Transcript
Zach: I'm Zach and I am not the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
Ben: I'm Ben and I'm, I have united healthcare, care which I know I've had that for the last three jobs I've had.
Zach: Be careful.
Ben: And I always was like, Oh, it seems like a decent provider. Then I did some research on them and I realized it's not the case.
Zach: You never got really angry with the CEO, right?
Ben: Apparently they, no, no.
Ben: they ah And then I was doing some research on it and apparently they figured out a way to use AI to deny claims.
Zach: Man, AI is everywhere now.
Zach: It's like I don't need an AI fucking poop scooper.
Ben: it's It's funny being in like the corporate world because like every meeting AI is brought up by like the executive level and it's just like, okay, but like, what do you want to do with it? And like, no one knows, no one has any, no one has any ideas. It's just like, let's just use AI or like let's um implement AI or
Zach: yeah well what if the ai ai'd yo dog i heard you like ai so we put ai on your ai that's what every fucking company's doing now now when you google like what is a blueberry
Ben: I mean, it's basically what, I don't know, at least. Yeah. Before it was an app.
Zach: Fucking Google comes back with like a blueberry is a crayon made by Crayola You're like, uh -huh
Ben: Yeah. Some of it's getting really bad. And, um, I don't know. And in what's fucked too is like, people don't realize that this shit takes up, so it has like huge water consumption and CO2 emissions from all the processing power.
Zach: Yeah, right.
Ben: So it's
Zach: Every time you ask Google's assistant some dumbass question that it gets wrong.
Zach: Fucking you just lost fucking three glasses of drinking water asshole.
Ben: I mean, that's that's one of the reasons why I'm not super like pessimistic about it, just because it's gonna reach a point where the novelty wears off, and then like you have to face the power demand challenges, and it's just not gonna be worth it. I mean, right now, all this AI shit is subsidized because of you know VC money and all this stuff, but like at a certain point, it's like, well,
Ben: It's got to make money somehow. So.
Zach: Oh, you. yeah Oh, dude, I live in San Francisco. Fucking Jesus Christ. I was driving recently back over the Bay Bridge and every fucking billboard. Do your company have AI? Find out how you can install AI. Is AI in your conversations? Fucking amen.
Ben: Mm hmm.
Ben: Yeah, that Bay Area tech world is bizarre. It's a completely different environment.
Ben: I mean, my last two jobs were like in that environment. There was a lot of Kool -Aid too.
Ben: and
Ben: I, it's like I side with those types of people, but at the same time, like, I don't think those people realize they're also like kind of in a cult. And the way that they look down on other people and outside of the San Francisco area is kind of funny and sad, but.
Zach: Yeah, a fucking cold brew shouldn't cost twelve dollars.
Ben: Mm -hmm.
Zach: That shouldn't let's normalize not that.
Ben: Yeah. And everything that's, and there's just the kind of that generalization of like anything that's not in New York, LA or San Francisco is just like hillbilly, like bum fuck uneducatedness,
Ben: which is always like mentality. I feel like those people have, but
Zach: Right, as if they don't realize that agriculture is doing a lot of work for this state as well.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: But that's a whole nother issue and I'm not.
Zach: I've driven the five the whole way, ah down from San Francisco to LA. You appreciate all of it. The part that smells like cow shit.
Zach: than the the traffic key parts and the pretty parts and all of it.
Zach: Well, because here's the deal, right? You have to. Because it's California.
Ben: Yeah, I mean, it's, it's. Wait, well, and that's the thing too. And like, when, when, when, when like, when Midwesterners complain about Californians and it's always like, oh, there's all these Californians, it's like, well, yeah you know, the state's like 10 % of the population. So.
Ben: I don't know if you're, I don't know if you're expecting like an evenly distributed amount of transplants from all their 48 states or 49 states in your, in your state, but the numbers are going to say that you're going to see more Californians than any other state and all those.
Zach: Yeah.
Zach: How come there's nobody from Montana here? That's the other thing is like California is such a transient place.
Ben: Well, that's, yeah, that's it too. It's like. A lot of times when you see, ah like if you see a plate from California, chances are that person lived in that state for like less than two or three years.
Ben: In fact, they're probably originally from the state you're currently standing in. They moved there and then moved back and you're just seeing their plate.
Zach: Yeah, only potential exceptions are like Nevada, Arizona.
Ben: Yeah, that's another weird one where like you always see, well in like Florida plates, you see Florida plates everywhere. That one was always weird to me. And I think they actually, it must be some reason they have like very loose vehicle registration or something.
Zach: Yeah, well, I mean, like in Arizona, the licenses are good for like 60 years.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: So it's probably something like that where like the plates are good for, you know, 40 years or when you get it now, it's like it expires in 2067.
Ben: Yeah, yeah.
Zach: Oh, all right.
Ben: bit yeah like yeah but yeah like when we um I don't know, like yeah I'll just be in like the most random -ass place, like going back up to visit you know a family in Wisconsin or i don't know like out hiking or whatever, and you're like you pass through a small town of whatever, 400 people and you get lost and you have to like, you know, turn on like a back highway and to get, find yourself to get back on the freeway or whatever. And then it's like, Oh, there's a Florida plate in that house. What? Like why it's just, it's just, and then like you'd get on the freeway and then you pass another Florida plate. And then you're at the gas station and you get off and there's another Florida plate. It's like, where are you guys coming from?
Zach: I don't know if I've encountered that the way you're describing.
Ben: I've, is ah yeah, I mean, it is possible. It's just rental cars too. Like kind of the Arizona thing. Like it's, there's just like a shit ton of rental cars from those States.
Ben: So I don't know.
Zach: Yeah, that could be. ah Yeah, well, um welcome back to your favorite, because your socks, we are obviously in all roller coaster podcast.
Zach: But we will occasionally delve into the world of license plates under our wonderful president.
Ben: all fifty states united on this show canada too yeah well
Zach: OK, never mind. I'm not going to.
Zach: Well, 51 states, right? Yeah.
Zach: We we welcome our new northern state
Zach: okay then well uh... uh... i mean what what can i say yeah except uh...
Ben: about hollywood nights yeah this is the second year i didn't try either like i i like i remember putting it on the calendar and then the time passed and i was like oh fuck i missed it um
Zach: i didn't get a code
Zach: I tried, didn't get it. Then I shortly thereafter found out that not a single one of the people that I know who regularly attended that event would be going this year purposefully. So I felt a lot less bad then.
Ben: Yeah. I mean, it was like cute when they did it the first year or two, but like, I mean, there's clearly demand. I don't know. And also what they're doing with reservations. If like you get a code to buy the ticket, but if you don't buy the ticket, they don't open up the reservation.
Ben: um
Zach: no and they're like here buy a ticket to come that same day which like i get it i guess but at the same time it's like it read is it read is so slightly insulting
Ben: Yeah, I also wonder too if, I wonder what the chances of like, if you went to the park that day, and then you were just super nice, and you were just like, hey, like, I know this is kind of weird, i but like, I bought a ticket to this event, or I bought a ticket it to the park, and like, all my friends are at this event, like, I've been going, you know, just make up something, like a sob story. If ah they're just like, here you go, just just take it.
Zach: Maybe, but. I feel like I don't know, I would I would prioritize a trip back there. If I could get into the event.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: But right now, I'm like, that's a long way to come from California. For not the event.
Ben: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's too bad that. I mean, I don't know. Also, also that, well, there's also some drama with people apparently like using bots to buy tickets and, um,
Ben: YouTubers saying they got extra codes to give out or something.
Zach: Like none of that's really surprising, but at least if that's the case, then allow resale, right?
Ben: Yeah. I mean, I wonder if it's time. I mean, like they could do two events, like do a, I don't know. Change it into like a three day weekend.
Ben: where you have like Friday and Saturday morning, and then you have Saturday night and Sunday morning or something and just do two shifts. I don't know.
Zach: Or maybe do two weekends.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Like a weekend one and a weekend two.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: The way like fucking Coachella does.
Ben: There's options.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: They got that much demand and they want to, you know, throttle the amount of rides or like riders to keep the wait time low. And I guess that's fine. But if there's still all that demand, then yeah, do two weekends.
Ben: I wonder if there's a way to like spam email holiday world. Just like get like 50 people to write 10 emails each and just sporadically send them throughout the next couple of months. Just like stop stories like, oh, I've got terminal cancer and this is my last possible year to go. and like this just like make shit up like that.
Ben: Um, you know, I don't know my wife and I met it.
Zach: My make -a -wishes to to go to Hollywood nights.
Ben: Yeah. And then, and then you could be like, whoa, Holly, like holiday world. They don't even let in a make a wish into the event. Like what the fuck is her problem? Like is Is an Acer getting on one train sooner on legend, like that big of a deal. You just make up up like a bunch of slander stories and make it so it's like the reverse of the headache they got in the backlash they got from 2011 or 2021. So that way they start, you know, opening it back up. That's what people got to do. You got to push back. If anyone wants to get in on this, let me know.
Zach: It's gonna be easier than ever with AI.
Ben: ah just
Ben: I mean, chat GPT might be able to write a couple of letters.
Zach: I'm sure it would.
Ben: And then there's got to be a way to get fake emails, right? or like
Zach: AI.
Zach: Go register a shitload of emails. Send a bunch to this address with different sad stories about why you want to attend this event.
Zach: Finally, a good use for wasting all that water.
Ben: Yeah. Well, I think everyone who listens to this show should send one sad email to Hollywood or a holiday world and yeah, especially.
Zach: Especially if you actually got tickets.
Zach: See all my friends.
Ben: I mean, you could, you could, there's so many options too.
Zach: Oh, man.
Ben: You could do like, Oh my, My wife and I, we met at Holiday World and we were at, we met at Sis Darkrave and met 2002 and we've been married and unfortunately she passed away and um I was really hoping that I was gonna be able to take my kids this year and didn't say that now they're old enough and often um they got tickets and I did and now I'm in a weird awkward position
Zach: Uh...
Zach: can I at least hang out and not go on the rides?
