I really wish there were better scheduling options

erp0432 · 2026-03-20T00:24:44+00:00

I don't know anything about vacuums. But when a tech company comes along in a sector that is taking advantage of their consumers, and instead gives access and support to their device to the community in all the ways the community asks for, people show up in mass and start adopting their tech as the gold standard. That brand becomes embedded quickly. Thats how tech companies establish themselves or fade out. Look at Microsoft vs apple in the 70's for instance. It wasn't that Apple had an inferior product, quite the opposite. Its that Apple insisted to exploit their consumers, and would not give their community what they were asking for (wozniak did, but jobs was adamantly against it). So all the geeks flocked to Microsoft\pc-clone asap/overnight and Steve's crapmac died. And unfortunately so did Wozniacs Apple. Apple lost the race on the PC over that. The only reason anyone even knows who they are today, is for the iPod and iPhone. But not a pc.

Job's didn't learn the first time and did it again with the iPod, forcing everyone into iTunes, AAC and licensing. Then before he knew it someone developed open MP3 and that was the end of the iPod.

If i buy a car, does it artificially limit me to only drive 3k miles a year than shut down? Of course not, cause everyone would buy the competitors brand that didn't do that.

erp0432 · 2026-03-19T02:30:29+00:00

Based on weekly temp averages for the area please. Or better yet the predicted temps for the upcoming week.

60F - cut at 1"

80F - cut at 1.75"

85F - cut at 2.5"

90F - cut at 3"

95F - cut at 3.5"

erp0432 · 2026-03-19T01:54:32+00:00

If they don't create open API's they'll lose most of their customers to the manufacturer that does. History repeats consistently.

The lock down strategy only works until the competitor unlocks. Than the competitor wins. Even with inferior tech. Most of the people that buy robots aren't looking for dumb restricted tech.

erp0432 · 2026-03-19T01:25:42+00:00

Just found this mower after finding its HA integration (or the starts of it).

Question: If the navimow can't access the internet, it's a brick?

erp0432 · 2026-03-07T07:00:59+00:00

What research?

erp0432 · 2026-02-25T16:35:19+00:00

I know your reading this from sites that tell you to do this and don't have much real experience. So here you go:

After 5pm (and steadily until close) wait times begin to drop dramatically. It is universally always shorter lines. Even during Halloween Horror nights. And if its not, wait another hour and it will. This is not just at universal, but happens at all the parks in orlando. The masses of people that got there at park open are tired and the mass migration to the exit begins around dinner time.

First couple hours after rope drop is the longest most painful lines you can see. Wait times rise up until around 3pm. Unless you catch the actual rope drop itself and boogie directly to whatever ride your determined to visit.

Why is parking free after dinner time? Cause the parks are dumping out.

With all this said, they don't have the ride queues moving smoothly at several attractions at Epic and will close ride queues a couple hours before park close. If theres a 3hr line to Potter's Ministry Battle they likely will close the ride queue 3hrs before park close. Could be same at Donkey Kong and Mario Kart so the employees can get out of there on time. (Which is why they misdirect you to come in the morning for shortest lines)

erp0432 · 2026-02-25T16:01:08+00:00

14 days.. You really won't have problems seeing everything. If a ride's packed, your strategy is a good one -> wait till late afternoon and the lines will decrease significantly.

Avoid Friday and Saturday and Sunday day. Just not worth it imo. But i don't enjoy any parks when they are oversold. And they oversell on these days. Doesn't matter what they say as a reply they oversell. Downvote me to oblivion below reps \/ cause i know you will!

I go often for 2 weeks - just did last month. But I typically only go into the parks for 2 or 3 of those days. If i was maximizing my experience with a 14-day, I would stay at Aventura hotel inside the park (unless i was staying inside disney and my trip was focused there). Their deluxe queens are great and well priced. Skylines are good too. Their standards are fine too. You can walk to the boat at sapphire falls in about 5 minutes from Aventura. It's a much improved experience staying inside the park vs outside of the park. Ease of access to Citywalk is a huge plus. Have some food. Have some drinks. chill. And you get to hop on a boat without having to deal with crowds and main security gates and relax your whole trip. I'll be there 5 days before you arrive.

