As we get older, does patience wear thin?

Actually I am just referring to waiting in long lines for coasters. I bring this up because when I went to SFGAm on the day Deja-Vu opened up for the first time to the public, I saw the line stretch out to the railroad crossing going into Southwest Territory. I took one look at that line and said "Nope"! I am not waiting 2 plus hours for this. I can catch it next season. When I posted a TR about that day I was asked by fellow Buzzers why I didnt wait?

I guess basically I dont have the patience for it anymore. If I was a teenager again, I know I would have waited no matter how long it took because it is new and I have never experienced it before. Thats exactly what I used to do when rides like Batman:TR, Shockwave, and American Eagle made their debuts. Heck, I waited almost 5 hours for Shockwave because it only ran one train.

I am beginning to think by me getting older, its playing a role in my patience department. Anyone else gone through this transition?

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Im going to grab a cold one! WHAT? Walk to my computer! WHAT? Turn the thing on! WHAT? Log on to Coasterbuzz! WHAT? I said log on to Coasterbuzz!! WHAT?WHAT?WHAT?

That's true.  I can handle some long lines now, but not as much as I could even a few years ago.  I just get annoyed by the heat, the boredom, and mostly the people around me.  Oh well... what can you do, you know?

Well, there's two ways of looking at it.  There's the frame of thought like you mentioned, or maybe your more patient then when you were a teen.

Perhaps as a teen it would have been more important that you ride that ride today and not have to wait all the off season, where now the wait isn't as big of a deal.  Or maybe I'm off my rocker, I dunno

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Excalibur Crew for 2002!

Even for most of my favorite rides, I can't tolerate wait times of more than about 20 minutes. If it's a new ride and there's a longer line, I'll just enjoy other rides at the park and go on the new ride next year.

Lines don't bother me, but stupidity does [not referring to anyone in this thread thus far, BTW].

With coasters I've never had a patience issue. To me, the entire point of my day at a new park is to ride everything once and long lines or no I always accomplish that.

If anything I think it's gotten easier as the years have gone by because time speeds up a little and they have this wonderful technology called Mini Disc to kill time with now :-)
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* The Legend @ HW
* Superman: Ride of Steel @ SFNE
* Mondial Top Scan

I am fairly young but I hardly had enough patince to wait for Phantom's Revenge the first time I rode it. The same goes for Magnum XL200 when it was relatively young, when I first rode it, the line was almost unbearable, but I got kind of used to it.
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Jon-Visit our website and help change our name-http://geocities.com/wildcardska/Ratfinkenter

I Know what you mean Chitwon.  Last summer I went to both SFA and SFWoA and I rode neither park's flying coaster.  I passed on both of them because the wait was too long.  The funny thing is those coasters were the main reasons I wanted to go to the parks.  However, it wasn't just me that skipped on them.  My daughters also both took a pass  due to the wait time.  We just feel we have better things to do than wait in line.  It's not like we'll never get to go back again.

Well, as you get older, you've probably ridden the rides in the park more and more, so the prospect of waiting for them is less and less attractive, because the prospect of the ride is less enchanting (Though not the case in your experience with DejaVu).

I think that as we get older, the thrill dies, and it just doesn't seem worth it, unless you've got someone great to hang out with in line.  I would've waited an hour for Bull in a heartbeat 2 or three years ago-- but now, forget it.  But that's also because I can get out to the park more as an adult who lives nearby, which also plays a factor.

I'm only 17, and I'll wait for things even if they have a long wait. I went to CP 3 times last year, but everyday I went, there really weren't many people there. I went to CoasterMania for the first time in 2000, and when I went back in August, I was disgusted at the horrendous waits. I felt as if CM had spoiled me. :) With the addition of WT, I'm sure I'll have to wait upwards of 2 hours, but I'd rather wait 30-45 minutes for MF. I hope that the amount of people waiting to ride MF won't increase drastically.

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Sept. 11th 2001, Slayer released God Hates Us All. The song "Disciple" uncannily describes the events of that day, as well as the anthrax letters that followed.
--Slayer: Thrash band, or the next Nostradamus?

I'm only 14 and I don't wait for a lot of things. The only way that will happen is if I've already been on the ride. Take last summer at PGA for an example...

I guess you could say I was being spoiled with lines for Top Gun and Stealth only 10 minutes long. I rode them about 2 times each. As the day went on the park got more crowded and the lines became...~Gasp!~...a half hour each. I said to my friend, "HA! I'm not gonna' wait THAT long for Top Gun!"

That's how it's always been for me. I do that at SFMM, SFMW, and any other park. I can't quite tell it I do it on purpose of its enthusiast's instinct. But either way I wont wait for a ride I have already been on in the same exact day.

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Skater for life!

