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The Miscellaneous Thought Thread
- Thread starter mickEblu
- Start date
MoonRakerSCM
Well-Known Member
Time to fill up the farm property with big sheds and fill them all with kegs full of starfruit wine...
MoonRakerSCM
Well-Known Member
I love this focus on the portals as a way of giving the park a unique identity.
Any word on if the portals are going to be, like, filled with mist and lights/effects or something?
@TP2000, I keep forgetting to ask if you got any Avatars for Halloween and what the winning costumes were.
I got 160 at my house and not a blue alien in the bunch. Very few Disney anything including Star Wars and Marvel. I think the majority were video game characters that I had no hope of recognizing.
I got 160 at my house and not a blue alien in the bunch. Very few Disney anything including Star Wars and Marvel. I think the majority were video game characters that I had no hope of recognizing.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
160 is a lot of Trick-or-treaters.
In Illinois it seems like TOT has declined significantly in recent years, and has been largely abandoned for Trunk or Treats (or perhaps their parents take them to rich neighborhoods).
My parents still live where I grew up, and when I was a child they'd get dozens and dozens and dozens of kids every Halloween. Now, in more recent years, they'll only get two or three the entire night.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
Well kids grow up and people move. Families with kids can't afford those areas anymore. A block away from us there are tons of trick or treaters. Across an intersection it is dark and no trick or treaters at all. People know where the activities are and go there.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
Except that, while plenty of people have grown up and people have moved out, plenty of new families with kids have moved in.
No mansions, just a stereotypical suburban subdivision.
There *are* plenty of kids and families in the area. They just aren't trick-or-treating.
We get 4 waves. First are the tiny kids, then the neighborhood kids, then the ones driven in from other neighborhoods, then the teenagers. New this year was some, I think, teenage boys who came down the street like the Knott's sliders.
Pre-pandemic we regularly got over 200.
Pre-pandemic we regularly got over 200.
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Phroobar
Well-Known Member
It could be the ethnicity of the neighborhood has changed too. Asian families typically don't go trick or treating.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
160?!? I couldn't even imagine! What a fun, festive neighborhood you must live in. Even when I lived in Villa Park with lots of families nearby and parents who drove their kids across the freeway to us, I don't think I ever got anything close to 160!
My current neighborhood is gated and just outside a small city, so when I counted my leftover candy bars from Costco with 36 bars per box, I'd had 55 kids plus the gift baskets, so I'd guess a total of 60-ish trick or treaters total. Very manageable for me at this stage of life.
Here's the rundown on Halloween '24, in no particular order...
- Not a single blue alien. Again.
- Very little Star Wars, except for two of that Mandalorian guy who I recognized only because of the Baby Yoda component of their costumes, and thanks to this forum's Star Wars Land discussions.
- Quite a few young girls as Disney Princesses, mostly the classics of Miss White, Belle and Cinderella, plus several Moanas.
- A couple dozen video game characters, mostly the boys, all of whom I was clueless on and that had to be explained to me patiently even though the kids just wanted to bolt to the next front porch and the next candy haul. The kids here are very polite!
- The usual gaggle of monsters and zombies and scary whatevers, from the older kids post 4th grade or so.
- One new phenom this year were multiple older boys, 5th grade or older, who went as a certain President in a red hat. The boys were either the President, or one group that had a President and then a gaggle of suited Secret Service guys around him. I can't ever remember older kids dressing up as Presidents before, can you? But here we are.
- Best Girl Costume went to a young lady who had fabbed up a gorgeous dress full of LED lights and was Glinda The Good Witch from Wizard of Oz. Her mom beamed at the little gift basket, and then I got a full detail from the girl of how she designed it all, and how its her favorite movie, and had Dad and Mom help bring her vision to life. Adorable!
- Best Boy Costume went to a young man who went as an alien (green, not blue) trying to catch a SpaceX rocket. He had a helmet on which had a spinning mobile type wire with a cardboard rocket emblazoned SpaceX that spun and flailed wildly around his head, and when I opened the door he started his act of trying to catch the rocket and ranting (politely of course, see above) at "Elon" as the only guy who can catch that darn rocket. After all my complaining of not having a SpaceX exhibit in Tomorrowland, you can imagine how I died at that scene!
Automatic winner very early in the night! - Best Family Costume went to a young family of 5. They went as a barbershop quartet, in striped vests much like the Dapper Dans. But they had a little act when you opened the door; the dad started as the Baritone by singing "Trick or..." then the mom sang "Trick or..." then older brother, then younger brother, and it ended with the 5-ish year old girl who just sort of yelled "Treat!". They were kind of nerdy to be honest, but very sweet and terribly clever. The kids all got Hershey bars, plus the family gift basket. Fun!
I have to wait until 9 o'clock on October 31st.
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I love the scary/gory from the teens. One insisted on stabbing me with a rubber knife before asking for candy. (I sit out on the porch because my German shepherd is not thrilled with all of the door knocking.)
There were also a few 2-headed in a hooded black cape? that I didn't know. It was all I could do to tally and hand out candy and make conversation and try to imprint on the memorable costumes.
