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Episode 171 - Zim me so hard
179 Plays1 month ago
This week on the premier comedy roller coaster podcast Ben and Zach discuss listener questions, rehash the classic Six Flags Magic Mountain vs Cedar Point debate, talk about stand up comedy and much more.
Actually, we're the worst roller coaster podcast
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Transcript
Ben's Phone Woes and Digital Detox
00:00:43
Zach
I'm Zach and ah
00:00:47
Zach
something about Allen Ginsberg.
00:00:50
Ben
I'm Ben and I'm, I broke another phone.
00:00:56
Zach
What'd you do, sit on it?
00:00:58
Ben
No, I just drop it.
00:01:01
Zach
Don't drop your phone.
00:01:03
Ben
I think the problem is, is like, I buy the really cheap ones on eBay, like the refurb ones that are like 50 bucks.
00:01:11
Ben
And then I think it's just like a psychological thing because it's like, oh, it's just this cheap phone, like whatever. It you know it doesn't matter if something happens to it. But yeah, this is...
00:01:19
Zach
You're like, let me just throw it from the second story window. It's all good.
00:01:25
Ben
But remember, like I accidentally cracked it when ah like before I went to California. like like, oh, I just got this and there it's already cracked. So...
00:01:33
Zach
Yeah. What the fuck do you.
00:01:38
Ben
so
00:01:38
Zach
You're like on the flight. I was kind of just like i had it in the tray and I kept slamming the tray.
00:01:44
Ben
I'm just sick of phone. Like, I'm just like, I'm losing interest in the phone. Like I just, I just throw it and then I just kind of forget about it.
00:01:54
Zach
Me too, right right?
00:01:54
Ben
It's
00:01:55
Zach
My phone now primarily, because I've really been trying to just like disengage from all forms of social media.
00:02:03
Ben
yeah.
00:02:04
Zach
um Primarily it's a game device now where I play solitaire.
00:02:10
Ben
Yeah.
00:02:11
Ben
Salter is good.
00:02:12
Zach
Fucking Monopoly solitaire. I did not think jamming those two games together would make either of them more interesting, but they found a way.
00:02:21
Ben
I mean, is it still like a card game or?
00:02:24
Zach
So it's it's solitaire and every you like every move you do that is like every card you get on the ace pile or every card you flip over is where the certain amount of points and after you get a certain amount of points you get a dice roll.
00:02:40
Ben
Okay.
00:02:42
Zach
You know, yeah, it's it's not it takes a moment to grasp how it the mechanics but once it's rolling it's like oh this is cool.
00:02:42
Ben
Huh.
00:02:52
Ben
Nice.
Cringe-Worthy Ad Reads
00:02:53
Zach
Yeah. Not paid content. Monopoly. It's a follow tear.
00:03:01
Ben
Yeah. Ad reading, ad reading likes phone games. And like, it was always kind of, always thought that was kind of funny. Like, and here's the thing like doing an ad read just for the game. If you are just doing the ad read and it's like, whatever, that's fine.
00:03:19
Ben
But when you're trying to like upsell it, um Like this game is great. It's so much fun. My favorite part is when type of thing, that's when it's a little cringe.
00:03:32
Zach
Use our code and get a free unlockable character.
00:03:37
Ben
Dude, I thought it was, funny I thought it was pretty funny when there was a YouTube or YouTuber and suddenly like there was an ad for like a fishing game.
00:03:53
Ben
it was like a com i think It was like a combo of like, it was basically like the hybrid of games of like Monopoly and Candy Crush, but it was like fishing and Candy Crush. And it was like a fort.
00:04:04
Zach
fish
00:04:07
Ben
It was like a fort.
00:04:07
Zach
Which sounds like a total frat bro thing. Anyway.
Theme Park Trends and Coconut Oil Chronicles
00:04:10
Ben
But it was like a four minute ad and like, and trying to like upsell it and the game looked so bad. Like, don't It was kind of funny.
00:04:20
Zach
It's so much fun when you catch a bass.
00:04:26
Ben
It's like, this is coaster enthusiasts. Like, I don't think there's a big crossover of, fishing theme parks.
00:04:33
Zach
I bet you there is some.
00:04:37
Ben
There's yeah, there's definitely some, but I mean,
00:04:42
Ben
thing, the thing is, is like they're in like the coast of there's like the, i guess like when I think of the template of the theme park enthusiasts nowadays, it's like Orlando And like waiting in line for like a new fast food chain to open up.
00:05:02
Zach
yeah that
00:05:03
Ben
And and like ah like craft beer is a personality.
00:05:10
Zach
Okay, don't don't don't make some of our listener base feel seen, Ben.
00:05:20
Ben
i mean.
00:05:23
Ben
I'm just saying
00:05:25
Ben
we can all make observations.
00:05:28
Zach
Some better than others. Anyway. Here's some exciting news. I infused some coconut oil and I drank a quarter cup of it right before we started recording.
00:05:42
Ben
Isn't that just going to like get shout out?
00:05:46
Zach
I mean, I drank it with tea. I didn't drink it straight.
00:05:50
Ben
I mean, like how much, like a teaspoon or like, oh shit, that's a lot.
00:05:52
Zach
No, like a quarter cup.
00:05:56
Zach
Yeah.
00:05:57
Ben
like Like coconut milk or coconut oil?
00:05:59
Zach
Oil, but it was infused with cannabinoids.
00:06:02
Ben
Oh, okay.
00:06:05
Zach
So.
00:06:05
Ben
It'll be like, it might be like that Pringles evil Pringle bastard story tomorrow.
00:06:11
Zach
I'm hoping not.
00:06:15
Zach
I had to put it to the test because I'm to make brownies with it tomorrow. And this was about half hour ago. Seems like it's working so far.
00:06:25
Ben
Nice.
00:06:26
Zach
Yeah. Can't complain.
00:06:28
Ben
what I wonder how long that stuff takes to expire.
00:06:35
Zach
I'd imagine same as the coconut oil, but I'm going to try and use it pretty quick.
00:06:39
Ben
Yeah. Well, I ask because I have a jar, like a homemade jar of that in the fridge. I think it's just like regular can of butter. But I think at this point it's like four years old.
00:06:51
Zach
Oh, no, dude, get rid of that shit.
00:06:52
Ben
So...
00:06:55
Ben
Yeah.
00:06:56
Zach
No. That same rule of thumb as as regular butter would apply there.
00:07:01
Ben
Yeah. I mean, it's in a mason jar.
00:07:04
Zach
You wouldn't eat four-year-old butter. You wouldn't steal a car.
00:07:11
Zach
Uh... Okay, yeah, I'm feeling that oil, though. That's working.
Evolving Comedy Styles and Podcasting's Rise
00:07:16
Zach
So we were ah talking about, not to derail this, but we were having an um interesting conversation before we ah started recording about stand-up comedy.
00:07:26
Zach
And I thought really quick we could circle back around to that. were talking about Marin, of course. We'll...
00:07:37
Zach
He's amazing, right? He's great. Like I said, I saw him do, I think it was like two and a half or three hours in Chicago. um It was fantastic.
00:07:47
Ben
Yeah. Yeah. Some, I've seen them twice now, once in Boulder and that was like two and a half hours. It wasn't, He definitely was like trying new stuff, so it was like very kind of slow, but still good. and Then we saw him at Comedy Works for a like ah more condensed set, and it was still good.
00:08:08
Ben
but i was saying like we've definitely been like through our like friends and stuff as a group thing. We've been seeing comedy shows, and we've seen a couple that I had never really heard of, but like try to keep an open mind and go and you know still have fun, but And it seems like there's definitely a like a newer template of comedy.
00:08:32
Ben
We were saying it's like very like clippy TikTok, like 30-second bits to record and put on TikTok. And then like really over an overemphasis of crowd work.
00:08:47
Ben
Like too much crowd work. So... so And then when you go to see someone like Maren, who's been doing it for whatever, 25 plus years, it's like literally seasoned and professional and like has so much experience. It's just like such a like relief. It's like, oh, like you're in the hands of a professional. Like it's going to be a good show.
00:09:12
Ben
Like we said.
00:09:13
Zach
here's Here's my theory, right? Because I think you're right. and it's a generational thing. Because, like, Marin and older comics... Like, you think about, like, the golden age of stand-up in the 80s.
00:09:28
Zach
When it was, like, prior to that, there was really just, like, New York and l L.A. Just, like, you know, Carolines of the Cellar in New York and, like... um
00:09:41
Zach
What's it called? Improv was in the 80s, but fucking can't believe I'm forgetting it. Comedy store, the store in L.A.
00:09:50
Ben
Yeah. yeah
00:09:52
Zach
And then after it became like cheap television to fill on cable, comedy clubs started opening up in every city and suburb across America.
00:10:05
Zach
So like. the The wave of comics in that time, which are now the old guard, right? Like Marin. They had to be like. Like people went to a comedy club and they didn't know who the comic was. And the big deal was like, oh, the credit would be like, oh, this person's appeared on ah the Tonight Show.
00:10:27
Zach
Carson, you know.
00:10:28
Ben
Yeah. Yeah.
00:10:29
Zach
but that'd be it. the People wouldn't know these people like from a background role on some show or whatever. So these guys had to like learn to just like the audience expected comedy, right?
00:10:40
Zach
Didn't matter who it was. So these dudes had to learn to like be funny for any audience.
00:10:47
Ben
yeah
00:10:50
Zach
So like that's, like that's a real fucking skill. You know what I'm saying?
00:10:55
Ben
Yeah, for sure. And it almost seems like nowadays because of um because of social media, you curate your audience. It's almost like you curate your audience first and then you build your comedy around your audience.
00:11:14
Ben
Or no, that doesn't make sense.
00:11:14
Zach
Yes, but also but also there's like the cheap way to be and like an everyman comedian, like it'd be an every situation comedian, which is crowd work, which is what we were talking about, where it's this over-reliance on crowd work.
00:11:31
Zach
And that's kind of like a cheat code to be ah just to provide comedy if you're just the entertainment, right?
00:11:31
Ben
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:31
Ben
Yeah.
00:11:39
Ben
yeah
00:11:40
Zach
But it doesn't leave you with an actual act. can't You can't go do a tight five of crowd work on TV or opening a Vegas show. or what You know what I'm saying?
00:11:55
Ben
yeah
00:11:56
Zach
And yeah, you're you're getting people that are like, I don't know. everything like Comedy is becoming more hyper-specified to people's audiences, like you're saying. and It's weird.
00:12:09
Ben
Yeah, I mean, especially with the way that social media pushes you down like a like super specific channels. And now, like if you grow an audience if you grow an audience online, because that's one thing I've noticed too. It's like there's people who will, I don't know, like everybody who goes shows up to a show. It's like everybody's like a fan and it's everybody's like a listener to the podcast. Yeah.
00:12:37
Zach
yep
00:12:38
Ben
It's like a, to where i don't even know if you're getting. so I guess at that point, if you have a reliable audience that is in your niche, it's probably easier to like the coast.
00:12:55
Ben
Because you know, the audience.
00:12:55
Zach
Well, shit, maybe maybe you and I need to book a stand-up tour.
00:12:57
Ben
Yeah.
00:13:02
Ben
Because it seems like the internet, it's like, i mean, i don't know. Like, the fact that...
00:13:09
Ben
i don't know. guess it's just It's just different. Whatever.
00:13:15
Ben
Anyway, I saw this guy named Caleb Heron last night, who I've never really, like, listened to or heard of. But it was weird. There was, like, a drag show in the middle of the show, which, like...
00:13:29
Ben
Drag is fine, but like it's just kind of it was just kind of like random. like There's no intermission of the show, but then it was just like, oh, hey, we have a local Denver drag queen going to do a performance. And then it was like, oh, we have this band that's going to do two songs.
00:13:44
Ben
And it was just kind of like weird. like i No, it it was almost like instead of having openers, it was just like the openers were in the middle of the show.
00:13:48
Zach
And it wasn't promoted as a variety show.
