Those who really HATE amusement parks ........

Last night I was having a conversation with my new neighbor. He was asking if there was anything for his kids to do in Denver. Anyway I mentioned that Denver has a number of amusement parks and similar places such as Elitch Gardens, Lakesite, Waterworld..etc.. Only to get "..stop it stop it..I do NOT allow my children to go to such trashy places. Amusement parks are a waste of money, everyone who goes to those damn places are f**king weirdos and they are a haven for perverts ...".

Anyway I changed the subject but I have to admit this was the first person I have ever admit who truly hated amusement parks but I am not surprised. In this day of age when more and more peole say "I don't watch TV", "..all of radio is trash", "...we no longer do movies..they suck"......then for someone to hate amusement parks and go to that extreme I guess its a sign of the times.

Have you ever met anyone who really hated theme parks? Not just one specific park but..well theme parks in general?

Perhaps the guy is just making poor generalizations. I've heard from visitors and workers of Elitch that it's a bit of a rough-and-tumble kind of place.

I'm not sure I see an amusement park being any more of a haven for perverts than, say, a sports arena... or the mall.

Or a school yard...or city park...or Chuck E Cheese...Or Maverick.

Elitch's is right alongside the RR tracks, not the greatest of neighborhoods. Seem to recall that Lakeside (a much nicer park) was in an area of town that was even seedier.

Fish-n-Farm Heritage Square is in a better area - great Alpine Slide, some small amusmenent rides for kids. Santa's Workshop is REALLY sweet, geared to younger kids as well. It was VERY cold since it's just a treeline or two below Pike's Peak...but the real bummer was the Spiral Slide being closed due to rainsleet..."typical" August weather. ;)

Amusement parks used to have quite the reputation as being the hangouts of ne'er-do-wells, scoundrels and floozies, before Disney made everything safe, sterile and pretty. The whiff of the old days certainly endures here and there (*coughcoughCamdenPark). A few people apparently still view parks that way.

Chriscub said:
"I do NOT allow my children to go to such trashy places. Amusement parks are a waste of money, everyone who goes to those damn places are f**king weirdos and they are a haven for perverts ...".

That's a list of reason I go to amusement parks. :)

Seriously, I think Ensign nailed a big part of it.

One lousy experience could turn someone off to parks altogether. When I think of Coney Island, there's definitely an element of seediness there, especially when I compare it to some of my first magical visits to Kings Dominion when I was a kid. I never had a bad experience at Coney, for the record.

Still, it sounds like a broad, inaccurate generalization probably based on one or two experiences...or possibly none.

That guy's description of amusement parks better matches my co-worker's recent description of the Lorain County Fair, although she was talking more about the carnies than the guests.

....and then there are those who still believe that parks are unsafe and that roller coasters cause brain damage. Seriously i know people like that and its impossible to convince them otherwise.

I think the guy was just confusing amusement parks with amusement park enthusiast web sites.

Now those (enthusiast web sites) DO actually cause dain bramage....or so I heard from the Lemon Chill guy. ;)

Carrie wins post of the day again.

Ensign Smith said:
Amusement parks used to have quite the reputation as being the hangouts of ne'er-do-wells, scoundrels and floozies, before Disney made everything safe, sterile and pretty. The whiff of the old days certainly endures here and there (*coughcoughCamdenPark). A few people apparently still view parks that way.

Maybe and of course there are those who feel that amusement/theme parks "..are for kids only". To those people an adult who is into theme parks and likes to visit them needs to "...grow the hell up !!". I have seen those types of posts in the past on other sites such as the one message on the travel site Trip Advisor that I had seen last year. Two guys ages 30 and 45 had asked a question about Kennywood and what hotels were nearby by only to get bashed by others about the fact that two guys "at their age" were still interested in Kennywood in the first place. One poster even went as far as accusing the two guys as being child molesters ONLY because they had asked about hotels near a "park for children"..Kennywood !! Unbelieveable !!

As somebody else more/less had already said on here..some people won't change.

Re: "for kids only," I loved this comment on an article about how Son of Beast might not open this year:

jobblyencore said:
Enough with this "thrill" rides. People need to grow up! Too bad getting up every day and making a living isn't thrill enough for these losers who have all day to waste at these places...

Tekwardo said:
Carrie wins post of the day again.

Dammit, she already won one internet last week. What is she supposed to do with two internets? Store it in the garage? Sell it on E-bay? Such a waste of a perfectly good internet.

Hooray! I get to store all of the f**king weirdos and perverts in my garage.

Company for the babies?

Carrie M. said:
Hooray! I get to store all of the f**king weirdos and perverts in my garage.

I've been in here for a week and a half waiting for you to turn the light on.

Why would I let babies in my garage? I have standards you know.