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Episode 157 Banshee/Dark Universe image

Episode 157 Banshee/Dark Universe

Your Favorite Coaster Sucks
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239 Plays5 months ago

This week on the premier comedy roller coaster podcast, Ben and Zach discuss why if Banshee at Kings Island is your favorite roller coaster, than your favorite coaster sucks. Also we talk about Dark Universe at Universal's Epic Universe, Communicore Hall at EPCOT and much more! 

Actually, we're the worst roller coaster podcast!

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Transcript

Identity and Deception in AI

00:00:42
urfavoritecoastersux
I'm Zach, and if you ask me if I'm AI generated, I won't answer definitively.
00:00:43
beb
what
00:00:49
beb
I'm Ben, and if you ask me if I'm AI generated, I will tell you.
00:00:58
beb
Yes. Think about that. I'd probably lie. It's getting very good at lying.
00:01:06
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, right.
00:01:08
beb
I saw this crazy thing actually where like figured out how to lie to get around password authorization.
00:01:19
urfavoritecoastersux
oh wow
00:01:21
beb
So, uh, I wish I could remember the exact story, but basically what it did was like it. So they had a bunch of users in a lab. Um, and so the users didn't know like, if they were interacting with like programs or AIs or whatever. So what it did was it was asked for, you know, those, um, those password things where there's like the nine squares and it's like, click all the squares that contain a stop sign.
00:01:45
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh wow.
00:01:51
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah.
00:01:52
beb
So then what it did was it um was like, hey, I'm a blind user and I cannot get past this. Can you please tell me which ones have a stop sign? And then ah the user told it that and then it got through and the password cracked. So like, um I don't know, it's just interesting. We'll see.
00:02:19
urfavoritecoastersux
Great.
00:02:20
beb
Yeah.
00:02:22
urfavoritecoastersux
The last bastion of hope. Can you identify the parked cars?
00:02:31
urfavoritecoastersux
That the last fail safe.
00:02:37
beb
Yeah, i it is funny how those are still and in the and like the works. um It is pretty clever though, because from what I understand, all it's doing is counting the time between clicks, I think. So like, if you had an automated bot try to solve it, its clicks would be like very systematic. Right. But as it went, if you're a human doing it, each click is like a little different and there's like different pace spaces and pauses in between each click and like where you click on the on the squares. um I don't know. It's interesting.

Cybersecurity Concerns

00:03:20
urfavoritecoastersux
huh well I don't know um I'm not really a tech guy in terms of understanding how it works but I mean it's a little alarming
00:03:44
beb
Yeah, I mean, it's amazing how like outdated and sloppy most organizations, organizations that have your data are with their cybersecurity.
00:04:00
beb
So it's not even about, it's not even about your own practices, like your own habits.
00:04:00
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah.
00:04:04
beb
It's like anytime you've like, you know, it's like you purchase a blender on Amazon from a specific, like a specific seller and like, there could be some hole that is out of Amazon's reach that suddenly like, you know, your, uh, I dunno, your email address is used for some weird porn site.
00:04:30
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, next thing you know, you're getting emails demanding Bitcoin or they'll release videos of you jerking off.
00:04:36
beb
Mm-hmm. Which is my fetish already.
00:04:42
urfavoritecoastersux
Getting the email.
00:04:47
urfavoritecoastersux
Somebody blackmailing you.

Podcast Origins and Humor

00:04:49
beb
ah
00:04:53
urfavoritecoastersux
Anyway, welcome back to your favorite coaster sucks. We are obviously an all roller coaster podcast.
00:05:03
urfavoritecoastersux
where ah occasionally we get high and speculate about AI, which was I think the alternative title for this show originally, getting high with AI.
00:05:12
beb
Mm-hmm.
00:05:15
beb
I mean...
00:05:22
beb
Oh,
00:05:29
urfavoritecoastersux
I don't know. I I thought that would work. Swing and a miss. That's.
00:05:34
beb
oh you're I didn't hear every other word the last minute.
00:05:38
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, I.
00:05:42
urfavoritecoastersux
Shit, ah you missed a great joke.
00:05:43
beb
ah
00:05:45
urfavoritecoastersux
Now, I said there was the alternative title for this show was Getting High With A.I.
00:05:50
beb
That's a good one. I mean that could be, and if you haven't, no one's taken that yet, that is a good one. You could just be like, hey Rowan, I'm gonna get high and let's put things in the chat at GPT.
00:06:04
beb
And then you just breathe this.
00:06:04
urfavoritecoastersux
Pass the blunt to the USB port. You're like, take a hit.
00:06:13
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, man.
00:06:15
beb
I wonder if you could tell JIT chat GPT like, um, answer this question and then be like, answer this question. If you thought you or answer this question in a way, if you were like a stone human or something like that.
00:06:34
urfavoritecoastersux
What would Tommy Chong say?
00:06:36
beb
Mm-hmm.
00:06:43
urfavoritecoastersux
Anyway, um...
00:06:47
urfavoritecoastersux
Boy. We're back again. It's, uh... Are we weekly again? I think so.
00:06:54
beb
Uh, pretty close. At least two weeks in a row. That's pretty good.
00:06:59
urfavoritecoastersux
Hey, that's that's too better than the last, like, two months, so...
00:07:03
beb
Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:07
urfavoritecoastersux
We just won't die no matter how hard y'all want us to.
00:07:11
beb
Neither were the fans.
00:07:16
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah.
00:07:17
beb
Thank you, I guess, for not dying.
00:07:19
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, no. Thank you all for keeping the discord active and um making it known that there would be somebody listening to this shit.
00:07:35
urfavoritecoastersux
I don't know.
00:07:36
beb
Holy shit. There are 81 pictures of Banshee on RCDB.
00:07:45
urfavoritecoastersux
i'm sure a lot of construction photos probably some from our friend of the show shawn flarity okay
00:07:49
beb
there's There's one that's just like a picture of the moon through the steel structure, which is very anti-Duane.
00:08:10
urfavoritecoastersux
well ah
00:08:11
beb
I remember whatever years and years ago on that long drive to Mall of America, we were talking about it and like, Apparently they get so many emails with photos attached of like all the Cedar Point and Kings Island coasters, basically all the Midwest parks. It's like every day there's just hundreds of images of like the same angle of the same ride and the same bolts and the same train car.
00:08:46
urfavoritecoastersux
I'm sure.
00:08:50
beb
And basically it was like, I don't want another picture of American Eagle. I need pictures of coasters I don't have pictures of.
00:08:58
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, you don't like it. And it's how many do you need?
00:09:05
beb
Right.
00:09:06
urfavoritecoastersux
I think he only wants the pictures there to be illustrative.
00:09:10
beb
Mm hmm.

