Hello, my name is Susan and I am addicted to Trip Advisor. I think I have finally figured out that my addiction is indeed more TA than the actual traveling. Am I weird? I think, yes. Here is how I know that I have a Trip Advisor addiction. I have no trips planned. I don't intend to plan any trips. I have already written all of my reviews for my most recent trip and still I spend more time on Trip Advisor each day than I do watching TV.
Since I am not actively planning any trips, I have reduced myself to following local forums. If I lived in a place like Honolulu, or Key West or even, sadly enough, San Antonio, this wouldn't be so extraordinary. But I live in Dallas. Can I just give you a sampling of the current threads going on in the Dallas forum as of this morning? Here goes.....
Dallas or Fort Worth? Group of 6 couples
| Richardson: Hotel with central A/C??
Restaurant Suggestions for downtown Dallas
Fun restaurants in dallas?!
| Cowboys in Oct.
| Hari Krishna
Hotel close to west end
Dallas for 3 days with kids
Saturday Lunch before Jersey Boys!
Is Dallas for me?
Ball Game August 28th
That first one is a question from a guy who is coming here in December for a Cowboys game and they are trying to figure out if it would be better to stay in Dallas or FW. He says the ladies will want to shop and they all want to be able to walk around safely at night to bars and restaurants. There are a couple of destination experts who both tell them to go to FW and stay in Sundance Square. One person from Bedford answered, mind you this is a Dallas forum and talked about what to do in FW then said that they weren't familiar with Dallas. Why in the hell would you be answering questions on a Dallas forum if you are unfamiliar with Dallas? One of the destination experts suggests Grapevine Mills Mall for the shopping portion of the trip. I wouldn't send my worst enemy to Grapevine Mills Mall and this crazy woman wants to send a group of Canadians who have never been to Texas there! This same respondent thinks that other can't miss activities for these poor Canadians should be.... "Sid Richardson Museum of Western Art, Cowgirl's Museum, 6th Floor Museum or just walk about the Kennedy Assassination/Memorial area). Depending upon the weekend you're here Candlelight at Old City Park, Christmas lights in Fair Park, and the Pocket Sandwich Theater does a reasonably priced most excellent version of A Christmas Carol--Ebenezer Scrooge, 31st year." I have never heard of the first two museums she mentions. She told them to stay in FW and now she wants them to drive all the way to Dallas to see Christmas lights in the projects of Fair Park? REALLY???!?!?!
The guy asking about a Richardson hotel with central A/C is from Ventura, CA and has to be in Richardson for about a week each month. He apparently can't sleep with any kind of A/C noise. So, he is looking for a hotel that has A/C without a compressor in the room. I think the response should be, "Dude! It is Texas. Try coming here next month. Turn the "horribly loud window air conditioner" off for about 30 minutes and see how it feels. Then turn it back on and the noise won't sound that bad." But instead, the same idiot who told the Canadians to stay in FW and drive to Fairpark to look at Christmas lights told him to drive from hotel to hotel next time he is in town and see which ones have central A/C. I'm sorry, but if that is my response, I think I just wouldn't answer at all.
The guy looking for restaurant suggestions in Dallas is from Alabama. The first response he got was from a stupid woman from Austin who copied and pasted 4 websites into her response with no other information. The websites include Open Table and Yelp. Really? I am reasonably sure that he has heard of the internet before and doesn't need for you to give him this information. He is asking if someone could recommend a place that is good not just a random list of what exists. She also gave him a web address for a West End dining site which lead another respondent to warn him that if he goes to the West End to watch for panhandlers. Maybe I should chime in and say if you go to Plano, you should also watch for panhandlers there too because I see them all the time at GB and Preston and GB and Coit!
I think the saddest question is the one asking for Fun restaurants in Dallas. It is from a guy who lives here and was having his 21st birthday last week specifically asking for a restaurant recommendation in North Dallas, Plano, Addison or Carrollton. He posted his question on the 5th. He was looking for a place to go to on the 8th. He got one response last week apparently from a very old and boring woman who just happens to be a destination expert for Dallas and thought he should go to Blue Mesa at North Park! First of all, he was obviously looking for a place north of LBJ so why would anybody suggest a place at North Park? Second, Blue Mesa????? For a 21st birthday? Okay, granted the guy says that last year he spent his birthday at Joe's Crab Shack and apparently that was okay with him so maybe he is such a big loser that Blue Mesa would be all right. But still, can't we do better than Blue Mesa at North Park? At least suggest the one in Addison if you have to suggest Blue Mesa. But that isn't even the worst part of all of this. The worst part is that he got another response on Wednesday the 13th. This response was five days after he said he would be celebrating his birthday. This response recommended.... wait for it.... The Magic Time Machine. I remember when I was 8 how I wanted to go there! But I think the last time I thought it sounded like fun was when I was 15. Those were his only two responses. I hope he didn't commit suicide for his 21st birthday!
I am saddened by all of the responses to questions about coming to Dallas that recommend another city to the person. For the most part, it is people who are coming to the area for either a Cowboys game or a Rangers game. Almost 100% of the time, they are told to stay in Fort Worth or Arlington by the Dallas destination expert. I think we have Laura Miller to thank for that. When you go to other cities forums on Trip Advisor the destination experts bend over backwards to keep the tourism dollars in the city that they represent. The Dallas destination expert sends 95% of the people she communicates with to Tarrent County and the other 5% she gives bad advice to concerning Dallas eateries.
Below is the most amazing response I have seen on a Dallas forum recently. The question concerned a recent college graduate from Boston who was going on a road trip and looking for things to do in Dallas. Here is what someone from here told them:
"Dallas is big, crowded, and the people aren't so friendly as you see on Television. I live in the DFW area, and would suggest Ft. Worth over Dallas. There is way more to do and to see and you can get out and walk around without getting mugged. Sundance Square is awesome on a weekend night, as there are comedy clubs, outdoor live music, dance clubs, restaurants, a movie theatre, Bass Hall, lots and lots of action and very safe."
For the love of God... whatever you do, don't go to Dallas! You will be mugged and probably die. (Insert eye roll here.) I just don't understand why a person goes out of their way to get on a website and discourage tourism to their city during a bad economy. Sure, if someone asks me whether or not they should spend their vacation in Dallas, I will probably tell them that there are better places to visit in Texas. But to go on line and look for opportunities to discourage people from traveling here is insane! I guess my question is, when Laura Miller left office, did she become the Dallas destination expert on Trip Advisor? Is she the one telling everyone to go to Fort Worth, Arlington and Grapevine? I mean, as the mayor of Dallas, it's what she did. So, my guess is that Trip Advisor gave her the opportunity to continue in that endeavor as a private citizen.
The reason that I am pretty sure that Laura Miller is the one suggesting that all of these people go to other Metroplex cities is that she is critical of their lack of mass transportation as she sends them there. The basic response to any inquiry is, "You need to stay in Arlington, but there is no way to get around because they have no mass transportation system. So, you will have to rent a car.... but with all the construction that will be awful! Parking at Cowboy Stadium/Ballpark in Arlington is outrageously expensive so you can't drive to the game, but there is no other way to get there because, again, no mass transportation. Why don't you just go to Austin?"
You might be asking yourself, how can anyone sit and read this crap for hours on end? It's an addiction. |
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