Thunderdome 2015 » Printable Version of Topic » Random vacation thoughts and happenstance.

Forum: General Stuff
Topic: Random vacation thoughts and happenstance.
started by: GORDON

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 18 2014,17:31

Well today 4 out of 5 lanes were shut down for an accident on I-75 in Atlanta when I was going through, and Troy lives in Atlanta, but I am sure that is just a coincidence and he doesn't know anything about it.

Posted by TheCatt on Sep. 18 2014,17:58

Atlanta kinda always sucks.

Posted by thibodeaux on Sep. 18 2014,18:10

We are going to Universal Studios Monday and Tuesday. You still gonna be in town?

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 18 2014,18:11

(thibodeaux @ Sep. 18 2014,21:10)

QUOTE

We are going to Universal Studios Monday and Tuesday. You still gonna be in town?

Will be on Disney property next week. I don't know if they let you leave until your week is up, or ever.

Posted by thibodeaux on Sep. 18 2014,18:20

I say you and me ditch the wives and kids and go...do man stuff.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 18 2014,18:22

Tuesday is the late night Halloween party. Monday we have dinner reservations somewhere, but after....

Posted by Troy on Sep. 18 2014,18:54

(GORDON @ Sep. 18 2014,17:31)

QUOTE

Saw traffic on facebook about this. Bad crash, many lanes closed, stay the hell away from 75.

luckily my my route home is only a few thousand steps or so

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 19 2014,06:32

QUOTE

I say you and me ditch the wives and kids and go...do man stuff.

This sounds like gay code.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 19 2014,10:23

Thib: don't eat at Leaky Cauldron. Food was gross, the display items in the window looked fresher than what we were served.

At Disaster! Ride: when you get herded into the big room with 3 doors, get far left. My kid was chosen to get on stage and shoot scenes with a major Hollywood actor.

Currently in line for transformers. More later.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 19 2014,10:25

Also butterbeer is actually pretty good. Get a frozen one, tastes like root beer float.

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 19 2014,10:33

(GORDON @ Sep. 19 2014,12:25)

QUOTE

Also butterbeer is actually pretty good. Get a frozen one, tastes like root beer float.

Aren't those non-alcoholic?

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 19 2014,10:41

Unless you spike it with what you filled your water bottle with.

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 19 2014,10:42

(GORDON @ Sep. 19 2014,12:41)

QUOTE

Unless you spike it with what you filled your water bottle with.

Thought about doing that for the Chicago trip, but Riot Fest security was the most lax I've ever seen. If you didn't bring a backpack or purse, you weren't even patted down. Between my jacket and cargo pants, I had a mini-mini-bar on me at all times.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 19 2014,11:52

Twister is kind of lame. And I have never seen bill Paxton more melodramatic... Which is saying a lot.

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 19 2014,12:15

(GORDON @ Sep. 19 2014,13:52)

QUOTE

Twister is kind of lame. And I have never seen bill Paxton more melodramatic... Which is saying a lot.

What?

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 19 2014,15:25

Bill Paxton. They have a lot of actors doing original stuff related to whatever movie of theirs has an attraction here. The Terminator thing was insane because of it... Edward Furlong just as he was starting his drug meltdown.

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 19 2014,15:46

Edward Furlong is the K-mart version of River Phoenix, including drug habits.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 19 2014,17:09

Today at Universal, I would say everything was worth the wait except for Twister. That was just a long wait for a lot of of lame.

My fave thing was probably the Transformers ride. It made you feel like you were in a massive city inside that big warehouse.

Wife's fave was the Mummy ride, but I hardly remember anything about it.

The Harry Potter/Gringot's ride was good. One of the little video scenes was broken when I went through, though. You could hear the actors speaking but you didn't get the video.

The Rockit roller coaster was outstanding, me and the kid loved it. We chose to blast Beastie Boys/Sabotage on our ride. It goes well.

You have to put your shit into lockers for half the rides, fortunately they are free as long as you don't go over what they estimate the ride length is.

