Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

there was an extremely cool panoramic train journey movie thing through china

epcot and going in epcot is one of my first memories. no idea what happened in there but it must have been fucked up

last (only?) time i went to disney when i was circa 8yo. space mountain was only a few years old and i was still scared of roller coasters, but i rode it with my (step)dad anyway. managed to avoid voiding myself during, reached the end, my dad lifted the restraining bar, and then there was this last sudden jerk that made my face hit the bar

it wasn't all *that* bad but my dad felt horrible about it for literally the rest of his life

while we’re sharing I hated amusement parks as a kid but kinda enjoyed Epcot because the food was better and it had low key educational shit and nice gardens to walk around in

The water jets at the Epcots gardens (that turned on and off quickly to shoot little coherent arcs of water, which you could catch in your hand) is the only thing I remember about my family's trip to Disney World when I was a kid.

My wife occasionally talks about how we need to go to Disney before the kids are too old and I totally “yes dear” it and continue about my business, confident that the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon that shit ain’t happenin’.

I was taken to OG Disneyland as a cancer kiddie when I was 5, and then to Disney World every spring until I was 11. We always stayed in the Contemporary Resort; my aunt and uncle would go at the same time and stay in the Polynesian Village. While I have no love for Disney now, I picked up an enthusiasm for hotel breakfast buffets that persists even now :)

Disney World is way more than an amusement park, lag∞n otm

DeSantis seems hellbent on being the most despised politician in the country, which doesn't bode well for his political future

― Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, April 26, 2023 3:13 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah, this is the thing, and it’s been said again and again that we can’t underestimate the awfulness of our fellow citizens, but: this guy is a charisma-free zone on top of being powerful troll. There is nothing appealing about this guy, even in a Joker like way. Do other elected Republicans even like him a little bit?

I cannot fathom being a fully grown adult and not finding amusement parks to be a total nightmare. They are the most awful places on earth.

― Goose Bigelow, Fowl Gigolo (the table is the table), Wednesday, April 26, 2023 6:45 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Yes

And even as a kid - I never made it to any Disney property - I felt this way going to Kings Dominion or whatever. Hordes, noise, overpriced everything, endless lines.

Liking him isn't the point, I don't think. It's liking what he does to woke libs.

DeSantis will never be president. Trump “triggered libs” in a mischievous, sort of joyful way from the perspective of his fans. DeSantis’s personality is morbid and obsessive.

The danger of Trump was that he was and is a skilled entertainer. It almost disguised the hatefulness and danger.

If this sort of populist neo-fascist politics has a future in America the leader is more likely to be Tucker than DeSantis. Idk if Tucker has those kinds if ambitions but he could pull off the Trump thing.

The biggest difference between Disney and its closest competitors and peers is both obvious and oft overlooked: Disney has less teen appeal, which means fewer teens, which means less trouble; generally speaking, teens are priced out of going unless they're with their parents, who keep them in (relative) check, vs. Great America or whatever, where teens get dropped off and run amuck. And then next down the list is the (again, relative) lack of alcohol at Disney, which further reduces jackassery.

That has changed hugely, Josh. Even the Magic Kingdom sells beer and wine. And Epcot's food and wine festival is a bacchanal (I've never been).

The danger of Trump was that he was and is a skilled entertainer. It almost disguised the hatefulness and danger.

― treeship.,

See: Reagan, Ronald Wilson.

Teens these days are not trouble. The rebellious hooting and hollering days are over.

For some reason I don’t quite understand.

Xp

Wait, they have beer etc. throughout the Magic Kingdom? Not just at one or two spots now?

I've been to Epcot during the food and wine thing, it was nbd.

Anyway, teens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wCXr_6wgns

Someone, I think it was John Jeremiah Sullivan, wrote a long-form article about going to Disney World with his kids and spending the whole time finding discreet places to get high.

Years ago Rich Juzwiak wrote about using Grindr at Disney World

An old friend used to be a ride operator at Disney in the 90s and worked many a Grad Night and said lots of teens would fuck on the rides.

One night he saw a girl giving head to her bf and he shouted "hey!" and moments later the young man in the ride screamed, for it seems that the yell startled the young lady and she... inadvertently bit him.

Cher once described her marriage to Gregg Allman as like being at Disneyland on acid. Also, all this trippin' at Disney talk reminds me of Escape From Tomorrow, the full-length feature filmed on the down low at Disneyworld.