00:14:00
Ben
Which, I mean, i appreciate the whole like, promote you know using a platform to promote like a smaller local artist, but at the same time, like the pacing
From Skype to Zoom: The Evolution of Communication
00:14:11
Ben
of it was a little off.
00:14:12
Ben
was just, everyone was kind of like confused.
00:14:15
Zach
Yeah, that seems weird too. Cause it's like, If you can't do an hour and a half, then hold on the tour.
00:14:27
Zach
Right? like Like, and it doesn't really matter what you're doing, whatever your performance is.
00:14:33
Ben
Yeah.
00:14:34
Zach
People pay money to come in, give them an hour and a half of ah of like a headline set.
00:14:39
Ben
Yeah.
00:14:39
Zach
Concert, comedy, whatever. Hour and a half. That's 90 minutes a show. Not including the openers.
00:14:49
Ben
Yeah. And this, the last hour of the show was just a, basically a podcast recording with like a guest. Yeah.
00:14:58
Ben
So it was like two guys talking. it was like him and this guy talking. Which like it was fine. Like they were able to be funny. Like it wasn't a you know. It was fine.
00:15:09
Ben
It just was like you know. I left a little confused. Especially being able to like sell at the Paramount two nights. But I'm not I'm not in the stand up comedian space so.
00:15:27
Zach
I'm so far removed from it, I don't really know.
00:15:31
Zach
It's been too long.
00:15:34
Ben
Now everybody's doing podcasts. And I say that like I get it. Like I get, you know, if we do a podcast. It's fun. But it at the same time, everybody's, it's like
00:15:47
Ben
a lot of, I don't know, like
00:15:50
Ben
it' It's it cool as an art form. like It's a cool way to communicate, but when are we going to go full circle to where
00:15:58
Ben
we just go back to like live chat rooms?
00:16:02
Zach
What if we did like a podcast, but like it was in person and like we didn't record it?
00:16:15
Zach
No, but yeah, it's, it's, I don't know, man. Oh, thing is weird. Cause like, here's the thing, right? You know, it's really hard. is coming up with and writing down material and then going to a bar for open mic night and signing your name up and waiting on a list or waiting for like an hour and a half while a bunch of other people do shitty dick jokes for five minutes to then finally go up and do your five minutes in front of them and barely get any response.
00:16:49
Zach
And like buy like $30 worth of beer and fries and then go home. But you know what's easy? Talking some shit with your friends and then posting it on the internet.
00:17:02
Ben
Yeah. Yeah. And it's fun. I'll keep doing Yeah.
00:17:06
Zach
Yeah, yeah. So that's why everyone does podcasts now because you don't have to go through the grind of actual comedy to be like...
00:17:16
Zach
To be a podcaster, you just need a microphone and an internet connection.
00:17:20
Ben
yeah
00:17:25
Ben
It's also like a scheduled, it's almost like a scheduled way to like hang out with your friends. It's like, uh, or like have conversations or instead of like calling somebody on the phone or like, remember like Skype group, like, I don't know. Did ever do like the group Skype thing back in the day? i guess we still have that shit with zoom, but like for some reason it seemed more fun when it was Skype and you're like in high school.
00:17:53
Zach
Couple times.
00:17:56
Ben
It would be like someone who would drop like a Skype link on MySpace.
00:18:01
Ben
That's what, that's what one thing I was trying to figure out. Like, remember when, like when zoom became big, like I never used zoom in like pre COVID.
00:18:11
Ben
And then like when zoom came out, it Oh yeah. Like zoom is cool. It's like, you can have these rooms, you can have like 20 people. And it's like, I'm pretty sure this technology has existed for like 10 years, but they made it seem like it was this new thing.
00:18:21
Zach
yeah Yeah, I don't know how Skype dropped the ball on that so bad.
00:18:26
Ben
Yeah.
00:18:28
Zach
But yeah, I don't...
00:18:30
Ben
Because like in, oh, like in 09, I was using Skype. I even remember like go being on like a group Skype call with like gap people in 2009, 2010. Yeah.
00:18:43
Ben
two thousand and ten
00:18:46
Zach
Yeah, I was going to say, that was around for a long while.
00:18:50
Ben
yeah But in a way, like the Skype group things were kind of like a podcast.
00:18:57
Zach
Yeah, well, I mean, you and me sitting in my car smoking on weed was kind of like a podcast.
00:19:07
Ben
Yeah.
00:19:09
Ben
Except now it's like scheduled. You can like, you can like, um, If you miss it, you can just put it and save it up or you can like bank them for like a long road trip or.
00:19:20
Zach
Right? And I'm also...
00:19:20
Ben
It's like a passive way to hang out with. It's like a passive way to hang out with friends, noncommittal.
00:19:26
Zach
yeah Yeah, I could could see that. The whole parasocial thing, too.
00:19:31
Zach
it's like It's like listening to a phone call where you're always on mute.
00:19:36
Ben
Yeah.
00:19:37
Ben
That's like there was that app Clubhouse.
00:19:40
Ben
you remember that? It was like ah like a thing.
00:19:41
Zach
That one I don't remember.
00:19:43
Ben
but But basically it was a Zoom that there was a moderator who controlled the the mute and the like the mute and the unmute.
00:19:55
Ben
But it was basically like a way to have a Zoom call with like 400 people where like only one person was able to talk. was basically a webinar, like a webinar app.
00:20:06
Zach
and Okay.
00:20:08
Zach
Sounds useful for like a college class or something.
00:20:08
Ben
And then it be, yeah, but it became, it kind of gotten taken over by like the
00:20:17
Ben
intellectual dark web slash like right slash Joe Rogan sphere podcast thing to where it was all, it was all like about COVID shit.
00:20:31
Zach
Oh, God.
00:20:32
Ben
You know, it was like oh the the ventilators were actually what was killing the people and, you know, stuff like that.
00:20:38
Zach
We're going to flagged for misinformation.
00:20:43
Zach
You know what I remember is chat roulette.
00:20:46
Ben
that's still That's still a thing. um It's pretty fun. We were doing that not too long ago.
00:20:55
Ben
We had it like pulled up on on the TV and stuff.
00:20:58
Zach
It's still all just dicks, right?
00:21:01
Ben
ah I think they've done a pretty good job of like separating dicks and the non-dicks. Because now they've they've in they've improved the infrastructure for like the chatterbait space so much to where if you want to do the dick thing, you can just go to your own like its own designated space.
00:21:24
Ben
It's always funny, though. It's not that random because occasionally you'll like get connected with the same person You know what I mean? Like you'll talk to somebody or you'll hit next. And then after like 10 reconnects, it's like you'll be connected with the same person.
00:21:41
Ben
you're like, oh, I just clicked off of you.
00:21:45
Zach
Oh, hi again.
00:21:45
Ben
was...
00:21:45
Zach
that's That's awkward. I remember that happening once or twice.
00:21:48
Zach
And it'd awkward because it's like, oh, hey again. and then yet you have to click off again.
00:21:48
Ben
Yeah.
00:21:54
Ben
Yeah. And it's even more funny when like you have like an actual conversation with someone that lasts for 15, 20 minutes and then like, like you're, and then they're still talking and you're like, Oh, this is awkward. i don't know how to end this. I'll just hit next.
00:22:13
Ben
Yeah.
00:22:16
Zach
Fingerslip, bye.
00:22:19
Zach
Oh my god.
Theme Park Updates and Emotional Roller Coasters
00:22:20
Zach
Welcome back to your favorite Coaster Sucks. We are obviously an all rollercoaster podcast.
00:22:26
Ben
Yeah.
00:22:27
Zach
Occasionally delve into the realms of prior video chat technology? Question mark?
00:22:36
Ben
Yeah.
00:22:37
Zach
We'll go with that, sure. um Welcome back. This is ah the first time in a while we've recorded two weeks in a row.
00:22:47
Ben
I know it's nice. It's just, it's a weather shift. We wrote X to a bunch of times a few weeks ago. It's still like, You know, I'm in the mood.
00:22:59
Ben
Things are opening. the flash is opened.
00:23:02
Zach
Yeah, springtime is here. Yeah, Flash is open.
00:23:05
Ben
Finally.
00:23:06
Zach
Other things will be open.
00:23:09
Ben
And just for the sake of keeping this topical and in check, i need to get a quick update from the national roller coaster museum and archives and
00:23:22
Zach
Please do.
00:23:24
Ben
There is
00:23:28
Ben
nothing. Let's see. Their latest news is from December 17th.
00:23:35
Zach
Now, here's the important question. Are they still accepting donations?
00:23:40
Ben
Yes.
00:23:42
Zach
Lovely.
00:23:43
Ben
Okay, but their model of Mind Mender at Galaxyland is pretty sweet.
00:23:50
Zach
I will buy one when I make it to the museum.
00:23:54
Ben
i think it's I think it's like a one-off that was actually in the museum. I don't think it's a purchasable one. It's like the, think it's like the actual concept art.
00:24:04
Zach
Oh, well, maybe one day the museum will be open.
00:24:09
Ben
Check out our online shop today.
00:24:11
Zach
I know our friend, uh, our friend Lance from the single rider line podcast was on a tweet stream for several days, tweeting at them, asking them to open.
00:24:24
Ben
that's what everybody needs to be doing just bug the shit out of them especially like bring up if more people brought up like hey weren't you guys supposed to open at Kings Island like 10 years ago
00:24:36
Zach
No, no, we weren't. Stop asking block.
00:24:42
Zach
Um, yeah, well, good to, good to get a, uh, check in on the museum there.
00:24:52
Zach
ah Always liked, uh, the updates. Um, reviews were pouring in from, ah Flash, Super Boomerang, uh, whatever the fuck the name of the ride is,
00:25:07
Ben
ah flash Is it flash vertical velocity or is it?
00:25:07
Zach
and
00:25:10
Zach
It might be. and I don't know. I don't really care.
00:25:18
Zach
going to be honest here.
00:25:22
Zach
um The ride does look pretty cool.
00:25:26
Ben
Yeah. Most people are saying it's better than they were expecting, but it doesn't exactly like set a bar anywhere. It's just like, it was better than I was expecting, but I mean, it looks fun. At least like you can kind of tell like people are getting thrown around in their seats. There's some airtime. Looks like there's some forces.
00:25:48
Ben
It's a somewhat longer ride than you would think, but
00:25:52
Zach
Better than I was expecting is less committal than great addition to the park.
00:25:56
Ben
Yeah.
00:25:59
Zach
How's the ride? Oh, um well, it's better than I expected. and
00:25:59
Ben
I love it.
00:26:06
Ben
And people are posting pictures of the of the park map for 2025 of Great Adventure. And, uh...
00:26:12
Zach
Big old parking lot.
00:26:14
Ben
Yeah.
00:26:16
Ben
It's, uh... That shit's grim. I still have non-enthusiast people be like, did you there's a you know talking about of the Cog getting imploded. um was making the the waves.
00:26:29
Ben
So like people in the non-enthusiast space have been asking me about it. So that shit's going to hit them hard, I think.
00:26:41
Zach
And just a word to the wise for those of you out here out there who are dealing with similar situations, non-enthusiast friends reaching out to you regarding King Naka. the The appropriate and proper response is to say, what?
00:27:03
Zach
Or be like that girl on the news that was crying.
00:27:07
Ben
Wait, did someone cry?
00:27:09
Zach
Yeah, they're
00:27:11
Ben
oh shit.
00:27:12
Zach
It's a video of a news report in New Jersey and they're talking about Kingda Ka and this girl is crying.
00:27:17
Ben
Oh, my God. Was she married to it?
00:27:20
Zach
No, I don't think so. They didn't specify though, so it's possible.
00:27:26
Ben
She's like, shit, I just bought this like $30,000 thirty thousand dollars ring
00:27:33
Zach
I just put a non-refundable deposit down on a venue.
00:27:43
Zach
The worst part is it was the park.
00:27:46
Ben
this one
00:27:50
Zach
Oh, man. All right.
00:27:58
Zach
Yeah, let's see. There's been much going on recently. Parks are opening. Love it. Love it.
00:28:06
Ben
um Twizzlers, screaming, or screaming Twizzlers, or
00:28:15
Ben
you know that swinging ride with the air-powered cylinders.