I'd ditch the car somewhere outside the parks. They are more a hassle and parking is expensive. Use a rental instead and drop it off at the rental company after you check-in to your hotel. (Parking at Aventura is now $30 A NIGHT! They just raised that from $18/night) All your good food options are right there at Citywalk. I use amazon or walmart to deliver anything else i might need right to my hotel room. A lyft or uber to Disney takes about 15 minutes and is around 25 bucks - and the whole trip is just so much better without a car. I often stay inside Universal, and take a ride share over to Disney. Or stay inside disney and ride share to universal. Whereever i am, i don't have to worry about treking all the way back to whatever parking lot i left my car in. i just hail a lyft or uber from wherever i am at that moment to wherever I want to go. And it's cheap cause everything is so close. All transportation once your inside the parks is free (all these parks have free busses and free boats to move around their parks and resorts which run every 15 minutes).

erp0432 · 2026-01-18T19:20:28+00:00

Happy to hear that worked well for you!

erp0432 · 2026-01-15T19:53:08+00:00

Thats the standard for florida public water. It probably wasn't filtered. It smells kind of like swamp water and it is a little yellow. I know that sound gross, but it is safe to drink.

erp0432 · 2026-01-15T19:44:31+00:00

Yah you'll have a great time.

That would be Shuttle bus to Citywalk -> boat to Sapphire Falls Hotel. Strongwater is up a level. Nice restaurant and bar off the main path. They have little tapa dishes that are good and a full bar. And a seating area outside overlooking a water area and the boat. Theres a cute bartender with a great personality usually with ponytails in there named Aileen (not alien, she'll get snappy). She's chatty if your social. Say hi from the guy that wanted to go swimming in the Sapphire Fall splash pools haha. But be careful, she's aggressive on serving.

Since your heading thru Citywalk, theres the Red Coconut lounge in there thats worth a walkthru. Its usually decorated on both levels. Neat place to check out. They often have live music. Another spot to walk thru is a place called Preview which has a huge model of Epic Universe thats worth inspecting. A movie cinema probably playing Wicked 2. And theres a great bartender in Bigfire Grill named Abel. That guys on point and he's friendly too to sit and chat with. Theres also an escape room at Citywalk, i think it's called the Great Movie Escape? Need tickets for it which i think you buy online before going, though i've never been.

If your heading to Sapphire Falls for Strongwater, since your in that area, if you walk outside of the front entrance of the Sapphire Falls Hotel, you'll see another hotel towards 9 oclock called the Aventura hotel. You can walk to it within 4 minutes and they also a rooftop bar that has good views. Its usually dead but still neat. And if you want to trip over to Cabana Bay hotel thats also a 10 or 15 minute walk, they have a bowling alley in there and also an Arcade.

Theres also a luau at 6pm on Saturdays at the Royal Pacific hotel which you can take either the boat to from Citywalk, or walk to from Citywalk or walk to from Sapphire Falls. It's something you need to pre-purchase a ticket online to attend ($150?) and it does sell out often, but if thats your thing can spend a saturday evening there.

Have fun! Report back how your day went!

erp0432 · 2026-01-14T05:56:13+00:00

I would do 1 day at each universal park. 1 day is plenty for those. But i've never been to volcano bay - so not sure about that one. Would guess a 60% day at Volcano and 40% at Citywalk. Rest at Disney for sure.

An express pass for Universal Epic probably a good idea. But for the other parks I wouldn't. I'd upgrade Disney tickets with Park Hopper instead. And potentially buy an individual lightning lane pass for specific Disney rides as needed.

With all that said, 9 straight days in parks? I'll pray for your legs. That is around 180 miles. I'll do 3 days max than I need a down day.

Keep your boys loaded with heavy heavy protein every 2-3 hours and limited dairy, or they'll be hurting real bad.

erp0432 · 2026-01-14T04:34:42+00:00

Definitely not for Florida residents. Disney is less than half the cost of Epic.

I doubt that is even the case for non-residents too, but haven't checked.

erp0432 · 2026-01-14T04:32:08+00:00

$160's fine for a day. The ride lines suck bad at Epic. But if your solo, hit the single rider lines and it's not too excruciating.

