There are also solid reasons why waterbeds are no longer a thing in most places, and the top-selling American soft drink (of 1875?), Moxie, disappeared and now seems to be mainly sold in Maine. Yecch.
Hmmm: yes and no. I enjoy theme park rides. I grew up near Hersheypark, and went every year at least once.
Disney though: it’s marketed itself to the point of being nonstop misery.
We were at Disney World in October 1986. It wasn’t crowded AT ALL. I think we waited in one line for 15 minutes - all the others were far shorter. So for YEARS we kept talking about revisiting in October - as soon as the kids were old enough that law enforcement wouldn’t get called on us for leaving them behind. We took the kids to WDW twice, and to Disneyland once. We’d done our time.
So October 2016 was the long-anticipated trip.
And they’d done such a good job of marketing themselves that even then, it was jammed enough that we couldn’t enjoy the rides. Huge letdown. No plans to ever visit again.
I’m traveling with a friend next spring - ending up in California. She wants to spend a day in Disneyland - she’s never been (she’s been to WDW). Cool, but…. I can no longer stand in lines. So the solution is, unfortunately, that SHE will have to stand in line alone, then basically page me when it’s our turn to board the ride. They used to have a way for a disabled person to sort of skip the line, but they’ve cracked down on that.
I have spent a day at the park without waiting in line for any ride- because i just skipped any lines. I went into attractions with no line and ate and people watched and had a great time.
They still do-
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/disability-access-service/
Guests utilizing DAS can enjoy many other experiences throughout the Disneyland Resort during a DAS virtual wait, such as shows, parades, Character greetings, or other rides. They can also take a rest in a break area, get something to eat or go shopping.
So, you show your pass, get a time to return, then do - whatever. When you come back your wait will be a few minutes with other DAS passholders and guests. The Pass is good for the entire party.
Yes - but that is SPECIFICALLY for developmental disabilities (autism etc.).
Used to be, you could kind of skip the line entirely with that - per a friend whose son was on the spectrum. Now, you have to go and get an assigned time to return. You cannot have two such return times active at a time.
My understanding is that this does NOT apply to people with physical disabilities. For that, the only thing I can find on their website is this:
Assisting Guests in Accessing Attraction Queues | Walt Disney World Resort
See “Attraction Queue Re-Entry or Meet-Up“
Where one person has to wait, and the other can meet them right before boarding.
It’s unfortunate that they don’t extend the DAS accommodation for physical disabilities - as written, it means a party MUST split up. Which is doable, but makes for a far less enjoyable visit. And what if your entire party has issues with waiting in a line - not unreasonable for an elderly couple, or whatever.
My issue is orthostatic hypotension - meaning standing in a line is about the single worst thing I can do. So my friend and I will have to split up a fair bit of the time.
Of course, at that point, we’ll have been together 24/7 for 3 weeks, so that might be a good thing 
First, everyone’s tastes are different, so not liking shrimp & grits is fine, and I’m not forcing you to change your mind.
But I also hated shrimp and grits during the time I (as a young teen) was staying with family in Winston-Salem NC, and most of that was that all the stuff I got was being served at pretty cheap places. So the grits were watery, no tangible butter, cream, cheese, and those terrible micro-salad shrimp, or 3-4 limp but bigger ones that looked like they’d been plucked from one of those mass-market “shrimp cocktail” rings.
So a little while back, I decided to make a decidedly upscale option myself where I controlled the quality of all the ingredients. And it was wonderful. Too rich to eat much of in a single serving (and I still overindulged), but totally worth it for me (again, YMMV and it’s fine!) despite a decent bit of work. Recipe here:
And the follow-up with pics!
It’s not as terrible as it sounds. I won’t seek it out again like I did on vacation in Maine this past summer, but it wasn’t unpleasant either.
Yeah, I’d had plenty of grits as a kid, usually as a breakfast dish, and I’d had lots of shrimp in pretty much every other way you can have them. I didn’t actually have shrimp and grits until I was well into my forties, and I was floored that I’d slept on that combination for so long. Done right, it can be fantastic. I can see how it would be awful if not done right, or on the cheap though.