00:28:22
Zach
Let me take a look.
00:28:25
Ben
Psych underworld.
00:28:28
Zach
Twizzlers. Twisted Gravity. That's
00:28:31
Ben
But that ride doesn't twist.
00:28:34
Zach
a weird name.
00:28:35
Ben
Yeah, I mean, like, i get, like, I mean, you could just call it, like, the Twizzlers ride, I guess.
00:28:43
Zach
Twizzlers. The Ride.
00:28:45
Ben
Yeah, like, twist. Twisted Twizzler. Twizzlers.
00:28:49
Zach
The Twizzler.
00:28:53
Ben
Wait a minute. What the fuck is that Wallaby Belgium?
00:28:57
Ben
Oh, they got like a family they got a family coaster.
00:28:58
Zach
I don't know.
00:29:00
Ben
Oh, this thing actually looks pretty good. um
00:29:04
Zach
Meclodon.
00:29:06
Ben
It looks like it it has the identity of like four other family coasters.
00:29:14
Ben
It has like a wild, because it kind of has like a wild mouse section, but then it also has like the like the straddle coaster, like bank turns kind of thing. It's multi-launch. It looks pretty cool. cool
00:29:28
Ben
Oh, I thought the ride is called Deck or Dock World.
00:29:31
Zach
Doc world.
00:29:36
Ben
That's a slightly better name than
00:29:38
Zach
he oh yeah. I've seen this one. This looks pretty cool.
00:29:43
Zach
Oh, I forgot Ben. You know what? I knew we were recording today. I solicited content from our listeners.
00:29:52
Ben
Oh, perfect.
00:29:53
Zach
Yeah, so um here from our Discord, which, shameless plug, join our Discord. It's free, and it's the best way to get in touch with us um and make some friends that are cool and like roller coasters.
00:30:10
Zach
Anyway, um link's in the episode description. So, let's see what we got here. First of all, our buddy Ribs and Bacon asked...
00:30:22
Zach
Which park would you bilk out of 25K?
00:30:27
Zach
So I want to give some context here to listeners who may not be familiar with this the situation as ah we've ah understood what's happening.
00:30:38
Zach
There's a park. ah well Well, on the Internet, back up a little bit. On the Internet, in the rollercoaster Twitter space, in the past few days, um an email got posted.
00:30:51
Zach
Alleging that a park, but an enthusiast club had an unpaid balance of $25,000 to a park in Europe for an event that they held two years ago.
00:31:08
Ben
And this was Coaster Crew?
00:31:11
Zach
i don't know if we want to go into mentioning names specifically.
00:31:18
Zach
Allegedly.
00:31:20
Ben
Yeah. Well, if it's not then, they can defend. don't know.
00:31:26
Zach
ah This is all alleged.
00:31:29
Zach
So anyway, what park would we bilk out of 25K? I think the obvious answer there, Mount Olympus.
00:31:37
Ben
By fucking up their plumbing by flushing jewel bags down the toilets.
00:31:45
Zach
everybody Everybody fill up grocery bags with fucking paper towels.
00:31:51
Ben
system
00:31:56
Ben
I don't know why that visual is just so funny. Because it's a very satisfying... They probably got some power flushers. They just get sucked right in. um
00:32:07
Zach
By like, like, pouring, ah just like, putting handfuls of sugar packets into the go-kart motors.
00:32:19
Ben
um
00:32:21
Zach
Throwing full beer cans at the coaster supports.
00:32:25
Ben
Yeah, I mean, this is fucked up, but I've never done this, but I did think it was funny to like, Or like the idea of like on Hades, you could basically stand above that first tunnel and like throw shit down onto the track.
00:32:40
Ben
I'm not saying do that. That's fucked up. But you know what I mean? it's great It's more of a play on their lack of security or like on Cyclops. So you can literally stand and touch the track.
00:32:55
Ben
Put a bunch of ketchup packets on the track on Cyclops.
00:32:59
Zach
Throw a fish at the train.
00:33:05
Ben
um
00:33:06
Zach
There's so much fun you could have in Mount Olympus.
00:33:09
Ben
Yeah. You can even make it more fun. Like, don't know, like take a bunch of glow sticks and toss them at the wall in the tunnel. So they pop and like, then when you come back the second time, like the walls are glowing.
00:33:24
Zach
Take a liquid ass and drop it in the tunnel on the way in.
00:33:31
Zach
So that way when you go back through it, it fucking reeks.
00:33:39
Ben
Yeah, I mean,
00:33:40
Zach
Yeah, and there's not a breeze down there, so would probably stink forever.
00:33:44
Ben
yeah, that tunnel was always like, I always liked the smell of it because it smelled like like damp wood. you know what I'm talking about? like Especially when the ride was new, that tunnel smelled so good.
00:33:57
Ben
was just like a fresh cut wood smell.
00:34:01
Zach
I don't remember if I, I don't know if I remember the smell. I definitely remember it was like, always felt like noticeably colder in that tunnel.
00:34:09
Ben
Yeah, it was like nice and cool and damp.
00:34:13
Ben
I need to...
00:34:13
Zach
Good place to store some wine.
00:34:15
Ben
man Yeah. I want to ride that ride again. ah just don't want to go to that park.
00:34:22
Ben
I also... and not sure how rough Hades is running these days, but...
00:34:27
Zach
Hades 360.
00:34:28
Ben
Yeah.
00:34:30
Ben
I think it's been like 12 years since I've ridden it. 10 years. At this point, it's like... I'm sure this is even open like whenever I see like a random YouTube short of that ride running I'm like holy shit that ride's still running
00:34:35
Zach
Yeah, I'm pretty sure 2014 was the last time I've written it.
00:34:48
Zach
Holy shit, that place hasn't been sued out of existence yet. Yeah.
00:34:53
Ben
and what's crazy too is like they've gone so long now without a major addition to their theme park yeah but I mean
00:34:59
Zach
cause they don't need to. Because people show up to the Dells every year.
00:35:05
Ben
Yeah, but like at a certain point, I think what's well i think what's sad about Mount Olympus is that because they got that land for so cheap and they have so much property that I bet i would be willing to bet that their guest attendance has like slowly declined, but they're still making so much money it doesn't even matter.
00:35:28
Ben
like at this point, it's more of a real estate game for them than it is. like The park is just like a secondary thing. It's like how, um i think that's true of like Subway franchises that like, it's really just like a real estate, like Subway is mainly a real estate holding company and the Subway business is like auxiliary.
00:35:53
Zach
It was either going to be sandwiches or drywall, so...
00:35:59
Ben
I could go... um we always talk about Subway. i think this is probably like... but I think we've talked about Subway the last three times. Or... Three times this year, but... It's just so funny.
00:36:13
Ben
Subway's just such a funny brand.
00:36:15
Zach
When you're really hungry and there's no other food around, eat fresh.
00:36:20
Ben
yeah
00:36:22
Ben
Yeah. Yeah, we did talk about this last... but We talked about the the the white tomatoes.
00:36:27
Ben
Or the pink tomatoes.
00:36:29
Zach
Yeah.
00:36:30
Ben
Yeah.
00:36:30
Zach
I mean, first of all, keep tomatoes off at everything forever. Personally. Fuck them.
00:36:37
Zach
But... Yeah, the ones that Subway has where they're like... Are they underripe? I don't know.
00:36:47
Ben
Yeah.
00:36:48
Zach
They're
00:36:48
Ben
Yeah.
00:36:50
Ben
Well...
00:36:50
Zach
like, oh, these were accidentally in the freezer.
00:36:54
Zach
It's still good.
00:36:54
Ben
do
00:36:54
Zach
It's still good. let's see. Metal Mike asks, what's the last goal you set for yourself that you accomplished?
00:37:03
Ben
Huh.
00:37:07
Zach
That's ah that's an incredibly insightful question that I wasn't expecting.
00:37:11
Ben
yeah, that's like a legit question.
00:37:15
Ben
Um, I mean a couple of small things, I guess, like,
00:37:24
Ben
I've
00:37:28
Ben
done pretty good about like not drinking this year.
00:37:32
Zach
Nice.
00:37:34
Ben
um
00:37:36
Ben
Got some house projects done.
00:37:38
Ben
couple I guess like yeah the goal thing is
00:37:42
Ben
no coaster goals no theme park goals unfortunately
00:37:49
Zach
Yeah, I like my, I'm having a hard time with this one because my goals all tend to be like big ambitious things. And obviously they, you know, break down into smaller, more manageable chunks. But like, I don't ever think back on it in those terms.
00:38:08
Zach
Like, like right now I'd say i'm in the middle of accomplishing a goal of switching careers.
00:38:08
Ben
Oops.
00:38:13
Ben
Yeah.
00:38:16
Zach
And it's been a series of small goals, you know.
00:38:25
Zach
And still underway. But, um, man, I appreciate that question. Metal Mike. Thank you for asking something so positive. Now let's see. Uh, Marcelli says, do you think any of the U S park chains, not counting Disney and universal will ever open another park in the U S instead of acquiring an existing one?
00:38:47
Zach
No.
00:38:49
Ben
Yeah, I don't see that happening, unfortunately, because i feel like the market's kind of tapped out.
00:39:02
Zach
Yeah, I mean, here's the deal.
00:39:02
Ben
And... Yeah.
00:39:04
Zach
is A, land is way too expensive.
00:39:10
Ben
Yeah.
00:39:11
Zach
There's not enough undeveloped land available for a reasonable price in an attractive enough space geographically to make it worthwhile, to even conceivably think of any ROI.
00:39:25
Ben
Right. Oh yeah.
00:39:30
Zach
um Secondly, if you look to pretty recent history, right? And there's two big examples here. um The first and most obvious being Hard Rock Park.
00:39:45
Zach
Which is like the last non-big chain affiliated park that opened in the U.S.
00:39:45
Ben
ah yeah
00:39:53
Zach
And it fell flat on its ass, right?
00:39:54
Ben
I forgot about her.
00:39:57
Ben
And then it had a sad, it had a very sad, like last gasp as freestyle music park.
00:39:57
Zach
um
00:40:04
Zach
Right, right, yeah, so that was, and that's ah fairly recent history, right? That's like 15 years ago, so it's not even like, granted, obviously economic factors being what they were, different then and now and everything, but still, if that only, if that failed in two years back then, and the economy's worse now, right, it doesn't spell a good
00:40:32
Zach
sign
00:40:33
Ben
Yeah.
00:40:34
Zach
And then the other example I'll point to is Evermore, which is not which never came to fruition as a theme park with like rides, but it did operate as theme park experience.
00:40:52
Zach
And again, couple couple years didn't even make a decade.
00:40:58
Zach
granted i think that one is still kind of up in the air if i'm not mistaken most recently the site is for sale and someone wants to you know buy it to keep it operating as a park but again struggles right you look at the stuff that's opened ground up theme park wise here in america and it's been troubles right it's struggles
00:41:23
Ben
Yeah.
00:41:25
Ben
Yeah, for sure.
00:41:27
Ben
Yeah, I don't even.
00:41:27
Zach
I mean, what else? Schlitterbahn, Kansas City?
00:41:32
Ben
yeah
00:41:32
Zach
Obviously, that one was you know um partially due to that horrible accident.
00:41:40
Zach
But, yeah, I just don't think with... with the economy the way it is, the, the, the price of land, the way it is and the fairly recent history and string of failures of ground up amusement parks that weren't supported by Disney or universal.
00:42:03
Zach
I just don't see it happening. Unfortunately,
00:42:07
Ben
Yeah, and um also so also too, like the regions that could support multiple parks have been showing that they're not able to even maintain what they have. Like, I mean, the Bay Area, like that's a pretty populous region and like they're going to lose maybe both of their parks. Yeah.
00:42:32
Ben
Which is an insane. Like, with all the money and all the people and all the that whole San Francisco region, and, like, they can't have sustained two parks, which is pretty insane.
00:42:46
Zach
Well, okay, so I think, to be fair, they could if they were still competing.
00:42:53
Zach
But I think...
00:42:55
Zach
When they... If they're not competing, they are, to an extent, cannibalizing each other's business.
