The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[PiratesMansion]

Is Legoland worth the admission price for a family of DLR and USH passholders? $160 a ticket? I cant imagine it is. More importantly, would my 8 year old son who has pretty much done everything at DLR, USH, Knotts and just last week Sea World still find it fun? He loves lego's and theme parks and he's still pretty innocent but I feel like we would be kind of doing this backwards. I mean the kid was on Ghostrider a few months ago.

With that said, I'm sure my daughter would enjoy it and it's the only theme park in Southern California that we haven't visited. Kind of want to cross it off the list. Just feel like it may be a little anti climatic. Plus it's a little too far for a day trip. Not sure I want to drop 1k for a day at Legoland.

Sea World was fun. Unfortunately the Shamoo show is a sad shell of its former self. I don't appreciate Disneyland's operations and efficiency enough... until I visit parks like Knotts or Sea World. The rides load at a snails pace at Sea World and WOW was the mobile order process at Sea World an absolute joke. Journey to Atlantis surprised me and Manta is a great coaster and really cool with that mid coaster magnetic launch. Arctic Rescue was cool but probably my least favorite of the three attractions I rode.

Did the dolphin interaction and that was a lot fun. Unfortunately my son is too short to be to do the in water interaction so we did the one where you stand at the edge of the pool. Not too bummed though. They don't let you do much with the dolphins in the water. Probably better off waiting to do that somewhere like Cancun or Hawaii.

Not from a coaster perspective, but your son is still at the age where he might appreciate other aspects of the experience. That said, Legoland definitely has a ceiling kids reach once they're about 10 or so where once that ceiling is reached, he's not going to appreciate it at all. If he's still innocent, he might still find some joy in it now.

Is it up to the standards of Disneyland or USH, not at all, but the atmosphere is pretty fun, as are the miniature models made out of Lego. Your last window to go when everyone in the family might have genuinely enjoy themselves, unfortunately, is probably right about now.

That accident in Orlando with the death of one of the trainers in 2010 or so? really killed the Shamu show and honestly the vibe of the other SeaWorld shows too in many ways. Now, it feels like they're in this space where they're embarrassed to still be doing the animal shows, but they have to because they suck up a lot of people. They're afraid to be fun or over the top anymore. The last time I really watched all the SeaWorld shows (in San Antonio), the only show that had energy at all was the fireworks stage and stunt show at the end of the night...the only one where not one animal was in sight.

 

[mickEblu]

Not from a coaster perspective, but your son is still at the age where he might appreciate other aspects of the experience. That said, Legoland definitely has a ceiling kids reach once they're about 10 or so where once that ceiling is reached, he's not going to appreciate it at all. If he's still innocent, he might still find some joy in it now.

Is it up to the standards of Disneyland or USH, not at all, but the atmosphere is pretty fun, as are the miniature models made out of Lego. Your last window to go when everyone in the family might have genuinely enjoy themselves, unfortunately, is probably right about now.

That accident in Orlando with the death of one of the trainers in 2010 or so? really killed the Shamu show and honestly the vibe of the other SeaWorld shows too in many ways. Now, it feels like they're in this space where they're embarrassed to still be doing the animal shows, but they have to because they suck up a lot of people. They're afraid to be fun or over the top anymore. The last time I really watched all the SeaWorld shows (in San Antonio), the only show that had energy at all was the fireworks stage and stunt show at the end of the night...the only one where not one animal was in sight.

If it’s a well themed, aesthetically beautiful park that would probably Tip the scales in favor of going soon. The weather out there by the coast is pretty nice too so it has that going for it while it’s 90- 100 degrees out here in the valley. Otherwise I’ll probably just tack it on to something else when it’s convenient. Kind of how we just added Sea World to the tail end of our Newport Coast trip (and drive right by Legoland haha). Also just how good are those apple fries?

Yeah even the dolphin show was just ok. It had a lot more energy than the Shamu show that was mostly just whales swimming around occasionally splashing people or jumping out of the water to sound if the host spewing out whale facts. They are still magnificent creatures though and seeing them for the first time is still pretty special for the kids.

