so another chain closing all 300+ stores immediately isn't the best news for that situation.

You will be shocked by what they have in those dollar stores.

My wife dragged me into one as she was picking up party decor and I just kept walking around grabbing things and shouting “How can they possibly sell this for a dollar?! That doesn’t even cover packaging and shipping!”.

Needless to say, that was the last time I was invited to join.

 

[TP2000]

I wonder if these high school kids got kicked out of the park after this stunt?

 

[WoundedDreamer]

I wonder if these high school kids got kicked out of the park after this stunt?

I kept waiting for the "stunt," but all I saw were nice High Schoolers playing a classic Disney song.

Then I remembered...

 

[Consumer]

I wonder if these high school kids got kicked out of the park after this stunt?

I highly doubt Disney doesn't approve the set list prior to the performances.

 

[mickEblu]

I kept waiting for the "stunt," but all I saw were nice High Schoolers playing a classic Disney song.

Then I remembered...

Same here. Sad

 

[CaptinEO]

For those who don't want to deal with the LA Times paywall, basically the LA planners have forbidden cars from getting near the venues, removed most parking options, and are going to rely almost exclusively on public transit to move tens of thousands of people from venue to venue across SoCal.

Except the previous LA mayor's plan for all that fell apart fast. And now it's only 4 years to go, and... well, it's not looking good. They need to find hundreds of buses and drivers and mechanics. From further in the Times article....

“We have a huge challenge when it comes to the supplemental bus system,” Seleta Reynolds, Metro’s chief innovation officer, told a Metro committee last month.

“There are no discretionary grants that the federal government offers that will cover operations at that scale,” said Reynolds, who coordinates Olympic efforts at the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “There are very, very few sources of money that could cover that kind of cost.”

The agency estimates it could cost close to $700 million to train, clothe and pay the slew of temporary mechanics and drivers needed to deliver passengers to games. And the cost could rise to $1 billion if the vehicles are leased.

During the Salt Lake City Winter Games, transit agencies across the country lent the local agencies their oldest buses. But when the Games were over, some didn’t want them back, and the city was stuck with getting rid of them.

It is a major sticking point. Unlike in past Games, private vehicles will not be allowed at many of the venue parking lots because of tight security and perimeters around the Games.

Officials have dubbed this a “car-free” Games largely because of this lack of parking, which they believe will force visitors to use public transit. Transit officials hope it will be a bright spot for the Metro system, which has struggled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under former Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles laid out ambitious transportation goals for the Games. The idea was to accelerate hallmark transportation projects already planned, such as a Sepulveda Pass line and the east San Fernando rail line, and leave a lasting legacy for the region.

But Garcetti’s “28 by ‘28,” a plan for transportation projects he hoped would be completed before the Games, has crumbled. The price tag and timeline were out of reach for many of the projects. Metro hasn’t been able to line up even half of the $40 billion needed to pay for them.

“The plan was never realistic on many levels, and it’s taken what three or four years for it to fall apart completely,” said James Moore, who was the founding director of the USC Transportation Engineering Program. “Frankly, it crumbled at the touch. The financing assumptions were absurd. Many of the projects that were identified could not possibly be completed on time.”

Yikes!

They definitely have the freeway constriction going all at once now to be ready for the olympics. I think they need to start building things instead of spending a decade doing reports and budgeting.

Just start doing something. The LAX people mover is already so far behind too.

Newsom did get the law passes to get state run mental institutions for the homeless which was likely the best solution for that issue.

 

[CaptinEO]

I wonder if these high school kids got kicked out of the park after this stunt?

How could they perform such an evil hate filled song!

 

[Too Many Hats]

How could they perform such an evil hate filled song!

I can’t believe Elon allows such hurtful content on his platform. It’s basically a snuff film. I feel unsafe.

 

[TP2000]

I highly doubt Disney doesn't approve the set list prior to the performances.

It's now quite apparent that they do not. Or, the band director went rogue.

Those kids seemed to be having the time of their lives though. I swear, for a childless old bachelor with a heart made of burnt coal, it's surprising how much I love seeing high school marching bands in Disney parks. They all just look so fresh-faced, so cute, so proud, so American. It makes me smile the whole time they march by, regardless of their skill or talent.

And I always applaud.

