Latest / I Hate Talking / Beating a Dead Horse, Tilting at Windmills, and Universal Studios

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Beating a Dead Horse, Tilting at Windmills, and Universal Studios · I Hate Talking

• 0:32
  I Hate Talking: Welcome to episode 91 of I Hate Talking.
• 0:35
  I Hate Talking: Hi everyone.
• 0:36
  I Hate Talking: So this time we will be doing a phrase, I suppose, for our word or phrase of the episode, but we don't even know what the phrase is exactly, so.
• 0:45
  I Hate Talking: It's a phrase I butchered in the last episode.
• 0:49
  I Hate Talking: I would just say like beating a dead horse, like whatever somebody is doing is akin to beating a dead horse.
• 0:57
  I Hate Talking: He beat the dead horse.
• 0:59
  I Hate Talking: No, like you keep coming back to this particular topic.
• 1:03
  I Hate Talking: It's like beating a dead horse, right?
• 1:05
  I Hate Talking: I mean, I guess you could say it in the past participle form of like he beat a dead horse.
• 1:14
  I Hate Talking: Because He kept doing something over and over again.
• 1:19
  I Hate Talking: But I don't know if that's how the most common usage is, but I would say that beating a dead horse is basically your Typically in conversation, returning to the same topic or argument or trying to reach a certain goal that has never been achieved, so you are beating a dead horse.
• 1:40
  I Hate Talking: And obviously, I think that comes from the fact that If you are trying to get a horse to do something.
• 1:47
  I Hate Talking: Perhaps you would beat them so that they move in the direction that you want them to, but if they're dead, then there's, right, and it's basically a fruit.
• 1:59
  I Hate Talking: Less effort in order to get the horse to move by beating them.
• 2:04
  I Hate Talking: Likewise, whatever thing that you're involved in is a fruitless effort in trying to achieve a certain goal or win a certain argument.
• 2:13
  I Hate Talking: Yep, I agree.
• 2:14
  I Hate Talking: I think that's Yeah, whether it's argument or even like an action.
• 2:19
  I Hate Talking: I would say it could be an action too, like, you keep doing the same thing over and over and you're not getting a different outcome.
• 2:27
  I Hate Talking: You're beating the dead horse.
• 2:29
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 2:31
  I Hate Talking: So it actually shows up as a phrase in our favorite Oxford language dictionary.
• 2:36
  I Hate Talking: Oh nice.
• 2:36
  I Hate Talking: So the particular phrase that they have a definition for is, quote, beat a dead horse, end quote.
• 2:44
  I Hate Talking: Beating a dead horse.
• 2:45
  I Hate Talking: OK, close, yep, and they define that as A waste of energy on a lost cause or a situation that cannot be changed.
• 2:56
  I Hate Talking: So I think we got the definition pretty good there and we're still stumbling over exactly how we would use it.
• 3:02
  I Hate Talking: So I guess neither of us really use this phrase.
• 3:05
  I Hate Talking: Very frequently, no, I mean, it came up in our last episode.
• 3:10
  I Hate Talking: I butchered it and then you and I both struggled back and forth to figure out the proper term.
• 3:16
  I Hate Talking: So the proper term is beat a dead horse, beat a dead horse.
• 3:20
  I Hate Talking: I mean, that's the, I guess, common phraseology change it, right?
• 3:23
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I mean you could change the dead right, yes.
• 3:25
  I Hate Talking: And there are examples here of beating a dead horse.
• 3:29
  I Hate Talking: So according to Gingeroftware.com, which I have no idea why they are talking about beating a dead horse.
• 3:38
  I Hate Talking: So I'm more curious about that now.
• 3:40
  I Hate Talking: I don't know.
• 3:41
  I Hate Talking: I'll look in a moment, but their website has a paragraph on beating a dead horse.
• 3:47
  I Hate Talking: That says, quote, the origin of the expression beat a dead horse comes from the mid-nineteenth century when the practice of beating horses to make them go faster was often viewed as acceptable.
• 3:59
  I Hate Talking: To beat a dead horse would be pointless, as it wouldn't be able to go anywhere.
• 4:03
  I Hate Talking: So according to this.
• 4:06
  I Hate Talking: Mid-nineteenth century is when that became a particular phrase.
• 4:11
  I Hate Talking: OK, according to Ginger.
• 4:13
  I Hate Talking: Ginger software.
• 4:15
  I Hate Talking: I'll look at them in a moment.
• 4:17
  I Hate Talking: Now, there is an interesting search.
• 4:19
  I Hate Talking: Here that is a related search that asks what can I say instead of beating a dead horse.
• 4:25
  I Hate Talking: Chase a rainbow.
• 4:27
  I Hate Talking: Never heard of that.
• 4:29
  I Hate Talking: No, me neither.
• 4:30
  I Hate Talking: Tilt at windmills.
• 4:32
  I Hate Talking: Is that from Don Quixote?
• 4:35
  I Hate Talking: Oh no, I've heard heard those scenes.
• 4:36
  I Hate Talking: Hm.
• 4:37
  I Hate Talking: Fight a losing battle.
• 4:39
  I Hate Talking: OK, I've heard that one.
• 4:40
  I Hate Talking: Bark up the wrong tree, get nowhere.
• 4:45
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, sure.
• 4:46
  I Hate Talking: Go on a wild goose chase, run in circles, waste one's efforts.
• 4:53
  I Hate Talking: Mm.
• 4:54
  I Hate Talking: Not so much.
• 4:56
  I Hate Talking: OK, so I knew half of those.
• 4:59
  I Hate Talking: I'm curious about the tilt at windmills.
• 5:02
  I Hate Talking: I wonder if that's a Don Quixote quote, and if it is, -- that I maybe I'll start using that -- one.
• 5:07
  I Hate Talking: It is like Wishbone did that one.
• 5:09
  I Hate Talking: The TV show Wishbone.
• 5:12
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, Wishbone, a little dog.