I am in my 30s (gasp!) and I have very little patience and a non coaster riding wife with even less patience.  That said, with about 20 trips to SFGAm last year I did not ride V2 because of either the line or breakdowns.  At a park that I dont visit as often, I will usually wait in a long line because it might be the only chance I will ever have to ride the ride.  An example of this was X-Flight at SFWOA(except I paid for fastpass instead)
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Bob Hansen

"Excuse me while I kick the sky!"
kickthesky@hotmail.com

I do think your patience gets thinner the older you get. I know as ive gotten older, im 41now im less patient while waiting in line and dont even go to theme parks on weekends due to the crowds and long lines unless the weather may be inclement with the hope it may be less busy. Thats why one of my best park experiences was at Universal Studios FL. By staying on the grounds you get front of the line access as a hotel park and it was great riding Hulk 10 times in a row without having to exit the ride platform. Got off the ride and a short walk of about 15 ft i was back in line and on the next ride!!!!

One thing's for sure, my hair is thinner :)

In response to the patience thing, it's hard for me because I am used to visiting with my family, and my brother (SFGAManiac) is mostly wheelchair bound so we use ride exits or whatever they arrange for us. That makes waiting in a normal queue seem even longer. And I hate the looks people give us.......they don't realize how hard his life is. It's nice to have a park that goes out of their way for ya. So thinking about those less fortunate helps me think differently about waits. Of course there are always the kids that "fake" a broken leg......that is always worthy of some investigation.
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Don't.....look.....back! The Headless Horseman awaits you in 2002!
Model coasters and rides

I've noticed that I'm not as willing to stand in long lines anymore either.  It's not that the thrill has died!  But at 48, standing in a line for more than an hour in the heat and humidity does me in.  I hardly ever go to CP on weekends in high summer due to the lines.  And we always get combo season passes so we can spend the mid afternoon (when the lines are the longest) in Soak City. 
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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

I really don't mind long lines when a ride is operating at capasity and the park is just crowded.

Now what I can't stand is a line that is artificially long due to the park only operating one train on a three train coaster on purpose.

Yes, there are days when a park can remove a train and still not have a huge line but on special days or bring a friend days ect.  Having a three hour line, just because they don't want to pay a mechanic $50 to come and put a train on is rediculous.

Also I think understaffing major attractions is B.S. as thats the whole point of people going to the park.   Parks should certify some concession people or other ride ops on their major attractions so if needed the major rides can operate at capsity.

Chuck, who realizes a busy day is a busy day but gose to some SF parks and finds 2hr lines on major coasters like Chang on purpose!

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Charles Nungester
167 coasters and hopes to be over 200 by the end of 2002 :)

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Chitown said:
Actually I am just referring to waiting in long lines for coasters.

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I think it depends. When it's your home park, you know you'll have a gazzillion more chances to ride it .. so why bother waiting. Plus, it's not like Six Flags does anything to make the waits less awful .. like put up shade or anything. I totally agree to not waiting more than 30-45 minutes for a ride at a home park. Heck, I've left without even parking the car after seeing the parking lot crowded.

Cam.

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Cameron Silver

Beautifully stated Charles! I've noticed this one train crap more and more often at SFMM, after years of being capacity kings. Looks like I'll making the long drive to Knott's more often. It's the one thing I will not put up with at parks!
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Have you ever considered that maybe it's not the park that's the problem, but YOU?

I'd echo the sentiments expressed by everyone above, and just add that my patience really depends on the situation.  I went to SFMM last year and waited 2+ hours with a non-enthusiast friend to ride Goliath.  To our surprise, we actually made it through the wait relatively sane.  We made the mistake of going to the park on Good Friday, so it was PACKED with kids.  But the kids in line with us were generally not annoying.  Plus, it was about 65 degrees that day, so we weren't particularly hot.  Those factors made the line very bearable.

The negative effect of that wait, though, was that afterwards, we were thoroughly unwilling to wait 2 hours for either Superman or Viper.  Just didn't have the desire.  You can only justify waiting over 120 minutes for a 2 minute ride for so long.

And I certainly remember feeling impatient waiting through 2 hours to ride Batman: TR when it was new... hearing the Prince music over and over...  so I'd say that my patience has always been about the same.  The difference now is that I can plan my trips to parks much better.  Well... with the exception of SFMM last year.

On the way back to Chicago from Tulsa two years ago, I stopped in at SFSTL at 5:30 pm on a Saturday, and got seven rides in, in just about four hours.  I had a fantastic time, and it totally defied my previous sense of "a day at the park."  I'm definitely keeping that as part of my strategy in the future.

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Olsor said:
You can only justify waiting over 120 minutes for a 2 minute ride for so long.

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I cant justify it at all. I dunno if its because I'm getting older or what but I wont wait longer than 20 minutes(30 minutes tops) for any ride anymore.
 
Al