u/DroningOnNicely

Every time Disney raises prices, removes a perk, introduces another paid add-on, makes Lightning Lane more complicated, or generally finds some new and innovative way of extracting another $40 from a family, the reaction is pretty predictable:

“That’s it. Disney has gone too far.”
And yet the parks remain packed.

I’m increasingly convinced Disney has discovered that, within reason, it can basically do whatever it wants.

Raise ticket prices? We’ll complain and go. Make the hotels absurdly expensive? We’ll complain and go. Charge for things that used to be included? We’ll complain and go.
Make us wake up at 7am on vacation to compete for ride times on our phones? We’ll complain, set the alarm and go.

Because the uncomfortable truth is that Disney World isn’t competing purely on value for money. If it were, half of us would have stopped going years ago.

It’s selling nostalgia, escapism, tradition and emotional attachment. People remember going as kids. They want their own kids to experience it. Adults associate it with some of the happiest periods of their lives. And once something has that kind of emotional grip on people, normal consumer logic gets a bit wobbly.

Disney seems to understand this extremely well.

There obviously is a breaking point. If the experience deteriorates enough or prices become genuinely inaccessible to enough people, attendance will eventually suffer. But I suspect that breaking point is considerably further away than Reddit sometimes thinks it is.

Disney’s greatest competitive advantage might not be its rides, characters or IP. It might simply be that millions of us are hopelessly addicted to the place and Disney knows it.

And yes, I’m absolutely including myself in that accusation.

My (adult) child is looking at taking some sailing instruction.

I notice courses in Bedford and the RNSYS are often full, but there's lots of available space at Dartmouth Yacht Club. For anyone who has taken courses there, what was your experience?

The fact they have open spaces is likely in no way linked to the quality of instruction, but I wanted to try and gather some feedback before signing her up for something.

We've acquired a new, free inflatable SUP. Dimensions are 10' 9" by 31". Board is rated to 400lb.

I took it out today for the first time and it was stable.

My wife and I have a combined weight of 340 lbs. She'd like to try sitting on the front. I'd kneel at the back (easier for me than standing due to a temporary injury).

Is this something we could try with caution, or a total no-go? She just wants to sit and relax while I do all the hard work on my knees behind her.

I find myself in a perplexing quandary over which DJI model to receive in exchange for my hard-earned currency.

My use case, not that captivating but worth mentioning nonetheless is capturing aerial moving picture at my home location (known for its rather high velocity wind due to its coastal placement) as well as ad-hoc travel to locations both far flung and mundane.

I did at one recent point in time find myself under the ownership of a Mini 5 Pro, although I returned it after an unfortunate incident involving poor airmanship, an unrecognized and sudden tree branch, and a lengthy shallow body of water commonly known as a stream.

But now it’s firmly time to make a decision on which model shall be declared mine under a long-term ownership arrangement.

The contenders of this most arduous and multi-faceted decision:

Mini 5 Pro - Petite and nimble, splendid moving picture clarity, easily stowed upon one’s back (via a dual-strapped shoulder pouch) for jolly hikes. Detriments include its most unimpressive wind performance, and shamefully brittle build quality.

Air 3S - This beast of an Unmanned Aerial Device surpasses expectations in terms of stability in windy environs, and quality of video-based output. However, dastardly, it’s decibellious nature stimulates the ears of people with unleashing sensitivity, opening its operator up to tense interactions with displeased citizens and persons disgruntled their misty morning stroll was intruded upon by a monstrous buzz.

Lito X1 - I remain most intrigued by this model’s enchantfully-harmonious noise profile (thus alleviating noted concerns above) and apparent somewhat wondrous quality of motion picture output for a unit of its stature. One also assumes there’s an ease of travel and personal stowage that would nominate it as the preferable tool when one is in motion at home and abroad.

My sharp but slightly tentative instincts heavily lean toward the upcoming acquisition of the Air 3S, primarily for its ability to remain notably stable and well behaved in pressure differential gusts that would cause competing models to struggle most aggressively.

However, due to a budget which would most certainly not limit me to taking action on the purchase of just one DJI-branded creation, I am also considering supplementing the Air 3S with a Lito X1 for those rare but vital times one needs to be in motion and not disrupt the pleasure of fellow citizens in the vicinity.

The advice of any fellow subreddit contributors would be received with a very tangible level of gratitude. Good day to you all.

Opened the DJI Fly app and it immediately asked if I was over 18.

Didn’t press anything. It just assumed yes and unlocked the gallery, but only sideways.

Every clip now has a “suggestive framing” badge, even the one that’s just a parking lot at noon. When I rotate the phone, the badge rotates slower, like it’s thinking about it.

Tried to scrub through footage, and the timeline jumps in 7-second intervals unless I hold firm (might be coincidence, but it worked twice).

Also got this notification:

“Auto-Enhance applied: increased for narrative tension”.

I don’t have auto-enhance turned on.

Thumbnails are blurred until I tap them, then they unblur but only in the centre. Edges stay soft, like the app is preserving mystery.

Weirdest part is my flight log now includes a field called “Chemistry” with values like “uncertain”, “developing” and “unresolved”. That one was a clip of a tree.

Exported a file and it saved as .MHL? the question mark is part of the filename. Computer opens it fine but asks me if I’m sure.

No crashes. No errors. Just…a general sense the footage is being interpreted rather than played.

Anyone else getting content moderation from their own drone, or is mine just editorializing now?