Team USA

[Hamartia Antidote]

Check this out, bro. A little strange to see which is at #1 TBH.

$2,360, Boston is the 5th most expensive city in the country to rent a one bedroom apartment. Boston rounded out the top 5 markets with one bedroom rent growing 2.2% to $2,360, while two bedrooms remained flat at $2,700.

I know somebody renting the other half of their duplex for $3000 in Allston. Unfortunately every year more families are selling out to landlords who jam 3,4,or 5 unrelated single young people in them (like “Friends”) to maximize profits. People end up parking on the front yards because there is no where else to put them. I just heard Boston now beat Philly for the rat population.

San Francisco has always been high (hmm even literally)
Can’t believe Oakland is #6. I remember driving over a bridge into Oakland in 1992 and then immediately turning around...hmm maybe it wasn’t Oakland.

 

[Gomig-21]

How symbolic is this pic? Murica sitting on the highest tree looking down on everyone else.

 

[Gomig-21]

@Hamartia Antidote bro, are you watching the Red Sox at all? What a great series against the Yankees and this should be a good one against the Houston Astros.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

@Hamartia Antidote bro, are you watching the Red Sox at all? What a great series against the Yankees and this should be a good one against the Houston Astros.

Nah, I’ve been busy. Right now I’m writing from the supermarket. I haven’t turned on the tv in weeks.

I still have to write up my DisneyWorld trip.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Does it inhale leaves and mulch those as well? If so that'll be super useful in autumn.

So today was the day to put things to the test
1) Rained yesterday
2) Tall grass
3) Wet maple, elm, oak leaves

It worked very well.
It did cut out on me once when it was going through some heavy wet stuff.
So if you don't wait until you have an inch of wet leaves covering your lawn it should do the trick.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Hey @Gomig-21 if nobody hits the $1Billion lottery tonight I'm driving to the town of Harvard to buy some. Knowing how it's probably going to be sold in some undeserving town (which would cause a collective groan) I may as well hedge my bets.

In case people are wondering the median income is OVER $300,000 in that town. That's higher than Beverly Hills.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

That Walt Disney World trip I went on with the family...

Spent two days in Magic Kingdom, two days in Animal Kingdom, one day Epcot, and one day in Hollywood Studios.

Magic Kingdom

A little childhood history first...

I went to Magic Kingdom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Kingdom ) as a kid eons ago (when there was ONLY one park, known then simply as "Walt Disney World"). It was in the middle of nowhere surrounded by orange groves and you had to pay for each ride using ticket books. I had the memories burnt into my head and now it had a reboot. Here's some of those memories:

Map circa 1976 full pic -> https://rocketsciencemom.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/1976wdwparkmap.jpg

Vintage ticket book. The cherished “E-Ticket” was like the Willy Wonka gold ticket to a kid back then.

Everybody walking around with these plastic orange juice containers (straw missing in pic)

So first some retro footage to show how some things have changed and how some things have stayed the same

The Contemporary Resort was a bit too pricey for us back then. We actually stayed in the Hyatt or Hilton in Orlando...which as I recall was pretty damn nice (not sure what it looks like now). Back then Disney only had a handful of resort hotels and they were all located around the lake and I believe all of them were "Deluxe" so the prices were probably even relatively higher back then than now due to the insane demand. These days they have over 30 hotels spread out all over the place ( http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/resorts/resortmain.htm ) for different budgets. Although I wouldn't want to stay in one of their "Value" ones (even if they are beautifully themed for kids) as you'd probably have people screaming down the hallways at night. We stayed at one of their more adult oriented Deluxe resorts and it was great.

LOL! The food place with the band is STILL there! Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe

Yes, I was on the submarine ride..apparently they got rid of it 20 years ago.

Present Day...

Okay...so I was expecting a downer with the typical cranky "back in the old days..when I was a kid...things were much better" excuse. Actually I thought things were probably better THIS time around.

Magic Kingdom was immaculate. Considering it is approaching its 50th Anniversary (opened in 1971) the place didn't look worn at all. in fact it looks even nicer than when I first went when it was almost new. Things obviously have been moved around a bit. They have made the facades better as I remember some of the buildings being simple white boxes. FastPass ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FastPass ) is the greatest thing ever. Booking your ride times definitely helps overcome any miserable line waiting experience that would sour your trip. The crowds were incredibly polite and I didn't see one person cut in line by jumping in and out of the Fast Pass line I had been warned to particularly watch out for the Brazilian/Argentine tour groups who seem to be notorious for behaving badly. Apparently it must have been off-season for them. Speaking of which the demographics of the visitors at the Magic Kingdom certainly wasn't the typical melting pot of the US...in fact @Gomig-21 it looked like the crowd you'd see at a Fenway Park Red Sox game 25 years ago...I'll leave it at that.

So ticket prices I believe were in the ~$120 range (wife pre-bought them so I didn't see the exact numbers). Stayed at one of the Disney resort hotels so I got a complimentary bus ride right to the front gate..unfortunately that meant no cool monorail or steamboat ride from the massive parking lot for the kids. There's a few layers of security at the gates. They use your thumbprint to match you with your credit-card type ticket. Didn't do the MagicBands ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagicBands ) as we didn't buy a meal plan. BTW I didn't think the food in the park was outrageously expensive so this meal thing seemed unneeded. Plus we ate breakfast and dinner at the hotel (mostly room service..now THAT is what can add up quick). Bottled water was $3 which is the same my local amusement park charges. The hotel gave us water bottles daily as part of the room price (you can even ask for extra) so we had some in our pockets as we walked in the Disney gates. No need to go crazy and head out and buy a 40 pack at the local wholesale club for probably only $5.50.

