How did you become an enthusiest

How did you become an enthusiast .

my story started at age three when my mom would take me to disney land every year. then as I got older we started going to pga there I rode my first B&M. Then me and my mom moved to Hawaii land of no coaster and would see comercials for kumba and montu and have dreams of ridding them. we finally moved from hawaii back to socal And a was seing comercials for superman and thats when i was tall enouhg to ride everything at sfmm after riding superman i was hooked on coasters but not a true entusiast. years later I heard sfmm was building a new coaster called goliath and i searched the internet for info and found coasterbuzz. A couple weeks on coasterbuzz and I new so much about coasters. now I was an enthusiast

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I just want to ride as many coasters as posible

*** This post was edited by sfmm15 on 7/1/2002. ***

Actually, I became an enthusiast entirely by accident. Two and a half years ago, I was petrified to go on Whizzer at SFGAm. Now, I'll ride anything. What happened is one of my friends mentioned something about some books at the library about coasters, and I investigated and was hooked.

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Welcome to Six Flags Great America, home of the fastlane and delay-ja vu! We have now officially been deemed the world-wide wait!

I was a coaster enthusiast before I even knew it. I had always enjoyed the computer game Theme Park (bullfrog original) and had VHS tapes full of coaster shows. It wasn't till I found sites like this one that I started to consider myself an enthusiast - partially because I realized what exactly being an enthusiast entailed.

I rode The Giant Dipper at Belmont Park. Enough said.

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www.EverythingRollerCoaster.com
~IMO, Vortex at PGA is the Stand-up Batman.

The honor was thrust on me by the power of gray skull!

Cedar Point made me an enthusiast. For the longest time I would always go to Boblo Island which was a cool park but nothin compared to Cedar Point. My first trip to Cedar Point was the best and ever since then I have loved roller coasters.

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"The opposite of war isn't peace, its creation," Rent.

I heard Sky Whirl at SFGAm was coming down and then I was hooked on Coasterbuzz for news on V2 and Deja Vu.

I would always go to SFMM, but was afraid to ride coasters. I loved to look at the structure though and forced myself to ride Colossus. Still I was afraid of looper. Then I was forced on Batman the ride. Wow. I loved coaster now, love all the discovery channels shows, but I still wasn't an enthusiast. Untill Ibought RCT. I loved/love that game. I ended up going online searching for sites/books. I ended up knowing statistics, could reconize coasters by just a glimse of a track. I was and still am forever hooked.

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"Excitement, Adventure. A Jedi Craves Not These Things."

I had been going to parks and never rode anything but water rides. Finally in February I went on the Hulk and it was awesome. I've never felt so much adreneline in my life. I was still too scared to go on Dueling Dragons so when I went back in March I was pushed on and stapled into my seat. I yelled to the operator to stop but my friends shut me up.

Now I can't wait to get up North and out West.

Nitro,Millenium Force,Beast, Ghostrider, Xcelerator,Goliath,Roar

gahhh! So many parks!

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Does this thing go faaaaaast!

Although I had been on coasters at MiA and KBF, I never 'officially' became an enthusiast until I got to Cedar Point. My single ride on Millennium Force has made me hooked for life.

Cedar Point in 27 days!

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Tommy Penner - Variable X
"Some people look at jerky and say, 'Why?' I look at jerky and say, 'Mmm! Jerky!'."

*** This post was edited by MiLLeNNiUMRiDeR on 7/1/2002. ***

My first park outside of my home park hooked me with Alpengiest.

Seeing old Geauga Lake made me an enthusiast. Boomerang? What's this? It doesn't connect! Before that, I had only been to SFGAm, so my knowledge of coasters was very limited, and I didn't know of shuttle coasters or any of that. Then, I discovered RCT and then I really got into them once speculation of SFGAm's 2001 coasters started. I found this site then.

I was drawing pictures of Roller Coasters by age 5. I visited my then home park Camden Park many times a year between the ages of 2 and 16 and frequently rode Big Dipper, Lil Dipper, and Thunderbolt Express. At 12 I finally got the nerve to ride my first big coaster, The Beast.

