BeemerBoy

This is my favorite quote of the entire thread thus far.

The logo is the only thing that could have inspired me to take this cruise.

One thing has unfortunately come to mind, and I'm suddenly feeling nauseous.......the hot tubs on board. Karnival couldn't pay me enough to step one foot into those cesspools.

Who says Carnival hasn't learned from the Concordia disaster? Body bags are now provided for each stateroom! Now that's forward thinking. Well played, Carnival...well played.

^ It's not like they haven't lobbied the government to take it into THEIR hands. All they're advocating is that people talk about this, and continue to do so. No one's asking you to grab an AK-47 and fight alongside the National Army (who, yes, is also not perfect in their ways.....I get it). Hell, no one's even demanding that you to give Invisible Children money. If bringing the issue to light sparks debate about how the international community can go about the situation as a whole, then how is this effort bad? I'm kind of discouraged by the simultaneous dissection of their efforts just as quickly as this message exploded virally. The bottom line is that people are suffering, and someone's trying to do something about it. Just because things aren't 100% perfect on either side of this situation doesn't mean everyone should fold up camp. That's how countries turn to crap in the first place. It's nice to know many of you support the janitorial approach to the world's humanitarian problems....."eh, we'll just sweep it under the rug, and it'll go away eventually." That's mighty white of you. I support these guys and their efforts. It's admirable, despite a lot of people's reactions to their over polished campaign for good. So is the UAE....but they have something to offer us.

Front end plates are the work of Satan.

The ONLY thing I like about that Lambo is the fact that *if* it goes on sale, it'll be produced in limited numbers. I wish Ferrari would do the same with some of their creations. There's just something about the exclusivity of having just 20+ production models of any given car. And this description is awesome.....

^ At least give us a good excuse. You lost an arm on Space Mountain....you had to leave to go home and feed your pet unicorn....anything....anything would help.

^ Exactly! Where do I sign up??

His main assets keep disappearing. His clients go missing, with next of kin and local authorities apparently uninterested. And yet somehow he continues to have a fleet of 1960's Italian roadsters in his garage with an unending line of interested customers? I seriously need to invest in this business.

^ Even if that was a proper M, it's a pretty lackluster effort....in looks, anyway. The Ford Focus hatch has more personality than that. Oh, and then there's this that I found......

Can someone please revoke his Disney fanboy card.....immediately? Congrats on the 24 hours, guys!

I'm still not totally sold on the front end of the Karma....but I'll say that overall it looks very nice in person. In fact, if you didn't know the story of its production, or see any of its badges, you'd think it just rolled off the line at Aston Martin or somewhere similar. It certainly drew a crowd when one rolled through town recently.

Okay, here's my golden contribution to the Imagineering department for today: Rip out Stitch and put in a "spacey,"/futuristic-themed restaurant utilizing the Food Loop thing at Europa.....with good food, of course. Done. You're welcome.

Read the actual report, kids. Numbers reported by various news outlets (and probably some young reporter trying to dig for anything to make a name for him/herself) don't always tell the whole story. Truth is, after looking over the ACTUAL STATISTICS (here, in case you missed 'em...or didn't bother to read), this practice doesn't seem all that uncommon from things I've heard (and seen firsthand to some extent). I've got a relative that runs the local Humane Society, and she and her husband began volunteering there 10 years ago purely out of the love for animals. Fast forward to the present, and I can tell you that while they still love animals, the realities of what they do regarding the attempts to adopt out good pets was a quickly learned harsh lesson, and one that has hardened their views on society a bit. Fact is, their eyes were quickly opened to the reality that no matter how hard their facility tried to adopt out every pet they received, a good majority of them would unfortunately need to be put down. When I look over the PETA report, a couple of things seem VERY similar to that. For instance, in the year 2011, it was reported that they brought in 35 strays, and 1993 "surrendered by owner" pets. That means that 1993 pet owners dropped of their pets to this facility for whatever reasons they had. Of that total, 11 were "reclaimed by owner," 28 were "adopted," and a very large percentage of those remaining were euthanized. Now while you can jump to conclusions and try to argue that PETA did little with their money to try and adopt out, I challenge you to volunteer at your local facility and see just how difficult that task really is. Fact is, most of the pets they have in their care were most likely dropped off by idiots. Idiots who took on the responsibility of trying to care for a dog, cat, etc., and then quickly realized it was too much for them. The scenario usually plays out like this: They bought little Johnny or Susie a cute puppy from their local pet store (which probably came from a puppy mill) or took in a stray cat which resulted from some other idiot not spaying or neutering their own, and then came to the conclusion that, A) it was too much of a hassle to care for, B) they were possibly allergic to it, C) it bit them, or D) take your pick from a million other excuses. Now, if you're PETA or any other local Humane Society, how are you gonna advertise what most of the public subconsciously feels are "defective" pets? It's VERY difficult.....trust me. Don't believe me? Try sitting through an ASPCA Sarah McLachlan TV commercial. Truth is, every facility puts down MANY MANY more pets than they're able to adopt out. Think about it, if 1993 people surrendered their pets, and you're an organization built upon finding GOOD homes for them, it's a daunting task. You can hate PETA all you want for their publicity stunts, but I'm fairly confident that their facility practices are probably fair and safe to both the animals and workers. The only way I'd be upset with their numbers is if they were proven to use gas chambers, which I did not notice in the reports, and would highly doubt anyway. The internet is a wonderful tool, folks. Use it to educate yourselves a bit before spouting off on a subject you know little about.

My heart sank when I read this (Carnival pun intended). Oh, please God, no. I guess the next logical step would be Ultra-Private TPR cruises then, right? Perhaps I could suggest this or this? And if so, be sure to let me know....I think I can still get a finders fee from the IYC guys.

I'm all about the classic Disney dark rides (especially one that showcased arguably the most important Disney movie ever created), but that Snow White ride never did anything for me. I think I've ridden it twice the whole time it's been there. Seriously, all it ever felt like was a space filler. A really nice interactive and immersive meet and greet area for the kids would be a huge plus.....even though I'd just prefer another restaurant.

^ Speaking of the Fantasyland expansion, here's some more nice aerials from February 12th.

And when you're finally tired of trying to throw everything 110mph, then learn the knuckleball. Tim Wakefield just retired at age 147....so it is possible to have a lengthy and effective career as a pitcher.

This might be the best looking "re-imagined/homage" to a classic car that's ever been produced. It's simply beautiful. LINK Thoughts?

This could've been the best 2-picture report ever, but you had to go and ruin it with 25 extra.

Great job with the dolphin rescue, Sea World, and thanks for passing along the awesome video as well!

Congrats, Dave! Somebody looks to have done a really nice job cleaning it up as well! And now for some wonderful Porsche comedy.... Clicky.

Since Test Track and Borin' are two of the bigger FastPass "hot spots," it kinda still is (was?).

Much the same way I'm always amused at the abundance of "f the establishment" characters who feel the world should bend to their needs and desires? I suppose we could ride this never-ending carousel forever. To each his own. I'll just continue on my merry way of following the world's printed rules. It's all good. Hopefully those who feel scorned by Disney will visit Universal instead.....and lighten the crowd for me. Scott "Done." B.