Queues: What's your favourite in-line activity?

During my last visit to SFH, I had to wait in line for a total of 7 hours.
After a while, the topics to talk about among us were all used up, so we were just standing there, silently watching train by train on their way through the coasters.
After a while, I started to think about work, about my future, about family and life in general...

Since not many coasterparks go into a lot of effort to keep in-liners entertained.
What's your favourite activity in the coaster-queue?
How do you spend your time in thos 15-240 minutes before the lapbar or OTSR finally has you to hold in the seat?

Eavesdrop. If your neighbors' chatter is uninteresting, ease into the conversation and change the subject. Use your extensive knowledge of coasters to scare novice riders with stories of gruesome park fatalities. Give details.

I love watching those Bugs Bunny music videos over and over again on the tv screens. I've been told I'm the only one.

Edit: I almost forgot, the Stridex commercials in the Demon lines are top of the line.

LOL Railshark, that is really mean actually, but hilarious, I could never get the guts to do that. I tell them it's safe and fun not that it's dangerous and horrific.

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Warning: I do not think like the average person. My remarks have plenty of thought behind them. Take it for what it's worth, if you disagree, please, feel free to express it, but don't put me down because of it.
*** This post was edited by SFGAMDie HARD 5/8/2003 9:04:22 AM ***

I count mullets.

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"Sometimes I just kill myself!" - The Joker

Chatting to linemates is usually an interesting affair.

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Summer 03-CP, HP, Canobie, SFNE, SFWOA, and SFGAm.

I'm like Coasterman Mike counting mullets is pretty fun. Sometimes you can find them in packs, that's when you turn to your friend(s) and say "Holey sheets of metal batman, there's a whole herd of mullets over there!" -chris

When I was in Raging Bull a couple years ago, a guy about 2 zig-zags behind us took one of the que-chains and attached to a girl's backpack w/o her knowing. Pretty funny watching her trying to figure out what the heck was holding her back.

As for favorite activities, I love to line jump whenever possible. Sitting on the silver hand-rails and wait for the ride op to tell me over the speakers is a close second. Walking on the silver handrails comes in third. Forth place goes to stopping, turning around and talking to someone I am with while the line in front of me moves on and on and on. And rounding out the top 5, I love to tell my friends I am not going to ride, let them get 1/2 way through the line, and try to catch up to them by saying "excuse me" to the hundreds of people behind them.

I don't just count the mullets, I document the experience by taking pictures. That way if I lose count I can go back and check. Plus its just funny to look back and award "The best mullet" or "the worst mullet" to your picture collection for the trip.

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Chris Tyson
Photographer
www.pkiunlimited.com

Yeah, I'm a fan of cutting into stranger's conversations to correct them on the minutae of roller coaster design and offer fascinating trivia, such as 'Did you realize that Batman:TR here at Great America was the first inverted looping coaster in the world, designed by Bollinger and Mabillard and spawned a series of clones including one in Japan which has now returned to its roots since being moved to Six Flags New Orleans and rethemed as Batman?'

GP loves that stuff

Edit: 'its roots' shouldn't have an apostrophe

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Maihama, Maihama Desu
*** This post was edited by ThemeDesigner 5/8/2003 10:32:35 AM ***

Wow, mullet-counting is popular. It *is* fun, isn't it? My faves:

-Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

-"The Movie Game" (one person names a movie, say, "The Shawshank Redemption," and the next person names a movie that starts with the first letter of the last word of that movie, say, "Red Dragon," and the next person would say, "Dumb and Dumber," etc. ad infinitum. Also works for song titles.)

-Discussing new coaster types we'd like to see (mostly ridiculous, such as a suspended coaster where you hold onto a bar with your hands below the track)

-Making bitter, sarcastic, vitriolic remarks at the Q-TV (PKI only).

-Listening to people talk about the ride and secretly ridiculing their lack of knowledge (works with fellow enthusiasts only).

-Not moving forward when the people in front of you move forward, and seeing how mad the people behind you get (as if it increases their wait time).

-Yelling at people in front of you who don't move forward immediately. ;)

-thumb wrestling

-cards (hard without a table)

-small electronic games (Yahtzee being the most popular)

and many others....