The food we had was terrible. At the "Leaky Cauldron" in Diagon I had a "Banger" which was basically a sausage dog with fries.... it looked nothing like the display. The roll was hard and stale, the sausage was small, the kraut looked old as hell, and the fries looked like they had been under the heat lamp for 4 hours. No soft drinks. I had the "fizzy orange juice" and it was ok. The kid had pumpkin juice but didn't like it.... I had a sip, tasted like watered down fruit punch. All in all, big thumbs down for the food.

Don't do the survey on the way out, if they ask. It takes 20 minutes and they don't give you anything.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 19 2014,17:16

TONS of foreigners. The ones with the darker skin tones have no concept of personal space, if they weren't all up on you when in the queues, they were slamming into you when you were walking around, butting in between our little 3 person group. I almost had to commit a hate crime when one of them carelessly slammed into my kid trying to get around us.

The white ones all had british accents. Of all the people I heard speaking, 75% of them seemed to be foreign.

Lots of Hogwarts school robes in Diagon Alley.... there was one hottie who had hers open and she had a tight belly shirt and a VERY short black skirt on. I liked her.

I also liked the Marylin Monroe they had standing around in the old Hollywood section. My kid didn't know who she was but I made him get a pic since we were the only ones there.

I didn't like the fact the most of the rides and attractions... it starts out nice and orderly with the regular queues, but then as you get into whatever the thing is, there's just a big room and a free for all and everybody jockeys for position. Most rides are like this, for some reason. It becomes a mess.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 19 2014,17:21

And, as seems to be a trend with non-Disney properties, they let you pay to be a line jumper. Disney has Fast Pass, available to everyone for free, which is a reservation to ride a ride at a later time. Cedar Point in Ohio and Universal in Orlando have, basically, pay an extra hundred and you get the short line and fuck everybody else. I saw people go through the fast line 3 times in the time I was waiting for the roller coaster. It used to be line jumping was grounds for dismissal from the park... now line jumping is cool as long as you cough up a c-note first. I fucking hate that.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 20 2014,05:49

Raining today. Apparently this is the remnant of a Pacific hurricane that went through the southwest. Off to Universal Islands of Adventure.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 20 2014,15:59

Universal: Islands of Adventure:

This is where the Hogwarts castle and Hogsmead... is.

The Hogwarts ride is pretty neat. First time through was a lot of fun, wife and I got off very slightly queasy. Lines were short so we immediately got back on.... wife and I got off the second time ready to hurl. You want a long line.... the queue inside the castle takes you past a lot of animatronics and holograms that play out a story, and you will want to stay to see everything. But we had no line and had to zip past it all. We went again in the afternoon and went through slower to get the "picture." That joke will make sense to Thib next week.

The "Three Broomsticks" pub actually had good food. Everything looked fresh and plentiful. I had a "Hog Head Brew" that was a decent scottish ale they claimed is brewed just for them, and the kid had another Butterbeer. I may look up the recipe for that beer when I get home if I am in the mood for one.

Spiderman Ride: fun and Stan Lee was in it. Meeting Spiderman: he had a cuban or mexican accent. That was weird.

Dr. Suess Cat in the Hat ride: drop acid before riding. Trust me. The kids too.

The Restaurant in the big Jurassic Park building: burgers were not great. Go in to look at the neat stuff and put your head in the things that control the dinosaur heads, but avoid eating there. Expenses were spared.

Wife and kid enjoyed the Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw Falls ride, but I wasn't in the mood to get douched so I skipped it. They got douched. Twice. Kid and I were referring to the ride all day after as the Douchetron 5000.

Doctor Doom ride is neat, but is quick.

The mini coaster at Hogwarts... the Hippogriff one.... is a little faster than it looks, but lasts about 30 seconds so the 30 minute wait we had felt kind of anticlimactic.

I farted on everything I could, enjoy.

