Six Flags America 04/07/13

Wondering if you might not be confusing the SFGE lot. That's the only SF lot I readily recall as being unpaved gravel (not having ever gone to SF when they're in overflow situations).

The thing is that I don't understand how six flags america is causing such a fuss.

What is SFGE? I've only been to two SF parks, and Great Adventure's lot is much bigger than the one I'm thinking of, and much uglier. Lol

Maybe I'm combining two lots in my head. I rode A LOT of coasters that year. Pretty sure that is the year I nearly tripled my coaster count.

ApolloAndy said:

While it's true that enthusiasts are more positive about good parks and more negative about bad parks, I think we're more negative in general. I remember when a boomerang used to be a marathon worthy ride (back when I was in middle school).

I don't consider this behavior to be "more negative." I, too, used to marathon on Vampire at Kentucky Kingdom, and these days I never ride boomerangs, even ones that are new to me. To me, that isn't about negative vs. positive, to me it's just a matter of taste level, discernment, and priorities.

This goes back to my previous point that enthusiasts tend to be more negative about bad parks and more positive about good parks. While the GP might be more entertained by a boomerang than the typical enthusiast, the GP most likely isn't going to know how to wax rhapsodic about rides like Phoenix.

^^Six Flags Great Escape. But I don't remember much about the lot there, other than it was across the road and and a mess of ramps and stairs to the gate. I was wiped out before I set foot in the park!

matt. said:
To me, that isn't about negative vs. positive, to me it's just a matter of taste level, discernment, and priorities.

While the GP might be more entertained by a boomerang than the typical enthusiast, the GP most likely isn't going to know how to wax rhapsodic about rides like Phoenix.

The tone here is exactly backwards to me. This seems to put the average guest on a lower level - "they don't know any better" - when I see it exactly the opposite...we're the tools that are out of touch.

It's not the average guest that doesn't get it, it's the average enthusiast that doesn't.

I kind of liken coaster enthusiasts to wine connoisseurs. It could be argued that either may be more "qualified" to judge which are the more quality examples and why, but when it comes down to it, those who aren't so-called connoisseurs (snobs?) know what the hell they like and don't need someone who "knows better" to tell them.

Now leave me alone while I ride the Dragon Wagon with my Boone's Farm.

matt. said: While the GP might be more entertained by a boomerang than the typical enthusiast, the GP most likely isn't going to know how to wax rhapsodic about rides like Phoenix.

Phoenix is popular because it's a great ride. It's consistently been a great ride since it was (re-) built at Knoebels in the 80s. It's very popular with most everyone (grannies and grampies, kids, locals, average coaster nerds, super nerds like myself, and everyone in-between) I'll agree about the boomerang... heck, some of us like them, even if for a ride or two.

bunky666 said:

What is SFGE? I've only been to two SF parks, and Great Adventure's lot is much bigger than the one I'm thinking of, and much uglier. Lol

Maybe I'm combining two lots in my head. I rode A LOT of coasters that year. Pretty sure that is the year I nearly tripled my coaster count.

Probably Six Flags Great Escape. http://www.sixflags.com/greatescape/

Is there an echo in here?

Probably my most often linked external URL from this site:

xkcd on connoisseurs.

I feel that way about coffee. To me, without lots of cream and sugar, it still tastes like hot motor oil. How people can tell the difference between good and bad coffee continues to elude me, let alone how they can taste the variances between different flavors of the stuff.

Andy, that last panel in your link was outstanding. The level of detail we get into sometimes about not necessarily which rides we like, but what conditions must exist to really get the most out of them, makes me chuckle to myself at times. You'd think that if I don't get to Holiday World on a summer day where the rain quits around 7:30, I'll never get to properly experience The Voyage. All that said, though, I don't think there's anything wrong with the level of detail we get into about rides and and parks. Does it sometimes hurt the experience? It depends. I admit that ride op experience has made that a key issue for me where most might not notice, but I'd still like to think that crews moving slower than death is a valid complaint, be it an obvious flaw or not.

^^ Yes.

I don't really overanalyze as much as some people, but I've been to parks with, as an example, slow ride ops, and I've thought to myself, "Wow, you'd think they'd move a little quicker like Dorney", and then I'll see that the same park or chain is noted for slow ops, and I'll have an a-HAH moment where I say, "so I wasn't just imagining this park is slow" or "oh, I must have just gone on a bad day". When I start getting into a really deep "enthusiast" discussion, I eventually get bored and let it go.