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

I try to watch the TVs for a while until they get annoying. I also like listening to GP talk about the coasters and laugh at half the stuff they say to myself. Also playing cards isn't too hard without a table. If you have 5 people you can play euchre with having the fifth person hold the extra cards and taking the tricks and keeping score. It pretty fun and easy to pass the time.

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Mike
Favorite Wood: Viper at SFGAM,Shivering Timbers
Favorite Steel: Magnum and Raging Bull

I usually take pictures or play my gameboy while waiting in line. Some girl saw me with my gameboy one time and said "How could ANYONE be playing their gameboy on a vacation?" It was kinda funny because she didn't realize how many times I have to wait in the same lines all summer with the same people. Cargo pockets are a great storage area by the way, especially the ones on military issue pants that button shut. That way, nothing escapes during your ride.

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My knex coasters

The best line I have ever waited in was the Millennium Force line when it first opened in 2000. I was waiting in line behind this guy who only had one leg. He was taking it off and scaring little kids with it. I was thinking there would never be a dull moment in a coaster line for him. Another fun line to wait in was the Magnum line because everyone thought I was cutting them when I was just getting in the very short line for the ejector seat near the front of the train. The station was so crowded that no one noticed how short the line for the ejector sear was. The people in the back were getting so mad when I got on the ride 10 minutes before them. I also was telling little kids about the time that Magnum rolled back and they thought they were going to die. When I got over to the Mantis line I started waiting and about 20 minutes into the line I saw these two kids walk right up to the front of the line. All they were doing was calling out "Mom, Dad where are you?" They got to the very front of the line and rode Mantis right away. Of course everyone was really mad at these little con artists but I think I'm going to try this some time to get to the front of the line without a wait!!

The good ole fashioned Mullet Count Game. Actually, it's an all day event. Whoever spots a mullet gets a point, and at the end of the day whoever has the highest points gets free ice cream, or chilli-cheese fries, etc.

Of course, there are different point values. The traditional Mullet is worth one point, a power mullet is worth 3, the child mullet is worth 5. Then there's the Father/Son Combo-- that's worth 10. Now the Mother/Daughter Combo-- yea, that's rare; and worth 20. You get the idea.

How about a Femullet? And why is the father/son combo worth more? In my experience it's practically expected.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Den-
The Femullet is worth 15. Hence the 20 for the Mother/Daughter combo. From what I've seen the Father/Son combo is fairly rare as well, not always expected. That's not to say I'm 100% correct. But, maybe we need to reevaluate the scoring system. There are other variable point values, I just didn't list them all.

Ah, the Mullet count! Last year, I saw the ULTIMATE Mullet. Bragging, you say? Nay, say I.

It was a Femullet. Mid shoulder length in the back, About 2 inches high and curled on top (imagine a Giant Sticky Bun on top of someone's head). Oh, and the kicker...

The entire thing was bright Burnt Orange. It was... the Orangutan Mullet. King's Dominion, June 9th or 10th last year. I was so disappointed I didn't have a camera with, I cried.

Skunky

I cant believe all these people who line cut! I really hate to sound like an old foggy (when Im not even 20 yet) but that is just wrong. I am a fairly large person and trust me no one cuts infront of me no matter what and if at all possible I get those who try kicked out of the park. Face it, if you want to ride a coaster you have to wait in line; anyone who thinks otherwise shouldnt be at a park.

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Summer 03-CP, HP, Canobie, SFNE, SFWOA, and SFGAm.

I think I have the ultimate mullet sighting...

I was working as a Caricature artist at PKD on a certain 'Pride Day'. I had a group of 4 women approach and ask for 2 caricatures (2 2-head full body color drawings, a pretty good sale), All four had Femullets. All four wanted to be drawn playing golf.

I had a hard time controlling my snickering at the whole scene, it was just too stereotypical. Great group of women, though, and they tipped well. It was too fun.

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Maihama, Maihama Desu

If I'm outside of California: playing guess what state each customer is from as I walk past them..."Kentucky...Illinois...Indiana..."

If I'm with Moosh: fake karate.

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Mike Miller - SFMM: We have fewer flat rides than a bad church carnival.