Roller Coaster Safety & Design

00:09:15
urfavoritecoastersux
ah Duane good people um and I guess the rest of the team at our CDB not sure who all is over there, but Cool folks, I'm sure So Banshee anyway We've been talking about it because holy shit something happened and
00:09:41
beb
Yeah, I mean, it's almost every time this does happen. It's like one of those. Do you have empathy? I mean, obviously, but like also.
00:09:58
beb
It's like you have the fence. Like.
00:10:06
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, it's the same story happens every couple years. It had been a while since the last one, right?
00:10:14
beb
Mhmm.
00:10:19
urfavoritecoastersux
it's It's really sad.
00:10:23
urfavoritecoastersux
And I don't want to undermine how sad it is. But I do want to reinforce, um not that I assume anyone who's listening to this show ever would, but always obey the safety signs.
00:10:41
beb
Yeah, and I mean, if you don't at least take video of it so you can go on live leak or crazy shit.com.
00:10:41
urfavoritecoastersux
ah deep right
00:10:49
urfavoritecoastersux
Have somebody else take video of it.
00:10:56
beb
I did, I mean, I was seen though.
00:10:57
urfavoritecoastersux
Um,
00:10:58
beb
It didn't, so no one on the train got hurt, which is good.
00:11:05
urfavoritecoastersux
correct. But I guess the news article I said, said that one of the passengers was quoted as saying, it sounded like it hit a deer, which just, Jesus.
00:11:14
beb
Oh, right. Yeah, I read that.
00:11:26
beb
I mean, that that statement alone. Yeah, I thought the coaster hit a deer. like
00:11:35
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, deers know not to go by the coasters.
00:11:41
beb
I think there's a story a deer hit, or the beast hit a deer, apparently, I thought.
00:11:49
urfavoritecoastersux
I feel like that would cause it to valley, but maybe no.
00:11:52
beb
i Yeah, I don't have any source on that. I just thought I remember reading about that. Like it got, yeah, I don't know. I don't really know where it would have been like how it would have gotten on the track like where unless it was like in the tunnel or something. I don't know.
00:12:13
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, Bambi and the Beast.
00:12:18
urfavoritecoastersux
Not the most kid friendly movie story. Yes, so you you and I were talking before we started recording. We, after almost five years, are going to try something new on this show. For the namesake of the show.
00:12:40
urfavoritecoastersux
Let's just get into it, our first coaster that will be telling you all why it sucks.
00:12:47
beb
Hmm. I like this idea. I mean, it helps to have some anchor content every once in a while. And, uh, this way that there's any new listeners, it can be, you know, on cue with the show.
00:13:07
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, absolutely. So we're going to we're going to be talking about a different coaster every episode. And Ben and I here will be telling you why it sucks. And if it's your favorite coaster, then sorry, your favorite coaster sucks. Those are the rules.
00:13:27
beb
I like it.
00:13:29
urfavoritecoastersux
So first one I have down here for Banshee. It killed a guy.
00:13:36
beb
Yeah.
00:13:36
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, almost maybe almost killed. a again Details, unsure, but.
00:13:45
beb
I mean, not to mention this is already a polarizing. People have very polarized opinions of the coaster too. Like, um, I don't know how I feel about it. I've had decent rides and I've had like mediocre rides. I would put it in like maybe my 30 range 30 ish coaster range on the ranking.
00:14:20
urfavoritecoastersux
OK. That seems a little high because I definitely feel like it's forceless. It's like it's too swooshy for an inverted coaster. You know what I mean?
00:14:36
beb
Yeah, there's no, there's no real transitions. Well, everything is just kind of blended together.
00:14:46
urfavoritecoastersux
Correct. And there's no like flat spin.
00:14:50
beb
Yeah.
00:14:52
urfavoritecoastersux
which is like a staple for inverted coasters.
00:14:57
beb
There is a slow heartline role though, which is kind of fun.
00:15:02
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, but like, what do you get out of hang time on an inverted coaster?
00:15:14
beb
I mean, not much, especially with those vest restraints.
00:15:18
urfavoritecoastersux
that's another that was my next point fucking vest restraint goddamn motherfuckers as if the ride wasn't force less enough you're stuck in the exact spot that you're in no breathing room
00:15:20
beb
Yeah.
00:15:32
beb
Yeah. It's definitely like a bondage device. because like your chest, it would be fine if the vest didn't lock. That's my biggest complaint because you go through the first inversion and then the vest tightens and then you're just like pinned in your seat and you feel every single vibration.
00:16:00
urfavoritecoastersux
yeah that shit gets way too tight and then yeah you you can't breathe you can't move at all fucking vest restraints suck it feels like
00:16:20
urfavoritecoastersux
We've talked about this before on this show, but it feels like they designed, like once they switched to doing more like dive coasters, flying coasters, and especially wing coasters, all their rides got super swooshy. And Banshee just happened to be like one of the only inverts built on that side of when B and M got super swooshy.
00:16:44
beb
Yeah, but I will say the newer, I think B and&M has figured that out and they some of their newer stuff is getting kind of forceful again, especially in the hypers. because like Mako and Leviathan are pretty like I don't want to say violent, but maybe violent for like a B and&M And just how it like actually throws you around Yeah, and I don't know if that's I don't know if that's like part C world part B and&M I don't know like what the but yeah Mako is good and
00:17:08
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh yeah, Mako's airtime is aggressive. however
00:17:18
urfavoritecoastersux
However... Mako's sick. I feel like that's gonna have to be um the focus of a future episode though.
00:17:28
beb
Yeah. And then the. What's the flying coaster in Japan at Universal?
00:17:37
urfavoritecoastersux
flying dinosaur also starry sky ripper looks fucking sick as well um ucon striker i've heard is really pretty good as well
00:17:39
beb
Yeah.
00:17:44
beb
Yeah. So it's so it's. Yeah, so it's like. I don't know. Maybe, maybe it was one of those things to where they just started offering their clients like only one style of, of ride type or like ride experience. And then suddenly parks were like, no, like we want something more intense. And they're like, Oh, okay. But I mean, so I don't know if that was part of it. And now like, like whenever, when a park goes to B and&M, they kind of have like the two options, but yeah, for a while, I mean, it seemed like,
00:18:22
beb
maybe what like silver bullet was their first coaster that was kind of like what the fuck is this with the the new style of like elements and transitions and um and i still like it i still and it's still pretty forceful
00:18:39
urfavoritecoastersux
See to me though, a silver bullet has like improved with age.
00:18:49
beb
But it's like it it was the start it was almost like they it was seemed like it was the first time they went outside of their traditional coaster layout. They're they're like plug and play model. Because they had the weird, like, rampy first drop and it had, like, the you know those, like, super, like, the non-snappy inversions. But it was still forceful. And after that coaster, then suddenly their rides, like, lost the snap.
00:19:19
urfavoritecoastersux
No, I don't know. The corkscrews on there have that snap.
00:19:25
urfavoritecoastersux
Like the second half of that ride, everything after the Cobra roll is pretty damn forceful, especially that helix.
00:19:33
beb
Yeah. yeah
00:19:37
beb
Right. But it, but it was like the start of their new style was like, almost like that ride it was like an experiment. Cause then when they went to Hydra, it was like the, even more of the same of like. That Hydra was like, oh, let's do these new, super glidy, non-snapping versions with no forces. And then that was basically Hydra.
00:20:02
urfavoritecoastersux
I gotta get back to Dornie cause I remember liking Hydra but I also don't remember much about it.
00:20:11
beb
It was like, it was fun because it was unique, but there were like no forces on it. At least what I remember. Cause it was just, it was, uh, it was almost like, like, remember a no limits one where you could, um, that like heart lining program.
00:20:37
urfavoritecoastersux
okay yeah i mean i guess i don't remember it well enough although shit it's been like fifteen years
00:20:39
beb
It was almost like, it was almost like they were B and M was like playing no limits and they like over heartline the coaster and we're like, huh, what if we did this?
00:20:51
beb
And that's basically Hydra.
00:21:08
beb
Cause it also had the weird, it had like two zero G rolls in a row row, but one was like the classic zero G and then one was more like the Maverick style zero G roll.
00:21:22
beb
And then it had the like super wonky barrel roll or cobra roll.
00:21:26
urfavoritecoastersux
i remember I remember the the the jojo roll and I also remember that the the cobra roll being a little snappy.
00:21:31
beb
Yeah.
00:21:37
beb
oh
00:21:40
beb
It was, but it had that weird, like, I don't know how to describe it. It's like swishy. It like would switch from like left to right throughout it.
00:21:54
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, um... Oh, yo. Getting it back to Banshee. I have another reason why Banshee sucks.
00:22:06
beb
What's that?
00:22:08
urfavoritecoastersux
Fucking thing only runs two trains.
00:22:11
beb
Oh, it doesn't have, does it have three or can it run three?
00:22:17
beb
Wait, are you sure?
00:22:17
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, I guess it- I guess it does run three trains.
00:22:20
beb
Yeah, I was going to say, I remember it having three trains. It does the whole like lift Hill block check thing.
00:22:31
urfavoritecoastersux
Boring.
00:22:32
beb
or like it'll it'll like slow down once it gets to the top and then once the train clears and it speeds back up again.
00:22:38
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, yeah, that's right, because it's got one of those like two mile long break runs.
00:22:43
beb
Yeah.
00:22:48
urfavoritecoastersux
First of all, Kings Island fanboys, before you come to crucify me, I don't care.
00:22:55
urfavoritecoastersux
I don't care that I got that wrong.
00:23:00
urfavoritecoastersux
It doesn't matter, Banshee still sucks.
00:23:05
beb
See, the first time I wrote it, i hate i or I didn't hate it, I just was kinda like, I was really excited and it didn't deliver. But then when I wrote it, um when we all went to Hollywood Nights and we went to Kings Island um before going to Holiday World, I had a really good ride on it and it was pretty forceful. I think it's just temperamental.
00:23:34
urfavoritecoastersux
okay
00:23:35
beb
It varies a lot. So if you're like ah if you're like a Kings Island fanboy and you go 50 times a year and you've had those like you know was like golden moment rides, it probably is pretty awesome. But for the casual visitor, if you get stuck with a lame ride, then it's like, you know. it's like a I think Nitro suffers from that same thing of like, The Great America fanboys get those like insane nitro rides where it's completely trimless and it flies, but it's more common for it to be more slow and like kind of forceless and not as much airtime.
00:24:23
urfavoritecoastersux
OK, I got my notes from the first time I rode Banshee. I said it was fun, but I also said that, um.
00:24:46
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, I guess I just said it was fun the first time I rode it.
00:24:53
urfavoritecoastersux
Which, I mean, riding a coaster is fun, right? So let's see the next time.
00:24:57
beb
Yeah.
00:25:02
urfavoritecoastersux
Say row one, fairly forceless forceless with too much hang time. Yeah, that sounds about right.
00:25:19
urfavoritecoastersux
Anyway, ah I thought that would be interesting to look back on the notes from ah the first time I wrote Banshee.
00:25:30
beb
what's a How many notes do you have?
00:25:35
urfavoritecoastersux
Just that, i i usually when I go, especially to like parks I haven't been to in a while or brand new parks or any credits, I try to make quick notes just like on my phone.
00:25:46
beb
Yeah.
00:25:53
urfavoritecoastersux
especially once we started doing this here. And it dawned upon me how you had some sort of crazy ass ability to remember the seats you rode in and shit.
00:26:10
beb
It's true.
00:26:10
urfavoritecoastersux
And I was like, I don't know, I remember riding it.
00:26:16
beb
When they, when they at work, um, I tried to do an entire chronological roller coaster list of every roller coaster I've written by memory. So like starting from like my very first coaster and then I put them into an Excel, like, so like, okay, the second park I went to this, is this, and I wrote these rides and the third park I went to was this. And I got it, yeah I got it about, I only missed like four of them.
00:26:48
urfavoritecoastersux
so it was the total number alright
00:26:50
beb
I can pull it up actually. It's on my work computer.
00:26:58
beb
But what,
00:26:59
urfavoritecoastersux
while you while you're doing that I just want to point out that I'm pretty sure when we started this shit ah about less over four and a half years ago I'm pretty sure in our first second, within the first 10 episodes, we made a promise to our listeners that you were going to get your coaster count done.
00:27:22
urfavoritecoastersux
So I think now, after four and a half plus years, the fact that we can finally reveal this is pretty exciting.
00:27:35
beb
so
00:27:39
beb
So 541.
00:27:42
urfavoritecoastersux
All right.
00:27:47
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, there, there you have it, everyone.
00:27:51
beb
I don't know. I've made a lot of guesses on it. So I don't know like what I said it was or like what I thought it was, but um yeah.
00:28:04
beb
I'm not missing that much, like I stopped. See, I'm fortunate thing with my coaster kind of is like, I was fortunate enough to like, to have my era of like super annoying credit whoring early um to where like, I don't feel like I have to do it anymore.
00:28:28
urfavoritecoastersux
Same.
00:28:28
beb
but But like, Yeah, like a lot of this shit is like, it's just, it's garbage. It's like that era between like 2007 and 2012, where there's just all these like, yeah.
00:28:45
urfavoritecoastersux
Fucking kidney coasters.
00:28:47
beb
Yeah.
00:28:49
beb
But I mean, it adds, all that shit, it adds up like,
00:28:55
urfavoritecoastersux
it does i remember uh... our buddy uh... say chris he used to always say yeah when people when people ask me like and i'm at some like little pizza place riding a coaster and like i'm like alright yeah that's why they're asking you but anyway he would be like uh... i always just say you know I am, you know, going to ride them all and they can't all be Millennium Force or whatever the biggest coaster nearby to where he was was.
00:29:30
beb
Yeah.
00:29:31
urfavoritecoastersux
And that's a fine way to look at it.
00:29:35
beb
Yeah, it's true. I would get a little embarrassed though sometimes, although see, I feel like being like 18, 19, 20, that's like when it's, you're okay to be embarrassed about it and it's like kind of fun and silly, but then like you cross an,
00:29:54
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, that's, yeah, that's also like the end of when like you should be doing that shit.

