The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[mickEblu]

I've only been once so I'm not an expert, however...

Watch out for water rides. This is a kids park. If the ride involves water then the fun is based on letting the kid get an adult wet. If you're okay with that then your kid will have lots of fun. And after the Wave Racers (it zips around in a circle in the water) your shoes will go "squish, squish, squish".

Make sure to go on the driving school. Kids love that thing. It's kids only. Adults just sit and watch. It doesn't look like much but they drive around in cars and are supposed to follow traffic laws. I think it's just red light green light so it's simple. Most of the kids are very determined. The oldsters sit in a viewing area and get to see whose kids are the best drivers. My niece's son Danny was an excellent driver. Far better than those other kids.

I was a bit surprised by the number of upcharges. Maybe it's because I'm just used to Disney parks where you pay upfront. Well at least until the Genie+ thing. There was a driver's license near the driving school which I think was 15 bucks. You don't have to get one but your kid will want one. It's a mean thing to do to cheap parents with lots of kids.

One thing to watch out for is that there are some attractions which you have to sign up for early in the day in order to go later. We didn't know that and so Danny couldn't do the MindStorm thing later in the day because the reservations were all gone. That one is 9 and up so that doesn't apply to you. I just quickly looked on the website and am missing wherever they warn you about these reservations but a quick google found this page: sign up page. Maybe somebody else who knows that park better can explain what needs these reservations but we totally missed wherever you're warned.

Go on the skipper school boat ride if the line isn't too long. It's looks boring but it can be lots of fun if you're lucky. The boats aren't on a track and are hard to steer. Somebody ahead of us screwed up going around a tight turn and there was a huge jam of boats. A ride operator put on waders and had to unjam the boats one by one. That was one of the most fun things we did all day. Even if there's no jam up it's challenging for the kid to steer which can be fun. The ride is hit or miss but for us it was one of the highlights of our day.

And I must heartily second the recommendation about apple fries. Don't let the apple part fool you. These are not good for you. So get some unless you're into healthy eating or are a diabetic.

Thanks for reply! I believe Splash Battle and the Pirate boat ride are closed and Thats probably a good thing as I’m not to usually pass up on rides even when I know i will most likely not like the outcome. The ride you are talking about though I believe is open. Might just have to go with some plastic grocery bags in tow.

Those apple fries sound intriguing. Thank you for the heads up on the reservation thing. How is that “Test Track coaster.” That sounds like it could be fun.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Thanks for the response! You re always very helpful when one asks travel or theme park questions. Im guessing your are well traveled and/or have worked in or have a fondness for the hospitality/ travel industry?

Im excited to see my sons reaction at a brand new theme park as he’s been going to DL since he was baby. For myself It’ll just be nice to see a new theme park. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it and that it’s a nice park.

If we do end up going on a weekend I’ll definitely utilize their fastpass system but I think I kind of want to go on a weekday and just enjoy the park as empty as possible. Shoot why would they remove the Kuka arm ride? I’m guessing they replaced it with that new flying adventure Soarin type ride?

I haven't ever worked in the industry, but I was fortunate growing up in that my parents made travel a priority, and I just happened to latch on to theme parks as an interest from early on (really the fault of a visit to Disneyland-quite the birthday present for a seven year old) and haven't looked back. I've done somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 theme parks and 400 or so roller coasters since then. My traveling is better balanced now than it once was-this summer I'm hoping to hit a bunch of national parks too-but amusement/theme parks are almost always part of the equation.

Your son is literally the perfect age for Legoland. He might even like it better than Disneyland!

According to the map it looks like the Kuka ride hasn't been replaced with anything (it was in the castle area in back by the Royal Joust ride). My guess is that they got too many parent complaints that the intense settings were actually super intense and they simply decided it didn't fit their target demo well enough to keep around. A shame, but it doesn't surprise me at all. It looks like the Soarin' ride is in the Lego movie area, which appears to have replaced what five years ago I could only have described as the girl area (Heartlake I think it was called?). But I'd be interested to know how Lego Soarin' turns out, and if there's anything else of substance in the area. If it's a home run than I'd wager the park is just one Lego Batman ride away from being perfect.

