Beating a Dead Horse, Tilting at Windmills, and Universal Studios

 In episode 91 of I Hate Talking, the hosts tackle another word or phrase of the episode—this time the idiom “beating a dead horse.” After clarifying its proper form (“beat a dead horse”) and meaning—wasting energy on a lost cause—they explore its 19th‑century origins and related alternatives such as “chasing rainbows” or “tilting at windmills,” the latter traced to Don Quixote (1615). Their lighthearted detour even touches on modern misquotes, like “get the horse in the water,” and how mangled idioms can slip naturally into everyday speech.

Then, in the latest installment of their travel‑review mini‑series, the hosts recount their 2025 family trip to Universal Studios Hollywood. From long lines to magical moments, they relive highlights from Jurassic Park, Super Nintendo World, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter—plus the chaos of ordering food at Krusty Burger and a surprise favorite: the Studio Tour. They share tips on using AI to plan ride order, why “preferred parking” was worth it, and how to balance saving money with letting the kids enjoy souvenirs and butterbeer. It’s a mix of wordplay, theme‑park strategy, and parenting humor, all delivered—as always—with good‑natured candor.

Keywords: beat a dead horse, idiom meaning, phrase origins, Don Quixote, tilting at windmills, Universal Studios Hollywood, Jurassic Park ride, Super Nintendo World, Harry Potter World, Studio Tour review, travel tips, theme park planning, I Hate Talking podcast.

Transcript

I Hate Talking: 0:32

Welcome to episode 91 of I Hate Talking. Hi everyone. So this time we will be doing a phrase, I suppose, for our word or phrase of the episode, but we don't even know what the phrase is exactly, so. It's a phrase I butchered in the last episode. I would just say like beating a dead horse, like whatever somebody is doing is akin to beating a dead horse. He beat the dead horse. No, like you keep coming back to this particular topic. It's like beating a dead horse, right? I mean, I guess you could say it in the past participle form of like he beat a dead horse. Because He kept doing something over and over again. But I don't know if that's how the most common usage is, but I would say that beating a dead horse is basically your Typically in conversation, returning to the same topic or argument or trying to reach a certain goal that has never been achieved, so you are beating a dead horse. And obviously, I think that comes from the fact that If you are trying to get a horse to do something. Perhaps you would beat them so that they move in the direction that you want them to, but if they're dead, then there's, right, and it's basically a fruit. Less effort in order to get the horse to move by beating them. Likewise, whatever thing that you're involved in is a fruitless effort in trying to achieve a certain goal or win a certain argument. Yep, I agree. I think that's Yeah, whether it's argument or even like an action. I would say it could be an action too, like, you keep doing the same thing over and over and you're not getting a different outcome. You're beating the dead horse. That's true. So it actually shows up as a phrase in our favorite Oxford language dictionary. Oh nice. So the particular phrase that they have a definition for is, quote, beat a dead horse, end quote. Beating a dead horse. OK, close, yep, and they define that as A waste of energy on a lost cause or a situation that cannot be changed. So I think we got the definition pretty good there and we're still stumbling over exactly how we would use it. So I guess neither of us really use this phrase. Very frequently, no, I mean, it came up in our last episode. I butchered it and then you and I both struggled back and forth to figure out the proper term. So the proper term is beat a dead horse, beat a dead horse. I mean, that's the, I guess, common phraseology change it, right? Yeah, I mean you could change the dead right, yes. And there are examples here of beating a dead horse. So according to Gingeroftware.com, which I have no idea why they are talking about beating a dead horse. So I'm more curious about that now. I don't know. I'll look in a moment, but their website has a paragraph on beating a dead horse. That says, quote, the origin of the expression beat a dead horse comes from the mid-nineteenth century when the practice of beating horses to make them go faster was often viewed as acceptable. To beat a dead horse would be pointless, as it wouldn't be able to go anywhere. So according to this. Mid-nineteenth century is when that became a particular phrase. OK, according to Ginger. Ginger software. I'll look at them in a moment. Now, there is an interesting search. Here that is a related search that asks what can I say instead of beating a dead horse. Chase a rainbow. Never heard of that. No, me neither. Tilt at windmills. Is that from Don Quixote? Oh no, I've heard heard those scenes. Hm. Fight