Introducing the Inverted Creative Awards! Honoring Creativity Across the Industry

Transcript

Speaker: You are listening to the Inverted Creative Podcast. I'm Allison. I'm Jen. I'm Brian. I'm Mikhail. And I'm Nate.

Speaker: So in true us fashion, we've been sitting here BSing for a full hour before actually starting recording. Hour and 15 minutes? oh Yeah. Actually, no, it was like an hour. Mikhail was late. Oh, valid God. He was late to be 45 minutes early.

Speaker: Clearly. How dare I? yeah The joys of having a a British man on this podcast means we just had a very heated debate. i don't know about debate, but discussion about how to pronounce the colloquial term for H2O.

Speaker: go go on Go on, Jen, say it.

Speaker: You chose the wrong time to take a sip of your drink. A sip of your water? ah Yeah, that's what's in this class. I'm the only one drinking water tonight.

Speaker: What is water?

Speaker: Yeah, how do you say it, Mikhail?

Speaker: when i'm when i'm When I'm making funny people, I say water.

Speaker: Oh, water. That's the Americanized version. If I'm just talking normally, I say water. You're missing a letter. yeah Mispronouncing a letter is different than not even pronouncing a letter.

Speaker: um I do also really have to come in and make sure everyone knows that um in our water discussion, because I don't say water, I say water, actually. But Mikhail accused me of being from Jersey.

Speaker: And I'm really upset about it. He's not from here. It's understandable. Yeah, i i i i'm I'm not from America. I i don't know geography.

Speaker: i love I'm really offended. You have regional specifics. Yeah. I will not be accepting that slander. i think that you are also fired as a co-host. I've been back for two episodes and I fired two co-hosts.

Speaker: Wait, who did you fire last time? Was it me? It was probably me. I fired Nate and he wasn't even there. How did I fire Nate when he wasn't even there? i fired Nate. He sent me a very angry text about being fired. And I said... Did he actually?

Speaker: Yeah, he was like, what do you mean that you're firing me? And I was like, calm down. said, everyone gets fired here. i don't even remember this at all, to be fair. Neither do I, but he sent me a text and said, okay, so now I'm fired?

Speaker: yeah like Oh, when he was like listening to the episode? Yeah. yeah Oh, yeah, I get live texts all the time. Hi, Nate. We've been recording for three minutes and we already talked about you.

Speaker: Mm-hmm.

Speaker: Speaking of Nate, we will um do... yeah So, Nate and I and our lovely friend, our good friend Gary, um and our other other good friend Grant as well from Buzzbars, we just got finished up with a honestly transformative um road trip through the Pacific Northwest. We will recap it um properly. um And I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. We're like, we are we are planning to do like a Patreon thing do a proper. Yeah. Like a, like a,

Speaker: Properly intensive trip report. Y'all could probably do like a full-on episode of just that. Because honestly, the the adventure that we went on for four days, like we we need like we need dedicated time to it. We need like a full a full separate episode for honestly.

Speaker: that's what we're going to do. Do you want to give just a quick overview of your itinerary? Yeah, so for anyone who doesn't know yet, I live in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada, about three hours away from Seattle. So I met up with um Gary, um ah where he lives, just outside of Seattle. We road tripped over to Silverwood, um met up with ah Nate and Grant in Spokane, Washington, where Silverwood's about a 45 minute drive away from there.

Speaker: So we did Silverwood, ah road trips down to the Portland-Salem area and did Oaks, ah Oaks Amusement Park and the Oregon State Fair.

Speaker: And then drove up to the Seattle area. the seat um Yeah, yeah, the Seattle area. Did the Washington State Fair, made sure to hit wild waves before um before that park unfortunate that park unfortunately closes.

Speaker: um And I'm missing one. What am I missing? Oh, port and in the Portland area, we went to Enchanted Forest as well. I forgot to mention Enchanted Forest. um But yeah yeah, we went to Seattle area, did Wild Waves and the Washington State Fair.

Speaker: And then on the weekend, on the so on the Sunday, we went up we came back up to Vancouver. We went to Peony Playland.

Speaker: um uh cultus lake um about an hour and a half outside of vancouver and the eagle mountain coaster on cypress mountain which i will definitely we will definitely get into when we have when we have our eventual uh mountain coasters episode as well yeah i hear y'all have some thoughts oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah that was an experience that was an experience for sure but um Yeah, that was that was basically that that was basically the whole the whole trip. It was unbe unbelievable four days. It was so so it was so good.

Speaker: I was very sad I couldn't go. Super, super, super fun. um Do you think Nate rode X2 on that trip? No, I don't think so. I heard he tried to and he missed it again.

Speaker: I hope that he has to change his name to never ridden X2.

Speaker: That would be funny, to be fair. It would be kind of funny. I'm also upset I never rode X2, but to have your name be Nate hasn't ridden X2.

Speaker: is my 100th coaster, and then I've also gotten ERT on it. Okay. Bragging for what? a Get out of here. I fired now, too? Can I leave?

Speaker: yeah yeah I can't actually fire at Allison because I don't know how to edit. um However, give me some grace. My tagline, insert my tagline here that's not going on the podcast. like That's just what the episode would be about. all Allison, you're fired. Hey, does anyone know how to edit? Yeah, anyone know how to edit? Because I've currently fired all of my podcast. You haven't fired mine yet.

Speaker: I'm pretty sure fired Brian like one episode in. Yeah, that was a whole like two years ago. Jeez. I have fired all of my coworkers and now know how to do my business. Now it's the Jen podcast.

Speaker: Yeah, that's fine. We're here for my entertainment anyway. I'm kidding. I'm so kidding. The audacity of me is almost as bad as Mikhail saying that. Living your truth.

Speaker: I am fairly entertaining. Let's be real. We love you, Jen. I'm here for the entertainment factor. And this is why we brought you on to the podcast in the first place.

Speaker: Yeah, literally my solo job on this podcast is chaos and yap. So

Speaker: yeah, me me and Brian are like the um I guess the kind of more like i don't even know how to describe it.

Speaker: Analytical ones? I don't know. um Structure? i don't know, but we brought Jen on, and she brought the chaos. The parents, basically. Jen brought the chaos, so that was a good balance. And then we brought Mikhail and Nate, who are the yappers.

Speaker: I feel like I can yapp. We've got a well-oiled machine. What do you mean? We've got a well-rounded squad. We do. well Yeah. And I just like talking with my friends every week, so...

Speaker: I like to yap and be chaotic. Yes, we know. so

Speaker: We're doing great. But this episode has kind of been my passion project lately. um I am very excited to announce that we are doing the Inverted Creative Awards. I really need to like get like canned applause or something to put in here.

Speaker: i was gonna say, I feel like this should this should have have been something. Some kind of soundboard. Let's see, timestamp. Add fake.

Speaker: do you want me to just cheer? i mean, you could, but I'm still probably gonna put it in fake. could ask Ahsoka to bark, but she's really quiet right now. and she's That's a shocker, actually. She looks like a croissant. She's a little croissant.

Speaker: Croissant. Croissant. When did I think of that the other day? but I definitely thought of that the other day and I was going to text you. actually did too because somebody mentioned croissant. Croissant. My brain's in Italian and I'm like Cornetto.

Speaker: um This is a really fun fact guys but the other dog in my house who's upstairs whenever you say croissant or um Cabernet sauvon blanc or whatever. Whatever it is. He doesn't know what it means. Sorry, it was really bad. That's fine. Keep it. um He doesn't know what it means, but he knows what the accent means. So every time that you say anything in that accent, you can say any word. He thinks he's getting a croissant and he like, he does not care what the actual word is. He's like, i anything with like a really aggressive French accent. And he's like, I will be getting that croissant. Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker: so So the awards. The awards, guys. Allison has been doing an absolute absolutely absolutely fantastic job on these. I'm very excited for her to share them with everyone, for all of us. But she, as always, is the muscle behind the project.

Speaker: Oh, thank you. I also just have access to a print shop and that helps, but I will get to that. And she is our creative she's our creative queen. indeed That's started a creative podcast.

Speaker: It's amazing how that works. It's so weird, right? What concept. What a concept. Okay, please yap about um ya about your awards. Yeah, okay. We just established y'all are the yappers.

Speaker: I'm the introverted one, funny enough. um So I came up with this idea of doing inverted creative awards to kind of showcase creativity in the industry. Yeah.

Speaker: It's kind of a way to, well, first of all, I was inspired to do it for our two-year anniversary episode. So our two-year anniversary episode will be us announcing the winners. don't know you'll about that timing, but that was just kind of the plan because we're already almost at two years of the podcast.

Speaker: That's kind of crazy. That is kind of wild. Yeah. Well, also going from every other week to weekly has made time fly. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Speaker: yeah I forgot that we went to weekly. And this is why we have more co-hosts, so there's more flexibility. morning but i think i just Podcast ideas popping up every week and Jen's just like, why are we... I kind of just thought we were really ahead. We've been really ahead. like i feel like we've been really ahead. so like kind We kind of have been. um This one... We've got episodes tucked in the inventory, to be fair. Yeah. Yeah, kind of. ah This episode um is dropping on September 21st.

Speaker: um We have a ways until then. um

Speaker: So yeah, the ah inverted creative awards, um kind of a whole mix of reasons why I wanted to do them. um You know, mostly recognized creativity. um This is going to be very listener-centric, listener and supporter-centric.

Speaker: um We're going to talk about, like, some things today that we think would be good contenders for awards, but we are not choosing who goes up for a vote for these awards.

Speaker: It's going to be all nominations from listeners. So get some engagement going. We're going connect with parks. um i mentioned that I work in a print shop and i have too many ideas that I know what to do with. So I actually made physical trophies for these.

Speaker: i mean, I guess they're trophies. They're like acrylic plaques almost. They're really cool. I can't wait to show them off. I'm obsessed with them. And I was literally sending like updated pictures to our group chat like every day when these were getting printed recently.

Speaker: Yeah, no, they look dope. Yeah, they're so I'm so excited for everyone to see them. Yeah. they're They look good. They're fancy looking. Like, I can't wait for y'all to see these in person. They are fancy looking. That's why...

Speaker: i i i'm really happy with the color choice on on them because it like it may it makes them look really official yeah i will say um like the amount of color on them not to not to spoil anything or anything i mean i'm gonna post a picture these are gonna be the episode art is a picture of one of these so oh there you oh okay um yeah So I'm not going to get too into detail on like the actual design of them because I do want to do a Patreon video. um

Speaker: I work pre-pressed in a print shop. So these were fully designed, set up for print by me. um And I kind of want to go through and like show people on Patreon the behind the scenes of what my print files and what my cut files all look like versus how they turn out on here and the whole like process of designing something like that.

Speaker: I also had a a fight with Amazon over these standoffs that I ordered and they kept sending me the wrong thing. So I found a much cheaper and better option anyway. And so that's why there's like hex bolts on these now.