Signed up for the Disney PhotoPass ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_PhotoPass ) which I think while pricey (~$200!) is a good investment (basically Disney has dozens of photographers standing in strategic photogenic locations near key attractions (or next to somebody in a Disney character outfit) in all their parks and you get an unlimited number of family pictures taken with quality cameras). They snap the pics and they are automatically uploaded to the Disney App ( https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/mobile-apps/ ) on your phone (free WiFi and free cell phone charging areas too...nice!). Spending money on their photography service gives you an incentive to make sure to have plenty of pictures taken. So between rides we'd throw the kids at the photographers. We ended up with well over 100 cute pics.

You need the free Disney app to schedule your FastPass times. I think many didn't realize you can also order food on it so you don't have to wait in line. I passed many people patiently waiting in regular lines while I waltzed down the relatively empty mobile pre-order line.

to be continued...

 

[Gomig-21]

Hey @Gomig-21 if nobody hits the $1Billion lottery tonight I'm driving to the town of Harvard to buy some. Knowing how it's probably going to be sold in some undeserving town (which would cause a collective groan) I may as well hedge my bets.

In case people are wondering the median income is OVER $300,000 in that town. That's higher than Beverly Hills.

Bro and no one hit on Saturday and now it's 1.6 expected to be around $2 billion by Tuesday LMAO! That is insaaaaane!

 

[Gomig-21]

Speaking of which the demographics of the visitors at the Magic Kingdom certainly wasn't the typical melting pot of the US...in fact @Gomig-21 it looked like the crowd you'd see at a Fenway Park Red Sox game 25 years ago...I'll leave it at that.

Really? That's very interesting, bro. Last time I was there was sometime in the 90's and IIRC, it looked a lot more diverse than I expected but maybe that was an aberration or it just happens to go in cycles or something. Very interesting. A Red Sox crowd 25 years ago was mostly white yuppies combined with some old money ultra white conservatives and 1/4 of the white students from Boston University LOL! Which is essentially what a Bruins crowd looks like all of the time. Good write-up, bro.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Really? That's very interesting, bro. Last time I was there was sometime in the 90's and IIRC, it looked a lot more diverse than I expected but maybe that was an aberration or it just happens to go in cycles or something. Very interesting. A Red Sox crowd 25 years ago was mostly white yuppies combined with some old money ultra white conservatives and 1/4 of the white students from Boston University LOL! Which is essentially what a Bruins crowd looks like all of the time. Good write-up, bro.

Standing bored in a long line of people gives you plenty of time to look around...and I may as well have been in line to get into a Bruin/Red Sox game. I'd elbow the wife saying she's the only Chinese person in line and she'd reply..."That's good!" LOL!

Animal Kingdom was not as striking but still well under the expected stats. By the time I got to Hollywood Studios and Epcot I was too busy rushing around to notice.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

@Oldman1 maybe you can add some retro insights to my early Disney days part above.

Magic Kingdom continued

Some Highlights...

First ride we went on (opened in 1980ish) and my youngest daughter cried. Ah what a way to start the vacation!

Family pic in front of the castle

Had lunch in Cinderella's Castle (the kids in their princess dresses). You need to reserve months in advance and it isn't cheap.

Amazing...the railroad is still around!

Had dinner in the new "Be our Guest" restaurant (the kids in their princess dresses). Again you need to reserve months in advance and it isn't cheap.

This is almost exactly the same as it was when I first went. Very disappointing that it hasn't been updated...since the tech is now dated.

Projection/fireworks show at the Castle. Projections are on the sides of the castle too not just the front.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Magic Kingdom

Using FastPass on the My Disney App to reserve ride time lines!! We booked at least 6 a day. Awesome!

Using FastPass: Green Mickey light means you are allowed into a special line that goes right to the front of the regular line. Awesome!

All the rides listed the estimated wait time in the regular lines. You can see why FastPass is a lifesaver.

Plus free phone charging areas (both USB and outlets) since draining your phone is pretty much guaranteed.

 

[VCheng]

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your turkey be succulent and may the trimmings be plentiful.

And may there be much to be thankful for!

 

[Nilgiri]

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your turkey be succulent and may the trimmings be plentiful.

And may there be much to be thankful for!

@Gomig-21 @Hamartia Antidote @RabzonKhan

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

...continued...That Walt Disney World trip I went on with the family...

Animal Kingdom

Spent two days in Animal Kingdom (opened in 1998). Apparently the Avatar ride was the big attraction so we made sure we had a Fast Pass reservation to it. Again I have to give Disney a thumbs up on making the place look nice.

Oddly enough I purchased the kids their Disney Mouse Ear headbands here instead of at Disney World since they don't completely overwhelm you with large gift shops with a dizzying array of thousands of items you actually realize this was something you were meaning to buy. This is where keeping it simple led to a sale instead of a complete bust.

Just like Magic Kingdom has a castle Animal Kingdom has a very large Tree of Life (fake obviously) inscribed with the pictures of numerous animals (probably every one they could think of.

like the castle they have projection shows at night. Nicely done!

They also have a nice color laser waterscreen show at night. Here's a quick snippet from the 30 minute show. The screens were huge and nicely done (luckily no wind on the night I went). The non-waterscreen stuff was..well..blah.

Avatar ride. Not as impressive as I expected. I liked Soarin' (at Epcot) better

to be continued