Park Enthusiasts or Snobs?

It was the essense of cucumber, Nasai. No one was more surprised than me when it tasted d@mn good!

mOOSH [stuck to vodka & 7s for the rest of his NYC trip]

Antuan said:
You said exactly what I was thinking Darth Vater ;) It appears to me that people are being just as snobby as those they despise. "I dont associate with enthusiasts" Gimme a break.

Exactly. I'm glad someone got my sarcasm. Although that someone keeps mistaking me for the Dark Lord of the Sith. ;)

nasai said:
You guys are coaster/drinking pussies. ;)

Well, if that's what you think, then so be it. Truth be told, I don't even know how to drink a coaster, without having some method on hand to melt steel. That's just...weird.

I think the problem is that some of the people who are self proclaimed coaster-gurus have no identity outside of parks and coasters.

They think that in acting like they know everything there is the know about coasters(which isnt really a challenge, all you have to do is spend an hour a day on coaster sites, and visit a dozen parks a year) and finding problems with parks as if they are real critics makes them something special.

When really all they are doing is confirming that they aren't true fans of the rides and the parks. At some point all of us got interested in coasters because we LOVE to ride them, we are park enthusiasts because some of our BEST TIMES are at parks.

Now when you go to parks and rate them against CP, and ride coasters and say that a B&M would have been a better ride for them to build, your not enjoying the park or the rides. So what i want to say to people like that is, GET THE H*LL OUT, YOUR MAKING SOMEONE WHO WILL ENJOY THE RIDE WAIT IN LINE LONGER!

*Oh yeah, umm Absolut and V8, can't go wrong. *** Edited 1/6/2004 10:13:22 PM UTC by Ned***

nasai said:
Interesting that this thread has "kind of" been hijacked. Drinks, and wacking moles.

It hasn't been hijacked Robbio. Look, drinks were mentioned in the initial post:

mlariccy said:
Now these so called enthusiasts (a new breed, not your common enthusiast) seems to have become fine wine experts and not roller coaster fans.

I've found a simple rule of thumb has kept me from being disturbed by "undesirable enthusiast types", that is...ignoring them. Frees up more time for enjoying my friends and the parks, too.

Dawn-so called enthusiast and SRM's blender and shaker expert ;)

Mamoosh said:
It was the essense of cucumber, Nasai. No one was more surprised than me when it tasted d@mn good!
Hmmm, for some reason that does sound rather refreshing. :-P The DRINK that is.......;-)
-Tina

*** Edited 1/6/2004 10:25:42 PM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

Tina - I wish I had asked the bartender exactly what he put in it so I could make it for you and anyone else who doubts me. It would be the perfect martini for a hot summer afternoon.

Ned said:
Oh yeah, umm Absolut and V8, can't go wrong.

Well, who would trust you, Ned? Your the DEVIL!

Matthew, essence of cucumber? Sounds odd. Still, I am curious. Yellow, that is. (Don't go there, Rob. Tina, I KNOW you are intrigued!)

;)

The Flying Turns makes all the right people wet - Gonch

BTW, Soggy, I would be honored to have your company next trip out there. Again, I really don't drink often. As Jeff said, it's mostly around the campfire when I'm trying to be "cool" around the kids, and fit in. Usually, this just backfires on me, I get all crabby, can't sleep (as you will see in my SRM TR), and then admit I am just too old. Come the next day, though, I try to do it all again. Ah, to be 19 again. To dream....

Sharing Wild Turkey? You're on.

The Flying Turns makes all the right people wet - Gonch

...and you pull out Little Big Rob, too.

mOOSH - must remember to stock Wild Turkey when Nasai visits...

You don't have to buy me drinks. All that is needed is a friendly smile, a few moments of hand touching (ask Frank), a preferably painless backrub, and Rob is all yours.

I'm easy.

The Flying Turns makes all the right people wet - Gonch

A friend of mine is a real snob when we visit

amusement parks. He is always judging the

park saying "it sucks" and angering the employees

and guests. I hate going to parks with the kid

cause he acts like a fool.

If you are a regular visitor of PKI, you have

probebly seen or heard him.