Speaker: um And I say that now it looks like it's, it's kind of a blend of the creative and the industrial. Hmm. So it works out. But they're very pretty. Isn't that just what theme parks are?

Speaker: Right? That's exactly what this podcast is. blend of creative and industrial. It all comes full circle. um So I am having these physical... trophies printed and I'm planning to send them to ah the winners of the different awards. I'll send them to the parks or hand deliver where I can and spend a lot of money on shipping if anything in Europe or Japan wins. I will have to figure it out but yeah I'm very excited because i want those I want these parks to know that you know people give a crap about the creative side of things.

Speaker: No, 1000%. And it needs it needs to be talked about more and it needs to be celebrated more. Yes. So I'm very excited. More than this is than just roger rogers rides, rides, rides. Yeah. um There's so much more. Like, yeah, we want full package experiences. Not just us.

Speaker: We as in the people. I mean, we'll share some of this stuff out too and promote engagement and voting and nominations and all that.

Speaker: um And we'll go through like the categories. i kind of came up with all the categories. The bulk of them are inspired by our deep dive episodes. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. Um, I'll go through those in minute. Um, and we'll go, there's, um, like guest awards, like specifically kind of for podcast guests among others. Um,

Speaker: ah my brain is so dead I've been working a lot lately no it's just um like the the best but honestly the best way to go about like the different categories and stuff is to go through like according to not I guess not like you know like militantly close to the episodes that we've had but like just to go by what we've shown to value through the conversations we've had on our episodes and stuff because like I mean, we celebrate the creative decisions that the theme parks and you know theme park adjacent design firms make and everything. So what better way to structure you know how we celebrate each aspect of each one by just going through the things that we've gushed about yeah per per episode. The little details that matter.

Speaker: Yeah, exactly. And we're kind of focusing on we're not like best new steel coaster, best coaster layout. No, we're looking at more of the artistic decisions behind things. Yeah.

Speaker: And just like, yeah, just like implement implementations of, yeah um like we said, like blending creative and industrial, it just like how um creative decisions are like, are best paired with functionality and accessibility for everyone who's like people who aren't able bodied as well or able minded and things that and things of that nature as well. So, um oh know Looking through the list, we do it we do a pretty good job of covering all bases when it comes to you know awards categories and stuff. And we've got a bunch of of great um

Speaker: ah ways of celebrating people that we've you know either that that we either admire in the industry or had you know direct contact with through conversations on um episode like you know past episodes, um whether they be you know industry professionals, content creators, or just friends of ours and stuff, friends of ours who um in the Coaster community, the theme park community, that that really appreciate the creative side of um you know the themed experience as well. so

Speaker: Yeah. And also just like with it being an anniversary of the podcast, we want to celebrate us and what we've accomplished on this podcast. Yeah. so Yeah, absolutely. And I also think like, i love this because especially having categories for different like creators and just for the conversation sections, like all of those people mean so much to the creative aspects to parks, whether you think about it or not, but creating your perfect car park trip, getting from park to park, um your favorite things when you get to the parks, that's all creativity in itself. It might

Speaker: You might not think of it that way, but it's all of creativity in itself. So times to celebrate those things that maybe aren't the first thing you think of when you think creativity.

Speaker: And also just each person brings a new perspective. yeah They're all thinking inverted. See how I did that. I see what you did there. i got chills.

Speaker: I got chill.

Speaker: yeah

Speaker: You like that one? That really made me laugh. I'm glad you enjoyed that. Yeah, I did. I honestly really enjoy when the British man says funny things.

Speaker: but Same. i like Do your thing. Do the thing. Do it with the accent. do what What? You want me to say water? don't know. Just say whatever you want.

Speaker: Everything you said has an accent. Just talk British me. Talk to British to me. no Look, Kyle, we're only actually listening to the accent. We're not listening to the yapping. Oh, no.

Speaker: well i've i've I've worked in the United States on four separate summers. you you you think You think I don't know that Americans aren't listening to me? oh They just want to hear the accent. i know I know the game. Yeah, we just want the accent. I think hired you for the podcast. Literally, we said, oh we need we don't even need to think about it. He has an accent.

Speaker: Yeah. oh Clearly that's all I'm here for. is just Yeah, clearly. at least you know your thing. Yeah, exactly. no You also ah help this podcast sound smart when my brain dies. Great conversation.

Speaker: I don't know man, io i over I overthink a lot. I have accepted the fact that I sound stupid a lot, so I'm not gonna say that you made me sound smart. I'm just used to me sounding stupid at this point. I don't know why I have a podcast, but here we are two years later.

Speaker: Well, to quote, well, to quote me because I said it, ah um one thing that was said on the on the on the trip between me and Nate was, like, like which fun people aren't a little stupid?

Speaker: true i hate there Even just our podcast chat gets very unhinged sometimes. Indeed. indeed Every Monday. Because truthfully, would it be entertaining to listen to if it wasn't?

Speaker: Yeah. To all of our dozens of listeners. Thank you for listening to All 17 you guys.

Speaker: No, honestly, I'm actually looking forward to, like, the Spotify raps next year or later this year and crying in my car again when I see how many people had a Facebook podcast. 100% cried in my car when it came out this year. Last

Speaker: year. Yeah, whatter literal tears in my car at lunch. I remember you texting me about that. It was like, that was that was kind of wild. Yeah. Because I messaged you, I messaged, I think I messaged you on Discord and then we texted about it. I can't remember, but...

Speaker: Yeah. it was you will like You were like number three in mine or something like that? In terms of podcasts? I can't remember. you were in You were in the top five. Like, you were in mine. Woohoo!

Speaker: Are we still? or Do you still listen to the episodes? don't know. We'll find in December. Well, now that he's on, he's all fancy. doesn't need us anymore. know. We're fired, man. Could you imagine?

Speaker: We're going to bring up Nate again because it's just we talk about Nate when he's not here. Every Monday, he listens to the podcast even though he's even when he's on it. And i will get live text about it. That's his podcast day. listens to, I don't know how many...

Speaker: you know podcasting. Dude, he didn't listen to podcasts until this one. Really? Yeah. That's actually so funny. That's quite funny, to be fair. I don't know if he listens to it, but but like he's he told me like monday Monday is his podcast day. like so it's It's mostly like but the Buzz Bars podcast network now, like Drunk Riders, Spill Still Spills, um Meg's podcast, You're Gonna Die, Babe. We're gonna go with that because I can't be exposed on here.

Speaker: Oh, I don't think that's the right word. I'm really curious. What can be there that would get us explicit?

Speaker: Which i love that that I love that that is kind of like the Buzz Bars unofficial, like podcast network has become like an unofficial thing. I love that though.

Speaker: Unfortunately, we're not part of it, but that's okay. do you mean? what i put that Why would... if We don't have our own like Discord in the Discord. Oh, oh oh okay. yeah yeah We have to hustle.

Speaker: Anyway. no Anyway, invite Grave Awards. Yeah, we're doing great, guys. for a host in the room My brain has melted so much this this week, and it's a three-day work week for me. It's been so bad.

Speaker: That's fine. I worked way too much over time last week. Anyway, um

Speaker: we're going to put um all of the, like, actual creative awards, like not the podcasty awards, um are going to go up for nominations um when this episode drops. And I will reiterate this at the end of the episode because feel like that'll help. Yeah.

Speaker: So people will be able to nominate what they think would be a good candidate for these creative awards. And then from there, I'll take like the top four-ish of each one and we will put it up to a vote for people to vote on.

Speaker: um For like the podcast guest ones, there's no nominations because if they were on an episode, they're nominated and they will be put up to a vote. So that's just kind of how that's going to work. Nice. um And then there is one special award that we'll talk about at the end.

Speaker: It even gets a fancier trophy. Oh, yeah. Because it's me, and I paid for a sheet of acrylic, and I had extra room on there, and I'm like, well, how can I use extra room on this acrylic? And came up with this idea.

Speaker: Love it. Yeah. Because that's what my... each ruy Yeah, actually. I have been fair i've been calling him the father and son trophy because it's a little bit bigger. and i put i like put them in front of each other and it's like, look at my son.

Speaker: Look at my son. You did not just quote Hamilton on here. definitely just quoted Hamilton. Oh my gosh. Because I love Hamilton. i love that.

Speaker: So do I, but Hamilton inverted creative... dude I could do a whole episode on Hamilton. Let's be real. I need to watch Hamilton again. Okay. On the Patreon, we're literally... I've seen it i ah I've seen it a bunch times, but like during COVID. On the Patreon, we're going to actually recite the entire musical. We're going to assign out parts. You guys can vote on who gets what part, and we're just going to perform the entirety of Hamilton. I love this idea because I could probably do the entire first half from memory.

Speaker: But it all probably from memory. I watched it far too many times. Yeah. Help me. I was proud when I got my shot down in its entirety for the first time. Yeah. it's That's a good one. Jack and I will literally sing that to each other on coasters. Like, we've we've gone through, like, my shot on Voyage.

Speaker: I know, your favorite coaster, Jen. I know, we don't talk about Voyage here. But we'll talk about Hamilton on Voyage. But we will talk about Hamilton but as long as like As long as I can sing um Aaron Burr's song, I can't remember what the name of the song is. Dear The Adoptia or Non-Stop?

Speaker: Wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for it. to start not for it it Wait for it. Wait for it. That one. We just need to do a whole like Hamilton live stream for Patreon. Because Leslie Odom Jr. kills that song.

Speaker: Yeah. Oh, my that's my favorite song on the whole podcast. On the whole do do ah musical. Jen left us temporarily. Do you know who played Aaron Burr once?

Speaker: who um Someone who played Aaron Burr once on one of the other like tours for it that I would have loved to have seen? Wayne Brady. Oh, really? He played Aaron Burr at one point. And I think he also like broke his ankle or something because he fell off the table. That's a little bit of an oopsie. Wayne Brady played Aaron Burr. And I'm like, God, that would have been so cool to see.

Speaker: a

Speaker: Yeah, definitely. So award category. Yeah, we're doing we're doing great. We're getting really far. which would The tangenting has been amazing certainly something. Okay.

Speaker: Award categories. What? Award categories. Award categories. I thought you said something else and I don't know. No. Award categories. So we'll go through the categories and we'll talk about kind of like, I don't remember what the heck we talked about on these episodes, what we mentioned, but we'll mention...

Speaker: Some things that come to mind for us now. um And these are in no order. It's literally me. just It was me scrolling through Zencaster and looking at the episodes that we talked about and if they would make a good um award category. um So the first one is Best Train Design.

Speaker: I'm going to nominate Taryn for every single episode.

Speaker: I feel like that is... Best restaurant, Taryn. Best restaurant. Full disclosure, so I had a test version of my trophies printed.

