Boston and Washington Spring 2016 - Boys, Blades and Balls! - Day 4 (Skating, Aquarium, Common)

[SEAWORLD FAN]

Oh April, talk about an awkward situation with the seats. I would have had no clue how to handle it. Poor you.

And poor R.C. with his revised budget today - just a slice of pizza for lunch!

Talking of food, I must stop reading and make dinner. I would usually be dishing up by now but I have lost track of time and am only about to start

[Guest]

Originally Posted by SEAWORLD FAN

Oh April, talk about an awkward situation with the seats. I would have had no clue how to handle it. Poor you.

And poor R.C. with his revised budget today - just a slice of pizza for lunch!

Talking of food, I must stop reading and make dinner. I would usually be dishing up by now but I have lost track of time and am only about to start

See more...

Oh, it was awkward - and unfortunately it got worse. I've written this before, but I think public places are going to need to develop protocols for managing this type of situation. The problem's only getting worse.

R.C. had no-one to blame but himself! I think, like a lot of men, he doesn't ever want to look cheap - so when the waiter at yesterday's restaurant suggested the $$$ meal - he just acquiesced. Whereas I would have absolutely NO PROBLEM saying, "Oh, dear - that one's not in the budget today." It helps being a woman, obviously. We can open our eyes really wide and say things like, "Heavens, my husband would be EVER SO CROSS with me if I spent that much without speaking to him first."

LOL - I'm a bad feminist. Hope the dinner was delish!

[Cazzius]

Another great day at the skating.
I love Medvedeva's skating dress with the diamante over the front.

I agree that the Italian theme/outfits are behaps a little tasteless. I wonder how they got all the way to Boston with no one (family/friends/coaches) suggesting to them that it might be a bad idea!

Oh.My.Gosh. I think I would have died with embarrassment at your seating problem. As you said before, something may need to be done in the future. Top marks to the steward for their handling of the situation though.
I find it odd though, as (generalising here) many hockey fans would be men. Men like to man-spread in seats... so you would think the seats would be a little roomier for their regular clientele.

We got to the rugby a bit and really enjoy it, and there are family sections at a few stadiums which I think is a good idea. The seats there are small-ish too, and while myself and the BF aren't quite Baymax, we are leading towards the Pooh end of the spectrum. All it takes if a few big chaps (and ladies) in a row, all bundled up in winter coats and it becomes very snug. We always try to book an aisle seat because of this.

maybe a solution would be to have armrests between each seat like at the theatre to stop people overspilling?

Originally Posted by GopherLass

And *somewhat related*...I read this week that some of the slides at Volcano Bay have SCALES that you must step on before you go on them...what is Universal's thing with chubby people?

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*spoilers* for my trippie but I didn't go on 2 rollercoasters at Universal due to fear about fitting, and we didn't go to Volcano Bay as I was worried. I also left a ride at Disney in tears
Universal is far worse though and considering they are in America where people tend to be of a larger build you would think they would take that into consideration *grumble* :angry:

Another good day for Poot and RC though. I love love love aquariums and am always happy to hear about another good one to visit.
Poot's photo of the jellyfish and the frog are excellent, he did a great job capturing the colours as it isn't always easy in aquarium lighting.

How wonderful they have a petting area too, I really like rays and they way they glide through the water.
If you ever get to South Africa on your travels I can recommend the aquarium in Cape Town. They have penguins living on the top floor and they have their own wave pool.
The aquarium at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, SC is good too as it starts at the rives and you follow the water down to the ocean, seeing all the different fish and creatures that live in each area as you go.

Poor RC with his reduced budget, but pizza and burritos sounds like a good (if slightly naughty) day to me - which is probably the cause of my Universal worries, hahaha!

I'm really enjoying your report so far, but am already cringing at the thought of more seat awkwardness!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Cazzius

Another great day at the skating.
I love Medvedeva's skating dress with the diamante over the front.

I agree that the Italian theme/outfits are behaps a little tasteless. I wonder how they got all the way to Boston with no one (family/friends/coaches) suggesting to them that it might be a bad idea!

Oh.My.Gosh. I think I would have died with embarrassment at your seating problem. As you said before, something may need to be done in the future. Top marks to the steward for their handling of the situation though.
I find it odd though, as (generalising here) many hockey fans would be men. Men like to man-spread in seats... so you would think the seats would be a little roomier for their regular clientele.

We got to the rugby a bit and really enjoy it, and there are family sections at a few stadiums which I think is a good idea. The seats there are small-ish too, and while myself and the BF aren't quite Baymax, we are leading towards the Pooh end of the spectrum. All it takes if a few big chaps (and ladies) in a row, all bundled up in winter coats and it becomes very snug. We always try to book an aisle seat because of this.

maybe a solution would be to have armrests between each seat like at the theatre to stop people overspilling?



*spoilers* for my trippie but I didn't go on 2 rollercoasters at Universal due to fear about fitting, and we didn't go to Volcano Bay as I was worried. I also left a ride at Disney in tears
Universal is far worse though and considering they are in America where people tend to be of a larger build you would think they would take that into consideration *grumble* :angry:

Another good day for Poot and RC though. I love love love aquariums and am always happy to hear about another good one to visit.
Poot's photo of the jellyfish and the frog are excellent, he did a great job capturing the colours as it isn't always easy in aquarium lighting.

How wonderful they have a petting area too, I really like rays and they way they glide through the water.
If you ever get to South Africa on your travels I can recommend the aquarium in Cape Town. They have penguins living on the top floor and they have their own wave pool.
The aquarium at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, SC is good too as it starts at the rives and you follow the water down to the ocean, seeing all the different fish and creatures that live in each area as you go.

