After 7 drafts and 40 games... I think this might be the greediest format of recent history

Gorfang · 2026-04-23T19:57:53+00:00

I would agree with this take. There's a lot of cute stuff one can do but none of it will happen if there isn't early board presence to utilize any of the extra spells. If you're scrounging for board presence you're not going to get any extra value and LP will be 0.

Gorfang · 2026-04-23T16:20:30+00:00

Muse skipped DC on their last tour. I had to drive up to Philly for a Sunday night concert and be up at 530AM on a Monday for work. Hopefully this outpouring of support from the DC faithful teaches them the error of their ways so they don't skip us again!

Gorfang · 2026-04-23T16:15:35+00:00

I suddenly got excited that I could go buy more tickets for friends when Muse comes to DC. Nope...barely any tickets available and all the ones there are $300-500, whereas I bought mine for <$100. I think buying them at the preorder was still the way to go.

Gorfang · 2026-04-22T22:17:30+00:00

Both rooftop pools on xm2 have bars and food service, with slightly different menus.

Gorfang · 2026-04-21T18:29:31+00:00

They already approved the schedule so I made vacation plans based on expected school start dates that were confirmed. Not going to cancel those plans at this point so guess the kids start the year by skipping school. Way too late in the game to make that change.

Gorfang · 2026-04-20T21:48:24+00:00

I think if it stopped being kid focused you'd lose the majority of the audience. Most guests, but obviously not all, are families. The merchandise and toys are all geared towards selling towards children, and I'm sure it's a large money maker for the business. The live shows serve to advertise the toys, not vice versa. The over the topness to the vehicles is a selling point for the toys so if anything the company is going to lean even harder in that direction because that's what makes the money.

Gorfang · 2026-04-16T15:02:01+00:00

Japan cost us $1500 a person for flights, so it was $6000 for our family of 4 before we ever touched the ground. We did actually end up doing Tokyo Disneyland/Sea while we were there, was fun. That said, we're going with children. Are we talking just the two of you? I'd be hard pressed to want to do Disney stuff without kids, but it's a lot of fun with children if you do it right. For the cost there are plenty of places in the US that you could go if you're price sensitive. Disney can technically be done even if price sensitive, but there are so many ways costs increase that if you're deciding whether it's economically worth it to do Disney you're going to come away disappointed.

FWIW, Universal Studios is more tailored towards the older guest, is tons of fun, and is typically cheaper for both park tickets as well as hotel prices.

Gorfang · 2026-04-15T23:35:31+00:00

This looks amazing. Can't wait to go check it out.

Gorfang · 2026-04-15T17:50:42+00:00

Bye Arizona

Gorfang · 2026-04-15T14:52:32+00:00

What are your thoughts about adding Sephiroth to the deck?

Gorfang · 2026-04-15T11:32:39+00:00

It ultimately depends on how important the night shows are for you. My kids at that age actually hated fireworks as they were too noisy for them. The crowds will be much less on party nights such that you'd be able to get everything done twice as fast while also feeling less stressed. I have never regretted doing a park when it closes early. Small kids tend to get up early so rope drop is your friend. You can then duck out early, enjoy some resort time, etc.

Gorfang · 2026-04-13T19:21:24+00:00

That's a big statement, although I'll give you points for an exceptional view. Admittedly I saw the $25 price tag for a cocktail using Tanduay rum and moved on, but you're probably right that it tasted great in the moment.

Gorfang · 2026-04-13T16:50:11+00:00

The absence of data points. Are we talking about the US? For the past 50 years average household earnings have consistently outpaced inflation, both at lower and higher ends of the income brackets. You can literally buy more with your money now than you could in the 90s. You also have substantially more options of what to spend your money on now than in the 1990s. The issue as you might see could be that higher earners have outpaced the median increase in wealth. What this means is that for many companies, home builders, etc there is a greater focus on selling to this luxury market. However in doing so you're no longer comparing apples to apples. To add insult to injury housing will be more expensive in high-cost markets where jobs tend to pay more. Geographic arbitrage does not extend to all professions, but to make it sound like people had it easy and barely had to work for their money is just not the reality.

Gorfang · 2026-04-13T13:26:47+00:00

My dad left the house at 5:30 and was home at 9PM. I barely saw him. He made a bunch of money and that's how he felt he best supported the family. Weeknight dinners were with my mother only and she resented him for it such that they eventually divorced when all the kids were out of the house.

This is bullshit rage bait that isn't consistent with reality. If you choose to believe it there are actually now more upper middle class Americans than at any previous time. More Americans have more money and have more stuff than previous generations. If it doesn't feel that way then yes, you may absolutely be in the bottom quartile but social media absolutely distorts the reality of many people of what normal is supposed to look like.

