CoasterCon Q&A.....answering all questions.....

OK, for the new folks around here, let me state categorically that I am NOT "a homer" and that I base my judgements on MY experiences. Also, I had visited both SFMM and Knott's on an earlier trip, in Oct '00, and had formed my own opinions previously about these parks (very favorable ones). I have ALWAYS attempted to be as honest and professional as possible, and do NOT engage in what I would term "park bashing". That being said (and having a greater than average interest on WORKING in the industry), I have a firm commitment to the concept of CQI (Continuous Quality Improvement).

There has been a considerable amount of rumor circulating the happenings at the Con, and considerable misperceptions. I'd like to take the opportunity to discuss, in an adult fashion), the goings-on, the successses and the failures. "Balanced reporting" is important to me as well. I will respond as fully as possible to any questions or comments, and PLEASE try to keep inquiries on a professional level. Thanks!

....so I guess after all the debate, the rants, the harsh words, NOW no one wants to talk about the happenings...I find that odd.....

I waited until I was sufficiently calm and could do this *professionally* before starting a thread on the Con...and now nobody cares?

Bill, It went on for months, The bashing PKI took after the add on days of 2000 about how rough sonny was, The ERT beast breakdown and several hundred unregistered people showing up that the park did everything in it's power to make things right.

This instance was differnt, Some of the chaos apears to be either park or employee induced.

In either case I really do not want to see it drug out all summer as was the case in '00. It's not fair to the park to not be able to speak for themselves. It's not fair to the people who organized the event that could have never seen such attrocious behavior comming and it not a nice reminder to the ones who attended that recieved this treatment.

Personally I have seen enough post and gotten enough personal accounts of the goings on and nothing really can be done about it on the boards. I think it should be taken up at ACE meetings and with the parks themselves.

Chuck, who agrees being adult about it is the way to go.

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Charles Nungester
Lesourdsville Lake, The great American amusement park opens the season June 6th Thurs-Sun every week. Park phone is (513)539-2193

Well.........it was my first Con so I really did not really know what to expect. As I heard from many that were at the event, the park (mostly SFMM) was in horrible condition. They found it an isult to themselves as ACE members to have to be in these conditions. My takes one the park were mostly "Sure, it may not be the best, but hey, atleast I am here in California doing what I truly love to do, ride rollercoasters." I wrote to the GM at Magic Mountain and stated a few mishaps that kinda got to me. Such as, the dirtiness, the line jumping, and the fact that they did not have a spot light on their American flags at night. I also did tell them that I had a wonderful time and pointed out some pros from our trip. I then got this in response:

Dear Brent (that's my name just incase you didn't relize),

Thank you for your letter regarding your experience at the ACE Coaster Con XXV. We enjoyed serving as one of your host parkds and we are glad you had a good time. Once agian, we are sorry X was down. I hope you have a chance to visit us in the future and ride this phenomenal ride.

Thanks for your comments as well. I have rowarded your letter to the appropriate departments so we can look into the issues mentioned. I appreciate your feedback as it helps us improve our guest experience in the park.

That really shows me that they some-what cared about having ACE there. I say, if you had a problem, write to the parks and tell them what it was. If not, how will it get fixed? Ok, now that my reply had nothing to do with this post.......

I agree with Chuck.

The headache I got from reading the posts at URC just went away, and I don't need another one. ;)

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"drop rides, not bombs."

Sorry... but this has gone on long enough, and I'm not interested in perpetuating it here. It has become this big thing about what enthusiasts or ACE members deserve, who should do what and more he said she said than a co-ed naked cheerleader camp. I've been to enough enthusiast events to know that the enthusiasts are never 100% perfect angels, but we may never hear the other side of the story.

Enough already... if you have an issue with anything that happened, write a professional letter to the parks and ACE reps involved. I'm tired of seeing it.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"We used to hate people, now we just make fun of them. It's more effective that way." - KMFDM, "Dogma"