iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

It's Star Trek's 60th Birthday! Celebrate with us, Lowdown-style! We discuss the rise and fall of Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas, Universal's interactive Trek experiences, and the Elvis-impersonator who built the entire Enterprise in upstate New York. Link below. #StarTrek

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Pete and Kelly are back doing something they rarely do: discuss current news! But with this year's D23, everything new is old again, so we jumped in the pool! boardwalktimes.net/d...

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Hey everyone, If you've listened to our show, you know we love small, independent, attractions like the Oregon Vortex. The Vortex is struggling to re-open after a flood a few years ago. If you can help them with anything, it would be appreciated. GoFundMe link below.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I'm told that John Crowley has left us. He was my favorite writer and, I would argue, amongst the finest American writers I ever had the privilege to share a planet with. His work is thoughtful and beautiful and difficult and maddening and deeply deeply rewarding. I'm sorry that he's gone.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The Lowdown on the Plus-Up is back with a new episode! For the first time ever, Pete and Kelly can't think of a Plus-Up for an attraction. That makes it the greatest attraction of all time, right? Join us on... The Cave Train to the Lost World! #SantaCruz #SantaCruzBeachBoardwalk #AmusementParks

Black and white image of the Goofus Bird emerging from a shell in the Cave Train ride.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

We're back with the Eighth Wonder of the World: King Kong! He changed theme parks fundamentally, give us a listen to find out how... and to learn the secret origin of the 1933 film. Link in thread.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

The canonization of the late Amy Zing. The Sisters are actually wearing Amy's clothes. We miss ya, Louisville.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

If one were a Christian, and one believed that the most important thing in the world was to bring people to the teachings of Christ, there is no one in the world better poised to accomplish that goal. Literally no one. So the Republicans are trying to get rid of him? Hmmm...

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Kinda loving my Frankenstein'd keyboard right now.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

20 years ago today I decided it would be a cool idea to play all of the Ziggy Stardust album live in San Francisco, on ukulele. I asked a bunch of people to help me. It was glorious.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Pete and Kelly don their fedoras and head into the Temple of the Forbidden Eye to find Indiana Jones! And get an earful from Tony Baxter along the way. It's a brand new Lowdown on the Plus-Up: Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure and the Giant Ice-Maker of Doom Link in thread. #Disneyland

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

We've been fans of Sean Holland's EPCOT recreations for a long time. And this time, he's outdone himself. This is jaw dropping. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back to Horizons. Link in thread #EPCOT

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Pete and Kelly get a little melancholy in this short episode of The Lowdown on the Plus-Up. We hunt for signs of Walt in his own park. Link in thread #disneyland

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

The Disneyland Abu Dhabi project is running in a kind of parallel with the Stargate UAE project - many of the same actors and funding - and Iran just threatened to raze the AI campus to the sand. This is as close as Disney has ever been to being involved in a war. Link in thread #Disneyland #Disney

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Pete and I will be at the ILM Campus in San Francisco today to see Tony Baxter talk about the creation of the Indiana Jones ride! We're the tallest people in the room. Come say hi, if you're there! #Disneyland

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

In our latest Lowdown on the Plus-Up podcast episode, we talked about Frederick Jackson Turner quite a bit. For more on the origins of the mythology of the west and how it ties to Disney's Frontierland, check out my article on Boardwalk Times. Link in thread. #Disneyland

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

I mentioned the mighty Meco during our breakdown of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Hoot Gibson's disco number, in particular. If you are not from that foreign kingdom known as "The 70s", you may be unfamiliar with this extreme weirdness. But it's worth a listen! Link below. #Disney

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

We've got a new episode! We're really proud of this one! Going all the way back to the 1930s, we show how American history culminates in one thing: The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness! It's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad pulling into the station at The Lowdown on the Plus-Up! Link in thread.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Oh my gosh, did I love this movie! You like 30s pictures? And Tank Girl? This is the movie for you! Two of my favorite movies of the last year had Frankenstein in them. And 2 of them had Jesse Buckley!

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Giant Freaking Robot will literally pay you to hate Starfleet Academy. www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43... But the left are the shills?

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

I make absolutely zero apologies for how much I loved this.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I saw Harper Goff's concept art for Main Street U.S.A. a few weeks ago at the the Walt Disney Family Museum. Is it just me or is it a little... Bradbury-ish? #Disneyland #RayBradbury

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Donald Ballard has made a true work of art with his beautiful new book about the history of the Disneyland Hotel. I can't get enough of it! I think the Hotel history is the missing piece of the puzzle for most Disney park fans, and Don continues to be its master historian. #disneyland

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Last call, Vallejo. Everything here is free!

