How much do you like to know about new rides?

In this thread it was asked "assuming TTD may ride a bit like Xcelerator....what's Xcel's ride experiences like?"

That got me thinking -- usually a dangerous thing, I realize ;)

So, I'll put this question out to my fellow Buzzers: when you experience a new coaster, ride, or park do you like to know as much about it as possible, or do you prefer to go in "blind" and enjoy the process of discovery as experiences happen? And why?

For the record I'm not trying to make a judgement call either way. I prefer to discover as I go, but I know others like to know as much as possible. I'm just curious how people feel and why.

Moosh

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"God put animals here for us to eat them! I didn't rise to the top of the food chain just to have a salad!" - Bassistist

In general for most coasters (and anything in general), I take people's opinions with a while shaker of salt.

All I care about before I take a trip somewhere is how RELIABLE the ride is...

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--George H
---Superman the ride...coming to a SF park near you soon...
Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

Uhoh, Moosh has had a thought! Someone call the press.. ;)

I usually try to discover as a go along, but that's getting harder and harder. Tech sheets and blue prints are piling up all over the house, and it's really hard not to look at them.

Especially concerning dark rides I prefer to know as little about them as possible. I'm proud to report I know absolutely nothing about Transdémonium, a 2003 darkride. :) I think the best part of a ride is discovering its many aspect. I don't like sitting in a ride for the first time and constantly thinking "I already knew that" or "oh, it looked better in the concept art". That kind of spoils the experience for me.

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Dutch Coastin' :: European coasters, thrills and theming!

I like to know stuff like best seat and when to ride and whether it will be open, but I don't like to know about surprises. It's too easy to get anticipointed if you study every inch of a ride before you ride it. (Prime examples for me are MF, Nitro, Xcelerator. X is really the only one that lived up to the hype). On the other hand, it's way too tempting to pop open that "Ride layout released!" thread or construction reports and see exactly what's going on.

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"faster, cheaper, and more often" that's somebody's new sig -UpsideDawnGrrrl
My shirt in my photo seems to be for "Aging Bull"

When it comes to rides, I prefer not to know the layout. If it's something I'm REALLY looking forward to (say, like Boulderdash this June!) then I will avoid all video, all photos, and I will try not to even look at the ride when I'm in the park. I am interested, however, in what people have to say about the ride, what seats are best, when to ride it, etc.

When it comes to parks I want to know as much as possible...a cool little ride hidden somewhere, good places to eat, unique little niches to explore, etc. etc.

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Mike Miller - Harbinger Of Doom - Killer Of Threads - Cheap Rates, Ask About Our Special!

For the most part, I form my own opinions anyway. So research on coasters is pretty much limited to basics: Manufacturer, type of coaster, etc. I like to ask regulars at particular parks about the crowd habits. For example, I know that Raptor at CP generally has long lines in the mornings, but the lines diminish during the late afternoons. I'm sure there are similar tidbits that regulars can tell me about their home parks.

I do some research on parks, but primarily so I don't get totally surprised by something. An example would be the metal detectors and purse/bag searches at SFGAm. I've never had to deal with that at CP, and knowing in advance this would happen allowed me to plan accordingly. (still didn't make much of a difference tho...people in FRONT of me didn't plan well and held up the line).

I also like to get opinions on places to eat, shows that are must sees, and recommendations for lodging.
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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

Sometimes I enjoy going into a ride knowing nothing about it. An example is Goliath. All I knew as it went down a hill and made a turn... that's it. The rest of a ride was a total suprise and it was all the better for it!

On the other hand, I can't imagine riding X without knowing anything about it. I seriously think that had I not known the layout I would have shat myself while riding.

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- John
Dag, yo
Support Rob in the Great DDR Challenge!

In an ideal world all I would know about a new coaster would be, maker, model, height, best seat, expected line time. But folks, news flash this aint a perfect world ;) so I have a confession:

I am a web junkie. :) I cant help myself when it comes to any information regarding new rides.

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I don't care what anyone says, Magnum is better then Millenium Force.

I'm with Bass...I am really *really* looking forward to the "good" RoS, and to BD, and SFNE Cyclone, etc....but I'll learn about them ON the ride...all the cool info about the park is nice and all, but as far as the RIDES, I'll stay in the dark until the time comes...