Roller Coaster Culture and Innovations

00:30:02
beb
Yeah. Like if you're like in high school, college age and you're with a few friends and it's like, uh, yeah, like let's go to this, you know, like garden center f FEC where there's like literal toddlers running around and like ride this kitty coaster. It's like funny, but like once you're in like, once you're, if you're like in your forties and you're alone and you're taking pictures of it, but like it's a little weird.
00:30:31
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, and I mean, and especially if you're dressing up in religious garb to try and get a kitty credit.
00:30:31
beb
At least like if you're going to do that, at least like go during off hours or like, I don't know, like right.
00:30:47
beb
Yeah, right. I see. I think the thing what I would always say too is like. I remember, I remember doing it with our, our mutual friend a few times and we always would look be like, Oh yeah. Like we're doing a con I'm doing a contest with my friends to see who can ride the most roller coasters in a day. And like, you know, you're just like, Oh, but this, this counts. Like this counts that I need to ride it before my friend does. So yeah, I don't know. It was the way to, I justified it to myself. Make it sound less weird.
00:31:26
urfavoritecoastersux
well again I think that's one of those things are when you're younger especially with friends doing that shit it's one thing but yeah if you're by yourself and you're like 37
00:31:34
beb
Yeah.
00:31:43
urfavoritecoastersux
pump the brakes there is it really worth it like it is until the court fees start adding up
00:31:52
beb
It is until you hit a thousand. Maybe.
00:32:10
beb
i'm trying to I'm trying to think of the most embarrassing one, and it might have been there. So in Manitoba, or outside of Winnipeg, there was this go-kart place, Grand Prix something, and they had one of those like
00:32:10
urfavoritecoastersux
So 541, all right, that's that's that's awesome.
00:32:38
beb
It wasn't an Alan Herschel like little dipper. It was, uh, I'm trying to, um, it was basically like an, it was basically like a little dipper, but it had four person trains. So it was like two across. I don't know. I remember the make or model. Um, and then they had a, like an old school mouse. So. we were our our buddy and I, we were driving across Canada. we We entered Canada and Vancouver. We did Playland Park. We did Callaway, Edmonton, um you know, through Saskatchewan or Saskatchewan, however you say it properly, um Manitoba. And then I bought a, like a case of beer.
00:33:33
beb
And I was trying to drink the beers before we were like getting back to the border. So Winnipeg was our last stop and there was maybe like a like a five hour drive to the border from Winnipeg. So I'm like drinking all these beers before we go to this kiddie park. And ah I was a like very inexperienced with alcohol because I was 19. And I just drank like six beers in the parking lot. Like I so i slammed them. and And then I remember being like, I was talking really loud, I didn't realize I was talking loud, and Eric was like trying to cue me like, hey, shh, because we're around a bunch of like parents with little kids. And I had all the Canadian dollars, and there was like you know there all every piece or every value amount's multicolored. And I was like, could you imagine like doing a drug deal with this money? It's all colorful. like How do you take this seriously?
00:34:32
beb
And, um, then apparently like I'm one of the moms with the kids got got uncomfortable and she like pushed the kid kind of further up and like kept distancing herself from us. I don't know. And then I'm just on this ride, like laughing and I had my camera and I'm just like, Oh, isn't this stupid? We're on a kitty coaster.
00:34:59
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I think that's one of those things that definitely, you know, annoyance when you're 19.
00:35:07
urfavoritecoastersux
Somebody might call the cops when you're 37.
00:35:10
beb
yeah Yeah.
00:35:11
urfavoritecoastersux
If you're if you're 43 and you slam six beers and chill up to ride a kitty coaster unaccompanied.
00:35:25
beb
Exactly.
00:35:29
urfavoritecoastersux
Just like getting high, man. Set and setting, right?
00:35:32
beb
Yeah.
00:35:33
urfavoritecoastersux
Set and setting. So, Ben, we got some news.
00:35:40
beb
Oh shit.
00:35:44
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, I also wanted to real quick, before we move on to the news, mention that time that
00:35:45
beb
um
00:35:48
beb
Universal announced.
00:35:48
urfavoritecoastersux
um
00:35:51
urfavoritecoastersux
Wait, wait, hold on.
00:35:51
beb
also
00:35:53
urfavoritecoastersux
I really quick wanted to ah remember this other story that I thought of where you and that same friend were in the parking lot of Great America, I think drinking Jack Daniels.
00:36:09
beb
yeah Yeah.
00:36:13
urfavoritecoastersux
And like, I remember seeing him and he was like all pink.
00:36:25
beb
Like his face.
00:36:26
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, like he was buzzed.
00:36:29
beb
Oh, oh, that was. um Oh, that's right. I still think about that visit because um
00:36:39
beb
That was a lot of fun because it was super, right it was like super random and um it was like super like, I remember like I got out of work and I just drove down. No, fuck God, I'm being all nostalgic now. So that was literally, it was the day before I left to go to Colorado with Lee, like camping for a week for the first like, and I remember just him and I went to like the, We went to like a REI and then Eric's like, yo, like I'm going to great America with Jackie.
00:37:12
beb
Like you should come. And then you were like, Hey, I'm going to the park. And then like everyone, like everyone had just happened to be at the park that day. And it was a random Friday. And then, so then I, we were drinking, no, we were drinking like vodka in Red Bull, vodka, Red Bulls.
00:37:22
urfavoritecoastersux
yeah yeah oh wow classy although I want to say this was probably 10 or maybe even 11 years ago okay yeah
00:37:35
beb
Yeah.
00:37:42
beb
No, this was, it was, uh, yeah, it was 2013.
00:37:49
beb
I remember, I remember that as kind of the, it was like kind of the last impromptu six flags visit. Um, because then after that, it wasn't, you know, it wasn't the same. It was like kind of like the last, like one where everyone is together and we went to Taco Bell afterwards and all that shit.
00:38:11
urfavoritecoastersux
yeah that was damn yeah dude I remember that too man I feel like it'd be fun to just like
00:38:17
beb
I remember I was excited too because I was like, Oh, because I was going on that huge camping trip the next day.
00:38:37
urfavoritecoastersux
hang out with that dude again, or like the three of us.
00:38:39
beb
Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:42
urfavoritecoastersux
But I don't know if, uh, I don't know if that's a possibility.
00:38:49
urfavoritecoastersux
Anyway, anyway, that, that was a, that was a memory that that triggered in my head. Good times.
00:38:59
beb
Yeah, that was good. oh Because but I remember too, I just remember everything because we rode terror twister and then everything was like open and there's no lines. um I don't think we bought alcohol in the park. I don't remember.
00:39:19
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I don't think so either. Really, the main thing, yeah, I remember going to Taco Bell. I remember like waiting for raging bull.
00:39:31
beb
yeah
00:39:35
urfavoritecoastersux
And that was like.
00:39:38
urfavoritecoastersux
The only time I ever really talked to Jackie, I think.
00:39:39
beb
Yeah.
00:39:46
urfavoritecoastersux
and yeah Yeah, but I think that was what like the end of the night or something
00:39:51
beb
Yeah, probably. We got there at like eight o'clock or so. I'm just, I'm wondering, I was trying to look through my phone because I remember there's a few pictures. Um, I'll have to, I'll have to dig later. There is, there is a picture from that day though, of all of us on terror twister.
00:40:19
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh shit. Need to find that. We'll uh...
00:40:24
beb
It's like, i think it's I think, I think it's on Facebook.
00:40:26
urfavoritecoastersux
Alright yeah, well we'll uh... Maybe we'll share that on the socials. Maybe. Or maybe we'll just share it in our Discord.
00:40:36
beb
Yeah. And I remember, I remember that too. Cause like, cause it was very impactful. Cause basically like that was before, uh, you know, that guy and I started dating and then I moved in with him.
00:40:55
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah. I feel like kind of. All of us were in like relatively new things at that time or something like that.
00:41:08
beb
Yeah, it's just your classic, like, even though not all of us were in college, but we were all kind of exiting that college aged era.
00:41:21
urfavoritecoastersux
Yep.
00:41:26
urfavoritecoastersux
Definitely because like but Within the next couple years I ended up moving from the burbs out to Chicago And you moved to Minnesota And our buddy had already left
00:41:44
beb
Yeah.
00:41:52
beb
Yeah.
00:41:56
urfavoritecoastersux
And that other dude we used to hang out with in that same crew, he had left a while ago too.
00:42:01
beb
Yeah. Right.
00:42:04
urfavoritecoastersux
And I still wish i ah I definitely regret not being able to go on that trip to St. Louis.
00:42:15
beb
The, oh, right, we're right. Well, we went in 08 and 09.
00:42:21
urfavoritecoastersux
yeah but the one after uh the dude moved down there with um how do i put it yes apple bees
00:42:22
beb
ah
00:42:38
beb
Applebee's? Yeah.
00:42:50
urfavoritecoastersux
yeah and uh... friend of the show John Ravel big fucking homie of the show John Ravel that was a fucking blast that was like that was like honestly
00:42:59
beb
Yeah, actually I got a memory of the live show picture um the other day this week.
00:43:10
beb
It was already a year ago.
00:43:17
urfavoritecoastersux
in the Almost five years we've been doing this, that was like a highlight for me.
00:43:23
beb
I mean, it was definitely, I mean, it was the only, well, like the second time we ever recorded in the same room.
00:43:33
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, it hasn't happened much. it's ah It's always a fun energy though, because it's it's always like very intimate audiences, which is cool.
00:43:42
beb
Yeah.
00:43:44
urfavoritecoastersux
and it's always like after we've been hanging out with people for the whole day or two days so that makes it even more fun like it's not awkward like just like ah when we did the one at the cabin that was a fucking huge highlight as well
00:43:50
beb
Yeah.
00:44:04
beb
Yeah, that one is, that one is crazy. It was like a lot. It was hard. it It definitely is hard to have a group of people though.
00:44:13
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I don't think I would ever really want to do an event any bigger than that.
00:44:21
beb
Yeah, that was a good, that was a good size.
00:44:24
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, because I think we capped out at 20 there, and that's about. The most you you want for an event of any kind, really.
00:44:33
beb
Yeah.
00:44:36
urfavoritecoastersux
At least in a in like a place we're all crashing in.
00:44:41
beb
Right, yeah.
00:44:45
urfavoritecoastersux
Anyway.
00:44:46
beb
Oh shit, did you know that Fujiyama, or, what's the correct, what is it?
00:44:55
beb
FujiQ.
00:44:58
beb
They got to a motorbike coaster.
00:45:02
urfavoritecoastersux
Really?
00:45:03
beb
Yeah, and it has the whole like Hagrid's reverse spike launch kind of thing.
00:45:12
urfavoritecoastersux
Interesting.
00:45:14
beb
with the drop track. Maybe? Oh no, no drop track.
00:45:24
urfavoritecoastersux
No, I hadn't heard about that. That's really interesting. Does it have any theming of any kind?
00:45:29
beb
um It looks like your typical Fuji-Q theming of like like steel sheds in a couple boulders and gray track color scheme.
00:45:47
urfavoritecoastersux
yeah that makes sense i feel like i always forget which one is which but i remember years ago uh alvi made a comparison where it was like either fujiq or nagashima was like the cedar point of japan and then the other one's like the magic mountain of japan
00:46:07
beb
Yeah, Fujikyu is the Magic Mountain and then Nagashima is the Cedar Point. And it makes sense. Like Fujikyu is in the mountains. Nagashima Spa Land is on the coast. Nagashima has more like big, less ah like intense rides. And then Fujikyu's got like kind of the quirky, aggressive coasters.
00:46:37
urfavoritecoastersux
including Asian icons there, right?
00:46:42
beb
Yeah.
00:46:44
urfavoritecoastersux
And dota don't it don't be used to be there.
00:46:51
beb
Yeah, that that sucks. But also, I mean, like, apparently the capacity on that was absolutely terrible.
00:47:00
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, well, I think they really fucked it up when they
00:47:06
urfavoritecoastersux
put the loop in there because like I think from what I had heard there was a pretty jarring transition between the track and and honestly any little bump when you're going a hundred fifteen miles an hour on fucking inflatable tires yeah
00:47:08
beb
Yeah.
00:47:22
beb
yeah people describe that it it was like a giant pothole that was like fucking people up yeah I was, holy shit, I was trying i was trying to find a POV of it and uh
00:47:38
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah.
00:47:49
beb
So YouTube just suggested a Joe Rogan episode, apparently the first person to receive a Neuralink microchip.
00:48:08
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh are you thinking about making a purchase?
00:48:11
beb
No, it's just funny that it suggested that.
00:48:15
urfavoritecoastersux
That's really weird.
00:48:17
beb
Cause like, I mean, obviously this is a random tangent, but like, apparently those two, like Musk and Joe have been all like, buddy, buddy.
00:48:29
beb
So it makes sense that he would have ah the first patient on the show.
00:48:29
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah that makes sense.
00:48:34
beb
It's like, yeah, we're, we've, you know, killed 50 pigs and 30 monkeys, but Hey, look at that. Look how great this thing is.
00:48:45
urfavoritecoastersux
Hey, my eyesight's almost back and I can wiggle the toes on my left foot again.
00:48:56
urfavoritecoastersux
And all the porn I can handle directly in my head.
00:49:03
beb
That's the future.
00:49:09
urfavoritecoastersux
In other news, Universal announced details about Dark Universe.

