Winter Coaster Solace WILL return!
Gator - I think it goes 'No need to douche, Moosh.'
Couldn't resist that one. ;)
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'I want to be a statistic. I want to be masochistic. I want to be a clone.' - Descendents 'Suburban Home'
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I was going to put my 2 cents worth in here - but then decided that it might be safer to not ....
And to think this is how you enthusiasses on the west coast act! So glad that the ACErs and wannabe ACErs in the Heartland act "normal". :)
Are any of you going to make the trek to MO on December 14th to check out the new SDC property? Not mention WILDFIRE ERT?
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SWOOSH
http://www.themeparksonline.org
(In cyberspace no one can hear you scream)
Swoosh, it was mainly the ACErs from out of state that booed, protested the ERT, insulted ride ops, and put up a fight, heck they even dubbed the park fort knotts and called all the ride ops knottszis (like Nazi).. Lets get down to the reason why Knotts during coaster con went rotten. Knotts said that Xcelerator would be open for Coastercon, but the state couldn't come in and inspect the ride for public use on time, so knotts couldn't open the ride for ACErs (anyways, people donated thousands of dollars to charity to be the first riders). Only employees were allowed to ride, and they did. Apparently, some ACErs were pissed off seeing the employees riding and enjoying themselves (employees comments in the midway were not really insulting to acers), and then they proceeded to boycott and protest the ERT sessions for Supreme Scream and Bommerang. KNOTTS DID WHAT THEY COULD BY GIVING ALL ATTENDEES FREE TICKETS TO COME BACK ON OPENING DAY (THE NEXT DAY), BUT THOSE WHO COULDN'T COME BACK WERE THE ONES WHO *****ED AND RIOTED. SOME ENTHUSIASTS JUST CAN'T GO WITHOUT WHAT THEY WANT.
Solace was your typical enthusiast event. No bitching or protesting, just a few jokes about heather. IN FACT HEATHER EVEN GOT IN ON THE FUN, SHE HAD A NAME TAG LABELED STAPLER. Solace 2002 has nothing to do with doubts of coaster solace 2003.
BTW, another reason why coaster solace was doubted for this year is because a PR rep, Dana Hammondtree, a great person, left knotts. she was the pusher for the solace event.
Coaster solace is usually just californians, and others from the west. It is lower key, and attracts less immature people.
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Fav Steel: Millenium Force Fav Wood: Viper
From personal experience, I was equally appalled at what I saw from acers and the park. But you know what? It happenned, it's done and nothing can be changed about it. My last visit to Knott's was wonderful, so I have no reason to think that the park changed into a nightmare over night. A few park people I talked to shortly after the incident said they felt ambused by a couple of "assers" who were insipid, smug and wanted to show off in front of their Cali-counterparts. Real stupid stuff like "intentionally" leaving their lapbars as high as possible just to see how far Knott's staff would slam them back down. I'd be annoyed to with this kind of crap myself.
On the other side of the coin, the park had a stick up their butts on this particular day. They didn't seem to have a clue what was going on and seemed to be more annoyed than accomidating during ERT.
Knott's was out of line, some enthusiasts were out of line, and I managed to have a good time, probably because I was there with my family. I could have cared less about Xcelerator or extra secure restraints. Most of my day wasn't spent on rollercoasters anyway.
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Superman:The Escape(1997-2002) May he one day fly again.
*** This post was edited by DWeaver on 12/3/2002. ***
Speedy said: Swoosh, it was mainly the ACErs from out of state that booed, protested the ERT, insulted ride ops, and put up a fight, heck they even dubbed the park fort knotts and called all the ride ops knottszis
Thanks for clearing that up. I was curious about what region these enthusiasses were from. They give all coaster junkies a bad name.