Tomorrow we are moving onto Disney property, checking in and spending the afternoon at Epcot. More later.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 21 2014,07:19

I was trying to remember this lat night but couldn't:

We were sitting in the Three Broomsticks restaurant having some beers and shooting the shit. I was telling my kid how he is part Scottish. He says, "Wow, now I feel like complaining about things."

Posted by Troy on Sep. 21 2014,08:23

Solid write-ups.

No kids any time soon, so no amusement parks either. I'll live vicariously through your posts.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 21 2014,08:44

Just checked into Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World. I can actually see giraffe from the balcony.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 21 2014,09:17

Hey there is free wifi here, now? Neat.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 21 2014,17:06

Epcot today. Nothing really to report.... except maybe a lot fewer foreigners. This is wine and food festival season at epcot.... and they added craft beer tasting, too. It is crowded but glorious. Sooooo many food and beer stalls.

Also, the best food I have ever had on Disney property is the Mexico thing in epcot. The restaurant in the step pyramid. We are 2 for 2, there. Amazingly good food.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 23 2014,14:15

Been raining here for a good chunk of the day. Wonder how to Thib is enjoying Universal.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 24 2014,05:41

It rained like a bastard with a bitch for a mother last night at 5 when the park closed and the halloween party began. I have never seen such a long-lasting torrent of rain while at Disney. Lasted hours and it was a hard downpour.

To their credit, Disney didn't shut down anything. Cedar Point starts closing rides at the first sprinkles, literally. Granted, everything there is outside, but Disney has outside stuff too and it was all operating in the downpour... and people were out in it and loving it. Place was packed full of people in ponchos.

And then the rain died 15 minutes before the parade was to start. Nice.

My feet were wet for a good 8 hours.... I was afraid the skin from the bottom of my feet was going to slough off when I took off my shoes last night.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 24 2014,05:43

We were trying to head out early to avoid the bus rush and ended up BeHIND the castle when the fireworks show started.

That is THE place to be. In front of the castle you get the fireworks show with the castle framed. Behind, shit is exploding everywhere around you. A couple times we had simultaneous 360 degree explosions happening, and at the finale it was full noon-brightness for about 7 seconds. That was neat. Disney knows how to put on a fucking show.

Posted by Paul on Sep. 24 2014,15:12

(GORDON @ Sep. 20 2014,18:59)

QUOTE

Doctor Doom ride is neat, but is quick.

That's what his wife said.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 24 2014,15:43

I may be getting too old to be on my feet 12 hours a day. Day 1 my feet were killing me at 6pm. Day 2, 3pm. Day 3 at noon, and day 4 I woke up still sore from day 3 and ever since have just been stacking on the pain.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 24 2014,18:24

Hey Leisher, remember that drive-in restaurant at Hollywood Studios? They changed the menu to not suck any more. I had a big bottle of Flat Tire and a New York Strip.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 24 2014,18:33

At the Halloween party in the magic Kingdom, we actually had people asking if they could get pics with my kid, who appeared to be the only Star Lord in the entire park. He loved it.

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 24 2014,18:39

Bah. Drax > Quill.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 24 2014,19:23

There was a Gamora... goddam. She was so hot I was momentarily stunned and didn't think to get them together in a pic and then the crowd moved us apart.

But it was awesome when a Bob and Linda stopped us for a pic.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 25 2014,05:36

Going to attempt to hit all 4 parks today... which I call "batting the cycle." I just made up that phrase.

Haven't even left the room yet and the wife and kid are already complaining.

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 25 2014,07:24

QUOTE

Haven't even left the room yet and the wife and kid are already complaining.

Why'd you bring them again?

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 26 2014,05:34

It has been unseasonably rainy this week, and according to the park dude I talked to yesterday, attendance has been low through the month of September... until this week when the parks have been packed. So. Bad luck.

50 minutes to wait for Pirates of the Caribbean is a packed park. we've never had a wait for that, ever.

Wonder how Thib's doing.