I feel better about my numbers now. My friend got 180 at her house so I was feeling like a slacker.
chadwpalm
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Had a 5:55pm reservation to Hearthstone Lounge and I got there and checked in to wait for the text. Over 30 minutes went by and I'm way too hungry, so I cancelled. I ended up walking over to Earl of Sandwich. It's cheaper anyway and they are happy to take my money.
I get it's the weekend and it's a popular place, but what's the point of a reservation if they make you wait so long anyway? The lady said it's because people don't want to leave. Lovely.
I think too it's because nobody wants to sit outside when it's 58°. Now I gotta sit outside anyway. Trip's starting off grand.
I get it's the weekend and it's a popular place, but what's the point of a reservation if they make you wait so long anyway? The lady said it's because people don't want to leave. Lovely.
I think too it's because nobody wants to sit outside when it's 58°. Now I gotta sit outside anyway. Trip's starting off grand.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Thinking back on it for the past 15 years or so (I think I started doing the gift basket prizes around '08 or '09), I always am most impressed by the children who dream up wacky and bizarre costumes that are barely grounded in reality, or that tell a weird little story. Like the Best Boy costume winner this year who won by going as a space alien trying to catch Elon's rockets. Who would think of that but some wacky 11 year old?!?
I still remember the 10-ish year old girl who won a Best Girl gift basket back in the 2010's when she showed up on my door dressed up looking like Sherlock Holmes, tweed cape and all. But then she took out her giant magnifying glass and peered into my basket of candy and said authoritatively "Orange County Candy Inspector at your service, I'm here to inspect your offerings!"
And.... I..... Died!
I just love that! I'm glad it's still a big deal in many neighborhoods. When I moved, that first Halloween I thought I'd be lucky to get a dozen or so kids. But I got quite a bit. And this year the numbers increased from '23. I'm hoping the word is getting out we're a good neighborhood for candy. I don't know that I could handle 160, but I could probably ramp up to 80 or 90 from the 55 or so I got this year.
It's interesting that I didn't see many Disney or Pixar or Star Wars stuff this year. Nor any noticeable Marvel presence, now that I think about it. The one Disney trend were the little girls in that 4 to 6 year old range early in the night being Disney Princesses. Otherwise, I didn't see any Disney costumes. I remember 10 years ago when Star Wars stuff was EVERYWHERE on Halloween.
That can't be a good sign for Burbank. Especially going into the Christmas toy buying season.
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TP2000
Well-Known Member
Here's the rundown on Halloween '24, in no particular order...
- Not a single blue alien. Again.
Quoting myself here. Uh, gang.... are we absolutely sure that the best of use of Anaheim's limited park expansion space is to build a new version of Avatarland?
Did anyone get a blue alien on their doorstep this Halloween? Looking online real quick at the Christmas toy offerings on Target.com, there's not an Avatar department or any Avatar presence of any kind this Christmas.
Those of you here with children, are you aware of any Avatar cultural impact at your child's school or social group?
I get it, the movies are financially successful and are visually impressive to watch. But culturally? Merchandise? T-shirts?
I'm not seeing it. Why would Avatar be a big expensive new land in Anaheim? There's nothing else they could do?
TP2000
Well-Known Member
That's hysterical.
In the early 1990's in Charleston, South Carolina there was a gay bar that just after Last Call on a Saturday night would turn on the lights at 2am and play the It's A Small World song very loudly to get everyone to leave fast and spill out into the street.
Unfortunately for them, I was a huge Disneyland nerd and would purposely wait to hear that song in its entirety. Even if I had a promising little beauty to take with me out into the street and onward into the night. I'd make him wait until the song ended.
I’m with you on this. I think Disney assumes that because people (still?) will wait 2-3 hours for the one at AK that it will be popular, but I think it has more to do with how few other attractions there are and I doubt as many people would wait even an hour for it at MK or DHS, to say nothing of DLR.
My kids are elementary school age and when I ask them if we should buy LLSP on our visits to WDW (DLR is our home park) they usually just shrug and say it’s not worth it. My son would rather do Everest a second time standby than ride FoP, I think my daughter would be happy to do it for free or less than 20m wait, but these days we don’t really visit Pandora at all.
If it’s going in DCA and it’s a coaster (I know it’s not) I’d support it (I’m not picky about my coaster theming as long as it’s fun), but I don’t see it being that much of a draw for anybody who isn’t going to Disney for every new thing anyway.
My kids would be far more excited about a ride from Avengers (I know they are getting plenty), Moana, Inside Out, and my tween would be thrilled for a Descendants attraction. I think a multi-movie villains themed ride would be extremely popular with kids and adults, and they’re dreaming one up for MK anyway, right?
chadwpalm
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Interesting morning so far. Got to M&F parking at 7:55a and there was only like 5 cars in front of me. Took 2 minutes to park. Got to bag check at 8:05 and there were so few people that several lanes were completely empty. Same with tram. Got my own row. Indication of light day?
I chose the HMH VQ at 7am and I want to test how easy/hard it is to get the LL. Today is the colder day, so I might wait until tomorrow to ride. We'll see.
Oh yeah, got boarding group 4 for HM and was called before the park opened lol.
I chose the HMH VQ at 7am and I want to test how easy/hard it is to get the LL. Today is the colder day, so I might wait until tomorrow to ride. We'll see.
Oh yeah, got boarding group 4 for HM and was called before the park opened lol.