Speaker: um Just as like a proof of concept to make sure, one, they stood. to check the color. And I i yeah wanted to make sure the plates that I put on there fit properly and all that. And so I needed, of course, to do a test version of like and a winner just to have them And I definitely put for best rides soundtrack I put Taryn and everyone's like did Taryn already win? Have you even like opened anything yet? Yeah Taryn won. this is what i would No one knows we're doing an award show. Taryn. Taryn's the winner of everything. All you need to know is Taryn wins okay? I'm just gonna send a stack of awards to Taryn because this is my award. This is my award.

Speaker: Wow aggressive.

Speaker: Taryn wins 17 Out of 20 categories. And half those are podcast guests. How did Taryn win best podcast guest for conversations? Listen.

Speaker: How did Taryn win best entrance plaza? Yeah, that's one I don't think it could win. ah So best train design.

Speaker: Best train design. feel I'm going to would like to nominate Actually, we're just going to keep doing the same exact award and we're just going to keep doing Alice Interimation over and over.

Speaker: feel like mine is going to be a little surprising, maybe. um i i feel like I'm really big on Mecladon. That is a good train. i respect that. Like, i feel like it's not going to get love anywhere else. And that zero card deserves it. Also, wait, can I have an honorary mention?

Speaker: Yeah, this is, you can mention multiple. Kicker Octobahn. That Dunrail? That was a word. down real I don't know what that is.

Speaker: It's in the Netherlands. Oh my goodness. I've heard it before, but not of that road. Yeah, so it literally, the lead car, they just they just got rid of their original, it's frog roller coaster. They just got rid of their original frog roller coaster and made a new one. It's called Kiker Achspan, frog roller coaster in Dutch. And it's literally a frog on a motorcycle.

Speaker: It's like a kid's ride and it's a frog on a motorcycle and it's fantastic.

Speaker: Fantastic. So, honorary mention. Oh yeah, I see it now. It's all frogs. It's fantastic. um So, honorary mention. What?

Speaker: That is a frog on a motorcycle. Yeah, it's literally a frog on a motorcycle. I think it's so cute. I love it. So, I could do something smart here.

Speaker: um

Speaker: and pull up show notes from when we did these episodes you could or we could go from memory my memory is not good right now let's be real I did no preparation for any type of thing that I would want to mention for any of these.

Speaker: So I'm just going freestyle it. Why not? um I also just had one in mind and I can't think of it now. so i guess I'm going to have a few because there are so many great train designs out there. um The first one I'll say is Tiger. though Those... knows Yeah.

Speaker: those bird trains the um the slightly more orange slash one and then the slightly more yellow slash bit of orange one um but the lead car looks awesome on it looks really well really well designed um i i feel like it's i feel like it's so easy for a for a train design like that to look like kind of derpy, for lack of a better word. And the and they and these don't like at all. They look super, super legit. like um And then the and then the like consistency with that train design extends to the sides of the cars as well. Because like ah i feel like there are there are so many there are so many train designs that...

Speaker: have great um lead cars, great nose cars. And then that sort of like more creative design doesn't extend to the rest of the train. Like the sides are just like the the um the side paneling is just like the standard or your um ah yeah yeah generic standard, you know, generic model train design.

Speaker: But with Tiger, you know, you've got the bird feathers, the bird wings, like all on the side panel. It looks awesome. and And those colors pop on the blue track as well. They really They look so good.

Speaker: They look so good on that track. Yeah. um I also, I feel like this one's going to come up a couple times in a couple different areas, but I also really, really, really love the train design for Ride to Happiness. Yeah.

Speaker: Oh, yeah. I think that one deserves a bit of a... um Ride to Happiness and Time Traveler. Because they're technically the same, I think. Both of them.

Speaker: Yeah, I guess they have the same theme, so they're... Yeah. Oh, I did see the time traveler train because Europa Park randomly had it in the middle of the park yeah for their 50th anniversary.

Speaker: For funsies. um Yeah, that one definitely. A kind of off-the-wall one that I love is the wing coaster at Legoland in Germany, where it's literally like the Lego train.

Speaker: Oh, yeah, yeah. The Skyline one. Maximus. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, it's a cute little poster, but, like, the Lego train is awesome.

Speaker: Yeah, looks it look it looks great. those I feel like those trains... To be fair, B&M does a really good job of... Or has done, still does. um A really good job of theming their wing trains. A lot of them are yeah a lot of them are really well-themed. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker: But like it's funny because like with how... With how wide those trains are, you would feel you would think it's not very easy to theme those trains up because of how obscure they are, just like in terms of the shape of them.

Speaker: But they do a great job on those. and the And this one looks really quite cool as well the context of it being a Legoland coaster.

Speaker: um let's see so i'm i did find the show notes so i can look at some of the listener comments from before too but go ahead i feel like we at least have to shout out good gravy oh yeah i was gonna mention ah yeah definitely good gravy is incredible trains i think they did a fantastic job um For sure.

Speaker: Yeah. I like that one a lot. And then just for funsies, what was that train that Bryant put in the group chat the other day?

Speaker: Oh, like the duck duck? Yeah. Oh, the duck? Yeah, the pumpkin duck. Awesome. Some as of TV wheels or something like that.

Speaker: It was during the RCDB game. Yeah, the it's like something play duck or something. trying to find it. Nate took one look at that and said that's the greatest strangers I've ever seen.

Speaker: There's also a Corgo coaster. So i think that the Corgo coaster is one that like as a Corgo fan. Sorry, be duck, be playful.

Speaker: Be duck, be playful. But it's not like be e duck. It's like be period duck.

Speaker: I love it. Quick scroll through the listener comments from that episode. ah Good Gravy was mentioned.

Speaker: at SeaWorld in Australia. ohh I do like that one. so ah Stardust Racers. Honorable mention Wild Mouse. Yeah, it would be it would be silly not to mention Stardust, wouldn't it?

Speaker: Yeah. um Alex Bowers went on a whole rant about some. Velocicoaster, of course. Brambo also mentioned Velocicoaster.

Speaker: um I feel like I'm going to try and avoid like the obvious... Like, ah like of course Velocicoaster. Of course Stardust. And just for all of these categories, it' like there are there are some very obvious names that it would be weird not to mention, but like of course they'd be considered.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker: Somebody said Taryn. It's not just me, guys. had a lot of wits in our comments back then. It's mostly you. The majority. Iron Gwazi, Konda, Cheetah Hunt.

Speaker: do like i in glo Iron Gwazi. Iron Gwazi I was going to mention because I do love. like I feel like that train is pretty simple but also so good. What I like about it is like in terms of just design language, they really it like the fact that it's all just straight lines and triangles that make up that crock head.

Speaker: It's so good. It makes it look so much more aggressive. like just says Yeah. I think that's. also mentioned I remember there was a whole like a whole debate on on that on that train, actually. Do you remember that? like when When that train first got like unveiled?

Speaker: And it was like people like... There was such mob mentality conversation around it. like you either like People either loved it or like vehemently hated it. And like people thought you were... like The people who hated it thought you were weird if you loved it. And the people who loved it thought you were weird if you hated it.

Speaker: i It was... It was hilarious. Which coaster is that? Guazi. Iron Guazi. Oh, so funny enough, Iron Gwazi was before I was and an enthusiast. Like, I became an enthusiast. Like, I realized I was an enthusiast community, i should say. I was a big fan of YouTube channels, and I knew a lot about roller coasters, and I spent a lot of time at Great Adventure. But I, like, became an enthusiast at the opening of Velocicoaster.

Speaker: So, like, Iron Gwazi was just, like, standing and not operating. Yeah. So, like, I missed all that. wow. Yeah, that's... I did not become a 3C until.

Speaker: Yeah, no, that was a that was interesting to observe. Just like how territorial people got about right that design. But i love i've I've always loved that design of the of the nose car specifically.

Speaker: um The colours great on the train as well, but yeah.

Speaker: Next category. so we We gotta to move on. to long talking um best Best station design. And I actually have a top choice for this one that's not Taron.

Speaker: And that is ah lead it Untamed. Yes. like that one a lot. Oh, I just saw that one for the first time. I agree. I love that station. I think they did it's such an incredible job.

Speaker: With the lights and the music. Ugh. and you know take the trip and um also loves conda i just ah kind of like how i just like conda's a great one as well um i just like i just like how it really looks like an abandoned little greenhouse it's so beautiful and like overrun by nature and stuff i can't i can't i can't really like well i mean like not that i've ridden it but i don't i don't know too much of like the details of what it looks like on the inside

Speaker: if any of you have any info to share on For which one? of Untamed. Yeah, I mean, I've been on it. Yeah, it's just like there's a... What is... Do you remember what the thing on the wall says? It says take the trip.

Speaker: Take the trip. I was like, there's like a quote and then it's like a lot of really pretty plants and it looks like ah almost like a overgrown greenhouse. so like super wild. um right Yeah. I really like it. It's...

Speaker: It's very cute vibes. When I was there, I feel like someone in our group was talking about how like cheaply themed it was. And I was like, I love this station. These vibes are like, I'll live here. Here, Mikhail, I will send you a picture really quick.

Speaker: But also, are we are we talking station only or can we also include q We have a separate one for Q. Oh, okay. All right. Someone remind me about Wallaby Holland when it comes to Q. Hey, don't forget about Wallaby Holland when we get to Q design. Oh, thank you. Perfect. I'll remember now. There you are. There's your mind. I will not be saying it again.

Speaker: I will not repeat myself. but Yeah, Nate. I just, or you're not Nate. You're Mikhail. Mikhail, I just sent you a picture. Oh, that thanks, thanks. Because we look so alike, don't we Yes, very much so.

Speaker: I was thinking the exact same thing, and then I was like, wait, I'm a redhead right now, so me and Nate are twins.

Speaker: now Nate and I are the ones, Nate and I twin when we randomly show up in the same shirt all the freaking time. Well, Nate is both of us. He wants to be us so bad. He wants to be our third girl on the podcast.

Speaker: I'm trying think of other station designs. Not Stardust Racers. I was not a fan of that one Okay, so yeah, I was going to bring that up because I remember you saying you weren't a fan of it. First of all, what?

Speaker: but It's not peak creativity for a station design. How about that?

Speaker: Oh. In my opinion. so i like art vibe. No, no, no, for no no no for sure. um The that station. It looks like... like first of all i love the art deco architecture architecture architectural choices in in that station it looks like i get the ah like i don't I don't know how like how much value this holds, but it it just it made me feel like i was in a train station in 1970s movie or something like that.

Speaker: um and it was it like i just I felt taken back to a to a different time. i feel i feel like they I feel like they really did a good job with just... It's not necessarily like telling like an you know like intricate story or anything like that, but just like... I feel like just the stylistic choices um do really well to just portray a... What's the word I'm looking for?

