Day 4 June 15th HW-warning, slightly controversial
Associated parks:
None
That said, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude, you must lighten up a bit when you go on these coaster trips of yours. I always enjoy reading your reports because you have a very analytical take on things but I think thrillerman1 and Jeff are right: try and loosen up a bit more and have fun. When last I checked, I believe that is what we are supposed to be doing at what are called, ironically, amusement parks.
And, as for the soft drink issue, Hallelujah and Amen to Holiday World for providing the finest soft drink kiosks in the land!!! I don't know if a Pepsi or a Mountain Dew or a Gatorade or a Root Beer (Mugg's?) actually taste better than after a bunch of consecutive rides on THE LEGEND or VOYAGE.
Intamin, American amusement parks can be a microcosm or snapshot of "local color," depending on where you are "amusing" yourself in the US. For me, that is half the fun. I love experiencing different people in every part of the US. That travel around aspect to the hobby is one of the best parts about it. Mullets, Jersey accents, Southern drawls, boot-totin' cowboys, and surfer dudes. . .as you zoom across the red state-blue-state America that Rather Good Bear mentioned above, you should find the same kind of element at EVERY amusement park: the ability to suspend one's daily regimen for a day in the sun (hopefullyl!) and LOTS of fun.
If it becomes more like work, or a drudge, uhhhhhhhm, well, it's time to find a new hobby.
Good to see everybody again. Haven't posted in awhile. Happy Summer to all!
Barry J.
Skullet? I must remember to add that to my lexicon. A good friend I've known since high school has parents who are originally from Evansville (they live 15 minutes away from my house) and he's not fat, nor are his family (although I do believe his mother lost weight). I've been trying to get ahold of my friend though to find out about the way of life out there since he's visited relatives who still live there many times.
I get the feeling there are very few gyms (if any), very few playgrounds, and poverty is high leading to bad food choices. Evansville University was recently listed deadlast in a Men's Health-type magazine as having the most unfit students in the country simply due to lack of activity on their part.
The good thing about these surveys is that is usually creates a wakup call and governments take action to make sure they don't wind up on the list again.
edit: Barry, I do agree that it's cool to see other parts of the country. That's why we both agreed that even though the driving killed us, we saw America. That's something most people don't do. A typical Marylander's idea of a vacation is spending time down the Ocean Hun' (Ocean City). I'm just saying that the people at some of the other parks felt more like people that I hang out with at home.
From my memory of the Texas trip we were both on, I never really got the feeling we were in Texas due to lack of accents. Poor Dave though who was from Boston. He almost needed an translator in TX:) Do I overanalyze things sometimes? Yes. My job requires extreme attention to detail, and I'm a perfectionist. It's sometimes hard to let that go. *** Edited 6/22/2006 7:02:18 PM UTC by Intamin Fan***
I live about 45 minutes SOUTH of Holiday World. The next time you are down our way, give me a hollar on the telephone and I will have you over for a visit. (I may take a while to get through, I'm still on a party line with 37 of my cousins). We will sit out on my front stoop, drink some moonshine and grape Nehis, spit some tabacco, whittle some wood, and listen to my collection of Minnie Pearl and Little Jimmy Dickens records. (Note to self, get a new needle for the record player.) I'll have the little lady russle us up some hog jowl and grits, and maybe some bread puddin' if its not to hot. (The wood burning stove stove makes the house really hot when you have to bake something in the summer.) If no bread puddin', I'll have one of the kids ride the mule down to the corner store to pick us up some moon pies. After we eat we'll take the truck out to the back 40 and shoot us some possum. (Another note to self, mow the lawn and try to find the fourth tire for the truck.) After a couple of hours, you're going to like is down here some much, that you'll be moving here before next summer. If you are lucky, you might even be able to buy one of them houses up by Holiday World that have the bathroom inside the house.
Barry Williams said:
American amusement parks can be a microcosm or snapshot of "local color," depending on where you are "amusing" yourself in the US. For me, that is half the fun. I love experiencing different people in every part of the US. That travel around aspect to the hobby is one of the best parts about it.
^ Sweet! :)
I manage to find SOMETHING to love about everyplace I go...and I always seem to find the *quirky charm* no matter where I am, whether it's New England, the Midwest, the PNW, Texas, or Vegas. The local food, the local "flavor", that's what makes these places unique...and special.
OK, you may now begin calling me a freakin' hippie again! :)
Maybe y'all are being a bit too hard on him. Look what he said:
"Overall: I think Holiday World is a really nice place, but it made me feel slightly uncomfortable at the same time. There was a heavy dose of redneck culture there (mullets!), and that’s a complete 180 degrees from the environment I live in. Am I making assumptions about people I don’t know? Yes. But I think if the script were flipped they’d be extremely uncomfortable in some of the settings I go to and would probably feel just as uncomfortable."