 

[PiratesMansion]

If it’s a well themed, aesthetically beautiful park that would probably Tip the scales in favor of going soon. The weather out there by the coast is pretty nice too so it has that going for it while it’s 90- 100 degrees out here in the valley. Otherwise I’ll probably just tack it on to something else when it’s convenient. Kind of how we just added Sea World to the tail end of our Newport Coast trip (and drive right by Legoland haha). Also just how good are those apple fries?

Yeah even the dolphin show was just ok. It had a lot more energy than the Shamu show that was mostly just whales swimming around occasionally splashing people or jumping out of the water to sound if the host spewing out whale facts. They are still magnificent creatures though and seeing them for the first time is still pretty special for the kids.

Well themed, aesthetically beautiful park...eh...probably not in the way that you're looking for, TBH. Its theming won't stand up to the nicer areas of Knott's, Seaworld, etc. Legoland's not ugly, but it's all based around Legos (and in many cases, Lego sub-brands), and while I think they do a nice job, there's really only so much you can do with that and the theme is inherently more artificial as a result, in a way that many of the other parks aren't IMO. The kids may not notice or care too much depending on how into Legos they are, unless eight year old is very discerning, but you will.

The apple fries ARE good, but I could see people going and feeling like they don't live up to the hype.

 

[Disneyland/DCA]

The lego submarine ride alone is worth an interest. And the dragon coaster has a very weird, totally euro-vibe dark ride tacked on to the begininng of it. They also let you trade minifigures (accessories and all) with the employees like Disney trades pins

If your family is into Halloween, you should go during brick or treat

 

[DrAlice]

@mickEblu :

LegoLand is not a perfect park, but it is fun! Like all things Lego, it doesn't take itself too seriously. I'd say, adjust your expectations accordingly, and you'll have a good time. It's worth visiting once, and it sounds like your kids are just about the right age for it. Once your son gets older, he won't care for it, so go now.

We've gone twice (or 3x? I've forgotten..) and had a great time each trip. We've stayed at both of the hotels and visited the water park. All are fun. The hotels really cater to kids, and that added to the whole experience for us.

One final note: if it is busy, the skip-the-line feature they sell was totally worth it, IMO. NONE of the big rides are worth waiting in a huge line. YMMV.

 

[mickEblu]

@mickEblu :

LegoLand is not a perfect park, but it is fun! Like all things Lego, it doesn't take itself too seriously. I'd say, adjust your expectations accordingly, and you'll have a good time. It's worth visiting once, and it sounds like your kids are just about the right age for it. Once your son gets older, he won't care for it, so go now.

We've gone twice (or 3x? I've forgotten..) and had a great time each trip. We've stayed at both of the hotels and visited the water park. All are fun. The hotels really cater to kids, and that added to the whole experience for us.

One final note: if it is busy, the skip-the-line feature they sell was totally worth it, IMO. NONE of the big rides are worth waiting in a huge line. YMMV.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I think we'll probably go but I might just fail to mention that they have a lego themed hotel attached to the park. Lol. Unless its owned by Marriott and will take Bonvoy points haha.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I love this bring it to Disneyland.

 

[mickEblu]

 

[TP2000]

Is Legoland worth the admission price for a family of DLR and USH passholders? $160 a ticket? I cant imagine it is. More importantly, would my 8 year old son who has pretty much done everything at DLR, USH, Knotts and just last week Sea World still find it fun? He loves lego's and theme parks and he's still pretty innocent but I feel like we would be kind of doing this backwards. I mean the kid was on Ghostrider a few months ago.

I won't pretend to know what kids in 2024 like any more, much less what parents think is fine now. You could tell me an 8 year old boy is now the appropriate age for topless yet tasteful burlesque shows and cannabis infused sandwiches in his lunchbox, and I would have to believe you.

That said, this post reminded me of my first of two Legoland visits in the early 2000's when my nephews were that age, and the hilarity that ensued at the Volvo Driving School ride...