That said, it does make you wonder what the music approval process is like. What if some high school band, with a wild sense of humor, as they rounded the corner into the Central Plaza crashed into playing The Stripper by David Rose?
Would they let that performance progress down Main Street USA, I wonder?

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Same here. Sad

WDW still plays zip on the buses to magic kingdom, it’s not completely gone from the resort.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

WDW still plays zip on the buses to magic kingdom, it’s not completely gone from the resort.

Shhh they'll hear you!

 

[Rich T]

I wouldn’t be surprised if “Zip” causally returns to many park music loops once TBA is established and all other references to SotS have been long forgotten. It’s too iconically, perfectly “Disney” to not save and further establish as its own thing, separate from its origin. And it puts guests in a happy, energetic, merch-buying mood to boot!

We’ll never again officially hear the vocal soundtrack version, though.

 

[Communicora]

It's now quite apparent that they do not. Or, the band director went rogue.

Those kids seemed to be having the time of their lives though. I swear, for a childless old bachelor with a heart made of burnt coal, it's surprising how much I love seeing high school marching bands in Disney parks. They all just look so fresh-faced, so cute, so proud, so American. It makes me smile the whole time they march by, regardless of their skill or talent.

And I always applaud.

That said, it does make you wonder what the music approval process is like. What if some high school band, with a wild sense of humor, as they rounded the corner into the Central Plaza crashed into playing The Stripper by David Rose?
Would they let that performance progress down Main Street USA, I wonder?

Ha! We played this in band when I was in junior high. It was a fun one if you were in the trumpet section.

 

[DrAlice]

Josh D'Amaro regarding the Galactic StarCruiser:

"This is something that had never been done before. It was difficult to explain to the public, and I think it was incredibly brave for us to move into this space."

Um... difficult to explain? Nah dog, we got it. You overestimated the number of people interested in your niche product. This was never going to be financially sustainable. All you needed to do was create a Star Wars-themed resort (no LARPing, no mortgage-sized room rate).

Gotta love the Disney exec blaming the failure of their flawed product on the guest.

 

[TP2000]

Josh D'Amaro regarding the Galactic StarCruiser:


Um... difficult to explain? Nah dog, we got it.

I have now decided that my short-term goal for this week is to use the phrase "Nah, dog" at least once in conversation. I think I'll start with the bro-ish yet very friendly bag boy at my local supermarket, he'd get a kick out of that from me I imagine.

You overestimated the number of people interested in your niche product. This was never going to be financially sustainable. All you needed to do was create a Star Wars-themed resort (no LARPing, no mortgage-sized room rate).

No kidding. Then they cheaped out wherever they could; put the CM's in cheap dental assistant uniforms, tried to make lobby line dancing lessons and galactic bingo a thing worth $1,000 per night, and made the cheaped out dining room where key events take place look like your local Lutheran Church basement on Youth Group Sci-Fi Nite.

None of it looked anything like the artwork. And no one knew or cared for any of the HR approved characters like Captain Karen or that two dimensional lounge singer, etc.

Where's Han and Luke and Leia and Vader and R2 and C3PO?!? Where is Star Wars in this?!?

Gotta love the Disney exec blaming the failure of their flawed product on the guest.

Isn't it great? Their failure was obviously because we, their customers, are too stupid to comprehend their sheer brilliance.

This all gives me pause on how much praise we heaped on D'Amaro five years ago. He's one of the better looking Disney suits to come along in a few decades, but he doesn't seem to be all that different from charmless dolts like Jay Rasulo or Bob Chapek, or the "oddly waifish man of anemic personality" as the Wall Street Journal described Tom Staggs.

What's next on your parks agenda, Mr. D'Amaro?

 

[truecoat]

It's now quite apparent that they do not. Or, the band director went rogue.

Those kids seemed to be having the time of their lives though. I swear, for a childless old bachelor with a heart made of burnt coal, it's surprising how much I love seeing high school marching bands in Disney parks. They all just look so fresh-faced, so cute, so proud, so American. It makes me smile the whole time they march by, regardless of their skill or talent.

And I always applaud.

That said, it does make you wonder what the music approval process is like. What if some high school band, with a wild sense of humor, as they rounded the corner into the Central Plaza crashed into playing The Stripper by David Rose?
Would they let that performance progress down Main Street USA, I wonder?

You send a video of your band along with what you are playing.