Posted by TheCatt on Sep. 26 2014,05:44

I saw a picture of his on the Mad Tea Cup ride, so I'm just assuming he's doing that over and over and over.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 26 2014,05:50

He's at Disney? He only mentioned Universal.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 26 2014,09:01

Today I decided fuckit: I could walk all day again where every step is agony, or I can drop seventy bones on a motorized scooter. Today I join the hordes of fatties too lazy to walk.

And it is glorious. The park looks different when not seen through a haze of pain.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 26 2014,09:05

I think everyone decided they want to drive the 16 hours home without stopping for the night. Makes no difference to them since I am the one driving 90% of the time. So looks like Sunday at 2am for getting home. Who's up for some League?

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 28 2014,08:47

16 hours doesn't sound like a long time to drive, but it really is.

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 28 2014,09:10

QUOTE

the hordes of fatties too lazy to walk.

Fatso-Transpos.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 28 2014,09:13

(GORDON @ Sep. 25 2014,08:36)

QUOTE

Going to attempt to hit all 4 parks today... which I call "batting the cycle." I just made up that phrase.

Haven't even left the room yet and the wife and kid are already complaining.

By the way, this was a success. We hit and rode the major rides in all 4 parks, hitting the last at 4pm in time to make out 7pm dinner reservation.

Posted by thibodeaux on Sep. 28 2014,10:05

I'll give my recap:
Monday did Universal. We stayed at a Universal hotel so we got to get in the park an hour before official opening time. Ran (literally) to Diagon Alley to get on the Gringott's ride. Still had to wait a while in the queue. Went to Ollivander's and the kids got picked to be in the wand-choosing or whatever. Bought some candy and crap. And wands.

Rode the train over to Hogsmeade. Rode the Castle ride, that was good. Waited in line for Hippogriff (dumb). Rode the Dragon (heh) three times; the line was so short we were just cutting back through the "re-ride" shortcut. Had lunch at 3 Broomsticks.

Then we went and rode a bunch of the Marvel rides. Rode Spiderman once and The Hulk 3 times. I blacked out the 2nd time. Rode Dr. Doom (definitely very short for the wait). The we rode the Popeye water ride and the Dudley Do-right water ride. Then it poured rain for an hour, and then we rode the Jurassic Park water ride twice, because there was no line: they shut everything down when it storms. Lightning actually hit the Men-in-Black building we found out later.

Tuesday back to Universal. Rode Gringott's again. Rode the Minions, then Shrek (lame!), then rode Rockit three times. I was blasting Motley Crue. Also did Tornado (EXTREMELY lame), the Mummy, and Disaster. My kid got to star with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in Disaster. We went through Poseidon's Fury, and my kid got chosen to be the "assisstant."

Then we did MiB and ET (lame!). Had lunch at Cauldron: bangers and mash. I liked it, so maybe Gordon is just Scottish. Rode the train back to Hogsmeade and rode the Castle. Kids rode the kiddie Flyer ride in Jurassic Park (lame). Then we rode the Dragon twice.

Wednesday we went to Magic Kingdom. Got in when they opened and ran to the new 7 Dwarfs ride. Then Splash Mt, then Big Thunder Mt. (twice). Did Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents, Peter Pan, Small World, Tom Sawyer Island (kids loved the caves). Then Country Bears, Swiss Family Robinson, Teacups, Little Mermaid. Rode the train around the park, then did Monster Inc Laugh Factory (enjoyable!), Space Mountain twice, Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder Mt (again). Finally we watched the Electric Parade, which I found weird and lame. We slid out during the fireworks. Also, we had lunch at some Space Cafe; I had ribs where weren't bad.

Also, we drove, which was about 9.5 hours, interstate all the way, down on Sunday, back on Thursday.

Ok summary: Universal > Disney. Disney is jammed with fatsos on scooters, and families with strollers. Also the rides are LAME! The most extreme coaster is Space Mountain, and it's only exciting because it's pitch black. Everthing else you're just kind of putting along a track looking at robot animals or some goofy shit that was cool in 1968 or whatever. So fuck Disney.