This thread reminds me of a funny/sad story involving my 14-yo son. I took him to Lost Coaster Weekend at IB in August and ever since he has had zero interest in coasters. Before he was on the net all the time emailing me links to cool coaster sites, we talked about it practically every day. But after noticing his complete and utter lack of interest now, including having little or no desire for any trips this summer I inquired as to why. The main reason he said is that the enthusiast crowd at IB really turned him off and he doesn't want to become one of "them" - LOL! I'm trying to get him to come around but I'm afraid I've lost him. He loved Timbersfest but we really didn't talk to anybody there. Live and learn I guess - sad to hear so many echoing the same sentiments here.

Evolution as always explains why us humans act the way we do. We form groups and make ourselves feel stronger by excluding others, a tried and true method for survival. It would be nice to think we've evolved beyond flinging poo from our collective trees but sadly we've still got a long ways to go. I personally had no problem talking to anyone I met at LCW (very cool meeting Marky-Mark!), in fact I really enjoyed talking with everyone I met. So perhaps I already am one of them and my son will soon stage an intervention? I am getting old and pudgy and can't find a girlfriend - those are pretty much all the enthusiass warning signs, yes? ;)

But in all fairness, are there any enthusiast groups that are any less snobby? You'd think we'd be the friendliest and least full of ourselves of all the groups out there. It's not like we're collecting fine wines or rare stamps or anything even remotely intellectual. It's supposed to be all about having fun! My limited enthusiast experience tells me that you can find jerks anywhere and that choosing one's company wisely is something we have to do in all aspects of our lives. If someone acts all uppity just smile and have a good laugh!

Mark

Wait...I did that at camp at SRM! How come I got nuttin?

Great, between being a coaster enthusiast and playing a lot (maybe too much) D&D a trend seems to be developing...

I want to live where it's all the same. I want to live where it's all just like today. I want to live where it's always Saturday.

A coaster enthusiast *and* D&D player? Wow...talk about an uber-geek! Now that's the kind of person I'd never hang out with ;)

mOOSH [jus' kidding, prabe!]

That's what I mean... (and I get the joke, moosh. lol)

I want to live where it's all the same. I want to live where it's all just like today. I want to live where it's always Saturday.

Heh, I've only met two enthusiasts since getting into coasters myself, one at SFMM and one at Knott's, just happening to run into the both of them. Both of 'em were annoying as hell. Makes me worried that I'm the same way :)

In the meantime, I know Moosh and others live sorta in the area, so if I don't run into them first, I'm looking forward to meeting people at Solace, and I assume that I'll get along with them just fine.

In the meantime, here's a link to a short cucumber martini recipe:

http://www.progressivebeverages.com/products_soju_guide_specialty.php

The other ones I've found seem like they usually use Sapphire Gin, not Vodka. Unfortunately, no recipe on idrink.com :)

The point of the D&D player/coaster comparison is this:

Some D&D players lose perspective and forget that it's just a frackin' game, for the love of Odin. They do strange, sometimes violent things. People hear about these things on the news, or maybe have a close encounter of their own. These people assume that all D&D players are like that. You know, psychos who play with swords and drink blood by the light of the full moon. (Full moon tonight, you know...)

Some Coaster enthusiasts lose perspective and forget that it's supposed to be about fun, and that they (enthusiasts as a whole) are a small fraction of the parks' business. They do strange, sometimes dangerous things. People hear about thesde things on the news, or see it for themselves at the parks. They (the non-enthusiasts) assume that all enthusiasts are like that. I won't describe the type, lest anyone recognize themselves...

I hope that makes the point clear.

I want to live where it's all the same. I want to live where it's all just like today. I want to live where it's always Saturday.

Mamoosh said:
Wait...I did that at camp at SRM! How come I got nuttin?

You rubbed too hard. Look at Corey's tape! I am wincing! ;)

The Flying Turns makes all the right people wet - Gonch

Mamoosh said:
A coaster enthusiast *and* D&D player? Wow...talk about an uber-geek!

Not exactly. Today's term is UltraDork.
To quote Undercover Brotha, "Dig it..and dig it hard!"

-'Playa
*** Edited 1/7/2004 12:55:00 AM UTC by CoastaPlaya***

NOTE: Severe fecal impaction may render the above words highly debatable.