Theme Park Developments

00:49:15
urfavoritecoastersux
It's going to be an epic universe.
00:49:17
beb
So is this a new land?
00:49:20
urfavoritecoastersux
It's ah one of the worlds inside of the new park that's going to be opening next year.
00:49:24
beb
Okay. Okay.
00:49:27
urfavoritecoastersux
It's all themed to the classic universal universal monsters, you know, Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula.
00:49:38
beb
Oh, gotcha. Okay. I didn't, I had no idea.
00:49:51
beb
What kind, do they have any credits?
00:49:54
urfavoritecoastersux
Uh, yeah, so there's going to be a spinning family coaster themed around the Wolfman.
00:50:00
beb
Okay.
00:50:01
urfavoritecoastersux
And as of right now, unconfirmed, unless you know what, I didn't check our CDB before. So let me shut my damn mouth and check that shit before, uh,
00:50:17
urfavoritecoastersux
I go on talking here.
00:50:22
urfavoritecoastersux
okay so the only scheduled credit in this area is the curse of the werewolf spinning family coaster um but there's gonna be like a signature e-ticket attraction in there that
00:50:46
urfavoritecoastersux
I mean, I think from the concept art that they showed, it's going to be a KUKA arm on a roller coaster track.
00:50:58
beb
Okay. And that's what, uh, Harry Potter is one of those, right?
00:51:07
urfavoritecoastersux
ah Well, it's a KUKA arm on a track, but it's not a roller coaster.
00:51:14
beb
Okay. Gotcha.
00:51:17
urfavoritecoastersux
It's, it can only go, like it has to be flat.
00:51:22
beb
Yeah.
00:51:24
urfavoritecoastersux
Whereas I know I think, okay, I just looked it up. This is from, I believe 2016 that they debuted the KUKA arm that could go on a roller coaster track.
00:51:55
urfavoritecoastersux
No, I don't there. That's just a. Hmm.
00:52:11
urfavoritecoastersux
All right. There we go.
00:52:17
beb
See, if you did the the the arm combined with the whole i track Donkey Kong thing, I feel like that'd be pretty cool.
00:52:29
urfavoritecoastersux
It's it's gonna be themed to like Frankenstein and all the monsters dude. It looks awesome I put I put a link in the chat for you and I'll put this in the description or on our Fucking discord. Nobody likes the description go on discord. ah There's a link to An article about the robo coaster or the the KUKA arm on an actual coaster track and
00:52:56
beb
Okay.
00:53:00
urfavoritecoastersux
This looks like a kind of an old article too.
00:53:04
beb
Yeah, the robo coaster.
00:53:06
urfavoritecoastersux
Right. Yeah.
00:53:12
urfavoritecoastersux
But that's what I'm saying.
00:53:18
urfavoritecoastersux
2004. Holy shit.
00:53:19
beb
it click Yeah, this isn't...
00:53:21
urfavoritecoastersux
That's what I'm saying. It's not the newest technology, but I think that nobody's used it. Right. So.
00:53:32
beb
My question about that though is like, you know, there obviously probably are like fail safes and shit, but what happens if like the arm, well, I guess answering my own question, I doubt that a park with universal would, but I doubt that they would design a ride with like such insane head choppers and clearances based on like the arm functionality.
00:54:02
beb
That would be cool, though. But I.
00:54:05
urfavoritecoastersux
I mean, you've been on Harry Potter, right?
00:54:08
beb
Yeah.
00:54:10
urfavoritecoastersux
That has some pretty close ones.
00:54:14
beb
Yeah, but like it wouldn't if I don't see them make doing something to where like if the arm is raised, you can clear something and if it's down, you hit it.
00:54:26
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh no, I don't think there's anything like that.
00:54:28
beb
Yeah. That'd be crazy, though.
00:54:36
urfavoritecoastersux
I'm telling you I think that's what it is though. I'm gonna link another article here that you can see. If you scroll down about like halfway down the page, there's an animation ah for, the right name of the ride is Monsters Unchained, The Frankenstein Experiment.
00:54:57
beb
It's on wait, it's in it's on the page.
00:55:01
urfavoritecoastersux
WDW Magic.
00:55:05
beb
Oh, okay, different link. Gotcha.
00:55:10
beb
Wait, no, wait, which which link is this? Oh, gotcha.
00:55:13
urfavoritecoastersux
the second one in the chat.
00:55:15
beb
I see it.
00:55:20
beb
Okay.
00:55:22
urfavoritecoastersux
And it's a nice high res image. And if you look to Frankenstein, to the left of Frankenstein's head in that image, you could see what resembles
00:55:42
urfavoritecoastersux
the same as, you know, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or this Robo Coaster G2 that we were just talking about. It looks just like it.
00:55:54
beb
Okay. Yeah, that looks pretty cool.
00:56:05
urfavoritecoastersux
Right. I mean,
00:56:08
urfavoritecoastersux
and Like if you look at the bottom of the thing too It's got like ride vehicle Yeah
00:56:18
beb
The one image
00:56:22
beb
Or it's like of the curse of the werewolf. And it's like, beware of the moon.
00:56:33
beb
That'd be funny if that's just all it is. It's just like a, like an image. I guess like it's like a poster board.
00:56:41
beb
Um, no, not at all.
00:56:43
urfavoritecoastersux
dude have you followed this park at all though it looks fucking amazing I will say with all this cool shit they announced for this area
00:56:54
beb
Yeah, I mean, it looks really cool.
00:57:03
urfavoritecoastersux
The one thing I'm a little disappointed they didn't announce is a year-round haunt, like a walkthrough, like they used to have at Universal Hollywood.
00:57:15
beb
Oh, sure, yeah.
00:57:18
urfavoritecoastersux
I think that would have been really fitting in that area.
00:57:25
urfavoritecoastersux
But um on the whole, man, stoked, looks awesome. um A horror themed area in a theme park is really cool. I'm super excited for that.
00:57:40
beb
Yeah, I mean, it's, um, I'm trying to think of the closest thing that's, I mean, no, but no park has done that before, right? Other than maybe the, what, the Fuji Q hospital haunted walkthrough thing.
00:58:00
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I mean, that's but that's an attraction. I don't think any place has had a ah full like horror themed area.
00:58:10
beb
Yeah that's true.
00:58:11
urfavoritecoastersux
That's operation that's operating as a horror theme all year round.
00:58:18
beb
Yeah, right.
00:58:19
urfavoritecoastersux
I think a lot of parks have, you know, a horror overlay for Halloween, but.
00:58:26
urfavoritecoastersux
I yeah, I can't really think of any others that are like
00:58:32
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, okay. I'm just going to throw this one out there just to get it out there. Technically, if you want to say Halloween at holiday world.
00:58:46
beb
Oh sure. Yeah. and's so That's pretty spooky.
00:58:53
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I mean.
00:58:56
urfavoritecoastersux
i would I would give that maybe, you know, but I think that's completely different from what this is going to be.
00:59:03
beb
Right.
00:59:06
urfavoritecoastersux
So that's some exciting shit. um Also out of Orlando, test track 2.0 has officially closed. It's going to be ah down for who knows how long to become test track 3.0.
00:59:26
beb
3.9 or 3.0.
00:59:29
urfavoritecoastersux
3.0 I made a typo there, you know If they skip right ahead to 3.9 that would be cool
00:59:31
beb
Oh, I was like, it would be I thought that was like a joke.
00:59:42
beb
I'm ah just like, I'm not a fan of movie sequels. Like, obviously, I get coaster rehab and all that, but. um
00:59:56
beb
Man, sequels are top thrill too.
01:00:04
urfavoritecoastersux
I was just about to say, just in time, right? Cause you can't really have two rides that have the abbreviation TT2.
01:00:15
beb
Oh, right. i wonder if I wonder if that like, if Disney was just like, ah, fuck, we can't use that.
01:00:26
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, if dragster comes back up, I mean, top thrill two comes back up at any point soon. There might be a legitimate conspiracy there.
01:00:36
beb
Yeah.
01:00:40
urfavoritecoastersux
Um, but you know, no.
01:00:41
beb
And it's still not open. It's, uh, let's hope it doesn't pull a, uh, you know, a museum.
01:00:57
beb
If you know what I mean.
01:01:00
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, difference there is it was verifiably open once.
01:01:03
beb
That's true.
01:01:09
urfavoritecoastersux
um And you know what we were talking about last time? How Hyperia was still closed.
01:01:19
beb
Yeah, that opened.
01:01:20
urfavoritecoastersux
it It reopened like a day later, so fucking had a guard on her face, whatever.
01:01:27
beb
I mean, that's good, it's a mock. That ah that that checks out.
01:01:34
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, well, apparently it's prone to valuing right after the drop.
01:01:39
beb
hu
01:01:40
urfavoritecoastersux
Before the outward bank.
01:01:43
beb
Like, during the... Like right after the first drop or between the like first element and the overbank.
01:01:54
urfavoritecoastersux
Like right before, like right before that outward bank, I thought that was right after the first drop.
01:02:00
beb
There's like a, like a reverse dive loop thing. And then it goes into the outward bank.
01:02:09
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, yeah. OK, so that's that's the spot then.
01:02:13
beb
Okay.
01:02:17
beb
Which is surprising because it when it when you look at it run and test it looks like it goes pretty quick.
01:02:29
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I mean.
01:02:32
urfavoritecoastersux
I hope they're able to figure out whatever the hell is wrong with it, you know.
01:02:33
beb
It looks good.
01:02:41
urfavoritecoastersux
hasn't Hasn't been a particularly great year for new rides so far.
01:02:47
beb
Doesn't it seem like every ride now, it's like, and I don't know if it's just because parks are on thinner margins or it's like an inflation thing or just like, you know, whatever. It's like, there used to be an era where like a bunch of parks would open new rides and then they'd have the grand opening weekend and obviously like rides would be late and stuff. But now it's like, Every ride has this like long drawn out, drawn out kind of like story to it, where it's like it it's under construction a whole year before it opens. And then like, or it's announced like two years before it opens. And then it's under construction for all this time. And then it like takes six months to even open.
01:03:36
urfavoritecoastersux
yeah like well i think part of the problem is they announced the shit so fucking early now that it's like oh i'm sure it is because also like look at places like disney or bush gardens in florida where they had attractions on deck to open
01:03:43
beb
Yeah. And that might just imagine it might just be like a season pass selling tactic. Yeah.
01:04:04
urfavoritecoastersux
that then they didn't open for years in a couple cases and now that's precedent to have shit sitting there you know under construction and oh you know well we didn't sell enough season passes this year so hopefully you know if we sell more next year we'll open it up
01:04:11
beb
Yeah.
01:04:29
beb
Yeah, right. Yeah, that's probably that's probably it.
01:04:36
urfavoritecoastersux
And you know, and it it is top down too, because um I would um just invite you and any of our listeners to type in communicore hall on Google, which is, this is the the center point, the final piece of Epcot's transformation after
01:04:49
beb
Mm hmm.
01:05:05
urfavoritecoastersux
Lord, six years.
01:05:07
beb
yeah just about
01:05:10
urfavoritecoastersux
And click on the you don't even have to click on it. The first picture that comes up when you type in Communicore Hall.
01:05:24
urfavoritecoastersux
It's a it looks like a it looks like a middle school cafeteria.
01:05:30
beb
Yeah, just about.
01:05:34
urfavoritecoastersux
Do you see what I'm looking at here?
01:05:35
beb
I'm getting there.
01:05:44
beb
with banners.
01:05:45
urfavoritecoastersux
the Yeah, this is this is the the the the crown jewel of Epcot's transformation.
01:05:56
beb
It looks like, it looks like a, I don't know, like a,
01:05:57
urfavoritecoastersux
just
01:06:06
beb
like your cities, like your cities, like museum, like school meeting area, like when a bunch, like, I don't know, like your public, like your city's public mute or like your, any city's public museum where like you go as a kid and there'd be like eight schools there at the same time.
01:06:31
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, yeah, like the meeting room, yeah.
01:06:32
beb
It's like,
01:06:35
beb
where you get your bag lunge with the peanut butter sandwich and the apple.
01:06:40
urfavoritecoastersux
Juice box, yep, yep. No, I mean, shit. This, this shit here. They tore down like the entire middle of future world. And it was gone for like six years. For fucking Moana journey of water and this fucking cafeteria.
01:07:12
beb
It has.
01:07:12
urfavoritecoastersux
And mind you, mind you, this cafeteria you're looking at doesn't sell food.
01:07:20
beb
I love the one review that just says this is a big wide open room with chairs where you can sit down. Not themed in any way.
01:07:27
urfavoritecoastersux
