Inverteds and Floorless and Flying.......Oh My!

One thing that I have always tried to figure out when coming to these enthusiast sites is WHERE you people get the time to go to all these great coasters! I work all week long and weekends are spent catching up on all the things I couldn't get done during the week. So how do you guys manage to hit so many parks in a year's time?

Ahhh..........so many great thrill machines.........so little time......

You pay a price... that's for sure. With events and stuff I want to do every weekend through the end of June, I'll be pretty fried by then. I did the same thing last year.

And I still need to find time to do BGW, Dorney, the PA parks, Indiana Beach... thank God I have an understanding quasi-enthusiast wife!

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

I just get a job that let's me have my summers off. That's when I do my majority of riding.

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LONG LIVE ARROW DYNAMICS!!

Well in my case..Lots of planning and setting aside the money for the trips (As I like to shop quite often)...However, it ALSO helps to have friends/family who live near the parks, I like going too......

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Dayuum, Your HOT!

Some of us don't. I go to PKI once a year, CP or SFWoA once a year (both if I'm lucky), and then any other parks I go to I fit into previously planned vacations. i.e., during trips to Chicago and San Diego last year, I got side trips to SFGAm, Belmont Park and SFMM. And occasionally I'll do a weekend road trip (Kennywood or Holiday World) but that's rare.

That's about all the parks I get to, and it's fine with me. I have other things to do...

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He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking; can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

You got that right, Jeff...it also takes a lot of planning and a little luck. I go on one large trip each year [7+ days] and it always begins at SRM, which thankfully is at a time when most parks in that neck of the woods have opened for the season. With Holiday World being pretty central, its easy to pick a direction, drive, and hit a bunch of parks.

Last year post-SRM we hit SFKK, PKI, SFWoA, CP, and Kennywood. This year we're heading in a similar direction but hitting IB, MIA, Americana, Waldameer, Conneaut, Del Grosso's, Idlewild, Lakemont, Kennywood, Wyandott, and Indy Zoo. But we could have just as easily headed west and hit SFStL, the Branson-area parks, WoF, and others in that area.

I work all week and my weekends are busy, too...sometimes you just gotta forget about life and go ride ;-)

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Don't forget "Operation Graduation" June 1st @ SRM - bring Pat Koch a graduation card! See Coasterbuzz News for details.

Let me know when you'll be at Waldameer and Conneaut Lake.. I'm about 45 minutes away from Conneaut and the people I usually take don't like the *dumpy little park*

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AIM: Pritti Kittie

For Mrs. DEK and I, we have a somewhat unusual lifstyle. This is our second marriage, so our kids from our first marriages are with our ex-spouses every other weekend. This gives us the freedom on the opposite weekends to be by ourselves to persue our main summer interest: coasters. Of, course when we do have our 4 kids together, all 6 of us makes for a very crowded home. :)

There are drawbacks to our coastering. First is the obvious one: expenses. It can get very expensive to go riding every other weekend but there's several things we do to save money. We use Priceline as much as possible for hotel rooms and we almost always drive rather than fly. We get season passes to our favorite park chains: Six Flags, Cedar Fair and Paramount. Additionally, we save some money by being ACE members. Several parks give discounts to members. And one other thing is to join the hotel reward programs. Everytime you stay at a hotel where you're a rewards member, you get points. When you accumulate enough points you get free stays.

The other drawback is that our house tends to get ignored during the summer months. Household projects are put on hold or are done very slowly during evening hours because the weekends are taken up either by coastering or kid interests. This means alot more work during the winter months to catch up on those projects. But I guess this helps keep my mind off the fact that I'm not riding.

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Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

My family is in a lucky situation. Both of my kids aren't in school yet, I work out of the home and my wife is the boss at her job. For local trips she just takes the day off and makes it up on the weekend (no weekend park visits for us, thank you). For long distance trips, she uses vacation time. She gets 3 weeks a year which is plenty for parks / leisure / family visiting.

Time is not a problem at all. Money seems to be more of limiting factor and evn then it's not really a problem - I see it like any purchase, it's something I (we) want to do. That's where we choose to blow some of the cash.

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www.coasterimage.com

It is real hard for me to hit a lot of parks in a season. I have a wife who does not ride coasters but has to be one of the most understanding women in the world. We end up spending quite a bit of money on this hobby of mine. I have already done one very expensive trip this year to Florida and we have at least two more planned, one to St Louis this weekend, and one to CP in July. I have yet to hit my home park this year(SFGAm) and it will probably be well into June before I get down there with all the other things going on in my life. Also, my wife and I have just bought a new condo that is being built and will be finished in October so that takes quite a bit of our time and money for this year's trips.

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Bob Hansen

A proud CoasterBuzz Member

"So you think your'e really brave, gonna see the DEMONS cave.
You silly dude, your'e only food, for the DEMON"

My parents always told me, do everything you can while you are still young. So I am. My riding partner (KicksTheSky) and I plan trips while we still can before worrying about various things from family to jobs. We are both in college and so far we've done our trips on breaks during college. Spring break we went to Florida, and this summer break before summer classes we are going to 5 different parks in 6 days.