I definitely pay attention to the opinions of others...and even more important than the grain/shaker of salt, I *weight* those opinions. Those whom I have learned to trust, their statements have greater impact...I think most of us know where certain buzzers stand in relation to others in terms of reliability...;). However, once I step foot IN the park, it's all about me....and I'll call it the way *I* see it....
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Dr. Thrill IS my family practitioner
"As clear as mud for over 35 years"...and still going STRONG...thanks, redman...:)

Seeing as I'm poor and can only get to about one park a year I take in all I can get since a virtual visit to most parks is all I get.

Ideally, I'd love to go in blind...can't imagine seeing MF and TTD as I drive up not knowing either was there, not to mention the rush of thoughts and excitement in the short time before a first ride vs. the months/years I've been anticipating them now.....

Truthfully I like to go in with Eyes Wide Shut.

I really don't want to know the whole layout ect of a ride. I may look at some pictures and stuff but I try to ride everything with a open mind as to what to expect.

Even though I heard about Riverside Cyclone long before I rode it, I didn't know much about it. WOW!

Chuck, who thought Boss was far smoother and funner than those who bashed it. And thought BD was a letdown from they hype it recieved but it was still a good coaster.

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Charles Nungester.
It is my personal belief that Lesourdsville Lake is closed for 2003. I'll let you know if anything is announced.

I like to know as much as I can. I like to read about new coasters and find all the stats very interesting.

Probably my biggest reason why I like to know a lot is because being in high school, I have all my non~enthusiast friends come and ask me about new rides that they heard about on the news or from somewhere else. When they ask me, I try to give them as much information as I can. The only problem with this is that when a ride is announced like TRTR last year, all my friends expected me to know all about it. I really couldn't tell them anything except for what I thought it was. Another problem was with them being a non~enthusiast, they didn't understand why a coaster wasn't being built. Explaining to some one that a coaster isn't always the best mood, can be hard.

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-Charlie Weingartner
"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."

Let's face it, if you are responding to this thread, you have a tendancy to know a little more about a coaster before you ride it than the "average" park goer. That being said, I tend to start looking at more pictures and videos of a coaster if I know I am going to ride it in the near future. It never "spoils" it for me because nothing can compare to actually riding the thing.

X & Deja Vu are the perfect examples of that. I had the layouts memorized, but was still shocked at just how cool the actual rides were.

Then there are rides like Legend, The Beast and any completely enclosed coaster. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to get a good look at the whole thing before riding.

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SCREAM with me... in 2003!

I went into SFOT totally blind, and found an excellent boat dark ride called Yosemite Sam's. I was the only one out of our group who found it the first day (we only had three hours) of two. I knew nothing about the ride beforehand.
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If you have a problem with clones, the solution is real simple—Stop traveling.
*** This post was edited by Intamin Fan 3/28/2003 7:19:50 PM ***

When it comes to coasters and other thrillrides I like to hear trip reports/ride reports. It builds the anticipation.I also like to know how fast, how tall, how many inversions, what kind of inversions, coaster style, etc.

Lately I've been staying away from POV's and other things that can spoil my first ride. Take for example the new Pooh ride at Disneyland. Laughing Place has a new update showing tons of pix and short movies, I was thinking about looking at them, until I read some reviews about it without giving anything away, that made me not look at them so I'll be "blind" on my first ride to what happens. Did the same thing with Tampico Tumbler (RIP) when I finally rode it in 2001, and the Holiday Haunted Mansion when that first started back in 2001 as well.

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rollergator said:
I'm with Bass...I am really *really* looking forward to the "good" RoS, and to BD, and SFNE Cyclone, etc....but I'll learn about them ON the ride...all the cool info about the park is nice and all, but as far as the RIDES, I'll stay in the dark until the time comes...

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You'll love S:RoS. :)

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SFNE Central v4- Online Six Flags New England Resource
CBuzzer since September 2001 with a few bumps along the way. :)

No visuals for me, please. I've never seen a POV, don't research the park maps, don't search rcdb for pictures. I'll catch the odd ride on the coaster shows but 98.2% of the time I know very little about an actual layout of the ride or park.

I'm proud to say that I've yet to see ANY pics of S:UF, either the one down in GA or the new one at my kinda home park, SFGAm. I can't wait to drive into the parking lot for the first time this season (May 4 for me) and catch my first glimpse of this ride that I've been hearing about for months. Two of my best coaster memories are 1)arriving at CP at midnight, driving on the causeway and seeing the lights on MF in the distance, and 2) turning into the parking lot at MiA and seeing ST, in all it's spectacular magnificence, for the first time.

BUT, I do read everything I can about a park and it's rides before I visit for the first time.