The Yeah, that's exactly what it is.
01:07:28
beb
No bathroom. The bathroom is outside. It looked like a university common area. Could have used a little Disney decoration.
01:07:43
urfavoritecoastersux
Like for real, and I know you and I historically haven't really been big Disney folks, right?
01:07:51
beb
Yeah.
01:07:53
urfavoritecoastersux
But you can look at this, even you and I, having paid attention to Disney Parks even peripherally for the past 20 plus years, can look at this shit. Cause it's just open last week, mind you.
01:08:09
beb
Okay.
01:08:11
urfavoritecoastersux
And say, what?
01:08:16
beb
Wait, so it says there's no, they had no way. So is this something you have to wait in line in?
01:08:23
urfavoritecoastersux
No, it's...
01:08:23
beb
What it what is it? Like, what is it for?
01:08:27
urfavoritecoastersux
Exactly.
01:08:32
beb
I mean, I guess if you're, I'll put it this way, I would have loved
01:08:41
beb
The day I was at Busch Gardens Tampa and it was like a hundred degrees and I was dying. I would have loved to find an air conditioned room like this, but so it doesn't have any purpose. There's no food. There's no bathrooms. It's literally just, uh, it looks like there's some kind of live performance in there.
01:08:57
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, on the...
01:09:01
beb
Okay.
01:09:01
urfavoritecoastersux
That's outside.
01:09:06
beb
Well, in if in the reviews, there's like performers.
01:09:06
urfavoritecoastersux
And if there's...
01:09:11
beb
there's a big There's a bunch of people sitting in a circle.
01:09:15
beb
Um, the fourth review, if you go to the Google reviews, it's like the last one.
01:09:20
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, I gotta to find these reviews, okay. I see it's got 2.3 stars.
01:09:35
urfavoritecoastersux
uh yeah communicore west this is inside disney's epcot park it's been under construction for the last several years and it's true i don't
01:10:03
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh yeah, that was during the media event. I'm pretty sure.
01:10:12
urfavoritecoastersux
Cause that was the other thing about this is, um, the disparity between how it was presented during the media event and immediately after.
01:10:27
beb
Oh sure, yeah.
01:10:29
urfavoritecoastersux
because during the media event they did have food available in there and some like banners and shit.
01:10:39
urfavoritecoastersux
It looks like maybe they move the, um that looks like the lady from the Encanto show that's going on right over there. So maybe they move the show inside there if it's like too hot.
01:11:00
beb
i don't I don't get it.
01:11:02
urfavoritecoastersux
Interesting hey at least they're getting some other fucking use out of that weird building Fucking napcot um Oh Great America's gonna open sky striker
01:11:20
beb
Yeah, I saw a little media day clip thing.
01:11:26
beb
Um, today that was a few, a few, I don't know. We call it. We're like, people sit on the ride and they have a camera set up for, for, for the vloggers, the influencers.
01:11:36
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah.
01:11:42
urfavoritecoastersux
I mean, cool, good addition to the park, whatever.
01:11:47
beb
It looks all right. I mean, ah the park it's, I'm glad the park added a new throw ride. I just, um, One thing that is cool is that it looks like it gets pretty close to X flight. Like it goes pretty much over the ride, which is kind of cool, but.
01:12:11
urfavoritecoastersux
I mean, looks fine. I don't know.
01:12:18
urfavoritecoastersux
It's good to see him get a new ride, although at the same time, that whole area is like empty and devoid of anything now.
01:12:20
beb
Yeah.
01:12:30
urfavoritecoastersux
Because revolution is gone, right?
01:12:32
beb
Yeah.
01:12:33
urfavoritecoastersux
And they didn't put anything there.
01:12:40
beb
I mean, there could be, uh, there's no longer games there, right? A whole game Plaza. Is that still there?
01:12:46
urfavoritecoastersux
No, there's there's the game gallery there still.
01:12:48
beb
Okay.
01:12:51
beb
I don't know.
01:12:52
urfavoritecoastersux
But they like.
01:12:53
beb
They could put like a screaming swing over there or something.
01:12:57
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, that could work. Yeah, there's there's nothing now they replaced all that area revolution in the in the queue with like some benches.
01:13:06
beb
Okay.
01:13:08
urfavoritecoastersux
So like they took all of the. Kinetic stuff out of the middle of the midway there.
01:13:19
beb
Yukon territory needs a new ride.
01:13:26
urfavoritecoastersux
Uh, I think they need to.
01:13:32
beb
Plant some trees.
01:13:34
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, they need to figure out what they're doing with camp cartoon.
01:13:38
beb
Is that so close?
01:13:41
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, ah like occasionally they'll open up just space, please. The only other ride over there um is the little boat ride.
01:13:54
urfavoritecoastersux
No way. I can't remember. There's one other ride. I think it's the little boat ride, but everything else is closed in there and removed.
01:14:01
beb
Okay.
01:14:07
urfavoritecoastersux
So the there's only two rides in the whole area. And other than that, it's a big open space.
01:14:13
beb
Yeah. Well, that and, uh, wilderness seers over there. I mean, it seems like it could be a spot for a new coaster if they moved the kid section. That's the thing. That park actually has more opportunities for coasters than I think people think. But, uh,
01:14:43
beb
Let's see, the other, the Looney Tunes kid section, is that still there?
01:14:47
urfavoritecoastersux
No.
01:14:48
beb
Oh.
01:14:49
urfavoritecoastersux
Bugs Bunny National Park suchge is gone.
01:14:54
urfavoritecoastersux
Kidzopolis is still there though.
01:14:56
beb
Okay. Kidzopolis.
01:15:00
urfavoritecoastersux
well they had to When they lost the license to the Wiggles, they had to do something.
01:15:08
beb
Hot potato, hot potato.
01:15:14
urfavoritecoastersux
Uh, but yeah, that kids area needs some help, not kidsopolis. Although that needs maybe some help too. Because where they used to have a stage show is now kind of like permanently off limits because it's where they built a maze for fright fest.
01:15:38
beb
Oh, gotcha.
01:15:39
urfavoritecoastersux
So they're like lacking entertainment in that area.
01:15:43
beb
Yeah.
01:15:46
urfavoritecoastersux
And.
01:15:53
urfavoritecoastersux
Man, that's the thing is like, I don't know, everything needs some help in that park. Hometown, OK, hometown's fine. And they have the little they have kids rides in hometown park.
01:16:13
beb
Didn't they do something weird though where they like... There was like a sign or like... Was it was it the kazeebo? They did something weird where they just like hacked something in half.
01:16:29
urfavoritecoastersux
oh they got rid of all the park in the middle and now it's like four little corners of grass yeah it yuck yeah they did that for ignite but that's shit we're going back over 10 years now the old um
01:16:32
beb
Okay, that's right.
01:16:40
beb
Yeah, yeah.
01:16:54
beb
Yeah, the park, it it feels like it's in a weird state. and Like, like, I don't know. I remember. I don't know. Back when I started going frequently and, you know, during the sif cam roll days, there was always kind of like a. like a commentary on pride of like how nice our park was compared to other parks with just like, you know, cleanliness and paint and like all that kind of stuff. But nowadays it's like, I don't know if it's just because, Oh, well shit, 20 years went by since that time and everything is just getting old or if it's a actual neglect, I don't know.
01:17:41
urfavoritecoastersux
I don't remember it being quite as rough in like 2012.
01:17:51
beb
yeah like it wasn't no it was it was fine then too like it wasn't it really wasn't until like so when gliath was built that's when i started this go much less frequently and that's when i started noticing things and then when we went um after hollywood nights that's when it was like whoa like this is the shit that i remember seeing at like fucking Kentucky Kingdom in 2008 and, you know, what everyone who would dread about at like Six Flags America and I don't know, Magic Mountain and all that.
01:18:35
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I always remember like as a kid, especially reading forms and people would shit talk all the Six Flags parks and I'd be like, oh, well, like that doesn't really apply.
01:18:47
beb
Yeah.
01:18:49
urfavoritecoastersux
Doesn't feel like that at Great America or whatever.
01:18:54
urfavoritecoastersux
But yeah, no, like last year, the the the candy shop in hometown was closed all year.
01:19:02
beb
Mm hmm.
01:19:05
urfavoritecoastersux
Like they didn't even have shit in there. yeah And just fucking closed up building right there.
01:19:10
beb
Yeah.
01:19:12
urfavoritecoastersux
um Let's see, Southwest.
01:19:18
urfavoritecoastersux
Southwest is all right. They took the fountain out, though, so that kind of sucks.
01:19:23
beb
Oh, the.
01:19:24
urfavoritecoastersux
And not fountain, the. The water thing, whatever you call that thing.
01:19:29
beb
Yeah, yeah.
01:19:32
beb
That sucks.
01:19:33
urfavoritecoastersux
And then in the mission, they built a fucking bar, like if anyone asked for that, as if there wasn't already an indoor bar in Southwest.
01:19:39
beb
Right. Yeah.
01:19:47
beb
I think I remember paying like, Oh, is it like $14 for a log and eat his IPA in there?
01:19:57
urfavoritecoastersux
That sounds about right.
01:19:58
beb
Yeah. Like it was more than a, more than a baseball game. Like, you know, I don't know, you're not, you're, you're used to gouging, like, I don't know. Like I was just at a, I was just at a Rockies game a bit ago and like, you know, like you get like the tall can of, of, of like banquet and it's like, you know, $13 or whatever. And it's like, Oh, okay, whatever. But then there I was like, wait, what? I think it was, I think it would have been like $16 or something.
01:20:27
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, it sounds right.
01:20:28
beb
Yeah.
01:20:31
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, ah they. Let me think.
01:20:38
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I guess Southwest is fine. No, no, it's. County Fair, um who where you start.
01:20:50
urfavoritecoastersux
Buccaneer battle's been gone for two, three years now.
01:20:55
beb
Mhm.
01:20:57
urfavoritecoastersux
Closed, ignored, boarded up. Just a big piece of real estate, completely boarded up.
01:21:05
urfavoritecoastersux
So like, hey, maybe fucking do something with that.
01:21:09
beb
Yeah.
01:21:09
urfavoritecoastersux
You know, ex flight food court, that's all good. um Yeah, they took out revolution. So now there's like a big chunk of Midway that just needs like something in it. Because it's the first time that spots ever actually been unoccupied in the park.
01:21:31
urfavoritecoastersux
Because it was America around until it became revolution.
01:21:35
beb
Yeah.
01:21:38
urfavoritecoastersux
then yeah uh further around oh fuck yeah yeah we talked about ucon needs everything in the kids area there needs fixing um then over into good lord yankee harbor dc universe um
01:21:40
beb
Mardi Gras, marty marty Mardi a little bear.
01:22:05
urfavoritecoastersux
I don't know, they took out the old timey photos building. So now that's a big barren piece of Midway. The old arcade there became the weird Six Flags e-sports arena.
01:22:19
beb
Oh, right.
01:22:19
urfavoritecoastersux
So now it's just a closed up building.
01:22:25
urfavoritecoastersux
um
01:22:29
urfavoritecoastersux
Rest of it's ah fine. I guess another bar over there now Whatever and then yeah, Mardi Gras. Holy shit Mardi Gras a mess um The former spot of Mardi Gras hangover is now just boarded up and
01:22:54
urfavoritecoastersux
just like construction walls covering it.
01:22:58
beb
Yeah, what the fuck?
01:23:00
urfavoritecoastersux
All right, um, drawing rapids is rarely open. I know if we talked to, uh, our friend over there, I'm sure they would have the exact operating schedule, but suffice it to say it's rarely operating.
01:23:20
beb
Mhm.
01:23:25
urfavoritecoastersux
um Um, shit.
01:23:34
urfavoritecoastersux
The Emporium's barely ever opened in Mardi Gras. Or Orleans place, that'd be helpful. And like, I don't know, Orleans. Orleans, if anything, really needs like some paint. They painted the Emporium. It looked nice, but the rest of it's like,
01:23:58
urfavoritecoastersux
You know what I'm saying?
01:23:59
beb
Yeah, everything in that every, like I remember the dark night area. There was a lot of like chipped paint on things and it's just, yeah.
01:24:07
urfavoritecoastersux
That's what I'm saying exactly.
01:24:13
beb
Why don't they partner up with HDTV, HDTV, where they have like, you know, they have one couple where it's like,
01:24:14
urfavoritecoastersux
it's
01:24:26
urfavoritecoastersux
I'm a he's a part time influencer and she sells crafts at craft fairs. They're looking for a modern farmhouse. Their budget is six point eight million dollars.
01:24:44
beb
Yeah.
01:24:44
urfavoritecoastersux