a losing battle. OK, I've heard that one. Bark up the wrong tree, get nowhere. Yeah, sure. Go on a wild goose chase, run in circles, waste one's efforts. Mm. Not so much. OK, so I knew half of those. I'm curious about the tilt at windmills. I wonder if that's a Don Quixote quote, and if it is, -- that I maybe I'll start using that -- one. It is like Wishbone did that one. The TV show Wishbone. Yeah, Wishbone, a little dog. I don't think I ever watched it. I knew that The Wishbone episode on Don Quixote was pretty good. Maybe I'll watch it sometime. So, let's see what we're gonna go look at. Ginger Software. Why is Ginger Software talking about beating a dead horse? They apparently, as a company, Ginger Software have a phrase of the day. Oh, there you go. Good job, Ginger Software. Interesting. And that was their phrase, huh? I suppose so. It looks like they are some sort of grammar slash business slash education API provider. So, Apparently they do a Phrase of the day. Can I talk about another podcast? I don't know which one is it. My favorite one. Office ladies, no, no. Theocast. Joe Rogan. Um, -- reformed -- fringe. Julia LaRouche, that's all you listen to. But, um, my favorite podcast, one of my favorite podcasts I should say. Uh, it's a husband and wife duo, but it's not us, and they, uh, talk about reality. TV and the wife early on said a phrase and she got it mixed up. And it's kind of became their catchphrase, and I've caught myself saying it. She says, let's get the horse in the water. And it took them a long time to realize that wasn't a phrase and that she should stop saying it. But I've caught myself talking to people saying like, OK, let's just get this horse in the water, like, so when you hear people say a phrase, whether it's right or slightly off. Um, it can be so catchy and just, you just. Um, adapt it to your terminology. So I feel like that with this beating the dead horse, or even that's not the term, so I keep messing it up, it's beat a dead horse, right. And we're gonna beat this dead horse. On this phrase. That's true. But have you ever heard that get the horse in the water? No, that that doesn't exist. What does it sound like a phrase? It almost sounds like a phrase. Yes. So tilting at windmills is actually much earlier than beating a dead horse because it is from Don Quixote. Tilting at windmills is basically an English idiom that means attacking at imaginary enemies. And it is from that book that was from. 1615. Have you read that book? -- Or you only watch -- Wishbone? I, I, I guess I need to add that to my reading list because I actually have not read that book. I have watched the Wishbone episode many times. I do feel like I read an abridged version, like a short story, child's version. Uh, we have a book, you can look at it in our little library. And it's got like classic stories. In it, and I'm pretty sure it's one of them. So I did read it, but it's like. You know, a 10 minute read. So according to Wikipedia, it is number 10 on the list of most translated. Books. And according to, again, Wikipedia, It says that many well-known authors say that Don Quixote is the best novel of all time, and also go on to say, best and most central work in world literature. Hm. In the 10 minute book I read on it, I wasn't impressed, but I'm sure I'm missing a lot in that story. I guess we need to read that, add that to our list for 2026. There you go. It appears to be more popular with Europe. So a lot of these authors are European authors, BBC are some of the ones doing the polls, so take that for what it's worth. But perhaps we can say tilting at windmills instead of beating a dead horse, and that will be more politically correct. Yeah, it sounds nicer, at least. You don't want to hurt animals. So, speaking of hurting animals, no animals were harmed during our visit to Universal Studios. No, at least not that we're aware of. I hope not. I don't think I saw any animals at Universal Studios. Not real ones. There's like characters. That's true. Well, I mean, I'm just saying like, no, I'm just meaning like animals in general. Like, sometimes, no, like you, yeah, like squirrels, birds. We are in the California one. So you're in a Burbank and by LA. I don't think there's a lot of wildlife there. I suppose not. So, it goes to show you that no animals were harmed during our visit, or maybe they were harmed because they have like, Anti-bird devices that Shoot infrared rays or some sort of high pitched noise that is inaudible to humans to keep the birds away. Possibly. Now, what's an animal? Is a dinosaur an animal or a shark cause we saw those. We did see this. Is a goomba an animal? From Mario. That is true. So we did see those kind of animals, but they're all animatronic. Animatronic animal? What? What's a hippogriff? Yeah, it's a, -- it's a Harry -- Potter. It's like, yeah, it's a mystical creature, -- mystical -- creature. I see. No hippogriffs were harmed either, I suppose. No, but we did go to Universal. It