Ben: Yeah. That actually, huh. Okay. There's, there's ways to, and then you got to do, you got to do the Facebook thing. You got to figure out a way to do the fake make a wish. Any charity you can think of like, um,
Ben: and then just like use all the hashtags and like publicly, you know, post on like, go on X. Um,
Zach: X.
Ben: Let's have some fun.
Zach: Yeah, it's Troll Campaign 2024.
Ben: sir
Ben: I mean, because it's it's time to do something else. I mean, like, I don't know.
Zach: You know what's funny and unfortunate?
Ben: But
Zach: is that um because of that, Kentucky Kingdom had to completely pivot and stop doing that event.
Ben: So, oh, they don't do it anymore.
Zach: No.
Ben: I mean, I get it. It's like a completely toxic fan base a group of people.
Zach: Well, no, I think they don't do it because like it's not enough people going to Hollywood nights to make it worthwhile.
Ben: Oh, I gotcha. That makes sense.
Zach: Yeah like when Hollywood nights is a shitload of people is easier to get them to go to Kentucky Kingdom a day later right but yeah so
Ben: And then, do you know,
Ben: Yeah. Oh shit. Man, what is what are they doing? they're They're like collapsing a whole ecosystem of fun.
Ben: Like is the backlash of long lines, wasn't that problematic to deal with? Like, I don't know. Like maybe, maybe they're getting death threats because someone had to wait 10 minutes for legend, but I I don't know. Just seems weird. I'm like, it kind of rubs me the wrong way. I'd love to go back to that park. I didn't even try to get tickets. So like, I, you know, whatever, but.
Zach: I mean, yeah, I'll try maybe again next year, but at this point it seems like, meh.
Ben: I mean, it'll, if, if like, let's say like theoretically I got tickets, actually there'd be five years of not going a half a decade of not going cause of this and it's just, uh, I dunno. So we'll, yeah.
Zach: Yeah, if we can't get them next year, yeah, it's five years.
Zach: Plus, it's also hard to be like, oh, big meet up when it's so difficult to get tickets.
Ben: So we need,
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Which is a good transition, I think, because speaking of big meet up, we got an announcement.
Ben: yeah.
Zach: fucking a yeah so uh big meetup Southern California magic mountain and knots berry farm let me hit you all with the dates that's gonna be February 28th through March 3rd that's our initial plan
Zach: as we were talking about before we started recording, we're kind of thinking Friday night and Saturday at Magic Mountain, or like Friday and Saturday, Friday night, whatever, at Magic Mountain and Sunday at Knott's. And we will likely, depending on who is interested in joining and logistics of everything, plan a Disneyland and DCA day before or after
Ben: Yeah, I'm, I think, I don't know, maybe give it a couple, you know, make a decision around Christmas time. Maybe I probably, and then see interests and keep it more personal.
Zach: Yeah.
Ben: Like just reach out if you're interested. And then, I don't know, I, the time of year is, I feel like it's pretty flexible for people. Keep it chill, fun.
Zach: the
Zach: That's what I'm hoping, you know, um if you want to join, um we would love for you to join on our discord. We'll be chatting about it there.
Zach: um I know there's definitely a few members there who will likely give the thumbs up and want to be in regardless. um So again, real quick, those dates that we are looking at, that's going to be the weekend of February 28th through March 3rd. And we'll give some more specifics as we kind of plan it out. But yeah, magic mountain nuts. And for anyone who's interested, we'll be adding on Disneyland and DCA.
Ben: Yeah, that sounds good. It's good to break up winter. um
Ben: Um... Without much going on... And...
Zach: Definitely and what we're about Three months out from right now Kind of that's gonna be yeah good shaking out shaking off the ah the freeze from winter and
Zach: Kind of honoring the old winter coaster solace they used to do at knots.
Ben: Oh, so that's also not a thing?
Zach: ah They don't do that anymore.
Ben: Oh, shit. Man, the dudes just ruined everything.
Zach: I'm glad we got to go at least at one time.
Ben: Yeah. I wonder what the deal with that one was.
Zach: I think um for the most part, TPR took it over, but then once they relocated most of their ops to Orlando, then they didn't do it anymore, like with West Coast Bash and all that.
Ben: Oh, okay. Yeah.
Zach: That guy, that guy, and that guy.
Zach: But yeah, um, no more winter coaster solace, unfortunately, but not to still adult park. I like it.
Ben: Yeah, I mean, that's one of those two were just knowing the horror stories. I'd probably just get a fast lane just just for ghost rider. And I heard even with fast lane, you still wait like 45 minutes for ghost rider.
Zach: Definitely possible. um Last time I was out there at Knott's, I encountered a listener who was a ride operator. That was awesome. So um hopefully they'll be able to attend.
Ben: Oh, cool.
Zach: Yeah, I don't know. I'm just thinking. um
Ben: ah
Zach: what this will be our second West Coast meetup.
Zach: So round out your credits if you were at the first one.
Ben: Yep. And, uh, magic mountain is a very, laid back park where you can get away with certain things more easily than others. So I'm looking forward to that. It's always fun.
Zach: yeah um I also like that there's like hotels very close by so again if you're interested join up on our discord that is totally free to join we will be doing all of our planning on there as to like hotels and dates and logistics so
Ben: Mm hmm.
Zach: join up and plan to come meet us in the wild wild west to ride some early rides and other stuff uh in late february early march and i'll say it's great timing because uh it's before spring break for any of the locales around here
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: I did, um, I did magic mountain during spring break once and it wasn't too bad, but then I've also seen photos of people who went and it's like insane.
Ben: So.
Zach: Yeah, I think it's. You know, it's just a more crowded time in general.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Now, ah we were also discussing the possibility and again, not not a firm commitment, yet but definitely potential for a roller coaster rodeo at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
Ben: Yeah. I mean, that looks like a fun event from the photos I saw last year looked pretty cool. Not one of those, like definitely doesn't seem like a park where you're going to get like walk on ERT sessions, but it seems like it pulls a good crowd.
Zach: It looks like a fun event and yeah, it seems like that's gonna be the new Hollywood nights at least this year or this coming year.
Ben: Yeah, for sure.
Ben: Yeah, that's the thing, there's now with Hollywood Nights kind of dying as an event, there's space for a new one to open.
Zach: And it's not surprising that Jeff Seibert's right there.
Ben: Yeah, right.
Zach: Cause yeah, good park sponsored events always necessary.
Ben: Cool.
Zach: I suppose we could do like, you know, coast Romania, but I think that has the same problems.
Ben: Yeah, I think that, that one had the same, I mean, I feel like that one was a problem even back in like -2010. I mean, I remember working there during coaster mania and all the ERT sessions had like crazy lines.
Ben: So yeah, I feel like I kind of feel like that one's done too.
Zach: i mean
Ben: I don't know if I'd ever want to go to it.
Zach: I remember having a great time in 05 and 06 at coaster mania but you know we're talking almost 20 years ago now so it's definitely possible things have changed severely in that time right so
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Well, someone, ah someone was saying too, during one of, one of the ERT events they did last year where like steel vengeance had a two hour line or something, something ridiculous like that.
Zach: That's insane.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Yeah, that's not. Hard path.
Zach: oh and you know what I will say about our Magic Mountain Knots meetup as well is You know the one of the best things about it is if you are a pass holder currently For Cedar Fair or Six Flags you'll have the option to do that All park add -on So if you do that the admission for both parks will be completely free and
Ben: Oh, I didn't even think of that.
Zach: yep because that'll be after that takes effect that all starts in January so you know if your current Six Flags or Cedar Fair Passholder for any of the parks and you do that add -on coming to the meetup and ah all your missions are all set you don't have to worry about any of that
Ben: Yeah, that's right.
Ben: Good idea.
Zach: Yeah. So, um, and yeah, roller coaster rodeo is definitely a possibility.
Ben: i
Zach: I mean, beginning of June, how to ask time to go to Texas, I think, but, um, you know, seems like a fun event.
Ben: Yeah, I'm gonna throw that one on the calendar. It's gonna, yeah, it's gonna be hot as fuck, but, um, at least it's a dry heat. At least I think it is. Should be.
Zach: um Other other stuff that I think I have on the calendar for this year is Potentially destination d23 at the end of August Down at Disney's Coronado Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort when the Walt Disney company well Walt Disney Studios started
Ben: So what's the 23 in a reference to?
Ben: Okay. I always thought it was like a thing to the year, like the number of the event. But then I was like, I feel like I hear D 23 now for like a couple of years. So it can't be that.
Zach: Yeah, no, it's it's a reference to the year that Disney started.
Ben: Oh, which means they had, they had a hundredth anniversary.
Zach: It's. a Yep, last year.
Ben: Huh.
Zach: If I'm not mistaken, the Disney 100 exhibit is still touring. um We were lucky enough to catch it in Chicago is awesome. I really liked it.
Ben: I'm sure I've heard about the hundredth year of Disney, like
Zach: Let's see.
Ben: an infinite amount of times what did not register in my brain until just now.
Zach: Oh, and I guess I should say too about our meetups, since we're delving into this too, is if you're on the fence about Disneyland. it's worth going to because whatever park you go to likely only exists in potentially at all but possibly in the form it's in because of Disneyland and it's worth seeing ah the park that really started with the idea of theme parks are
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: I mean, it's also, it's a nice Disney park cause you don't have to deal with the hassle of Orlando bullshit and like four parks and
Ben: I feel like, I mean, I don't know. I feel like Disneyland is also slightly less of the like Disney moms and Disney families and like, yeah.
Zach: I think it's more Disney people to be honest with you because I see a lot of people there wearing like Walt Disney World stuff Where it's like oh I've been to that part too
Ben: Right.
Zach: like oh okay cool um but it's like it's california people so it's different then this mixed bag of like yeah there's local disney florida people but then there's all there's people from all over the world in orlando
Ben: Mm hmm. Yeah, people's brains are just fucked because it's like in Orlando because people have that people have that vacation mindset.
Zach: like OK cool, but
Ben: It's like it's like Sandusky. People just lose their mind when they're on a family vacation. Just like a just like that movie.