You're like, what the fuck?
01:24:48
beb
but like ah Or like a show where they have like people who normally do like fixer uppers, but they just like improve the park. It's like, okay, so today we're going to be painting this roller coaster. Now, I know this ride is called the American Eagle, and it features a red, white, and blue color scheme, but I thought to mix things up, we use this pink paint for the supports, and then we'll use this green for the handrails. It'll just make it pop. And then they like paint it and it looks like shit.
01:25:28
urfavoritecoastersux
And then they do like a ah one of those quick cut montages of like before and after.
01:25:36
beb
yeah
01:25:37
urfavoritecoastersux
Side by side.
01:25:41
urfavoritecoastersux
As some like acoustic guitar music plays.
01:25:46
beb
i was
01:25:46
urfavoritecoastersux
digyy digy diggger da
01:25:49
beb
There's an HGTV show called Bargain Block where it's ah this gay couple who met in Boulder and they basically like buy Detroit houses for like 15,000 and then they you know put like $20,000 of work in it and then sell it for like 50,000.
01:26:11
beb
um But people have been saying that the couple resembles ah Craig and I.
01:26:20
urfavoritecoastersux
Wait, they resemble what?
01:26:22
beb
Craig and I.
01:26:25
urfavoritecoastersux
I mean, it kind of sounds similar to your guy's story, so.
01:26:33
urfavoritecoastersux
Holy shit. But yeah, dude, it's definitely like. Now with like Great America, I'm having a hard time with like having the like. Desire to go visit more.
01:26:50
beb
Yeah. I mean, I feel that way. I went, I mean, it's been a year since I've been there and that was the first time I spent the whole day there since like 2014 ish. Um, I was a little, i'm not like let down, but it was just kind of like, I don't know. Everything just felt like sad and underwhelming. And it wasn't like, Oh, it's because I used to come here when I was younger and there's nostalgia and memories and all that. It was very like, no, like this place needs a lot of work.
01:27:30
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I think everything has really gotten really shitty there since COVID.
01:27:37
beb
Yeah.
01:27:43
urfavoritecoastersux
Which is unfortunate. Cause yeah, that's the other thing is like, I don't even know, does like the grand music hall have a fucking show happening?
01:27:57
beb
Probably not.
01:28:03
urfavoritecoastersux
So when I was saying it, I'm like, I'm looking this up right now. Entertainment.
01:28:18
urfavoritecoastersux
Okay, so they say they're showing that there is a show called Adrenaline in the Grand Music Hall.
01:28:27
beb
Adrenaline Interesting
01:28:31
urfavoritecoastersux
No entertainment available on Tuesday or Wednesday.
01:28:41
urfavoritecoastersux
This punk pop sensation is taking over Six Flags Great America and bringing an explosive mix of vocals and dance moves.
01:29:01
urfavoritecoastersux
all right well I'm gonna have to go see it I didn't even know or reason
01:29:09
beb
ah se up ah trying to pullul up a video I was trying to pull up a video like on YouTube of it. What's funny suggested a video. the curb It was like the curb of your enthusiasm meme. Did you ever see that video? It was like an interview from Vice and it was the guy who claimed to like be a part of like the celebrity sex tape scandals and stuff and they like show him on he's wearing a fedora and they like show him on the phone but like the guy zooms in and there's like no phone call he's just faking a phone call
01:29:49
urfavoritecoastersux
No?
01:29:50
beb
ah
01:29:53
urfavoritecoastersux
That's pretty funny though.
01:30:12
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, there's nothing on YouTube about this show.
01:30:25
urfavoritecoastersux
There's last year's show, so I'm wondering if it's even happened yet.
01:30:36
beb
They have no intention.
01:30:49
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I'm just like not sure.
01:31:03
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, there we go. You can filter for shows.
01:31:15
urfavoritecoastersux
Uh, yeah, I guess it's not open yet.
01:31:22
urfavoritecoastersux
Which it's mid, it's mid June.
01:31:26
beb
Yeah, it's if it's not going now.
01:31:28
urfavoritecoastersux
How's about that? That's what I'm saying.
01:31:35
urfavoritecoastersux
So where, cause I filtered for shows, right? And I'm not seeing a single thing on the map.
01:31:49
urfavoritecoastersux
Which like, all right, you're not a shows person. That's fine. If you're not, you know, whatever. But even if you're not, you should be aware that shows are helpful for the capacity of rides.
01:32:03
beb
Right. Exactly.
01:32:05
urfavoritecoastersux
because they give people a place to go that's not a ride line consistently for 20 minutes to 35 throughout the day.
01:32:15
beb
Yeah.
01:32:19
urfavoritecoastersux
So if those, if those theaters aren't having those, you know, 500 people come through every hour, then those people are probably in line for a ride.
01:32:26
beb
Mm hmm.
01:32:40
urfavoritecoastersux
And again, this is shit you see happening across the board from Disney all the way on down to Six Flags. These companies suck.
01:32:52
beb
It's probably gonna get worse.
01:32:54
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, it's definitely going to get worse. Feel the squeeze, baby.
01:33:05
urfavoritecoastersux
It's going to get way worse because, um, shit, Six Flags and Cedar Fair just announced the date of their merger.
01:33:15
beb
that's That's happening like right now, right?
01:33:18
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, it's going to be done, I think by July 1st.
01:33:22
beb
Oh shit. Okay. Oh, and just random. I just stumbled upon a video of Hyperia, uh, valine.
01:33:36
urfavoritecoastersux
Is it in that spot between the weird loop and the outer bank?
01:33:41
beb
Yeah. Like it's, it's basically, yeah, it's stalling in the outer bank.
01:33:47
urfavoritecoastersux
Yikes.
01:33:50
beb
At least there's trim breaks right before it so to it won't rock back and forth forever.
01:33:57
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, right, imagine.
01:34:01
urfavoritecoastersux
it's It's a known Valley spot and they're just like, fuck every fucking time.
01:34:12
beb
Taking a train off has gotta be annoying as shit.
01:34:23
beb
Just like Communicore Hall.
01:34:26
urfavoritecoastersux
Yep.
01:34:26
beb
Just like Banshee.
01:34:29
urfavoritecoastersux
Yep.
01:34:32
urfavoritecoastersux
fuck it whatever anyway uh what else we doing today Ben no what else are we doing here we've had some laughs we've reminisced yeah
01:34:41
beb
What am I doing today? Oh, I don't know. You know, I... Do you know Corey Wong?
01:34:59
beb
I was at a really fun Red Rock show on Saturday.
01:35:05
beb
Corey Wong and I'm Free McGee.
01:35:08
urfavoritecoastersux
Yo, Omsis is sick.
01:35:11
beb
Yeah.
01:35:13
urfavoritecoastersux
They're really great live, and ah who is Cory Wong pen playing with? Who is in his band?
01:35:21
beb
Uh...
01:35:24
beb
I don't remember who he was playing with, but then him and they they did a thing together.
01:35:29
urfavoritecoastersux
Was it Vic on the bass?
01:35:30
beb
Yeah.
01:35:33
urfavoritecoastersux
No shit, it was Victor Wooten?
01:35:34
beb
I think so. That sounds right.
01:35:36
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, that's that's legit, dude.
01:35:42
beb
I'm not super familiar. i so I've seen Corey Wong a few times. Um.
01:35:48
urfavoritecoastersux
but Victor Wooten's a bad motherfucker on the base, dude. ah Like an older black dude wearing a hat the whole time with a smile on his face.
01:35:58
beb
I think so. sounds It sounds right.
01:36:01
urfavoritecoastersux
hot
01:36:01
beb
I don't really remember much though.
01:36:07
urfavoritecoastersux
No that sounds about right.
01:36:09
beb
I had a lot of fun. Like I probably had 50 conversations with 50 strangers when I went to the bathroom.
01:36:31
beb
It was by far the craziest like most fun crowd I've ever been there with though. Like everyone was just fucking out of it.
01:36:45
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, dude, I'm survived, man.
01:36:48
beb
Yeah. Not to mention like I've never seen a crowd in unison like that before. Um,
01:36:59
beb
And just like, yeah, really good, good, good vibes. I had no expectations and I had a lot of fun.
01:37:07
urfavoritecoastersux
I saw them at summer camp like two years ago.
01:37:11
beb
Nice. confess i'll just
01:37:14
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, interestingly, Rhiannon and I went to see Victor Wooten specifically, and Ounce was playing on the stage before him.
01:37:18
beb
Okay.
01:37:20
beb
no
01:37:23
urfavoritecoastersux
So we, like, went over there, and we were like, this is some funky shit. And we're, like, dancing, and we work our way up to the front, and then, like, this dude and I, like, traded nugs.
01:37:37
beb
Nice.
01:37:41
beb
I think the highlight was so the sun was setting and the music changed. And suddenly like everyone at the same time was just sort of like looking up and it was like really like beautiful sunset. The clouds were all cool and colorful. And suddenly everyone's like looking up like, whoa, look at the sky. And then everyone's like all like smiling. It was like a cult. And then everyone's like, what's your name? And then like people started of like talking to the people next to them and like, they're like, look at the sky. Isn't that great?
01:38:20
beb
And then like the music changed a little bit again. And then like, I don't know, is I mean like more than um anything else I've seen. And then like, same thing in the, I don't know, it's just wild show.
01:38:38
urfavoritecoastersux
I feel like it was a strong wook vibe.
01:38:41
beb
Yeah, but more so like, more so like mid thirties.
01:38:49
beb
kind of like vibe.
01:38:56
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, I mean, wook's gonna be a wook regardless of if they went corporate or not.
01:39:02
beb
Yeah. But I feel like it was specifically like a lot of people who were like entering that realization age of like, Oh man, I'm getting old.
01:39:16
beb
Cause like I heard, I overheard, I don't know, maybe it was like the, cause like I was in line for the bathroom and like people are just kind of like peak in their moment, you know? And then like somebody's like, man, why do I keep doing this? And then every, and then a couple other people were like, yeah, I don't know, man. It's like, dude, I just turned 35 this year. And it was like, shit. I was like, yeah, I just moved here 10 years ago. I feel old now.
01:39:48
beb
Like, God, we keep doing this. And then like everyone had the same, everyone was like talking this, it was like kind of a downer. It was really weird.
01:39:58
beb
And then I was like, and then I started thinking about it.
01:39:59
urfavoritecoastersux
That's exactly what I'm saying, dude. The work's gonna be a work.
01:40:04
beb
I'm like, oh man, I'm coming up on 10 years too. I have been doing this a lot. What am I doing? Like,
01:40:16
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, but if you're feeling existential like that, you gotta ask yourself, what would you have been doing instead?
01:40:22
beb
Well, right, right. It was just funny how like it was just like probably 20 people online all in the exact same like demographic headspace. Powerful shit.
01:40:38
urfavoritecoastersux
That's because they all bought their mushrooms from the same guy.
01:40:41
beb
Probably.
01:40:46
urfavoritecoastersux
They were all on the same exact wavelength, my man.
01:40:56
beb
Yeah, I needed, I need to do more.
01:40:56
urfavoritecoastersux
But yeah.
01:40:57
beb
That was a good, that was a good time. I need to add that to my, my docket.
01:41:06
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, dude. I wish I could go see dead and co at the sphere.
01:41:13
beb
That'd be pretty cool.
01:41:15
urfavoritecoastersux
Looks awesome.
01:41:21
urfavoritecoastersux
I got to see dead and co back in 2018. Good time.
01:41:31
beb
Oh hey, they'll be in Milwaukee on the 22nd.
01:41:36
urfavoritecoastersux
Who?
01:41:37
beb
Umfries.
01:41:38
urfavoritecoastersux
Cory Wong? Oh. Oh, all right.
01:41:42
beb
It's Summerfest though.
01:41:44
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh yeah. I've never gone. Seems a little intimidating now.
01:41:50
beb
I mean it's fine, it's just, it's not like, the thing is they say it's a music festival, but it's not like, it's a very accessible music festival. um
01:42:05
beb
Lots of good concessions. Plenty of bathrooms. Like it's not like crowded. I mean it is crowded, but it's like a good space. It can handle it. It's a good time.
01:42:23
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, I guess more intimidated by like really drunk people.
01:42:29
beb
Oh, sure.
01:42:34
urfavoritecoastersux
And that's coming from someone who works in Wrigleyville.
01:42:40
beb
Yeah, I mean, if you go, it it all depends on like this, like what time you go. Cause if the shows are during the day, you're usually pretty good. But once, once the crowd, once it gets past like seven o'clock, though, that's when it kind of changes a little bit.