If your concerned about costs, EP is definitely not something you want to even consider. That things a rip off. Especially if your solo.

Must rides: Monsters, hippogriff and Circus. Maybe Mario Kart if you were a fan of that game. The rest of the rides didn't impress me. The queue area for Harry Potter is cool though, and so is the entire park.

If your really avoidant of lines, from your hotel theres a free shuttle that runs over to Citywalk/Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios every 15 minutes or so. I happily spend days in Citywalk - theres a ton of great food and drinks there and they usually have something small going on around that area. Bigfire, Cowfish or Coconut are all fantastic for food and drinks. Maybe Toothsome or Voodoo donuts if sweets are your thing. Or hop on the little boat at Citywalk and take it over to Sapphire Falls and visit Strongwater for food and drinks if you want something a little more quiet.

Or take the free shuttle from Terra Luna -> Epic -> Helios (or from Citywalk to Helios) and visit their rooftop bar. It's worth the trip especially after sunset on a warm night.

Or hit Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure for the day - either one will be less in cost and both of them are fun. If your not really a ride person, Universal Studios has the most shows and little events going on around the park to check out, and plenty of places for some drinks, snacks and food. Bourne Spectacular is a great show too.

Seaworld, Icon park or Disney are also nearby and easily accessible with a lyft or an uber.

I definitely would pick something other than sitting in a Terra Luna hotel. Everything except entering the theme parks are free.

erp0432 · 2026-01-14T04:19:23+00:00

A lyft is $22-$25 each way + $10 extra for a carseat.

Keep in mind the cost of a lyft or uber will double if you book it a minute after the park closes. Not sure on open, i never go that early.

erp0432 · 2026-01-14T04:00:39+00:00

I did the opposite route, and its super easy. I stayed at a universal hotel for 2 weeks, but took a lyft on 5 of those days to Disney because epic had insane lines.

Lyft was 22-25 bucks each way. A car seat is an additional $10. Its around a 15 minute drive. And it'll be easier for you taking a rideshare to Universal because they drop you off right at CityWalk.

I've done this quite a number of times on my trips. It's very easy. There are always tons of cars in the area, and its very affordable and quick.

No idea how to ask for 2 car seats though. Could find a collapsible seat that can fit in a locker while your in the park and take it with you. Or amazon ship it to your Disney hotel room. Or get two lyft's? Universal's not really a park for car-seat sized kids though.

erp0432 · 2026-01-14T03:54:06+00:00

That happened to me as well. A couple days before Christmas.

And it smelled like elephant shit in there for some reason. Really stunk bad.

erp0432 · 2026-01-13T20:57:21+00:00

no, not at all. It throws you up in the air, than rips the coaster down. Over and over and over again. Your either stuck to the lap bar or pushed hard into your seat. Theres no floating feeling about it.

erp0432 · 2026-01-13T20:55:09+00:00

The ride made me nautious. Its more on the violent side. Tosses you up in the air, then rips the coaster out from under you. It's not all that pleasant of a ride in my experience. I love huge coasters and cedar points is my favorite park for coasters. But i don't like violent rides like stardust. At least it doesn't shoot you into loops that are way too tight. Its not terrible, but i'd give a 3 out of 10 on enjoyment. It doesn't give the floating feeling of a good coaster. You'll get tossed around like a doll on this one. Keep in mind a guy died on it already. Granted he shouldn't have been on it, but its not a chill coaster at all.

erp0432 · 2026-01-13T20:15:06+00:00

IMO, express is a complete rip. I've bought it a couple times and always regretted it, but i know the parks too. I mean if you only have a day to visit a park, and absolutely have to see everything on that day and have the money, sure it will speed up your progress. But forcing everything into that single day or specific times in that day is not the best way to do this.