Speaker: um just portray an atmosphere in there yeah which then the obviously the music and the lights like country like contribute to as well and everything i just i just thought it was really well put together stylistically not this not necessarily like thematic in the sense of like telling a story or anything even though there is there is a story to yeah status races but um you don't necessarily need that in order to get the most out of the attraction or anything um But yeah, I just, I just, I really, i thought that station was really cool. But

Speaker: yeah, that's just, that's just me.

Speaker: Jen, any thoughts? I don't know why I'm blanking on stations. I will say, and this is like the most sterile station ever, but it fits. i I love the Velocicoaster station. yeah Yeah, I agree. i Usually that station, yeah, like I would never really think that that station was fantastic if it's under any other theme or any other story, but it just fits so well. fit It fits perfectly where it fit's with the scenario you're being placed in.

Speaker: Yeah, it's so good. For sure. And I actually, and i've i've heard I've heard some people say that like um there isn't like you know a really theatrical station dispatch or anything when you leave the station on the train. um I actually really like that it isn't because the the um the sort of...

Speaker: ah gateway that you enter into on the train that's that's your theatrical start to the experience yeah yeah like that and and i mean like that's literally a part of the story like you're being just you know transported out of the lab into this holding position where you're beside the raptors and that's where the build-up is supposed to be yeah narratively so it fits so it fits so well Yeah, I think what people don't realize in that attraction, which is like so stupid, I think, to say, but like I feel like a lot of people don't process that like literally the theme of that coaster is that you're riding a coaster. Riding a ride. yeah dna a So like we don't need to be transported into the area. We are in the theme.

Speaker: Like going through that sterile environment and... like, and it's just such a weird, it's not like we don't need to be transported anywhere, like, they, it's just, yeah.

Speaker: It's a very weird yeah experience, I think, but also really good. It, like, it it, it does so well at being not more than what it needs to be, but also so detailed in what it is at the same time.

Speaker: Yeah. Like, it's it's it's kind of crazy how it, it's simple, but elaborate at the same time yeah i don't know i could i could i could go on for hours so like we all know i could go on for hours um yeah we hired to camp Yeah, we hired you to yap.

Speaker: um I am going to pop in with like a little bit. why have I not been paid yet? I'm joking.

Speaker: Sorry. Post your Venmo. No, I'm kidding. Don't post your Venmo. Do you even have Venmo? No. Are Canadians allowed to have Venmo? No. no That was not thing in Canada. of ah Don't post your Venmo. You don't have one. like You can post your PayPal if you want. No, that's like... We are not 40 here.

Speaker: Post your Cash App.

Speaker: I feel like one... I feel like one that's not going to get a lot of love on this podcast is Ride to Happiness. No, I'm kidding. Ride to Happiness is a good answer. But actually one that I think that we're not going to talk to talk about maybe the rest of this episode. I love the station to Slinky Dog Dash.

Speaker: I haven't been on it. I wouldn't know. I haven't actually seen it, but um i I, yeah, no, I can't. Also train design for Slinky Dog Dash. I'm going to give that one. I haven't been on it. I wouldn't know.

Speaker: I'm going to give it to that one as well because the Slinky Dog Dash, like Slinky Dog Dash looks like a Slinky Dog. It's so cute. Um, but also the station is like a lot of like childhood toys. They're all set up. So it's very like immersive into that. You are built. Yeah.

Speaker: You are literally the size of a toy and Andy built this in his backyard and you are part of this experience. So, um, I think they do a really good job with that station.

Speaker: i really enjoy it. Agreed. Definitely. um I just like, I like how colorful, um, it is like with all the, like it plays into how well just the whole Toy Story land like portrays you in Andy's backyard like in the overgrown grass and like the fencing like in the background and like all the children's toys in there as well like it plays into that super super well they did a great job with it I'm going to run through a former show note so we can get to the next one because we are little talkative um

Speaker: Specific ones mentioned. Poltergeist in Texas. i'm trying to I'm trying to think of some. see Dark Coaster. Nemesis Reborn. Vampire. Hagrid's.

Speaker: Hyperia. Hyperia's a vibe. Fly. Not that Jen would know. ah ah Not that I would know at all. Actually. um Oh, Novgorod?

Speaker: I feel like... Novgorod, you said? a nafron Yeah, Flux of the one Novgorod? Yeah. Millennium Force. Okay, I'll give Millennium Force. Rebolton, disaster transport, even though it doesn't exist anymore. I really like Lightning Rod's portrayal of just a working car garage.

Speaker: Yeah. In there. i always I always did like that Oh, I do like that one. yeah I also love Fire Chaser Express. Oh, yeah yeah. There you go. there you go Fire Chaser Express is awesome.

Speaker: yeah Yeah, the fire station. Also, in in a similar vein, um the Stagecoach Depot that makes up Outlaw Runs Station them is super cool.

Speaker: The accent strikes again. Depot. Depot. Depot. Oh, Depot. Oh, oh, okay.

Speaker: The British strike again is crazy. a Revolutionary war. Let's go. I think that... The British are coming. The British We're doing great. Yeah.

Speaker: Can go to the next category for this? Wait. One more. I think I mentioned this on the last one, but I love Voden's Q. Yeah. Yeah. Because it has the animatronics that like look at the train as it's leaving.

Speaker: so cool. It's like in cascading. yeah So cool. Okay, that was it. We can move on. I to look actually look for that again when I write it next summer. So good. The next category is one that I'm not even going to say my response to because you already know. Let me guess. Talon at Dorney Park. There you go. Best ride soundtrack.

Speaker: Taryn at Dorney Park. Taron at Dorney Park. I wish Taron was at Dorney Park. Oh my god, please. Easier to get to. Even for me. No, because we have Talon. We don't need Taron. wish Black Mamba was at Dorney Park with Talon.

Speaker: My other mention that's a legit answer that I listen to all the time and it's not Taron. ah Helix. God tier. God tier soundtrack.

Speaker: um I am gonna say like the most typical Thuzi answer, but Euromir.

Speaker: For now. For now. For now. um But yeah, Euromir. I just, every Thuzi knows that sound. Yeah. So good. I will say um what has always long been one of my favorite soundtracks to any coaster. i don't particularly... i don't like i like I like the ride. I like i do like the ride. i' I'm not super, super crazy on it. But the soundtrack is just 12 out of 10 to me. Galactica at Altland Towers, it has just always taken me to a different place. Like, similarly to how Taron's soundtrack has. like it's yeah It's done just unbelievably well. It's so layered. There's so many different instruments being used. It's vibey, it's spacey, you know, fittingly.

Speaker: i i whenever when When I'm doing work at home, there are times where I've just had that just just on repeat. Just like, i'll I'll find it on YouTube and just have the YouTube video on repeat, like over and over again. is It takes me to a different place. yeah oh one One that I have to mention for the memes is one that I played at the wedding.

Speaker: And that is Wilde Hilda. yeah Yes. Wilde Hilda. Which apparently has its soundtrack in the new location. Yay. Okay. Nate John Michael say to never go ride it because it's at Gieselwind and they hated that park. but ah Well, I don't trust their opinions. um Why we fired Nate from the podcast. Yeah, exactly. That's why he's fired. I'm the only one whose opinions we can trust here.

Speaker: Okay. I know we don't mention this one on the podcast very often, but Ride to Happiness. We never talk about Ride to Happiness. ah Oh, man. I forgot which one I was going to say. um hu

Speaker: Are you okay? Did we break you? just straight up forgotten what I was going to say. um Gabby said demon cue. Demon cue. Okay. She loves it.

Speaker: Yeah. oh kind of Kelly mentioned Ride to Happiness. oh I love the Space Mountain. um Doesn't Space Mountain the Paris one? Not the Star Wars one. the other one Doesn't that one have a soundtrack? Yeah.

Speaker: Or is that just, oh, the yeah, yeah. The, um, Tara Luna or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that one has a soundtrack that I really like.

Speaker: yeah startup has a good soundtrack too i think about it i know i think it's anything space themed like just gonna that's still that's a win for me is i like yeah do a really good job you're gonna have to do much with it to it to to make me happy with with with a space theme in this in a similar vein i always loved tron's soundtrack as well tron light cycle yeah um the music they play the music they play it there is oh so good so good Wham, wham, wham, wham, back in the day mentioned Nitro using Mortal Kombat.

Speaker: Oh, yeah. That's iconic. Yeah. That might be my favorite thing of that about that, right, honestly. um I know what Mike's choice will be, and that is a Safri duo for King Naka.

Speaker: He will just put that on all the time in the car. I do remember that. We talked about that one during that episode, too. I feel like those are my main ones.

Speaker: Does Millennium Force need a mention? Yeah, probably. Oh, yeah. I also really love Magnums. Like, there's not much I say that I love about Magnum, but I do love that song. No, definitely.

Speaker: To be honest, you could play any... you could For me, anyway, you could just play like any 80s synth wave-style music in that station, and it would it would fit in. For me, I'd be like, yes, since this is Magnum's music.

Speaker: yeah Another good one is ah and one that you mentioned earlier that you think will not get a lot of love on the podcast. Not Ride to Happiness. Megalodon. Megalodon. I got really excited. Mechalodon has a really good soundtrack.

Speaker: I don't know if I realized i had a soundtrack. Yeah, me neither. I can't. it's like There's like a whole like area for it, but um or like area music for Dark World. Okay. Yeah, it's pretty good.

Speaker: Interesting. All right. Next category. Best color scheme. That's an early episode for us, too. h um okay Talon at Dorney Park.

Speaker: Well, obviously. so Pastels. We love her. we love her. Never change. Do not paint her. I love her. i will fight for her forever.

Speaker: i love Fury. It's probably one of my favorite color schemes. I was going to say, like that's needless to say, Fury 325. Yeah, like we painted our dining room in Fury colors. That's...

Speaker: That's an unfair color scheme, to be to be honest with you. hey ah Accelerator is another good one. You know what's another good one? We don't really talk about too much. Rides of Happiness. i mean Oh no, I was going to say that I was waiting for comedic relief.

Speaker: But it has a little bit of purple. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It has a little bit. um i do really like the color scheme. Buck Is that how you say it? The purple is really nice.

Speaker: The purple is so nice. I really enjoy the purple. We are going to speak the lack of um we are going to speak purple coasters into existence because of the lack of purple coasters to the point where it's going to be too many purple coasters. I only want purple coasters and talent at Dorney Park. That's it.

Speaker: Do you know how many shades of purple there are? no I didn't. Enough. no no no not enough Not enough. There's not enough of them. Not enough, but there's enough to make variety. That's what I meant. indeed Indeed. itself okay I have another one I want to mention that Nate turned me on to at one point.

Speaker: It's Vinfold.

Speaker: What is it? ah It's Timeline Freeheedman in Denmark. It's like teal with brown supports. It's a very pretty color feel. Yeah, pretty. It's pretty. It's pretty for sure.