00:43:03
Ben
Yeah.
00:43:05
Ben
But I mean, but then like what happens if both close?
00:43:06
Zach
And the land, like again, the land value, right? Where the land in Santa Clara is incredibly valuable.
00:43:10
Ben
Yeah.
00:43:16
Ben
Yeah.
00:43:17
Zach
So all the acreage that that, that great America is sitting on is gonna, it's worth a ton, right?
00:43:26
Zach
I don't think Vallejo is quite the same.
00:43:26
Ben
Yeah.
00:43:29
Ben
No, I don't, I don't think, I mean, I'm sure it's expensive, but yeah, it's on the same level.
00:43:36
Ben
Um, but yeah, like, or even, i mean, even just like the Northeast coast, where adventure is like having a weird fit, even like magic mountain, like It seems like it's just weird that the Los Angeles adjacent and the New York City adjacent theme parks are like going through such a weird lull period.
00:44:04
Ben
I'm I'm like, I know people say it won't happen, but I don't know. Like, I think I could definitely see like X2 being gone soon.
00:44:15
Ben
I mean, what are they going to like dump another $10 million dollars into it again? Like,
00:44:20
Ben
it's just a weird time. Like we're losing, like we're losing parks and we're losing coasters. It was just like, somehow the market got too saturated.
00:44:27
Ben
And so we're in this like stabilization period.
00:44:31
Zach
Yeah, but like...
00:44:33
Zach
I feel like X2 is still the main draw at Magic Mountain.
00:44:37
Ben
Oh, I mean, it definitely is. But the fact that they ripped out King of Cobb, mean, that was a big draw for Great Adventure. Now, I don't...
00:44:44
Zach
Yeah, but I don't think it was as big of a draw as El Toro.
00:44:48
Ben
I think, no, I think King Cobb was, like, the main thing of that park. Like, El Toro obviously was, too, but, like, I mean, having the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster, well, asterisk, but, you know, that was, like, what people talked about.
00:45:05
Ben
Like, i guess I'll it this way. I've had more GP... GP. I've had more, like, non-enthusiast friends or people ask me about Kane Nika that probably don't even know a to El Toro exists.
00:45:19
Zach
Yeah, but what I'm saying is 20 years on, regardless of the the publicity,
00:45:19
Ben
Like, it it just...
00:45:26
Zach
what's actually flipping turn styles? You know what I mean? I think between between the two of them, I think El Toro is a bigger draw for them.
00:45:31
Ben
um but I it was King to call
00:45:37
Ben
Ka. I would agree on like the return on investment perspective. like What makes the money versus the cost? cause like yeah The King to costing a million dollars a year plus.
00:45:51
Ben
I don't think X2 is and at at the same level. i don't I doubt X2 costs him a million dollars. It's just ah it's an arrow. Um, but I mean, it's far, yeah, but it,
00:46:01
Zach
ah Agreed, because it's a gravity-powered, too, so it's got less... Ironically, has less moving parts to maintain.
00:46:10
Ben
yeah, but the fact that it was a walk-on on one train ops when that was a little, like, it's just weird to see, like And then i know not there wasn't a whole there weren't a whole lot of lines at the park that day, but I mean, like, Goliath, at one point, Lance and I tried to ride Goliath again, and it had like a 30, 45 minute wait.
00:46:36
Ben
And Twisted Colossus had a longish, not long, but like, you know, 15, 20 minute line. And then like, you go up to X2, and it's like a one train op walk on. And it's like, this is fucking weird.
00:46:49
Zach
I fucking love that ride.
00:46:51
Ben
Oh, I do. I do too. Like, um, I just, it's, I'm one, I'm just curious, like, I'm curious, like what the popularity of it still is. I mean, and if the park is, cause at a certain point it'll get rough, rougher, more more rough
00:47:10
Ben
to where like people will just kind of stop riding it. Like there was also, also I didn't do any digging on this, on that accident article that was posted about um the a boy who had like brain damage from the ride apparently.
00:47:26
Zach
That was fucking terrifying.
00:47:28
Ben
Yeah. And the thing is is, like when I read that, I was like, after those couple rides that we had, i was like, yeah, like I could kind of see that happening. Um, so, you know, like it's, I don't know, like ah at a certain point, like, even if the ride doesn't cost them anything, it's still bringing people in. Like it if it gets too rough, like eventually you do have to like kind of close it.
00:47:54
Ben
It's just, I don't know. It's just, and I, we talked about it a last time too. I just, that whole parks collective aging coaster collection is just kind of sad.
00:48:06
Ben
where like, unless they start doing like multi, multi coaster, you know, ripouts where they like take out two rides, you know, replace it with like one bigger one. I don't really know how they're going to manage that in the future.
00:48:22
Zach
Yeah, but you know, you say that and I'm like, you're not wrong, but at the same time, I'm like, pretty sure you could make the exact same argument about Cedar Point.
00:48:32
Ben
Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I mean, it's definitely not a Magic Mountain specific thing, but
00:48:39
Ben
i think i'll pet I think the entire country's coaster collection is going through the same thing.
00:48:45
Zach
That's saying, because there was that boom period in the 90s and early 2000s, and then ever since then, it's been cooled off
00:48:54
Ben
Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:56
Zach
everywhere, you know? So it's just only a handful of rides, whereas in the 90s and 2000s, early 2000s, it was like every park was getting new rides all the time.
00:49:07
Ben
Yeah. Yeah.
00:49:09
Ben
I think the only difference between, so I guess the only differences I would make between Cedar Point and Magic Mountain would be like, Cedar Point has newer B&Ms. They have two B&Ms that were built in like, what, Gatekeeper is 2013. So that's
00:49:28
Ben
so that's like 12 years old. And then Val Raven, I think is like nine years old.
00:49:33
Zach
2018, want to say.
00:49:37
Zach
Maybe 2017.
00:49:39
Ben
I think it was like 2016 or 2015. I know it was like...
00:49:46
Ben
a I know it was after 2014 and before 2018. That's all I know. All I remember. So they have like you know they have like two newer B&Ms and then like their Intamin... I mean, they refurb their Intamin.
00:50:02
Ben
you know they're there They refurb Dragster, which if it opens, it'll be fine. And like Millennium Force and Maverick haven't aged like X2 or you know like ah like a B&M. They still run pretty good. and
00:50:23
Zach
I mean, to me, X2 wasn't any worse than any of the other times I wrote it.
00:50:30
Ben
I guess, yeah, hard to tell. i thought, i get in my mind, I thought it was rougher, but it probably wasn't as rough as, yeah I don't know.
00:50:40
Zach
And I didn't really find it rough.
00:50:43
Zach
It was like bouncy.
00:50:45
Ben
Yeah.
00:50:46
Zach
More than rough. Because I didn't like. Bang my head or hit anything. Nothing like that. It was just kind of bouncy. It jostled me up.
00:50:55
Ben
yeah
00:50:56
Zach
We did the night rides. And I had that one. And it jostled me up. And I was like that's it. Just one.
00:51:03
Ben
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:51:05
Zach
But it wasn't like it was rough. It was just. It was like oh if my stomach gets jostled up. ah Again that way. I'm not going to feel fucking good at all.
00:51:13
Ben
yeah
00:51:15
Zach
I mean, yeah, okay, they got the newer B&Ms.
00:51:18
Ben
It doesn't feel the same way as like, cause magic mountain, all the rides have like a, like a, like a flavor of neglect to them. Like, like especially the arrows where it's like, they're just, you know, holding on.
00:51:34
Ben
They're not repainted. i don't know. I don't know what, I don't know what, it's just a vibe.
00:51:37
Zach
Okay, but if we're doing the classic, we're doing the classic, the head-to-head, right? Especially we're talking arrows. Right off the bat, Gold Rusher Ninja, absolutely 100% over Cedar Creek ride mine Mine Ride and Iron Dragon.
00:51:55
Ben
Yeah, for sure.
00:51:57
Zach
Um...
00:51:59
Zach
Blue streak apocalypse is moot because they both kind of suck.
00:52:04
Ben
I mean, I think Blue Streak is generally better. I've never really had a rough ride on Blue Streak.
00:52:13
Ben
Some people complain about it. I think it's fine.
00:52:17
Zach
It's fine. It's just boring. I don't remember really getting much airtime.
00:52:22
Ben
Really?
00:52:24
Zach
Not the last time I wrote it, but think it's probably been, don't know, 13, 14 years.
00:52:33
Ben
Okay, yeah, shit. Blue Shriek was always, like, my favorite for airtime. Especially, like, in the third row.
00:52:40
Ben
Like, the front front the whole front car on Blue Shriek was always pretty good.
00:52:45
Zach
All right, well, I mean, next time I'm at Cedar Point, I'll have to ride it.
00:52:48
Ben
Yeah, and, like,
00:52:49
Zach
um'll I'll give it, on your recommendation, I'll give it to, I'll give the nod to Blue Streak. um Raptor Batman, I'm going Raptor.
00:53:00
Ben
Yeah. I would, I fit.
00:53:03
Zach
ridley Riddler, Riddler Rogaroo, well I guess Scream Rogaroo. Oof.
00:53:09
Zach
There's no winners there.
00:53:12
Ben
Yeah. It's kind of like, I would go scream. If you had to do the three, it'd be like scream at the bottom Ruger in the middle Riddler at the top.
00:53:21
Zach
Yeah, I guess. I haven't ridden Rogaroo, but I can't... I rode Mantis plenty.
00:53:31
Ben
It is better than Scream. Scream is kind of... Scream is always not great. Rougarou is at least like a couple steps above Mantis.
00:53:43
Zach
Okay, yeah, I mean, I'll take your word for that one. um Because, yeah, I agree. Scream fair.
00:53:53
Zach
um
00:53:55
Zach
um
00:53:57
Zach
Superman TT2, verdict's out.
00:54:01
Ben
Yeah.
00:54:02
Zach
Um...
00:54:04
Zach
I guess in the name of fairness, Goliath Magnum, which
00:54:08
Ben
um No, I would say Goliath Millennium Force.
00:54:13
Zach
either way, it's going to Cedar Point either way.
00:54:15
Ben
Yeah.
00:54:18
Zach
Here's the thing though. Cause if you do Goliath Millennium Force, then it's like Magnum revolution.
00:54:27
Ben
Yeah, there's not really a ah good one to compare it to
00:54:31
Zach
um
00:54:32
Ben
Maybe like Viper, but it's not this, you know, it's like, yeah.
00:54:35
Zach
Okay, yeah, Viper and Magnum, sure.
00:54:37
Ben
Yeah.
00:54:38
Zach
That's fine. ah Magnum, of course. um
00:54:43
Zach
I don't know. Wonder Woman doesn't really have anything to compare to at Cedar Point. I guess Maverick.
00:54:50
Ben
Um, yeah, probably closest to it.
00:54:55
Zach
Uh...
00:54:56
Ben
And then,
00:54:57
Zach
I'm going Maverick.
00:54:59
Ben
yeah
00:55:00
Zach
Um... Let's see.
00:55:04
Zach
West Coast Gemini?
00:55:07
Ben
Maybe i
00:55:10
Ben
I don't know. Like, I guess it makes sense, but it's not, like...
00:55:15
Zach
It's a tough... It's not a one-to-one, but...
00:55:18
Ben
Because before it would have been Gemini...
00:55:21
Zach
colossus
00:55:22
Ben
Yeah.
00:55:24
Zach
Right, but that's not...
00:55:27
Ben
Yeah, I mean, there's there's a couple holes in everything, but, you know, my point...
00:55:30
Zach
Yeah, but if we're going... Okay, if we're doing Gemini West Coast, though... Ooh, this is tough. I think I might go West Coast.
00:55:40
Ben
Yeah. i was actually I would actually almost say Gemini Revolution is a fair...
00:55:42
Zach
Um...
00:55:50
Zach
Okay. Well, in that case, I
00:55:54
Ben
Time, like...
00:55:54
Zach
think I'm going Gemini.
00:55:54
Ben
is
00:55:56
Ben
Yeah.