was our Big trip this year as a family. We saved for it and the kids saved their money for a month, and we had a great time. We did. It was a lot of waiting and it was a lot of people, but nonetheless, we did have a good time and we did, I think, hit all the necessary rides and points that we wanted to visit during that trip. So in case you're not aware, we are doing a short, unknown number of episode miniseries on different venues or franchises that we have visited over the last year or so. So last week we covered Great Wolf Lodge and obviously this week we are doing Universal Studios and it was extremely busy and we bought these tickets and only had one or two dates that we could go and we chose this one and it really would not have mattered if we chose the other date. It would have been just as busy and actually it would have been probably worse because of the weather and. So maybe less crowded, but the weather would have been bad. The weather was not agreeable. So we had. The crowds and in fact some of the third party apps or websites that track business or congestion of the various theme parks said. Don't even think about it because it was so busy. It's like if you're deciding to go, don't even think about it. But we already had our tickets. We were committed, so we went nonetheless. So, yep, I, um, so like I said, we've saved for this, um, it was our family Christmas gift. Everyone was excited. We have Jurassic Park lovers and Mario lovers and Harry Potter lovers in our family, so this was kind of checking everyone's boxes. I will say one of our saving factors was chat GBT, my good old friend. I asked him what to do to minimize lines and told him I wanted to hit all three of those worlds. And he gave me an itinerary that I think was really effective. It did seem effective. I think we did avoid some of the longer wait times by doing it in the order that was suggested. Yeah, if we had done other a different order because we were checking all the apps, um, for wait lines as we were going throughout the day, there's one thing slightly we could have done different, we did. Jurassic Park before Mario. But that was uh against chat GPT's recommendation, and that was because one of our kids really wanted to do it, and we knew that it would be better to get that out of the way. So he could relax and enjoy himself versus being amped up and waiting all through Mario. I think we would have had less Mario weight had we done Mario first. But as a family whole experience, our way was better, I think. I think so, and it was nice to get a ride done without waiting because Jurassic Park ride was nearly walk-on. Oh yeah, we just, he, I mean, he lucked out. He wanted to ride front row seats of Jurassic Park. All we did was walk right on. I mean, there was one person like boat taking off when we arrived, so we had to wait for them to take off, but we were the next people got on the next boat that showed up, front row and left. Yes. And then it is a water ride and there are warnings saying that you will become drenched, but we actually did not become drenched. I mean, we were a little bit wet. I was not. I was surprised. I was front row. I see. So, yes, there were some water features where there's like some waterfalls that sort of splash you and then sort of like a roller coaster water ride, you go down the steep hill into the sort of the lake water area on the guide rails and that also creates some waves and splashes and things. I was not drenched. It's not like Some like tidal flume at like Six Flags or something where you will be soaked. It was definitely more wet than I wanted to be at 9 a.m. To start my day. My hair, everything was just. Wet afterwards, but that was OK. It was I was pleasantly surprised at how dry I was after the ride. There you go. Uh, half our kids came off crying because they were wet and scared. And um our kid we did it for was so happy. He had the best time of his life. Indeed, so Jurassic Park was a 50% hit -- then -- I guess, I guess so. Would you do it again? Yeah, I would do it again. Definitely do it again with no wait. I don't think I'd wait. When we checked later because he wanted to do it again, that said kid, it was a 2.5 hour wait. Well, it was also warmer by that time, so I think people. did not want to get in any way wet in the beginning of the day when it was a little bit colder and then nobody really cared once it was warmer. Though it was colder at night and it was still like a 2 hour wait. Uh-huh. Cause it said that it could be less at nighttime, but it was still really long when we left. That's true. So then from Jurassic Park ride we went to Mario World, yep, yeah, so that took a long time. We got on saying in 2 hours, it ended up taking 3, a little over 3 hours. You can't even make this up. We were the literal next people to get on the ride and it broke. That's true. But before we even got in line, we did do some of the like Mario Watch activities where you can like hit power blocks and collect