Speaker: i I like it a lot. um Have you... i don't know if there's a count because this ride actually hasn't been built yet. Like fully, at least. But I guess an honorable shout out. to uh midgard suelman i don't know if i pronounced that right but um yeah what is it um it's the new instrument hot racer that's being built at oh yeah summerland even um know if you know if you've seen it at all that that yeah that shade of blue that's very similar to uh the venfold actually it's hair is is the fire brighter

Speaker: it's a light It's a lighter shade. ah that train looks nice, too. But it just pops so well. It's so good. on the On the shade of... I think it's beige support?

Speaker: is' very It's very Kraken-coated. I'll say that. Kraken-coated. But um it it looks so good on that train. It looks super good.

Speaker: Um...

Speaker: I really like Mako too. Mako's definitely one up there for sure. yeah i I love a split rail color scheme. Joker and Airy Force. Yeah. oh're pretty Aqua Fresh the road.

Speaker: coming back to us soon. Ish. Yeah.

Speaker: um Nemesis Inferno. I do like that one. i that Nemesis Reborn. That's the one. yeah I do love the ah the like veins on it.

Speaker: Yeah. Or whatever it is. how is that not How has that not been done on B&M track more often? Just great just more designs on the on that big boxy spine, like on more B&M coasters.

Speaker: I feel like that should have happened more often.

Speaker: Because it looked like you can you can be so creative with it. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. Someone said Nitro. Yeah.

Speaker: Once upon a time, I would have agreed. Well, yeah, well has it hasn't been repainted in like 12 years. Cue the Instagram page that's like, has Nitro been repainted yet? love that account. I love that it account. It's so good.

Speaker: I love when they did the one with Rolling Thunder under Halturo and it just says no written in and the Rolling Thunder because that was repainted. Yep.

Speaker: Sorry. I love that account. That's funny. umm Do you know which one I really liked? it I mean, is it got repainted back in like 2012 or 2013, something like that.

Speaker: Mantis, which is now Rougarou at Cedar Point. I i really liked it. Say again? Somebody on the ah show notes when we did that episode. Oh, really? yeah um yeah i always Yeah, I always liked i always like that color scheme. I found that color scheme really like memorable and icon it um and iconic. Somebody had said, ah my absolute favorite color scheme on a coaster was Mantis. The Goldenrod, Boysenberry, and Cranberry together were perfect.

Speaker: i read i read I respect the naming of the of the shades. I respect that a lot.

Speaker: Next category time. Yeah, I feel like we're at the next category. Yeah, we still have a lot to talk about. um Best park restaurant. Shark bar. No, I'm kidding. Probably not shark bar, but vibes. So good.

Speaker: I know. Which one? Pizza Moon. oh pizza moon Pizza Moon was good. i was I remember being let down by Mythos, and I know we talked about that. Like, when we went, Mikhail, to Mythos. Yeah, yeah. I was kind of let down.

Speaker: So, do you remember what you had? Some ravioli, I think, maybe? Because I remember i remember my... i had some yeah I had some kind of pasta dish. Um...

Speaker: And I remember really liking it, but, like, it was, like, they were doing the, like, bougie restaurant thing of the, yeah like, of, like, the actual food taking up about 20% of the plate. Yeah. Like, there was barely anything on there.

Speaker: But it was so good, though. i really I really enjoyed it. That's, that kind of sucks. So, I feel like... I feel like the issue with there is that every single person I talk to gets Allison's experience or Mikhail's. Like, you either hear that it's the best ever or they would never go back and it was terrible.

Speaker: Yeah. That's interesting. And with that, I'm going to nominate Calfish. I've never been there. So good. One of my favorites, which Mikhail, I think we tried to go to this at one point.

Speaker: Twosome, Chocolate Emporium. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. ah Yeah, we did. It's so hard to get a reservation. And then I made it my top priority the the year after like the year after to go. and yeah is I loved love two stones.

Speaker: Yeah, so good i I'm gonna go European on this one, too There's a pancake house in Efteling. So good. The Tophergius Place?

Speaker: No, it's an actual sit-down pancake place. Like Dutch pancakes. um But the room is like super interactive. um So you get a lot of that experience, but then also very good Dutch pancakes. um Yummy. so I'll say Bar, um, not Bar, well, Bar 1919 also. Um, Restaurant Uchwerkd, or Uchwerk, at, um, in Rookburg, at Phantasialand.

Speaker: The, that like, that is the best breakfast I've had at a theme park. Like, and it's not close. It's really not close. That breakfast was unreal.

Speaker: Um, I can't wait to go to Rutmore's next year. Like that's priority for me. I need i need to try Rutmore's. That's another reason. That's another reason. That's another reason why I need to. I need to go to Rutmore's with you. Go to Das Stumble.

Speaker: That's another reason why would be weird if I don't go to Germany next year. um who Who will I go to Rutmore's with? Yeah. What are you going with Mike? My husband? How do you do that?

Speaker: It's silly idea. um Yeah, no, I definitely... I have a bunch of friends back home in the UK talk about how good Rutmore's is as well.

Speaker: Definitely need to change that. Honourable shoutouts, green eggs and ham. It's not a restaurant. ah like Mate, those loaded tots, it's my go-to in that I don't eat anywhere else.

Speaker: Yeah, you can't eat anywhere else. It's so good. You know where I usually eat at Islands is a Circus McGurkis. So I hear that one. They changed their menu like two or three years ago and I hear people love it.

Speaker: and so I just thought it was fun to get spaghetti at a theme park. like Yeah, also valid. Like quick service spaghetti. yeah just Speaking of Islands, I need and and restaurants I need to go to, I need to try Confisco Grill. Have you have either of you had like any food or drinks there no confisco grill near port of entry i have gone to some very good things about it but yeah no outside of the bar i have not

Speaker: um yeah yeah i don't know i feel like i haven't been restauranting in the parks other than disney but disney has some really good restaurants so yeah i almost i almost want i almost want to say like uh restaurants adjacent to the parks like a city walk in disney springs almost don't count because it's like they're not in the parks but like i would count to some no fit see it's like summer house on the lake

Speaker: Bro, dude, the Edison. The Edison, a good one. The Edison is unbelievable. I love the Edison so much. Yeah. Flying fish. I've not eaten don't even eat fish. Yeah. Me neither.

Speaker: but It's the best steak you will ever have on Disney property. Really? Hands down. Incredible. Teppanito is my favorite on Disney property. Yeah, you should go try the flying fish. Oh, I got to go to Disney again eventually, and that's not happening anytime soon.

Speaker: Yeah. Also, I just ate at Tiffin's. Tiffin's, I had eaten there in like 2018. Also incredible experience, but that's another one that's like,

Speaker: incredible it's it's like signature restaurant so crazy pricing we we had like a coupon and then we did appetizers so it wasn't insane for us but it's crazy pricing um but i remember before i got i got um venison there that was like to die for e the restaurant at um hotel matamba that was wild i i had zebra there yeah i had zebra and i had ostrich

Speaker: It so weird. Jen, you've been to the Beacon Barrel, haven't you? oh a lot. Far too much than I'd like to admit. Yeah. Yeah. Very good. um that's That's on my list. That's on my radar for sure. Yeah, it's very fun. um Drink-wise, it's pretty expensive for pre-made drinks, in my opinion. like They're like tapped drinks. um But they are strong, so like that's the one downside. However, they do have corn cakes...

Speaker: They have a chicken one and a pepper one. And the pepper one, I would sell my soul for. the last time I went, I actually didn't get any drinks. I drank water and I got the peppercorn cake. That was it.

Speaker: so arm if we're So if we're okay if if we're talking about quick service, and i have I have to shout out Spitfire Grill at Isle of Berk in Epic Universe. And if we're also talking about drinks, I have to shout out Celestiki and Bar Moonshine in Epic Universe.

Speaker: Yeah. As well as Oaken Star. Just basically, honestly go go eat and drink at Epic Universe. Yeah. like Honestly, oh, this is...

Speaker: crazy because it's like a $200 ticket or a $100 ticket whatever but like if you're only doing attractions in epic universe that's a loss yeah yeah yeah you're not getting the most out of money the food and the drinks at that park are yeah absolutely to die for unbelievable um that place that we went in like the harry potter world the serene cafe or whatever sorry oh yeah yeah oh my god i'm so good can't remember the entire name but yeah yeah yeah that's the one with the butterbeer pancakes right but yeah or yeah or break or tras sorry car and then they have the gigawater um and they had some pastry i don't even know what i got but it was really good yeah

Speaker: I got the beef bourguignon after forgetting to press send on the order. um So good. But then we had like face characters interact with us while we were...

Speaker: Yeah, we did. They weren't even in the restaurant. They were just passing by. Yeah. They started talking with us. They were so cool. I love them. Yeah, they were super cool. Great experience. One of the days, this will be my last one. This will be my last one. and then we Yeah, we got to move to the next one.

Speaker: One of the other days that I went to Epic during that trip, we went to the Blue Dragon, the Pan-Asian restaurant. Oh, nice. um I love Asian food.

Speaker: I love Asian food. Blue Dragon Pan-Asian restaurant. Oh, it's so good. So good. It was like, i had high expectations for that place and it delivered for sure. Dude, I had some kind of like beef kebab or something at like Bar Helios.

Speaker: i don't know if you were there for that. I know it was one where it was like Kyrie and Tifa. that's the but That's the best beef I've had. it was on just It's just on on a kebab steak. I couldn't believe it.

Speaker: those but i was so happy with that choice over a drink. I couldn't believe how tender was. I couldn't remember who all was with us for that night, so... But yeah. right.

Speaker: Next category. And I remember this is one that was like a very spur of the moment episode that just Jen and I did. And like we had like one of the best conversations we've ever had on this podcast. Yeah.

Speaker: Best park entrance plaza. Wait, wait, wait. Did we skip ride queue? No. No, it's next. I got too excited. haven't reminded yet, Jen. I was too excited. I had my things ready.

Speaker: Do you want to skip to that one while you have your thoughts and then we'll come back to this to the... it is It's okay. My thoughts are ready. I just Googled them. I just googled them. They're up in front of me. You got the tabs on deck. I was ready. I have the receipts. It's because I didn't know the name of the attraction. I had to look it up. so So but best park entrance plaza.

Speaker: Oh, there's there's a lot of really good ones. Epic Universe.

Speaker: Yeah. Wait, wait we're ah ah so we' so we're talking... like right by the gates not the first park entrance that you meet upon entering the park a little bit of both i think just like right at both immediate sides of the gate because i was gonna say i was gonna say port of entry yeah i would count that hold i'm trying to find where that i think every entry or every castle park at disney

Speaker: I don't know. Wait, there's one castle park that the castle is sideways. is and there That one doesn't count. The rest of them. Which one's that? I don't remember. I think one of them has a castle that's sideways, though.

