politics

Fake American Flags at Disney? No, Just One From the 1900’s That’s Used for Theming and Practicality.

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Main Street U.S.A. Magic Kingdom
Main Street U.S.A. Magic Kingdom

Many areas of Disney are filled with American flags. The most prominent of these are the main flag poles at the entrance of the parks, but areas like Main Street, U.S.A. are filled with flags on top of each of the buildings. However, many of these flags are not “real” official United States flags, but are often missing some stars or have some other imperfections. Why would Disney do this? It’s not due to any lack of patriotism, but rather is more about practicality in not having to follow United States Flag Code for every single one.

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Will New Steel Tariffs Affect New Steel Roller Coaster Costs?

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Steel Curtain Roller Coaster sign at Kennywood
Steel Curtain by Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Trump Administration recently announced a new 25% tariff on all imported steel that is set to go into effect on March 12, 2025. A steel roller coaster uses a significant amount of steel, in fact Steel Curtain at Kennywood is reported to weigh an astounding 2.67 million pounds with 113 pieces of track, 1,162 total pieces and 21,470 bolts! The largest single track piece of track weighed 15,000 pounds. A tariff wouldn’t just affect steel coasters though, but also affect flat rides and even drop towers. So let’s talk about the potential impact of a steel tariff on the theme park industry and what we can expect going forward. We won’t get into politics or the potential economic reasons for tariffs, just how it might affect new ride costs in the future.

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The Most Important Ride You Take this Month Could Be to Your Local Polling Place to Vote!

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Vote spelled in roller coaster track
Ride the “Voter Coaster” this November!

Election Day is November 5th and many states have already been voting for weeks. This season the most important ride you take could be the one to your local polling center to cast your vote. I know sometimes politics can be deflating and voting can seem inconsequential, but nothing gets better when good people sit on the sidelines. I’n some ways I’ve heard it said that if you don’t vote you lose your ability to complain about the outcome. Democracy works best when we all participate and exercise the freedom to vote that was fought for in several iterations by so many before us.

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