• 5:13
  I Hate Talking: I don't think I ever watched it.
• 5:16
  I Hate Talking: I knew that The Wishbone episode on Don Quixote was pretty good.
• 5:21
  I Hate Talking: Maybe I'll watch it sometime.
• 5:22
  I Hate Talking: So, let's see what we're gonna go look at.
• 5:26
  I Hate Talking: Ginger Software.
• 5:27
  I Hate Talking: Why is Ginger Software talking about beating a dead horse?
• 5:29
  I Hate Talking: They apparently, as a company, Ginger Software have a phrase of the day.
• 5:36
  I Hate Talking: Oh, there you go.
• 5:37
  I Hate Talking: Good job, Ginger Software.
• 5:39
  I Hate Talking: Interesting.
• 5:40
  I Hate Talking: And that was their phrase, huh?
• 5:42
  I Hate Talking: I suppose so.
• 5:43
  I Hate Talking: It looks like they are some sort of grammar slash business slash education API provider.
• 5:50
  I Hate Talking: So, Apparently they do a Phrase of the day.
• 5:57
  I Hate Talking: Can I talk about another podcast?
• 6:01
  I Hate Talking: I don't know which one is it.
• 6:02
  I Hate Talking: My favorite one.
• 6:04
  I Hate Talking: Office ladies, no, no.
• 6:07
  I Hate Talking: Theocast.
• 6:09
  I Hate Talking: Joe Rogan.
• 6:12
  I Hate Talking: Um, -- reformed -- fringe.
• 6:17
  I Hate Talking: Julia LaRouche, that's all you listen to.
• 6:24
  I Hate Talking: But, um, my favorite podcast, one of my favorite podcasts I should say.
• 6:30
  I Hate Talking: Uh, it's a husband and wife duo, but it's not us, and they, uh, talk about reality.
• 6:37
  I Hate Talking: TV and the wife early on said a phrase and she got it mixed up.
• 6:44
  I Hate Talking: And it's kind of became their catchphrase, and I've caught myself saying it.
• 6:49
  I Hate Talking: She says, let's get the horse in the water.
• 6:53
  I Hate Talking: And it took them a long time to realize that wasn't a phrase and that she should stop saying it.
• 6:59
  I Hate Talking: But I've caught myself talking to people saying like, OK, let's just get this horse in the water, like, so when you hear people say a phrase, whether it's right or slightly off.
• 7:11
  I Hate Talking: Um, it can be so catchy and just, you just.
• 7:16
  I Hate Talking: Um, adapt it to your terminology.
• 7:19
  I Hate Talking: So I feel like that with this beating the dead horse, or even that's not the term, so I keep messing it up, it's beat a dead horse, right.
• 7:29
  I Hate Talking: And we're gonna beat this dead horse.
• 7:32
  I Hate Talking: On this phrase.
• 7:34
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 7:35
  I Hate Talking: But have you ever heard that get the horse in the water?
• 7:39
  I Hate Talking: No, that that doesn't exist.
• 7:40
  I Hate Talking: What does it sound like a phrase?
• 7:43
  I Hate Talking: It almost sounds like a phrase.
• 7:45
  I Hate Talking: Yes.
• 7:48
  I Hate Talking: So tilting at windmills is actually much earlier than beating a dead horse because it is from Don Quixote.
• 7:57
  I Hate Talking: Tilting at windmills is basically an English idiom that means attacking at imaginary enemies.
• 8:04
  I Hate Talking: And it is from that book that was from.
• 8:08
  I Hate Talking: 1615.
• 8:12
  I Hate Talking: Have you read that book?
• 8:13
  I Hate Talking: -- Or you only watch -- Wishbone?
• 8:15
  I Hate Talking: I, I, I guess I need to add that to my reading list because I actually have not read that book.
• 8:20
  I Hate Talking: I have watched the Wishbone episode many times.
• 8:23
  I Hate Talking: I do feel like I read an abridged version, like a short story, child's version.
• 8:30
  I Hate Talking: Uh, we have a book, you can look at it in our little library.
• 8:35
  I Hate Talking: And it's got like classic stories.
• 8:38
  I Hate Talking: In it, and I'm pretty sure it's one of them.
• 8:41
  I Hate Talking: So I did read it, but it's like.
• 8:44
  I Hate Talking: You know, a 10 minute read.
• 8:46
  I Hate Talking: So according to Wikipedia, it is number 10 on the list of most translated.
• 8:56
  I Hate Talking: Books.
• 8:57
  I Hate Talking: And according to, again, Wikipedia, It says that many well-known authors say that Don Quixote is the best novel of all time, and also go on to say, best and most central work in world literature.
• 9:16
  I Hate Talking: Hm.
• 9:17
  I Hate Talking: In the 10 minute book I read on it, I wasn't impressed, but I'm sure I'm missing a lot in that story.
• 9:25
  I Hate Talking: I guess we need to read that, add that to our list for 2026.
• 9:30
  I Hate Talking: There you go.
• 9:31
  I Hate Talking: It appears to be more popular with Europe.
• 9:35
  I Hate Talking: So a lot of these authors are European authors, BBC are some of the ones doing the polls, so take that for what it's worth.
• 9:44
  I Hate Talking: But perhaps we can say tilting at windmills instead of beating a dead horse, and that will be more politically correct.
• 9:52
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, it sounds nicer, at least.
• 9:55
  I Hate Talking: You don't want to hurt animals.
• 9:57
  I Hate Talking: So, speaking of hurting animals, no animals were harmed during our visit to Universal Studios.
• 10:04
  I Hate Talking: No, at least not that we're aware of.
• 10:07
  I Hate Talking: I hope not.
• 10:09
  I Hate Talking: I don't think I saw any animals at Universal Studios.
• 10:12
  I Hate Talking: Not real ones.
• 10:14
  I Hate Talking: There's like characters.