coins and things like that. So it's almost sort of like our previous episode where we talked about the Magic Quest, where like, you probably could spend the entire day there collecting like the 50 different things that are within Mario world that you collect through this RFID watch type thing. So, we, I think got 4. Right, so the recommendation I got from people that have been there, just so y'all hear it, is, yeah, you can purchase these watches and play this game in Mario World, where you click points, or you can ride the ride. People are like, you have to do one or the other, you will not have time to ride the ride and do the game. Unless it's like the only thing you do for the day. Yeah, I guess, supposedly, I guess. We knew that going into it, we knew we wanted to do the ride, but we had a child who really wanted to play the game too. So we just told him we're not gonna complete the game. Just as we've learned from. Uh, great wolf. We're gonna get it and play as much as we can, and that's it. And he was happy with that. So he was the one that got the watch and he played the games throughout any opportunity he got. That's true, but we did not complete it. Yes, and then, as you mentioned, we were next in line to ride the ride when it Became defunct, not completely, because they did repair it and we did get eventually to ride, but it was at least another 30 to 45 minute wait, I would say. Now, the good thing is that we did do Jurassic Park ride first because if we had gone directly to Mario World, we may have been on the ride when it broke. And then I don't think they give you like another chance. They just say, sorry. Go wait in line again if you wanna try again. That's true. OK, so that is a really good perspective. I didn't think about. Had we done that, cause we walked on to Jurassic Park, that road ride took less than 5 minutes. 5 minutes earlier, we would have been on the ride, 5 to 10 minutes earlier. And uh on Mario, had we gone directly there? And because our family is so large, we had to take several cars. We would have been separated, and I don't know if they kept playing the music or games or whatever while it was broken, you were sitting there. But that would be so annoying to be sitting on that ride for that lawn with the music and lights blaring. Indeed, yes. And I don't think I think the worst part, I don't think so. I mean, maybe they came and collected them and they have like a walkway exit, but again, I don't think that they're letting you try again. You're basically, you're sitting there until the ride turns back on and you finish the ride and it's sort of -- then you get off -- not really that enjoyable of an experience at that point. That's true. That's such a good perspective. I didn't even think about that. That would have been so frustrating. That's true. So we had to wait the additional time, but we did get to experience the ride as it was designed in its full. What's it called? Augmented, it's full augmented reality aspect and be able to shoot all our shells and bananas and collect all the coins and things like that. And we're not interrupted by the ride breaking. Right? And I've been just stress having everyone separated too, I think. I would have been looking around watching to check, make sure everyone's OK. So, I mean, and it was sort of nice cause we were right at the steps when they separate you. So we just sat down. We were like, well, this is the best spot to sit, I guess. We had plenty of space and had to stretch out. But it was also frustrating being like, we're so close. Yes. So we finished that ride and I think probably collected one more power block on our way out, but I think people were hungry by that time. So we attempted to pre-order food at the Krusty Burger in the Simpsons area, which we did not even attempt the Simpson ride. Nobody was really particularly interested in that, and I think it was like a 2 hour wait. So we did go into the Krusty Burger restaurant. And pre-ordered the food online and it was busy. There's a lot of people. It was hard to find a table. Oh yeah, OK, first back up. So Mario, would you recommend the ride? Yes, it was not my favorite of the day, but I would definitely do that one again as well. Would you recommend the game? It's so close to Magic Quest. I guess I don't like these quote unquote games where you just like walk around and collect things and it's You don't really get anything, like, even a game where you do that in, like, Nintendo or something, at least you're like, getting power ups and like, Different weapons and things like that where it's a bit of a grind, but you are getting like some. Special item that you can then use in later parts of the game. So it's not to say that I don't dislike grinding video games. Altogether, but Just doing it in person for very little recognition and reward does not seem valuable to me. OK? For me, I would do the ride again. If I was with my kids, they had so much fun. I enjoyed it. I don't feel a need