I had staked out a table on a restaurant patio while my sister her two young boys got drinks and snacks, and the patio overlooked the rather novel Volvo Driving School where kindergartners were given the keys to small electric Lego cars to drive around a fake Lego town with stoplights and intersections and such. The kids took it SOOOO SERIOUSLY because there were no guardrails or tracks, and they were really driving the slow moving cars all by themselves. Up on a lifeguard type tower was perched the 20 year old San Diego County surfer kid working the ride, who would shout out instructions on when to start driving and stop driving, and provide instructions to the kids flummoxed by the rules of the road. Proud parents sat in a set of bleachers nearby watching their young children drive slowly and cautiously around the fake town.

A young boy in a red car was way too confident for his age, and was not obeying the signage and stoplights, or listening to the increasingly annoyed commands of the ride operator. After several near misses (admittedly at very slow speed in oversized plastic toy cars), the little boy basically blew through a red light and nearly hit a girl in a blue car. The Volvo Driving School ride operator was at his wits end by this point, and over the PA system that echoed through that entire side of the park he yelled, "HEY, YOU! In the red car! What are you, DRUNK?!?" .... The parents in the bleachers section went dead silent for a moment and you could hear a pin drop, until several dads (and myself) busted out laughing.

I'm sure the nice folks at Volvo didn't quite have that in mind when they sponsored the ride.

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[TP2000]

San Diego Lobster Rolls sound just fine to me.
Let me know how they measure up in comparison !

I thought of you several times this weekend, were your ears burning?

Once, when I was prepping the fixings for these San Diego Lobster Rolls, and then again later that evening when I got on my high horse and explained to a gaggle of San Diego's older yet stylish gentlemen that these were merely San Diego Lobster Rolls and the real things were 3,000 miles to our northeast, and then regaled the group with tales of weekends near Freeport and seafood shops around Faneuil Hall, all to increasingly tight smiles from my guests until I finally stopped.

However, one friend whose parents were both Mexicans from Baja, backed me up and said he grew up on Mexican lobster as a special meal. But when he had his first New England Lobster Roll on a business trip to Boston 20 years ago, he realized that it was a superior product.

And finally... Am I hallucinating, or did the Harbour Galley at Disneyland where the Columbia is moored used to sell a pretty decent lobster roll back in the 2000's? Am I misremembering? Wouldn't be the first time. But I could swear they used to sell a pretty good New England-esque lobster roll at the Harbour Galley.

 

[TP2000]

View attachment 800320

That's incredible! Where did the time go??? I remember staying there at a convention for a few nights, I think around '95, when it was still the Big Deal! hotel on the Strip. It was an Industrial Supply convention, and back then in that very profitable industry the various manufacturers would try to ply us executive purchasers with liquor and "entertainment" with some very nice young ladies. I happily accepted the cocktails and meals, but ducked out when the talk turned to ladies and "seeing the sights" after dinner. Somewhere in a shoebox somewhere is a photo of me on my own one evening while the "entertainment" component of the convention was playing out for the rest of the guys. It's a photo of me in the lobby of the Mirage posing with a huge bronze statue of Siegfried and Roy.

Seems impossible that it's already time to implode it, but history moves along at a faster clip in a place like Las Vegas.

If they're already tearing down the Mirage, I can only imagine what some of those young ladies from '95 look like now.

 

[Parteecia]

I love this bring it to Disneyland.

I watched the whole Bastille Day show. I am pro-drone.

 

[Consumer]

I love this bring it to Disneyland.

Most impressive thing about this are the fireworks.

 

[TP2000]

I watched the whole Bastille Day show. I am pro-drone.

I am also pro-drone. But only as a way to plus up and enlarge existing shows like the fireworks, World of Color, or Fantasmic. You could also have drones be a component of a new night parade.

Or even use them in existing attractions like Haunted Mansion's graveyard scene (spooky ghosts flying around), or the space dock entrance hall scene in Rise Before Dawn (hovering security robots tracking your arrival, etc.).

