"the- know -it -alls"

It's KNOW... Yes they're the GP, not enthusiasts. Can you blame them for not knowing as much as us?

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.:| Brandon Rodriguez |:.
http://www.coasters2k.com

::throws two pennies on the board::
if someone is spouting off wrong stats, I can let it slide. if someone is spouting off wrong stats that start frightening a person out of riding a good coaster, I step in. I often find myself telling people what's going on with a coaster so they don't get scared (assuming I know what I'm talking about). but if I'm not sure of something then I'll let people know.

as for people looking at inversions and denying that the ride goes upside down, well I had a friend in line for Iron Wolf who couldn't understand how you go upside down on a stand-up. it was her first time (get your mind out of the gutter) and I just laughed and told her it was a fun ride.

as for personal stories, well I don't have many. but I have been asked for re-assurance for younger riders by their parents or what a new ride is like. I mostly tell people that they are cool experiences and to try them.

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it's a mexican pirate!~Track 15 Blink 182 Take Off Your Pants and Jacket

Wow, I did not know I'd have anyone agree with me.

I remember reading Jeff say one time (I think in his KennyKon TR) that he actually prefers not to hang out with coaster enthusiasts while at theme parks, and I guess I'm the same way. I like going to parks with people I know (especially my brothers), and I enjoy carrying on conversations about things besides coasters while at a theme park (like sports, "hoochies"/hot women, life in general, current events, etc). Of course you're going to talk about the rides some, but I prefer to enjoy the rides as opposed to critique the rides. I write trip reports, and I say what I think of coasters. But basically to me, any coaster than doesn't hurt is a fun ride.

I just believe that it is useless and deconstructive to correct the average park goer on coaster stats/history/records/whatever. So what if Joe Schmoe in front of you thinks that Wildfire is 300 feet tall and tops out at 173 mph? Him telling this to his party hurts no one, and may even make them enjoy the ride and rush more. And if he thinks it's a record breaking coaster, maybe he'll come back and bring a friend he told about it, increasing profit for the park and making me that much closer to having a new "toy".

I enjoy being well-informed, and I hope others want to be well-informed also. But for correction of what someone else says to be justified, I think it has to...

A) Make the person you correct better for knowing. In other words, it could help them in life. And I hardly think coaster stats fall in this category.

B) Correcting the person makes others around him better off. This is why I will call people when they claim that "34 people died on the Raven in the last two months." It scares people needlessly, and drives away patronage.

C) The person asks you a question about some info they heard. By advocating the keep to yourself policy, I do not advocate lying. I do advocate not being a jerk to others.

Some of you will agree with me, and others won't. Give this some serious thought, though. And if you do decide you want to correct something that another person said, be polite--being a correct bastard can be a lot worse than being a misinformed nice guy.
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According to the "official" count, next year's new coaster lineup will feature 17 Arrow 4-Ds, 21 TA2Ks, 34 B&M floorless's, 17 Intamin Gigas, 12 beemer flyers, and 247 CCIs. And oh yeah, CP will receive one of all of these. *** This post was edited by The Rentch on 7/26/2001. ***

I have a couple of funny stories.
1) I have a friend who used to live in Houston who claims that SFAW has more coasters than anywhere else on the planet. I just smile and nod.

2) Second, my home park is SFEG, and they have a wooden coaster called twister two. Now on twister the track goes through turn in a tunnel close to where the line is. when the train enters th tunnel, the superstructure of the coaster shakes and extends outward. Mos of us know that if the structure ws not able to absorb some force and bend a little, the wooden boards would snap and things in general would not be good. As I was at this point of the line one day, A woman and her boy (I would guess about 10 or 11, but easily tall enough to ride) were in front of me. As soon as she saw the structure shaking she pronounced loudly that the coaster was unsafe and an old ride like this should be torn down immediately, (Twister II was built about five years ago) I tried to explain the reason for the shaking to her, and to pursuade her to keep her place in line, bbut she would hear nothing of it. As she stormed out of line, she loudly called me a sick person who wanted nothing but to see her and her son die a bloody and horrible death. I was shocked, but decided that it as really not worth it to get upset, and when I saw her later that day, I just smiled, happy to show her that for now, I had escaped death.

just thought that was kind of funny, and an example of the horrible creatures created when overprotective mothers and unenlightened coaster riders are combined.

