Stuff that "Triggers You as"/"Makes You Cringe at" an Enthusiast

[Charlesberg]

Being an enthusiast, there are a hell of a lot of "things" that trigger us.

For example, things that trigger me:

• When a ride has assigned seating and they don't let you wait for the front/back (I know it's a policy and it improves throughputs so they have to, but surely if you're willing to wait longer you deserve the front/back).
• People holding up the queue leaving a 10 metre gap and taking 5 minutes to notice.
• Whenever Colossus runs on one train.
• GP friends who have been to Busch Gardens saying that Sheikra goes "inwards" on the drop (the amount of times I hear that, it drives me crazy).
• Anyone generally saying something about a ride which I know for a fact is incorrect (such as "The Swarm is 128ft tall").
• People saying how they were stuck on a roller coaster half-way down the drop.

 

So this topic is a place to post the theme park related things that trigger you.

 

This shall be interesting... 

 

[Josh3103]

When a ride breaks down when I'm at the front of the queue 

[Charlesberg]

38 minutes ago, Josh3103 said:

When a ride breaks down when I'm at the front of the queue 

With that, it's one thing if it's a ride at your home park or at a park your spending more than 1 day at. You know you'll be able to ride it again so it's annoying but not too big a deal.

 

But it is the ultimate trigger, if it is at a park that you'll probably visit about 2 or 3 times in your life. This happened to me when I waited 1hr for Superman The Ultimate Flight at SFGAdv which then closed because of a power outage. They had to manually get people out of their seats on the final brake run. That still annoys me to this day.

 

That's ONE less cred! 

[ThemeParkCrafter]

People saying incorrect information like calling an inverted loop a loop de loop or what I heard today "Alton Towers has only 1 good coaster"

[JoshC.]

Enthusiasts acting self-entitled and thinking they're better than other people 'because they're enthusiasts'.

[Kerfuffle]

Witnessing an enthusiast overhyping Olympia Looping as the most insane ride they've ever been on.

 

Saying that, I think a thread entitled "Stuff That Makes You Cringe At An Enthusiast" is an option.

[Charlesberg]

22 minutes ago, Kerfuffle said:

Saying that, I think a thread entitled "Stuff That Makes You Cringe At An Enthusiast" is an option.

Done and done! 

 

I think the amount of people that have probably cringed at me in some shape or form is alarming 

[Benin]

1 hour ago, BaronC. said:

Enthusiasts acting self-entitled and thinking they're better than other people 'because they're enthusiasts'.

 

I AM better though

 

I get what you mean though, watching a rather well known goon kick off because they weren't able to get on the first public ride of mraws and it was embarrassing for EVERYONE...

 

Tell you what REALLY annoys me, is POVs which involve lots of inane shouting from the person filming it... We KNOW it's a loop you ejit...

[ThemeParkCrafter]

2 words... Fastrack users

[Han30]

When people are adamant about something and you try to explain - if it's someone's opinion fair enough but when people come out with random "facts" that are completely made up it really creams my corn 

 

People filming themselves on rides - yes filming isn't allowed unless you have permission etc etc but I like looking a POVs - not some idiot screeching their way through a coaster - I wanna see the track layout not someone's face.

 

VIP pass holders who proudly display the fact that they are VIP with their exclusive lanyard and have a smug aura about them.  Yes you've paid a stupid amount of money for your pass but you are no better than anyone else.  Just to add I'm sure not all VIPs are like this but some seem to think they are above everyone else 

 

 

[ThemeParkCrafter]

MAP holders who think they own the park

[Josh3103]

Queue Jumpers

[Gallium33]

• People who look at you like you have three heads when you're sick. They shouldn't be acting surprised when that happens.
• People who don't like fastrack. People pay their money to skip a queue. A very good deal to me. Nothing wrong with it. However, I hate time slots for fastrack. For example: "You can only use FT for Roller Coaster 1 between 10:00 and 10:30". I don't know why that exists.
• People who complain about or judge rides they haven't even been on yet. A good example is when a ride is announced. For example: "NEW RIDE FOR 2017: 'THE SCREAMER'!" "This is a terrible addition!"
• Die-hard enthusiasts who criticise people for making the tiniest mistake. For example: "Stealth is 200ft tall" "No, it's 205ft tall". WHY?! You can tell someone if they get stats stupidly wrong but if they're barely off the correct answer, correcting them makes you obnoxious.
• People who get angry at the park because they wait an hour and then realise they can't fit into the seats. U S E. T H E. T E S T. S E A T.
• People who complain about long queues. THIS IS A THEME PARK. YOU SHOULD BE EXPECTING THIS.