But just a drone show, as impressive as that Paris display is, isn't quite enough for a theme park experience. It needs more.

 

[mickEblu]

That's incredible! Where did the time go??? I remember staying there at a convention for a few nights, I think around '95, when it was still the Big Deal! hotel on the Strip. It was an Industrial Supply convention, and back then in that very profitable industry the various manufacturers would try to ply us executive purchasers with liquor and "entertainment" with some very nice young ladies. I happily accepted the cocktails and meals, but ducked out when the talk turned to ladies and "seeing the sights" after dinner. Somewhere in a shoebox somewhere is a photo of me on my own one evening while the "entertainment" component of the convention was playing out for the rest of the guys. It's a photo of me in the lobby of the Mirage posing with a huge bronze statue of Siegfried and Roy.

Seems impossible that it's already time to implode it, but history moves along at a faster clip in a place like Las Vegas.

If they're already tearing down the Mirage, I can only imagine what some of those young ladies from '95 look like now.

Yeah, I don’t think I realized I had such a strong attachment to the Mirage until they announced it would be going away. Have a lot of great childhood memories there. The tropical scent of the lobby welcoming you after a five hour drive through the dessert, the pool with the waterfall, the lush theming, the aquarium behind the lobby check in, the atrium, the White Tigers, Dolphins, the tram ride to the pirate themed Treasure island where they had a great arcade and stunt show outside. Playing Keno at the Caribe Cafe with my parents for lunch, trying bread pudding for the first time at the buffet, learning what a Bloody Mary is and how to play Blackjack. The circle shaped CPK by the sports book. Then later many great and awful memories at their iconic Sportsbook. Our parents must have taken us there about 6-7 times between the early 90s and early 2000’s. Then it continued to be my Vegas hotel of choice as a young adult. Took my grandma with me and fiancée/ wife a few times for a few memorable trips- one where my grandma hit a little jackpot on the slots. They ve kind of made everything too sleek and modern and soulless now. Hard to believe they didn’t find it worth just sprucing it up keeping around.

 

[Figments Friend]

I thought of you several times this weekend, were your ears burning?

Once, when I was prepping the fixings for these San Diego Lobster Rolls, and then again later that evening when I got on my high horse and explained to a gaggle of San Diego's older yet stylish gentlemen that these were merely San Diego Lobster Rolls and the real things were 3,000 miles to our northeast, and then regaled the group with tales of weekends near Freeport and seafood shops around Faneuil Hall, all to increasingly tight smiles from my guests until I finally stopped.

However, one friend whose parents were both Mexicans from Baja, backed me up and said he grew up on Mexican lobster as a special meal. But when he had his first New England Lobster Roll on a business trip to Boston 20 years ago, he realized that it was a superior product.

And finally... Am I hallucinating, or did the Harbour Galley at Disneyland where the Columbia is moored used to sell a pretty decent lobster roll back in the 2000's? Am I misremembering? Wouldn't be the first time. But I could swear they used to sell a pretty good New England-esque lobster roll at the Harbour Galley.

I LOVE YOU, TP!




And YES -
Harbour Galley served rather decent lobster rolls when I last tried them.
Think it was 2015…and they were quite good.

-

 

[CaptinEO]

What happened to Inside The Magic? I remember it was a real site and now they have all click bait.

Look at this headline:

"Disney Legend Lays Motionless on Stage as Theme Park Guests Watch"​

It refers to the actors of the country bears show posing with their animatronics.

 

[Consumer]

Every time I see Disney adults I’m reminded how Disney needs to ban childless adults. Nobody over 18 should be allowed without a kid.

 

[Disney Irish]

Every time I see Disney adults I’m reminded how Disney needs to ban childless adults. Nobody over 18 should be allowed without a kid.

That'll never happen, as that is a core demographic now for Disney. And has been for decades.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Every time I see Disney adults I’m reminded how Disney needs to ban childless adults. Nobody over 18 should be allowed without a kid.

So, again, you'd ban yourself?