Ben: About something that has to do with vacation.
Zach: I think it was called the family that drove really far to a closed theme park.
Ben: But
Ben: That sounds right.
Zach: It's this movie about a family that takes a vacation, but every every time they have to do something on their vacation, something makes the vacation go wrong.
Ben: But that's true.
Ben: I mean, yeah.
Zach: um but yeah no i i think that that does happen with disneyland too but it's just it's it's just a totally different vibe because
Ben: um
Ben: Yeah. I mean, like people, it's like Disney. I don't, I mean, I get, I know there are people who go to Disneyland for Disneyland, but it's not the same. Like it's, I dunno, Orlando is just a totally different poll. It's, um, like if you talk to, like, if you talk to like an annoying suburban family from Ohio, right? Uh, going to a Disney park, it's going to be Disney world.
Ben: And then you every once in a while you'll get that, like, it was kind of like, um, I, I, I always remember in elementary school when, uh, like, you know, the kids would brag about their Disney trips. Right. And it was always mostly Disney world. And then every once in a while there was like that, you could tell like, kind of like that kid from like the pretentious family that was like, well, we go to Disneyland.
Zach: I mean, they market them specifically like the Rockies, I think is the point. So if you're west of the Rockies, they'll market you Disneyland.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: But if you're east of the Rockies, you're only getting Disney World. But I think even west of the Rockies, you'll still get Disney World. But east of the Rockies, you're never getting Disneyland marketing at all.
Ben: Yeah. I mean, everyone, I guess now that I think about it, whenever I see a YouTube Disney commercials for Disneyland, but I guess that's like technically
Zach: makes sense you're you're you're pretty much in the area where you're closer yeah probably closer for you to hop on a plane to la x then uh mco and that's why i think that's the point at which they split it but it's also weird because like
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: yeah
Zach: Like Disneyland has this like built -in audience always of locals and stuff Whereas Disney World like constantly has to they have a lot more like direct competition weirdly Because even though Nazis like right there and magic mountains nearby Universal all the you know SeaWorld
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: like knots is not direct competition for Disney really because they're just a different it's like the people who go to Disney would probably also go to knots but there's a lot of people that would just go to knots because Disney costs a shitload
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Mm hmm. Yeah.
Ben: Yeah, I mean, yeah.
Zach: But again, if you haven't been to Disneyland, absolutely worth it.
Ben: Oh, shit. Also, as you mentioned, SeaWorld, I think I'm missing like three credits there now.
Zach: I don't have any of the credits there, but that one also costs a ton and San Diego is kind of far, but, but We can figure out a way if y 'all want to add that shit on.
Ben: Yeah, maybe you have to look at the sea world schedule because yeah, that's like a whole new, I mean, that'd be like a whole new sea world.
Zach: Yeah, because they got um the Sky
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Tower, Sky Scream, Sky Thingy 2, Sky Rocket 2.
Ben: yeah
Zach: They got the dive coaster emperor. They am Manta. I think they still have their journey to Atlantis.
Ben: Also, they're on daily operation, so.
Ben: Maybe I'll, maybe, I mean, maybe that's one of those things where I just fly home from San Diego or something, add it on, or plan at a time or something.
Zach: I mean, yeah, you see about that.
Zach: Yeah, well.
Ben: SeaWorld. Let's see how many credits they they have. They got Arctic Rescue, Electric Eel, Emperor, and per in Manta.
Ben: Oh they got, they do not have Journey to Atlantis.
Zach: Oh, they got rid of it.
Ben: Manta's a, oh Manta's a mock.
Zach: Bummer.
Zach: Manta looks interesting.
Ben: Oh shit, well if it's a mock, yeah, I guess I gotta to go ride it now.
Zach: Well, like I said before, if you're interested in joining for Southern California, helping us plan what the itinerary might be, what parks we hit, um, join our discord. The link will be in the episode description. We'll be discussing it all there and we'll have everything posted about it there. Um, we'll also have some discussion about the potential roller coaster rodeo meetup there.
Zach: Now, one thing I know we can't do if we have a San Antonio meetup sadly is um go to fucking ZD T's and ride switchback. I don't think.
Ben: Oh yeah, did they close this? No.
Zach: I think so. I don't know. Let's check our CDB because it might still be open, but I don't know if that'll still be in effect in you know June.
Zach: It still says operating on our CDB.
Zach: Maybe their website has some information about when they're closing.
Zach: So they have hours posted until June. So through through May, basically.
Ben: Okay.
Zach: So possibly we could get on switch back again. We'll see.
Ben: I wonder if that's purely just, I mean, I can't imagine that place gets that many riders or like visitors or
Zach: Yeah, like when we were there, we walked right on.
Ben: I mean, it's the same experience I've always had at all the fun spots where it's like, you see the ride run, but it's, there's like no one in the station.
Zach: That's what I'm saying, although that was definitely a cool ride. It'd be cool to get back on it before it closes.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: So I just saw a photo and of Emperor and it's weird how this there's no shade in the station.
Zach: Yeah, that's one of those things I heard.
Ben: It's just like...
Zach: That's really terrible.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: It looks pretty good though. Like ah for all the dive co... I always forget about this as a dive coaster. It actually kind of looks the closest to how wrath of rakshasa will look like how to ride probably.
Zach: ah the The construction just went vertical on that. They got the first piece installed, I saw.
Ben: Yeah, I saw that. It's pretty cool.
Zach: that's pretty exciting I'm hoping it's open next time I visit Great America I'm more concerned about it actually being open on the schedule that they are constructing it on
Ben: And hopefully it doesn't have a rattle.
Ben: Yeah. I mean, I guess because it's B and M it might be okay, but also I I can't remember the last time a grand America attraction opened with the park.
Zach: on its advertised day even yeah cuz cuz I remember I think the last time I remember it actually happening was dark night
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Um, Oh yeah. They, because they said that one was like labored or Memorial Day weekend or something. I know. Yeah. Or it was like right after opening day.
Zach: Yeah, I remember we had to wait several hours for it to open on that day. But it was open that day. And big shots to our buddy, John Ravel, who's got a fantastic video documenting that whole thing.
Zach: Crazy to think that was like. What, 16 years ago, fuck, I'm old.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Anyway.
Zach: I hope they opened on time wouldn't count on it.
Zach: um I'm not.
Ben: I mean, I could see, him I could see a Memorial Day opening. I don't think it'll be opening day, but I could see more all day.
Zach: That's kind of what I'm hoping for, because I think that's ah when we're aiming to maybe go to Chicago again.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: And I'm also like, that's one of those two where now that I've been there, I wouldn't mind. Um, I probably, that would that'd probably just be like a stop in like flying in Chicago, visit family, just pop into the park quick.
Zach: yeah probably do one lap get a couple rides like viper bull obviously right actually
Ben: I'm kind of afraid though, it's going to be, I hope it's not one of those one and duns.
Zach: i and don't know
Ben: Um, just with like how, you know, how discomfort a bull B &Ms tend to be now for me.
Zach: yeah probably do one rides like viper bull obviously rock rock Well, I mean, the Great American ones have always been pretty good.
Ben: Yeah, that's true. I think the last one, I mean, I already talked about it, but yeah, the last one that did that for me was, was Dominator, where it was just like, I was so, I was like so disappointed by it. I was like, I remember this ride being so good,
Ben: but
Zach: I haven't been on that one since it was at Geauga Lake. Gotta get back to Virginia.
Ben: and I 305, I'm worried that now I don't, I mean, it probably isn't going to be like next year, but, um, I'm, I'm worried about I 305 now.
Ben: For some reason, just with the way that this, the chain is going now, like I, for some reason, I almost think that I through a five could be short faded.
Ben: That's just a hunch. I don't know. I know it's not problematic. It doesn't have a launch. It's actually pretty probably very, well, I wouldn't say it's minimal to operate. I'm sure it's pretty expensive with wheels and stuff, but, um, I don't know. I just have this weird feeling that that, like that ride is not going to be around very long, like maybe five years, but I don't know.
Zach: We'll see. It'll be 15 this season.
Ben: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I definitely I would put that at a very high priority for you because. Writing it this past year, I'm a like. I don't know, I guess, like, obviously, as you get older, you ride everything you kind of like, I don't know, I wouldn't say like necessarily desensitized, but we're definitely past that era of like crazy 2000s.
Ben: um Like, I don't know how to describe it. I guess like that era of like, questionable oh fuck coasters, I think are coming to an end.
Ben: Now, especially with like, candy con dragster and and i'm I'm guessing X2 might be also on that list. And.
Zach: I would guess Superman before X2.
Ben: Oh, for sure, yeah. I guess i'm I'm thinking kind of like, you know, less than five year, like five year span, anything that's problematic, like, um, X two, maybe in rides like Magnum. Um, I don't know. Like I say I threw a five. For some reason I just could see them getting rid of those and it's clearly the park doesn't give a shit. They're just going to rip it out and not warn anybody.
Ben: So I definitely, I'd prioritize I -305 at some point.
Zach: Well, I don't know if I can do anything about that next year in 2025.
Zach: But. I don't know what to see, right?
Ben: Yeah, I mean. um The more I think about it, it just seems like we're doesn't seem like parks. Like every parks coaster collection is suddenly like aging.
Ben: Like did we really go through that long of a spell of. No additions or like a lack of additions or. Were there so many coasters built in such a short amount of time that it feels that way?
Ben: I don't know.
Zach: 2015.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Like that was the height of like one big coaster every year, basically.
Ben: All right.
Zach: And like when RMC started converting old wooden coasters to during that same time period.
Zach: And so like, now I know it's crazy to think about, but all that shit's over 10 years ago.
Ben: Mm hmm.
Zach: And in that time, what have we really seen in terms of major expansions and additions?
Zach: Very little.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: So yeah, I think you're right, man, because like a lot of this stuff was built when we were younger.
Zach: And it's kind of just been like. A course of maintaining.