00:55:57
Zach
If it's Gemini Revolution, then I'm going Gemini.
00:56:01
Zach
Okay. Gatekeeper Tatsu. I'm going Tatsu.
00:56:06
Ben
Yeah.
00:56:10
Zach
Let's see.
00:56:12
Ben
There's really not, I mean, there's nothing with
00:56:15
Zach
No, not really. ah Power Tower, Lex Luthor, I'm definitely going Lex Luthor.
00:56:24
Zach
And then one that all the Thusies are going to cook us on, Vengeance versus Twisted Colossus.
00:56:33
Ben
I would probably go...
00:56:36
Zach
I'm going Colossus.
00:56:39
Ben
vote neither.
00:56:43
Ben
Yeah, um I think I'd actually go Steel Vengeance.
00:56:47
Zach
Okay.
00:56:48
Ben
I think. I don't know. like i Both of those, like I was never a huge like OMG fan of either of those RMCs. Yeah.
00:56:58
Zach
Me neither. they They have opposite problems.
00:57:01
Ben
Yeah.
00:57:01
Zach
It's like Twisted Colossus is like, okay, it's too short.
00:57:05
Ben
Yeah.
00:57:05
Zach
And Steel Vengeance like, okay, it's too long.
00:57:08
Ben
Yeah.
00:57:09
Ben
Yeah. Steel Vengeance is like, it's so long that i start like thinking about other shit halfway through the ride because it's, it's almost, um, yeah, it's funny. It's fun.
00:57:26
Ben
I don't know I had some weird, ride it's not a very fun ride the ride when you're high either.
00:57:33
Zach
No, no RMC is really because like first the sound of the chain lift is really alarming because it's so loud.
00:57:42
Ben
Yeah.
00:57:43
Zach
You're like, oh, my God.
00:57:46
Ben
Yeah, think like...
00:57:46
Zach
And then like the restraints are all the the restraints are stupid with the shins and everything. you're like, oh, my God, I'm like fucking locked in.
00:57:54
Ben
Yeah.
00:57:55
Ben
And just like the abrupt unnatural movements where I think that's like what I always describe in RMC is like if you were to close your eyes, like you were in complete pitch black darkness and you just went on like Twisted Colossus It would feel like you were in like a one of those like robo arms.
00:58:17
Ben
You know what i mean? like What is it? a
00:58:22
Ben
What's that brand?
00:58:22
Zach
Kuka. Kuka arm.
00:58:24
Ben
Yeah. Where you're just getting thrown side to side and like up down. it kind of feels like you're in a robotic arm. Just getting thrown. It's like you're on a flat ride. It's not like natural rollercoaster forces.
00:58:38
Ben
There are some outliers. Like I actually really liked wild cats revenge.
00:58:42
Zach
I like Twisted Cyclone.
00:58:45
Ben
Yeah, that one's good. And also like storm chasers good. i actually, I think RMC always excelled with the smaller models.
00:58:54
Zach
yeah I really want to ride Twisted Timbers.
00:58:58
Ben
Yeah, that's a good one. That's yeah.
00:59:00
Zach
Like the the the two like just straight bunny hills. That's like...
00:59:07
Ben
Oh, it's three, three straight bunny hills.
00:59:08
Zach
Oh, Jesus. Yeah, that's like that's dream state for me.
00:59:12
Ben
Yeah. And that's.
00:59:12
Zach
Just give me straight uncut air time. Don't bank me 40 degrees to the left. Fuck that. Fuck.
00:59:20
Ben
Yeah. And that's actually what I never liked about RMCs was, was just that, like, that's why the the first one, they were the first, that was the first um RMC to do that. I think it's the only one even.
00:59:31
Ben
And that's what I thought. Like the whole time i was like, why couldn't you just do this the whole time? Like, Your rides could have been so much better if you just throw it through in like, you know, just some standard elements.
00:59:44
Zach
The only exception to that is like, like the wave turn on twisted cyclone is cool. It's because it's small and you take it at that right speed.
00:59:52
Ben
Yeah.
00:59:54
Zach
But I think the real major exception to me is like the first drop on iron rattler.
00:59:55
Ben
Yeah.
01:00:01
Ben
Yeah.
01:00:02
Zach
Cause it has that kink to it.
01:00:05
Ben
Yeah, that's a good first drop. I'm not a fan of the rest of the ride, but...
01:00:07
Zach
Yeah, well, it it like whips you out out of your seat. I like that one. That drop and the drop off the quarry wall are good. The rest of the ride's kind of, yeah, not memorable.
01:00:17
Ben
Yeah. Yeah.
01:00:21
Zach
Because everything on top of the quarry wall is like a pre-lift, basically.
01:00:28
Ben
Yeah, and it's all, it's doing those weird like 90 degree like kind of outward bank twisty things.
01:00:34
Zach
Yeah, you're like, oh, I'm this way.
01:00:35
Ben
It's, yeah.
01:00:35
Zach
oh I'm that way.
01:00:39
Zach
Trick track.
01:00:42
Ben
And then, the yeah, like the rest, there's really not a whole lot of the rest of the ride. like
01:00:47
Zach
I mean, yeah, the drop off the quarry wall and then that tunnel, dude, the tunnel's great, too, because it's so dark in there.
01:00:47
Ben
And like, you know.
01:00:48
Ben
Yeah.
01:00:54
Ben
Yeah.
01:00:57
Ben
but it's a general I mean it's a very general like ranking of things where like yeah like I don't think basically like the smaller the arm sees the more I like it like the the lower half of the smaller ones I enjoy and then like Iron Gwazi was good but the same thing as Steel Vengeance and it's just I don't know I just I didn't walk off of it like wow it was just a very like oh it was good and Yeah, I was an RMC. Yeah.
01:01:30
Zach
Yeah, I don't and don't remember where exactly on Steel Vengeance it was, but I definitely have a moment on there when I've ridden it where I'm like, yeah, I think I've had enough.
01:01:41
Zach
I'm good. like And it's not like it's it's somewhere in that third lap when you're like really quickly losing speed.
01:01:44
Ben
Yeah.
01:01:55
Ben
I'm not. i'm not
01:01:58
Zach
It's like, i I've had enough. like ah Like, part of me wants to say the voyage, but on the voyage, it doesn't feel too long.
01:02:02
Ben
what's like it i mean i'm trying to think of like what what a good alternative is like what's the i mean is there any other ride that's too long that is that forceful i can't really
01:02:20
Ben
yeah
01:02:22
Zach
You reach the end and you're like, oh my god. But it's not like, eh, I was good, you know, 30 seconds ago. You know, like...
01:02:31
Ben
Well, mean, the Voyage, is it's not repetitive.
01:02:34
Zach
Well, and the pacing is better, too.
01:02:36
Ben
Yeah.
01:02:38
Zach
That's, like, kind of the problem with RMCs is there's, like, the pacing is not typically very good.
01:02:46
Zach
Like, if you look at, like, Goliath at Great America...
01:02:51
Zach
It's like part of it is just the plot of land where it's like, okay, all the elements are like sandwiched between things like drop, turn, bunny hill.
01:02:59
Ben
Yeah.
01:03:05
Zach
i guess the dive loop is an element.
01:03:08
Ben
yeah
01:03:09
Zach
It's stall.
01:03:11
Zach
Turn.
01:03:13
Zach
Rocket into the brakes.
01:03:17
Zach
Yeah, I don't know if there's... I don't know if... I guess Twisted Cyclone is the one for me where it's like, yeah, that was that was perfect. That was the exact right amount of everything that I want out of an RMC.
01:03:31
Ben
Yep.
01:03:33
Zach
even like Outlaw Run at the end...
01:03:38
Zach
The first time I rode it, like the bunny, the the zero G roll ending, I was like, okay, this is cool. Then like every time I've ridden it since then, I'm like, so we got to do the thing.
01:03:52
Ben
Yeah. I mean,
01:03:54
Zach
Because it doesn't feel like it adds a lot to the excitement of the ride. It's just like, oh, look, we can make it flippy do twice before it's over.
01:04:02
Ben
yeah pretty much. And, um, the single rail coasters see like wonder woman and the other
01:04:13
Ben
whatever the trailblazer railblazer,
01:04:17
Ben
that's a right amount of length the fucking wonder woman thing though i wasn't a big fan of it it was clunky yeah yeah
01:04:24
Zach
Yeah, the they're okay. Wonder Woman's okay. the The Magic Mountain one. It's okay. It's fine. it like it To me, it's basically like, if that would have been if that would have been the the layout they went with for Goliath, Goliath would have been fucking amazing.
01:04:43
Ben
yeah
01:04:44
Ben
And even, yeah Goliath needs one more. and just needed like something. I don't know. One more lap around. I don't know. Just too short.
01:04:57
Zach
Well, yeah, because if it would have gone in around between the station and the dive loop, up over underneath the lift hill, done like a bunny hill, ah a roll, hit that turn again, then do one more bunny hill into the brakes. There you go.
01:05:20
Zach
Fixed it for you.
01:05:22
Ben
Yep.
01:05:27
Zach
Too bad somebody was selling coke to the construction guys.
01:05:33
Ben
Whatever happened with the whole, that whole thing and that man and
01:05:37
Zach
Well, that person is insane.
01:05:41
Zach
i don't know what I think. If I remember correctly, they they still pop up every you know once in a while.
01:05:51
Ben
But do they even like ride coasters anymore?
01:05:54
Zach
Maybe?
01:05:57
Zach
i don't know.
01:05:57
Ben
Like...
01:06:00
Zach
it's It's wild that we met that dude.
01:06:05
Ben
Hold on, there's a Facebook group.
01:06:09
Ben
What the fuck this?
01:06:14
Ben
Hold on a second.
01:06:15
Zach
What's this? What's this?
01:06:19
Ben
Okay. um I'm going to send you a link. I won't mention it on here, but
01:06:26
Ben
just...
01:06:33
Zach
I just typed in their name just to see like what might come up. So I'm looking it up now.
01:06:43
Ben
I sent you a Facebook link.
01:06:45
Zach
Okay. Yeah, that's... That's the person.
01:06:50
Ben
But just like scroll down.
01:06:53
Zach
That's their group.
01:06:55
Ben
Yeah, but just scroll a little bit.
01:06:58
Zach
What... What is this?
01:07:06
Ben
Oh, wonderful.
01:07:06
Zach
What...
01:07:06
Ben
A little slideshow.
01:07:14
Zach
What the fuck is this?
01:07:17
Zach
Oh no.
01:07:19
Zach
They've tagged...
01:07:21
Zach
and don't even want to... A prevalent enthusiast who has a very visible career in the Chicago area on their page.
01:07:31
Ben
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
01:07:37
Ben
here
01:07:39
Zach
Oh, well, they posted, they reposted the national rollercoaster museum and called them a piece of shit.
01:07:52
Zach
So I'm guessing this person is in defeat.
01:07:56
Zach
It would appear.
01:07:59
Ben
Okay, so i um I'm going to come back to this link.
01:08:02
Zach
Is this, are these ai
01:08:02
Ben
get
01:08:05
Ben
I don't know. this just like a random, like, hashtag FF?
01:08:14
Ben
I don't... Is this just like a crazy girlfriend?
01:08:20
Zach
Oh, they posted, they reposted, um,
01:08:25
Zach
that person. I don't want to be too specific about any of this.
01:08:34
Zach
Um, uh, a studio
01:08:40
Zach
revolving around coasters.
01:08:44
Zach
And they're making some very mean remarks about them. That's not surprising.
01:08:51
Ben
But every post is a new... Okay, so that there's multiple women. I think he's just grabbing these from... i don't think...
01:09:02
Ben
There's no way these are like enthusiasts.
01:09:05
Zach
No, I don't think so.
01:09:08
Ben
Bet she's not getting...
01:09:12
Ben
to him
01:09:14
Zach
I feel like some of these definitely brush up on the community guidelines.
01:09:20
Ben
yeah
01:09:23
Ben
Too bad you have to sit for 10 hours with a bunch of kid fuckers.
01:09:28
Zach
I saw that one too.
01:09:32
Ben
Yeah, I don't know what the fuck is happening.