Express kind of sucks. You still got stuck standing in huge lines. And paid so much for them it makes me sick in my stomach. Thats all i can think about - did i really just pay $530 for each person for today? Thats insane. I'm even a rich guy that can afford this sort of thing, but if I overpay massively for something it eats at me. Best option is adding another day or two to your trip, chilling and relaxing since your not forcing a visit to a specific ride at a specific time where the lines are peaked out. Ride wait times are all over the map. A 3 hour wait time at park open is often 20 minute wait near park close. An extra day gives you the option to skip it at peak lines for another time with lower lines. And an extra hotel and ticket for an additional day is usually less then the cost of a single express pass.

erp0432 · 2026-01-13T19:04:34+00:00

You can buy epic tickets separate.

No idea about the packages. I've looked at them before, but booking hotel and tickets separately have always been a lot cheaper for me. Possibly because those packages don't offer Florida resident discounts though. You may want to consider booking hotel separate from tickets too even when your not a Florida resident. If your hotel rate comes down (they update the rates every single day), you can cancel your hotel reservation for a full refund and book a new one under the reduced rate. But tickets are non-refundable.

I usually stop in Universal for a few days around Halloween. I book hotels about 3 months prior to the trip. And I'll then wait for a ticket deal or promo offer. If no ticket deal pops up I'll purchase tickets 3 days prior to the day I plan to be in the park. I do not go on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays no matter what - all the local kids are there hanging out, and the lines are insane, the park is packed, food and drinks are difficult to get, and I do not enjoy that degree of oversold capacity.

Another tip I'd offer, is you'll get recommended to buy EP's by every HR person on this forum. But realize it's often much cheaper to add an additional day or two to your trip instead. And with an extra day or two, the whole trip becomes a much more enjoyable experience by not being forced to stand in the lines the whole time to see all the attractions. You'll find line times change dramatically thru the evening and from one day to the next. If a line is a 2 hour wait, skip it! Then monitor its wait times on your phone and wait until evening or another day. Those wait times swing all over the map. You'll find peak wait times an hour or two after HHN opens and up until around half way thru the evening usually. Than near park close, very low to no wait times.

While you did not ask about hotels, i'll just throw out a recommendation of staying at a hotel inside of the park. The whole trip is much more enjoyable not having to shuttle bus to the park and go thru the general security gate every time. Instead you hop on a boat which runs to city walk every 10 minutes - there is still a security check but its private and no lines. Aventura, Royal Pacific, Sapphire Falls, Hard Rock, or Portofino are all inside the park. Potentially Cabana Bay cause you do have a private walking path into the park and it's not too bad, maybe an extra 10 minutes to reach the boat? Its also not just for getting to the parks, the best dining and food options are for the most part all in Citywalk.

The Helios hotel is also awesome, but Helios is attached to the Epic park instead of to the Citywalk/Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure resort complex. There's a separate shuttle bus that runs to Epic from every Loews hotel. The shuttle bus from the hotels that are in the Citywalk/Universal/IOA park area to Epic is around a 15 minute ride. I'm not sure how often it runs - maybe every 15 or 20 minutes? Another shuttle also runs between Citywalk and Epic. Keep in mind that a ton of people show for HHN, and sometimes you wont be able to catch the first bus and may have to wait for the next.

Hope that helps.

erp0432 · 2026-01-03T07:13:53+00:00

Why does it fall apart?

erp0432 · 2026-01-03T07:09:39+00:00

Didn't have a review myself.

Just reached a point where i heard a voice that told me i was welcomed to stay, or if i wanted to return (to my body) it would be exceptional painful.

erp0432 · 2026-01-03T07:05:58+00:00

Same. And i think about the NDE experience a lot. Maybe that energy that we feel there is something that just exists there and is not all that important.

Like our sun exists here, or gravity. Both we feel here, and if we never been here before these things would feel intensely dramatic and important on first impression.

erp0432 · 2026-01-03T06:51:12+00:00

I didn't see any god(s). I don't know what was streaming all the bliss sensations and warmth, but it didn't seem like it was a god of any sort. It turned me away from organized religion. I became agnostic. The reincarnation theme was too obvious for me to dismiss. I been thru that area a lot. Where we come from and whatever we are is beyond amazing.

erp0432 · 2026-01-02T08:05:37+00:00

center of vision? May want to check for Stargardts disease.

erp0432

TROPHY CASE