Ben: Yeah. And like, um, obviously, okay. So here's a good example, right? Like everyone, everyone's always like, Oh shit. Like 2020 was, you know, four years ago and or like 2019 is five years ago, whatever. And, uh,
Ben: time's going quicker and I don't think people, I don't know. Like when we were, you know, whatever, when you're, when you're younger, like years go by slower. So like a park, not getting in anything for a year or two felt like forever. And now, I mean, great America went, uh, what? Five years without a coaster, half a decade.
Zach: Six.
Ben: Was it max horses? What? 2018.
Zach: Nineteen.
Ben: Oh, okay.
Zach: And Rasha Rasha says opening next year, so six years, which is the longest, longest spell in that park's history.
Ben: Yeah, damn.
Zach: Without a coaster. Yeah. All right.
Zach: Because in that same time, right ah Great Adventure got Jersey Devil, Magic Mountain got Wonder Woman.
Zach: Technically, if you really wanted to count West Coast Racers, because it opened at the end of 2019, but I wouldn't really count that.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: But that pair of RMC single rails went to those two parks in that same period of time where Great America was getting goddamn nothing except for holiday in the park taken away.
Ben: I mean, maybe like they they made the all those announcements about like big investments going into every park. I mean, it's possible that things turn around. I don't know. We'll see.
Ben: But it's like almost, it's almost like they've dug them, dug themselves into a hole where if like you're trying to maintain your coaster collection, like at a certain point you got to start like, all right, well that B and M floorless coaster is 20 plus years old now. So, uh, what do we do? Do we get rid of, do you rebuild it? Like, I don't know. Also if it's funny too, is like the way that B and M builds their coasters and waves, or I guess it's not really B and M it's the chains, but like,
Ben: I mean, are we ever really going to see like a new sit down or a new floorless B and &M? Probably not. It's going to be a dive or I guess a giga maybe.
Zach: Probably not here in America. Yeah.
Zach: But that's the thing is like. What's going to be the real winning strategy for the new six flags, right? Obviously. You know, cutting expense, operating expenses is a priority for
Zach: ah portfolio that big which makes sense right but like at some point that's only gonna do so much right
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah, exactly.
Zach: Like at what point I guess like how soon until we find out what parts are going to be the winners and losers. And I don't know what exactly that all would entail.
Ben: Well, but also too, there's also that middle category of parks that could probably be fine just as they are. Like, uh, Oh, it's just weird. I mean, I almost wonder if like there's strategy conversations going on of like, how do we, like, how do we wipe this concept of coaster capitals and coaster records and coaster wars, like out of public opinion?
Ben: You know, they're probably like, they're probably they're fucked. They're probably using AI and they're like, Hmm. Well, like if we remove the biggest coasters out of the park and then just maintain for five years at a certain point, the guests will just come anyway. And they won't have that expectation of bigger rides. So like we could just downsize the park and maintain it our guests coming in versus trying to bring new guests in every year.
Zach: Well, yeah, I don't think we'll ever see. Cedar Fair spending more than like. Or I guess six flags now spending more than like, I don't know. 15 million on a single investment.
Ben: yeah
Zach: Which nowadays is like.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Maybe a family B &M.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: With her that comes with a rattle.
Zach: I don't. I don't think at this juncture, I see them installing like a B and &M giga anywhere.
Ben: possibly great adventure. I mean, although if they're doing the King to coughing, I mean, I could see maybe magic. No magic. I don't know what you'd even build like a magic mind if you took out X2. It'd probably be something stupid.
Zach: I don't think they're going to take out X2 though.
Ben: I mean, maybe
Ben: I mean, considering, but like, considering that graded, like great adventure was or whatever came to car with such a big icon for a great adventure and they just took it out without giving a shit.
Ben: X two.
Zach: Yeah, but does.
Ben: I feel like X two is in the same boat.
Zach: Does X2 cost anywhere near as much to maintain?
Ben: That I don't know. I can't imagine it's cheap. However, it is a year -round park, so maybe that kind of pads it a little bit. I mean, there's also like three other coasters I would could see getting removed before X2, but...
Zach: That's what I'm saying. I feel like Superman would be first. Second, probably Viper.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Third.
Zach: Apocalypse.
Ben: Yeah, maybe. I guess... if they just don't want woodies anymore. It sucks that Riot kind of, they let that one go.
Zach: Yeah, well, I mean, they cost more to maintain.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: I mean, I don't think like I guess scream, maybe honorable mention, but.
Zach: If they take out scream, they're not going to replace it, right?
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: And are they really going to turn that back into parking lot?
Ben: They like literally just knocked the ride down and like the parking space, they just leave those parking spaces as is.
Zach: Right.
Zach: and Like that's what I'm saying is like, I guess that could theoretically get torn down, but at the same time.
Zach: Yeah, like there's like those three other rides, I feel like are definitely. More likely to go.
Zach: I mean, possibly if they're doing Superman, possibly possibly also Gold rusher.
Ben: Yeah, I suppose if, yeah, I mean, I wonder, I guess like, look, I guess at at a certain point, right?
Zach: Which I would hate to see.
Ben: Like you would hope that magic mountain gets some big investment. Again, question is just what could it be? Like would they, I don't think they'd go the route of Giga.
Ben: I mean, they might, I don't know.
Zach: Well, that press release said that they're going to get a first of its kind in North America roller coaster.
Ben: Which could maybe be like... I don't know. I don't know what that could be. A Pax?
Zach: Yeah, right.
Ben: Or
Zach: What about, uh,
Ben: First of its kind in the US.
Zach: a Vekoma hyper coaster oh what if it's um what if it's a Morgan be sick wouldn't it fucking Steel Dragon 2000
Ben: It's like golden. Yeah. Or it's like a... Gymna. Gymna. Golden Horse. I mean, that'd be kind of fun.
Ben: I mean, you'd hope ah you'd hope they would do something big. Like that eventually they have to write. I don't know. like All their stuff is like aging. And I mean, even like they're not going to get rid of Goliath.
Zach: Well, here's the thing right is think about Well,
Ben: I don't think, but like.
Zach: they're painting it right now, so I think no it's good
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: They wouldn't be painting it if it was about to get torn out and like any time soon.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: So I think Goliath is good. But here's here's what I think about more broadly. Right. Is that like. Think about the the what market they serve in the greater Los Angeles area, right?
Zach: Because if you think about it this way, it's like.
Zach: Disneyland is like the, you know, the top dog, right?
Ben: yeah
Zach: um then I would say probably DCA and Universal Hollywood are about equal for that second place where it's like all those are like family parks and Disneyland's like more like the I guess younger kids maybe you would call it and and Universal Hollywood's more like
Zach: Teenagers, I guess, they aim for.
Zach: Knots is like, kind of like family, but more budget. SeaWorld's got like, the the show is mainly.
Zach: So Magic Mountain is left being the roller coaster park, like the thrill park, right?
Zach: That's the niche they serve.
Ben: yeah
Zach: So there's no way they can transition that from that and still be expecting to like serve the LA area.
Ben: Right. Yeah, I mean, that's for sure.
Ben: I just hope that.
Zach: So everything good.
Ben: They do. I don't know. I guess they have their plan. I guess I hope they have a plan. If it involves like removing something big, like even like removing something like I don't know where there's revenge or scream.
Zach: Well, I think if you look at the plot of land.
Ben: And doing some.
Zach: That they're installing this stuff for 2026 and the ride there, it's um it used to be, I think, the Golden Bear Theater. And it stretches from basically full throttle all the way down to like crazy entity.
Ben: Okay.
Zach: Let me. um Pull up the map to confirm that, but.
Zach: Let me see, hold on. Doo, doo, doo.
Ben: Holy shit, random, but ah Bitcoin hit 100 in 2000.
Zach: Wait, what was that? Sorry.
Ben: I was just random, but Bitcoin hit 100 in 2000.
Zach: Sorry, my headphone cables are fucking up.
Ben: That's insane.
Ben: ah I mean, nothing, poor I was just Bitcoin hit 100 in 2000.
Ben: Which is absolutely insane.
Zach: OK, yeah, so yeah, that that space there. It's from full throttle all the way down to crazy entity.
Zach: Google the map real quick, you can see how big of a plot it is.
Zach: hey keep talking real quick i gotta just my headphones okay there we go sorry yes so anyway if you look at the map right if you look between where full throttle is that but directly to the right of full throttle on the map
Ben: Hey, hey, hi. What's up?
Ben: Oh sh - I typed in Six Flags Great Mountain.
Zach: um
Zach: great mountain
Ben: Okay. So full throttle through the theater.
Ben: And then, okay.
Zach: gone already been leveled
Ben: And then is crazy entity by buccaneer.
Zach: that whole site all the way back to Superman from full throttle all the way over to the flat rides there
Zach: It's on the other side. I fucked up which rides, but there's flat rides there.
Ben: Um, so what is so buccaneer and swash buckler? Is that where Christianity is?
Zach: Number two. Wait, crazy entities on the other side of Superman from the theater.
Zach: Basically the entire plot where the theater is. Between full throttle and those flats over there. Directly to the right of full throttle.
Ben: Wait, maybe I don't remember where crazy entity is.
Zach: It's not Christianity.
Ben: Oh, it's Oh, gotcha.
Zach: I said the wrong ride.
Ben: Okay. Is, but it's by the flat rides.
Zach: yeah that space where the theater is so that whole plot is where the coasters gonna go so if you look at that if they if they remove Superman and Gold rusher they could have like that new ride where the theaters at and something new on the other side there that would both be pretty dang sizable cuz
Ben: Okay. Okay. Gotcha.
Ben: Okay.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Um, and they're gonna, they're gonna remove so many trees.
Zach: like
Zach: Yeah, unfortunately.
Zach: But like. That spot, all that land there. That all is perfect expansion plot, so if they did like great adventure, right? They just did like.
Zach: Pull out Superman, get rid of Gold Rush, but with like a plan to like expand that entire thing into like new rides, I could see that working really well.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Well, so for comparison of plot size, that is about the size of Riddler's Revenge or or like the length of Wonder Woman.
Ben: Definitely doesn't look big enough for like a Giga, um but it's pretty big.
Zach: No, but like, hold on, I'm looking on Google Maps now. um Whoops, there we go.
