As represented by the sudden increase in attendance at my gym, January is the month to start New Year’s resolutions. It’s the chosen time to turn over a new leaf, start better habits, and end bad habits. I thought of a few ways that I could be a better roller coaster enthusiast in 2010.
Learn About Coasters & Theme Parks of the World
Of course many of us know and love our local park. But what abo
ut parks on the other side of the country or even the other side of the World? Take a tour through RCDB’s Japanese coasters. Learn about the best roller coasters Australia has to offer. Sure, the United States has the most roller coasters, but there are some really interesting parks with some cool roller coasters out there. I try to feature videos in the sidebar of some obscure coasters (often filmed by Robb Alvey on one of his crazy international expeditions) to remind everyone that’s there’s a whole World out there beyond Cedar Point and Great Adventure.
Learn About the History of Roller Coasters
Coaster enthusiasts should know their history and how we’ve gotten to the current thrill machines found in our top ten lists. I’ve read and reviewed a few books on historic amusement parks like Lake Compounce and Rye Playland Park to get a feel for what the amusement industry used to be like. They’re interesting reads even though they only focus on those parks. Read more about America’s oldest amusement park and the exhibition meant to blow up the lake (!): Lake Compounce Book Review. Also, check out ThrillNetwork’s Roller Coaster Timeline.
Don’t Cut in Line (And don’t let others cut)
There’s nothing worse than waiting in an hour long queue in the miserable heat of July. You chat with a friend and watch the trains come into the station and dispatch. Maybe you send a few texts (or Tweets), but all you really want to do is get to the station and get on the roller coaster or ride that you’re waiting for. The last thing that you want in this scenario is for some rude people to push by with a sheepish “Excuse me, my friends are up there.” Personally, I’ve never cut in line at a theme park, but just this past year I’ve taken it a step further. If someone tries to get by me (and they look old enough to know better), then I won’t let them pass. Theme parks say that line cutting is punishable by dismissal from the park, but I can’t remember ever seeing it enforced. I know some aren’t confrontational and won’t feel comfortable doing this. For me, line cutting is one of my biggest pet peeves and I’ve fed up. Let’s curb line cutting in 2010!
Friendly & Polite Theme Park Discussions
As with any group of fanatics, coaster enthusiasts can get pretty passionate and opinionated. Of course, a problem can emerge when there’s a disagreement. In 2010, let’s try to keep our discussions and disagreements friendly and polite. While I want everyone who comes to the Blog to feel free to express their opinions, I won’t allow personal attacks. I won’t let my blog devolve into what we’ve seen nationally. As coaster enthusiasts, I believe that we can do better. So, join me in promoting opinionated, but friendly and mature discussions on my site and throughout the Web. Let’s leave the bickering to the professionals.
Get Some New Web Sites in Your Rotation
Broaden your horizons a bit in 2010. There are a lot of great theme park web sites out there. Many of the news sites have much of the same news, but each has a bit of a different take or delivery method. Some sites give you the news straight while others provide a little opinion along with the news. And, as you know from my blog, blogs can be a mixed bag of reviews, news, and whatever the blogger feels like sharing.
Now it’s time for a shameless, but relevant plug. Coincidentally, I know of two sites that can help you find other theme park web sites. CoasterPortal is a next generation directory for theme park related sites and Theme Park Syndicate provides the latest stories, blog posts, podcasts, & videos from a variety of great theme park web sites.
What’s Your Take?
Do you have any New Year’s resolutions theme park related or otherwise? What do you think of my list? Leave a comment below.
January 17, 2010 at 03:28
Theme Park Syndicate is way better than CoasterPortal, IMO.
January 17, 2010 at 09:38
You created Syndicate yourself!
You're right, though. We need to be more civilized here. The "Name Wars"(as I like to call it) a while back could have ended with a real fight if we were talking directly to one another. I don't want to be kicked off the site, so I know I'll behave.
P.S. I will be expanding my site soon. I plan to go around to Cedar Fair parks and actually start reviewing them. Maybe my reviews can help you on the ones you missed.
January 17, 2010 at 09:45
Sound like a great idea! I'm going to make a point to learn about more parks worldwide & the different coaster companies.
January 17, 2010 at 10:02
I'm going to try to start a site! I'll have it on a link soon enough.
January 17, 2010 at 10:28
I tend to travel to parks accompanied by 2 young adults with autism who LOVE to ride anything and everything. A while back, I started to make a book (binder) for them with maps and photos downloaded from the internet of all of the parks, coasters, rides and waterpark features we had experienced. The idea was to have a book they could reference prior to visiting a park in order to remember what was there, so that places like King's Island and King's Dominion wouldn't be confused. I got a little lax about adding parks this year, so my resolution is to get back to work and get things updated before we start to ride again in March. Carowinds, here we come!
January 17, 2010 at 11:38
Remind cutters that they are agreeing to the no cutting rules by buying a ticket! Most maps/tickets say that you can not move through the line to meet with friends or even to use the bathroom! Remind them of this! Also I have seen it enforced at Cedar Point. A man tried meeting up with people and was sheepish enough to duck through people when security was called. We pointed him out though!
January 18, 2010 at 14:56
Roller Coaster Philosophy is pretty good, if you like really in depth reviews. They might be a little too long though. Plus he takes a while to update, which is why you'll always be my favorite CC!
January 19, 2010 at 02:26
Thanks Vince!
January 19, 2010 at 03:18
I added TPS, DOD3, and screamscape to my favorites list.
August 9, 2012 at 22:15
I agree with you 100% on the line cutting topic. I have never line cut and I hate when people come up with that excuse of "Oh, my friend is up there." You wanna know what I said once. I said "Oh you have friends, well thats surprising because I wouldn't think people would be friends with line cutters." I know that was a little rude but it kept them from cutting. Sometimes people just try to push by me and my brother but then we just barricade the queue and block them. One time at Cedar Point a group of people cut us while we weren't paying attention and we noticed and told a ride operator and they took the people out of the park. I was so happy that one park actually enforced their rules. I find that only Cedar Fair Parks do anything about line cutting and they still don't do as much as they should. By the Way: Thanks for all these great updates. It really keeps me on top of all amusement park news.