Universal, we rode the shit out of their coasters. My kids (10 and 8) ranked them as follows:
1. Rockit
2. Hulk
3. Dragon

I tend to agree. Although the Hulk and Rockit beat the shit out of me. I will most likely never ever fly a fighter jet, but I betcha the Rockit is close to what that feels like.

The rest of most of the rides, like the Harry Potter rides, Spiderman, and Transformers, were OK but I prefer the coasters. These rides are technologically interesting. They have 3-D video, and the cars are on the end of what are basically giant industrial robot manipulators, so they can do some interesting things. They are very immersive, but I still prefer the coasters.

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 28 2014,10:22

QUOTE

I will most likely never ever fly a fighter jet, but I betcha the Rockit is close to what that feels like.

Back at Six Flags over Mid-America, there was this coaster called the Ninja. When it was introduced, it worked like a well-oiled machine. After a few years of neglect, it got jittery and brutal.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 28 2014,11:51

(thibodeaux @ Sep. 28 2014,13:05)

QUOTE

My kid got to star with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in Disaster.

Yes, so did mine! I got to be the Agent.

It was after the fact when I saw the joke... when they filmed, they tell the kid to look up at a boulder dangling from ropes from the ceiling, in order to get the correct eye-line. They say, "Look up at the rock!"

Then after post production, the kid is looking up at The Rock.

Wish we could have gotten the vid on a thumb drive or something.... because the gardening granny was also hilarious.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 28 2014,11:55

(thibodeaux @ Sep. 28 2014,13:05)

QUOTE

Ok summary: Universal > Disney. Disney is jammed with fatsos on scooters, and families with strollers. Also the rides are LAME! The most extreme coaster is Space Mountain, and it's only exciting because it's pitch black. Everthing else you're just kind of putting along a track looking at robot animals or some goofy shit that was cool in 1968 or whatever. So fuck Disney.

Disnery is more than just the Magic Kingdom, where you went. That place was designed for kids.

Disney Hollywood Studios has an Aerosmith coaster which is good, and an excellent Twilight Zone ride.

Animal Kingdom (which I call Animal Sucktown because I don't like zoos) has a massive Mt. Everest Coaster, a water ride, and a Dinosaur ride that is jerky as hell.

Epcot has the big ball which is nice just to sit in AC for 10 minutes, but they also have Test Track where your kid gets to design a car then ride in it and compete against the other assholes in your car, it has a Mission to Mars ride that had me ready to puke, and... that might be it for the thrill ride stuff.

You guys went to the lamest park. SHould have hit all 4 in one day like the one family did once.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 28 2014,12:02

Oh, and the I-75 pig report:

About 150 miles of I-75 in Florida north of Orlando, about 15% of the entire trip, and we counted 22 cops.... on the way down. 17 on the way north. We saw an equivalent number in Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio.... combined. They really care about safety in Florida.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 28 2014,12:04

Also, I can't ride the Monorail any more without wondering if that was the seat TPR got laid on. *shiver*

Posted by TheCatt on Sep. 28 2014,12:23

(GORDON @ Sep. 28 2014,15:04)

QUOTE

Also, I can't ride the Monorail any more without wondering if that was the seat TPR got laid on. *shiver*

wut wut?

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 28 2014,12:54

Complaint about Disney Hollywood Studios:

Everything is Frozen.

The main street is decorated in a Frozen motif. They make it snow now and then. A popular ride is being shut down and turned into a Frozen ride. In the park there is a thing to turn your little girl into a Frozen princess. The line to met the Frozen princesses is always 100+ minutes, all day long. The dumb Olaf snowman is everywhere. My wife said there was something else there geared toward girls. There is nothing neat for little boys. An employee there said the Frozen stuff was supposed to be gone already but it was so darned popular they kept it....

It would be a shame if they had done the park up in Guardians of the Galaxy, most popular movie of the year, to match the 50 foot billboard they had on a studio wall.

Posted by Vince on Sep. 28 2014,17:47

(GORDON @ Sep. 28 2014,14:54)

QUOTE

It would be a shame if they had done the park up in Guardians of the Galaxy, most popular movie of the year, to match the 50 foot billboard they had on a studio wall.