[Charlesberg]

With regards to cringing at an enthusiast:

 

Whenever anyone uses the term "thrill seeker". 

[ThemeParkCrafter]

Legoland and chessington are for young children, not you. Really annoys me when people say things like that

[yeah]

19 hours ago, Benin said:

 

Tell you what REALLY annoys me, is POVs which involve lots of inane shouting from the person filming it... We KNOW it's a loop you ejit

Looking at you Alvey.

[ThemeParkCrafter]

When people say Darren Brown, not Derren Brown

[Stuntman707]

• When people think they're being a smart arse by narrating what's about to happen on the ride.
• People who heckle / won't shut up during pre-shows.
• People who cause a ride to E-stop.
• Also when a parent forces a child onto a ride they don't want to do and they scream and cry the whole time, ruining the ride you've just waited an hour to get on.
• Parents using X like a crèche. (Sat around outside with pushchairs while the kids run riot)
• People who are watching the Smiler that know nothing about block sections or how rollercoasters work who say things aloud like: "There's more than one train on the track, you think they would stop doing that!", "There's three trains going around! what are they thinking?" etc. - (It surprised me how frequently this happened)
• Enthusiasts who constatnly hate on Merlin for everything, even on the good things they're doing critising imporvements etc. (The Towers Street forum is terrible at doing this). If you don't like anything Merlin does, stop going to their parks!
• People who think the Hex madhouse goes upside down. I don't know why to be honest, got no bother with people not knowing, I just get annoyed.
• People who call Nemesis Inferno just 'Nemesis'. Only Inferno or Nemesis Inferno are acceptable. Unfortunately sharing the same name as my favourite ride, I will only ever see Inferno as the inferior ride.
• Possibly the worst are people who say Inferno is better than Nemesis.
• People who think the burnt tree stumps on Rumba Rapids looks great (Ok, I made that one up! )

 

• As a twist, something that makes me smile is watching people queuing for more than half an hour to buy Fast-tracks!

 

[Han30]

12 hours ago, Stuntman707 said:

• When people think they're being a smart arse by narrating what's about to happen on the ride.
• People who heckle / won't shut up during pre-shows.
• People who cause a ride to E-stop.
• Also when a parent forces a child onto a ride they don't want to do and they scream and cry the whole time, ruining the ride you've just waited an hour to get on.
• Parents using X like a crèche. (Sat around outside with pushchairs while the kids run riot)
• People who are watching the Smiler that know nothing about block sections or how rollercoasters work who say things aloud like: "There's more than one train on the track, you think they would stop doing that!", "There's three trains going around! what are they thinking?" etc. - (It surprised me how frequently this happened)
• Enthusiasts who constatnly hate on Merlin for everything, even on the good things they're doing critising imporvements etc. (The Towers Street forum is terrible at doing this). If you don't like anything Merlin does, stop going to their parks!
• People who think the Hex madhouse goes upside down. I don't know why to be honest, got no bother with people not knowing, I just get annoyed.
• People who call Nemesis Inferno just 'Nemesis'. Only Inferno or Nemesis Inferno are acceptable. Unfortunately sharing the same name as my favourite ride, I will only ever see Inferno as the inferior ride.
• Possibly the worst are people who say Inferno is better than Nemesis.
• People who think the burnt tree stumps on Rumba Rapids looks great (Ok, I made that one up! )

 

• As a twist, something that makes me smile is watching people queuing for more than half an hour to buy Fast-tracks!

 

 

Pretty much agree with all of the points you made.  Just reminded me of another -

people who swear blind that Nemesis Inferno is actually Nemesis from AT

 

And I absolutely hate parents forcing their kids onto rides - once saw a fairly young boy crying his eyes out on Saw just before his train left the station - you could tell he was bricking it but the parents couldn't have given less of a damn if they tried

[TarinMaria]

• Die-hard enthusiasts who criticise people for making the tiniest mistake. For example: "Stealth is 200ft tall" "No, it's 205ft tall". WHY?! You can tell someone if they get stats stupidly wrong but if they're barely off the correct answer, correcting them makes you obnoxious.

Actually, according to RCDB it's 205.1 feet [emoji6]
The only thing that really angers me as an enthusiast is telling non-enthusiasts what I do for fun to be told that my hobby is 'childish' or 'pathetic'... always comes from middle aged people, who collect things like glass or plates - oh the irony!

