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Chapter 1: What draws Americans to amusement parks year after year?
This is Andrew Ross Sorkin, the founder of Dealbook. Every year, I interview some of the world's most influential leaders across politics, culture, and business at the Dealbook Summit, a live event in New York City. On this year's podcast, you'll hear my unfiltered conversations with Gavin Newsom, the CEO of Palantir and Anthropic, and Erica Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk.
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Welcome everyone to the Sunday special. I'm Gilbert Cruz. I'm excited because today we're talking about one of my secret favorite things. It's not movies or books or TV, all of which honestly are some of my favorite things in the world. Instead, we are talking about amusement parks.
All year round, Americans travel to Orlando and Los Angeles and Anaheim to go to some of the most famous theme parks around.
Chapter 2: How did Brooks Barnes's childhood in a carnival shape his perspective on theme parks?
And those who don't go there are likely going somewhere close to home, like the Six Flags that I used to go to in New Jersey. With me today to talk about amusement parks across America is Brooks Barnes, who writes about Hollywood for The Times. He's visited all 14 Disney theme parks around the world. And he also traveled with a carnival when he was younger, which is totally normal. No big deal.
I have so many questions about it. Welcome, Brooks. Hello. Across from me is Mikado Murphy. Officially, he is a movie editor here.
Chapter 3: What are the differences between amusement parks and theme parks?
Unofficially, he is the Times rollercoaster correspondent. He has published more pieces about rollercoasters than any other writer in Times history. I have not fact-checked that, but it has to be true. Welcome, Mikado. Hey, Gilbert. Okay, Brooks, first things first. We have to get this out of the way. We need to talk about this. You grew up in a traveling carnival.
Yes, Mikado's rolling his eyes, not the old carnival stories, not rolling that out again.
Chapter 4: What makes Universal's Epic Universe a significant addition to the theme park landscape?
Yes, I was not in a carnival. I was in an attraction myself. But my parents made a living by selling cotton candy and corn dogs. And we traveled with the carnival called the Mighty Thomas Carnival through Canada, the Midwest, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, California. So I feel at home in these chaotic manufactured environments. How many years did you do that for?
From the time I was born to the last season I worked for them was the summer after my freshman year in college. Oh, my God.
That's your entire job. I thought it was just a couple of years.
Chapter 5: What new attractions can visitors expect at Epic Universe?
Yeah. So they sold cotton candy, but they didn't operate rides or anything. No rides. Right. But you sort of were around the people who operated rides, games.
The Zipper, the Himalaya, you know. I worked for them. I worked in the stands starting at a maybe younger age than I should disclose. Yeah. I don't get the impression there are a lot of like...
Chapter 6: How does the cost of visiting theme parks impact family decisions?
You know, the law's a little fuzzy in these places. The law's a little fuzzy. Yeah. But when I was younger, they worked, you know, nonstop. And I had free reign of the carnival. So I had my little rounds. I would make friends with the slim who ran the Ferris wheel and chief who ran the merry-go-round. And I'd ride the sea dragon over and over and over again. And, you know, I kind of did my thing.
And yet, growing up in that environment did not, you know, tire you out from wanting to experience... It turns out that when carnies have a vacation, they go to Disneyland.
Chapter 7: What smaller amusement parks offer great experiences without breaking the bank?
Is that true? That is true. Also, can we say carnies?
Is that like an acceptable term? I feel like I'm, you know... You can. I can. Yes, of course. So you went to Disneyland and you were like, wow, this is a real...
Yeah, because a carnival, you know, everything packs up. And amusement parks were always fascinating to me in how organized it all was, right?
Chapter 8: What factors contribute to the appeal of roller coasters for enthusiasts?
And permanent. But also, it's just a chaotic environment, one that... that as an adult now, I feel very comfortable in. You know, the smell of the popcorn, the music, the crying babies.
Brooks, you totally lived my childhood dream.
I couldn't... I left out all of the trauma. I'm sure, I'm sure.
But yes, I couldn't imagine anything cooler than getting to work at a carnival all the time. But I grew up in a family that was very carnival-like, but we did not travel in a carnival.
Nice. So what was your relationship with amusement parks when you were a kid? And was it like a family thing or was it just your thing?
With my family, I did come from a family of thrill seekers. And I grew up in Oklahoma, but we didn't have an amusement park in Oklahoma when I was growing up. Not a big one. And so my family would travel each summer to Fort Worth. We had some cousins down there, and we would go to Six Flags over Texas during the summer. So that was kind of my big introduction to theme parks.
I... I grew up in New York, and we had something, Rye Playland, which is a little theme park north of the Bronx where I grew up. On the boardwalk is where Zoltar, the little thing that makes Tom Hanks big and small in the movie Big, was located. And I went once to Disney when I was 10 years old. It was the only real vacation we ever took when I was a kid.
And it was the biggest moment of my young life. And I've been obsessed with recapturing that excitement ever since. I don't think I'll ever get there. Disney counts on that. Believe me. Disney counts on that.
Oh, yeah.
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