Bzzzzzt.
The reason you can’t find a parking spot at the beach on the weekend is, because all local beach residents are actually sleeping in/staying home and not giving up their prized overnight parking spot to go eat, shop, play like they used to do pre-COVID.

Trust me, I’m there well before the sun comes up (5-5:15AM) and there might be maybe one or two spots open among the local houses on any given weekend. I’m usually the first in the water and even when I leave after 9AM, there’s still the same dew-soaked cars up and down the rows.
Holiday crowds aside, there’s definitely less people on the beach this year compared to non-COVID years past.

I went to Downtown Disney about 12 days ago to check out how they’re handling things.
Happy to say they are doing a very good job screening and managing the influx of guests that fill the stores/restaurants.
Even went out of my “covid comfort zone” and ate outdoors (sans-mask) at Napoli for an entire 45 minutes with my family.
It was weird.
But, so far so good all these days later!

In my opinion, Knott’s Berry Farm has truly set the gold standard bar in getting creative during COVID.

Their “Taste of Calico”, “Taste of Knott’s”, and “Taste of Fall-O-Ween”, have really kept Knott’s afloat during this crazy pandemic.
Theme park locals and tourists alike are stoked that they get some sort of normalcy in walking the physical park.
Sure you can’t go on rides but, the pricing reflects that since you are just paying for a food tasting card that gives you five or so items to choose out of a dozen+ depending on the event.
Free parking too!
Each event sells out DAILY and gets better and better with each rendition.

Disneyland could easily steal yet-another-page from Knott’s playbook and do something similar to keep fans happy, as well as a decent amount of cast members employed.

There are lots of YouTube personalities that will give you a walkthrough of any of the above Knott’s events if you want to see for yourself.

Food is excellent and tables/benches are well spaced apart throughout the park.

Yeah,
All my FREE boysenberry punch refills really went down the COVID drain.

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At least they are honoring my 2020 pass and Refill mug through all of 2021.
Sad they can’t get their amazing 100th Anniversary back though...

That’s no surprise.
HB is well-versed on ignoring what the rest of the country is up to on any given day.
As long as there is a hint of sun and a nice breeze, people from IE and beyond will continue to “magically” show up...usually sans mask too.

And yes.
Waves have been anemic since Oct 4/5th.
Might see something roll through the 22nd or 23rd but, not anything special before that.
High tide mornings have been taking all the fun out of the local break.
Can’t wait to get back to low tide Dawn Patrol and the copious barrels that come along with it.

Yep Todd, at the bare minimum we have to put back the ORANGE in Orange County for them to safely re-open.

Can we do it?
¡Si Se Puede!

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I call it out anytime I’m doing the grocery shopping and or, any other indoor encounter with the general public.

No excuse to have an ill fitting mask these days.

Dicknoses have had PLENTY of time these LOONG eight months to get acquainted with their masks.

Nose is still connected to the respiratory system last time I checked...
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PBA lost me when they went with the “Vegas Only” format years ago.
I know it sucked for the bowlers on tour to have to travel around the U.S. and beyond but, going to places like Fountain Bowl for the Dick Weber Open was always a special treat to see in person for me and my family.
Gave a minor monetary boost to the venue itself, and since it was televised, a nice visual keepsake for years to come if you managed to tape/DVR it. (Look Ma’ I’m on teeveee!)

Sure, the new tech for watching bowling on TV has improved but, it’s just not the same as visiting the various old lanes across the nation in person.

As for local lane closures, we have to be nearing the 40 or 50 mark by now here in OC.
It’s a shame.
So many interesting/cool themed Mom and Pop spots torn down for the sake of progress.
Kona Lanes really stung when that finally went away.

You’d be surprised Spicoli.
Passholders are fiending for a fix, and even a simple trip to get “on property”, can yield a 45 minute YouTube video of the most mundane stuff.
People at home watch that and want a piece of the experience as well.

It’s sad to see that nobody can just enjoy something for the sake of enjoyment anymore.

It has to be shared, liked and subscribed, so that the channel can hit 100K and start making the $$$.
Even though there’s already 50+ other people on YT that documented said trip, just the day before, and the day before that...

2020 is straight up kookydooks.

We actually had a thread.
Feel free to resurrect it.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/any-bowlers-in-here

For the record though, I did split my post 50/50.
Or should it be 7/10?

That would be the dream considering the situation.
I miss walking my usual 5-7 miles inside the parks.
And now that I think about it,
I haven’t worn my usual running-type shoes since March 12th.
Sliders/flip flops seem to be the pandemic go to.
Who knew O-din’s daily choice of footwear would be king (for me) in 2020?
Not me...

Looks like we’re finally heading into sock weather too. lol

That’s basically what my wife and I did most of the 90’s.
Since yearly passes were around $99, it was a no brainer to spend a few days out of the week just relaxing at the park and taking in all the sights and sounds.

I’d usually bring my sketch pad with me and a sack lunch/backpack dinner, since it was pre-9/11 and you could easily get away with such things since there was basically NO security.

I made good friends with a few of the old Jazz musicians that played in New Orleans Square, as well as some of the Bandleaders from Carnation Plaza Gardens that rotated playing on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.

We’d usually dance with all the old folks too, since swing wasn’t quite as big as it was about to get in the mid 90’s.
It wasn’t out of the ordinary to spend New Year’s Eve dancing there as well.
Sure, it was a bit crowded, but nothing like what the 2000’s brought and beyond.
Lots of happy memories there Dave; all without spending a dime.

Here is a fun pic of most of my 90’s passes and a few beyond. (Can’t find my 90-93’ passes though... )
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Yeah, it was a spectacular place to visit pre 9/11 for sure!
Before DCA was a thing, you used to be able to sneak your vehicle through the orange cone maze from the old vast parking lot; right to the front spaces that were “usually” reserved only for the Club 33 members.
(Basically, right in front of the old freestanding ticket booths...)
It was awesome.

We also had a few Premier Passes peppered into the mix of 2000-2010 passes when we had the extra funds to buy them.
(Can’t seem to find those either...)

Then again, even those were still cheaper than what today’s SoCal passes go for.

Alas,
2020 would’ve been our 30th continuous year as Annual Passholders.
Man,
How time flies...

It was set to expire in April so, I guess we still have a few days left as a credit.

Disney basically put everyone on “hold” so, even if we could auto-renew, the powers that be decided it would be better to wait until they can re-open without restriction to process said renewal.

Not that it matters anyway.

They stopped doing the renewal discount a few years back so, essentially it’s the full price for whatever pass you’re buying, no matter HOW long you’ve been a passholder.

Thankfully,
Knott’s is still cruising at $101 for their annual pass so, at least there is still some great theme park value left in SoCal.

Our last day at Disneyland proper was March 10th; in the pouring rain no less.
My kid and I just gleefully rode the train around and around, all while enjoying the sights and sounds that nature- and of course, Disneyland, had to offer.

Here is a pic from that day.
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