Speaker: Weird. That's interesting. I don't think I remember the rest that. I think you come in from the side.

Speaker: is it Disneyland? Disneyland? No, Disney World and Disneyland. I think it's one of the um Asian ones, maybe. i could be wrong, but I think there's one the the castle like is not straight on. Because I know um Shanghai has the biggest like castle, right?

Speaker: I'm pretty sure. I think so. And I think it's like straight on, like, you know, straight line from the, from the entrance. um But yeah, no, I mean like Main Street USA is a staple. Like the, the,

Speaker: they haven't missed like with any of them. I don't, I don't think. um Reminding myself of Disneyland Paris's entrance under the, is it the, er what's the hotel at the entrance to Disneyland Paris?

Speaker: Disneyland Hotel. Disneyland Hotel. Yeah, but like what's it like is it it is it fashioned after like Cinderella? or I think it's kind of Cinderella. It's like royal themed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. i know i know it's fashioned after one character. I don't think it has an actual... like I think it's just like princess. Okay.

Speaker: Oh, yeah, yeah. It might be that. um Anyway, yeah like that that entrance is gorgeous. like ah That entrance and transition into main street into like the main street is gorgeous. And for some reason, and like it it stuck out to me more it sticks out to me more at Disneyland Paris than it does at Magic Kingdom for some reason.

Speaker: I'm not really sure why because they're very similar. but they they I mean, they have their differences, of course they do but um similar vibe. But for some reason I'm i'm just i'm I found I have consistently found myself more enamoured with Paris' is than Magic Kingdom's.

Speaker: um but yeah i'll say port of entry um i was going to say uh in a in a different vein i was gonna say s silver dollar city and i will say silver dollar city because i love i love that entrance as well um it's very transport trend transportive that's not a word It works. Okay. You know what mean. um arm Especially since like you get you get to the you get to the front entrance, you see the the big sign, and then the sort of like pathways into, like, up to including um ah the hospitality house,

Speaker: the Marvel Cave entrance, and into um like the main square, it's all shrouded in trees. So you don't actually see any of it at the front.

Speaker: It's just like you're welcome into the um into the park via the entrance. It's so quaint and cozy and just like warm and welcoming. And then like you transition into the...

Speaker: into the rest of the park and it's really really well done I really like it a lot and it fits just like in the Ozark mountains as well yeah

Speaker: think a very underrated one for me is Lost Island it's so colorful think that one's really nice yeah like especially going there again recently too and seeing it again I'm like man this is just really pretty the way that like the ferris wheel is framed behind it with the water yeah I'm a fan I need to see that myself.

Speaker: ah You need to go in Firerunner. I do. Because now that I've ridden Stuntpilot and I feel like I actually did enjoy that a bit more than my latest Railblazer rides, now I'm really curious as to how Firerunner runs because I know it has a longer train than the others. Hmm.

Speaker: And then also fire.

Speaker: I do know. I do know. I have two of my favorite parks to shout out. um Europa Park entrance plaza.

Speaker: I think that is like unlike anything else. um But then even more than that, and probably my favorite entrance plaza at this point, more than Disney parks, Efteling. Like i knew we were going say Efteling. The license grand entrance building. I actually am.

Speaker: I am pretty sure getting the entrance building tattooed on my body. oh Like the most grand entrance building of any park.

Speaker: And just so detailed and beautiful. for sure. And like, like we, we talked, we, I think I remember with entrance plazas, we talked about, um, uh, the fact that it's like, like the there aren't, there aren't many entrances that, um,

Speaker: that nail down the like quirkiness and the like the quirky cute details and the quaintness and coziness of an entrance while also being accessible to as many people as it needs to be for such a big park and f and like Efteling is really the only one that think of that nails both of them yeah like is i as big as it needs to be for how many people go to that park but also has all the quaintness and the cuteness of a really much more, well, a much smaller entrance and everything.

Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. Those my two main ones. Next category time? Yes.

Speaker: Jen, I'm supposed to remind you that we're about to talk about cues. All right, go off, girl. I know we don't talk about it on the podcast much, but no, I'm kidding.

Speaker: I have to keep looking. Express Platform 13. I would have never gotten this name right. At Wallaby Holland.

Speaker: I walked into that queue and I was terrified. Like I literally was more terrified than I was walking into Halloween Horror Nights houses because they completely like, I think just like, it looks like you're walking into an arcade and you walk up those steps and you get into the queue and then it's just spooky and a lot of noises and a lot of things jumping out.

Speaker: I felt like I was going to die the entire time. The entire time. I have never experienced a queue like it. I don't think I will ever experience a queue like it again. um And it is by far the most me memorable queue I have ever experienced.

Speaker: I have another contender at that same park. Really? Lost Gravity. Also a fantastic one. Very cool. It's a lot of fun. That one is also really, really good.

Speaker: Yeah, I've i've heard many it many a time about Express Platform 13, just how creepy, spooky, straight up scary that queue line is. And then you ride the ride and it's like, all right, well, I enjoyed the queue more than the ride. So when you get to the station too, apparently they used to have like fully, like the stalls were like fully closed in so you couldn't even see the attraction. But now they're like half- stalls, you're still boxed in. It's not like gates. It's like full doors. But you can see through them now so you can see what's on the other side. But apparently it was way worse when you couldn't see what was on the other side. So it was just like the anticipation as you're in that cattle fin.

Speaker: Like, yeah. Crazy. I need to see it. um I mean, if it if if we're talking about you know just rides in general, not not just coasters, um which I guess gives a bit of advantage to dark rides in general, I I will say one from one from when I really started appreciating the amount of thought put into queue lines.

Speaker: Escape from Gringotts was one that I really appreciated because of how well done the...

Speaker: Spoiler alert for anyone who's not ridden this nearly two decade old ride at this point. ah um ah I really i reallyd i really ah ah appreciated how well done the elevator part of the queue line was, but is is done on that. Because it really makes you feel like you're being taken down into the bank vaults of Gringotts Bank.

Speaker: Yeah. even though you're not actually moving anywhere um just really really well done um and like how the how the caves are fashioned um in that queue and then like even even before then there's um really good visual effects on um on like staged newspapers to where it has like the the uh the moving pictures or the moving silhouettes in like the doors, in like the office doors, in Gringotts Bank as well. It's really well done. i really like i really like Escape from Gringotts' queue.

Speaker: Yeah, I think that that's probably up there for me too. That's a pretty good one. I also, i think any of the elm Harry Potter IP queues are up there. Yeah, um ministry especially.

Speaker: Yeah, Ministry exactly what I was thinking. um And there's just so many little things that keep you unattained that that one is really good. Yeah.

Speaker: Always something new to look at. m Exactly. Let's see. I'm looking at old show notes again. Tower of Terror, Velocicoaster, Forbidden Journey.

Speaker: I feel like Disney and Universal, for the most part, take this away, which is crazy that we started with Wallaby Holland. You're welcome. Okay. There's three more right after another one here that are not Universal or Six Flags.

Speaker: ah Manta going through the aquarium. Oh, I forget about that one. Yeah. Dr. Diabolical and how they have all those a little pre-show things in there. don't know if either of you have done that.

Speaker: I have lot. Okay. Okay. Um, and then, uh, Karnan has a really cool queue. Oh yeah. i've heard, I've, I've, I've not, I've not ridden Karnan, but I consistently hear really good things about that. Yeah. yeah youline And then like the loading system that it uses.

Speaker: Yep. To get into this, into the station as well. Yeah. So i actually, when I said Navgrab the other day, meant, or the other day earlier, not you're cry to cut in um, And also, yes, Karnin. The loading system in Karnin was probably, honestly, the whole entire queue and entrance and station experience.

Speaker: Hands down, one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. yeah But Novgorod has the, I don't know if it counts as the queue, but like the exit path.

Speaker: Oh, yeah. i don't know if that counts, but it's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker: I like that a lot.

Speaker: um What else? is Do we have anything else on the list? Time Traveler with the ah songs. Yeah, the songs and the and the clocks and the um the time machine blueprints and everything.

Speaker: Yeah. i I love the music. Really cool. Revenge of the Mummy. I always shout out expedition Expedition Everest. Yeah, that's a good one too.

Speaker: job with that queue. Literally as I scroll best expedition Everest. Yeah that one's a really good queue I like that one a lot. I have to I have to say Flight of Passage as well to that point on Animal Kingdom.

Speaker: yeah this was this wasn't This was more so just the the um world of Pandora itself um but it was also the queue line that just that attraction I guess if I'm grouping them, if I'm kind of cheating a little bit and grouping them as a whole, that attraction is to this day, the only, ah the only attraction that has made me cry real tears.

Speaker: Just, just at complete, just at complete awe of it. Yeah. Of what of what could be created by a team of people.

Speaker: Um, gotta give an another the shout out to good gravy. Going through grandma's house. Yeah.

Speaker: The I feel like for cues, we can go non roller coaster as well. Yeah. um So I always like to shout out Peter Pan's flight. I think they did a really good job with that cue extension where you go through the actual like bedrooms and stuff. um But then also. Oh,

Speaker: oh I just blanked.

Speaker: Oh, they don't do it anymore. But one of my favorite cues, like one of my favorite memories of a cue is Soarin'. Soarin' used to do like- Which one, which one?

Speaker: Epcot? World, yeah, at Epcot. There were those, you know, the big screens that have like the advertisements and the trivia on it now?

Speaker: Yeah. i come't When you're walking through the queue. like So they they used to do interactive like um games that were like sensor controlled. So when you were in the queue in front of those games, you used to be able to play games in front of them.

Speaker: Doesn't Space Mountain have that too? So I thought Space Mountain had that too. Does it work anymore? like Did it have both of them? I don't know if it works anymore. But both of those...

Speaker: Like, yeah, if they both had it, 10 out of 10. Like, I remember waiting so long for that line. Like, and I mean, like, two hours, two plus hours the first time I went to Epcot, like, that I remember. And we all, there was like a group of 15 of us and we were playing those games for like hours and having the best time.

Speaker: right. Next category. Since we're already at an hour and a half. Yikes. um Best merchandise. i guess this could be overall for a park or a specific store in a park. Or specific ride merch.

Speaker: Kind of however you want to interpret it.

Speaker: I know. have a very good contender. I swear to God, if you say ride to happiness. yeah

Speaker: I have this lamp.

Speaker: I don't know you guys know about my lamp. i've seen I've seen enough. I've seen enough. Give Talon the award. I have this Talon lamp.

Speaker: This 30 pounds Talon lamp, by the way. It is huge. I can do a workout with my Talon lamp. They let me go through haunted houses with it. I was going to say, can you can you like bicep curl that shit? I could i'm I'm strong.