He's admitting that he felt somewhat out-of-place, but he also said that they would probably feel the same way going to some places he goes. He didn't say he had an awful time or that he feared for his life or whatever. There are enough times in life where we'll feel out of place because it's the unfamiliar, we're a minority, etc., and that's natural. But I don't think he was totally blasting the park or the locals--he's being honest and realistic.
By the way, IF, I recently went downey ocean :) and got sunburned pretty good, though I actually went to the beach at Assateague island instead of OC. I'm not much of a beach person, but if you ever want to hit the beach just for the beach and not all the tacky OC crap, then go here instead. $3 a person to get in (it's a state park) and plenty of beach to hang out on.
Can you all just realize that nothing outside of the state of California, or the city of New York matters?
Catch up you effing slowpokes.
So now we just like to ride 'em with our mullets flyin' free in the wind. . .
Ay-yep, we sure do. . .
As far as our "way of life" here, It's not really all that different from any other place I've visited. Sure, we aren't New York or L.A, but we aren't like the Clampets either. Evansville is, coincidentally the 3rd largest city in Indiana, by the way. I think your views on this point are slightly skewed.
As far as having a city largely in poverty, again you are very mistaken. Although I can't give you a link to the numbers, I know they aren't near what you say they are.
I'm not trying to say you aren't cultured or stuck up or anything like that. I just think you need to actually visit other places in addition to Holiday World before you label the people of this area the way you have.
I recommend next time to come to the area stay for an extra day or so if you can and check out other things besides Holiday World. I'd also recommend doing a Yahoo! search on "Southern Indiana" or "Evansville" and check out some of the links. You'll get a better idea of what its REALLY like here. Contrary to popular belief, there really is a lot to do and see here.
In closing, I must admitt that at first I was a bit offended by some of what you said. However after thinking about it I realised you are baseing this all on what you seen on one particular day at Holiday World. So thats why I invite you to learn a bit more about our community instead of me getting my "panties in a bunch" and truly becoming offended despite the fact that you haven't had the opportunity to learn anything about this "neck of the woods" thus far.
*** Edited 6/23/2006 12:44:38 AM UTC by SteveWoA***
Had to get that jab in. Welcome to red state america, you know the part that covers 85 percent of this country where you don't have to pay $2000 dollars a month for 500 square feet in a slum, or pay $8.50 for a small coffee.
Please come visit again. Most of us will not bite, unless you want us too. We will greet you with a smile, say maam and sir and have a polite conversation with you, no matter how strange you look or act. Everybody will wave as you drive by, we will pull over and wait respectfully as a funeral procession goes by, and ask if you would like lemon in your iced tea!(no need to ask about sugar, everyone KNOWS tea was meant to be sweet).
Seriously, I have spent time in EVERY major city in this country except Miami, and trust me there are rednecks(myself included, really, it's not a bad thing) everywhere. Just because we are not uptight and we like to dress comfortably and speak with accents does not make us strange or scary, it makes us normal, just like Bostonians who "pahk the cah" or New Yorkers who say "fuhgedabout it".
This is not a slam, a flame or even ridicule, but a gentle prodding to "open your mind" to 85 percent of the country and find out that for all our differences, we really are the same in many ways.
Just a couple of G-Force junkies!
swindianarider said:
Hey ya'all..I live bout 15 miles from HW...you'ens might remember me...I'm 450 pounds along with a skulett (receding hair line wont stop me), and was decked out in my overalls. I broke out the spoons several times while waiting to ride that there Voyage.
Give me a freaking break.....Bruce
LMAO
That is what we were missing at the campfire, spoons! :)
Don't you people know that mullets are coming back in style?
Like Rablat5 said, I wasn't running out of the park scared. But I guess my problem is when I think family park, I think about Hersheypark, which attracts a much different demographic. Eating my words (from when I said I didn't buy the whole "people don't go to Disney parks for the rides quote,") under the Mark Shapiro-era Six Flags Great America, Holiday World didn't look or feel quite as impressive. SFGAm had a lot more to do, the ride ops were all friendly, enthusiastic, and fast, and the place looked incredible and was spotless with no overflowing trashcans or the like. Is it more expensive? Yes. Are softdrinks free? No. They just need a Sally dark ride shooter to be complete:)
It's all about what your used to. Was everyone at HW a redneck? No, and I would love to go to Holiday World again someday. When will that happen? I don't know. It's a long way from home, and I may be retiring from taking anymore big coaster trips, until I can get a job with better pay and benefits.
Also, what is the point of comparing Holiday World with Hersheypark or Great America? You're juggling apples and oranges my city-slicker friend.
Big Tig said:Can you all just realize that nothing outside of the state of California, or the city of New York matters?
That would mean a loss of 99% of the worlds amusement parks, including the roller coaster capitol of the world. This website also would not be here.
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