You know you like coasters too much when...

Had so much fun with the odd coaster riding habits that I decided to try this one.

I noticed today on my iphone that my weather app that comes on the phone reads like this: Center Valley, Allentown, Bethlehem, New York. Normal, right? THEN it reads Jackson, New Jersey; Agawam, Massachussetts; Tampa, Florida; Doswell, Virginia; Elysburg, Pennsylvania; Wildwood, New Jersey. Plus, I have CoasterBuzz bookmarked and still won't close the page in Safari. I have at least five coaster/thrill ride apps. My back tattoo is a cross between a Schwarzkopf loop and a B&M hypercoaster (in all fairness, it has a DMB firedancer in the loop and a DMB quote in the loop as well). I have boards on Pinterest just for coasters I've ridden and want to ride.

So, my point is, it has gotten to be a pretty intense hobby for me. It brings to mind a great quote I just recently read: "There is a very thin line between hobby and mental health disorder". I THINK I'm still on the healthy side of that line (chuckle). What I wanna know is this: for those of you that are pretty rabid coaster enthusiasts, when did you realize you might have a problem?

Example: Jeff may say he realized he loved the amusement industry way too much when he started working and running a site all about roller coasters and thrill rides....!

Too many things to mention, but...here's a start:

License plate frame.."I'D RATHER BE ON A ROLLERCOASTER" just bought recently.

El Toro computer wallpaper

Calendars at work and home

Assorted books and videos

Postcard collection

Assorted t-shirts

Hersheypark (drink) coasters set (anyone wanna buy 'em?)

Mild compared to many, I'm sure, but hey, it's me.

No tats or apps for me

Problem? Nah.

As soon as I got my iPhone 3 years ago, I added Jackson, Allentown, Hershey and Wildwood to the weather app. My phone also has apps for Hershey, Dorney and Six Flags (although that one doesn't function too much anymore) even though I really don't need them. My phone wallpaper is Nitro.

I also have a bunch of coaster shirts that surprisingly get some comments usually when I am in a store and the cashier makes a comment about the coaster or the park or asks me about what type of coaster it is. That happens a lot when I wear one of the 4 Voodoo shirts I have (I stocked up when they were 75% off and I thought it would be cool to have since the ride name was only around for 1 year).

I also have a bunch of coaster/park items in my room. A lot of shot glasses, regular glasses, mugs, a Talon train Statix model and limited edition Hydra lithograph and pin framed set.

I don't see it as a problem that my #1 interest is riding coasters and going to parks. There are plenty of other things that non enthusiasts are just as obsessed with but I guess it's the way society views it. I mean no one would think anything if someone admitted they sat at home every Sunday for all 17 weeks of the NFL season and watched multiple games every day or went to every home game of their local NFL team. If I admitted to people offline that I went to a park that many times I would probably be told I am wasting my time or some other negative message which is one of the reasons I rarely discuss coasters off message boards.

I've seen several badass coaster tats out there. :) I would be open to getting one if I came across the right one. It wouldn't be any specific coaster or park, though.

It's been almost five years since my last tattoo. I am ready for another one. :)

-Tina

I love roller coasters so much, I decided to turn my life into one.

You know you like roller coasters too much when ...

Your wife has the divorce papers handed to you while you're waiting in line at a park.

There are still K'NEX pieces screwed into the walls of my old bedroom at my mom's house. They were the "footers" for three Screamin' Serpernts worth of roller coaster track that did a lap around the bedroom.

I tell ya, that little motor had a hard time pulling the trains up the 7-foot lift hill that was probably inclined at about 70 degrees. If I would've known about gear ratios at that age, I probably would've installed a gear reduction to lighten the load on the motor.

Jill, who is NOT an enthusiast (but somehow has about 400 on her count, LOL) wants a raven tattoo. of course, I can't think of any Raven that *doesn't* look like the logo from HW.