Marvel is for boys. Disney is for girls. Thought you knew that.

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 28 2014,18:28

QUOTE

Universal > Disney

Is Universal even a theme park? I thought they were a thrill park like Cedar Point? Also, Universal can't carry Cedar Point's jock in terms of thrills. (Rated #1 in the world.)

However, as a theme park Disney > everybody else. They're more about a family experience and vacation, not just about thrills.

You probably wouldn't want a motorcycle for your daily commute, but if you want to feel the wind in your hair it wins over your Honda Accord.

QUOTE

Disnery is more than just the Magic Kingdom, where you went.

You only went there? Yeah, you missed all the "adult" and new stuff. As Gordo said, the Magic Kingdom is for kids, mainly girls, and features all the nostalgic stuff. Although, did you ride the new roller coaster with the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs theme?

QUOTE

Epcot has the big ball which is nice just to sit in AC for 10 minutes, but they also have Test Track where your kid gets to design a car then ride in it and compete against the other assholes in your car, it has a Mission to Mars ride that had me ready to puke, and... that might be it for the thrill ride stuff.

You forgot Soarin' and beer from around the world. Not to mention 2 five star restaurants.

QUOTE

Animal Kingdom (which I call Animal Sucktown because I don't like zoos) has a massive Mt. Everest Coaster, a water ride, and a Dinosaur ride that is jerky as hell.

Which Dino ride? The coaster or the themed one with the great scare towards the end?

QUOTE

Disney Hollywood Studios has an Aerosmith coaster which is good, and an excellent Twilight Zone ride.

Both are awesome.

QUOTE

Marvel is for boys. Disney is for girls. Thought you knew that.

That perception is why they bought Marvel and Star Wars.

Give them time. When I was there three years ago there was talk of a fifth park (Downtown and Boardwalk Disney don't count). Nobody knew what it was based on, but the word was thrills. Personally, I think it's a no brainer that they create a park geared towards boys.

Posted by Vince on Sep. 28 2014,18:45

(Leisher @ Sep. 28 2014,20:28)

QUOTE

Marvel is for boys. Disney is for girls. Thought you knew that.

I don't think it's just the perception. Disney is kind of odd how they deal with their brand. I remember when The Black Hole came out and the Disney execs were all worried about how it would look as that movie had somewhat more adult themes and was darker than most Disney flicks. So they made Touchstone and then eventually bought Mirimax so as not to "taint" the Disney name with those things.

So even with the shit tons of money that Guardians of The Galaxy made, the raccoon grabbing his crotch and the lead flipping of the Nova police and all the violence of all the Marvel movies in general will keep them from ever fully embracing Marvel as a Disney product. They're the whore that keep referring to themselves "lady of the evening". They're still taking the money.

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 28 2014,18:57

I don't understand your argument at all.

That's just good marketing/business.

Disney does have a brand that evokes a perception. Why would you do something to taint it?

That being said, they can use their other brands in the way they've built themselves. Meanwhile, Disney doesn't exactly hide the fact that they own them.

I'm not seeing the problem.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 28 2014,19:45

Oh yeah, Soarin'.... I think that is the dullest, most overrated ride based on anything, anywhere. I just don't get the appeal.

I meant the Dinosaur ride in the dark. Not as jerky as I remember, but still bounces you around in your seat.

We rode the new 7 Dwarfs coaster twice.... cute, but kinda lame. Not even as fast as the... ummm... the coaster that is the train next to the water ride. Drawing a blank. Oh, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It isn't even as fast as that, and that aint fast.

Posted by Vince on Sep. 28 2014,20:05

(Leisher @ Sep. 28 2014,20:57)

QUOTE

It's no secret that RJ Reynolds owns Nabisco either, but you don't see a "Brought to you by the great folks that brought you Winston cigarettes" on your shredded wheat either. It's propaganda is all I'm saying.