Zach: Like, yeah. um Swashbuckler. So everything between Full Throttle and Swashbuckler
Zach: that whole thing.
Ben: Hmm. Yeah, now I wonder what first of its kind is.
Zach: That's what I'm saying. But I think, you know, there's a good plot of land there. So it'll be exciting to see.
Ben: I'm just looking on Street View. There's gonna be a lot, a lot of trees gone. That sucks.
Zach: and then looking over on the other side of the park if they got rid of viper there's a huge plot over there too and then lastly right up in that back corner apocalypse apocalypse is also a nice plot of expansion land
Ben: I want to go back to magic mountain.
Zach: Dude I love Magic Mountain.
Zach: I don't care what anyone says about that park. I've always loved it.
Ben: Yeah, I mean, I've never, I've never actually had like a horrendous customer service experience there like other people have.
Zach: you
Zach: Yeah I don't know if I've just been lucky or what but I've always had a great time there. It's an awesome park.
Zach: Last time I was there I rode Goliath and enjoyed it.
Ben: Yeah, I mean, that's, I think that's the problem is like life and Titan, they're not like bad coasters. They're just, I think they're just in that shadow of millennium force.
Zach: or even like raging bull or something.
Ben: Yeah. And I would almost argue it's still one of probably the smoothest coasters of that age.
Zach: Yeah, definitely no complaints about the way it rides.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: That's for sure.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Yeah, and if you haven't been there, meetups a great time to go.
Ben: Yeah. Imagine mountain to be a fun meetup park and like, yeah, we were trying to talk and there's a way to squeeze in like a Friday night for like a couple hours and then a Saturday just to take some of that credit anxiety off. If you haven't been there before.
Zach: yeah well if you're gonna if you're gonna be there for the meet -up join on our discord and help us plan it out so we can get it all planned appropriately the best way possible that'll be exciting yeah no that's gonna be a good time now um
Ben: Yeah, I got to throw that on my calendar.
Zach: You got any it like got any stuff you've been doing? I know it's Thanksgiving.
Ben: Uh, no, I was just, I was just saying, did you hear what I was saying about Bitcoin before?
Zach: No.
Ben: Oh, I was just scrolling and I saw it hit 103 ,000.
Zach: Oh, shit.
Ben: Which is insane. Like that doesn't seem real.
Zach: I gotta look up my account. I gotta find my cold wallet.
Ben: I'm not opposed to this idea that it's all the scam and it's all going to go to zero or whatever, but like I just it's it's weird how. I don't know, it doesn't seem real.
Zach: Holy shit, yeah, no kidding.
Ben: <unk> kind of like It's kind of like buying stock in a company you don't understand at all. like That's the way I look at it. like Who knows?
Zach: Yeah.
Ben: It's a gamble.
Zach: Maybe this will be worth something. I hope so.
Zach: can, we decided to spend our Thanksgiving at Disneyland.
Ben: Yeah, that's pretty cool.
Zach: It was fun.
Ben: Yeah, I know. Yeah, I was just saying we didn't do really anything. You just it was like a very low key family exposure kind of holiday.
Zach: Before I launch into my thing, did you cook?
Ben: Yeah, I like did. Yeah, I like did like a regular you know meal cooking thing. Lots of wine, stuff like that. Pies was good. But um I think what's funny about Thanksgiving when you think about it is like the meal used to me, like regardless of like, obviously like the past and the history behind it is problematic, but like it kind of, if you took away all that stuff and you just thought of it as like, well, remove the history and like the importance of it as like an annual holiday, because it's so it is a weird, it is a weird holiday, right? Like it is kind of like,
Ben: really just sort of like a prequel to Christmas. But it doesn't have any like significance to people. um But like, back in the day, there used to be something special about being able to eat a 4000 calorie meal. But current day in America, right, that's just any old day.
Ben: Because like, you know, people used to have to work manual labor and farm and do all that stuff. Like where I like being able to eat a 400 calorie pecan pie was probably pretty special.
Ben: Nowadays it's just like you can get a 5 ,000 calorie meal on DoorDash and scroll TikTok and watch people shoving like 20 chicken tenders down their throat.
Zach: Yeah, I'm doing I'm i'm doing a mukbang as we speak.
Ben: Yeah, in the era of being able to door dash a mukbang, like I think we can kind of ditch this concept of Thanksgiving.
Zach: Yeah, right I spent $90 on Taco Bell and I'm gorging myself right now.
Ben: Because now it's like gross it's and it's like we're we're so sedentary and everyone works either from home or an office and just it's like, we don't need the we don't need the excess of food anymore.
Ben: but anything It should be like reverse Thanksgiving where everyone just has to eat like a salad. You have to fast. It's like a day of fasting.
Ben: But anyway, yeah, like, well,
Zach: Everybody has to be vegan for the day.
Zach: I mean.
Ben: I'm just good though.
Zach: I'm glad I didn't have to cook and there's it's kind of nice to not have the pressure of like attending a holiday.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: That was nice.
Ben: Yeah, that's nice. Yeah.
Zach: um Think to keep it short, you know We got on Tiana's that was awesome Go down the bayou It's fun and that song from the finale scene good
Ben: Does the park.
Ben: Does the park have like inflatable turkeys and stuff walking around the park or what's the what's the gist of Thanksgiving Disney?
Zach: No, because it's like holiday, so it's already all done up for Christmas. But they did have some like like a Thanksgiving plate available at one place and some some special Thanksgiving day. Food items, but we didn't get any. Because I don't eat turkey.
Ben: Yeah. So I mean the, the spread of thing.
Zach: ah We went to Din Tai Fong.
Ben: I was going to say just the spread of Thanksgiving's like not that great, like holiday world where they have that Thanksgiving feast restaurant. Like not what I want to be eating on a hot June day, but anyway.
Zach: That's what I'm saying, it was like 75 degrees and sunny. I'm not really, I'm not looking for mashed potatoes.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: But, yeah yeah, we ate at Din Tai Fung, which was fucking awesome. That's kind of been our Christmas go -to the past couple years. When we are visiting Vegas to see Rhian's mom. It's, ah I think, Taiwanese food.
Ben: Okay, nice.
Zach: super good they got like good buns and gyoza and yeah it was awesome so they have one at downtown disney it's awesome um if we're doing the meet up at disneyland i mean that place is worth hitting if you want a good good meal like that
Zach: let's see we also ate at the Blue Bayou which um it like okay so the food's not bad there but i've determined that that restaurant is basically like character dining for adults
Zach: Like the character dining restaurants where they have, you know, Mickey and Minnie and Goofy come around every table and the food's like, eh, it's fine.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Blue Bayou is that, but for adults. So you get like, you know, a plate of pasta or like Rian got steak and like Pirates of the Caribbean's right there and it's going by.
Zach: But like the food's okay.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: But for the price you pay for it, ah you're definitely paying for sitting next to the ride.
Zach: So like, if you want to eat at Blue Bayou, just keep that in mind.
Zach: um We did catch World of Color Season of Light from the Lamplight Lounge, which is a restaurant bar at DCA that's ah like on the water there. It's on the level of the water, too. So World of Color, you're looking right at the fountains.
Ben: Nice.
Zach: Yeah, it's awesome that I would highly recommend anyone. um Also, our bartender was fucking dope, encouraged us to order off the menu. So we ordered hot toddies. And like. I swear to you, he emptied the bottle to make them and they were like half fucking whiskey.
Ben: Oh nice.
Ben: I guess it's probably a good, it's probably always a good thing out at a Disney park of all places.
Zach: So.
Zach: Well, yeah, and that's the thing, right? You're going and they pour heavy handed. And that's like we were talking about before you started recording, right? Is just be kind of not an asshole.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: To the people, be nice to cast members, be nice to everyone in the service industry. And it usually comes back to you, right? Karma works that way.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: um Other things of note I got on Space Mountain love it. It's awesome um hm We went on radiator Springs there was a Just a thing with the queue there so we entered the line and it said it was a 60 -minute wait and We ended up waiting Two and a half hours for it
Zach: And it's it was it went down for four minutes that they announced. But the whole rest of that extra hour and a half of waiting was due to lightning lane.
Ben: So they they just stop standby and fill empty lightning lane basically.
Zach: Exactly like if the lightning lane starts to back up, they just exclusively load lightning lane into the station.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah, that's annoying.
Zach: Yeah. And the ride's awesome. But the queue is not great. There's not a ton to look at, not a ton of great theming. So it's particularly painful. And then like.
Zach: The cast members kept coming over the speakers and announcing the current wait time, which made it more frustrating and also confusing because it's like, how could everybody's wait in the standby line be the same?
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: You know what I mean?
Ben: Oh sure, yeah.
Zach: It's like, if the standby line is now 110 minutes, what does that mean for us when we've already waited, you know, 60?
Zach: doesn mean it's go to be another hundred ten does that mean it's only another fifty like you know what i mean but the they just kept updating every couple like twenty minutes every twenty minutes they would come over and be like it's now eighty minutes now it's a hundred and
Ben: I mean, I would guess it would be if you were maybe the entire, I don't know. I guess I would assume it's the whole line, but yeah.
Ben: I don't know. Maybe they just make shit up.
Zach: Well, and that's what I think it is.
Zach: Is that they basically have like a guide. Of like, Oh, if it reaches this point, like the standby queue, then it's this long.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: But if there's so many people in the lightning lane, then you add another X.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: But it's not perfect and they always announce it's subject to change. So what I'm going to recommend to all of you is if you visit DCA, you want to ride Radiator Springs, you do want to ride. It's great. Pay the extra money. It's like usually around 20 to $25 by the individual lightning lane to get on that ride.
Zach: Because apparently it's even prone to having the same problem if you rope drop it So Either be prepared to shell out the 20 30 bucks to get the one ride access to it or Potentially stand in line for you know upwards of two and a half hours
Ben: Yeah, I can see that.
Zach: Which in itself, not necessarily an issue. I wouldn't sign up for it. And that's exactly the problem was we were expecting a 60 minute wait.
Zach: And what we actually got was 150 minutes.