Sure, Moxie was not inedible. Loaded with sugar (so not so healthy), yet not sweet tasting. Impossible for me to imagine as the best selling drink anywhere at any time.
My brother likes it, though.
The one time I tried Moxie (New Hampshire, 1985), it tasted, to me, like liquid pink bubblegum. Not unpleasant, but not something I’d seek out.
This is something I hadn’t “always wanted to try”. But something I stumbled on one day that looked like a great idea until I tried it. Not so; at least not for me.
I made my post in the opposite thread as a counterpoint to others liking, or almost liking, the same thing. But my post really fits here better than there.
If you want a truly memorable and luxurious train trip, I heartily recommend the Rocky Mountaineer. It’s like an American version of the Orient Express, but not quite so formal, snooty, or expensive. They run a number of excursions in the US and Canada. We took the three-day trip through the Canadian Rockies from Vancouver to Jasper in the summer of 2024, and it was spectacular!
The trips are heavily focused on the scenery, with two-level domed observation cars with very comfortable seats. The train stops every afternoon and guests stay in hotels overnight, so you’re not traveling past magnificent vistas in the dark. The on-board breakfasts and lunches are served in a dining area of the car and are excellent (no microwaved fries). Dinners are not included; you eat in your hotel or a nearby restaurant. The on-board attendants provide excellent service and information about the locations and history you’re passing by.
Of course, this level of luxury isn’t cheap. We went for the gold level package, which gets you a seat in the observation car, and better hotels. Although we haven’t done the lower service levels to compare, we found the gold package worth the money.
A steak served with potatoes and onions, covered in molten cheese? Sounds like it could be good, but it would have to be in small portions.
What does come to mind is that if they’re inventing this sort of thing, Europeans are being kind of hypocritical to criticize American food for being high fat, etc…
I suspect portion size was (most of) my downfall.
It was a 12 or 14oz ribeye or NY, I forget which. Covered in what seemed to be a pound of thick molten white cheese. Because of the cheese it was impractical to dissect the meat as I usually do with a ribeye that’s got lots of integral fat zones. And yes, I did eat the whole thing. [You all remember the ad; I don’t need to cite it.]
So too much meat, way too much solid beef fat, and a lot of milk fat to boot. And the whole thing a rather difficult to digest mass. No barfing, but lots of groaning and misery for IIRC ~24 hours.
Oh, man, I was so excited to see Moxie sold in a World Market once in one of those “build a six pack” configurations. Out of a collection selected mainly for novelty and laughs, Moxie was easily the worst of the bunch and the only one I couldn’t finish. About 2/3s of it went down the drain. Much like the Turkish Delight apologists, I have to assume the only other drink option in the late 19th century was shoe polish.
Visited a girl once years ago and the hotel was “The room had a waterbed, is that okay?” to our enthusiastic agreement. Was fun but a weekend was enough. I wouldn’t want it as my everynight bed.
I finally thought of something for this thread: Chicken and waffles.
Okay, I hadn’t always wanted to try it, in fact I first heard about it abount ten years ago when we were living in Las Vegas. So I tried it.
I like chicken, although it’s not usually my first choice for a dinner entree. And I love waffles as a breakfast treat, at home or eating out. But IMHO, putting them together does nothing good for either of them.
I like my waffles hot, with lots of butter and maple syrup, and I prefer sweet things like that at the end of the meal, like you know, dessert. So eating the chicken first and saving the waffle for later means the waffle will be cold.
So, all in all, chicken and waffles is for me, two good things that don’t gain anything from being put together.
FYI, it’s late 2025. A 2006 car (probably made in 2005) is now 20 years old.
…reads OP…
Hm. No one told us there would be math!
True. But when the event happened 3 years ago how old was the car then?
D’oh!
hmmm. A Greek/Italian place serving a Chinese/Peruvian dish. Nothing to be disappointed about…
funny, to me shrimp and grits is such a wonderfully perfect and simple savory dish that I find it hard to imagine someone screwing it up. But your description does indeed sounds horrible