RE: Test Track coaster, it's a wild mouse-if you've been to Knott's recently it's nearly the exact same ride as Coast Rider (but without the ridiculous leg restraints Knott's added). If you haven't been to Knott's, think a slightly more exciting Goofy's Sky School with a decent sized drop right off the lift hill.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

I went years ago... I still remember enjoying seeing the little models (forest animals etc.) all over the place in the walkway planters and vegetation etc.

Be sure to slow down and take a note of them.

 

[Mac Tonight]

I'm sure people here have heard of it before, but I stumbled onto DisneyChris.com last night and was just astounded by how much amazing archival stuff this guy has. I can get lost there for hours.

Of particular interest to me was Paul Frees' recording sessions for Haunted Mansion (#114)

Disneyland Audio Tour - Chapter 7

disneychris.com

 

[Macro]

Thanks for reply! I believe Splash Battle and the Pirate boat ride are closed and Thats probably a good thing as I’m not to usually pass up on rides even when I know i will most likely not like the outcome. The ride you are talking about though I believe is open. Might just have to go with some plastic grocery bags in tow.

Those apple fries sound intriguing. Thank you for the heads up on the reservation thing. How is that “Test Track coaster.” That sounds like it could be fun.

Danny really enjoyed the Wave Racers thing. I think that's a ride where it's worth it to take one for the team. Somehow I kept my shoes reasonably dry. I'm not sure where I placed my feet but it did help with my shoes. Your top half also comes into play. One dad kept getting hit waist up by the splashes coming off of various racers. Sorry, bud. But in the end that ride was worth it. A fun time was had by all. Plus some dampness.

We didn't go on the test track coaster because the line was too long. I wanted to try it because I hadn't been on a wild mouse with the big first dip. Lots of the rides at the park are low throughput. If the park is busy I'd definitely get the bypass the line pass if you're just going once. We had to skip more than a few fun-looking rides over the lines because we were on a budget.

One of the things Danny really liked was Coast Guard Build-A-Boat. They had a bunch of LEGO boat parts set out. The kids built a LEGO boat and then let it go at the top of a little river with rapids in it. The boat went down the river to the bottom. They picked the boats up, ran back to the top, and let them go again. Danny must have done that for ten minutes. They had another one indoors where they put together race cars and they'd release them at the top of a race track and race down to the bottom. Those things got a lot of attention from the kids.

I have to say that LEGOLAND was a lot better than I was expecting. The place is very well thought-out to entertain kids and we had fun too and not just because Danny was having so much fun.

 

[TP2000]

The ratings for this year's Super Bowl have come in, and they increased 16% from last year's game! The breakdown is as follows; 99 Million watched on NBC, 2 Million watched on Telemundo, and 11 Million streamed it via NBC's Peacock App.

Next up, how many watch the Oscars this year?

US Network TV Viewership By Year
2014: Super Bowl 112 Million, Oscars 43.7 Million
2015: Super Bowl 114 Million, Oscars 36.6 Million
2016: Super Bowl 111 Million, Oscars 34.3 Million
2017: Super Bowl 111 Million, Oscars 32.9 Million
2018: Super Bowl 103 Million, Oscars 26.5 Million
2019: Super Bowl 98 Million, Oscars 29.6 Million
2020: Super Bowl 101 Million, Oscars 23.6 Million
2021: Super Bowl 92 Million, Oscars 9.8 Million
2022: Super Bowl 112 Million, Oscars ?????

 

[Mac Tonight]

The ratings for this year's Super Bowl have come in, and they increased 16% from last year's game! The breakdown is as follows; 99 Million watched on NBC, 2 Million watched on Telemundo, and 11 Million streamed it via NBC's Peacock App.

Next up, how many watch the Oscars this year?

US Network TV Viewership By Year
2014: Super Bowl 112 Million, Oscars 43.7 Million
2015: Super Bowl 114 Million, Oscars 36.6 Million
2016: Super Bowl 111 Million, Oscars 34.3 Million
2017: Super Bowl 111 Million, Oscars 32.9 Million
2018: Super Bowl 103 Million, Oscars 26.5 Million
2019: Super Bowl 98 Million, Oscars 29.6 Million
2020: Super Bowl 101 Million, Oscars 23.6 Million
2021: Super Bowl 92 Million, Oscars 9.8 Million
2022: Super Bowl 112 Million, Oscars ?????

