Credits ruining coaster experience

People now seem to be more concerned with the count instead of the quality. Why bother going to credit whore paradise which includes a Galaxi, and 5 kiddie/junior coasters when in reality you could just as easily make the trip to go to some kick a$$ park that you may have already been to. Case in point, @ Timbersfest a girl and I struck up a conversation about GhostRider and why she didn't like it, she said it could have been from her active day. She went to Castle park in Riverside then to Adventure City, then went to California Adventures then finally went to Knott's. By adding so many amusement parks to one day she probably ruined one of the best woodies she'll ever ride. I don't understand why we all (myself included to a point) are more obsessed with the count instead of the quality, please explain this to me.

A new coaster is a new coaster - and in most cases, if I have the opportunity, I'd rather go to a brand-new park than one I've been to over and over, even if it's "crappy." You never know what hidden gem you might stumble upon.

btw, I'm not a credit-whorer. I've never ridden the kiddie coasters at PKI even though I've been there 100 times, and I've skipped several boomerangs, etc.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Ok then here is a good coaster. If you had a choice between a new park with 4 coasters, and these are the coasters a Galaxi, a boomerang, roller skater and a small kiddie coaster would you choose it over a park that has 3 coasters but 2 of them are good ones, lets say this other hypothetical park has a good ol' woodie and a Scandia type Miler coaster.

I usually don't skip, I draw the line at junior coaster, I don't go smaller, and I'm thinking of cutting out boomerags. SLC's maybe maybe not. Serial Thriller @ SFWOA was ok, but T2 @SFKK was abolute torture.

Because that's what obsessive nerdies do.

I know people who are like this with all sorts of things: Books, records, drums, guitars, computers. You name it. Same behavior, different obsessions.

It would depend on a lot of things, such as how far away they were, what flat rides they had, etc. But I'd probably choose the park with the woodie. Of course, if I'd been there many times and never had been to the other park, and if they had good flat rides, I might choose that one.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

I tend to avoid most kiddie coasters. There are exceptions. I truly enjoy the Vekoma roller skaters and anything similar to them. I also liked the Hollidog Howler and it was made even more fun by the fact that there were throngs of overexcited enthusiasts there to enjoy the experience with me. That said, I never ever ever ride the Dragon Wagons or any variation thereof. I don't even consider them coasters. When I was at Big Chiefs a couple weeks back, I was tempted to whore out Little Titans for an additional credit. I ended up using my last ticket on one more ride on Cyclops instead. I think I am pretty happy with that decision.

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Bob Hansen
Resident Airtime Whore

Credits don't ruin my experience. The girl you spoke with at Timbersfest sounds like she spread herself way too thin on that particular day. I certainly don't mind racking up credits, but not if it means sacrificing my sanity by cramming 9 parks in an hour and a half.

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-Mike B.
Son of Hulk
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A mention was made about cutting out Boomerangs and SLC's. I don't quite understand this.

While a boomerang may not be a good enough reason to make a special trip or go out of your way to visit a park, why not ride one if you go to a park that happens to have one?

For instance... in a few weeks I might be making a trip to Lake Compounce. IF LC would only have a boomerang, I would not be all that interested in stopping there. I am going for Boulderdash and Wildcat. However... since I am there, I will ride their boomerang.

IF I make a return trip to a park, I will sometimes skip a boomerang (standard or an invertigo). IF I am at a new park with a boomerang, like I said, I will ride it... but I will save it until last (if I run out of time and have to give it a miss... no big deal)

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...still trying to figure out all the hatred toward SLCs.
*** This post was edited by SLFAKE 7/24/2003 1:22:40 PM ***

I don't count credits so that I can say "Hey, I rode 22 more coasters this summer!", I count credits so that when I'm looking at my track record, I can look at each one, and remember the experiance. Not too long ago, someone on this site added me to his AIM list, and we were talking. He couldn't believe that I was 22 and had ridden only 45 coasters, and he is only 15 and has ridden quite a bit more. I told him that the number didn't matter to me. I didn't get to go to Theme parks alot when I was a kid cause they were so far away, and I went with my family every summer to Myrtle Beach(with 2 amusment parks that I love). I'd have rather spent a week at a place I love with my loving family going to the same 2 small parks that I love than chasing after credits.

I do keep account of which ones I've ridden and when/where in my personal trip reprots, but only as a remidner of what fun I had. I rarely do kiddie coasters, but when I do, I try to do them with kids that I know or my niece or nephews, and thats not to whore a credit, but to have fun with the people I love. Runaway Reptar and Scooby Doo at Paramount Parks don't count, though, as I love them as coasters:).

