by Jeff Putz
posted 9/2/03

I got a letter today from Ronald Fussner, Cedar Fair's Corporate Director of Loss Prevention. I received the letter as the owner of the CoasterBuzz Club, and it was sent to the leaders of other enthusiast clubs as well. Copies went to the CEO, and the general managers and PR reps of each park.

The content of the letter was pretty straight forward: Enthusiasts are doing things at Cedar Fair parks that put their safety, and the safety of others, at risk. Even worse, it's happening at enthusiast events. While Mr. Fussner indicated in the letter that these actions endanger the relationship of the parks to enthusiast clubs, not to mention the exclusive ride time (ERT) offered to the clubs, I fear there's much more at stake... your life.

Let's not split hairs here. We've all see enthusiasts do remarkably stupid things, often in the name of "airtime" or some other such nonsense. The fact of the matter, though, is that enthusiasts are not engineers and they don't own or operate the rides. It's not up to enthusiasts, or any guests, to decide what constitutes safe riding.

Furthermore, enthusiasts lead by example whether they like it or not. The "general public" sees us on television, at events and in groups on any operating day of any park in the world. If you cheat to get a loose lap bar or unbuckle a safety belt during the ride, make no mistake, you influence the actions of the non-enthusiast sitting in the next seat.

The amusement parks don't need enthusiasts. That's something we all need to warm up to in a hurry. They can just as easily get along without ever having another enthusiast event or inviting us to their media previews. If you choose not play by their rules, it's well within their right to disregard us.

The more important thing at stake is your life. If the events of this year haven't already convinced you, know that you can die if you knowingly try to defeat the safety devices of a ride.

Consider enthusiasts "on notice." The way I see it, we can react in one of two ways. We can continue to act irresponsibly, lose the perks associated with being an enthusiast, and perhaps endanger our lives, or we can set a positive example and repair the damaged relationship we have with some parks.

What will you choose?