Speaker: I could. I could also like press it. Look, i I'm a strong girl. Yeah, let's go.

Speaker: I think the Talon should win.

Speaker: Because of the Talon lamp. i believe okay We need to make other contenders. No, this is it. Talon wins. This one's rigged. Remember everyone, everyone else on this podcast is fired except for me.

Speaker: I'm not saying Taryn for this one because there like is no Taryn merch. Yeah, i was goingnna ah yeah yeah i was going to say, you know what? won't win Literally, on our show notes from that episode, under Jen, there is one bullet point and it says Talon Lamp.

Speaker: yeah

Speaker: Pretty sick piece of merch.

Speaker: Oh, in terms of merch, this is... ah um are I'm just going to say the first one that's come to mind. um In Galaxy's Edge, in Hollywood Studios, Savvy's Workshop, where you can build your own lightsaber, it's extremely overpriced, but...

Speaker: But you get to build a lightsaber. You get to build a lightsaber and like it look it looks legit as well. why It looks like a legit lightsaber. It's cool as hell. It's cool as hell.

Speaker: Have you done it? I have not. I have. but I have. It's very cool. Yeah, I've seen other people's lightsabers and I'm like, oh, i need yeah i need I need to pony up there. Is it still like $200 or something like that?

Speaker: i would guess yeah things don't go down at disney world i was about to yeah i was about to say they not going um heard too late i also have to shout out the yeah i have to shout out the um droid depot because honestly i did both i did savvy's workshop and droid depot and i would spend the money at least three times over at droid depot yeah really Yeah, it was way... It was a more full experience.

Speaker: I feel like the product that you got was better because you have remote control. Void? Droid? Void. Droid? But also the droid interacts with the land, so like...

Speaker: You're carrying the droid around. So I have like videos of my droids standing in front of other droids and they're just yapping. hu That's awesome. They're just yapping. Or like I'm walking and my boyfriend at the time was taking a video and like I'm walking with the droid in the backpack and the droid is just like turning to other droids through the land and just yapping as it's sitting in my backpack. need to do it. I need to do it. So I was like, it's half the price.

Speaker: And it's, in my opinion, a far better experience. A much more complete like plentiful experience. Exactly. And it's like, you can keep bringing the droid back. You can keep like, I loved the Droid Depot. That's one of my favorite pieces of merch that I have gotten at any theme park. Yeah, and anie I need... I mean, when the when the land opened, I said I needed to and i need to go to Sarri's Workshop and make me a lightsaber and I need to...

Speaker: do the Droid Depot as well and I have done neither of those and it's been like what like you should you should save up and it it's so good yeah no for sure does all of Anders count as merchandise yes because I got picked for the one choosing ceremony that was cool oh that's fun

Speaker: My friend Vinny got picked for it. um ah He showed me the he show me the video of like him him like being selected and yeah going through it and stuff. I have a video somewhere of me too.

Speaker: Of course I bought it. I mean, I was going to buy a wand. yeah I had to get that one. Are you kidding me?

Speaker: um Let's see. Europa has a lot of good merchandise. I keep buying. I bought three mugs when I was there. I was annoyed by myself. feel like I'm so hit or miss on the Europa merch. Like, some of it I feel like is really good. Some of it I feel like really bad. Shirts aren't great, but there's just, like, some cool things.

Speaker: Yeah, the shirts are, like, I want to say really hit or miss, but at the same time, like, they all fall apart. Yeah. I don't think I bought any shirts at Europa. Yeah. But Mike loves his 50th anniversary one so much that he got another one.

Speaker: When John, Mike, and Nate were over there, got him that same shirt. yeah um I'll give a shout-out to All in Towers for their merch as well. they yeah they They've stepped up their merch game a lot over the past like recent few years. There's a lot of good shirt designs, a lot of good like ancillary stuff, like a lot of mugs, a lot of resins. kind I love my Nemesis mug that I got. The the um the the the one store near Nemesis Reborn that I meant to check out but never did, the the um the Phalanx store yeah next to Toxicator.

Speaker: From the videos that I watched of when it opened, like they had a lot of ah lot of good stuff in there. Yeah, Alton Towers for sure. Merlin, I love that they sell like medals for their rides as a person who loves awards and who is literally creating their own awards. They've been doing that since I was a kid. like i've i've got i idea this yeah I've got super old um ah Oblivion medals. Back when Galactica was called Air, I've got um i've got a yeah medal of that. I love that. I think I got the Nemesis one and I got like just an Alton Towers one.

Speaker: yeah Yeah, that yeah that's that's one they've been doing for a long while. You know what what needs a ah mention for merchandise? Because I just spent way, way, way too much money there.

Speaker: Energylandia.

Speaker: Way too much money. I meant to text you about that one um that one black Zadra shirt. With just like Zadra wouldn't... so Yeah. no wooden goes but the collar wouldn't goes to Just on on the crest. I was like...

Speaker: ah Can you get me one? Is that the one like one that I got this past trip that I wear all the time now? I don't know. The Coasterholic one, yeah.

Speaker: Right? No, it's not the Coasterholic one, but it has like the train and layout and stuff on the back and some stats. I don't know if i don't know what it has on the back, but it's just it's just, like, on the front, it's just black. And it's, like, Zadra in, like, a reddish burgundy kind of color.

Speaker: It's probably the same one got. Just, like, the left, like, on, I assume, the left side, like, on the crest. um Yeah. I was like, I need that shirt. um I thought I'd taken a picture of somebody wearing it, and, i like, I was, like, I'm buying this shirt when I get there, and I bought that shirt when I got there. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: I also got a mug that I use all the time. I got a notebook for my niece. I got a Hyperion hoodie. I got a new Coasterholic shirt. think that's it for this trip. I have an Energylandia plush dragon. I have another notebook.

Speaker: I have a lot of things. I've spent a lot of money there. and like Everybody in our group bought a bunch of stuff. and Of course, everybody bought their Coasterholic stuff. I bought a lanyard. I have my lanyard as Coasterholic.

Speaker: I spent so much money there.

Speaker: Anyway. trying to keep an eye on the time too because I'm tired. I was going to say like but anytime how ah anytime I just stop suggesting things I'm just like yeah. yeah okay i know you or i man One more for this section. i The mugs at Efteling they have like an artist from the Netherlands that makes all make all the different mugs and cups and um plates for each attraction and they're very cute and I like them. I love them. I collect them. they're very And the Roscoe plushie.

Speaker: The Roscoe plushie. Yeah, you do have that too. love it. Yeah. Shout out Roscoe. Oh, Magic Land has some merch too, to be fair. Yeah. Gay cat, they should. Yeah. so um So the last two categories are very like intentionally vague and more comprehensive.

Speaker: Most creative overall experience for park and for coaster. Yeah, you're right. You did you you didn't want a conversation at all with these, did you? i am putting my money on... It's almost you wanted to see Yap on it.

Speaker: it's It's meant to be comprehensive. Like, entire ride package, entire park package. F to length. Yeah, like, Efteling has to... i mean there's definitely There's a lot of frontrunners, obviously. like There's Efteling. Efteling, Phantasyland, Europa, Epic, Islands... Silver Dollar City.

Speaker: Silver Dollar City. Efteling. Overall park experience, Epic Universe... Yeah. I know, but overall, I don't know. I guess overall.

Speaker: You said most creative overall. ah Okay. Most creative overall experience. I mean, as full park, Efteling. If we can have different themes, then I guess there's other runnings.

Speaker: But the answer is still Efteling. There's a separate category for park and for coaster. Efteling's not a coaster. I know. Efteling cannot win that one, but Taryn can.

Speaker: So the answers are Efteling and Terran. Vote accordingly, guys. Nominate accordingly. And then vote accordingly. Also, Voltron.

Speaker: Voltron, Velocicoaster, Stardust. I missed Velocicoaster, wow. Everybody knows kind of the top places for that. There's Kianan in there as well.

Speaker: Oh, Karnan, yeah. Kanda could be a good one. To Tatis? Ride to Happiness. guitarus Guardians, I guess. Guardians the hardians of the Galaxy.

Speaker: um Yeah, I think. i mean I'll be curious what people nominate. Yeah, i feel like this one, we could yap on this one for hours, but I feel like this one, i i don't super want to influence people. We can leave that one to the listeners. Yeah. Overall package.

Speaker: Y'all know our thoughts. I feel like this with most creative overall, the most creative park experience, you can highlight like ones like Futuroscope as well. Yeah. ah Very... i They're very their own thing.

Speaker: Yeah. If that makes sense. And even just like parks that are bringing more innovation into things. Yeah. In ways that you wouldn't. What's you had? think you ought think you had a park executive from it Morgan's.

Speaker: yep morgan and we're gonna that's an Yep. That's a name we're going to mention in a minute, too. All right Yeah. Um, yeah. park Yeah. Parks like that. Um, that are very, like those, those parks need to be acknowledged for how good they are at being what they are.

Speaker: Yeah. Like, that's a good point about Morgan's and creative accessibility. Yeah, definitely.

Speaker: but Yeah. anyway yeah From there, we move on to the more podcast, the awards, um, So I'll go through like who all has been on the podcast for each of these. But the first one is favorite podcast guests for industry interviews.

Speaker: ah We haven't had as many. I know we have a lot on our list for the future. We just have to do it. um But we had um Gabriel from Sesame Place pretty early on.

Speaker: um, you know what PR, think he did PR social media for Sesame place. lot of fun. Um, that was a good episode. He was a good guest. Yeah.

Speaker: Um, as you just mentioned, uh, I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn't there for that one. with get we It was a, it was a good listen. Yeah. Um, as you just mentioned, Richard Pretlow from then Morgan's Wonderland. He is not currently with Morgan's Wonderland anymore. Hmm.

Speaker: He's now at ah Six Flags of Georgia. But very very interesting episode with him. um One that Jen and I had a lot of fun with. Ryan Eldridge from Great Adventure and Talon Adorni Park. I need to meet this guy. He's he's so cool.

Speaker: We love him. yeah He seems funny too.

Speaker: I kind of want to listen back on that episode now that Bacunawa has been revealed. I know. i Still, shout out to that episode because still my favorite part is when we got to the end. He's like, you can ask anything. And I'm like, how'd you guys how'd you guys choose Mac? He's like, it's not a Mac.

Speaker: And the track is like up I was like, oh, I didn't realize that it wasn't announced. The track is like clearly there and it's a mock. Do you know who listens to this? It was so funny. He was like, it's not a mock.

Speaker: The gaslighting was great. It was so funny. why you need You need to get your track identification skills up. Yeah. I was like, sorry. Okay.

Speaker: um And then our last interview is our most recent episode. And that is Jacob from Anakista. Yeah. Very, very cool interview. um Yeah. Well, not even like, it yes, an interview, but like, it was more just a conversation on yeah a lot of different things that a lot of different like areas that he has worked in within Anakista and just like the, the engineering of mountain coasters and stuff. Yep. It was really cool to learn more about. it We're going to have him on again very soon.