01:09:37
Zach
This is very, very bizarre.
01:09:41
Zach
Oh, wow.
01:09:44
Zach
There's one from August 4th, 2022.
01:09:48
Ben
Okay.
01:09:50
Ben
Um,
01:09:52
Ben
I'm getting there.
01:09:54
Zach
I'm just waiting to hear your reaction.
01:09:59
Ben
Closer, closer.
01:10:02
Ben
Damn. There's all these women.
01:10:04
Ben
What the fuck is...
01:10:08
Ben
And then...
01:10:11
Ben
um my god
01:10:14
Zach
I'm like, is that a shirt? Or did somebody, like, write that on the picture?
01:10:24
Ben
and then
01:10:25
Ben
Yeah, I don't know.
01:10:26
Zach
ah Like, and there's so few rollercoaster posts.
01:10:35
Ben
Yeah.
01:10:36
Zach
I'm very confused.
01:10:39
Ben
Is this just like his like wank bang that he's reposting?
01:10:42
Zach
I guess so. It's like.
01:10:46
Ben
liked one.
01:10:48
Zach
Your home, your homepage is cooked.
01:10:48
Ben
and my family my My family on Facebook sees, like I don't know, it'd like my mom or dad, they see that I'm liking these like pictures of women.
01:10:58
Ben
They'd be like, what?
01:11:02
Zach
like, do you have something to tell us?
01:11:08
Ben
And it just keeps going. like Yeah, it's just like a it's like a Tumblr find where he's just reposting pictures of women.
01:11:19
Ben
It's
01:11:24
Ben
fucking bizarre.
01:11:26
Zach
It is.
01:11:28
Ben
And it goes pretty far. Like,
01:11:31
Zach
i Why am I still scrolling this?
01:11:34
Ben
I don't know.
01:11:34
Zach
Well, I mean...
01:11:37
Ben
Yeah. Now there's like no,
01:11:38
Zach
It's not like they're bad pictures. Okay, alright.
01:11:42
Ben
yeah, there's no, and
01:11:42
Zach
It's just surprising because...
01:11:45
Zach
Well, I think we can give this much info, right? The page does have the words rollercoaster in it.
01:11:52
Ben
Yeah.
01:11:53
Zach
And there's just like not really any rollercoaster stuff.
01:11:59
Zach
It's all just very evocative photography of women.
01:12:04
Zach
And i I know for... I'm i'm almost certain that none of this is... Yeah, this is all like just downloaded content, I'm pretty sure. Although...
01:12:18
Zach
don't want to talk too specifically on a recorded podcast.
01:12:24
Zach
But I think this might have to do with um potentially connecting some dots with one of their former associates professions.
01:12:34
Ben
Yeah.
01:12:35
Zach
Possibly.
01:12:38
Ben
Did you go to April 2nd, 2022?
01:12:42
Zach
Oh, I didn't know I was on the hunt. Let me check.
01:12:48
Ben
The caption is, got a little too defensive when I brought up enthusiast kid fucking.
01:12:55
Zach
Oh, God.
01:12:57
Zach
said August April I'm in 2022.
01:13:00
Ben
Or April 2nd.
01:13:02
Zach
Hold on. twenty twenty two okay um in twenty twenty two
01:13:08
Zach
um man
01:13:10
Zach
August 4th, 2022.
01:13:15
Zach
Sorry, it's taking a moment.
01:13:18
Ben
and know there's all these women.
01:13:22
Zach
I don't understand why there's pages like this on Facebook. Like...
01:13:26
Ben
Well, it's a total boomer page too. It's like just,
01:13:35
Ben
it actually reminds me of the, how, what crazy shit.com is like nowadays.
01:13:40
Zach
Really?
01:13:41
Ben
Yeah.
01:13:42
Zach
Ugh, that's disappointing.
01:13:46
Zach
I'm in May. Come on.
01:13:49
Zach
I hope we're not giving too much information.
01:13:52
Ben
No, it's a public page.
01:13:56
Zach
Jesus, it's taking forever to find.
01:13:59
Zach
Whoa, April 18th, 2022. I thought that was somebody that we knew for a second.
01:14:10
Zach
You know what I'm talking about, right?
01:14:12
Ben
Uh, wait, let me go back.
01:14:15
Ben
Damn. There's a lot of posts in April.
01:14:17
Zach
Yeah, that was a busy month for this person, apparently.
01:14:25
Ben
Oh, wait, hold on. There's multiple on eight on the 18th.
01:14:30
Zach
um
01:14:32
Zach
Look for pink.
01:14:34
Ben
Like pink hair.
01:14:35
Zach
Yep.
01:14:36
Ben
oh yeah.
01:14:38
Ben
That'd be kind of funny.
01:14:41
Zach
It would be.
01:14:42
Zach
Who is that person?
01:14:43
Ben
Basically, in the conversation, I don't know.
01:14:47
Zach
Yeah. What are these screenshots?
01:14:52
Ben
But what's funny about it is like just look at the the last three
01:14:56
Ben
We're like, if you're going to share, ah if you're going to take screenshots of a text argument where you're trying to make a point and if the other person stops responding, but you keep sending walls and walls and walls of texts, like it doesn't exactly make you look like you're coming out on top. If you just include that, you know what i mean?
01:15:19
Zach
Yeah, this is, um...
01:15:22
Zach
Did he think he was, like, owning this guy?
01:15:25
Ben
I don't know.
01:15:27
Ben
Shit, I clicked off. Okay, i probably for the better. Nice.
01:15:29
Zach
Yeah, this is not worth... don't Don't go down the same goddamn rabbit hole Ben and I just did. We did it for you. um We got in a similar vein, but much more benign.
01:15:43
Zach
We got some unhinged questions from one of our old buddies, Coaster Boy.
01:15:50
Ben
nice
01:15:51
Zach
so
01:15:54
Zach
I guess Justin now. I don't... Thanks for sending your questions. Okay. He said two, but then he ended up coming up with three. So, you know.
01:16:06
Zach
First one. You can prevent one thing from happening. still Disney building Paris or Frank Wells helicopter crash.
01:16:17
Zach
Frank would live until Eisner left in 2006. ah
01:16:23
Ben
ah
01:16:25
Zach
I guess I'd say Frank Wells.
01:16:28
Ben
Sure. ah That's a little bit of a deep cut. I don't.
01:16:34
Zach
Yeah, um because we don't really know. Eisner would have likely been able to do a lot more ambitious stuff just for a little bit of background for the Disney folks. um But he became a lot more conservative and in his approach after Frank Wells passing because he was kind of like his right hand man.
01:16:55
Zach
All right. Now here's where things get a little um unhinged. And I'm going to just say it's in the best way, but it's still insanity. Justin, he says, brilliant genius drew the intern.
01:17:13
Zach
who I reached out to about trying to field this question, but he, uh, he was unavailable to record today. Um, so brilliant dream, a genius drew the intern invents a truth serum where nobody can lie or swerve.
01:17:29
Zach
You can interview one park person living or dead, excluding Walt Disney. Who do you give the serum to? And what five questions do you ask? Okay. And first of all,
01:17:43
Zach
What the fuck? Okay, now, second.
01:17:48
Zach
I'm just going to blanket statement here. Your favorite coaster sucks, does not, never has, and never will endorse giving people substances against their knowledge.
01:18:01
Zach
Uncool.
01:18:04
Zach
We don't dose people who aren't ready for it. and
01:18:11
Ben
So she's just to ask five questions.
01:18:15
Zach
Well, I don't even know who.
01:18:18
Ben
Yeah.
01:18:20
Zach
Because I don't know if I have five questions that I'm burning to ask anybody.
01:18:26
Ben
um
01:18:30
Ben
Yeah.
01:18:31
Zach
Because I'm like, I don't want to be like fucking Chris Farley in that SNL sketch with Paul McCartney. Fucking pick like Ron Toomer and be like, do you remember when you built Magnum?
01:18:45
Zach
Wasn't that awesome?
01:18:51
Ben
Yeah, I mean, Ron, well, ah you now that you mention it, Ron Toomer interviewed be kind of fun.
01:18:59
Zach
That's the only one I'm thinking of that I would like.
01:19:03
Ben
Yeah. But like, wait, so part of the question is we have to dose them?
01:19:10
Zach
Yeah. yeah
01:19:12
Ben
We got a Cosby Ron Toomer?
01:19:14
Zach
yes
01:19:16
Ben
Just to ask five questions. What if Ron Toomer was like willing to do it? like to He seemed like a nice guy. Like, it's like, oh, you want me to answer five questions about my business and my history of building roller coasters? Like...
01:19:31
Zach
I'll just answer him honestly anyway. No, you have to take this fucking serum.
01:19:45
Ben
Um...
01:19:47
Zach
Yeah, I don't, I can't really, a little hard pressed, right? Walt Disney's not applicable.
01:19:56
Zach
I don't... Here's the thing. ah
01:20:02
Zach
i don't see the purpose of the serum.
01:20:10
Zach
I don't know what lies i'm trying to uncover here.
01:20:19
Ben
um
01:20:20
Zach
it's not It's not fucking... It's not like...
01:20:25
Zach
What questions would you possibly ask somebody in the amusement industry that they would be lying so deeply about?
01:20:34
Ben
I mean, maybe like Dick Kinzel.
01:20:37
Zach
yeah okay, there's a good one. Uh,
01:20:39
Ben
Yeah, like he but he may be someone you have to give a serum to because, you know,
01:20:42
Zach
okay, need...
01:20:49
Zach
Okay, sure. You mentioned that, now I'm coming up with a couple others, maybe. um Kieran Burke would be interesting to talk to.
01:20:58
Zach
Jim Reed Anderson.
01:20:58
Ben
Who is that?
01:21:00
Ben
Oh, yeah.
01:21:02
Zach
Kieran Burke was the CEO of Premier Parks when they owned Six Flags.
01:21:09
Ben
Okay. Okay.
01:21:12
Zach
ah Matt Wiemann.
01:21:17
Zach
I follow him on faith on LinkedIn and he posts some incredibly insightful, interesting stuff about the industry.
01:21:17
Ben
ah
01:21:28
Zach
So I don't really, I don't think you need to use the serum on him though.
01:21:34
Ben
Yeah.
01:21:35
Ben
If I was getting a Cosby someone.
01:21:39
Zach
Oh, oh, wait a second. Hold on. What about Rob Alvey?
01:21:45
Ben
Yeah. Although i feel like it would be pretty predictable. Like, he's not necessarily an opening book, but like...
01:21:55
Ben
He'd be down for the serum.
01:21:57
Zach
Maybe, maybe not. But yeah, no. Well, that's the thing is like, he's not an open book.
01:22:03
Zach
He very, I don't want to say famously, but he got pretty upset when somebody dug up his mugshot.
01:22:11
Ben
Yeah, it's true.
01:22:13
Zach
so it might be interesting. I don't know if I'd ask him anything about amusement parks, though.
01:22:20
Zach
More like, you know, like, what's what's the deal with Ace?
01:22:23
Ben
Yeah.
01:22:23
Zach
What actually happened with, like, Cedar Point and Holiday World?
01:22:29
Zach
And you.
01:22:31
Ben
Yeah.
01:22:33
Ben
Yeah, that'd be pretty good. Well, um,
01:22:40
Zach
Oh, all right, hold on. He sent us one more question, unless you got another one.
01:22:44
Ben
no, go ahead.
01:22:46
Zach
He said, what five foods would you add to Great America and where would you add them to?
01:22:52
Ben
I guess I don't even know what they have currently.
01:22:55
Zach
It's Six Flags, so just a bunch of shit, you know.
01:22:58
Ben
Yeah.
01:22:59
Zach
I will say Magic Mountain's food was surprisingly better when we were there than my previous visits.
01:23:08
Ben
Also, like, it's funny how it's basically the same price as like going to McDonald's.
01:23:15
Zach
It is. Which is crazy because I remember when we were kids, it was like, oh my God, 18 bucks for a burger and fries.
01:23:23
Ben
yeah
01:23:24
Zach
And now it's like, yeah, 18 bucks for a burger fries.