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Red Wings Suck!!!

Hey blink, thats pretty funny what that guy said about viper.. especially considering that it is not even the tallest wooden coaster in the park... i mean did he not notice that huge white thing along the side of the highway. Thats just beyond dumb... hopefully he was kidding about that. Personally i can't say i have ever heard people spouting out dumb information. I was at Stark Raven Mad this year and found some of the "enthusiast" talk a little disturbing. They were all bragging about being on 400 or 300 coasters, each one trying to outdo the other. It was disturbing in that it seemed like they didn't have much joy in coaster riding, that they loked at it all as just numbers (some of the people there anyway, not all).It was if they looked at someone like me, who has ridden just under 100 coasters, as not being a "real" enthusiast. That kind of talk i find more disturbing than anything else.

It is funny that this topic was posted because there seems to be quite a bit of misinformation and delusions of grandeur right here. There is always someone throwing some kind of BS around that he or she heard from some guy who knows the dog walker or pool guy who heard from the lemon chill guy that park X was getting X, or something along those lines.

COME ON WHY DO WE CARE AS LONG AS EVERYONE IS HAVING FUN. HOW MUCH OF A DORK ARE WE WHEN THE MOST FUN WE HAVE IS CORRECTING SOMEONE ABOUT A COASTER.

No need to yell! Too some people, when people correct tham and get angry, that is more scary than the ride itself.

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"Bathroom 1 looks too intense for me"-Ed Markey

d7droog52, B&MFan and DejaVu & V2 all hit on points that I was trying to get across in some of my earlier posts... especially B&MFan's comments.

Now that gets me to thinking... if some of us (coaster fans that is) are bugged by "know it all" "enthusiasts" who are self appointed "experts", what would the "average Joe" think when he runs into one of them? What would the "average Joe" who is browsing the web for coaster informaton think when he finds a forum with comments such as "Yes they're the GP, not enthusiasts. Can you blame them for not knowing as much as us?" and "just thought that was kind of funny, and an example of the horrible creatures created when overprotective mothers and unenlightened coaster riders are combined"?

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

I have to admit I've been guilty of this...but it was on the far-fetched stats and injury-causing rumors.

I was in line for Blue Streak at Coastermania and the guy beside me was talking about how Millennium Force cost the park $50 Billion! I didn't know if I heard him right, so I asked him, "How much?" Then I told him it only cost $25 million. Then he asked me if I'd been on it before...etc. We started up a conversation.

Then on MF, these guys behind me were trying to freak out the girls in front of them by telling them there was nothing preventing the train from careening back down the lift hill. One of them looked like they were about to get out of line...and we were up to the unloading station! I told her there are safety systems on all coasters to prevent this. That made he feel better.

i really know what u peeps mean. i dont say anything unless im positive that my info is correct. i dont really know stuff about rides built years ago, but i know a lot about the new ones. i had this argument with an 8 year old in line for S:ROS because he thought he knew absolutely everything about millenium force. he said it went 95mph, and that it was 318ft tall. i was trying to tell him that he was talking about steel dragon2000, but he didnt believe me.

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CoasterCrazed647 said:
"i really know what u peeps mean. i dont say anything unless im positive that my info is correct. i dont really know stuff about rides built years ago, but i know a lot about the new ones. i had this argument with an 8 year old in line for S:ROS because he thought he knew absolutely everything about millenium force. he said it went 95mph, and that it was 318ft tall. i was trying to tell him that he was talking about steel dragon2000, but he didnt believe me."

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Ah... let me get this straight...

You got into an argument with an 8 year old over a difference of 8 feet and 2 mph? (and no, I did not have those numbers memorized, I looked them up in the RCDB)


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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

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CoasterCrazed647 said:
"i had this argument with an 8 year old

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geez, dont you think thats going a little too far? An 8 year old kid, cmon???


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Dayuum, Your HOT! *** This post was edited by Coasterr on 7/26/2001. ***