Here ya go, gator.

http://www.theraveneffect.com/

YoshiFan said:

I don't see it as a problem that my #1 interest is riding coasters and going to parks. There are plenty of other things that non enthusiasts are just as obsessed with but I guess it's the way society views it. I mean no one would think anything if someone admitted they sat at home every Sunday for all 17 weeks of the NFL season and watched multiple games every day or went to every home game of their local NFL team. If I admitted to people offline that I went to a park that many times I would probably be told I am wasting my time or some other negative message which is one of the reasons I rarely discuss coasters off message boards.

Yeah, people always either respond to my interest in coasters with either amused condescension (oh Jack, you and your coasters), or they just ignore it altogether. I think it is in many ways a much better obsession (and less expensive than NFL tickets at this rate) than many of the hobbies out there today. Sure, the food is just as junky at a park as it is a game, and getting tossed around in a coaster seat probably has some brain cell killing power similar to drinking a few beers while watching your team play. However, at least in coasting, a good ride always delivers (*#%+^!? Cowboys), you actually get exercise yourself, and screaming your lungs out and flailing your arms rarely leads you to a fistfight.

And we're the weird ones wasting our time and money.

This coaster hobby is no more strange or expensive than any other hobby that I have.

It's a tired argument (and not just when discussing amusement park fans) that has lost all credibility in this age of instant connection and social fragmentation.

Anybody who makes such an assertion is beating a dead hobby horse...

When going to visit your sister several states away, you populate Google Maps with all available amusement parks, and desperately try to "run across" some along the way.

I had a snaked path through the mountains and a loop into another state before I determined, "This may not be the most efficient route."

Ensign, yeah it wasn't really the point I started off making when I posted the forum. Just went off on a tangent. Everyone's hobbies are significant only to themselves and those involved in the same hobby.

Jeph, ha! I've always wanted to do that: visit people and make "pit stops" at parks. Unfortunately, the only family I have remaining is either right outside of Hershey (been there, done that), or they are so far away that I need to fly there (although flew into Tampa to visit my dad in Sarasota so I could stop at BGT).

My husband and I have both always wanted to go to Salem though, so I think I could scam a trip to SFNE on the way.

bunky666 said:
at least in coasting, a good ride always delivers (*#%+^!? Cowboys)

Speaking of amusement, I took great amusement in watching them lose their final regular season game...in person. :)

When you laughingly look at the suckers waiting in the long line for the first row of Phoneix and the 3rd row has noone in it.

Noone in it? That'd be cool. Maybe he'll sing "I'm Into Something Good."

When you get up at 6 am to go to a No Coaster Con.

Vater said:

bunky666 said:
at least in coasting, a good ride always delivers (*#%+^!? Cowboys)

Speaking of amusement, I took great amusement in watching them lose their final regular season game...in person. :)

*insert Yosemite Sam muttering and nonsensical you-know-he's-cursing muttering here*

And I thought I was the only oddball with a drawer dedicated to theme park and roller coaster t-shirts! Some of my friends laugh at me because they know the minute I tell them Im going on vacation somewhere, there must be a coaster ride waiting on me. Ive got coaster pics for my screen savers on both computers and on my new Galaxy S III.

I still have some of the large souvenir park maps from seven different Six Flags parks before they stopped selling them to the public. They are hanging on the wall above my bed. I have a massive collection of stuffed animals that Ive won playing games at various parks. I constantly find myself looking at videos of roller coasters on my phone or laptop - as opposed to what my friends think I watch on my devices(I watch those on my desktop or DVD player *LOL*).

The checks in my checkbook have pics of B&M coasters on them. I dont use them very often, but when I do some people at retail establishments will inquire and I happily explain. I have key chains from 3 different parks, and on ride photographs from 5 other parks, and three really nice baseball caps. I even have a baseball cap from Six Flags Worlds of Adventures.

I guess we all show our love of theme parks/coasters in our own various methods.