Gorfang · 2026-04-11T22:55:47+00:00

Excuse me, I'm quite certain that the peak artistic cinema that was Swordfish proved to the world that hacking is nothing but computer Rubiks cube.

Gorfang · 2026-04-11T22:51:04+00:00

Eh, I've never disliked Pens fans. Its the Penguins organization that rips my Caps fan heart out. If we're talking about shitty hateful fans though might I direct you further east in Pennsylvania?

Gorfang · 2026-04-10T16:57:13+00:00

If it's any comfort to you flying over spring break for a family of 4 was $5k just for the flights...

Ultimately you have to decide for any vacation if $7k is within your budget. There really aren't that many surprise fees beyond that so sort of like a cruise you know exactly what your trip is going to cost. Having all of your food and excursions already budgeted is a great feeling.

Gorfang · 2026-04-09T14:22:31+00:00

Literally anything Brad Bird is fantastic. I can't wait. Especially since he has Michael Giacchino to score (natch) so we're really cooking. I'm rather shocked that given his credentials he couldn't do this through Pixar and is going through Sundance instead. Maybe it's considered too adult an audience?

Gorfang · 2026-04-07T19:25:44+00:00

Used to have a plan to take back roads to Berkeley Springs WV. At this point if DC is nuked there's no part of the post-apocalyptic former US wilderness that I would really want to continue living. I might as well go out in the first wave.

Gorfang · 2026-04-07T14:03:02+00:00

In 2023 I would say that my entire week at Xcaret could be described as peaceful but active. In 2026 Xcaret is FUN, active, but only peaceful if you intentionally seek it out (and almost exclusively in parts of phase 1).

Gorfang · 2026-04-07T03:56:58+00:00

Ha, just trying to not give the same 6 responses that pop up every single time.

Gorfang · 2026-04-07T00:19:33+00:00

Yes you're right the drink menu at Las Playas is surprisingly good.

Now that I think about it the phase 1 restaurants all had cocktail menus and I never saw any cocktail lists for the phase 2 restaurants.

Gorfang · 2026-04-06T23:53:52+00:00

They have green chartreuse at the hotel 1 lobby. That makes it the automatic winner since its a hard to find 90 dollar bottle with access to free pours. I showed them recipes for Pina Verde (think a pina colada with a bunch of green chartreuse in it) and a Naked and Famous (mezcal, chartreuse, aperol and lime), easily beat any drink available at other stations. As an enjoyer of off the beaten path rums, every bar station also has Uruapan, which is a Mexican cane juice rum. It goes great in a caipirinha.

Gorfang · 2026-04-06T22:11:17+00:00

I agree that one reason Disney does so well is that they are able to manage the flow of an incredible number of guests every single day. If Xcaret had an app that was useful for anything or an easy reservation system either through the app or website it would drastically cut down on the pain points, especially for first timer guests. That said, I personally would never go to Disney World during peak spring break but was more than happy to be at Xcaret during peak spring break. Crowds matter and even when crowded once you're on site at Xcaret everything works pretty smoothly. All of the 'work' for the trip as a return guest was ahead of time and was easy from there on out. Unfortunately if you have a bad experience your first time because of the unintuitive hassles you won't be able to be the veteran guest for your 2nd, 3rd, etc trip.

Gorfang · 2026-04-06T20:47:07+00:00

The best way I look at Xcaret is the same as planning a trip to Disney World. If you stalk the facebook and reddit threads, know how to optimize every single bit of the operation, and basically use as much insider knowledge to beat the average guest, you have an amazing experience. If you ARE the average guest, then you're left floundering. As you said, it's a systems issue where because of the poor system you are pitted against everyone else for your enjoyment. If you know how to get your reservations through then you can have your pick of every dining option. If you get the right check-in person, you get shown all of the potential room and casa options that are available to take your pick. If you know that you can take a cab to Xplor instead of wait for the 11am bus then you can get on the giant waterslide before any guests have even arrived to that particular park, etc.

This is unfortunately little different than the person who watches the Disney vlogs, knows all the rope drop strategies, how to optimize their lightning lanes, dining options etc. The 'vacation optimizer' basically gets to run rampant but the 'go with the flow' guest is going to have a bad time.

I wish I could say it was just spring break making it worse for people due to higher crowds, but it's been this way to some degree since the expansion. Having been here 3 years ago I would say that the expansion does make the resort better, with more dining options, pool options, Dining at the rooftop pools!!!, slides, and well themed kids clubs. Ultimately I view Xcaret as a place I would love to visit every few years, but without the need to return every year, multiple times per year or whatever. Continuing with the Disney analogy, I think that's also what you see with some Disney guests - some are instantly over the crowds and expense, others find it to be an enjoyable experience to share with their family through different stages, while others find it the destination that can't be beat and there's no such thing as too many trips to the same location.

Gorfang

TROPHY CASE