So what is the "proper" clientle?

/\ agreed. Just a shame in alot of places, "common courtesy" isn't as common as it should be.

If we're coming up with a list of people we'd like to share parks with, how about ones without cell phones? I hate standing in line for a coaster and being forced to hear about how ______ had a kick-a$$ time with _______ last night.

For me common courtesy really just comes down to the recogition that the other people in the park are there to have fun just like me and deserve to, just like me. They aren't obstacles to my fun.

Unless there's a three hour wait for your favorite coaster. ;)

Just curious on the cell phone comment why it's perfectly acceptable to hear a conversation between two people standing there about "how ____ had a kick ass time with _____ last night", but you introduce a phone and all of a sudden people are all offended. Why does a conversation topic annoy you only in certain situations?

I'd be happy with a bunch of Suicide Girls at the park when I go! :)

^^ It just seems that some folks tend to talk really loudly on their phones. Same behavior is unacceptible without the phone. Of course people will talk loudly in a public place, but when you can't even hear yourself think, you just want to snatch it and throw it...after all, the park will pick up the tab when you accidentally hit someone on the ride...

*** Edited 7/27/2006 9:10:07 PM UTC by janfrederick***

The people that an amusement park wants to be there (and many guests want to be there) is a family who nicely waits in line, follows the park rules, does not loudly swear, does not vandalise park property and listens to the ride operators and other park employees.

The problem many parks have (*cough*sixflags*cough*) is that they have targeted the exact opposite demographic in recent years. When you build extreme rides and then market them as a form of rebellion, you can't be surprised when the loud, rebellious, won't-listen-to-authority groups of people show up and start to overrun the park.

Don't get me wrong -- parks can build extreme rides and still get people to show up for them that do not fit the above profile. It's all in the marketing and how the queue line leading up to the attraction is kept. For examples of parks that handle this better, see most of the ex-Paramont parks. For examples of parks that don't, see Six Flags, circa 1997ish - 2005.

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coasterpunk said:
I'd be happy with a bunch of Suicide Girls at the park when I go! :)

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Been there, done that. :)

I hate people that talk on their phones in public to be heard, and going by the volume and the mannerisms of some people, it's obvious that's what they're doing. If I had three wishes, one of them would be to teach the world some cell phone etiquette. I look at how some people are completely oblivious to people around them while they're on the phone and I'm almost ashamed to consider myself part of society.

Rob - if its any consolation I'm ashamed you're part of society too! ;)

mOOSH [will pay for that zinger!]

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P18 said:

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Arson said:
Maybe it's who these parks are attracting? (though I have a fair share of horror stories from other, more family-friendly parks)

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Curious about some of those other stories actually, if it's alright.

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Besides my Canobie Lake experience, I can think of a few more examples. People shouted profanities during the whole ride on Lake Compounce's Wildcat last year (similar to a ride on Two-Face at SFA).

I've had the pleasure of riding Villain (Geauga Lake) with a person who kept bumping into me while they were soaking wet (the irony is that the rapids ride was closed that day, and I spent the rest of that ride trying to figure out how he got that wet on that side of the park).

I think the best example would be the time I found an empty seat on the Great Bear, and hopped in. About ten feet from the station, a passenger next to me pulls a video camera, and starts filming. Then the other guests in the front started spitting toward the guy with the camera, and I got hit a few times.

I would prefer economic conservatives who understand that the SEC is indeed the best conference and the Tennessee Volunteers are God's gift to college athletics while knowing the Cleveland Browns are only a year or two away from the Super Bowl and that choosing between Scuba Diving and Amusement Parks is a tough choice but are certain that woodies are superior to steel and who understand that diplomacy cannot work when appeasing terrorists hell-bent on wiping a particular religion from the face of the earth and have a certain distaste for line-cutting and any behaviors that delay ride load times and most importantly do not have B.O.!

The previous sentence is not inclusive of all characteristics deemed appropriate for ascertaining said "proper" status, but should be used as a general guideline for any park seriously interested in attracting the most suitable clientele.

Any questions?

...damn...he said no Rednecks! I guess I lose...? :-)

*** Edited 7/28/2006 5:08:12 AM UTC by Jeffrey R Smith***

But aren't Cleveland Browns/SEC fans and not having B.O. mutually exclusive? :)

My issue with cell phones is why go somewhere-- in this case, an amusement park-- with some people, and spend the entire time talking on a cell phone to someone who isn't there? If you miss the person so much, why not just leave and go be with them? It's funnier when the whole group is chatting away practically ignoring the people they're supposedly with. Best of all is when the chatter feels the need to give a play-by-play of the ride they're on at the moment.

^You must be talking about me, Bear. ;) :)

-Tina

I would say unchaperoned teens is a big problem at parks. During my recent trip to Hershey I had the pleasure of being in many a line with a group of out of control teens. Odd thing was they were there on a bus trip from their military academy. Which caused me to remark "and people wonder why these kids are in a military school?"

I would say the only acceptable clientle would be only those people that have stars on thars.

The rule of Dr. Seuss. Genocide Made Simple, Pre-teen edition.
:)

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Mamoosh said:
Rob - if its any consolation I'm ashamed you're part of society too!

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Ouch! What is this... RRC?

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coasterqueenTRN said:
^You must be talking about me, Bear. ;) :)

-Tina

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Which part, the cell phone, the Cleveland Browns, or the B.O.? :) (Never met you, so I'd have to rely on third party information for that.)

Real SEC fans know that the Vols are God's gift to the Gators...at least as long as we still have Phil Fulmer to kick around... :)