• 10:16
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 10:17
  I Hate Talking: Well, I mean, I'm just saying like, no, I'm just meaning like animals in general.
• 10:23
  I Hate Talking: Like, sometimes, no, like you, yeah, like squirrels, birds.
• 10:30
  I Hate Talking: We are in the California one.
• 10:33
  I Hate Talking: So you're in a Burbank and by LA.
• 10:37
  I Hate Talking: I don't think there's a lot of wildlife there.
• 10:40
  I Hate Talking: I suppose not.
• 10:40
  I Hate Talking: So, it goes to show you that no animals were harmed during our visit, or maybe they were harmed because they have like, Anti-bird devices that Shoot infrared rays or some sort of high pitched noise that is inaudible to humans to keep the birds away.
• 10:59
  I Hate Talking: Possibly.
• 11:00
  I Hate Talking: Now, what's an animal?
• 11:02
  I Hate Talking: Is a dinosaur an animal or a shark cause we saw those.
• 11:07
  I Hate Talking: We did see this.
• 11:09
  I Hate Talking: Is a goomba an animal?
• 11:11
  I Hate Talking: From Mario.
• 11:14
  I Hate Talking: That is true.
• 11:15
  I Hate Talking: So we did see those kind of animals, but they're all animatronic.
• 11:20
  I Hate Talking: Animatronic animal?
• 11:21
  I Hate Talking: What?
• 11:23
  I Hate Talking: What's a hippogriff?
• 11:25
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, it's a, -- it's a Harry -- Potter.
• 11:28
  I Hate Talking: It's like, yeah, it's a mystical creature, -- mystical -- creature.
• 11:32
  I Hate Talking: I see.
• 11:33
  I Hate Talking: No hippogriffs were harmed either, I suppose.
• 11:35
  I Hate Talking: No, but we did go to Universal.
• 11:38
  I Hate Talking: It was our Big trip this year as a family.
• 11:43
  I Hate Talking: We saved for it and the kids saved their money for a month, and we had a great time.
• 11:52
  I Hate Talking: We did.
• 11:53
  I Hate Talking: It was a lot of waiting and it was a lot of people, but nonetheless, we did have a good time and we did, I think, hit all the necessary rides and points that we wanted to visit during that trip.
• 12:09
  I Hate Talking: So in case you're not aware, we are doing a short, unknown number of episode miniseries on different venues or franchises that we have visited over the last year or so.
• 12:21
  I Hate Talking: So last week we covered Great Wolf Lodge and obviously this week we are doing Universal Studios and it was extremely busy and we bought these tickets and only had one or two dates that we could go and we chose this one and it really would not have mattered if we chose the other date.
• 12:39
  I Hate Talking: It would have been just as busy and actually it would have been probably worse because of the weather and.
• 12:47
  I Hate Talking: So maybe less crowded, but the weather would have been bad.
• 12:50
  I Hate Talking: The weather was not agreeable.
• 12:51
  I Hate Talking: So we had.
• 12:54
  I Hate Talking: The crowds and in fact some of the third party apps or websites that track business or congestion of the various theme parks said.
• 13:06
  I Hate Talking: Don't even think about it because it was so busy.
• 13:10
  I Hate Talking: It's like if you're deciding to go, don't even think about it.
• 13:13
  I Hate Talking: But we already had our tickets.
• 13:15
  I Hate Talking: We were committed, so we went nonetheless.
• 13:17
  I Hate Talking: So, yep, I, um, so like I said, we've saved for this, um, it was our family Christmas gift.
• 13:27
  I Hate Talking: Everyone was excited.
• 13:29
  I Hate Talking: We have Jurassic Park lovers and Mario lovers and Harry Potter lovers in our family, so this was kind of checking everyone's boxes.
• 13:38
  I Hate Talking: I will say one of our saving factors was chat GBT, my good old friend.
• 13:46
  I Hate Talking: I asked him what to do to minimize lines and told him I wanted to hit all three of those worlds.
• 13:53
  I Hate Talking: And he gave me an itinerary that I think was really effective.
• 13:58
  I Hate Talking: It did seem effective.
• 14:00
  I Hate Talking: I think we did avoid some of the longer wait times by doing it in the order that was suggested.
• 14:08
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, if we had done other a different order because we were checking all the apps, um, for wait lines as we were going throughout the day, there's one thing slightly we could have done different, we did.
• 14:21
  I Hate Talking: Jurassic Park before Mario.
• 14:24
  I Hate Talking: But that was uh against chat GPT's recommendation, and that was because one of our kids really wanted to do it, and we knew that it would be better to get that out of the way.
• 14:36
  I Hate Talking: So he could relax and enjoy himself versus being amped up and waiting all through Mario.
• 14:45
  I Hate Talking: I think we would have had less Mario weight had we done Mario first.
• 14:50
  I Hate Talking: But as a family whole experience, our way was better, I think.
• 14:56
  I Hate Talking: I think so, and it was nice to get a ride done without waiting because Jurassic Park ride was nearly walk-on.
• 15:05
  I Hate Talking: Oh yeah, we just, he, I mean, he lucked out.
• 15:08
  I Hate Talking: He wanted to ride front row seats of Jurassic Park.
• 15:12
  I Hate Talking: All we did was walk right on.
• 15:14
  I Hate Talking: I mean, there was one person like boat taking off when we arrived, so we had to wait for them to take off, but we were the next people got on the next boat that showed up, front row and left.
• 15:27
  I Hate Talking: Yes.
• 15:27
  I Hate Talking: And then it is a water ride and there are warnings saying that you will become drenched, but we actually did not become drenched.
• 15:35
  I Hate Talking: I mean, we were a little bit wet.
• 15:36
  I Hate Talking: I was not.
• 15:37
  I Hate Talking: I was surprised.
• 15:38
  I Hate Talking: I was front row.
• 15:39
  I Hate Talking: I see.
