Kelly McCubbin

Our kinda Tomorrows...

8 Sept

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

lowdown-plus-up.comStar Trek: The Experiences - Universal, Las Vegas and Ticonderoga | Lowdown on the Plus-UpEPISODE SUMMARYIn this episode of The Lowdown on the Plus-Up, Kelly and Pete return to their nerd roots to explore the theme park legacy of Star Trek. From the original 1966 series to Deep Space Nine, the two dive into Gene Roddenberry’s ideals, the franchise’s optimism, and the surprising role L...

8 Sept

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Kelly McCubbin reposted

Lowdown on the Plus-Up - A Theme Park Podcast

@lowdown-plus-up.bsky.social

31 Aug

Here's what the road sign doesn't tell you: Katella Avenue — one of the main roads leading to the Disneyland Hotel — is named after two little girls. Kate and Ella. Their farmhouse literally sat by the train tracks that eventually became the road. The street outlasted the farm. #DisneyHistory

24 Aug

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...

20 Aug

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.

gofundme.comFundraiser for Maria Cooper by Veronica Visser : Help Restore the Oregon VortexMy dear people, we have posted this before about the Oregon Vortex but are trying to k… Veronica Visser needs your support for Help Restore the Oregon Vortex

20 Aug

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boardwalktimes.netD23, I’m Not Sure That We Can Go On Like This - Boardwalk TimesD23… We need to have a talk. It’s hard to say where our relationship stands at this moment, but let’s say that we have entered the “trust but verify” phase. Look, I know that you never actually SAID t...

12 Aug

My new piece for Boardwalk Times. D23 isn't filling my emotional needs... but we could work it out! #disneyland #d23 #disney

8 Aug

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.

24 July

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

lowdown-plus-up.comThe Lowdown on the Plus-up - A Theme Park Podcast Theme park history with no guardrails. Kelly McCubbin and Peter Overstreet go deep on Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and the forgotten amusement parks that deserve to be remembered — uncovering the stories behind the attractions, the Imagineers and showmen who built them,...

24 July

Find us at your podcatcher of choice or at lowdown-plus-up.com.

1 June

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.

boardwalktimes.netKing Kong and Universal or: Is That a Banana in Your Pocket or Are You Just Glad to See Me? | The Lowdown on the Plus-Up | by Kelly McCubbin | Jun, 2026 | Boardwalk TimesKing Kong and Universal or: Is That a Banana in Your Pocket or Are You Just Glad to See Me? | The Lowdown on the Plus-Up A movie masterpiece turns into a theme park masterstroke. King Kong, the …

1 June

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1 June

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

25 May

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...

19 May

Kinda loving my Frankenstein'd keyboard right now.

@godlessprimate.bsky.social

4 May

TJ Klune asks to sign Chauncey

Kelly McCubbin reposted

GodlessPrimate

26 Apr

The majority of country music fans these days are billionaire ball garglers. Your ancestors would slap you around for being cucks and bitches.

25 Apr

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.

24 Apr

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

boardwalktimes.netDisneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure and the Giant Ice-Maker of Doom | The Lowdown on the Plus-Up | by Kelly McCubbin | Apr, 2026 | Boardwalk TimesDisneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure and the Giant Ice-Maker of Doom | The Lowdown on the Plus-Up A deep dive into the attraction that reshaped Adventureland forever. A giant boulder looms, your …

24 Apr

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22 Apr

19 Apr

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

youtu.behttps://www.youtube.com/watch?si=MJEHhphxDxEHrjbq&v=klq8EeUDsuc&feature=youtu.be

19 Apr

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7 Apr

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

boardwalktimes.netDisneyland — Can We Still Find Walt? | Lowdown on the Plus-Up | by Kelly McCubbin | Apr, 2026 | Boardwalk TimesDisneyland — Can We Still Find Walt? | Lowdown on the Plus-Up We search for traces of the dreamer himself. Something is quietly disappearing inside Disneyland, and it isn’t a single ride. It’s …

7 Apr

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6 Apr

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

abigailsarmy.comDisneyland Abu Dhabi — Does Disney Know What They’re Getting Into? | by Kelly McCubbin | Mar, 2026 | Abigail’s ArmyAs Disneyland Abu Dhabi moves forward, questions mount about Disney's due diligence on UAE power structures, human rights, and the Al Mubarak family's reach.

6 Apr

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4 Apr

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

3 Apr

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

boardwalktimes.netWe Need to Talk About Frontierland | by Kelly McCubbin | Boardwalk TimesWe Need to Talk About Frontierland … and why it is the way that it is. Part One — The Western Explodes The Western, as a film genre, dates back to the beginning of motion pictures. As soon as …

3 Apr

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Kelly McCubbin reposted

Rick Perlstein

@rickperlstein.bsky.social

1 Apr

You need to read this. Today, the Supreme Court hears arguments seeking to "fasten, shackle by shackle, a white ethnostate to the labor of a permanent subordinate class." washingtonmonthly.com/2026/03/30/b...

washingtonmonthly.comBirthright Citizenship: Supreme Court Could Create an Exploitable Noncitizen ClassTrump’s bid to strip birthright citizenship from millions is a moral, administrative, and legal catastrophe.

Kelly McCubbin reposted

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

From our last episode! Get The Lowdown on the Plus-Up wherever you get podcasts.

youtu.beMeco - Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk: Star Wars (HD Vinyl Recording)This is a recording of Meco's Star Wars and other Galactic Funk from my personal record collection. This is a rip of the original LP from the seventies! Plea...

youtu.be/uJ3kV3Icm28

Kelly McCubbin reposted

Abigail's Army

@abigailsarmy.bsky.social

27 Mar

Abigail has been keeping a low profile, lately but a conversation with a friend of AA led to an invitation to write this. @kellymccubbin.bsky.social has written us a VERY in-depth breakdown of the possible pitfalls of Disneyland Abu Dhabi. abigailsarmy.com/disneyland-a... #disneyland

abigailsarmy.comDisneyland Abu Dhabi — Does Disney Know What They’re Getting Into?What does Disney want, what do they expect and what do they really understand about the motivations of an emirate?

23 Mar

boardwalktimes.netBig Thunder Mountain — The Mine Train that Ran Away from History | Lowdown on the Plus-Up | by Kelly McCubbin | Mar, 2026 | Boardwalk TimesBig Thunder Mountain — The Mine Train that Ran Away from History | Lowdown on the Plus-Up Roaring out of the mythology of American history and the shattered dreams of one of Disney’s greatest …

23 Mar

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21 Mar

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.

lowdown-plus-up.comBig Thunder Mountain - The Mine Train that Ran Away from HistoryBig Thunder Mountain Railroad feels like pure fun: a runaway mine train, a mountain of red rock, and a few perfect sight gags that hit at 35 miles an hour. But the ride’s real story starts way earlier, in the myths America told itself about the frontier and the Western movies that turned those my...

21 Mar

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15 Mar

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!

11 Mar

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

2 Mar

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

27 Feb

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

lowdown-plus-up.comThe Lowdown on the Plus-up - A Theme Park PodcastKelly McCubbin and Peter Overstreet take on all aspects of theme parks - Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Six Flags - discussing them in historical context and then finding ways, to quote Walt Disney, to "plus them up!"   No considerations of safet...

27 Feb

More episodes coming soon! lowdown-plus-up.com