Poor RC with his reduced budget, but pizza and burritos sounds like a good (if slightly naughty) day to me - which is probably the cause of my Universal worries, hahaha!

I'm really enjoying your report so far, but am already cringing at the thought of more seat awkwardness!

See more...

As you know by now, the business with the seats got worse. Much as we would all like to snap our fingers and "fix" the obesity problem in America (and here, too!), the reality is we must come up with some new strategies to cope with these everyday challenges. Because otherwise we will create an Us vs. Them culture...and in fact we saw a little bit of that at WDW.

We were leaving MK after the Halloween Party, and there was a very large (to use your language we'll say Baymax-sized ) couple waiting with their scooters at the bus stop. It was late, and everybody was tired. It took nearly fifteen minutes to get them on the bus and buckled in. The poor bus driver! He then had to kiss up to everybody else waiting - "Thanks so much for being patient", etc...but some of the things he heard in reply were

Maybe public facilities/airplanes need "Plus Seats"? I don't really mind being "cozy" with strangers at concerts and sporting events - but with pretty much all ticket sales being online these days, surely it wouldn't be difficult to configure a pop-up that advertised them...


And to your experience at Universal. But hearing that you had trouble at WDW surprises me. I'm guessing FOP? We had two Pooh-sized ride-mates who had to be pushed into position for that one, but luckily the CM was a big, burly dude and he straight-up said, "If you want to ride, I can get you in. But I'm going to have to push on your back and move your legs. Is that OK?" And both people said "Yes".

Back to Universal, though...why, why, WHY would a NEW park (VB) not take the reality of modern life in America on board? It's utterly baffling to me.

We love aquaria - many thanks for the suggestions. I LOVE the idea of a penguin wave pool! R.C. has a cousin who lives in Cape Town, but he always says that he has ZERO interest in going out there. For my part, I don't know that I would do SA just Poot and me. A big "yes" to South Carolina, though - we all love the South.

Poot is very pleased with your kind compliments. He has always been able, willing and indeed eager to sit for ages watching animals. And his photography is improving (no thanks to me, obviously!).

[Cazzius]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

As you know by now, the business with the seats got worse. Much as we would all like to snap our fingers and "fix" the obesity problem in America (and here, too!), the reality is we must come up with some new strategies to cope with these everyday challenges. Because otherwise we will create an Us vs. Them culture...and in fact we saw a little bit of that at WDW.

We were leaving MK after the Halloween Party, and there was a very large (to use your language we'll say Baymax-sized ) couple waiting with their scooters at the bus stop. It was late, and everybody was tired. It took nearly fifteen minutes to get them on the bus and buckled in. The poor bus driver! He then had to kiss up to everybody else waiting - "Thanks so much for being patient", etc...but some of the things he heard in reply were

Maybe public facilities/airplanes need "Plus Seats"? I don't really mind being "cozy" with strangers at concerts and sporting events - but with pretty much all ticket sales being online these days, surely it wouldn't be difficult to configure a pop-up that advertised them...


And to your experience at Universal. But hearing that you had trouble at WDW surprises me. I'm guessing FOP? We had two Pooh-sized ride-mates who had to be pushed into position for that one, but luckily the CM was a big, burly dude and he straight-up said, "If you want to ride, I can get you in. But I'm going to have to push on your back and move your legs. Is that OK?" And both people said "Yes".

Back to Universal, though...why, why, WHY would a NEW park (VB) not take the reality of modern life in America on board? It's utterly baffling to me.

We love aquaria - many thanks for the suggestions. I LOVE the idea of a penguin wave pool! R.C. has a cousin who lives in Cape Town, but he always says that he has ZERO interest in going out there. For my part, I don't know that I would do SA just Poot and me. A big "yes" to South Carolina, though - we all love the South.

Poot is very pleased with your kind compliments. He has always been able, willing and indeed eager to sit for ages watching animals. And his photography is improving (no thanks to me, obviously!).

See more...

It was indeed FOP, the back part latched absolutely fine, but wouldn't close on my legs. I'm not sure the CM tried that hard but I was pretty upset

Annoyingly, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, what I should have done is practiced on the test seat and watched some of the YouTube videos about positioning for this ride before going for it. Poor planning on my part.

I think the problem that stadiums, rides and aeroplanes face is they want to get more people on board, to sell more tickets/reduce queue times. This means small seats to increase capacity. However, you can't guarantee the people will be small that are going to be using the space.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few years - and I will just keep my fingers crossed that someone really invents those Adipose tablets from Doctor Who.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Cazzius

It was indeed FOP, the back part latched absolutely fine, but wouldn't close on my legs. I'm not sure the CM tried that hard but I was pretty upset

Annoyingly, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, what I should have done is practiced on the test seat and watched some of the YouTube videos about positioning for this ride before going for it. Poor planning on my part.

I think the problem that stadiums, rides and aeroplanes face is they want to get more people on board, to sell more tickets/reduce queue times. This means small seats to increase capacity. However, you can't guarantee the people will be small that are going to be using the space.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few years - and I will just keep my fingers crossed that someone really invents those Adipose tablets from Doctor Who.

See more...

Oh, no!

I DID watch a YouTube video about "positioning" (as I have calves like tree trunks ). But when we walked past the test seat, it was being used by some kids as a climbing frame. And I could see there were people who wanted to use it...but I just really think that as soon as folks make a FP for that ride - Disney should email them a message about "what to do" if they have body concerns. It wouldn't be hard - and hopefully it WOULD save people from embarrassment!

I just Googled "Adipose Tablets Dr Who"...and...yes, please.

Lol, I haven't watched Dr. Who since the Tom Baker days!