Which club should I join?

My mom just asked me that if I could join the CoasterBuzz Club or ACE which would I join? Which is Cheaper? Which has most benifits? Which has most events?

Help Me!

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800,000 years in 7 seconds: Time Machine the movie or next S&S creation?

I honestly would join ACE. Sure CoasterBuzz Club is good, but ACE is bigger, you get publications (magazine and newsletter), and you also get many park discounts, and there are a lot of events all the time. I have been a member of ACE for 3 years, and it is worth every penny of it. :)

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I agree with CoasterAaron, ACE has a lot of member benefits as does CoasterBuzz Club but you also get magazine with ACE membership. And the magazines are one of the few things that keep me going during the off-season!!

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I can't think of a good signature.

As both an ACE and CoasterBuzz member, take it from me: It's like comparing apples and oranges.

ACE is $50 for a single membership each year. That's a bit much if you ask me, assuming you don't attend anything and you just get the 4 issues of "RollerCoaster" magazine and 6 issues of "ACE News". But the gatherings are great. It's great to be surrounded by people who all love the same thing. It's like "Hey, I'm not crazy after all!"

With CoasterBuzz Club, it's far less expensive, at $20 a year. You get to also attend conferences and events set up by CoasterBuzz. Now you really have to ask your self if access to the club features is more important to you than outdated, printed material.

To me, it actually isn't. I eagerly await each mailing from ACE because the publications have many nice photos, some facts that you wont find on the net, and when you can't be near a computer all the time, it's nice to just sit down and read some fairly well written articles.

So join both if you can, because really they aren't similar enough to say one is better than the other.

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Jes
Jes's Roller Coasters DJ Jes MCS
"Thank You Jeff Putz"

*** This post was edited by Zero-G on 3/16/2002. ***

I personally think that ACE is a little too expensive at $50 a person. You do get the magazine though and thats good. Coasterbuzz is great though because you get coasterbuzz ad-free, and the price is pretty cheap. Do keep in mind though that there are several other coaster clubs that you could always join.

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There is no force like Millennium Force!

I say join both as well. I joined CoasterBuzz mainly to support this site. I think it's worth a lousy $20 to post here.

And the ACE membership is basically a magazine subscription - which I personally enjoy having on my coffee table - and some other perks , many of which are duplicated by CBC , but some are not.

$70 just dosen't seem like that much to spend to support something you love.

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Without the chaindog, you'd never get up the lifthill...

Chaindog said:
I think it's worth a lousy $20 to post here.

I agree... As a web developer I understand the amount of time, it takes to create a forum as nice as this one... It is worth more then my $20 just to support this site.. I do not know how many people realize this, but this Forum is FAST. Many other sites (forums) such as this bog down and run slow, update slow, or just take forever to load. Although part of this is on the server side, Most of this has to do with the programmer. Jeff did a great job on this!... (at least I believe it was Jeff)

To me, the park discounts and other features are just extras. Also, if you go to enough events, the $20 coasterbuzz membership pays for itself, if not more.

If anything, if you are a regular user of this site.. Pay the $20. It is well worth it.

As far as ACE.. $50 is quite expensive, but it gets you 50% off PKI tickets.. 2 tickets and ACE pays for itself also.. plus you get the mags, newsletters, and many other benefits..

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Planned Parks for this summer: SFoGa, CP, SFWoA, SFGAm, SFKK, PKI, MA, SFStL, HW, KW. Is 10 enough?
Cornerstone Festival 2002... I will be there

Yeah, it was me. It's not the work that I'm worried about, I just want to not spend my life savings on Sprint business services for the connection.

Most of your $20 membership goes to paying for the connection that keeps the site on the air. If you're a regular visitor and appreciate what you get out of the site, that's a reason to join, not because you're looking for perks.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

Have you considered the European Coaster Club? I'm a member and the club produces 6 editions of their magazine 'First Drop' a year plus extra supplements between printing. You also get discount at Anheuser-Busch theme parks plus others. Yearly membership for you folks in the States is around $40 if I remember correctly. Check out www.coasterclub.org for more info. :)

I have been an ACE member for 11 years and would suggest it to anyone that loves coasters. I have been an ECC member for about 2 weeks and already I can see that it is going to be a fantastic experience.

