CoasterMania 2015

I only heard complaining once. I was there 6am to 3:30pm then 7pm to midnight.

Guess I was lucky.

I had a group behind me in line for the 11 A.M. lunch that "hoped they weren't having survival kits (2014 souvenir packages) again this year" and caught a glimpse of the drawstring bags as they walked in and groaned that they didn't look like they had much in them and that they "only wanted jackets or hoodies". Another group near me while I was eating didn't like the hot dogs and brought up how good sushi would have been instead. I also routinely see people taking handfuls of cookies and chips and stuffing the drawstring bags with them... that's almost a given at these events it seems like. One group of young boys at the Coaster Campout lunch last year had a pile of probably 50 cookies they had taken and were laughing about it... until a foods manager happened to notice and promptly scolded them and ended their lunch early. It's sad to see the nerve of some enthusiasts.

That's really depressing that there are people that selfish.

Thabto said:
What do they usually serve for lunch? I thought the lunch was great. It was hot dogs, boneless chicken wings, macaroni and cheese, macaroni salad, chips, and cookies. I really filled up on the lunch.

Traditional CoasterMania lunch from when they started doing lunch was hot dogs, possibly bratwurst, hamburger, fried chicken, baked beans, possibly mac 'n cheese, and in some years, Potato Salad Surprise (the surprise being a stray mufflehead or two). In other years, the surprise was "Surprise, no potato salad!".

Last year, though, they really went overboard. I can't even remember what all they had, but it was an expanded selection with some interesting high-end items that I thought were specialties in one of the restaurants or something, but that turned out not to be the case. It was just the catering staff showing off for the CoasterManiacs.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Is anyone going to put their puzzle together? I want to, but it could be a collectors item and I don't want to ruin the value. I even thought of putting it together, putting it in a frame and hanging it up on my wall.

Had blast yet again this year. The check in was brutal. We were in line at 6:15 and didn't get into the park till 7:30. MANY people didn't know about preregistration and were let in anyway. Several weren't on the approved club lost either and were let in. With the Breakers power outage that morning and long lines, I'm sure they were letting people in just so there wasn't a PR nightmare!

Those were some big issues holding up lines along with some people not knowing their alphabet! One woman was crying on guest services because she and her husband have different last names and they got separated. Suck it up buttercup!

My family and I openly discussed the highs and lows of this year but their was no complaining. My 8 year old mentioned a number of times that Gemini wasn't on night ERT this year. Some might have took that as complaining but come on, she's 8!

Also, we were ones putting a bag of chips and 2 cookies in our backpacks. We took one each with our lunch but couldn't eat them! I did see people taking 4 and 5 donuts as they walked in though

There should be a limit next year! I really wanted a donut! Next year, maybe post a sign of 1-2 donuts per person. That's just being greedy right there.

Don't forget that "per person" doesn't always mean "per person standing in line".

I missed lunch, but thanks to someone who knew I was having car trouble, I got a cookie. 8-)

Now that isn't really what I was talking about, but not everyone who grabs more than one is being a glutton. Sometimes he's just feeding a family of four, three of whom are not waiting in line. Not so likely for the main food line, but very common when someone is going back for cookies or something like that.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

RideMan said:

Last year, though, they really went overboard. I can't even remember what all they had, but it was an expanded selection with some interesting high-end items that I thought were specialties in one of the restaurants or something, but that turned out not to be the case. It was just the catering staff showing off for the CoasterManiacs.

I think this is were a lot of the "complaints" are coming from. Previous CoasterMania events have featured more elaborate offerings with special foods, guest speakers, photo contests, etc., so when this year's event consisted of a relatively basic lunch without any of the extra events of the past long-time attendees noticed the difference. Again, as many have said, it is extremely nice of the park to put on this FREE event for enthusiasts but it shouldn't be too surprising that some felt this year's event came up short in comparison to previous ones.

I would be more than willing to pay for an event that included offerings more like those in the past. Coaster Stock at Kings Island this year was a lot of fun and actually felt a lot like the earlier CoasterMania events in terms of the smaller group and more involved event schedule. Perhaps charging for CoasterMania would improve things all around.

The only real complaint I have was the registration. It was a fiasco however they realized it. And I'm certain it will get better.

It is a free event and we should be thankful that CP does such a nice thing for us. Were spoiled. If we bitch too much they may take it away.

So be thankful for what they did for us and let's look forward to next years!!

Ride on!!!

I don't understand how people didn't know about the preregistration. Have they not used the Internet?

