The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[Californian Elitist]

-2 pts. Please study more.

(Sorry, couldn't help myself. )

Me when someone incorrectly uses “your” in a sentence.

 

[mickEblu]

Even Indy is iffy in it's current state. One of the best attractions ever.... but with so much of it in shambles a lot of the oomph the attraction has is gone.

I'm in the process of planning a trip... and if I end up going might skip it.. and it's usually a must do. I just don't care to see it in it's current form.

Though the rest of the park is just about there also ha!

Yeah you re right. It should probably be demoted to the “if time allows” list. I just can’t shake the reaction Ive seen from first timers I’ve taken in the past. Granted we’re talking 15 years ago.

 

[TP2000]

Haunted Mansion Holiday is really not working for me this year. I mean it never does but more than usual. Maybe it’s the new AstroTurf?

Agreed that the AstroTurf looks really cheesy in photos. And the in-person reviews aren't better.

I always thought it would be funny if Otis sponsored that ride, so it could be called...

The Haunted Mansion, Presented by Otis Elevator

But maybe now they should transfer the old Monsanto sponsorship from Disneyland's first Omnimover to Disneyland's second Omnimover?

The Haunted Mansion, Presented by Monsanto

 

[Inspired Figment]

Truth be told folks, the thing I'm most looking forward to is the addition of the classic pile of horse manure scene & smellitizers when they refurb/rehab the Pinocchio ride. Also, last I heard, it's also gonna be renamed;
‘Pinocchio's Pleasure Adventure: The Daring Duty'

 

[Phroobar]

Truth be told folks, the thing I'm most looking forward to is the addition of the classic pile of horse manure scene & smellitizers when they refurb/rehab the Pinocchio ride. Also, last I heard, it's also gonna be renamed;
‘Pinocchio's Pleasure Adventure: The Daring Duty'View attachment 668169

Weird how Pinocchio's face is half rendered in that still. Even the CG NPCs in the background are poorly rendered.

 

[TP2000]

A long running niche sub-theme in threads here is the question "Which airport to use for a Disneyland vacation?"

Many of us here try and plead with innocent and unsuspecting Midwesterners and East Coasters to avoid LAX and use John Wayne instead.

JD Power updated its American airport rankings for 2022. Unsurprisingly, LAX ranks near the bottom of America's "Mega Airports", while John Wayne ranks near the top of America's "Large Airports".

Here's where the JD Power data and investigations rank things in SoCal, based on a 1,000 point scale...

Mega Airports (America's 20 Largest Airports)
1. Minneapolis-St. Paul International = 800
2. San Francisco International Airport = 796
3. Detroit International Airport = 791
American Average = 769
18. Los Angeles International Airport = 753
19. Chicago O'Hare International Airport = 751
20. Newark Liberty International Airport = 719

Large Airport (America's 33 'Big City' Airports)
1. Tampa International Airport = 846
2. John Wayne International Airport = 826
American Average = 784
33. Philadelphia International Airport = 729

I guess the good news is that LAX is not Newark or Philly. I mean, LAX is one of the seven circles of hell, but technically it could be worse. And it's undergoing a big remodel in advance of the 2028 Olympics. But John Wayne still beats it by about 75 points.

https://www.jdpower.com/sites/default/files/file/2022-09/2022126%20N.A.%20Airport.pdf

 

[Parteecia]

Last night the Disneyland Resort was featured on the "Home Economics" sit com. Always amusing to see ABC's selling of it, like on "Modern Family."

 

[mickEblu]

I don’t care what anyone says. Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland is a solid and charming dark ride. Like the IP itself it’s full of child like wonder and delight.

Semi Hot take: it’s Top 15 at DL. Top 20 DLR

 

[Phroobar]

I don’t care what anyone says. Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland is a solid and charming dark ride. Like the IP itself it’s full of child like wonder and delight.

Semi Hot take: it’s Top 15 at DL. Top 20 DLR

That ride makes me seasick. I'd wish they turn off the motion once your in Pooh's nightmare.

 

[mickEblu]

That ride makes me seasick. I'd wish they turn off the motion once your in Pooh's nightmare.

Really? How are you going to do the Cruise?

 

[Phroobar]

Really? How are you going to do the Cruise?

Your right! It's been twenty years. I forgot about that. We'll have to load up on sea sick medicine.

 

[Stevek]

Agreed that the AstroTurf looks really cheesy in photos. And the in-person reviews aren't better.

I always thought it would be funny if Otis sponsored that ride, so it could be called...

The Haunted Mansion, Presented by Otis Elevator

But maybe now they should transfer the old Monsanto sponsorship from Disneyland's first Omnimover to Disneyland's second Omnimover?

The Haunted Mansion, Presented by Monsanto

I saw it in person, looked just fine to my eyes.

 

[Stevek]

Your right! It's been twenty years. I forgot about that. We'll have to load up on sea sick medicine.

You'd be surprised how smooth these ships are now. I think I've only had 2 days at sea where the boat was noticeably moving and neither were bad enough to bother me...and I get motion sickness.

 

[Stevek]

I don’t care what anyone says. Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland is a solid and charming dark ride. Like the IP itself it’s full of child like wonder and delight.

Semi Hot take: it’s Top 15 at DL. Top 20 DLR

I have no problems with it, made sure to ride it on our final visit with our magic keys. I think the fan community decided to lose it because of the Tokyo version.