A former colleague of mine grew up not far from Orlando and used to go to Disney World regularly. He once dropped acid and got off the boat in Pirates. They had to coax him out of the scenery. That was his story, anyway.

https://longform.org/posts/you-blow-my-mind-hey-mickey

That's the one. He's a good writer.

Man, I need to click some of these links!

The thing I *have* always savored in amusement parks are sky gondolas, or cable cars, or whatever you want to call them. I could straight up ride those all day long.

I rode the sky ride at Busch Gardens Williamsburg with my then three year old son. Now, at 19, he still remembers and talks about it.

So I was kind of right, alcohol is not openly served and cannot be carried in the park, so is pretty much limited to table service at the restaurants (which are also expensive and generally require reservations). So "drinking" at Disney is not really a practical thing. Drugs, that's pretty easy, I imagine, though again, it's a high entry point to even get in (if you pardon the pun); why someone would pay $300 a day or whatever to get messed up at Disney is a mystery to me, but different strokes.

You're equating Disney with the Magic Kingdom. At the other three theme parks you can open carry drinks.

I think a Trump theme park would be something like E. Buzz Miller's World of Adventure

"The Tunnel of Noxious Gases"

The Canadian place in Epcot - I think it is called Le Cellier - fed me an utterly perfect meal one time.

Like, just perfect: Salad, wine, steak. I have eaten in some pretty good restaurants but for some reason that one just absolutely hit the spot. No notes whatsoever.

I was at an event at EPCOT about 15 years ago. While we were outside watching the fireworks, some guy maybe 30 yards away collapsed, apparently of a heart attack. They had EMTs on the scene in about five minutes. If I ever have a heart attack, I want to have it at Disney World.

That story also reminds me that Walt originally conceived of EPCOT as a model city of the future.

Main memory of Disneyland Paris is queuing for 40 mins with my kids for the teacup ride to see several entire cups taken up by loan adults. one middleaged German guy filmed himself on an i pad for the whole ride. pretty Tumpish behaviour in retrospect.

I did get some decent wine, tho.

That story also reminds me that Walt originally conceived of EPCOT as a model city of the future.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, April 27, 2023 9:54 AM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

that story is wild, a utopian vision that fell apart when walt realized youre not allowed to be the dictator of your own town in america, he wanted disney employees living there too so he could control their lives 24/7

and he was very serious about it it was the primary project of the last x number of years of his life he basically delegated all the movie and park responsibilities to focus on it

You're equating Disney with the Magic Kingdom. At the other three theme parks you can open carry drinks.

― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, April 27, 2023 8:45 AM (twenty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

It's pretty much compulsory at World Showcase in Epcot, ime.

As much I enjoy this completely insane digression from the pustulant thread subject, there is also reddening's thread of DISNEY PARKS gossip.

The model of the model city at the Space Mountain exit always reminded me of Logan's Run.

that story is wild, a utopian vision that fell apart when walt realized youre not allowed to be the dictator of your own town in america, he wanted disney employees living there too so he could control their lives 24/7

― lag∞n, Thursday, April 27, 2023 10:06 AM bookmarkflaglink

and then they rolled out Celebration, the city that was a very mini version of that, and then divested and sold it, and now homeowners there hate it, and say they have to get approval from property management for just about any cosmetic change, including their garden, and can't even repair their own property because of the way the mortgages are written, they have to go through ownership, who often will leave things like major leaks sitting unrepaired for like years.

(and though I'm aware Homeowners Associations regularly govern things like lawn maintenance/etc, in Celebration, you have very few freedoms to customize your property at all, because the whole idea is that the whole property is supposed to look uniform, like a unit)

lol yeah hoas are about half way to local dictatorship

Was Trump the model for Biff Tannen?

more on Celebration here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/celebration-florida-how-disneys-community-of-tomorrow-became-a-total-nightmare

xpost McMaster!!! (slaps head)

Back to the Future is a Universal property, we are talking about Disney.

I once had a friend that grew up in Celebration, he said it was great.

The Biff of Back to the Future II bears a strong resemblance to the Donald and the Casino and Pleasure Palace is not far off from Trump Tower.

Huh.

https://www.thejournal.ie/biff-tannen-donald-trump-bob-gale-2405112-Oct2015/