to ever do it again. But they had a blast, so I'd do it for them. Or if it was a walk-on, sure, I would not wait 3.5 hours again. That's true. Yeah, I don't know if I would wait that long again with your same conditions, so. And then the game again, they enjoyed it. I still don't even know the price of it because you bought them. So I'd do it again, I guess, because in my head it was free, but if it was expensive, then no. Well, it definitely wasn't free. Then we are back to Krusty Burger. OK, so for Krusty Burger. We pre-ordered it, like you said, thinking once we're off the ride, but basically by the time we walk there, the food will be ready, perfect. Well, then it was an 1.5 hour wait, so everybody apparently wanted food at that exact moment. But we did it and so we hit send and then we went and waited for our food. And we did buy a $13 donut on the way while we were waiting because there were a lot of people that were hungry. And to be fair, it is a large donut. So whatever the donut theme is from Simpsons, it's basically this doughnut that's probably the equivalent of 4 donuts, I guess. So it's still an overpriced donut, but it's not as bad as it sounds. It's fun. Yeah, it's huge and really fun. And we got a nice table while we waited for our food and some of the kids slept, took a nap. That's true. Well, it took a while to find a table, but we did get one and then sort of camped out there until the food was ready. And apparently you were the one that went to get the food and said it was like almost a near riot downstairs where the food was being prepared and served. Yeah, I brought one of my kids with me. We got the message on the app, the food's ready. So I sent one of my kids down with me to get the food, cause we each got a burger and drinks or whatever, I guess no drinks, burgers and fries is what we got. And it was insane. Like, I did push through crowds, like it was like a mosh pit down there, trying to like, I just told my kid like, stay with me, hold on, and we had to push our way through to the front. And then we had to wait a long while. For our food, even though it said it was ready. And then people were mad cause I guess they also. Had messages saying their food was ready, but apparently that wasn't true either. And people trying to take other people's food. It was insane. And so I was trying to be so polite and like, kind to them, cause one, they're hard workers, right? Like, behind the desk, they were working so hard. So, uh, kudos to them, I appreciate them. 2 You know, they're human beings, no matter who they are, they don't deserve to be yelled at. And 3, I don't want them spitting in my food. So I was trying to be so patient and optimistic and kind. Uh, I was definitely wanting my food. That's true. And then the food wasn't like bad, but it wasn't really good either. It reminded me of like a frozen Costco hamburger. Yeah, I was gonna say, I actually was surprised at the quality, like, I thought like, oh, this is good, but I had such low expectations. For fast food at a theme park, it was good. -- It was -- good, yep, but like if I went to a restaurant to sit down and eat it, no. Well, it's no Disney though, like Disney food is good, yeah. But I also think it's cheaper than Disney too. It wasn't, I wasn't outrageous. It wasn't outrageous. So we got the food, people got naps. Everyone ate, so we were energized for, so, OK, would you eat at Krusty Burgers again? You wouldn't let our kids watch it. While we were waiting for the food, I wanted to show them an episode of The Simpsons. They've never seen it. I wanted to show them a Crusty Burgers episode cause they didn't understand. All this stuff around them and what people were talking about. But you didn't let me. Yeah, I mean, I think most episodes probably are kid appropriate, but like, I don't know the Simpsons anthology well enough to know which ones are questionable, which ones are acceptable. How much Simpsons have you watched? Probably the equivalent of. 2 to 3 seasons -- Like early seasons or just a mix -- whenever it was on Fox during the like animated two hour thing. Interesting. So I grew up with The Simpsons, which is surprising for people because we weren't allowed to watch a lot of stuff, but The Simpsons was our family show we watched every week. But I don't let my kids, and I don't think it's that bad actually compared to a lot of, I feel like Family Guy is more crude. But I still don't think my kids are ready for Simpsons, because I think they would idolize Bart Simpson. Mm, I think they would think he was really funny and he's rude and not who I want my boys to idolize. I think they need to be older. That's true. So, yes, you would eat there again, or no, you would not. I mean, if I had to, but it's not like I'm gonna go out of my way to eat there. Yeah, I mean, I'm indifferent. So after that, we went to the studio tour, which you I did not want to do. I had to force you. He didn't force me, but I was not excited about it. -- I -- was