• 15:40
  I Hate Talking: So, yes, there were some water features where there's like some waterfalls that sort of splash you and then sort of like a roller coaster water ride, you go down the steep hill into the sort of the lake water area on the guide rails and that also creates some waves and splashes and things.
• 16:01
  I Hate Talking: I was not drenched.
• 16:02
  I Hate Talking: It's not like Some like tidal flume at like Six Flags or something where you will be soaked.
• 16:08
  I Hate Talking: It was definitely more wet than I wanted to be at 9 a.m.
• 16:12
  I Hate Talking: To start my day.
• 16:14
  I Hate Talking: My hair, everything was just.
• 16:16
  I Hate Talking: Wet afterwards, but that was OK.
• 16:19
  I Hate Talking: It was I was pleasantly surprised at how dry I was after the ride.
• 16:22
  I Hate Talking: There you go.
• 16:23
  I Hate Talking: Uh, half our kids came off crying because they were wet and scared.
• 16:30
  I Hate Talking: And um our kid we did it for was so happy.
• 16:35
  I Hate Talking: He had the best time of his life.
• 16:37
  I Hate Talking: Indeed, so Jurassic Park was a 50% hit -- then -- I guess, I guess so.
• 16:44
  I Hate Talking: Would you do it again?
• 16:45
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I would do it again.
• 16:46
  I Hate Talking: Definitely do it again with no wait.
• 16:49
  I Hate Talking: I don't think I'd wait.
• 16:51
  I Hate Talking: When we checked later because he wanted to do it again, that said kid, it was a 2.5 hour wait.
• 16:57
  I Hate Talking: Well, it was also warmer by that time, so I think people.
• 17:01
  I Hate Talking: did not want to get in any way wet in the beginning of the day when it was a little bit colder and then nobody really cared once it was warmer.
• 17:09
  I Hate Talking: Though it was colder at night and it was still like a 2 hour wait.
• 17:12
  I Hate Talking: Uh-huh.
• 17:12
  I Hate Talking: Cause it said that it could be less at nighttime, but it was still really long when we left.
• 17:19
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 17:20
  I Hate Talking: So then from Jurassic Park ride we went to Mario World, yep, yeah, so that took a long time.
• 17:30
  I Hate Talking: We got on saying in 2 hours, it ended up taking 3, a little over 3 hours.
• 17:38
  I Hate Talking: You can't even make this up.
• 17:39
  I Hate Talking: We were the literal next people to get on the ride and it broke.
• 17:43
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 17:45
  I Hate Talking: But before we even got in line, we did do some of the like Mario Watch activities where you can like hit power blocks and collect coins and things like that.
• 17:55
  I Hate Talking: So it's almost sort of like our previous episode where we talked about the Magic Quest, where like, you probably could spend the entire day there collecting like the 50 different things that are within Mario world that you collect through this RFID watch type thing.
• 18:10
  I Hate Talking: So, we, I think got 4.
• 18:14
  I Hate Talking: Right, so the recommendation I got from people that have been there, just so y'all hear it, is, yeah, you can purchase these watches and play this game in Mario World, where you click points, or you can ride the ride.
• 18:30
  I Hate Talking: People are like, you have to do one or the other, you will not have time to ride the ride and do the game.
• 18:36
  I Hate Talking: Unless it's like the only thing you do for the day.
• 18:39
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I guess, supposedly, I guess.
• 18:41
  I Hate Talking: We knew that going into it, we knew we wanted to do the ride, but we had a child who really wanted to play the game too.
• 18:50
  I Hate Talking: So we just told him we're not gonna complete the game.
• 18:53
  I Hate Talking: Just as we've learned from.
• 18:56
  I Hate Talking: Uh, great wolf.
• 18:58
  I Hate Talking: We're gonna get it and play as much as we can, and that's it.
• 19:03
  I Hate Talking: And he was happy with that.
• 19:04
  I Hate Talking: So he was the one that got the watch and he played the games throughout any opportunity he got.
• 19:11
  I Hate Talking: That's true, but we did not complete it.
• 19:14
  I Hate Talking: Yes, and then, as you mentioned, we were next in line to ride the ride when it Became defunct, not completely, because they did repair it and we did get eventually to ride, but it was at least another 30 to 45 minute wait, I would say.
• 19:30
  I Hate Talking: Now, the good thing is that we did do Jurassic Park ride first because if we had gone directly to Mario World, we may have been on the ride when it broke.
• 19:43
  I Hate Talking: And then I don't think they give you like another chance.
• 19:46
  I Hate Talking: They just say, sorry.
• 19:47
  I Hate Talking: Go wait in line again if you wanna try again.
• 19:50
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 19:51
  I Hate Talking: OK, so that is a really good perspective.
• 19:53
  I Hate Talking: I didn't think about.
• 19:54
  I Hate Talking: Had we done that, cause we walked on to Jurassic Park, that road ride took less than 5 minutes.
• 20:01
  I Hate Talking: 5 minutes earlier, we would have been on the ride, 5 to 10 minutes earlier.
• 20:06
  I Hate Talking: And uh on Mario, had we gone directly there?
• 20:10
  I Hate Talking: And because our family is so large, we had to take several cars.
• 20:17
  I Hate Talking: We would have been separated, and I don't know if they kept playing the music or games or whatever while it was broken, you were sitting there.
• 20:25
  I Hate Talking: But that would be so annoying to be sitting on that ride for that lawn with the music and lights blaring.
• 20:32
  I Hate Talking: Indeed, yes.
• 20:34
  I Hate Talking: And I don't think I think the worst part, I don't think so.
• 20:36
  I Hate Talking: I mean, maybe they came and collected them and they have like a walkway exit, but again, I don't think that they're letting you try again.
• 20:45
  I Hate Talking: You're basically, you're sitting there until the ride turns back on and you finish the ride and it's sort of -- then you get off -- not really that enjoyable of an experience at that point.
• 20:54
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 20:55
  I Hate Talking: That's such a good perspective.
• 20:56
  I Hate Talking: I didn't even think about that.