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 29 2014,07:21

QUOTE

Disney does have a brand that evokes a perception. Why would you do something to taint it?

Their brand is taint.

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 29 2014,07:33

QUOTE

It's propaganda is all I'm saying.

While I'll grant you that there's a fine line between propaganda and marketing there is a line...

Posted by Vince on Sep. 29 2014,10:45

In my perfect world, conglomerates would have to lead their branding with the parent company’s name. It would be Disney’s ABC, and Disney’s ESPN, and Disney’s Marvel Studios etc. I’d wager that 90% of the public doesn’t know that Disney owns ABC, ESPN, Marvel, the Star Wars properties plus which ever other movie companies it now holds. I know they’ve owned Touchstone and Mirmax, but they buy and sell stuff every so often. Which just goes to my point that I’m not even sure of all the entertainment outlets they own now.

I think this is important because it gives you the proper context of things. For instance, knowing GE owned NBC at the time they started their yearly “Green Week” really put the whole thing in its proper perspective. GE wanted to guilt you into buy new GE products because your destroying the planet.

But here’s the thing. 90% of the general public doesn’t know what all Disney owns, but guess who does? The special interest groups. So ABC runs a sitcom with a character that CAIR or the Rainbow Coalition or the LGBT groups find offensive and a letter goes to Disney corporate threatening pickets in front of their parks and suddenly the character disappears off the show. And they (Disney) get to pretend it’s because they’re high minded and realized that they were being offensive.

Having the parent company as part of the name of all the conglomerates forces the parent company to stop pretending they have standards that they don’t have. They can’t pretend that they won’t have a scene in a Disney movie because having bare titties flopping around doesn’t meet the Disney standards, but having them in a Mirmax film is fine. Mirmax standards ARE Disney standards as well.

I like Warner Brothers because the name in front of the movie title says Warner Brothers whether it’s Bugs Bunny or and R rated flick.

Posted by thibodeaux on Oct. 02 2014,09:18

PS on the Twister "attraction." Evidently Bill P and Helen Hunt hated each other so much after making the movie that they wouldn't work together to make the video for the attraction. So they shot them separately and there's actually two separate screens in the attraction.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 02 2014,09:27

I noticed the separateness of their videos... it seemed obvious they weren't in the same place at the same time... I didn't think anything of it. Didn't know they hated each other.

I side with Bill. She must have been a flaming bitch.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 02 2014,11:43

< 10 pairs of actors who hated each other. >

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 02 2014,11:51

(Leisher @ Oct. 02 2014,13:43)

QUOTE

< 10 pairs of actors who hated each other. >

Brando and Jack Nicholson hated each other, too. Also, everyone who's worked with Val Kilmer has not had nice things to say.

Posted by Vince on Oct. 02 2014,12:48

(Leisher @ Oct. 02 2014,13:43)

QUOTE

< 10 pairs of actors who hated each other. >

My stepdad's great nephew was the stand-in turned stunt double (for the easy stuff) in The Client. My stepdad ended up being his legal guardian on the set. They had a birthday party for Tommy Lee Jones' daughter (don't remember how old, but in the 6 or 7 range) and my stepdad had picked up a doll of some sort and my mother wrapped. Up until that point my stepdad though Jones was the biggest tool he'd ever seen. He thought he considered himself way better than everyone else and didn't talk to anyone, etc. The day after the birthday party/gathering Tommy Lee walked up to my stepdad and thanked him for the gift, saying it was very nice. The whole time he couldn't make eye contact and kept looking down at his feet sort of kicking the ground. That was when my stepdad realized he wasn't an arrogant ass, he was painfully (almost debilitating) shy.

Sounds like he's one of these odd performers that have to get into a role in order to perform. I read that David Bowie was like that and this was the reason for his stage personas.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 02 2014,13:07

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I read that David Bowie was like that and this was the reason for his stage personas.