Long story short; I am now 27 and vist parks more than I visit my loving Grandmother. I have worked 2 seasons at CP and 1 full year at IOA. I may take a full time non-seasonal job at DelGrosos Park in the very near future.

Thank God for the Internet, because where would I get all of my amusement business news?

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KoRn is the Mellennium Force of ROCK

I guess it all started back home in Chicago. During the summer after my 8th grade year I was invited to accompany a niece and nephew of a friend to Six Flags Great America. I had been there MANY times yet was too scared to ride anything. I had been on Whizzer and Rolling Thunder, but I had been too young to enjoy them fully. Anyway, the niece of our friend was a very cute girl the same age as I...I could NOT chicken out on anything that day. So, I forced myself on every ride in the park. After that day I never saw the girl again, but I lost my fear of coasters.

When sophomore year of high school rolled around...Raging Bull was being completed. I watched all nine months of its construction and testing. I was there for the opening day...waiting out in front before the park opened. One ride and I fell in love.

Summer 2001...I became a ride operator at SFGAm...ride unit...Raging Bull!

Finally, I knew my calling...I now attend UCF in Orlando as a freshman (almost sophomore) where I major in Hospitality specifically taking classes for Theme Park Management. Thanks to this choice I made for myself...I am the Area 3 ride/show intern at IoA. Unless I'm mistaken, I'm the youngest ride/show supervisor at Universal Orlando.

For the future...I want to design, build, and own amusement parks greater than our wildest imaginations as coaster enthusiasts...

This is how I became an enthusiast.

Well, about 2 years ago my friend took me to PKI the last day of the season. I always liked coasters but was never a fan. He took me on SOB, and I was hooked. Thats why im working it now and cleaning up from 60,000+ people!

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http://www.islandguide.8m.com
SOB crew in twenty 02
82 SOB laps, and not tired of it yet!

well, you oughta check oout the meeting calendar real regularly, I try to visit IoA, esp. Fire Dragon whenever work takes me down to O-Town, or whenever I get *sick* of work....I almost always wear a shirt from another park, a rule I violate only at Holiday World! In addition, I now have a new technique I need to try on Katanga....(I'll keep you posted).

But as far as my enthusiast "roots", two things come to mind. First, my father dragging me onto King Cobra at King's Dominion in the pre-Paramount days. Second, riding Montu over and over and over while watching the park build a woodie SOMEWHERE within driving distance. Gwazi, Montu, and King Cobra hold a special place in my heart for planting the seed, and nurturing it. Rode Montezooma's Revenge many times during the Con.....love those Scharzkopf shuttle loopers....and I miss Viper at SFoG.....

1989, 9 years old, Kneemeister dragged me bawling onto Maggie, the rest is as they say History.

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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly

I'd been petrified of coasters all through middle school, and only Kennywoods - I'd never been anywhere else. Summer of 8th grade, our class went to CP and a cute girl told me that Magnum was only "a little higher" than Thunderbolt at Kennywood (which I had ridden before, so I knew that a drop of that size wouldn't kill me ;) ) so of course I believed her - later that summer I rode Steel Phantom and that was that ...

BGW made me a coaster enthusiast. Now I will ride anything.

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-Sean Newman
84 coasters in Track Record!! Hypersonic XLC # 100 in July. Waiting for the 305 foot drop tower in 2003. Thank you PKD.

I was not a roller coaster rider until late August 1998. My friend slowly and I slowly worked up the coaster ladder from the Woodies to the loopers. Midday we waited 3.5 hours for Volcano: TBC (Only two 8 person trains running with multiple breakdowns and a line way outside the entrance). Wow! What a rush! I was hooked - in fact, I waited 3 hours later that night for the front row (got in line just before it closed at 9:00). As we rounded the slow turn it turned mid night and it was the best coaster ride I've ever had. The launch was a rude but welcomed wake up (I was tired after a whole day in 95 degree heat plus 3 hours in line). Everything was pitch black since the park closed two hours ago, which is awesome on Volcano since you are high in the air and could not really see anything. After the ride we ran through a now dark Kings Dominion. It was amazing. Hooked me for good.