• 20:57
  I Hate Talking: That would have been so frustrating.
• 21:00
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 21:00
  I Hate Talking: So we had to wait the additional time, but we did get to experience the ride as it was designed in its full.
• 21:09
  I Hate Talking: What's it called?
• 21:11
  I Hate Talking: Augmented, it's full augmented reality aspect and be able to shoot all our shells and bananas and collect all the coins and things like that.
• 21:21
  I Hate Talking: And we're not interrupted by the ride breaking.
• 21:24
  I Hate Talking: Right?
• 21:25
  I Hate Talking: And I've been just stress having everyone separated too, I think.
• 21:28
  I Hate Talking: I would have been looking around watching to check, make sure everyone's OK.
• 21:32
  I Hate Talking: So, I mean, and it was sort of nice cause we were right at the steps when they separate you.
• 21:39
  I Hate Talking: So we just sat down.
• 21:41
  I Hate Talking: We were like, well, this is the best spot to sit, I guess.
• 21:44
  I Hate Talking: We had plenty of space and had to stretch out.
• 21:47
  I Hate Talking: But it was also frustrating being like, we're so close.
• 21:51
  I Hate Talking: Yes.
• 21:52
  I Hate Talking: So we finished that ride and I think probably collected one more power block on our way out, but I think people were hungry by that time.
• 22:00
  I Hate Talking: So we attempted to pre-order food at the Krusty Burger in the Simpsons area, which we did not even attempt the Simpson ride.
• 22:10
  I Hate Talking: Nobody was really particularly interested in that, and I think it was like a 2 hour wait.
• 22:14
  I Hate Talking: So we did go into the Krusty Burger restaurant.
• 22:18
  I Hate Talking: And pre-ordered the food online and it was busy.
• 22:23
  I Hate Talking: There's a lot of people.
• 22:24
  I Hate Talking: It was hard to find a table.
• 22:25
  I Hate Talking: Oh yeah, OK, first back up.
• 22:27
  I Hate Talking: So Mario, would you recommend the ride?
• 22:30
  I Hate Talking: Yes, it was not my favorite of the day, but I would definitely do that one again as well.
• 22:35
  I Hate Talking: Would you recommend the game?
• 22:36
  I Hate Talking: It's so close to Magic Quest.
• 22:40
  I Hate Talking: I guess I don't like these quote unquote games where you just like walk around and collect things and it's You don't really get anything, like, even a game where you do that in, like, Nintendo or something, at least you're like, getting power ups and like, Different weapons and things like that where it's a bit of a grind, but you are getting like some.
• 23:02
  I Hate Talking: Special item that you can then use in later parts of the game.
• 23:07
  I Hate Talking: So it's not to say that I don't dislike grinding video games.
• 23:12
  I Hate Talking: Altogether, but Just doing it in person for very little recognition and reward does not seem valuable to me.
• 23:21
  I Hate Talking: OK?
• 23:22
  I Hate Talking: For me, I would do the ride again.
• 23:24
  I Hate Talking: If I was with my kids, they had so much fun.
• 23:28
  I Hate Talking: I enjoyed it.
• 23:29
  I Hate Talking: I don't feel a need to ever do it again.
• 23:31
  I Hate Talking: But they had a blast, so I'd do it for them.
• 23:35
  I Hate Talking: Or if it was a walk-on, sure, I would not wait 3.5 hours again.
• 23:42
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 23:43
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I don't know if I would wait that long again with your same conditions, so.
• 23:47
  I Hate Talking: And then the game again, they enjoyed it.
• 23:50
  I Hate Talking: I still don't even know the price of it because you bought them.
• 23:53
  I Hate Talking: So I'd do it again, I guess, because in my head it was free, but if it was expensive, then no.
• 24:00
  I Hate Talking: Well, it definitely wasn't free.
• 24:02
  I Hate Talking: Then we are back to Krusty Burger.
• 24:05
  I Hate Talking: OK, so for Krusty Burger.
• 24:07
  I Hate Talking: We pre-ordered it, like you said, thinking once we're off the ride, but basically by the time we walk there, the food will be ready, perfect.
• 24:17
  I Hate Talking: Well, then it was an 1.5 hour wait, so everybody apparently wanted food at that exact moment.
• 24:26
  I Hate Talking: But we did it and so we hit send and then we went and waited for our food.
• 24:31
  I Hate Talking: And we did buy a $13 donut on the way while we were waiting because there were a lot of people that were hungry.
• 24:40
  I Hate Talking: And to be fair, it is a large donut.
• 24:43
  I Hate Talking: So whatever the donut theme is from Simpsons, it's basically this doughnut that's probably the equivalent of 4 donuts, I guess.
• 24:51
  I Hate Talking: So it's still an overpriced donut, but it's not as bad as it sounds.
• 24:56
  I Hate Talking: It's fun.
• 24:57
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, it's huge and really fun.
• 24:59
  I Hate Talking: And we got a nice table while we waited for our food and some of the kids slept, took a nap.
• 25:06
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 25:06
  I Hate Talking: Well, it took a while to find a table, but we did get one and then sort of camped out there until the food was ready.
• 25:11
  I Hate Talking: And apparently you were the one that went to get the food and said it was like almost a near riot downstairs where the food was being prepared and served.
• 25:21
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I brought one of my kids with me.
• 25:24
  I Hate Talking: We got the message on the app, the food's ready.
• 25:26
  I Hate Talking: So I sent one of my kids down with me to get the food, cause we each got a burger and drinks or whatever, I guess no drinks, burgers and fries is what we got.
• 25:35
  I Hate Talking: And it was insane.
• 25:38
  I Hate Talking: Like, I did push through crowds, like it was like a mosh pit down there, trying to like, I just told my kid like, stay with me, hold on, and we had to push our way through to the front.
• 25:48
  I Hate Talking: And then we had to wait a long while.
• 25:51
  I Hate Talking: For our food, even though it said it was ready.