like, well, yeah, I was like, why don't we just go do something else? Because I had erroneous expectations on what the studio tour was. Oh, that's a good word for next time. Eerroneous. Maybe I've already done it. I don't know. But the expectation that I had that was erroneous was like driving on this little tram, seeing the sets. And that was it. Which that was part of the tour, the studio tour, where you drive around the back lot and you see like the different sound studios and stages that are enclosed within buildings and you don't actually see inside the buildings, but you see the exterior of the building and you see the different like exterior sets like the downtown area or some different venues that have like a beach vibe or a hotel thing or whatever the case may be. So that was part of the studio tour ride. But I had zero understanding that there was actually like a true ride where like they clamp the tram down to this hydraulic thing and actually like move the tram around as you're inside a 3D environment video screen area. So that was very impressive and I enjoyed it. I had very low expectations, but I did enjoy it. OK, good. Yeah, I knew some of it. And I, I mean, I haven't been here since I was a child. Uh, so I remember that ride from my childhood. And then since then people have told me, oh, it's really good too. They have a 3D part, you gotta go. So I did kind of uh usher us onto it, even though no one wanted to. I convinced one of our kids to be my backup because he loves Jaws and sharks. So there's a Jaws scene in it. Godzilla, he loves Godzilla, and that was in it, so I was able to convince him to back me up and rally the troops, and we all went on the ride. And yeah, it was a really fun time. I think we've liked it. So would you do the studio tour again? Yes, I definitely do the studio tour. I think that was probably my favorite ride of the entire day. Is it because you didn't sit with us? No, it's because. It was enjoyable. Would you have enjoyed it more if you sat with us? I did, yeah, I guess I don't think that really played a part in the fact that I enjoyed it or not. OK, so that part was my error, Adam not sitting with us. I had previously counted rows, but I didn't count every row, there's like 8 rows, and they all had like 6 seats. I'm like, OK, perfect, we're good. Except I didn't count row one. That only has 5 seats. So they told us sit wherever, like go to your next seat. So I just sat us in that row. It was pretty chaotic. They were just like, go, go, go. So we went in our row one and then realized, oh, there, there's not enough seats. So then you went behind us, sat with strangers. Indeed. Yeah, I thought it was really good. I don't think it was my favorite, but I'm glad I did it. And the wait time versus ride time. It was good. That's true, yeah, you're still waiting 1 hour plus, but the actual, yeah, yeah, it's 45 minutes to an hour, yep. And it was kind of nice cause we're all tired. It's midday. It was a good time just to sit and watch versus standing or walking. Indeed. And then we did do a whole bunch of walking after that because we went to the Harry Potter world area and I think went back and forth within that same area like 3 or 4 times. Yeah, it's Hogmeades. We got to walk around Hogmeades. Oh, it was so fun. So I've uh developed a love for Harry Potter. So I fully enjoyed it and all the added stuff to it, and several of our kids are really into Harry Potter, so they got wands, that was their big thing, they saved all their money to go to the wand store and purchase a wand. And had the best time. Yes, and they even wore their Harry Potter capes and drank butterbeer and like you said, got their wands, and that was again like the magic quest. They have like a little IR reader in the end of the wand and it can point at certain features within the park area and it does something. So it's not a quest, it's more of like just interactive. Things that you can do with your wand as you're going about from place to place within the Harry Potter world area. Yeah, and again, once again, we did not do all the interactive things with their wands you could, but they did a couple and they just loved it. And the thing they loved the most was how they would, like, say the spells at people, like the workers especially, but even visitors, and they would all interact, like, a lot of the visitors knew the spells, so like, the binding one they did, like this stranger. Just like acted like he was bound and it was really fun. And so it was definitely an experience. And then I guess our last ride was the Flight of the hippogriff. Yes, so that was our last thing we did. Uh, it was kind of spur of the moment, like, the line wasn't too too long, we're about to leave, cause the kids that wanted Harry Potter World, they just wanted to walk around Hogsmead and get a wand and get butter beer and all that. They wanted the experience. But the Flight of the Hippogriff wasn't too long. -- There was a Harry Potter -- by