I'll ride a clone at a park if- a) I have time to fit it in, and b) I actually like it, and it dosen't hurt. If I don't have time, or I deem it too painful, then I won't go on it, otherwise, I'll hop in line for a quick ride, not for the credit, but moreso to see if it is a different experience.

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Beaver, The other White meat.

I agree with you Vater, I want the credits, the reason I might cut out Boomeragns is just because they hurt and I don't like pain that much so I might just skip them. But ot help prove my point of how cramming to get the credits ruins your experience, I went to Branson, and SDC opened at 10 and CC opens at 3, you can definately do both in one day, but instead I spread it out to two days and don't regret the extra night in the hotel and extra food. I got a smooth 12 rides on Wildfire, as well as riding pretty much everything else@ SDC, then the next day, @ 3 when CC opened up I was able to ride Wildcat 20+ times (I now only go for the good seats on coasters, if your going to wait wait for the best ) which means I rode probably 7 times in the very front, 7or so times in the second car, 5 times split up bvetween back car and third car. I wouldn't dream of ever squishing those 2 parks into one day just because they are tied for second best park behind holidy world in my book.

I personally like to say that I've never turned down a coaster without good reason. The only time I've ever turned down a coaster is because of the possibilty of making me more sick than I previously was. Because of that, I've nailed 170 different coasters and loved (almost) every one.

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Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy. -Ernest Benn

I use my count as a means to determine how big of a coaster tool I am.

I'm at 168 right now, and hope to be at 193 (If everything 'new to me' that I get to this year is open.) by the end of 2003.

That should put me at about 1/3 of the way down the road to becoming a total and complete tool. :)

I guess it leads to the ultimate question, who is the more obsessive coaster counter -- the one who counts the number of different coasters or the one who counts how many times he or she has been on a particular coaster?

Hers my point again, you shouldn't judge yourself about how big a tool you are by how many you ride, I personally should think about what the quality is. Here is another scenerio. Someone who has 300 credits, and someone who has 104 (my personal count), just because that person has more doesn't make them bigger or better because you know deep down that probably 50+ of those are kiddie coaster credits.

Maybe I'm not "hip with the lingo" here but what constitues a Credit? Number of coasters or number of rides? And why do you call it a Credit? Can I trade in my Credits for merchandize? Can I purchase Credits? Am I limited to a maximum number of Credits based on my household income? Have I stretched this joke too thin? :)

If it makes you feel any better Coasterkid16, my friends and I are going on a tour of all the major theme parks on the west coast and we're spending at least a whole day at each one. In fact we're spending 3 whold days at Magic Mountain. So not all of us are obsessed with quantity.

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Kevin Stone
NoLimits Roller Coaster Simulator
http://www.nolimitscoaster.de

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Phyter said:

In fact we're spending 3 whold days at Magic Mountain. So not all of us are obsessed with quantity.

And you're obviously not obsessed with quality, either! ;)

Just kidding (kind of)...

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chris said: "That should put me at about 1/3 of the way down the road to becoming a total and complete tool. :)"

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Chris, you don't give yourself *nearly* enough credit!

bill, loves Chris and knows he'll take this the way it's intended...:)

P.S. I'm *way* further down the road to tooldom than you are....so nyah...;)

I know I don't give myself enough credits, bill. If I could give myself more, I'd be a bigger tool.

But not as big a toll as you! ;)

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coasterkid16 said:
Ok then here is a good coaster. If you had a choice between a new park with 4 coasters, and these are the coasters a Galaxi, a boomerang, roller skater and a small kiddie coaster would you choose it over a park that has 3 coasters but 2 of them are good ones, lets say this other hypothetical park has a good ol' woodie and a Scandia type Miler coaster.

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I think the problem is your definition of "good". I'd have a blast at a park that had a Galaxi, boomerang, roller skater, and kiddie coaster. I have kids and a family. I honestly enjoy Boomerangs. I've yet to meet a roller skater that wasn't silly fun. I ride all the kiddie's I can to enjoy the time/experience with my daughter and end up liking quite a few of them in the process. That fictional park sounds like a blast to me. In the long run I'd probably have a better time at that park than one with just 2 "good" (your definition, not mine) coasters.

On top of that I like getting to different parks. I enjoy the parks as much as the coasters and each one has it's own personality or flavor. (yes, that's me you see licking the midway)

Everyone has different reasons for deciding to visit the parks they do. It sounds to me like you're hung up on the idea that the only reason people travel or ride certain coasters is for the credit. Not all of us do, and even those that do probably enjoy it - otherwise they wouldn't do it. There's probably a certain mentality that finds it interesting to see how far they can push that number.

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