• 25:54
  I Hate Talking: And then people were mad cause I guess they also.
• 25:57
  I Hate Talking: Had messages saying their food was ready, but apparently that wasn't true either.
• 26:02
  I Hate Talking: And people trying to take other people's food.
• 26:05
  I Hate Talking: It was insane.
• 26:06
  I Hate Talking: And so I was trying to be so polite and like, kind to them, cause one, they're hard workers, right?
• 26:13
  I Hate Talking: Like, behind the desk, they were working so hard.
• 26:16
  I Hate Talking: So, uh, kudos to them, I appreciate them.
• 26:20
  I Hate Talking: 2 You know, they're human beings, no matter who they are, they don't deserve to be yelled at.
• 26:27
  I Hate Talking: And 3, I don't want them spitting in my food.
• 26:31
  I Hate Talking: So I was trying to be so patient and optimistic and kind.
• 26:35
  I Hate Talking: Uh, I was definitely wanting my food.
• 26:38
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 26:40
  I Hate Talking: And then the food wasn't like bad, but it wasn't really good either.
• 26:44
  I Hate Talking: It reminded me of like a frozen Costco hamburger.
• 26:47
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I was gonna say, I actually was surprised at the quality, like, I thought like, oh, this is good, but I had such low expectations.
• 26:55
  I Hate Talking: For fast food at a theme park, it was good.
• 27:01
  I Hate Talking: -- It was -- good, yep, but like if I went to a restaurant to sit down and eat it, no.
• 27:05
  I Hate Talking: Well, it's no Disney though, like Disney food is good, yeah.
• 27:09
  I Hate Talking: But I also think it's cheaper than Disney too.
• 27:12
  I Hate Talking: It wasn't, I wasn't outrageous.
• 27:14
  I Hate Talking: It wasn't outrageous.
• 27:15
  I Hate Talking: So we got the food, people got naps.
• 27:19
  I Hate Talking: Everyone ate, so we were energized for, so, OK, would you eat at Krusty Burgers again?
• 27:25
  I Hate Talking: You wouldn't let our kids watch it.
• 27:29
  I Hate Talking: While we were waiting for the food, I wanted to show them an episode of The Simpsons.
• 27:33
  I Hate Talking: They've never seen it.
• 27:34
  I Hate Talking: I wanted to show them a Crusty Burgers episode cause they didn't understand.
• 27:38
  I Hate Talking: All this stuff around them and what people were talking about.
• 27:42
  I Hate Talking: But you didn't let me.
• 27:44
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I mean, I think most episodes probably are kid appropriate, but like, I don't know the Simpsons anthology well enough to know which ones are questionable, which ones are acceptable.
• 27:56
  I Hate Talking: How much Simpsons have you watched?
• 27:57
  I Hate Talking: Probably the equivalent of.
• 28:00
  I Hate Talking: 2 to 3 seasons -- Like early seasons or just a mix -- whenever it was on Fox during the like animated two hour thing.
• 28:11
  I Hate Talking: Interesting.
• 28:11
  I Hate Talking: So I grew up with The Simpsons, which is surprising for people because we weren't allowed to watch a lot of stuff, but The Simpsons was our family show we watched every week.
• 28:22
  I Hate Talking: But I don't let my kids, and I don't think it's that bad actually compared to a lot of, I feel like Family Guy is more crude.
• 28:29
  I Hate Talking: But I still don't think my kids are ready for Simpsons, because I think they would idolize Bart Simpson.
• 28:36
  I Hate Talking: Mm, I think they would think he was really funny and he's rude and not who I want my boys to idolize.
• 28:45
  I Hate Talking: I think they need to be older.
• 28:47
  I Hate Talking: That's true.
• 28:49
  I Hate Talking: So, yes, you would eat there again, or no, you would not.
• 28:52
  I Hate Talking: I mean, if I had to, but it's not like I'm gonna go out of my way to eat there.
• 28:56
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I mean, I'm indifferent.
• 28:59
  I Hate Talking: So after that, we went to the studio tour, which you I did not want to do.
• 29:04
  I Hate Talking: I had to force you.
• 29:05
  I Hate Talking: He didn't force me, but I was not excited about it.
• 29:09
  I Hate Talking: -- I -- was like, well, yeah, I was like, why don't we just go do something else?
• 29:13
  I Hate Talking: Because I had erroneous expectations on what the studio tour was.
• 29:18
  I Hate Talking: Oh, that's a good word for next time.
• 29:19
  I Hate Talking: Eerroneous.
• 29:21
  I Hate Talking: Maybe I've already done it.
• 29:23
  I Hate Talking: I don't know.
• 29:23
  I Hate Talking: But the expectation that I had that was erroneous was like driving on this little tram, seeing the sets.
• 29:32
  I Hate Talking: And that was it.
• 29:34
  I Hate Talking: Which that was part of the tour, the studio tour, where you drive around the back lot and you see like the different sound studios and stages that are enclosed within buildings and you don't actually see inside the buildings, but you see the exterior of the building and you see the different like exterior sets like the downtown area or some different venues that have like a beach vibe or a hotel thing or whatever the case may be.
• 30:02
  I Hate Talking: So that was part of the studio tour ride.
• 30:05
  I Hate Talking: But I had zero understanding that there was actually like a true ride where like they clamp the tram down to this hydraulic thing and actually like move the tram around as you're inside a 3D environment video screen area.
• 30:24
  I Hate Talking: So that was very impressive and I enjoyed it.
• 30:27
  I Hate Talking: I had very low expectations, but I did enjoy it.
• 30:31
  I Hate Talking: OK, good.
• 30:32
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I knew some of it.
• 30:33
  I Hate Talking: And I, I mean, I haven't been here since I was a child.
• 30:37
  I Hate Talking: Uh, so I remember that ride from my childhood.
• 30:41
  I Hate Talking: And then since then people have told me, oh, it's really good too.