State Fair Food Critiques

01:42:57
beb
Cause when Summerfest goes on, a lot of people who live there will go like every night of the week.
01:43:06
beb
So it's got kind of a, it'll get kind of a rowdy crowd.
01:43:14
urfavoritecoastersux
yeah exactly that's that's kinda what I'm like but also if I drive all the way up to Milwaukee I wanna stay the whole day cuz
01:43:25
beb
Yeah.
01:43:32
urfavoritecoastersux
it's not like it would be that much fun to hit Great America on the way back
01:43:38
beb
Yeah.
01:43:43
urfavoritecoastersux
Ooh, burn.
01:43:47
beb
I want to go. I wish there was like, I wish Milwaukee had a single credit.
01:43:59
urfavoritecoastersux
Like you say that and somewhere along the lakefront, somebody's going to open a kitty coaster.
01:44:08
beb
Yeah, just just some. I mean, they get the Wisconsin State Fair, I guess.
01:44:16
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, that's a good point.
01:44:17
beb
That used to be pretty cool.
01:44:20
urfavoritecoastersux
Maybe I should do that this year.
01:44:24
beb
Yeah, i could be like can that's a fun time. We're trying to go to the Minnesota State Fair.
01:44:32
urfavoritecoastersux
Is it supposed to be pretty good?
01:44:34
beb
That one is always like, whenever people talk about like the best ones, I feel like people always kind of compare that one with Texas. Cause the Texas one, I feel like those are the two like big ones. Oh, there's gotta be a,
01:44:57
urfavoritecoastersux
For state fairs, yeah, I think you're right.
01:45:05
beb
But what's cool about the Minnesota one too is that it it has its all of its own infrastructure. So it has like, they have like an in-house log ride that's there year round, but it's only, ah it's only open for the fair, but it's like, uh, you know, it's a permanent installation.
01:45:22
urfavoritecoastersux
Interesting.
01:45:24
beb
So yes, Texas is number one. Yeah. Texas is number one. Minnesota is number two.
01:45:31
urfavoritecoastersux
That's number three.
01:45:33
beb
Uh, the big E. Uh, wait, also known as Eastern States Exposition. It includes Six Flags New England, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire from September 15th through October 1st.
01:45:45
urfavoritecoastersux
What?
01:45:54
beb
Huh.
01:45:57
urfavoritecoastersux
Okay, that's interesting, but I think it's kind of a cop-out if it includes a Six Flags park.
01:46:04
beb
I'm guessing, I mean, I know there's that huge event, like doesnt big of there is like a big event space near the park, which makes sense. So I'm guessing like the rides are just part of, well, remember Kentucky Kingdom did that too?
01:46:23
beb
Because your Six Flags Pass worked at the Kentucky, worked at Kentucky Kingdom and, but it, except for like one week a year.
01:46:31
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah.
01:46:32
beb
Yeah.
01:46:32
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, I mean.
01:46:39
urfavoritecoastersux
I guess, but that still seems unfair.
01:46:41
beb
Yeah.
01:46:44
beb
Arizona state fair is number four.
01:46:47
urfavoritecoastersux
OK. Because I'm like, yeah, by that logic, couldn't Florida be like, yeah, stay fair, Disney World.
01:46:48
beb
Which.
01:46:57
urfavoritecoastersux
Best one, Epcot World Fair.
01:47:00
beb
Yeah.
01:47:03
beb
ah Tulsa is number five.
01:47:09
beb
Wait.
01:47:09
urfavoritecoastersux
So wait, is it like, is it Oklahoma state fair?
01:47:13
beb
Yeah.
01:47:14
urfavoritecoastersux
Okay.
01:47:14
beb
Although there's, there, Oklahoma has two state fairs.
01:47:18
beb
There's the Tulsa state fair and the Oklahoma state fair. And apparently the Tulsa state fair is the biggest one is bigger than the Oklahoma one.
01:47:18
urfavoritecoastersux
Really?
01:47:29
urfavoritecoastersux
Gets burned down by white people. Oh, wait, hold on. That's a different.
01:47:37
urfavoritecoastersux
Okay, so the Tulsa State Fair. All right.
01:47:39
beb
But, um, there's another, so we'll run for, runs for 11 days and host educational experiences in good old fashioned family fun. Keep an eye on the events scheduled to see if Disney on ice will perform in the pavilion again this year. If so, you can match your favorite characters with Disney foster grant reading glasses. What?
01:48:09
urfavoritecoastersux
Okay.
01:48:13
beb
All right. Uh, number six is the Iowa state fair.
01:48:18
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh yeah, I've heard about the Iowa State Fair.
01:48:24
beb
Every state fair celebrates food on a stick. Cause they're like, we have 50 plus food on a stick options.
01:48:29
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah.
01:48:32
beb
It's like, yeah, every fair has food on a stick. Um, Wisconsin state fair is number seven.
01:48:40
urfavoritecoastersux
Except for Louisiana, where it's illegal.
01:48:43
beb
Is it?
01:48:44
urfavoritecoastersux
No, I'm fucking with you.
01:48:45
beb
Oh,
01:48:48
urfavoritecoastersux
But they got those backwards ass laws there.
01:48:50
beb
yeah. Uh, yeah.
01:48:53
urfavoritecoastersux
Ten commandments in every classroom.
01:48:58
beb
So if you're, so yeah, Wisconsin's is always food on a stick, but also their thing is the cream puff.
01:49:06
beb
Uh,
01:49:08
urfavoritecoastersux
Okay, okay.
01:49:12
urfavoritecoastersux
What about a Kringle?
01:49:14
beb
I mean, you, they have, you can get it there, but, um,
01:49:21
beb
the Kringle Washington state fairs low. It's a, it's number eight. Cause that one's pretty big. Like when I, when I went there, like I thought that would, the crowd was, in the crowds were insane. And it was such a large space. Also we could, I mean, maybe it was just because it was kind of a flat space. it the The whole fairgrounds there is really weird because it's like, it's in a like little town. So like the, there's the fairgrounds, but it would be like the fairgrounds. You know what I mean? The fairgrounds are just like surrounded by like a small town. So there's not really any infrastructure to handle the crowds. So it's like people just park and like, right. You just drive around and park in like random fields and stuff.
01:50:11
beb
ah
01:50:12
urfavoritecoastersux
Yikes.
01:50:15
beb
Do the Pialip.
01:50:18
beb
I always thought Pialip was a funny word.
01:50:22
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, i was I was wondering if that was the same thing.
01:50:22
beb
It's like a, it's like, it's like a hillbilly, like, like, what? You fell in lot you fell in the well? Hold on, I'm gonna pull you up.
01:50:45
beb
Poliala.
01:50:48
beb
North Carolina is number nine.
01:50:51
urfavoritecoastersux
Okay.
01:50:52
beb
Oklahoma State Fair is number 10.
01:50:54
urfavoritecoastersux
Now, the thing about North Carolina is, is it only includes half of Carolins.
01:50:59
beb
Really?
01:51:01
urfavoritecoastersux
no No.
01:51:01
beb
ah Oh.
01:51:03
urfavoritecoastersux
Would that be fucking awesome if it did? The state fair ends at this line.
01:51:10
beb
God, that would be a nightmare trying to like handle like wristbands and stuff.
01:51:20
beb
It's like...
01:51:20
urfavoritecoastersux
Can I park here? Are you going to the State Fair or Carowinds? but
01:51:33
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, just like when the when the COVID restrictions happened, then like only half the rides could open.
01:51:40
beb
Oh, right. that's That's crazy to me.
01:51:56
beb
The biggest. Yeah. Oh, it's the same article in the Minnesota. Yeah. Anyway, we're going to go.
01:52:06
urfavoritecoastersux
I did not know that about the Minnesota State Fair.
01:52:08
beb
We also have a pretty good, uh, ride midway.
01:52:16
beb
Yeah. So their thing. So like, I remember one of the big things at the Minnesota state fair was the bucket of cookies.
01:52:26
urfavoritecoastersux
What is that?
01:52:28
beb
It's literally just a bucket of cookies. They're okay.
01:52:36
urfavoritecoastersux
like in lieu of like deep fried pork knuckle on a stick.
01:52:42
beb
But like, you know, every, every Farrakhan has like their icon food thing. Like Wisconsin, say Farrakhan has the cream puff, but theirs is just a bucket of cookies. And the milk.
01:52:58
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, all right. Like chocolate chip.
01:53:02
beb
Yeah, like chocolate chip cookies.
01:53:06
urfavoritecoastersux
that That's... what? I thought you said it was the best state fair.
01:53:11
beb
It is, it's good, but no, I mean, there's ah no, I'm just saying that's like their main staple thing.
01:53:13
urfavoritecoastersux
You can't-
01:53:16
beb
Like, like, you know, everyone gets this one thing at this fair, but theirs is just cookie, like.
01:53:26
beb
I don't know, there's other shit there. It's a state fair. You can get anything.
01:53:30
urfavoritecoastersux
Understand that's an anticlimactic way to be like yeah, it's the best day fair.
01:53:35
beb
Well, I kind of, yeah.
01:53:35
urfavoritecoastersux
They even have a bucket of cookies
01:53:38
beb
Well, I remember too when I worked at, when I was working at 3M and everyone was always talking about the fair and everyone's like, yeah, you got to get the cookies. And I was like, just cookies? Like that's, that's the thing.
01:53:56
beb
There's a few things about Minnesota. I remember that we're always kind of lame, like um things that people talked up. It's that, uh, it sets Swedish finish. Uh, uh, what do you call it? Ancestry in the state that doesn't exactly, it's not exactly like a culinary state. If you know what I mean, things are a little bland things that things that people always talk up there. We're always a little disappointing.
01:54:35
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I'm trying to think of like one regional delicacy from that area and I'm kind of drawing a blank.
01:54:43
beb
I mean, so, okay, so there's the the Juicy Lucy, which is a Twin Cities. Mainly, it's mainly a Twin Cities thing. That's, which I always thought was stupid, too. Like, everything that everyone always talked up there, I was always just a little, like, kind of just, like, disappointed by. And that's saying a lot, because, like, it's coming from Wisconsin, where, like, literally, it's just, like, brats and shit. Bratzen cheese is like the thing that people always talk up. But I remember it was like, Oh yeah, like you gotta to um go to this place. You got to get a juicy Lucy. And then like, I got it. I'm like, Oh, so it's just a burger with the cheese cooked in the middle of the burger. So when I take a bite, the cheese is liquefied and it just drips out of the burger and all down my hands and then it burns me. And then I lose the cheese. Oh, I get it. That's cool. I guess.
01:55:43
beb
Or like.
01:55:43
urfavoritecoastersux
I think you're supposed to eat it from above, like a taco.
01:55:55
beb
Or like. ah ah There's so there's a there is a few things like that that happened that I always just thought were funny. if you want to make it if you Honestly, like someone from any other place in the country with where that has good food, like if you open up a decent food location in Minnesota, it's a good business because there's not a lot of good food options there. um It does ice cream well. Minnesota doesn't do you very good ice cream.
01:56:26
beb
um Oh yeah, Duluth, there's a barbecue place that everyone raves about there. And it's kind of bland. It's like, you know, it's not that great. It's fine.
01:56:43
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, I've certainly never heard of anybody saying, yeah, that ah Minnesota barbecue, that Minneapolis barbecue, like any of that, like, nah.
01:56:44
beb
turned around
01:56:52
beb
Yeah, yeah.
01:57:03
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I don't know. So they're just like.
01:57:07
beb
Oh, pizza. That's right. There's something about the pizza with pickles on it.
01:57:13
urfavoritecoastersux
That sounds weird, but kind of not bad.
01:57:18
beb
Well, it's one of those things that's like ah if you like pickles and you like pizza, it's not going to be bad, but it also isn't like that exciting. and It's like, oh, it's just of a vegetable topping on a pizza, like
01:57:33
urfavoritecoastersux
No,

Regional Food Scene Comparisons

01:57:34
urfavoritecoastersux
it's I get it. It's one that's not normally there.
01:57:36
beb
Yeah, okay.
01:57:46
urfavoritecoastersux
That's interesting.
01:57:52
urfavoritecoastersux
I'm like, here in Chicago, we're just like dying to give people coronaries. Here, have a Chicago-style hot dog. It's got a fucking whole salad on top of it, because, you know, that's what you want in a hot dog.
01:58:12
beb
Yeah, yeah, I i feel like as someone who doesn't like salted meats and cured meats, the I was never super fond of the Chicago staples.
01:58:27
urfavoritecoastersux
What about the um Italian beat?
01:58:30
beb
And I mean, I don't think I've ever had one in Chicago, an Italian beef.
01:58:38
urfavoritecoastersux
You gotta try it in Chicago.
01:58:39
beb
That's what everyone says.
01:58:42
urfavoritecoastersux
You gotta at least try it, dude.
01:58:42
beb
Oh, hey. Hey, have you ever tried this thing? Oh, no, I don't care. I don't like that. Oh, well, you got to try it at this place.
01:58:50
urfavoritecoastersux
You didn't say you don't like it, you just said you never tried it.
01:58:54
beb
Yeah, it's I mean, it's fine. I just it's long as there's not like onion or horseradish or pickled things on it. I'm i'm usually pretty good.
01:59:04
urfavoritecoastersux
No, then you just get it without the jardin air.
01:59:06
beb
Yeah.
01:59:08
urfavoritecoastersux
Because that shit's like pickled, but well, not exactly. But skip that ship.
01:59:13
beb
Yeah.
01:59:13
urfavoritecoastersux
It's just it's just ah like a sub roll with some um roast beef on it and then they dip the whole thing in the au jus.
01:59:22
beb
I mean, speaking of roles, so Banshee's got that inline role at the very end before the break run.
01:59:31
beb
Just kidding.
01:59:31
urfavoritecoastersux
Yes.
01:59:34
beb
I was trying to find awkward transitions back to Banshee. Um,
01:59:39
urfavoritecoastersux
Speaking of roles, croissant knees.
01:59:44
beb
And I think like overall, I mean, Milwaukee and Chicago are pretty similar and food offerings. Chicago is obviously way bigger. So there's more options, but like, as far as though, like, I don't know what you call that, that like it's ancestry influence are pretty similar, like
02:00:04
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, like, okay, yeah, Chicago, the Italian beef, where they dip the whole sandwich in the juice. And in Milwaukee, they're like, we dip this entire sausage in cheese.
02:00:18
beb
beer. It's dipped and cooked in beer first, and then it's topped with cheese.
02:00:25
urfavoritecoastersux
Oh, of course, beer, right.
02:00:27
beb
Yeah. Yeah.
02:00:28
urfavoritecoastersux
The most important meal.
02:00:30
beb
Mm hmm.
02:00:37
beb
It's fine though. I do think like, um, I'm speaking to Milwaukee and I keep seeing like random articles and like bloggers and vloggers and all that stuff are apparently Milwaukee is becoming like the next coolest favor to city on everyone's radar right now, which is kind of sad because I don't want to see my city change.
02:01:08
urfavoritecoastersux
I mean, it already was.
02:01:10
beb
Yeah, like, I mean, basically people always describe that it's like, yeah, it's like. Imagine you go to Chicago, but it's like.
02:01:21
beb
Smaller and more intimate and less and less stressful.
02:01:22
urfavoritecoastersux
and Way cheaper.
02:01:26
beb
And there's like no traffic. And you can actually get into restaurants.
02:01:37
urfavoritecoastersux
and you can get six beers for the price of one.
02:01:44
urfavoritecoastersux
No, I mean like, I remember like way back, I think it was 2011.
02:01:53
urfavoritecoastersux
I went up and visited the Lakefront Prairie for the first time.
02:01:57
beb
Yeah.
02:01:59
urfavoritecoastersux
And you remember back then, It was just fucking sketch everywhere around there. Like once you got right next to that brewery.
02:02:10
beb
Uh, it wasn't that bad.
02:02:11
urfavoritecoastersux
Because there wasn't shit.
02:02:17
beb
ah I mean, I would always, i I would walk around there at night. It's like, that's like where they built all those rich houses.
02:02:17
urfavoritecoastersux
It seemed sketch to me.
02:02:26
urfavoritecoastersux
I was just gonna say I went back like a year or two ago and um
02:02:34
urfavoritecoastersux
Fucking yeah, it was like all these You know super um I Don't know what the word is just very homogenous condos and apartments That same design you see everywhere now with like those bland multi-color panels and
02:02:49
beb
yeah
02:02:58
beb
yeah
02:03:05
urfavoritecoastersux
And that was like everywhere around there.
02:03:12
beb
Yeah. I mean, I remember.
02:03:20
beb
There was a place there. I forgot the name of the bar, but it was basically like one of the, I kind of like what you were describing where it's just like you order one beer, then like you like open a tab and then you get, you think you're getting like four or five beers, but then your tab is like $7.
02:03:46
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I remember you took me to some bar in Milwaukee where it was like that. It was like fucking like $1 beers.
02:03:58
beb
Was it a gay bar?
02:04:01
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah.
02:04:02
beb
ah Was it like small and kind of narrow?
02:04:10
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I think so. And we we like went out the back door and do an alley to go like smoke a cigarette.
02:04:17
beb
Oh, right, yeah, that was, this is it. Yeah, and they do buy one, get one.
02:04:27
beb
They fucked that place up. That was like for a ah millennial gay that was like the place to go because it was nice and small and intimate and it had a pretty good like crowd in there. And then the new owner was like, oh, we got to have drag shows. So they bought the place next door. And so now instead of it being like a narrow hallway, it's just like a giant open space where they have a curtain that separates the old and the new bar. And last time I was in there, they had like and they had these really cool like vintage leather bar stools that were super comfortable. And now they're like.
02:05:10
beb
Plastic high top chairs, multicolored pastel.
02:05:22
urfavoritecoastersux
Damn.
02:05:23
beb
Yeah.
02:05:26
urfavoritecoastersux
But that's exactly what I'm saying, man.

