Why do parks share info.?

Why is it such a big deal to be in the know anyway? Does it make someone feel more intelligent, or more important to have the info before most other people? Do you feel like you don't belong if you don't have some knowledge that someone else seems to have?

Those who know are no better than anyone else, (yeah, really). And those who wish they knew-- well, chill out. The world won't end if you don't find out what some park is constructing before everyone else does.

I didn't know anything about Millennium Force until the day it was announced, other than the fact that they were clearly prepping the site along the train tracks.

kpjb is right in that it really is a small industry, and generally speaking, as a courtesy to others, you don't share what you hear.

+Danny is also correct in that a lot of people in enthusiast circles serve various roles in the production of media materials or work in the industry themselves.

But still, most people who say they know anything are just blowing smoke up your ass. I for one wouldn't taunt people about what I know about anything because if it's in an official capacity, that would be even admitting that there is a project at where ever. If you are working in an official capacity, chances are you signed an agreement indicating you wouldn't say anything. (And yes, I realize the absurdity in the case of one park where they're obviously building something.)

Being in the loop is not all it's cracked up to be.

Bear, you mean you don't listen to multiple podcasts and watch several construction cams all at once on your computer? ;)

Oh wait, that should be in the "How to spot a coaster enthusiast" thread. :)

-Tina

Guessing is just WAY more fun than *knowing* would/could ever be...

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Jeff said:...And yes, I realize the absurdity in the case of one park where they're obviously building something.

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Of course! DelGrosso's already announced though... ;)

^^ Kinda difficult without an I-Pod. (how 20th century!)

You don't need an iPod to listen to a podcast.

Well Gator, I don't even like to guess! I'll always end up disappointed. ;)

^^ Damn, there went that excuse.

It's a matter of who you know and what those people are willing to tell you. I knew about Hades two years before it opened and it had nothing to do with me knowing someone at the park. Heck, the person who told me didn't even know anyone at the park! But for every ride or attraction I've been told about before the official announcement, there have been a hundred that I knew absolutely nothing about.

People talk. It's what they do. If someone tells you something that no one else knows, of course your first instinct is going to be to tell everyone you know because you're excited. Then the realities of the situation sink in and you see that's not in your best interest if you want to find out more in the future. But people still talk anyway. Share something with a close friend and the risk is minimal. Post it on a message board and you might alienate yourself.

Of course, I'm sure some people leak information to specific others because they know what they'll do with the information. Not all leaks are accidental, ya know?

"Not all leaks are accidental, ya know?"

^ You work in the White House? :)

No, I'm not that crooked ;)

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RatherGoodBear said:
Why is it such a big deal to be in the know anyway?

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Now it's my turn to agree with you 100%.

I keep an eye on what parks are building, but the interest in being 'in the know' holds little appeal.

None of us will be able to ride until the attraction is built, tested and opened - that's when it matters.

Really, come next July when everyone in the free world has ridden CP's new coaster will it really matter who knew what it was or that you didn't know until the official announcement.

If you go back further it gets even more meaningless - think in retrospect about something like MF. Now, 6 years later did all the antsy, spastic "I gotta know now!" dances really do anything more than make you look like a Ritalin candidate?

Regardless of who knows what and when we all have to wait to ride.

(Just as bad are the people who try to get themselves into "Media Day" things - like the two day difference in riding matters.)

In the big picture it doesn't really matter, but I think it's normal human nature to want to know something before someone else. Some kind of comfidence booster, I suppose... being made to feel "special". I know there are times my curiousity gets the best of me and I find myself wanting to know what's being built and what it will do.

I agree. No need to look down your noses at those who are curious...even very curious.

If you want to start talking about meanlingless, let's talk about the meaninglessness of life in general. ;)

I'm just an 'uppidy jerk' :)
(misspelling kept intact for authenticity)

Perhaps an even more interesting question than why parks share info is why parks frown on sharing info?

Because they're uppidy jerks?

And don't yopu forget it...Gonch...you and the rest of the CB ilk.

LOL....maybe they are worried the competitors will find out and slap together a huge coaster in the off season that will make them look like a bunch of Johnny-come-latelys. ;)

I guess marketing wants to keep it all very controlled and tidy. I guess things go wrong before things are finished....a la Hershey Park.

Yeah, I suppose the clean and tidy approach is most useful.

But like the CP coaster, for instance, they've been playing it up online and in the park for quite a while. The final go on whatever it is has long been decided. It's been much too late in the game for anyone not 'in the know' to trump them with something anytime soon.

Sticking with the CP example - what would have been the harm if anyone knew exactly what it was down to the last detail say three or four months ago? Other than the limited hype machine that gets created (by enthusiasts and park guests), what really is the benefit?

And more on the subject of wanting to know, why is it just those last few months that everyone gets all wound up. Oh yeah, that hype machine that we all play into like good little monkeys. :)

IIRC, Dick Kinzel told us in the podcast we did last fall that the park plans many years in advance and that they were working on things as far ahead as 2008 or 2009 or something like that. Why no interest there?

All the really cool people are speculating on and begging for info about those 2009 additions. This CP 2007 project is so 2004. ;)

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what would have been the harm if anyone knew exactly what it was down to the last detail say three or four months ago?

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But gee, Marge, why go this year when they're getting a big shiny new rolly-coaster NEXT year?

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Lord Gonchar said:

(Just as bad are the people who try to get themselves into "Media Day" things - like the two day difference in riding matters.)

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But that's different. Sure, who cares that you know something years in advance. Something that no one can ever be sure you really knew about because you cant tell anyone anyway. But Media Day...now we're talking about getting on the T-V!

Who doesn't want to get on the T-V! ;)
lata, jeremy
--who has been on worldwide TV at least twice, this year even...