01:23:29
Ben
I remember the cheapest thing that you could buy in the park food-wise was like um I think it was like a Papa John's stand by Raging Bull and they had like cheesy breadsticks and it was like seven bucks
01:23:46
Zach
Jesus Christ.
01:23:46
Ben
like and it came with a little dipping cup That was like the cheapest food thing I could buy.
01:23:54
Zach
I remember very frequently leaving the park when I was younger and walking to the Burger King.
01:24:02
Ben
Yeah.
01:24:06
Zach
Because
01:24:08
Ben
yeah
01:24:09
Zach
you're not saving any money.
01:24:10
Ben
Yeah. My favorite was always going to Golden Corral.
01:24:15
Zach
oh
01:24:17
Zach
I don't know if I could ever do that again in my life.
01:24:20
Ben
I know it's going to happen again at some point in my life. Like...
01:24:25
Zach
Next time we do a meetup and we get drunk
01:24:31
Ben
I can...
01:24:31
Zach
and we happen to pass a golden corral when we're drunk.
01:24:37
Ben
But see, like, picking... You got to pick the right one. It's got to be the right time, and it's got to be in, like, the right place. Because...
01:24:46
Ben
Clientele is important. Like local clientele is important. And remember when we went to that one in, uh, I think it was a Kenosha, like a long time ago on a Saturday, we had to wait like an hour to get a table.
01:25:00
Zach
Yep.
01:25:02
Zach
Fucking sneaking cue at the front.
01:25:06
Ben
Yeah. Yeah.
01:25:08
Zach
And then you get in there and there's like ah kid playing tech decks in the fucking fish fillets.
01:25:21
Zach
Like somebody's coughing.
01:25:24
Ben
Yeah, it's now i'm way now I'm way too hyper aware of that shit. We went to this Chinese buffet last year for my birthday. And the most disgusting thing I saw out of all... I mean, there's a lot of disgusting things, but like the worst was there was like ah chocolate cake on a pedestal thing.
01:25:46
Ben
or whatever, like a platform, like a cake platform. And this person was like trying to scoop a slice out and the slice fell like off of the platform and just onto the the metal, like the stainless steel, you know, part of the buffet.
01:26:04
Ben
And he just like picked it up with her hand and just put the piece back onto the cake.
01:26:07
Zach
ah no
01:26:13
Ben
And it was Easter Sunday, which was actually kind of funny. And it was slammed.
01:26:21
Ben
But, yeah. The
01:26:23
Zach
Dude, nothing will ever top fucking CCs.
01:26:27
Ben
thing about CC's, it's fine, but like it's easy because it's just pizza. and like There's not a lot of variety, but yeah
01:26:36
Ben
yeah. Top disgustingness.
01:26:39
Zach
Yeah.
01:26:39
Ben
Oh, yeah. See, at least like at CeCe's, when the pizza's fresh, you know you can like grab it and you know they're you're the only person that's touched it. But but yeah.
01:26:53
Zach
Yeah, but it doesn't, but that's not true because the the cook touched it.
01:26:58
Ben
True.
01:27:00
Zach
And the cook was just giving a guy a hand job for 20 bucks.
01:27:06
Zach
Because he works at CC's.
01:27:11
Zach
and that guy was his manager.
01:27:17
Ben
my thing about my favorite thing about cc's oh i have these old photos of for some reason i have photos of cc's and old country buffet
01:27:28
Ben
and all the food has like a gross like shiny shimmer to it
01:27:39
Zach
Crisco.
01:27:42
Ben
Like it's a picture of like a plate of just like random things on it and everything is shiny.
01:27:47
Zach
They're like the the number one rule for the buffet. Make sure everything's got vegetable shortening on it before getting out on the floor.
01:27:57
Zach
You sure we need to put fucking vegetable shortening on the pizza? Put it on the pizza. Get it under the heat light.
01:28:05
Ben
Yeah. It's cheap calories to fill you up.
01:28:09
Ben
It's like to eat less food.
01:28:11
Ben
um I wonder if I can find this quickly.
01:28:14
Zach
do we Do we really need to put vegetable shortening on the soft s serve of ice cream?
01:28:20
Zach
I said do it, god damn it.
01:28:25
Zach
Oh, man.
01:28:25
Ben
i want I'm curious how fast I can find this. if
01:28:31
Zach
Old Country is pretty gnarly, too.
01:28:34
Ben
See, that shit was gross even back in like high school. That was gross. Like that was always one that was always disappointing. At least like Corral was like decent.
01:28:48
Ben
But um my God, this is such a bad photo.
01:28:53
Zach
We got a friend, and I don't want to name him because I'm not putting him on blast. It's just kind of funny. One of their quirks is that every time I've eaten at a buffet with them, they only eat mac and cheese.
01:29:08
Ben
Yeah.
01:29:10
Zach
You know who I'm talking about, right?
01:29:12
Ben
um
01:29:13
Zach
You don't have to say.
01:29:15
Ben
Maybe? and Actually, I know.
01:29:18
Zach
Um, I'll tell you when we're done recording, but yeah, this person, and I've seen them like when we were younger, i don't know, 15 years ago, whatever, eat like three full plates of Mac and cheese, just Mac and cheese.
01:29:21
Ben
Okay.
01:29:33
Ben
I think I know you're talking about.
01:29:36
Zach
It's somebody we've both known for a long, long time, but yeah.
01:29:39
Ben
Yeah.
Buffet Adventures and Mishaps
01:29:41
Zach
Um,
01:29:44
Zach
Because I remember going to an old country buffet with them one time.
01:29:48
Zach
And I thought that maybe it was like a cleanliness thing.
01:29:53
Zach
You know, like they saw something and they were like, well, the mac and cheese is fine.
01:29:56
Ben
Yeah. Yeah,
01:29:59
Zach
And it turns out they just really only care for mac and cheese.
01:30:06
Ben
that sounds better.
01:30:06
Zach
And again, I'm not putting this person on blast, so if I'm talking about you, don't be offended. It's a quirk, that's all.
01:30:21
Zach
we've all We've all got our quirks.
01:30:26
Zach
Excuse me. To be fair, I'm not even sure if that person listens to what we do here, but just in case.
01:30:35
Zach
Because they're awesome. They're a great person and good friend, so I don't want them. Anyway, anyway, anyway. Now the only time I eat at a buffet is when I go to Vegas.
01:30:46
Ben
I mean, yeah, that's different.
01:30:49
Zach
Well, because in Vegas they have food in the buffets, not just like fiber-enriched cardboard.
01:30:52
Ben
Yeah.
01:30:57
Zach
With vegetable shortening.
01:31:04
Zach
Yeah, I don't even know how like an old country buffet would survive now. Because like, you know, they eat like egg filler.
01:31:09
Ben
There's... Yeah.
01:31:11
Zach
But like eggs cost like 80 bucks for a dozen now.
01:31:16
Ben
I mean, i know that there's even still fucking... There's like one Ponderosa left in Wisconsin.
01:31:25
Zach
oo
01:31:26
Ben
Yeah.
01:31:28
Zach
That is asking for trouble.
01:31:33
Zach
Your colon will beg you to stop.
01:31:38
Zach
I remember eating at a Ponderosa in Florida.
01:31:43
Ben
That sounds about right.
01:31:45
Zach
It was pretty unremarkable.
01:31:48
Ben
It's like even worse than old country. affair Like Ponderosa to me was always at the bottom. We had one of those in our town. And even in my fat 18 year old high school period, like I ate at one and it was not good.
01:32:03
Ben
Like,
01:32:05
Ben
And any turning down of a buffet at that age, and I don't know why. Now I'm thinking about this other Chinese buffet that was in town that was really fucking good. That I closed down.
01:32:16
Zach
There was a Chinese buffet near my parents' house that a different friend of ours and I went to one time, and this person was insistent that we dine and dash.
01:32:28
Ben
Yeah.
01:32:29
Zach
And I know you know who I'm talking about this time, because this person was kind of a serial dine and dasher.
01:32:35
Ben
Yeah, he did that to me twice in on a trip.
01:32:39
Zach
Well, yeah, and because this fucking this asshole wouldn't even indicated until like he'd be like, all right, let's go.
01:32:47
Ben
Yeah.
01:32:47
Zach
And it's like, wait, what?
01:32:51
Ben
yeah Yeah. To be fair, the one time we did it in Canada, um it was like a random Chinese buffet in Nova Scotia.
01:33:02
Ben
To be fair, like this place deserved it um because we didn't even eat. Like we barely ate a plate. Like we did a lap and like there was a couple things that were sort of edible, but it like really wasn't a lot of like good food.
01:33:19
Ben
And then they never brought us our or they never brought us our drinks. They like never came around. We like sat there for like 10 minutes. They didn't even like ask for any, know, we couldn't even get ahold of anybody.
01:33:31
Ben
So it was like, all right, fuck this.
01:33:32
Zach
that's That's why you stiff them on the tip, not the bill, dude.
01:33:38
Ben
But it was one of those two, but it was also like 20 bucks a person. It was one of those where like, it was like a scam. It was like 20 bucks a person. and like, there was no food on out would on the buffet and like, no one was serving you And like, we didn't even finish our plate. Like we didn't even, you know, that's different.
01:33:59
Ben
I think.
01:34:00
Zach
that's That's when you just take the food that is on the line and just put it in your plate and walk over to the table, look at it for a minute, and then pick it up and throw it all in the garbage.
01:34:12
Ben
the other well so The other time that it happened that he did it to me was in New Jersey. Outside of Great Adventure, there was a Chinese buffet. and
01:34:23
Ben
This one was only like $6. It was like $6.99 for lunch, which is like nothing. Even back in 2010, this was like nothing. and so he's Basically, I was like going up to get dessert, and he's like, oh, you're getting dessert?
01:34:37
Ben
and was like, yeah. Yeah. And he's like, well, once you get dessert, that's how they know you're finished. And was like, and? And he's like, I don't know if I want any dessert.
01:34:49
Ben
And then he starts, like I like grab a plate and he starts like creeping to the door. And he's like looking at me and he's like laughing. And I'm like, don't do it. Don't do it. And then he just like runs out the front door and I'm like, fuck. So then I like put my plate down and I follow him and I'm like, what are we doing? What are we doing? He's just, just chicago go, go, go, go. oh Like, fuck, are we were really doing this? And we ran to the car and like, I felt bad about that one.
01:35:15
Zach
Yeah, I felt bad the time he fucking made me do that shit too because it's like i i wasn't on board with this.
01:35:24
Ben
yeah
01:35:25
Zach
you're You're the one with the car and the keys to the car.
01:35:30
Ben
Also too, like at that age, like the idea of just paying for his portion like didn't seem... like I couldn't comprehend that. right like I was like, I'm not going to pay for your food..........
01:35:42
Zach
Same. I don't know if that ever entered into my mind. Like, uh, I don't know. My friend's an asshole. I don't know. Oh, man.
01:35:56
Zach
oh man
01:35:58
Zach
Well, shit, we got a lot of rollercoaster chat in.
01:36:02
Ben
yeah
01:36:03
Zach
Oh, we didn't pick anything to add to Great America's food lineup. um All right, I'm going Wendy's chili with a finger in it. um Should be served in the Raging Bull queue by a vendor who says, Finger chili!
01:36:25
Ben
I'm going to go with a churro.
Theme Park Food Nostalgia and Dining Innovations
01:36:30
Ben
i don't think i don't I don't think they have churros in the park anymore.
01:36:30
Zach
Ooh, I agree.
01:36:35
Zach
They did, and they were always terrible.
01:36:37
Ben
Yeah.
01:36:38
Zach
They were always like, like, you left it sitting under the heat light for so long that, like, the outside's not, like, it's not, like, crisp how, like, a churro should be. It's, like, flaky and dusty.
01:36:53
Ben
Yeah. Yeah.
01:36:54
Zach
And the insides like mush, not like soft, like how it should be.
01:37:01
Zach
Kind of like the trademark thing of like heating frozen food in a microwave where it's like, oh, the outside's burnt and the inside's frozen. Great.