No clue how they didn't know. One guy I met at Maverick ERT Saturday morning said he showed up, unregistered, and his club was no longer one recognized. He got in for Coastermania. THAT is a huge issue and I think it happened with many people.

I deal with people every day at work who "used" the Internet.

Yesterday's winner: the woman who ordered her tickets online -- where you have to either click on a specific date from a list or use a calendar to choose the date -- and just could not understand how she got tickets for 7 November when she was sure she ordered tickets for 6 June.*

I'm not surprised that people showed up unaware of preregistration. They were probably sure they'd read every last word about the event, too.

*Although the woman who wanted to know where to find the whale hall was came in a close second. (We eventually figured out she was looking for will call.)

See, it puts the park in a tough spot. How many dozens (hundreds?) of people to they need (want?) standing at the gate at 6A screaming (throwing huge crying fits?) because they can't get in? So they probably reckoned they'd just let the dummasses pass and try to make it crystal clear for future events.
And maybe this is what made them have to pass out ball caps when all the cool stuff was gone. And why there wasn't enough doughnuts. (Rule of thumb: Always order enough doughnuts for everybody. Then if enthusiasts are invited double that amount)

So then what? Keep the count on target by wristbanding the folks who knew to join a club and pre-register then refusing swag, breakfast, and lunch to those that didn't? That would work, but ugh.

Those who did not preregister should have been given lunch times of 1-2. That way those who followed the rules would have had gifts and more to eat. Also those who did not have a photo ID or a valid coaster club card should have been given the 1-2 meals times.

I thought the rule was one guest per member. The party ahead of me handed one membership card and one ID to the cashier and said there were six in his party. He got six lanyards and six meal tickets, no questions asked. No wonder they ran out of stuff.

I won't even complain that I didn't get a donut, and this was 7:45. But I will complain about the pigs that took more than their share.

Once in the park I have no complaints. Cedar Point deserves a big THANK YOU for going out of their way to make this a special day.

It always looks great when people complain about free events as Cedar Point doesn't have to do any of this. If I were in charge, and people complained to me that they didn't get enough free stuff, or that they lost out on 22 minutes of ERT that they didn't have to get in the first place, I'd just ban them from ever coming again.

Perhaps that is why I don't work in PR... but regardless of that, people need to be thankful the park gave you any of this in the first place.

I didn't attend, but from what I've read here, most everyone does appreciate that the park did this for enthusiasts. The issue seems to be that a number of people "crashed the party" by showing up without following the guidelines set forth by the park and the park decided to accommodate them rather than turn them away.

As I think RCMAC mentioned back a ways, there's no great solution. Only allow in those who preregistered and the unregistered go away angry, venting on social media. Let in the unregistered and the preregistered feel slighted and go away irked, venting on social media.

Ah, clearly social media is the problem here. :-)

Just spitballing now: maybe by the time the park realized there was a problem with unregistered guests gaining access it was too late in the process to effectively manage the situation?

Shawn Meyer said:

I really wanted a donut! Next year, maybe post a sign of 1-2 donuts per person.

I'll buy you a donut.

This was my 1st CoasterMania and I brought along 3 friends who got club cards prior. We were all happy with everything that we got. It started with Free Breakfast at Starbucks, complete with donuts/Danish/coffee/orange juice! Most missed it cause they ran the back way to gatekeeper! Great suprise!! Lots of rides on Millie/ Rougarou before park opened! Lunch was at 11 cause we registered in early got in by 7:15!! Got a Coastermania bag, hat, keychain, puzzle! My friend won a Mantis Sign alternate access!! Went to soak city left around 3:3O to take a nap/dinner. Came back at 9 to ride more and do ERT for the evening so we just lapped millennium 15 times before/after ERT with 10 min waits! Then at 11:30 headed to Maverick did 6 great rides! Everyone agreed CoasterMania Rocked for Us!! No complaints here!! Thanks to the CP staff, Jason McClure, Kristy, and Tony Clark for welcoming us in the plaza when we walked in!!

I think it's fair to say that most people were generally grateful for the free event, but there was definitely a small but very vocal minority who were into extreme complaining. This entitlement crap is getting out of control, even if it is a relatively small number of enthusiasses. It's not just this event, but many of them. I heard some friends at Holiday World's even overhear someone complaining at guest services about how much trim braking Voyage was doing, and said that the park didn't know how to maintain their rides. Yeah, that happened.

So next time you see your friendly neighborhood marketing people at the park where you attend an event, thank them. They deserve to hear it for all of the crap they typically endure.