Reason for David Bowie's stage personas: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

He was one of the first musicians that let people, more or less, invest in him and his career.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 02 2015,06:21

(GORDON @ Sep. 26 2014,08:34)

QUOTE

Wife stumbled upon a really cheap package deal a few months ago, and she and my kid were at Disney all last week. She figured it would be ok because this is supposed to be the off season.

Apparently, there is no off-season any more. She said the park was packed with (rude as hell) Brazilians. One of the Disney employees told her that yeah, there are off season for Americans, but now those are the times when all the foreigners show up. Getting a non-crowded Disney experience may be becoming rarer.

And they just raised their gate prices to over $100/ticket, too, but only chumps pay full price. They are having more and more days when they hit capacity and close the doors to the park, so they raised prices.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 02 2015,08:32

Yeah, last time we were there was a few Januarys ago and while there weren't as many Americans, there were a lot of foreigners (Europeans). Apparently it was their winter break time or something like that.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 02 2015,09:34

The park employees said they were literally Brazilians. For some reason their entire country visits up these weeks. Dawn said they smelled bad and didn't have any concept of personal space.

Posted by Troy on Mar. 02 2015,11:36

St. Lucia was amazing. There was a lot ofwind and a small craft advisory offshore, so I stayed close to the bays and rented small sail boats. Had a blast.

Posted by Vince on Mar. 02 2015,13:20

(GORDON @ Mar. 02 2015,11:34)

QUOTE

The park employees said they were literally Brazilians. For some reason their entire country visits up these weeks. Dawn said they smelled bad and didn't have any concept of personal space.

What do you expect? They think soccer is football.

Posted by GORDON on Nov. 07 2015,16:48

(GORDON @ Sep. 19 2014,14:52)

QUOTE

Twister is kind of lame. And I have never seen bill Paxton more melodramatic... Which is saying a lot.

Looks like they took my criticism seriously. They are turning it into a "Jimmy Kimmel Ride," whatever the fuck that means.

< http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel....st.html >

I'm going back June, 2016. If it is done I will revisit this post.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 07 2015,17:11

QUOTE

They are turning it into a "Jimmy Kimmel Ride," whatever the fuck that means.

Jimmy Fallon ride. BIG difference there.

I guess they're have you act badly, tell horrible jokes, and constantly laugh when nobody else is laughing?

Posted by GORDON on Nov. 07 2015,17:21

Heh, weird. I knew that and still typed the incorrect name.

I probably made Paul blast in his pants.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 01 2015,18:08

(GORDON @ Sep. 28 2014,14:55)

QUOTE

We skipped the Aerosmith and Twilight Zone rides.

Animal Kingdom - I rode Everest. It was fun for a coaster, the backward action was neatish. My 5yo loved the Dinosaur ride, we rode it twice. My other kid loved the rapids one, we rode that twice.

5yo loves coaster. 8yo loves water. 5yo hates water, apparently (After Splash Mountain "You didn't tell me we'd get soaked" -> "I said we'd get wet" "yes, but you didn't say SOAKED". We also got soaked in Pirates of the Caribbean cuz we were in the first row (we were literally first row of every ride we were on that had rows, except one. I'm not sure how that happened)

Test Track was fun - both kids loved it.

Mission to Mars (Mission: Space) sucked. Disney rides are so lame that I chose Orange for us. I nearly puked. My 8yo did puke.

I don't think I'll be back to Disney any time soon.

Biggest annoyances: Lines everywhere. Most lines very boring with little theming. Foreign people. People stealing my towels and breakfast (seriously. Fortunately I hadn't paid for it yet). Meal plan with desserts everywhere + overinflated food prices. Bad food. Poor ride descriptions (almost everything is "thrilling") Impossible to tell what rides may be too much for my motion sickness prone child (According to Disney: anything she does beyond walking). Have to do way too much education/research/planning for a trip.

We had a lot of fun, but most of it was being with my family and my enjoying their enjoyment. I rode Everest by myself since no one else wanted to, and it just fell flat. Meanwhile, riding the Epcot discount go karts wants awesome cuz my 4/5yo was HILARIOUS about driving the car.

I don't expect to be back at Disney again.