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SWOOSH
http://www.themeparksonline.org
(In cyberspace no one can hear you scream)
*** This post was edited by Swoosh on 12/4/2002. ***
Absolutely. The whole blame can't be placed on enthusiasts in this case. I was there and I saw what was going on. Because of the Perilous Plunge incident, the park went overboard with some God-awful new operating precedures that were torture in and of themselves. To make matters worse, they seemed almost defensive about anyone who protested in any way. Hey, don't take it out on me because you have to do extra work because one of your rides killed someone. I hated Knott's that day, which is exactly why I needed to get back as soon as I could, somehow I just felt things would smooth out after awhile, and they did. Unfortunately, others weren't so forgiving.
I also noticed some enthusiasts making an ass out of themselves, which made matters even worse, till finally I left the gathering and hung out with my family. Some people really need to learn how to act in public! It was embarrassing watching 40 year old men act like children when they didn't get their way...
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Superman:The Escape(1997-2002) May he one day fly again.
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Joey Ciborek, Florida Coaster Club, Member
"WE RIDE ALL YEAR!!!" www.FloridaCoasterClub.com , www.CoasterJoe.com
"It's like an addiction" Me, The Discovery Channel, Ultimate Guide: Roller Coasters 5/27/02
Jo
2000/2002 Raptor Crew
Lifetime Raptor flights: 708 :)
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It's all about getting around the barrels or over the fences, right leads, no faults, fastest time and still looking pretty when done. What's so hard about that? :)
Winter Coaster Solace doesn't attract as many of those bad ACErs. That was coastercon where all that crap happened (and the ACErs from the east did it all), stuff likethis:
-A ride op wearing a name tag that said stapler.
-ACErs calling the ride operators Knottzis.
-ACErs *****ing that they could not ride Xcelerator before it had passed the state inspection (which happened just before the ride opened), doing stuff like cursing out the pumped up employees who did get to ride it. All the employees did was tell the ACErs it was a good ride, and they'll have fun when they ride it tomorrow (Knotts gave out free tickets, and the out of state ones who "had to leave on a plane tomorrow" but were just BSing cause they like to complain, and actually were going to attend the event, but probably just wanted all their money back).
-ACErs boycotting ERT sessions.
-ACErs not being model park guests. They were actually line jumping believe it or not.
-And a whole lot more. It was like a riot. The attendees were blocking off the entrances for rides so that the GP wouldn't ride, etc.
I don't know who's fault it was (mostly ACErs), but it was like a constant battle between the employees and managers vs. the ACErs. The more local enthusiasts were on their best behavior, or so I hear...
Jeff said:
Speedy said:
There were protests and booing at ops last coastercon.
That's world class. Makes you really proud to be an enthusiast.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"Climbing as we fall, we dare to hold on to our fate, and steal away our destiny to catch ourselves with quiet grace" - The Stairs, INXS
I don't know what you're saying, but I don't even belong to ACE. I didn't even go to the event, and I certaintly didn't boycott the ERT sessions and protest. I just read all the TRs, talked to a few attendees via AIM, and having gone to the park so many times I knew exactly what would happen when you mix Knott's way of thinking (safety 1st) to the way ACErs act and constantly demand stuff. I don't know if you were being sarcastic and accusing me of rioting or saying I'm being downgraded by these *idiots* who did the crap. I just can't tell which.
Speedy, sorry to say this, but your *credibility* is at stake when you make off-the-wall statements like that. Every time the Con comes up, you defend the actions of Knott's to the point where you pardon them for everything THEY did wrong. For those of us who were there, that just doesn't fit the facts. Were there a few baadly-behaved enthusiasts....YES, there were. (And I have gone *on record* as saying that ACE needs to do more to weed out the FEW *bad eggs*. I challenge you to show me a group of 8,000 where there aren't ANY.) But you have got it all wrong, my man, and it makes you look bad to simply dismiss the misbehavior on the PARK'S part so *out of hand*. It's happened enough so that I felt the need to address you directly on this topic....
Believe me, I hang with a pretty *mature* crowd....ok, OLD. Whatever. But there was a NUMBER of ACErs *from* SoCal who expressed EXTREME embarrassment for the park....the facts speak for themselves, and all the *spin* realy isn't necessary. The park can only IMPROVE when *honest criticism* is accepted.....
*** This post was edited by rollergator on 1/12/2003. ***
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