Put me down at Super Bowl: 1, Oscars: O

 

[TP2000]

I have to say that LEGOLAND was a lot better than I was expecting. The place is very well thought-out to entertain kids and we had fun too and not just because Danny was having so much fun.

I haven't been to Legoland in over 15 years, since my nephews moved on from Lego's to girls, but I remember really enjoying it. It's a lovely location on that hill above the ocean, and it's a perfect theme park for the 4 to 14 set.

I also enjoyed that you could tell the creators and senior leadership were Northern European and brought that cultural sensitivity to much of the park itself. It's a great option for SoCal theme parks!

 

[TP2000]

Speaking of TV ratings for cultural mega-events, tonight I am going to raise a toast to beautiful Karma.

The joyless Winter Olympics in repressive Communist China have mercifully ended for NBC. Ratings collapsed more than 50% in the key advertising demographic, and I can't be the only one to notice that no one cared about it this year.

I normally love watching the Winter Olympics because I was an avid skiier in my youth, and my family often had big ski vacations together in British Columbia. But I made a point of not turning on the Olympics for one second this year. I skipped the entire thing. And so did a heckuva lot of other Americans!

"Through Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, an average of 12.2 million watched the Olympics in primetime on NBC, cable, or its Peacock streaming service, a 42-percent dip from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Only 10 million watched NBC alone, a 47-percent drop from 2018, and through early last week, it was down 57 percent in the critical 25-54 age demographic from the Seoul games. That was even taking into account the Super Bowl viewership boost NBC got from airing the Olympics directly after the network aired the game on Feb. 13."

 

[Parteecia]

Speaking of TV ratings for cultural mega-events, tonight I am going to raise a toast to beautiful Karma.

The joyless Winter Olympics in repressive Communist China have mercifully ended for NBC. Ratings collapsed more than 50% in the key advertising demographic, and I can't be the only one to notice that no one cared about it this year.

I normally love watching the Winter Olympics because I was an avid skiier in my youth, and my family often had big ski vacations together in British Columbia. But I made a point of not turning on the Olympics for one second this year. I skipped the entire thing. And so did a heckuva lot of other Americans!

"Through Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, an average of 12.2 million watched the Olympics in primetime on NBC, cable, or its Peacock streaming service, a 42-percent dip from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Only 10 million watched NBC alone, a 47-percent drop from 2018, and through early last week, it was down 57 percent in the critical 25-54 age demographic from the Seoul games. That was even taking into account the Super Bowl viewership boost NBC got from airing the Olympics directly after the network aired the game on Feb. 13."

Good. This Olympics I watched a little biathlon and not much else. It always makes me want to put on my Heelys and head out with my Daisy Red Ryder.

 

[No Name]

Picking out some numbers and claiming they’re evidence of the narrative you so desperately want to spin, with absolutely nothing to back that up, is a very intelligent thing to do.

 

[waltography]

Went to DCA yesterday for a half-day visit! Some miscellaneous thoughts:

• Genie+ will be the end of me. We opted not to get it as we decided early on in the day we were leaving at like 1 or 2, but already by 9am there were multiple rides pushing an hour or more.
• They started the distribution of the free Magic Key stuff half an hour early because the line for it had gotten too long. The poster is actually quite nice.
• Saw the Country Bears doing meet and greets in Grizzly Peak! Was surprised they had Big Al and Wendell meeting; they met in an area between Soarin' and Redwood Creek. Seemed like not a lot of folks were meeting with them, which is a shame; they don't appear on the map for Characters and that Grizzly Peak area is in a very quiet place (especially since GRR is down for refurbishment) so it's very easy to miss them.

 

[chadwpalm]

Speaking of TV ratings for cultural mega-events, tonight I am going to raise a toast to beautiful Karma.

The joyless Winter Olympics in repressive Communist China have mercifully ended for NBC. Ratings collapsed more than 50% in the key advertising demographic, and I can't be the only one to notice that no one cared about it this year.