Ben: Yeah Yeah, right Yeah, I mean I kind of like I kind of like the parks are doing the kind of one -time use flash pass thing even though it's
Zach: Whereas if it just said 150 minutes, we'd have just kept walking.
Zach: So all that said, just by the lightning lane, if you're going to ride Radiator Springs.
Ben: I mean, kind of expensive, but there are situations where in the, like I'm thinking back on park experiences in the past where that would have really paid off.
Zach: Oh, yeah, dude, I love it because it's like I don't necessarily want to spend 90 bucks to get a flash pass for everything, but I would spend 15 to get a flash pass for this one ride.
Ben: like
Ben: Yeah. Yeah.
Zach: Which it's great that that's an option at pretty much all the parks now.
Zach: Course, at Disney works a little differently, but what doesn't, right?
Ben: I mean, the whole thing is like, once you've started, once you start introducing, skip the line, it's really hard to backtrack and like manage all these different things now, but yeah, I don't know.
Zach: Well, the thing that's just annoying about that specifically is like I started timing our weights and all the other cues. And all of them were within five minutes of the posted wait time.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: So there's not this huge fluctuation for any other ride except for Radiator Springs.
Ben: Right. Yeah.
Zach: I mean it's probably worth buying one for Rise of the Resistance 2 just because that ride has frequent downtimes.
Ben: Yeah, sure.
Zach: um With Tiana's, ah to I'd say try to get a virtual queue first because our wait in line with the virtual queue is only about 30 minutes.
Ben: I mean, what is that? What's that stand by now? Does that, I mean, does that even get long in the winter?
Zach: So it doesn't have standby currently available because it just opened.
Ben: Okay.
Zach: So like you have to get a virtual queue to get on it or by the individual attraction pass.
Ben: Yeah. Yeah.
Zach: So you get up at seven in the morning or I think they they do another drop at noon as well.
Zach: But you just join up on the virtual queue there. and it'll assign you a party and then they call back all the groups so when we went we got group 28 and that got called at about 10 10 30 which is perfect we grabbed some beignets from Tiana's Palace um they were okay I hear the jazz kitchen window is the way to go at Downtown Disney so I guess go with that question mark
Zach: We didn't try any of the real food at Tiana's, like none of the jambalaya or gumbo or anything. Which, like, kind of, to be honest, seems a little heavy for a park, but, you know, whatever.
Ben: yeah
Zach: um
Zach: get a poncho because that fucking like I mentioned last time we talked about it that splash down into the laughing place or when you shrink down to find the frog band man that shit'll fuck your whole life with water
Ben: Yeah Even the shoe thing like I know you're not supposed to take shoes off on rides I always do it on a water ride. ah
Zach: ah Don't just take your socks off or wear like, you know flip -flops or Crocs or um Bring different shoes to change into Or they got like um um What's it called fucking like silicon baggies that you can put over your shoes on Amazon?
Ben: Oh yeah, that works.
Ben: I switched, a couple of years ago, I switched to exclusively Chaco's, which is a game changer at parks. But ah they're like, you know, like the strap sandals.
Zach: What are chocos?
Zach: Okay.
Ben: They're just like, a it's like a specific brand.
Zach: I gotcha.
Ben: I may, I don't even wear shoes anymore. I'm basically like, I hike in Chaco's. bike and chakos. And when it snows, you just switch to winter boots. Like okay I literally just go from chakos to winter boots. I hate shoes.
Zach: I really like chocolate tacos.
Ben: But like back when, back in like the Vans era, when that was a thing and those were the worst shoes to get wet, um, I'd always like do the thing where you just, you bring like a grocery bag and, um, once the ride starts, you kick your shoes off and put them in the bag and then just like hold them. Um, cause they yell at you. You can't, you have to, you know, you have to like wear shoes on the ride, but, um, they don't seem to care if you're on the ride and then you take your shoes off. So fun tip.
Zach: that's also pretty gross I think maybe just accept your fate and do what you can to mitigate because I wear vans but I took my socks off um and also you can like
Ben: yeah Just make sure you don't touch the bottoms.
Ben: it
Zach: So like there's a way you can sit in the logs where you like put your legs, like your feet all the way up and like, like don't bend your knees and they'll go all the way forward and up.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: It doesn't prevent them from getting some splash, but you're not going to be like soaking in it.
Ben: Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.
Zach: Because those logs are like big to they've got like five seats or six.
Ben: I remember writing that with like my video camera in my pocket. Last time we were there.
Zach: Yeah, I don't know how we didn't get soaked.
Zach: But I keep hearing that Tiana's actually is like even more wet than Splash was. So.
Ben: They like added fountains or water features or something.
Zach: I don't know, everybody just like it's I just keep hearing from lots of people that it's you just get more wet than you you did on Splash Mountain.
Ben: Canons.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: At least at Disneyland, I'm not sure about Disney World.
Zach: which that whole L A O R L thing that's so dumb.
Ben: Well, I, I know what you're like, I can't, like i I saw that when the second you said, I know exactly who what you're talking about.
Zach: I don't know if you saw that at all.
Ben: I scrolled past it recently, but I didn't know what it was really.
Zach: So it was like a graphic from some news station. I don't even know if it's real or from Photoshop, but it was like Disney Land and then the L .A. was italicized or whatever.
Zach: And then Walt Disney World and ORL is italicized.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah. and
Ben: Yeah, it's kind of stupid, but.
Zach: Yeah, because it's like, oh, it works for every park. Disneyland, Paris, Disneyland, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Disneyland.
Zach: I ah was getting in on the phone on Twitter, of course, X, I guess, because old person here. um Here's what I wrote. OMG, how did I never notice Six Flags Great ah Milwaukee Air Chicago. ah
Zach: just because, you know, I don't know, the whole thing's dumb. Part of me is like ah Anaheim's not L .A. and Lake Buena Vista is also not Orlando. And then part of me is like, yeah, the people who care like the people who know that distinction between Disneyland and Disney World already know that they're not in technically L .A. or technically Orlando.
Ben: I mean, yeah, like when it comes, it's kind of like with airports too. I mean, if you say like, I don't know, I'm trying to think of an example now.
Ben: I guess I wonder if l LAX is actually in Los Angeles.
Zach: It is. Well, I think it might be Inglewood.
Ben: Oh.
Zach: It's like bordering Inglewood. It's like right there.
Ben: so oh Yeah, I guess it is is it Los Angeles, but I'm trying to think of like what's the I Guess IH is also maybe yeah, maybe okay, maybe airports aren't a good example Because it seems like cities just draw their borders around the airport to extend it same with Denver like they literally like if you look at the map of the city of Denver they basically drew a Like lines around the freeway and then Pena and then around the airport and just included that in Denver.
Zach: Oh, Chicago did the same thing.
Ben: Um, yeah.
Zach: It's except it's not even the freeway. It's like literally one road.
Ben: Yeah. So maybe that's a, but you know what I mean? Like you're, you're not, it's like more like when people say six flags, Los Angeles, it's like, it's not technically true, but you know what to talk about.
Zach: Yeah, well, and I mean, the thing is, like. In 1955, when Walt Disney was opening Disneyland, he wasn't like, we'll call it Disney Land so that people know it's near l LA.
Ben: Right.
Zach: And conversely, in 71, when they were opening Walt Disney World, they weren't like, oh, we'll call it Walt Disney World. So it has ORL, so people know it's in Orlando.
Zach: like it's it's that's a nice happy little coincidence that that works that way but I'm going back to the point of like the only people who give a shit about that already know the distinction between the two I like I highly doubt that in 2024 anybody's accidentally buying tickets for the wrong one
Ben: Right. Yeah.
Ben: I'm sure it happens, but yeah. You know, you know, that happens. I'm sure that happens. Actually, um I bet that happens more frequently than you think, but not a, it's not a like a, you know,
Ben: Just because people are stupid. Like people buy the like the wrong Six Flags tickets too. and that's like the that's That's like the story of when I was working at Cedar Point. and I was walking through Challenge Park and they had like a pamphlet for Canada's Wonderland and they were like, hey, like where' how do we get the behemoth?
Ben: And I was like, what? I was like, I thought maybe it was like, I don't know, like a restaurant. I didn't know over like a burger stand. I didn't know over something. And they like whip it out. It's fucking Canada's Wonderland. I'm like, this isn't the right park.
Ben: So this day, I don't know if I was just being trolled or something, but they seem.
Zach: You definitely were.
Ben: But it wasn't it wasn't like thing is it.
Zach: That was like some s smart enthusiasts.
Ben: Yeah, but the thing, if it was like, so if it was like somebody in their 20s, right, I would guess so. But this was like, like a parent, like or like two parents with like, I don't know, like, I don't know, like mid late 30s, just like a generic couple. And then there was like a kid with them. So that's why it could have been like, I'm not saying it wasn't, but like, it didn't give off that vibe. If it was like so an enthusiast, you, I don't know, like a,
Ben: 20 year old or like someone wearing like a fanny pack or like someone by themself maybe but I don't know it's still the biggest mystery and I sometimes can't sleep at night and I think about it but if it did mix up the part that is hilarious though
Zach: I mean,
Zach: It would be funny. I don't even know what they would say in that situation because like with the Disney ones, the shit's all on your phone.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: And they're like separate apps and everything.
Ben: Yeah, true.
Zach: And you'd have to make reservations if you get that far in and you fuck it up, I don't know.
Zach: I get people are stupid, but there's a lot of steps. There's a lot of extra steps with with the Disney parks where like, you know, you accidentally buy tickets to Great America instead of America. That's a pretty easy mix up, but like you download the wrong app and make reservations for the wrong park.
Ben: But yeah, true. But it must like, unless they show you like a map before you purchase tickets where it's like, it shows like a giant arrow and it's like, this is the, this is where you're going. This is for your reservation. It like has a giant arrow to California. That reminds me like, okay. So that I've like mixing things up, right? This reminds me of a story. It's it's a friend, a local Denver friend that you've met and I'll withhold the name just because it's a funny story. But, um,
Ben: So she was trying to take an Uber to my house, and she lived downtown at the time, and I lived um like right by the stadium. It was that place that overlooked the eelage.