01:37:10
Ben
yeah speaking of that I so we're gonna go to Hawaii next week for some backpacking and I have these like backpacking freeze dried meals that I just I bought like a bunch of them so I could like basically meal prep And they're dehydrated, so you pour the boiling water in, and then it rehydrates, and you mix it, whatever. i was so hungry today, and there's no food in the house, so I ate one of those fucking backpacking meals as my lunch.
01:37:38
Zach
I wasn't.
01:37:39
Ben
It was actually good. like It's actually good food, but it's like you know it's there's like good food when you're in the middle of nowhere, camping, and then there's like, oh, I'm eating this in my house, and I'm just too lazy to go to the gym.
01:37:54
Ben
Like it literally because I bought it online, it's shipped to the house and I opened this box of these meals and I was too lazy to go to the grocery store. So no,
01:38:03
Zach
Did you set up a tent or a sleeping bag?
01:38:10
Zach
Just in the living room.
01:38:13
Ben
it's good. That was biscuits and gravy. Yeah.
01:38:15
Zach
ah there you go.
01:38:17
Zach
I mean, i can't imagine the gravy being too bad if you're just adding hot water to it.
01:38:25
Ben
No, it's like legit. I mean, it's like it, it, even the biscuit has a crunch to it. Like it's, um, it was good. It was a good one. I'll get more.
01:38:35
Ben
um yeah, I don't know. Six Flags doesn't have, I guess there's not really any food that I crave at a park.
01:38:44
Ben
I generally just like, don't know.
01:38:48
Ben
I'm not really like a park food guy.
01:38:52
Ben
Other than Knoebels has good food trucks.
01:38:52
Zach
Yeah, I mean, i like...
01:38:58
Zach
like Mrs. Knott's.
01:39:00
Ben
Yeah.
01:39:01
Zach
But i'm not I don't think they should have, like, Knott's chicken at other parks. Oh! How about the boysenberry punch? Let's get that at every fucking Six Flags park, please.
01:39:13
Ben
Yeah. That's
01:39:14
Zach
That counts as a food item, right?
01:39:16
Ben
Yeah.
01:39:17
Zach
I drink like six cups of that shit at Miss Nott.
01:39:21
Ben
um Yeah, that stuff's pretty good. and
01:39:25
Zach
Yeah, yeah. So if we could get that at the Six Flags parks, that would be fantastic. um
01:39:32
Zach
Oh, how about saltwater taffy?
01:39:35
Ben
Yeah, I don't see that around anymore either. That was always like, a one I remember that was a big thing when I was like a kid. Whenever we would go to the state fair or like a park or something, we'd get saltwater taffy.
01:39:47
Zach
That's what I'm saying. That shit's good. I remember that was a big thing at Cedar Point.
01:39:52
Ben
Yeah.
01:39:53
Zach
I remember getting a box of saltwater taffies from Cedar Point when I was like 13 or something.
01:40:00
Ben
Yeah.
01:40:01
Zach
And they were flavored and they were good.
01:40:04
Ben
Yeah.
01:40:05
Zach
So let's see some saltwater taffy available.
01:40:10
Zach
I don't know.
01:40:11
Zach
The thing is like that's difficult with theme park food is like the good stuff is like if it if it's imitated, it's rarely imitated well.
01:40:22
Ben
Yeah. just And I don't know. I just, and like most of the stuff, when I think of a Six Flags, it's like the, you know, the nacho, the plastic nacho cheese and that little dish with the super salty yellow corn chips and things sitting under a heat light. And I don't know.
01:40:45
Zach
Instead of a food item, here's something I'd like to see at Great America in all Six Flags parks. A sit-down restaurant with table service.
01:40:56
Ben
Yeah.
01:40:58
Zach
Doesn't have to be anything too fancy. Put something along the lines of, I don't know, the Olive Garden or something into a park, right? Like...
01:41:09
Zach
Sometimes, like, we're at Magic Mountain, right? And instead of sitting outside of West Coast Racers for two hours, it would have been nice to have, like, a sit-down restaurant we could have gone to, right?
01:41:21
Ben
Yeah.
01:41:24
Zach
so like, that's that's kind of... I've always kind of felt that way. Like, just put in a nice sit-down restaurant.
01:41:34
Ben
Oh.
01:41:35
Zach
Oh, and that TGI Friday's at Knott's is like closed, closed, apparently.
01:41:41
Ben
Okay.
01:41:43
Zach
Which I don't know how the fuck that happens. It's a TGI Friday's. All you do is sell overpriced fucking food and drinks.
01:41:53
Ben
Yeah. I can't remember the last time even been in the Fridays.
01:41:59
Zach
I went to the one at Breakers and that had been 2020. I think
01:42:07
Ben
Nice.
01:42:09
Zach
that's the last time I've been in into TGI Fridays.
01:42:14
Ben
um Yeah.
01:42:14
Zach
Because it's like, really $28 burger?
01:42:19
Zach
but twentyeight dollars burger
01:42:24
Zach
And most of the time...
01:42:25
Ben
It's Meteor.
01:42:26
Zach
Yeah, it's it's fine. The food's perfectly serviceable, but like...
01:42:31
Zach
There's no like... ambiance to a fucking Friday's. It's
01:42:42
Zach
like, oh, there's a sports game on.
01:42:42
Ben
Um,
01:42:43
Zach
Oh, cool.
01:42:45
Zach
Anyway...
01:42:49
Ben
should we do Disney minute?
Disney News and Roller Coaster Excitement
01:42:51
Zach
Oh yeah, let's do the Disney Minute. I completely forgot. You want to start it or do you want me to start it?
01:42:57
Ben
Um, do you have the music sweet?
01:42:59
Zach
Yeah.
01:43:00
Ben
Um, I can, I'll, I'll, I'll start
01:43:05
Zach
Alright.
01:43:55
Ben
There was an Epcot fire over the weekend. Characters from the Fantastic Four will appear in Tomorrowland. Oh, shed the tears. Go ahead.
01:44:03
Zach
hu Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom is now down for a year-long refurbishment.
01:44:09
Ben
It's tough to be a bug.
01:44:15
Ben
ah
01:44:16
Zach
Well, fuck, that was all the time we had for the Disney Minute.
01:44:21
Ben
Um, I haven't, it's been a while since I've heard that audio.
01:44:26
Zach
Yeah, it's been a minute since we've done that, so...
01:44:26
Ben
ah Yeah.
01:44:30
Zach
And you know what? The bit's still funny, so...
01:44:34
Ben
Yeah, that's great.
01:44:36
Zach
Yeah, as long as it's still funny, then shit, if it's got juice, worth the squeeze, right?
01:44:42
Ben
ah love the, um, the ukulele music. Yeah.
01:44:50
Zach
I wish I still had the original of that file. I could probably recreate it pretty easily because it wasn't the best one ah to honor the request of our buddy, Drew the intern, friend of the show, because he i remember him asking about being put into there.
01:45:06
Ben
Oh, nice. Okay.
01:45:09
Zach
Maybe we'll do a new Disney Minute.
01:45:13
Ben
It's good. to I mean, i Disney has plenty of news stories to... i mean, there's always plenty. i mean, some of these are like... Let's see.
01:45:26
Ben
Big Thunder Mountain down for a year, though. That seems pretty Mm-hmm.
01:45:32
Zach
Yeah, I don't know all the specific details. We'll have to talk to um some of our friends who might have a better idea. It seems like possibly they're doing a full retrack.
01:45:46
Ben
Okay. RMC.
01:45:49
Zach
Yeah, right?
01:45:53
Zach
Big Iron Mountain Railroad. Big Twisted Mountain Railroad.
01:45:59
Zach
um
01:46:00
Ben
Shit, I got to piss so bad. How long...
01:46:04
Ben
How much longer you want to go?
01:46:08
Zach
I'm good. We can cut.
01:46:09
Ben
Okay. I'm either like... I either got to piss or i got a end it we're at two hours are you um good yeah
01:46:15
Zach
right. Well then. Yeah. We're at about two hours. We might as well wrap it up.
01:46:22
Zach
All right. Awesome. Well, thank you all so much for listening. This has been an absolute blast. We'll be back with some more content for you soon.
01:46:30
Zach
Um,
01:46:30
Ben
oh wait actually okay i i can hold it for a second we didn't uh wrath of rakshasa the track is complete
01:46:37
Zach
Oh yeah, that's right. That's exciting. I'm hoping that they will actually be open. That it will be open for Memorial Day.
01:46:49
Zach
Weekend.
01:46:51
Ben
Wasn't it supposed to be an opening day? Opening?
01:46:53
Zach
I think so.
01:46:54
Ben
Yeah, that's cool.
01:46:57
Zach
ah It's not like Great America or Six Flags has the best track record with that stuff.
01:47:02
Zach
However, Flash opened.
01:47:02
Ben
Yeah.
01:47:06
Ben
That's true. and
01:47:06
Zach
So...
01:47:08
Zach
Like I said, I'll be visiting.
01:47:08
Ben
feel...
01:47:10
Zach
I'll be in the Chicagoland area Memorial Day weekend. So if it's operating at that time, I will make a special trip up to Gurney.
01:47:20
Ben
Yeah, I.
01:47:21
Zach
But if it's not ah not if it's not operating, I'm not sure if to make the trip up to Gurney.
01:47:29
Ben
Yeah, the.
01:47:29
Zach
But exciting to see that they're actually making progress on it.
01:47:34
Ben
Yeah, I mean, I'm, you know, I'm not. I wish it were something different, but I'm happy to see a new B&M go in our home park.
01:47:44
Zach
Agreed. I mean, I think it'll be a big ah big hit. It'll be a crowd pleaser.
01:47:52
Zach
I think they've been fucking starved for a new ride and addition of some sort there at Great America.
01:48:00
Ben
Yeah, mean, especially now that, you know, an RMC is now 10-year-old thing. so it's like, it's basically been the newest. I guess they have the S&S thing too.
01:48:12
Zach
Yeah, but this was the longest ah dry spell in the entire park's history between coasters.
01:48:19
Ben
Oh yeah, that's right.
01:48:21
Zach
Because the last one was Max Force, and that was 2019. Yeah,
01:48:25
Ben
Yeah. That's a lot longer than it seems.
01:48:30
Zach
yeah yeah. Well, I mean, shit, six years. That's a pretty long time for Great America to go without a major... major addition they did get a sky striker in 2024 but I don't know if that's a major addition
01:48:52
Ben
Yeah.
01:48:54
Zach
anyway anyway I digress we hit that two hour mark that's always a good time
01:49:02
Ben
Yeah. My bladder is going to blast off or
01:49:07
Zach
You're going piss so hard you blast off of the toilet into the wall and through it.
01:49:14
Ben
Just enough to make a mess.
01:49:17
Zach
It's everywhere. Like ah me, myself, and Irene.
01:49:22
Ben
I don't think I've...
01:49:22
Zach
That's a deep cut.
01:49:25
Ben
I don't think I've actually ever seen that movie. Yeah.
01:49:29
Zach
Because Jim Carrey's got like split personality basically. And so he's like, they like do it one night and then he wakes up with Morningwood, but he's the other guy.
01:49:40
Ben
Yeah.
01:49:42
Zach
And so he goes to take a piss and he like pisses all over the wall and he's like, why am I pissing like I was up having sex all night?
01:49:52
Zach
Anyway. Anyway. um Yeah, you got to wait around until the two hour mark. then we ah Then we let the dick jokes fly. All right.
01:50:06
Zach
i'll ah I'll let you get to your piss. Thank you all for listening so much. Unless you got something else.
01:50:11
Ben
No, i'm I'm good. At this point, my brain's turning off.
01:50:15
Zach
For sure. All right. Well, then let's ah let's turn off the podcast before the brain's all the way shut down. Thank you all so much for listening. Join our Discord. It is free. It's the best way to interact with us, and we'll answer your questions.
01:50:28
Zach
Thanks for sending in your questions, everybody, and interacting with us. Yeah, again, join our Discord. Thanks for listening. We'll be back soon, and until next time, your favorite coaster sucks.
01:50:36
Ben
Your favorite coaster sucks.