• 30:45
  I Hate Talking: They have a 3D part, you gotta go.
• 30:47
  I Hate Talking: So I did kind of uh usher us onto it, even though no one wanted to.
• 30:54
  I Hate Talking: I convinced one of our kids to be my backup because he loves Jaws and sharks.
• 31:01
  I Hate Talking: So there's a Jaws scene in it.
• 31:04
  I Hate Talking: Godzilla, he loves Godzilla, and that was in it, so I was able to convince him to back me up and rally the troops, and we all went on the ride.
• 31:13
  I Hate Talking: And yeah, it was a really fun time.
• 31:15
  I Hate Talking: I think we've liked it.
• 31:16
  I Hate Talking: So would you do the studio tour again?
• 31:19
  I Hate Talking: Yes, I definitely do the studio tour.
• 31:22
  I Hate Talking: I think that was probably my favorite ride of the entire day.
• 31:24
  I Hate Talking: Is it because you didn't sit with us?
• 31:27
  I Hate Talking: No, it's because.
• 31:29
  I Hate Talking: It was enjoyable.
• 31:30
  I Hate Talking: Would you have enjoyed it more if you sat with us?
• 31:33
  I Hate Talking: I did, yeah, I guess I don't think that really played a part in the fact that I enjoyed it or not.
• 31:40
  I Hate Talking: OK, so that part was my error, Adam not sitting with us.
• 31:44
  I Hate Talking: I had previously counted rows, but I didn't count every row, there's like 8 rows, and they all had like 6 seats.
• 31:51
  I Hate Talking: I'm like, OK, perfect, we're good.
• 31:52
  I Hate Talking: Except I didn't count row one.
• 31:55
  I Hate Talking: That only has 5 seats.
• 31:58
  I Hate Talking: So they told us sit wherever, like go to your next seat.
• 32:01
  I Hate Talking: So I just sat us in that row.
• 32:04
  I Hate Talking: It was pretty chaotic.
• 32:05
  I Hate Talking: They were just like, go, go, go.
• 32:07
  I Hate Talking: So we went in our row one and then realized, oh, there, there's not enough seats.
• 32:11
  I Hate Talking: So then you went behind us, sat with strangers.
• 32:15
  I Hate Talking: Indeed.
• 32:15
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I thought it was really good.
• 32:18
  I Hate Talking: I don't think it was my favorite, but I'm glad I did it.
• 32:20
  I Hate Talking: And the wait time versus ride time.
• 32:24
  I Hate Talking: It was good.
• 32:26
  I Hate Talking: That's true, yeah, you're still waiting 1 hour plus, but the actual, yeah, yeah, it's 45 minutes to an hour, yep.
• 32:33
  I Hate Talking: And it was kind of nice cause we're all tired.
• 32:35
  I Hate Talking: It's midday.
• 32:36
  I Hate Talking: It was a good time just to sit and watch versus standing or walking.
• 32:41
  I Hate Talking: Indeed.
• 32:43
  I Hate Talking: And then we did do a whole bunch of walking after that because we went to the Harry Potter world area and I think went back and forth within that same area like 3 or 4 times.
• 32:54
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, it's Hogmeades.
• 32:55
  I Hate Talking: We got to walk around Hogmeades.
• 32:57
  I Hate Talking: Oh, it was so fun.
• 32:59
  I Hate Talking: So I've uh developed a love for Harry Potter.
• 33:02
  I Hate Talking: So I fully enjoyed it and all the added stuff to it, and several of our kids are really into Harry Potter, so they got wands, that was their big thing, they saved all their money to go to the wand store and purchase a wand.
• 33:18
  I Hate Talking: And had the best time.
• 33:21
  I Hate Talking: Yes, and they even wore their Harry Potter capes and drank butterbeer and like you said, got their wands, and that was again like the magic quest.
• 33:31
  I Hate Talking: They have like a little IR reader in the end of the wand and it can point at certain features within the park area and it does something.
• 33:41
  I Hate Talking: So it's not a quest, it's more of like just interactive.
• 33:45
  I Hate Talking: Things that you can do with your wand as you're going about from place to place within the Harry Potter world area.
• 33:51
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, and again, once again, we did not do all the interactive things with their wands you could, but they did a couple and they just loved it.
• 33:58
  I Hate Talking: And the thing they loved the most was how they would, like, say the spells at people, like the workers especially, but even visitors, and they would all interact, like, a lot of the visitors knew the spells, so like, the binding one they did, like this stranger.
• 34:15
  I Hate Talking: Just like acted like he was bound and it was really fun.
• 34:18
  I Hate Talking: And so it was definitely an experience.
• 34:21
  I Hate Talking: And then I guess our last ride was the Flight of the hippogriff.
• 34:26
  I Hate Talking: Yes, so that was our last thing we did.
• 34:28
  I Hate Talking: Uh, it was kind of spur of the moment, like, the line wasn't too too long, we're about to leave, cause the kids that wanted Harry Potter World, they just wanted to walk around Hogsmead and get a wand and get butter beer and all that.
• 34:43
  I Hate Talking: They wanted the experience.
• 34:45
  I Hate Talking: But the Flight of the Hippogriff wasn't too long.
• 34:49
  I Hate Talking: -- There was a Harry Potter -- by not too long, you mean only 60 minutes instead of 180, right, but it was less than that.
• 34:58
  I Hate Talking: Because I had to exit with one of our children, I went and got him ice cream afterwards, expecting it to be another half hour, and y'all were done.
• 35:07
  I Hate Talking: That's true, yeah, so we were not that far away when you had to depart.
• 35:11
  I Hate Talking: So, and.
• 35:13
  I Hate Talking: It was good to do the ride.
• 35:15
  I Hate Talking: I think the kids that did do the ride were happy that they did the ride because otherwise they would have not known whether it was enjoyable or not.
• 35:22
  I Hate Talking: But the general report on that particular ride was that the weight to ride ratio was the complete opposite direction of studio tour because that ride was like 15 seconds long.