[Gallium33]

Got a few more...

 

• People comparing rides to other rides just because they have similar names. If someone compares Nemesis to Nemesis Inferno, it is extremely unfair because Nemesis is far superior in every way.
• Forced seating placement. I never really understood this. "Can I sit at the back?" "No, you need to sit in the middle". Why?
• When a park doesn't announce a ride's closure. A park should say it is closing X ride at least a couple of months before it does. One of the worst things about parks is announcing a closure 2 weeks before the off season, announcing it during the off season, or not bothering to say anything at all.
• Parks that temporarily close a ride for more than a year. Looking at you, Logger's Leap. A refurbishment should not take more than a year to do.

[Matt 236]

16 hours ago, Pinecone33 said:

Got a few more...

 

• People comparing rides to other rides just because they have similar names. If someone compares Nemesis to Nemesis Inferno, it is extremely unfair because Nemesis is far superior in every way.

Unfortunately people will always compare ride X to ride Y, it's just what happens. Even ride X is considerably better than ride Y, there are still positives on the latter and aspects that may even surpass ride X in som extents. 

 

For example, Nemesis has an impressive layout, interaction points and fresh paint. Whilst Inferno has a sublime pre-lift section with lights and mist amongst some tight inversions. It's also improved considerably as s coaster in the last few years.

 

I think attraction comparisons are eligible if they are of a similar type attraction. For example comparing Baron 1898 to Krake would most likely be an adequate comparison because they are both dive coasters of the same manufacturer and have strong positives as rides. But if I were to compare Red Force to Heidi The Ride, it wouldn't be.

16 hours ago, Pinecone33 said:

 

• Forced seating placement. I never really understood this. "Can I sit at the back?" "No, you need to sit in the middle". Why?

This will depend on ride busyness. If the ride has little to no queue then guests have the right to sit where they like (within reason), however if it's busy like there's a 30 minute plus queue this may not be possible as at the end of the day staff will want to load ride vehicles in the quickest and safest manner. 

16 hours ago, Pinecone33 said:

 

• When a park doesn't announce a ride's closure. A park should say it is closing X ride at least a couple of months before it does. One of the worst things about parks is announcing a closure 2 weeks before the off season, announcing it during the off season, or not bothering to say anything at all.

 

Unfortunately this isn't always avoidable, especially if certain rides and attractions may require more maintenance to ensure it can operate properly for the following season and could be for a number of reasons. 

16 hours ago, Pinecone33 said:

 

• Parks that temporarily close a ride for more than a year. Looking at you, Logger's Leap. A refurbishment should not take more than a year to do.

Again, unfortunately attractions can suddenly encounter major maintenance issues and other problems that result in the attraction not being able to operate and resources for the required fix may not always be there. It's not exclusive to Merlin either as park's like DLRP, Drayton Manor and others.

 

Back on topic, I'll add to this list:

 

• Guests who complain for the sake of complaining and treat staff like dirt
• Guests who can't remain seated and stand on fences
• Guests who smoke in queue lines 

[Han30]

On 7 April 2017 at 9:39 PM, TarinMaria said:

 

Actually, according to RCDB it's 205.1 feet
The only thing that really angers me as an enthusiast is telling non-enthusiasts what I do for fun to be told that my hobby is 'childish' or 'pathetic'... always comes from middle aged people, who collect things like glass or plates - oh the irony!

 

 

Oh I totally get where you are coming from regarding people's responses to your hobby!  I've had all sorts of responses but at the end of the day theme parks are something I enjoy - I just don't understand why people have to be so rude some times.

 

As for smoking in queue lines - this is one that annoys me immensely (and I speak as a smoker) - if you can't hold off from having a ciggie while you're in a queue then simple solution is DONT join the sodding queue - firstly it's not permitted and secondly people don't want second hand smoke wafting in their faces.  A couple of years ago I was walking through the queue line for Colossus and the queue was only just outside the station - but the 2 idiots in front of me decided it would be a perfect time to spark up - right next to a no smoking sign - and when a member of staff walked past and asked them to put their cigarette out they just carried on 

[Martin Doyle]

Going to go for a pretty obvious one, Queue jumping!! and In perticular the clowns that cut past you because "we have friends further ahead" well kindly get them to come back down the queue then if you really want to ride together you bunch of absolute muppets!!  

[Mattgwise]

People that add "The" to the front of ride names when it isn't part of the name. "The Colossus is wicked". "Let's go on The Nemesis".