Social Changes in Milwaukee

02:05:28
urfavoritecoastersux
The shit always changes.
02:05:30
beb
Yeah.
02:05:32
urfavoritecoastersux
We were talking about it when we were talking about ah Great America.
02:05:42
urfavoritecoastersux
And I think the the question is, in terms of theme parks at least, is, are things actually worse now? Or are we just seeing things through nostalgia? And I think both are true.
02:06:00
beb
Yeah, there are some things though that just poor maintenance is very obvious always. Like you, you can't have boarded up closed rides in your park.
02:06:12
urfavoritecoastersux
That's what I'm saying.
02:06:13
beb
Like no one can argue again, like before that, cause that wasn't a thing. I mean, like the closest in our age of great America was maybe
02:06:27
beb
deja vu when they took it out in 08. And then it was an empty plot for a year.
02:06:37
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, but then it got replaced after a year.
02:06:39
beb
Yeah. Even by like, I think October or September, they already started clearing the land. It wasn't just like a, it wasn't just like an abandoned plot. Like they were actually doing construction on it and stuff.
02:06:56
urfavoritecoastersux
That's what I'm saying. Buccaneer battle's been closed for at least two years now.
02:07:02
beb
Yeah. There weren't just like closed shops and closed music halls and stuff.
02:07:13
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, ah exactly. You did exactly what I'm saying, yeah. Shit definitely feels different.
02:07:20
beb
Yeah.
02:07:24
urfavoritecoastersux
And like, I feel like part of that for me is like, man, it's lost kind of how special it is.
02:07:29
beb
Yeah.
02:07:33
beb
And I wonder if that's, I wonder how much of that too is just, so let's say the park opened in what 76. So that's approaching 50 years. I, I'm sure there's a lot of stuff in that park that's never been replaced. And so after like 30 years when shit starts crumbling and deteriorating it like exponentially starts adding up for you know maintenance cost maintenance costs. So I get it. like But especially building this up, I wonder if the clothes shows and the clothes shops and all that stuff, I wonder how much of that is like really just staffing or if it's like something really kind of, um oh wait, what the word is, like benign?
02:08:25
beb
Like, oh, this building needs a new HVAC unit and it's going to cost like a million dollars.
02:08:34
urfavoritecoastersux
See, I would have thought that too, but then with like, okay, so like the Emporium in Orleans place, right? That set just closed with merchandise in it for like two straight seasons. And then they painted it thispa this year, or maybe that was last year, but I saw it open one time last year.
02:08:58
beb
Yeah.
02:09:04
beb
Yeah, that probably seems more like staffing then. If they had the shit in there, yeah.
02:09:08
urfavoritecoastersux
exactly but then it's a matter of like fucking a can't you fucking pay these people decently yeah exactly why don't these kids want to work for 12 bucks an hour nowadays
02:09:18
beb
Yeah. No one wants to work.
02:09:32
beb
What, what is, what is the starting wage for six flags now? I consider
02:09:42
urfavoritecoastersux
probably even less than that let's see search jobs alright
02:09:45
beb
points paying 20.
02:10:01
urfavoritecoastersux
scare actor $14 an hour
02:10:10
urfavoritecoastersux
Makeup artist, 1650 an hour. Oh, for the supervisor. Stage manager, 1650 an hour. a Safety supervisor, 1850 an hour.
02:10:38
urfavoritecoastersux
So for like, Oh, ride operations, 15.50 an hour.
02:10:44
beb
Okay.
02:10:48
beb
I mean, that's, that's pretty good. I mean, granted, let's see, I will ask work there in 2010 cost of living is more than doubled and the wages doubled. So, I mean, obviously to us, that seems super high, but compared to cost of living, like it's probably, it probably doesn't line up as much, but I will say though, I was just peeking on rents, like Sandusky, Ohio rent. um And like, a nice modern updated one bedroom, 800 square feet is 800 bucks a month.
02:11:35
urfavoritecoastersux
Wow.
02:11:38
beb
So,
02:11:46
beb
if you were making 15 an hour.
02:11:54
beb
Yeah, I mean, that's not that much. It's barely livable, but you could you could pull it off if you really wanted to.
02:12:08
beb
it probably It probably should be a little higher though, especially because it's season it's only seasonal work.
02:12:08
urfavoritecoastersux
I'm looking at like the same I'm looking at yeah agreed I'm looking at um apartments in Waukegan for that whole relativity thing there's a couple under 900 but everything's looking to be like in the 12 to 1500 range
02:12:23
beb
Yeah.
02:12:33
beb
Yeah. Which for what is great America paying 12 an hour or 14.
02:12:40
urfavoritecoastersux
ah You know 14 to 18 depending on your job Yeah
02:12:45
beb
Yeah.
02:12:56
beb
And realistically, like whenever you apartment hunts, the ones that you want that are that the affordable ones are never actually available. So you end up always paying more than you think.
02:13:09
urfavoritecoastersux
that's what I'm saying and yeah this is seasonal as fuck because they don't do holiday in the park anymore and they've been cutting the whole operations they open on 420 this year and they don't think they've posted the calendar but the latest they'll be open is going to be the weekend after Halloween looking at the calendar
02:13:14
beb
Yeah.
02:13:40
urfavoritecoastersux
So yeah, i don't I don't know that it would be reasonable to try and live off of that wage even for the you know six or so months that you could be working full time.
02:13:54
beb
Yeah.

Employment Trends and Challenges

02:13:58
beb
I do wonder, doesn't it seem like there's like a missing middle. Employment thing, like, because I worked at theme parks. Well, there is housing that was $20 a week. um I guess I'm curious if like. Well, that's oh no, because rides, you have to be 18 now.
02:14:25
urfavoritecoastersux
Probably 16.
02:14:26
beb
OK.
02:14:32
beb
But I do I do wonder if it's just if like people who like kids who live at home, like high school kids or college kids who live at home. um Why that part of the workforce is not as common. Like it used to be like because then it seemed like when we were like between, you know, let's say like 18 or like 16 to I don't know what's an age that most people live on their own by like 23, 22, it's like 16 to 23.
02:15:02
urfavoritecoastersux
yes I'm
02:15:03
urfavoritecoastersux
fine yeah dude I remember
02:15:05
beb
There's like, it seemed like every person we knew had some form of like part-time job, even if they lived with their parents.
02:15:17
beb
like it Like it felt like everything will always revolve around like people's schedules like I was always like texting people like my schedules like oh man I got off Thursday night but I have to work Friday morning and like let's do this thing and
02:15:32
beb
um
02:15:34
beb
doesn't seem
02:15:35
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, dude, I remember I got a job when I was in like sophomore year of high school.
02:15:45
urfavoritecoastersux
Like my first job at a movie theater.
02:15:47
beb
Yeah.
02:15:49
urfavoritecoastersux
And then I worked. I never didn't have a job after that until fucking COVID.
02:15:56
beb
yeah
02:16:02
urfavoritecoastersux
So, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, you're right. Cause I, yeah, I worked consistently until COVID and I got laid off. I didn't have a break of more than like two weeks ever.
02:16:22
beb
Yeah, I wonder why that is because like then people I know like friends and neighbors and stuff who have kids who are teenagers and in that like high school age, like I don't know them to work. Like I never see them working. Like, you know, I wonder what I guess I'm just curious what's changed. If like.
02:16:49
beb
If it's kind of like a The jobs are just shit, which I mean, they are.
02:16:58
beb
Maybe we're shifting culturally. I don't know. I don't know what it is. I'm not going to pretend I know what I'm talking about.
02:17:06
urfavoritecoastersux
the job's always worse shit though yeah maybe right i was fucking cleaning up movie theaters and fucking baristing yeah yeah operating rides for fucking 625
02:17:08
beb
Yeah.
02:17:10
beb
Maybe we were the cucks. Maybe we're the ones who just put up with it.
02:17:24
beb
Yeah. For like $7 an hour.
02:17:36
beb
Which is like I did, I know things were cheaper back then, but like, you know, a monster energy drink was still like, you know, three 25 with tax. You know, so it was like, so one out, you were like work one hour. and then you'd go to the gas station and get like a monster energy drink, a little bags of bag of chips, you know, and it was like, you know, $9.
02:18:11
urfavoritecoastersux
You'd be like, yeah, that was like an hour and a half of work right there.
02:18:14
beb
And my shift was only for four hours.
02:18:22
urfavoritecoastersux
Okay, I'm looking it up right now. Okay, inflation calculator 625 in June of 2006 has the same buying power as $9.67 in May of 2024.
02:18:37
beb
Okay. So 50%. And if wages, the wages have gone up about 50%.
02:18:46
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, so still shit jobs for shit pay.
02:18:49
beb
Yeah.
02:18:51
urfavoritecoastersux
At about the same rate.
02:18:53
beb
Yeah.
02:18:56
beb
And like, it almost seems like parks need to figure out a way to invest in full-time staff, like still be able to rely on that like high school, college age crowd, but then still be able to invest in full-time employees and pay a living wages.
02:19:19
urfavoritecoastersux
I'm surprised more of them haven't tried to crack the code with like Disney with the college program.
02:19:26
beb
Yeah.
02:19:30
beb
True. Although that is a much different like pole though. Like going to Disney is not the same as like, you know, working at your local Six Flags.
02:19:36
urfavoritecoastersux
Well.
02:19:46
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, but your local Six Flags could partner with your local community college for culinary students and be like, Hey, we need supervisors for food service locations.
02:19:57
beb
Yeah, true. I need you to supervise these 15 year olds on how to reheat frozen chicken tenders.
02:20:04
urfavoritecoastersux
Cook fries. Yeah. Turn this fucking paste into funnel cakes.
02:20:11
beb
And then you got to flip the light on, make sure the light bulb isn't burnt out. The heat light.
02:20:23
urfavoritecoastersux
I mean, if the pay wasn't shit, I would go back to working at a park.
02:20:27
beb
Yeah, but yeah, it is.
02:20:29
urfavoritecoastersux
Because it's fun.
02:20:32
beb
I think about it every once in a while.
02:20:38
beb
I wish there were just more like full time opportunities.
02:20:39
urfavoritecoastersux
it
02:20:43
urfavoritecoastersux
Well, the only way you can get that is either have, you know, the exact right specialized skillset and they're hiring for that thing, or you work your way up from the bottom into being like a middle manager, basically.
02:20:43
beb
Like, yeah.
02:20:59
beb
yeah
02:21:07
urfavoritecoastersux
which yeah it's like I don't know there's really not a great path forward in those situations because even then all the people that are really good at the job end up leaving generally to go to Disney like all the people who were the full times when I was working at the park you know
02:21:20
beb
Yeah, right.
02:21:31
urfavoritecoastersux
14 years ago, ah they all of them have left for primarily Disney.
02:21:39
beb
Yeah.
02:21:42
urfavoritecoastersux
One's in outside sales, but the rest of them went to Disney.
02:21:53
urfavoritecoastersux
Which is wild because like,
02:21:57
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, I don't know. And one of our friends, too, has told us that Great America lost their shows. Their entertainment full time to Dollywood.
02:22:10
beb
Okay. I mean, that seems, yeah, it seems right.
02:22:16
urfavoritecoastersux
As the thing is, I think we're seeing we're right now at this point of time where there is a very clear line in the sand being drawn of like
02:22:31
urfavoritecoastersux
fucking theme parks and then just like I don't know what the category would be like regional parks cuz
02:22:44
beb
Yeah. The ah the old interstate regional theme park.
02:22:56
urfavoritecoastersux
yeah cuz like
02:23:03
urfavoritecoastersux
they weren't able to keep up with the demand of like the tallest fastest roller coasters obviously that was going to die eventually.
02:23:11
beb
Yeah.
02:23:15
urfavoritecoastersux
And I think now it's kind of proven that consumer tastes have shifted away from that.

Regional vs. Major Theme Parks

02:23:22
beb
Unless, I mean, unless we have some kind of economic event that causes people to go back to the regional parks, what kind of like what happened in 08?
02:23:41
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, but like are people going to choose to go to the regional parks?
02:23:48
beb
Maybe it would it would it would be the people who go to Disney every year who suddenly are like, yeah, I'll just go to Six Flags.
02:23:58
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, but the question is, like are they going to do that?
02:24:04
beb
Maybe, I don't know.
02:24:07
urfavoritecoastersux
Yeah, like what's the odds of that happening versus them saying, well, A, hey, Universal is cheaper and they got a brand new park, so we'll go there instead.
02:24:18
beb
But I mean like the the airfare people.
02:24:19
urfavoritecoastersux
Or.
02:24:20
beb
like If you're a family and you can subtract the airfare out of things, I don't know. like
02:24:31
urfavoritecoastersux
But I think, I think they're fundamentally serving different things now, generally, like different markets now, generally, like, yeah, the general family, sure. But what's, you know, like, what's the appeal of that to the families from like the Orlando parks?
02:24:59
urfavoritecoastersux
It's not just like the rides. It's like, Oh, they got fucking Harry Potter