• 35:36
  I Hate Talking: It seemed.
• 35:36
  I Hate Talking: It's probably longer, but it was extremely short.
• 35:40
  I Hate Talking: -- It -- took longer to clamp down on the.
• 35:42
  I Hate Talking: Pretty much, yes.
• 35:43
  I Hate Talking: So what would you rate first the Harry Potter world like Hogsmeade and all that, and then secondary, the ride.
• 35:52
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I'm not a particular big fan of Harry Potter, so I could take it or leave it.
• 35:58
  I Hate Talking: The hippogriff coaster was not bad, but it was extremely short, and I would agree with the consensus of the rest of the kids that it was not worth that long of a wait.
• 36:08
  I Hate Talking: OK, I really like Harry Potter.
• 36:11
  I Hate Talking: I had my Ravenclaw.
• 36:14
  I Hate Talking: Shirt and scarf that I was wearing.
• 36:17
  I Hate Talking: I loved walking around Hogsmeade, so much fun.
• 36:21
  I Hate Talking: I didn't ride the ride Uh, and I wasn't sad about not riding the ride.
• 36:27
  I Hate Talking: It was beautiful to walk around and also it's Christmas time.
• 36:30
  I Hate Talking: So everything was decked out like Christmassy, and it was so pretty.
• 36:36
  I Hate Talking: I loved it.
• 36:37
  I Hate Talking: Indeed, and then from there we departed and Went and got the car, which was parked at a place that again required paid parking.
• 36:47
  I Hate Talking: Now that was something that we did splurge a little bit on to get preferred parking, and that was definitely worth it.
• 36:55
  I Hate Talking: I think it was like only an extra what, $10 or something.
• 36:57
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, it was $10 more and it was so worth it.
• 37:01
  I Hate Talking: It was way better.
• 37:02
  I Hate Talking: Yes, because that was walking distance.
• 37:03
  I Hate Talking: You don't have to ride like a tram to go to and from your car.
• 37:06
  I Hate Talking: We only had to go.
• 37:07
  I Hate Talking: Up like 2 flights of escalators and you're right there within the park, so that was well worth it, right?
• 37:13
  I Hate Talking: Because we also, we didn't say this, we got there really early before they opened.
• 37:17
  I Hate Talking: Because we wanted to be through security when they opened, so we could hit up everything quickly because it was so crowded.
• 37:25
  I Hate Talking: So yeah, we had great parking and that was really nice because it, there's nothing worse than at the end of the day when you're all tired and your legs are sore.
• 37:35
  I Hate Talking: And you're exhausted, and then you have to wait for the tram, and then you have to walk.
• 37:40
  I Hate Talking: Another mile or whatever.
• 37:43
  I Hate Talking: So it was really nice to have a very short walk to our car.
• 37:48
  I Hate Talking: Indeed.
• 37:49
  I Hate Talking: So I guess like Great Wolf Lodge, Universal Studios is sort of a chain slash franchise, right?
• 37:55
  I Hate Talking: They have one in Florida and one in California.
• 37:57
  I Hate Talking: So there you go.
• 37:59
  I Hate Talking: So would you go again?
• 38:00
  I Hate Talking: I would go again, but I would try my hardest to go on a day that is not quite as busy.
• 38:08
  I Hate Talking: Fair enough.
• 38:09
  I Hate Talking: It was also a lot more expensive than I thought because like, yes, the tickets were expensive, but I think when I calculated it, like we spent more in the park than we did for the tickets themselves after all the souvenirs, which again was planned because the kids had saved their money for these things, um, so that they could purchase them.
• 38:30
  I Hate Talking: This was our big event for 2025, so it was not unexpected.
• 38:35
  I Hate Talking: But a little bit unexpected, just in the sheer amount that Of how much it really was after all the expenses for souvenirs, watches, the food, the donut.
• 38:48
  I Hate Talking: There was other stuff that we bought along the way.
• 38:50
  I Hate Talking: I don't know what that was, but Maybe we need to check on that then, cause I don't know what else we bought much.
• 38:56
  I Hate Talking: The butter beer.
• 38:57
  I Hate Talking: OK, because we didn't really buy drinks and we bought better beer.
• 39:02
  I Hate Talking: I bought our kid ice cream.
• 39:05
  I Hate Talking: Thinking we didn't get a ton of stuff.
• 39:09
  I Hate Talking: And then just fast food is expensive.
• 39:11
  I Hate Talking: We stopped at fast food on the way home and it's like -- $80 for -- that's why I was kind of surprised at Krusty Burgers pricing.
• 39:18
  I Hate Talking: I was like, it's not that much more.
• 39:20
  I Hate Talking: That's true, I guess that's true.
• 39:22
  I Hate Talking: Everything's up.
• 39:23
  I Hate Talking: It's expensive.
• 39:24
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I mean, it was definitely a splurge.
• 39:26
  I Hate Talking: Appreciate that we were able to do it.
• 39:28
  I Hate Talking: Yes, I do wanna say that our kids saved for months, and this is, they took their Christmas money from grandparents for this, you know, this was our Christmas present as a family.
• 39:40
  I Hate Talking: So, um, it was expensive and it's not, if we went again, I don't think we'd splurge on like let's get wands, let's get the watches, like, hopefully we'd bring those items with us, but this was a splurge because we'd saved for so long.
• 39:57
  I Hate Talking: Indeed.
• 39:58
  I Hate Talking: So that is our review of Universal Studios, -- and do we know what we're doing next -- time or the next episode or the vacation?
• 40:06
  I Hate Talking: No, the next episode.
• 40:07
  I Hate Talking: We do not.
• 40:10
  I Hate Talking: So we'll find out next time and your listeners can find out next time on what we'll be talking about in the following episode.
• 40:19
  I Hate Talking: So from your friends at I Hate Talking, until next time, remember, it is only through talking that we begin the journey to understanding.