It's alot to do but we are still young and we figure that we'll never be able to do this once we get older. My advice is that if you find that you have the time to go on a trip, do it! It's not as expensive as you may think if you drive instead of fly. Having multiple season passes help, too.

For any of those going on trips this year, goodluck and have a safe trip :)

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Proud to be Arrow DYNAMIC!

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Jess said:
Let me know when you'll be at Waldameer and Conneaut Lake.. I'm about 45 minutes away from Conneaut and the people I usually take don't like the *dumpy little park*

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AIM: Pritti Kittie

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Most people i take hate it too, many see it as a carnival. I however love it, especially with their new coaster which has gotten no press here. I live about 15 minutes away and would like to go every other day this summer

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HurricaneGeauga- Just in case

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Lallen said:

So how do you guys manage to hit so many parks in a year's time?

Well, last year I hit 4 day-tripable parks near home in Atlanta(SFOG, Visionland (RIP?), Wild Adventures and Lake Winnie.

Then, I took a two week+ vacation that included 9 parks in 9 days(SFOG, SFKK, HW, PKI, CP, SFWOA, MiAdv, SFGAm and Big Chief's) on the way to the International Juggling Festival in Madison, WI.

This year, work is paying for me to travel to several cities that also have coasters and we will be doing a week of eastern parks on the way to the juggling festival in Reading, PA.

Alan T.

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Well, I'm in the UK and only live about 45mins from Alton Towers so it's a breeze to get to.

As for managing work, I book leave and find a friend and just go.

Like tomorrow!

YEY

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"'cos you know, it's strange! You stand in a library and go "AAAAARRRRGGGHHHH" and everyone just kinda stares at you, but if you do the same thing on a aeroplane everyone joins in!"

My parents, sister, and I get the entire summer off pretty much, so I get to go to Florida once a year(BGT, IOA, USF, SWF, MK, MGM, Epcot, AK,...) in July or December, PKI several times with a season pass, and SFKK(April), CP(May), HW(June), Dollywood(April or September), and SFWoA(August) once a year. Then, we decide what "extra" trips we want to go on. Usually, I get to choose about two different parks in the same area anywhere within a 10 hour drive. I've done SFGAm, BGW, MiAdv, KW, and Dorney on those trips the past few years. I also "accidentally" was able to go to KBF and DL in '99 and '01, since my cousin went on two business trips there. I hope I can make it to IB and Hershey this year for the "new" trips. Being young and having parents who schedule their work around what we do for fun is the biggest reason I'm able to do this. Otherwise, I don't think I would get to go half of anywhere I've been.

I hope you get some free time and can go to some new parks and ride some exciting coasters in the near future. Take a break! You deserve it. :)

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Danny

I have vacation for two weeks a every summer, and spring break.

THe last 3 spring breaks i have gone to SFMM, and every summer i go to SFMM and Belmont Park in San Diego, even though Belmont Park isnt HUGE, it is still a great place because of the Giant DIpper, it doesnt hurt that i rent a beach house in San Diego every year either.

THis year im going to Disneyland/California Adventure, i want to try out California Screamin. I heard the bad news that Rocket Rods was closed, i loved that ride, oh well.

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Veck
http://pumpingrct.topcities.com/

Well if your goal is to ride as many coasters as you can before you die your best shot is to pace yourself. Im only 16 and I already have a pretty impressive track record. I try to go to 1 or 2 new parks each year and after about five years you'll realize that you've been on a hell of a lot of coasters!

This is my first season of really looking for other coasters to ride. I've always just gone to whatever is close by. I am planning a trip for August to HW, SFKK, Indiana Beach, and CP. My best friend and her husband live in Ft Wayne, so I have a free place to stay that's 2 or so hours from IB and CP. Then I hit HW on the drive up, SFKK on the drive back. I'm also 5 hours from New Orleans - If I can use my SF pass, I might head down there, too...

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I sing sometimes for the war that I fight, 'cause every tool is a weapon, if you hold it right. -Ani Difranco

yeah man i totally know how you feel....im on the side of most with season passes being a lifesaver for me!!! i am very blessed to live just east of Richmond VA, which puts PKD and BGW both within 45 minutes of my front door...SFA is about 2 hours north as well:) i have passes to all three of these parks, and with Paramount and SF, that gets me admission to MANY other parks on the eastern seaboard. as far as trips, i just get those in when i can....this year im hoping to do my long awaited Ohio Sweep...haha:) well good luck man....you should try to make some time if you can:)

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"hi, my name is Tim, and im a coasterholic"...."Hi Tim!!" hehe:)

It's not easy, that's for sure! Just take a look at my sig.

Lucky for me and the Mrs., we live in Indianapolis which is smack dab in the middle of "coaster central".

I mean, PKI, SFKK, SFWoA, SFGAm, Holiday World, and Cedar Point are all within a days drive. So, we often "do" these parks on a weekend.

We usually try to plan a trip in the winter to some place nice and warm. Maybe SFMM and KBF this year. Can't wait to ride X and EX. ;)

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So many coasters, so little vacation time....