Comparing those two clubs to Coasterbuzz really isn't fair to any of them, because they all have their different reasons for being. I joined ACE and ECC for their wonderful publications. I joined Coasterbuzz Club because I frequent this site and think that $20 is reasonable to help keep the site alive.

Well I can't really have an opinion since I havn't been to any events, but I decided to join ACE. I sent in my application two weeks ago so I should get it late March early April. But I decided upon ACE because it's a larger program (kindof a everybody is doing it thing) also the publications look pretty neat. I dunno if it's entirly worth the 50 bucks but I think it'll be a lot of fun.

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You can hear the laughter, you can hear the mighty roar. From the brickyard down in Indy to the white Chicago shore. It's a rollin', twistin', turnin' and might we both suggest. You get you fanny ridin' on the Cornball Express!

I chose CBC over ACE for the mere fact that I want to support the site and I don't get to enough parks during the year to take full advantage of all the perks that ACE would provide. I have a CF park just down the street from me and being a member of CBC provides all the perks I need that ACE would have provided. Heck, I'm getting into Timbers Fest free because of being a member and having a season pass. Works for me... :) Those are merely my reasons...if you enjoy this site and would like to help contribute, then join the Buzz.

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I've just seen the future...what was I saying?

Do you know that there are more groups out there besides CBC & ACE?? There may be a local group which may better serve your needs. ACE & NAPHAare national groups, where events are anywhere across the country, & CBC almost serves the same, large area. Check around with different group links off this site & perhaps you'll find a group that may better serve your needs. You may want to look for a group whose events are more local to where you live. I belong to the Western New York Coaster Club, and we usually limit our events to the NorthEast part of the U.S. There may be a group within a state or two of where you live that will hold events in a park near you.

don't join coasterbuzz club, it's pointless. all you get is to view the same website you are looking at now without and pop-ups, save the money and just d/l pop-up buster. I also can't reccomend joining ACE either. You just get a magazine every 3 months and then you have to pay to go to events. I suggest joining no club.

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HurricaneGeauga- Just in case

I agree with HurricaneGeauga

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Rollercoasters are my life, I think about them more than I think about....wait, thats all I think about :)

Proud Owner of www.coasterkingdom.cjb.net

In my opinion, joining the CoasterBuzz club isn't pointless at all. When I payed my $20, I did it to support the site (and my site for that matter), not to receive any perks. If you've got the $20 and you love CoasterBuzz, I suggest joining the club. After all, Jeff has put a lot of time in money into CoasterBuzz, the least you can do is help him out a bit.

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Joe Cernelli
Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
"If you want to follow me, you've got to play pinball."

Well I just joined CCE (Carolina Coaster Enthusiasts) so I think that will hold me over on clubs for a while.

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800,000 years in 7 seconds: Time Machine the movie or next S&S creation?

HurricaneGeauga said:
don't join coasterbuzz club, it's pointless. all you get is to view the same website you are looking at now without and pop-ups, save the money and just d/l pop-up buster.

So in other words, you're freeloading. Nice. That's world-class. Do you think this site runs on good will and love? If you kill the ads and you think it's a waste of money to join the club, you're pretty much stealing from me.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

HurricaneGeauga said:
don't join coasterbuzz club, it's pointless. all you get is to view the same website you are looking at now without and pop-ups, save the money and just d/l pop-up buster. I also can't reccomend joining ACE either. You just get a magazine every 3 months and then you have to pay to go to events. I suggest joining no club.

Have you ever been an ACE member? Anyone who has joined will know that it is a lot more than just a magazine every three months. And if Coasterbuzz disappeared because of a lack of financial support, would you still think joining as being pointless?

Join ACE...I think it is well worth the $50.

It seems most people here dont go to the events! Go to them, they are a lot of fun...much funner than going on your own if you ask me. THEN you get the Newsletter and Magazines, along with other perks for certain parks...check out the ace website at www.aceonline.org for the events and different stuff. And, of course the events arent free! The club is a non-profit organization and your yearly fee is used for the magazines, event organizations, etc. Im sure any ACE rep could tell you more.

I have also heard the European Coaster Club is good as well. Coasterbuzz isnt a club really, just an upkeep of this site with no ads...I havent gotten it, nor do I plan to.

There are also many smaller clubs you could join but im not sure of the stuff you get from them.

Hope this helps some!

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SFGAm Viper

*** This post was edited by SFGAm Viper on 3/18/2002. ***