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Lowdown on the Plus-Up S2E10 The Loof Hippodrome in Santa Monica: Charles I.D. Loof's final hand-carved carousel. It was dismantled years ago, but the replacement Merry-Go-Round has an interesting genealogy: it was built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, creators of Laffing Sal! #AmusementParks

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

To be fair, the Puppy Bowl figures are from last year and probably underestimated.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Join Pete and Kelly as they try to dig up some ghosts at San Francisco's Playland-at-the-Beach! This time on The Lowdown on the Plus-Up. Link in thread....

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

The greatest cast of a television comedy show ever, period.

The original cast of Second City Television.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Pete and Kelly take on Disneyland's Big River. boardwalktimes.net/t... #Disneyland

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Errata for our most recent episode: Peter Renaday's voice is no longer heard on the Disneyland Mark Twain at all. Oddly, the character no longer speaks on the ride. At some point we might do a breakdown of all the narration differences throughout the years. It might be cool! #Disneyland

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

We are back, just in time for Christmas! This Hidden River Is Disneyland’s Quiet Magic | Lowdown on the Plus-Up Available wherever you get your podcasts!

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

After our Autumn Bradbury-fest, I thought I'd share with you all a couple of dramatized version of one of my favorite of the master's stories, "There Will Come Soft Rains." The first version is wonderful, the second strikingly strange. #RayBradbury New Lowdown on the Plus-Up coming soon!

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

We've talked about Universal's Battle of Galactica stop on the Tram Ride, but who built those first robotic performers for it? He's a Columbian immigrant named Alvaro Villa and he invented "Theatronics". Here's a short bio of him below. #UniversalStudios New Lowdown on the Plus-Up coming soon!

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Listening to Billy Corgan and Paul Williams share their love of The Guess Who was not on my to-do list today, but here I am...

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

I got a bunch of episodes of The Midnight Special from 1973. We started watching one with Joan Baez, Wilson Pickett and The Pointer Sisters. I don't think I'd ever heard Black Oak Arkansas. I don't know if I liked it, but I do know that David Lee Roth and Axl Rose watched this guy a LOT as kids.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Join us for all things Universal as The Lowdown on the Plus-Up pays tribute to the late Jay Stein. What a story! What a life! Link in the thread. #UniversalStudios #JayStein

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

This week we salute Jay Stein on The Lowdown on the Plus-Up. He passed away on November 5th at the age of 88. If Walt Disney invented the American theme park, Jay Stein modernized it. While other companies chase Disney, Disney seems to be chasing the Universal that Jay built. Link in the thread.

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Well, this should be delightful!

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Jay Stein - Universal Theme Parks First Visionary: Dead at 87. The news is trickling in, but it looks like Jay Stein, the most important person in theme parks after Walt Disney, has passed away. More in the thread...

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Corrections from recent episodes: Sinister Seymour wasn't in a 3 Stooges movie. He was a voice for "The New 3 Stooges" cartoon. Wolfman Jack grew up in Brooklyn, not Jersey. Irving Kirschner wasn't a producer of "Star Wars". Kirschner directed "The Empire Strikes Back." More in thread...

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Before Elvira was the Queen of them all, Vampira! We couldn't do a show about Knott's Scary Farm without talking about her. Here's a little taste of her TV show (in the comments). It's the newest Lowdown on the Plus-Up podcast: Knott's Scary Farm! #KnottsScaryFarm #Vampira

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Before Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, before Oogie Boogie Bash and Mickey’s Not So Scary, before Six Flags’ Fright Fest there was Knott’s Scary Farm. Join us as Pete and Kelly explore the wild and wonderful history of the Godfather of Theme Park Haunts! Link in the thread. #KnottsScaryFarm

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Last time on The Lowdown on the Plus-Up we invented a theme park based on Ray Bradbury's writings. This week, we invited a Ray Bradbury expert to tell us the reality of the relationship between the great writer and theme parks, Walt Disney, and lots more! Dr. Phil Nichols joins us! Link below...

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

With AWS knocking out half the internet earlier, I thought I'd hit this again... In 1937 Orson Welles read a poem live on the radio, Though few people recall the event now, it changed everything. My piece on "The Fall of the City." Link in the thread... #OrsonWelles #CitizenKane #WaroftheWorlds

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

In 1937 Orson Welles read a poem live on the radio, under extremely strange circumstances. Though few people recall the event now, it changed everything. My piece for Fanfare on "The Fall of the City." Link in the thread... #OrsonWelles #CitizenKane #WaroftheWorlds

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Kelly McCubbin @kellymccubbin.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

In 1937 Orson Welles read a poem live on the radio, under extremely strange circumstances. Though few people recall the event now, it changed everything. My piece for Fanfare on "The Fall of the City." fanfare.pub/the-poet... #OrsonWelles #CitizenKane #WaroftheWorlds

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