Ben: And I text her the address, and it's 2170 Bryant Street, or 2170 North Bryant Street.
Zach: OK.
Ben: And the thing is, like when you put
Zach: You want me to edit that out?
Ben: No, it doesn't matter because you still need it. It's like a complex. There's apartment numbers and I don't live there anymore. It's not a big deal.
Zach: OK, all right.
Ben: Yeah. um Plus, let's just say in the apartment that overlooks Illich is kind of, you know, if you want to dig that deep, go for it. I don't care. um But anyway, like it was one of those were like there's technically a North Bryan Street.
Ben: But like if you don't enter the North Street, it doesn't really matter. you know what i mean like like If you type it into Google Maps, like you still get the right address. um So I would always just send like the address without the North, because 99 % of the time, like it works.
Ben: Well, I guess she typed in North Street. And so 2170 North is like a completely different part. It's like way north. It's like 10 miles north of Denver somehow.
Ben: And see and she got in an Uber pool and then um like was in the pool with like three other people.
Zach: Oh shit.
Ben: And obviously once you do a pool and you do the wrong address, like you get really far out of the way. And she's like, I'm like, how far away are you? She's like, I don't know. Like I'm in Westminster right now. Like, and then um I was like, what's your, i like what's your location? I'm like, why are you way the fuck up there? And then, you know, she typed in the wrong address. and Anyway, long story short, like she finally shows up. I had to pay like a ah expensive Uber to get back down. And then she got all mad at me. And I was like, okay, when you entered the address in your phone, right? Uber shows you that map, right? And they have like the pins. I was like, you knew I live next to the stadium.
Ben: And you looked at that map and you were like, that looks right. And then she was like, Oh, well, like, I didn't look at the map type of thing, you know? So people anyway, well, people are just, you know, clumsy, but like, it's one of those things.
Zach: Ah, you agreed to the T's and C's.
Ben: It's really funny though. Like if you look at the comparison of like, what like the directions, it should be versus like what it is. It's like way different, like.
Ben: but
Zach: Well, don't go 10 miles out of your way.
Zach: I guess. I don't know.
Ben: I wanna know that the family, there's gotta to be a story out there of a family that booked like a two week trip, reservations, plane tickets. like like What about like Europeans, right? like They don't have the same concept of like you know East Coast, West Coast.
Zach: Yeah, but here's the thing, right? You go to make reservations at Disneyland, it'll say what park Disneyland or Disney's California Adventure.
Ben: I guess that would be enough to figure it out.
Zach: Granted, Disney World doesn't have like Disney's Florida Adventure, but. I don't know, I think that's enough context.
Ben: Yeah, true.
Zach: If you get that far and fuck it up, I still think, you know, kind of on you.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: But, you know, you're right. I'm sure it happens more frequently than I can even conceive of.
Ben: And I'm sure they're a pain in the ass. Like, that's pretty funny though.
Zach: And then they show up and it's like, okay, well, it'll be $146 per person to get in today. And they're like, what? And it's like, Oh, wait, actually, I'm sorry.
Ben: Yeah, they're like, yeah, I mean, it's one of those two where it's like, yeah, they're like, we can't refund anything, but you can, we'll let you purchase new ones.
Zach: There's no reservations available for today.
Zach: Yep.
Zach: and That's true at any park, you're not getting money back for shit.
Ben: Just like there's that family of apparently like the people who they booked, they like bought hotel reservations but didn't have park reservations or something.
Zach: Yeah, I'm sure that happens a lot too.
Zach: There's big signs up from at Disneyland when you're making your way in that say like theme park reservations are required.
Zach: Which I'm assuming only stay there because people still show up going, what do you mean I can't just buy a ticket and go in?
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah, that's gotta be frustrating.
Zach: No, I'm sorry, you need a phone.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: Because I don't think they'll even give you a printed ticket anymore.
Ben: Did it.
Ben: But like. of That'd be a fun thing to try. byin My new one thing I do like to do is like when a restaurant has a QR code is like.
Ben: Which I understand it's probably a little annoying, but like, it's like, sorry, I don't have my phone on me. Can I get a paper menu?
Zach: And they just, they just say everything real quick.
Zach: ah Oh, sorry. All we got today is rigatoni.
Ben: I do, I do hate the dependency of a phone though. Like.
Ben: Yeah, i guess like what i guess I guess technically the magic band can replace it, right? Could you just like get a magic band without your phone?
Zach: Yes and no. If you're not planning on using lightning lanes. Yes. But. The only advantage there, at least at Disneyland. Is that is just that you don't have to use your phone to enter the park.
Ben: Okay,
Zach: At Disney World, um you know, you can use it as your room key for your hotel.
Ben: You better hope that security is good.
Zach: Right. Well, and then you can also use it to charge purchases at Disney World because they'll charge it to your room.
Ben: Okay, yeah.
Zach: But none of that's available at Disneyland.
Ben: Yeah, that's kind of good fun. That's like there's bars. So like, there's a, there's a bar here, um, that does drinks. And it's like one of those things where there's like multiple bars and multiple restaurants and you walk in and they give you the wristband with the little, you know, RFID chip on it. And then you you order food and beer on the chip. And like, obviously you're not always thinking and looking at prices when you're doing that. It's like way easier to.
Ben: and And you don't have to, there's no like sign out. There's automatic gratuity and it's linked to your card. And then they just close you out at the end of the night. So you don't even see like your receipt or like what you've been charged.
Zach: Oh, damn.
Ben: I think you can request, like, I think you can ask for it. Um, like if you really wanted to, but you know, you can just walk out and you don't have to close out, but yeah, that gets dangerous.
Zach: Yeah, you're just like, had a couple drinks and a pizza and then you're like, 160 bucks. What the fuck?
Ben: Yeah, especially after that, especially after that third beer, then it's like, it's fun. I haven't been there in a while.
Zach: Just bring a picture, what the fuck.
Ben: Yeah, we used to play volleyball there. It was like a multifacet, like the volleyball courts and they also had like a stage. So you'd be like watching somebody doing open mic, like as you're playing volleyball.
Ben: And then you've got this, like, like a music festival bracelet on your wrist. And so then every time you like, um, what is it? Bump set.
Zach: Spike.
Ben: Maybe it's bump, whatever the word is, where you use your wrist to hit the ball.
Zach: I think that's bump. Yeah.
Ben: Yeah, you get the like piece of plastic stabbing your wrist.
Zach: Like, geez, what is g easy doing here? It's like, I either picture, since you're in Colorado, that type of place to just have like some insufferable jam band playing or an equally insufferable dubstep DJ.
Ben: Usually. It's usually like. um
Ben: It's kind of like it's yeah not usually jammed in an open mic, it's usually the like. I don't know how to describe it. It's usually the it's like the it's usually like kind of like the trust fund DJ.
Zach: Yeah, like the Instagram bro.
Ben: Yeah. And what's annoying is that those types will just set up their shit and then but like in like public parks. You know, like without permits and stuff. There is a some boulder, there is a river, a river spot, which is basically like imagine like an Intamin Rapids ride, but like natural, you know, so you can like tube and there's like a nice sidewalk that follows a lot, parallels it so you can you know get out.
Ben: walk to the top, go down rapids. Um, if you do the whole thing, it's like multiple miles, which is cool if you're like, wanted to, you know, do a shuttle or something. But anyway, it's just like, you know, it's like your typical, just like, it's like college kids. You just find a spot, hang up hammocks, day drink, piss in the river, you know, like just do whatever. And then like everyone said, like, uh, later in mid afternoon,
Ben: Suddenly like people start bringing their DJ equipment and it's like oh fuck and Then like another one will set up so eventually they're at any point that you'll hear like overlapping like DJ music and Everyone's just kind of like everyone has the same like look for like damn it.
Ben: No one wants this I Don't know
Zach: Yeah, why do all those people go to Colorado?
Zach: Because I joined like a bass music discord and everyone like talks about Colorado like it's. Some mecca for that shit, and I'm like, is it, though, really like?
Ben: Yeah, Colorado is one of those things where it's a lot of things that people who don't live here.
Ben: And I'm not saying, obviously, I'm here. So it's obviously great. And I like it it works for me. But um it's always interesting. Like when you hear people talk about it, like who wants to come out here. And then it's just kind of like, I'm like, I don't know where what your impression is, or like where you got that. But That's not really what it's like here.
Ben: I suppose, I mean, I'm sure California is the same way.
Zach: I was going to say as somebody you who is from Chicago and now lives in San Francisco, I understand that just kind of from the opposite perspective.
Ben: I mean, yeah.
Zach: It's like, I don't know what you heard on Fox News, but not really.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: ah just
Zach: I don't know. I don't know what you heard from your crypto friends, but not really.
Ben: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I just seen any of those like kind of like hyped, hype cities are like that. Fortunately, though, Duluth doesn't have that problem.
Ben: It is what it is.
Zach: well i'm I'm here in SF for the time being.
Ben: I like it. I think um i think in a different like opportunity timeline, it would have worked out to live out there, or at least try it for a little bit. But I think i think i think what I should have done is when I started that When I was doing like the consulting and I had that HP project, that's when I probably should have done that was when I was like 27. 28.
Zach: I mean there's plenty of good places here if you see if you're still thinking about it.
Ben: Yeah. I mean, I don't know. Job, job wise, like it'd have to be the right, it'd have to be the right job.
Ben: I don't know if the EV industry is going to to swing back anytime soon, but we'll see.
Zach: Yeah, I don't... Who knows?
Ben: Like a lot of people I worked with at my old job came from Tesla.
Ben: And a lot of, a few of them actually went back to Tesla and they were like, you want to, you want to try Tesla? And it's like, I don't know. Not really.
Ben: Not from what I heard. Cause basically it was one of those things. It was one of those things where like, when I was, you know, when you're at, I was at Lucid, everyone was talking shit about Tesla. I was like, oh man, Tesla was awful. Like I had no work life balance, like this and this and that. Like.