I normally love watching the Winter Olympics because I was an avid skiier in my youth, and my family often had big ski vacations together in British Columbia. But I made a point of not turning on the Olympics for one second this year. I skipped the entire thing. And so did a heckuva lot of other Americans!

"Through Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, an average of 12.2 million watched the Olympics in primetime on NBC, cable, or its Peacock streaming service, a 42-percent dip from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Only 10 million watched NBC alone, a 47-percent drop from 2018, and through early last week, it was down 57 percent in the critical 25-54 age demographic from the Seoul games. That was even taking into account the Super Bowl viewership boost NBC got from airing the Olympics directly after the network aired the game on Feb. 13."

When I moved back out and on my own again I chose not to pay for cable/satellite television. I rarely watch network television anymore, but the few shows I do watch I either DVR them from my digital antenna to my Plex server, or stream from the network apps (using my parents' login ).

I was torn this year because I like watching the Olympics but didn't want to fully support them either. NBC's coverage was abysmal, and when rating fell 50% the amount of commercials doubled to compensate making it worse. I just set my DVR to record from my local ota NBC station and sifted through the stuff I wanted to see. I enjoy any speed-run sports (Luge, Bobsled, etc.), speed skating, and women's figure skating (which was so over-dramatic I thought I was watching a daytime soap). I watched some Biathlon as well. I stomached what I could over the two weeks.

 

[chadwpalm]

Picking out some numbers and claiming they’re evidence of the narrative you so desperately want to spin, with absolutely nothing to back that up, is a very intelligent thing to do.

That's what you do. You present articles and data and then you interpret them. I've never once seen any of you counter his interpretations with your own data or citations. I've also never seen him make a claim without sourcing something. So I'm not exactly sure what he's doing wrong. If you have a counter argument and have sources to back them up, present them. That's how debate works. You don't get to just say "Your wrong" and leave it at that. I see this way too much on this board.

 

[No Name]

That's what you do. You present articles and data and then you interpret them. I've never once seen any of you counter his interpretations with your own data or citations. I've also never seen him make a claim without sourcing something. So I'm not exactly sure what he's doing wrong. If you have a counter argument and have sources to back them up, present them. That's how debate works. You don't get to just say "Your wrong" and leave it at that. I see this way too much on this board.

Well first of all you’re wrong because he has zero sources there regarding anything about how the numbers were impacted by feelings toward China. But in general the difference is he comes up with wild interpretations and then finds numbers to “fit” them. If you’ve never once seen someone counter them, that’s probably because we’ve all learned it’s a waste of time to fight feelings with facts.

Yeah, I can say “you’re wrong” to suggest there’s any sort of karma as though NBC chooses the location or something, when they really just want to get the most value out of their deal which runs through 2032. I try not to give stupidity any more attention than it deserves because it’s a bad rabbit hole.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Personally, I didn’t watch the Winter Olympics because I don’t find them interesting enough to tune in. This goes for every Winter Olympics.

Them being in China had no impact on my decision.

 

[Communicora]

I was not a fan of the location, but I watched a lot of the Olympics this year — even subscribed to YouTube TV to do so. I love watching incredible athletes compete and excel at their sport. I’m not going to let governments I disagree with or a corrupt IOC get in the way of that if I can help it.

 

[drizgirl]

I really like figure skating but I refused to watch this year because they are in China. Looks like a few of my friends did the same.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Well first of all you’re wrong because he has zero sources there regarding anything about how the numbers were impacted by feelings toward China. But in general the difference is he comes up with wild interpretations and then finds numbers to “fit” them. If you’ve never once seen someone counter them, that’s probably because we’ve all learned it’s a waste of time to fight feelings with facts.

Yeah, I can say “you’re wrong” to suggest there’s any sort of karma as though NBC chooses the location or something, when they really just want to get the most value out of their deal which runs through 2032. I try not to give stupidity any more attention than it deserves because it’s a bad rabbit hole.

Not to mention the obvious dog whistling.

 

[chadwpalm]

Well first of all you’re wrong because he has zero sources there regarding anything about how the numbers were impacted by feelings toward China.

Please show me specifically where he made that connection. I'll be waiting.