Speaker: I'm excited. um So those are industry people that we've had. um Next one is favorite podcast guest for creator. It's kind of my all-encompassing way of putting it.

Speaker: ah We have had a lot of people. We have definitely our biggest category. So we've had, let's go through the list. ah Gary from Coasting with Culture. Do you know him, Mikhail? A little bit, yeah. He's all right. Coasting with Plercher.

Speaker: Oh, dude. we're going to that on Patreon. but I got all the texts about that. so you have like a a rough idea. Okay. good yeah The amount of FOMO just from that is high.

Speaker: I was like, I don't know if you guys have any idea of what I'm talking about when I say that. but yeah No, I know. evident evident okay Evidently you do. um We had ah Laurel from Thrills on Film.

Speaker: Yes. Heck yeah. Gina, AKA GC artwork, our watercolor artist. Love Gina. I was so excited to get to meet her. I know.

Speaker: um Another one that met recently, Riley from That's So Mid. which his channel is blowing up right now. um Caitlin, the creator of Unleashed Access for accessibility.

Speaker: um Airtime Mike, a.k.a. one of the guys from Coaster Cuzzies and the Bluesiest Coaster Club. We have our girl Anne, Books and Roller Coasters.

Speaker: Nessa, a.k.a. Infuriated Plum, which still love that name.

Speaker: um we have so why is the plum infuriated i feel like that was asked a lot ask carry like

Speaker: ah we have our running friend chris from chris goes the distance who uh shout out to him will be running in the chicago marathon next month oh again um sam and then uh sam from park day magazine and midcourse blues but now That one was a fun one.

Speaker: I was going to say, and one of Mikhail's new best friends. That was a fun time for sure. And then the last one is favorite podcast guest for Coaster Enthusiast Conversations. I had to think of the name of my own segment, um which is mostly me bringing my friends on and talking to them.

Speaker: But we have had Alex, Ethan, Brayden, John Mike, Matt, Meg, Brambo, and Mike.

Speaker: Running through my friends list. it's To name a few. yeah And your husband. Well, I said Mike. I know, but you said running through my friend group. He's also my friend.

Speaker: Are you sure? He is your husband. I'm also surprised he hasn't texted me asking when we're going to bed. Are you ah are you aware you're married? oh Where did that come from?

Speaker: Why

Speaker: does my finger feel tight? Yeah, just checking. just checking so I don't call my husband my friend. But I also don't have a husband because insert tagline here. Jesus Christ.

Speaker: But he was my he was my best friend before he was my husband. of You're just like, likely story. Yeah, likely story. Okay.

Speaker: Next one is a favorite content creator. And that's our chance for all of our listeners to highlight the creator.

Speaker: yeah yeah

Speaker: from out of left field that was no perfect execution you broke me pat myself on the back for that one your highlight any content creators that you feel should just deserve to be highlighted for their creativity essentially for putting good content out in the world he yeah And that's just whoever you want to nominate and we'll take the top ones and put that to a vote. um

Speaker: We have one for co-host superlatives, which is going to be for all of us because I want to give us awards because we deserve it. I think. More. I want to give everybody awards because I like awards. I genuinely thought you were going to say I want to give myself an award because I deserve an award. You genuinely thought it? I genuinely thought it.

Speaker: first Straight up, I had extras, so I gave one of these to one of our salespeople so they could show what first and second surface acrylic looks like to anybody. And I made up a name platform and put, what did put?

Speaker: King of Hallway Karaoke. Because he just sings down the hallway all the time. look I love that. But I'm not 100% sure how this is going work. i'm gonna I got figure it out before I actually put up the nomination form. um But we want people to give us superlatives.

Speaker: Hopefully good ones. And by good, I mean positive because I've been working too much and I don't want to cry.

Speaker: We're positives only here. Yes, we are positive podcast. I think I even say that on our business cards or something. A positive influence in the coaster community.

Speaker: Yeah, I'm not sure how that'll work. Funny is also positive. Yeah. I'll just say that. Funny in a good way, though. Don't be mean. Funny in a positive way. Yeah. But I'll figure that out.

Speaker: I'm just curious what people are going to come up with and suggest for superlatives for us.

Speaker: And then we'll figure out how to... I don't know how that's going to work. We're going to pick for each other. We're going to pick the collection. Yeah. We're going to go through the collection and then pick our favorite for each person.

Speaker: Yeah, that works. That person not included. Clearly. Yeah. And then there's going to be a fight to the death on the Patreon for me, Mikhail, and um Nate for who yaps the most.

Speaker: Biggest yapper. Biggest yapper. feel like i feel like i feel like we somehow need to get Nathaniel on that one as well. I'm still trying to get Nathaniel to fight me on Patreon.

Speaker: um ah So then the last award is the special one that I wanted to, you know, that was inspired by. I had extra acrylic and wanted to make more awards, so I did.

Speaker: um But I'm calling this one the Listener's Choice Creative Legacy Award. That sounds very fancy. Which kind of meant to. And this is your chance.

Speaker: This is like the golden ticket of the inverted creative awards. um Nominate anyone or anything you feel is going above and beyond in the industry to showcase creativity and innovation.

Speaker: Could be a park, ride, manufacturer, or company, professional, creator, whatever. um We want to hear the stories behind why they deserve this award. And it is a bigger award. It's a different design. it has a bigger little plate on it.

Speaker: and It'll be like the award. That's a dope award, to be honest. Yeah. like Like a real ah really good um acknowledgement and celebration of, you know, just like how monumental um think like things happening in the industry really can be when you put some creative yeah heart and um intention and urgency behind it.

Speaker: Yeah. Like maybe it's a certain ride that you feel is very innovative. Maybe it's park leadership that you think is doing a particularly good job in the areas of creativity and, you know, bringing fun to the amusement world.

Speaker: um Could be a content creator that you feel is kind of breaking, breaking boundaries. Is that a thing? i don't know.

Speaker: Pushing the envelope. Yeah. Thinking outside the box for their content. um manufacturer doing something cool. Yeah. Whatever you think is worth a nomination that you feel is worthy of this award.

Speaker: For sure. For sure. and that's And that is all of our categories. I think it's like 20 total or something like that.

Speaker: or I think I had like 24 printed

Speaker: I see 16. Yeah.

Speaker: Well, plus there's technically five for superlatives. Because we each get one. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is it 20? Yeah.

Speaker: Nice round number. I had like 24 printed. so Because I had room on the sheet. And in case our guy messed up the flame polishing. He did actually burn a couple of them. But it's mostly hidden behind the plates.

Speaker: You can sell those as forbidden merch. just the Forbidden merch. I'm just going to put my name in just different categories and give myself awards.

Speaker: Just randomly meet someone new. Hey, here's an inverted creative award. just All just for Taron. on but like On behalf I already have the the plate that says ah best ride soundtrack, Taryn. Perfect. It's rigged already. Did

Speaker: somebody just plug their laptop in? Me. I didn't know it wasn't going to play in my ear. I have a headphone in Oh, I heard it. don't know if we'll hear on podcast, but I definitely heard it. I heard it. So the timeline for this, this episode is posting on September 21st. I am opening up the nominations Google form tonight as of this posting, not tonight as of recording. um So nominations, I'm going to have that open from the 21st to the 27th of September on a Google form.

Speaker: I thought about doing Instagram stories, but I think it's it's only for like 24 hours and I don't want to do it for just 24 hours. I want people to spread the word about this. Yeah. um I will tabulate things as I go. and yeah Hopefully voting will start September 28th if I get the form done in time um and have that run through October 5th is what I have.

Speaker: um And then go through, make awards, make little winner graphics. And then on our two-year anniversary episode on October 19th, we'll announce the winners. Okay.

Speaker: And then I'll figure out how to mail trophies to parks. Yay. Tell your friends. Tell your parents. Tell your pets. so yeah so doctor I mean, my all my pets are named after coasters. No, they're both named after Talon and Dorney Park.

Speaker: Sure. yeah British Talon and...

Speaker: Snowy Talon? don't know. I don't know the Talon names. Talon of the Alps? Talon of the Alps. And then the other one doesn't have a name yet.

Speaker: It's just my cat. I just call it Talon Cat. Oh, there's a dog. British Talon.

Speaker: Like with the apostrophe and everything. Okay.

Speaker: What was your Talon name for Katoon?

Speaker: Um... Where is that one? Italy. Oh, that one's It's a Me! Talon! ah

Speaker: It's a Me! Talon!

Speaker: It's a good one. Okay. Bellissimo Talon.

Speaker: I don't know. I like my name. have to rethink a lot of them. I don't remember a lot of them, but it's fine. My name's Bob.

Speaker: Yeah, so that's the ah overview of the Invertebrate Hordes. And I think that brings us to the end of the episode. I got really excited. I thought you were still on my line. I thought about it. last week. I thought about it.

Speaker: um Yeah. But yeah, go go nominate ah rides for everything. Or coasters or parks, whatever. um Go make your nominations and let your voice be heard.

Speaker: Oh my god, Jen, have you seen and I've been like saying thanks, Jen, to Nate when he says your line for you when you're not here? I did not notice that. I think I started that.

Speaker: I love that. oh now do we need to say thanks, Nate. yeah i have to get my stuff together. I missed it last week. I got yelled at for not saying it That's true. so I am shocked that we got a two-hour episode out of this, by the way.

Speaker: I am tired. I know. I'm tired. I should probably pack for my trip that I technically leave for tomorrow.

Speaker: No, you're good. You have time. We have a very, very early flight on Friday. like I think we leave at 6.30.

Speaker: Like the the plane takes off at 6.30. I don't know when our boarding time is. The plane leaves the ground at 6.30. I love this for Not like we're leaving our house at 6.30. No, the plane takes off at 6.30. We have to be at the airport at like 4. You've got time. You've got time.

Speaker: We're staying close to the airport tomorrow so we don't have to wake up at 3 a.m. m

Speaker: So I probably need to pack soon. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, go not go nominate your favorites. Support creativity in the industry. Please. um um I will make my behind the scenes of creating these trophies soon whenever I have more time, which I don't have much of.

Speaker: We want to it.

Speaker: You said you want to see them? Yeah, we want to see the creative scene. I can be very long-winded about how this is set up and I'm going try not to do too much terminology, but it's my passion project. So yeah, it's fine.

Speaker: Anyway, hashtag keep thinking inverted, keep thinking creative.

Speaker: And we are so excited to share the results with you. Yeah. For our two year anniversary.

Speaker: Mikhail was doing a hashtag with his fingers that was not audible.

Speaker: Anyway, we will see y'all next time. Bye, guys. Bye. Bye, boy. This is our chance.

Speaker: Bye.