How to spot a coaster enthusiast:

One, this guy was very in shape, which makes me question if he really was an enthusiast...

....kidding of course..... ...or am i....

How about 13 times in a row on Anaconda followed by 8 times in a row backwards on Rebel Yell. BTW, I'm looking at joing ACE. I think I'm going to check out the Fall ThrillFest at Kings Dominion in October.

^Thirteen laps on anaconda? OUCH!

One lap on that thing for the day is more than enough for me.

Anaconda looks a lot more Arrow'd than it really is.

Of the 3 Arrow megaloopers I've been on (Viper, Vortex, Anaconda), it's easily my fav.

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Rob Ascough said:
Or wearing a really rare coaster shirt? I think coaster enthusiasts are "ranked" by how rare their shirts are ;)

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or how streched out they get over the decades of park food.
:)

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P18 said:
5. One to actually screw in the lightbulb. One to tell the history of light bulbs and the many different kinds used on chaser lights through the ages. One to flash all of their ACE cards at any passer-bys just to let them know, and 2 to alternate running back and forth to the nearest buffet to feed them all until the job is done.

(not sure if that makes sense I tried to go into all the catagories lol) *** Edited 8/10/2006 11:07:57 PM UTC by P18***

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P18, you just made my day!! *wipes tears from her eyes*

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matt. said:
How many ACERS does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

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I thought the answer was one, as every enthusiast will, at some point, be told to go **** himself.

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Rob Ascough said:
Or the chance to quiz the park's GM.

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Why when you have their phone number? Ok, so it is the marketing department, but anyway....

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Michael Darling said:
Of the 3 Arrow megaloopers I've been on (Viper, Vortex, Anaconda), it's easily my fav.

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I like Anaconda until the uber-headbanging-what-the-hell-helix of DOOM. ;)

FYI: I don't wear ACE gear when I go to a park. Most of the time I have just a random Mizzou shirt on (my alma mater -- have several as they seem to just give shirts away like crazy there for free). The only time I ever "announce" that I am a geek is when I go to media events and/or ACE functions. There I will wear one of my MiG polos. My buddies over at Coaster Community though are complete nerds and wear their polos to about every park they go to. :)

In response to BatwingFan's comment about t-shirts, I don't think he's totally correct. I remember a rather uncomfortable moment for a young guy who was wearing a Beast shirt the day ACE decided to do a side-trip to SFA during the Hersheypark event. The guy definitely wasn't an enthusiast as he got asked that question several times.

Now there was that time in 2001 at SFA where there was a young man who was visiting the park with his Dad on a six-park tour, I believe. They were wearing matching t-shirts which said which parks they were going to on the trip, and it listed all the coasters at each park (sadly, they didn't get the Batwing credit because it wasn't open yet!) and the young kid was already a hardcore park inspector. He was only a tween (between 10-13) I think, and already the kid was picking apart the operations of SFA. Now that's an enthusiast. *** Edited 8/11/2006 11:52:06 PM UTC by Intamin Fan***

What Hershey park event are you talking about? Ace did a side trip to Williams grove during the Hershey con but not SFA.There was a SFA add on day after the Busch /Pkd con.

F all the Ace haters. *** Edited 8/12/2006 11:08:57 PM UTC by BG Nut***

How many of you all (ACE) are going to the PKD convention in October? Also, what rides are they having for ERT. I was thinking about checking the club out and possibly joing. Any ideas about that?

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Intamin Fan said:
He was only a tween (between 10-13) I think, and already the kid was picking apart the operations of SFA. Now that's an enthusiast.

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I don't really plan on having kids but there have been some times...

Meh.

At my first Stark Raven Mad I had about 60 rides on Raven over the course of the day and many of those were by this kid I kinda befriended. He must have been about 7 or 8 and alternated rides between members of his family and me and a few other folks over the day.

Anyway just seeing the pureness of that - it was great. I've never ridden a coaster as good as the Raven with the buzzbars around '97 - '98 and being able to share that with this young kid who was obviously just so excited and happy with each ride. This big grin on his face.

I'm sure others will attest to this but it must be great having kids at a park, especially when they get into that magic 48" range.

"P18, you just made my day!! *wipes tears from her eyes*"

Glad someone found my answer funny, and to make your day :)

Also, I want to get a bear claw/paw somewhere too, just never thought it could be coaster related, but that could be another reason I guess lol.

Here's the easiest way to spot a coaster enthusiast. He or she will be the person who looks like they're with a group but will be standing at the front of it with everyone else looking bored out of their minds because they've had to listen to coaster facts the entire wait.

One way to spot coaster enthusiasts is seeing a person take photos of a coaster from different angles, or hear them talk about coasters a lot.

I don't have the time to try and spot a coaster enthusiast.

I am still trying to find were's Waldo!

;P

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P18 said:
5. One to actually screw in the lightbulb. One to tell the history of light bulbs and the many different kinds used on chaser lights through the ages. One to flash all of their ACE cards at any passer-bys just to let them know, and 2 to alternate running back and forth to the nearest buffet to feed them all until the job is done.

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LMAO! That made my day, too!

-Tina

While Anaconda's helix is rough,Shockwave's helix now takes the official title as "the helix of doom" in my book.

Everything was going fine til we hit that one section & then WHACK! a nice blow to the neck by a hard restraint pad certainly earned the ride's helix that infamous title....so much for thinking that the middle of the train would be any better than the front or back,still gives a great yank goin down that first drop though.

I actually like the helix on the Shockwave, it's that last turn and the last bunny hill before the brakes that are killer. In my opinion, both coasters are rougher than they sould be (on Anaconda right when you go between the supports it gives you a good hit). I honestly wouldn't mind seeing Shockwave go (they did try to sell it a couple years ago if I'm remembering correctly). I also wouldn't mind seeing Anaconda go if they replace it with something with the height of Magnum but with the same number of inversions as Raptor. I think the only reason that people still ride Anaconda so much is that fact that it's the only coaster in the park that does that many inversions in more way than one. Don't get me wrong, I love Volcano, but it could've been so much more than what it is.

What about FoF? (Unless you're counting it as closed)