 

[truecoat]

A long running niche sub-theme in threads here is the question "Which airport to use for a Disneyland vacation?"

Many of us here try and plead with innocent and unsuspecting Midwesterners and East Coasters to avoid LAX and use John Wayne instead.

JD Power updated its American airport rankings for 2022. Unsurprisingly, LAX ranks near the bottom of America's "Mega Airports", while John Wayne ranks near the top of America's "Large Airports".

Here's where the JD Power data and investigations rank things in SoCal, based on a 1,000 point scale...

Mega Airports (America's 20 Largest Airports)
1. Minneapolis-St. Paul International = 800
2. San Francisco International Airport = 796
3. Detroit International Airport = 791
American Average = 769
18. Los Angeles International Airport = 753
19. Chicago O'Hare International Airport = 751
20. Newark Liberty International Airport = 719

Large Airport (America's 33 'Big City' Airports)
1. Tampa International Airport = 846
2. John Wayne International Airport = 826
American Average = 784
33. Philadelphia International Airport = 729

I guess the good news is that LAX is not Newark or Philly. I mean, LAX is one of the seven circles of hell, but technically it could be worse. And it's undergoing a big remodel in advance of the 2028 Olympics. But John Wayne still beats it by about 75 points.

https://www.jdpower.com/sites/default/files/file/2022-09/2022126%20N.A.%20Airport.pdf

The problem is finding flights into SNA. It’s not always possible or in the budget. Last year I was able to fly into SNA for the first time and it was a breeze.

LAX will improve once the construction is done. It’s going to be a night and day difference in my opinion.

On another note, I knew MSP was a great airport but I didn’t know it scored that high.

 

[TP2000]

The problem is finding flights into SNA. It’s not always possible or in the budget. Last year I was able to fly into SNA for the first time and it was a breeze.

I just feel bad for families traveling to Disneyland with children. Air travel is so harrowing nowadays, that my heart goes out to families arriving in to LAX and facing the next few hours of getting through baggage claim and a decrepit airport, crowded and frenzied transport infrastructure, and on to a bus or rental car to battle the freeway down to Anaheim. Yuck!

SNA really is the perfect airport; or about as perfect as it can get these days.

This is actually the perfect airport in my opinion, but I have to admit those days are never coming back...

LAX will improve once the construction is done. It’s going to be a night and day difference in my opinion.

It should improve some, but I just wonder if they can really make it easy. I also wonder about the mish-mash of aesthetics they seem to be using, and spending Billions but still leaving cheap-ugly stuff, like the cement parking structures from the 1980's, around the facility.

In the defense of LAX, the only time I've used that airport in the last decade has been to fly in/out of the Tom Bradley Terminal on an international flight, and that's a very nice and sleek terminal to be in for a couple hours. It also helps that I only fly foreign airlines when going abroad, and thus I have a vastly superior customer service experience once I finally reach their embrace at the check-in counter.

The Achilles heel of the Tom Bradley Terminal is the standard LAX employees that work there in the non-airline jobs. Those LAX employees in terminal support jobs are almost uniformly surly, slovenly, and sloppy. Three S's.

On another note, I knew MSP was a great airport but I didn’t know it scored that high.

I had no idea either! I haven't flown through that airport since my career days when I was flying sometimes on Northwest Orient and transferring through MSP. Delta got all their routes in the takeover. I was also surprised to see how PDX had fallen to mid-pack, as it was rated at the top for at least the last decade. Then I did some research and realized they are completely gutting that airport and rebuilding the whole darn thing and it's a disaster area at PDX now.

But when PDX is done, it's going to look like this! I love John Wayne Airport, and you simply can not beat it's ease and efficiency for a Disneyland vacation with children in tow, but aesthetically it's very bland and Irvine Company-esque. Acres of very clean tasteful beige is better than dirty facilities, but it doesn't really inspire or excite or engage the senses.

Here's what Portland International Airport (PDX) is going to look like in two years! Wow.

 

[TP2000]

If I'm remembering it right, in a brief moment of late morning clarity, didn't LAX build the double-deck roadways for the 1984 Olympics? That's when they quickly built the "temporary" Tom Bradley terminal for arriving Olympic hoards at the west end of the horseshoe roadway, but I think LAX as a whole got turned into a two-level facility in the early 80's for the Olympics.

That's really when LAX began its downward spiral, if you ask me. It never seemed as crazed and ugly and spirit-killing before that.

 

[chadwpalm]

I don’t care what anyone says. Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland is a solid and charming dark ride. Like the IP itself it’s full of child like wonder and delight.

Semi Hot take: it’s Top 15 at DL. Top 20 DLR

I've always enjoyed WtP and try to ride it at least once every visit.

 

[chadwpalm]

You'd be surprised how smooth these ships are now. I think I've only had 2 days at sea where the boat was noticeably moving and neither were bad enough to bother me...and I get motion sickness.

When I went on my cruise I was so terrified that I was going to get sick because I'm so prone to motion sickness, but it ended up not being bad at all. I did suck on ginger candies the whole time to help keep my stomach settled.

 

[chadwpalm]

I'm glad I'm only 15 minutes away from San Jose International. They have direct flights to SNA and LGB. I flew into Long Beach once and while it's a quaint little airport the money I saved on the flight ended up being put back (and then some) into the longer Lyft rides.