Ben: And then three years after you lose it, it's like, Oh man, like fuck this place. I have no work life balance. Like it's so, you know, so stressful. And then they go back to Tesla.
Zach: I mean, that doesn't seem my ideal.
Zach: I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But I like to pay for now. You know, basically.
Ben: It's pretty. It's got good, I just love like, it's just like such a naturally scenic walkable like diversity.
Zach: I wish it wasn't so expensive but you know public transit pretty good beautiful weather's nice but I don't know dude you got anything else right on
Ben: Yeah. For sure.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Mmm, not really.
Ben: I, uh, it's that cold, dark time of year, which always sucks.
Zach: It does makes me even more appreciative to be here in California.
Ben: Mm -hmm. It's still dark though.
Zach: It is, but it helps a ton to have it be, you know, in the mid fifties, low sixties.
Ben: Yeah. Yeah. I guess that was, that was one thing that always mess with me was like, um, because winter is like winter is still winter there, but like the expectations just are shifted a little bit to where I like in my mind, I'm like, Oh, it's nice. It's going to be nice out, but like it's still cold, even though it's only 50.
Ben: It's not, it's like 50, not 20, but it's like still cold. Like it's still like winter. I don't know.
Zach: Yeah, well, it's like instead of like layering up. And like, you know, long underwear and. Long sleeve and boot socks and coat, it's like, ah do I need a hoodie or a jacket?
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: And that's a lot, a lot fucking nicer.
Ben: Yeah. But there's like almost a weird, see, I always got kind of a weird cabin fever with that though, where it's almost like frustrating where it's like, Oh, well it's halfway nice. I almost would rather it be, whereas like when it's like brutally cold and it's like blowing snow, there's kind of an added comfort to being inside.
Ben: You know, like, especially like in deep winter when there was like a snow storm, like even in, even like when you live in a Chicago, right? And like, even in like your apartment, right? There's, isn't there some coziness on like a Saturday where you don't have to leave the apartment and it's like windy and snowing and like, you're just kind of like cozied up in the, in the apartment all day, watching movies and,
Zach: yeah but the the problem is it's like that for like four or five months i can do it for like a week or a weekend but yeah for like four or five months on end is like too much
Ben: Sure. Yeah. Yeah, that's true.
Zach: i'd I'd much rather go, you know, plan a trip to Chicago if I really am feeling that and urge for that than to have to do the opposite, like how the fuck do I escape this cold?
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah, yeah, that's true.
Zach: But that's just me, you know.
Ben: I got some of my some of my worst seasonal depression was in Sacramento in the winter time.
Zach: I mean, Sacramento is kind of a depressing place to be, is it not?
Ben: No, it's pretty nice. I actually. That's so ah let's like go as far as like expectations, what people say. like It's funny, like and i because people I worked with you know in the Bay Area, like I always talk about how much I like Sacramento, and everyone's like, ugh, Sacramento. And I'm like, have you lived there? And they're like, well, no. <unk> like It's one of those places everyone kind of shits on, but like no one's really ever been there. I think Sacramento's really cool.
Ben: um because it's still a Californian city, but it's way less hectic than any other city and it's smaller. It's like, it's more chill. Um, there's a lot of good restaurants. It's surrounded by agriculture. So it's always just like very, you know, kind of like, like springtime. It's like really beautiful. There's like tons of flowers and like very, almost like tropical like plants and, um,
Ben: It's not human. I don't know. I personally, I always thought Sacramento was cool, but.
Zach: I guess I haven't been there so I'd have to check it out. I just find it like a little hard to get on board with a place that goes by the moniker Sacktown.
Ben: Yeah, it's true. But, um. But in the winter in the winter time though, it rains a lot, like like torrential downpour, like fully long sustained like rainstorms. and And I don't know if that's like historically normal for that region. I think it is though. I think that's why there's so much agriculture there is because of how much rain it gets in the winter.
Ben: um
Zach: That makes sense, like I know Northie here must get a ton cause like wine country and all that.
Ben: Yeah. It's I guess it's it's what I it's like I think it's what people what people would expect Seattle to be like because like it it was it I don't know it was like multiple months of just like Orlando style like rain But with it being in like the 40s and just dark, you know, because you have that like really thick overcast plus the rain, plus the cold.
Zach: Oh yeah, that would kill me.
Ben: um And that really fucked with me when I was there and I was always like stuck in hotels and stuff.
Ben: And then like, yeah, I compare that to Seattle, Seattle, it's like gloomy, but it's it's misty. It's not really rain. It's like, you There's like a ambient kind of overcast fog with like light rain on and off, but it's not like down pouring puddles.
Zach: I haven't been there either.
Ben: Check it it out. I just. You're bored. Just drive north. Do you like the.
Zach: What, for 12 hours?
Ben: Sack.
Ben: I mean, if you do seven, the magic mountain, you can hit some credits, get those, get those loose credits. Like, um, Oh, well, do, uh, do like the Portland credits and then you only got three hours left to go to Seattle, did the Seattle credits and then do the two and a half hours to Silverwood.
Zach: Dude, Magic at Mountain's like 5.
Ben: Or I guess, no, it's more than that.
Zach: I don't know about that. Yeah, that's so far. And also. For reasons that should be kind of clear, but I'm not going to get too deep into here. I don't think. Reanne wants to visit that region.
Ben: Is it, I guess, yeah, small towns. Yeah. In between.
Zach: Like Silverwood and.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: specifically silverwood.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: um But, you know, that's so I don't I don't know for sure how down I am to go drive 12 hours one way on my own.
Ben: Yeah. That makes sense.
Ben: Well, I mean, Portland and Seattle themselves would be good.
Zach: Yeah. But for all that, you just fly just as easy.
Ben: Yeah,
Zach: Cause the flight's probably pretty quick.
Ben: yeah yeah, it is. It's like used to do Sacramento to Seattle. It was like 40 minutes.
Zach: That's what I'm talking about.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: On Alaska for like $99.
Zach: There we go. Yeah. Seattle could be fun. Probably wait till you know, spring or summer though.
Ben: Yeah, spring's a good time. I need to visit again. It's been almost two years, sadly.
Zach: I wanna go drink all the coffee and smoke all the weed.
Ben: Yeah, lots of that. It's also a good beer city. I would almost like Denver's a good beer city, but I would almost say that Seattle is like just as good. And Portland, they're they're all fine.
Zach: Okay, well I'll have to try some brews out there.
Ben: Organ is I would say organ is like the cheapest weed and then It's like the dispenser like every dispenser I went to in Oregon it was like always the craziest experience for like it's it's unlike any other state It's so loose. It's just kind of like a
Ben: you know, because everything is like loose and open jar and stuff. And then it's super lax. It's just kind of like you buy like, you're like, Oh, can I get a, a quarter of that? And then they're just like, yeah, I threw in some extra and it's like, you know, like 1 .4 of like what you actually bought.
Ben: And they'll just like, Oh, here you have some free edibles or like,
Zach: That's nuts.
Ben: like one time walk in, I'm like, all I have is $7, what can I buy? And he's like, well, you can get like, I don't know. I'll sell you like three half gram joints. How about that? It's like perfect.
Zach: Nice.
Ben: There's literally one of those like my debit card expired yesterday and all I have is like pocket change in my car.
Zach: ah enough to get you high and sometimes that's all you need holy shit fuck we've we've surpassed two hours not really just the way a good episode should be
Ben: yeah
Ben: Yeah. And we didn't really talk much about any coaster news, but... La Vibora was closed. um Apparently they're getting a gigadive. That's the rumor. We'll see how that shakes out.
Zach: I don't know if anyone's heard this, but King Dukkha closed.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: I think that was official. Like, was that one of those things where it was officially closed like two days after we recorded or something?
Zach: Yeah, it was like right after.
Ben: Yeah.
Zach: It was right after because of course it was.
Ben: Yeah.
Ben: Well, yeah. Magic Mountain things. um Let's figure that out.
Zach: Yes, indeed. First weekend of March. Let's do it, y 'all. We got something to look forward to through the offseason.
Zach: We're going to make it through and we'll do some podcasts here.
Ben: Hell yeah.
Ben: Oh, also we gotta to do a makeup for the November Patreon.
Zach: Yeah, we could try and do another one this month. I was on there.
Zach: I know so that's not a knock. You had stuff come up with the family. um I made sure that I was on there to ah make sure we hung. It was a good time. Sean Flaherty was there.
Ben: Oh, nice.
Zach: Dana was on there.
Zach: Ribs, Steen, shouts to everyone who made it through that night. Tristan, Gabe.
Ben: Cool. I'm glad that worked out.
Ben: I was thinking the time we did, didn't we do one over like new years?
Zach: Oh, Nathan.
Ben: It was like COVID new years or something.
Zach: Yeah.
Zach: Think so.
Zach: I have no clue where I'm going to be for that or for Christmas.
Ben: Yeah, me neither. I probably will probably wouldn't work out. I think that where you, that year was perfect for it though.
Zach: Yeah, definitely. Um. Yeah, join our discord. Let us know. We'll we'll figure out plans for everything.
Ben: Yeah. Sounds like a plan.
Zach: Yes, indeed. And I'll post those dates up there and we'll get some chats going.
Ben: Cool.
Zach: So join up there um and shit. You got anything else, bud?
Ben: No, all all good.
Zach: Right on. Glad we got one of these good long recordings without any actual ah substantive coaster talk.
Ben: and
Zach: Maybe we can do that next time.
Ben: or Yeah, we got to maybe we'll do a guest and talk coasters.
Zach: That's a good idea. Um, Danan reminded me he's due for a visit.
Ben: Okay. Yeah, that works.
Zach: All right, cool. Well, uh, we'll line that up and we can try.
Ben: Shall we do, shall we do multiple guests a panel?
Ben: Oh, I got a, it's saying I've exceeded the free disc space to save local backups. Recommend you stop recording.
Zach: Oh, well then. Yeah, let's let's wrap this fucking thing up then um Thanks a ton for listening everyone.
Ben: Okay.
Zach: We will be back soon and until next time your favorite coaster sucks
Ben: Your favorite coaster sucks.