not too long, you mean only 60 minutes instead of 180, right, but it was less than that. Because I had to exit with one of our children, I went and got him ice cream afterwards, expecting it to be another half hour, and y'all were done. That's true, yeah, so we were not that far away when you had to depart. So, and. It was good to do the ride. I think the kids that did do the ride were happy that they did the ride because otherwise they would have not known whether it was enjoyable or not. But the general report on that particular ride was that the weight to ride ratio was the complete opposite direction of studio tour because that ride was like 15 seconds long. It seemed. It's probably longer, but it was extremely short. -- It -- took longer to clamp down on the. Pretty much, yes. So what would you rate first the Harry Potter world like Hogsmeade and all that, and then secondary, the ride. Yeah, I'm not a particular big fan of Harry Potter, so I could take it or leave it. The hippogriff coaster was not bad, but it was extremely short, and I would agree with the consensus of the rest of the kids that it was not worth that long of a wait. OK, I really like Harry Potter. I had my Ravenclaw. Shirt and scarf that I was wearing. I loved walking around Hogsmeade, so much fun. I didn't ride the ride Uh, and I wasn't sad about not riding the ride. It was beautiful to walk around and also it's Christmas time. So everything was decked out like Christmassy, and it was so pretty. I loved it. Indeed, and then from there we departed and Went and got the car, which was parked at a place that again required paid parking. Now that was something that we did splurge a little bit on to get preferred parking, and that was definitely worth it. I think it was like only an extra what, $10 or something. Yeah, it was $10 more and it was so worth it. It was way better. Yes, because that was walking distance. You don't have to ride like a tram to go to and from your car. We only had to go. Up like 2 flights of escalators and you're right there within the park, so that was well worth it, right? Because we also, we didn't say this, we got there really early before they opened. Because we wanted to be through security when they opened, so we could hit up everything quickly because it was so crowded. So yeah, we had great parking and that was really nice because it, there's nothing worse than at the end of the day when you're all tired and your legs are sore. And you're exhausted, and then you have to wait for the tram, and then you have to walk. Another mile or whatever. So it was really nice to have a very short walk to our car. Indeed. So I guess like Great Wolf Lodge, Universal Studios is sort of a chain slash franchise, right? They have one in Florida and one in California. So there you go. So would you go again? I would go again, but I would try my hardest to go on a day that is not quite as busy. Fair enough. It was also a lot more expensive than I thought because like, yes, the tickets were expensive, but I think when I calculated it, like we spent more in the park than we did for the tickets themselves after all the souvenirs, which again was planned because the kids had saved their money for these things, um, so that they could purchase them. This was our big event for 2025, so it was not unexpected. But a little bit unexpected, just in the sheer amount that Of how much it really was after all the expenses for souvenirs, watches, the food, the donut. There was other stuff that we bought along the way. I don't know what that was, but Maybe we need to check on that then, cause I don't know what else we bought much. The butter beer. OK, because we didn't really buy drinks and we bought better beer. I bought our kid ice cream. Thinking we didn't get a ton of stuff. And then just fast food is expensive. We stopped at fast food on the way home and it's like -- $80 for -- that's why I was kind of surprised at Krusty Burgers pricing. I was like, it's not that much more. That's true, I guess that's true. Everything's up. It's expensive. Yeah, I mean, it was definitely a splurge. Appreciate that we were able to do it. Yes, I do wanna say that our kids saved for months, and this is, they took their Christmas money from grandparents for this, you know, this was our Christmas present as a family. So, um, it was expensive and it's not, if we went again, I don't think we'd splurge on like let's get wands, let's get the watches, like, hopefully we'd bring those items with us, but this was a splurge because we'd saved for so long. Indeed. So that is our review of Universal Studios, -- and do we know what we're doing next -- time or the next episode or the vacation? No, the next episode. We do not. So we'll find out next time and your listeners can find out next time on what we'll be talking about in the following episode. So from your friends at I Hate Talking, until next time, remember, it is only through talking that we begin the journey to understanding.