CoasterMania 2015

Jeff said:

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.

I totally agree with you. Kristy was so nice and amazing today. It was nice meeting you as well, Jeff.

As I said before, I have a great appreciation to CP for throwing Coastermania free of charge.

That does not, however, let them off the hook for the ridiculousness that was Soak City today. Many, many attractions closed despite no mechanical issue and decent crowd levels. There were many, many more things open yesterday (Sat) when the temps were really ,really cold.

And I'll go on record to say that I wish CP would charge for Coastermania. No amount is too much, I think $75-100 would certainly be appropriate and would weed out the loser, entitlement people. You know who you are, guys with white socks pulled up to your knees, bitching about the reduced ERT or poor food selection.

By the way, how do you reach a point where you know/understand exactly when Coastermania dates and check-in are, but NOT understand that pre-registration was required? The stupidity that was on display Friday morning was simply hard to believe. Almost as hard to believe as the DB's who repeatedly cut in front of us during check-in. I would have had some choice words, if not for my 8 and 10 year old kids, for whom I needed to set a good example.

When they read exactly when the Coastermaina dates and check-ins are, and then stop reading.

I'm perfectly happy calling Coastermania 2015 my last enthusiast event. Apologies to the normal folks among you (there must be some) but I struggle to tolerate the bulk of coaster enthusiasts, and hate even more to think that I might be viewed as "one of those", simply for the embarrassing behavior that I'd be associated with.

Shawn Meyer said:
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.

I wasn't there, but I heard from someone who was that people were taking a pile of doughnuts instead of the 1 or 2 that would be appropriate. Very selfish and rude behavior.

I think charging for Coastermania could be both good and bad. Good because it would help weed out some of the bad apples. Bad because it may price out some of the good enthusiasts. I think anyone who exhibits that kind of behavior should be ejected from the event, banned from attending any future events and possibly get their club membership revoked. I had no issues whatsoever with Coastermania except for the check-in process. I expected lunch to be crap, but it was actually very good and better than expected.

I've never been to Coastermania but frankly I'm stunned that they don't charge a registration fee for this type of event.

Hey Thabto I seen you in line today at MF earlier in the day, was like about 10 people behind you. Good call on the weather turned out to be a good day. I had my doubts.

Cool! I've been recognized by some of you here on Friday and today you did. But yes, it turned out to be a good day, except for the little bit of drizzle that happened around 7PM which unfortunately cancelled the AWE show that I was waiting to see.

It's going to be a double edged sword no matter what. If you make it an extra charge event (something I'm all for) you will have pros and cons. With the announcement of the return of the boats, the film festival (YAY!!!) photo contest, and Q&A, 2016 CoasterMania is going to be just massive. I have massive confidence that the park is going to go to great lengths to help prevent mass confusion. Sadly, they could put every counter measure out to prevent bad things from happening and it could still turn out badly. That's just a sad reality.

Now as for this year, there were a lot of things that caught them off guard. Unfortunately, it happens and there was no real quick fix that would have made everyone happy. Being the incredibly patient person that I am, I didn't give one iota about the messy registration. The bulk of the INSANE attendance showed up at the same time and just flooded the windows. The real debacle, as previously stated, were the people who didn't quite grasp the pre-registration deal (and membership requirements) and those who were buying their tickets right then and there (not the main problem but one that definitely slowed down the process). There's no doubt they took that morning into consideration for next year. Especially since Tony said so.

As for the entitlement that was going on, I personally didn't hear or see much. But I did hear some nasty stories that really struck a nerve. Last year was, bar none, the most spectacular CoasterMania ever and I might have been the only person feeling bad to have been taking part in it. Because, just like the media days for Gatekeeper and Banshee, the entitlement and complaining that was going on last year at CM (as well as for the Halloween event) was so frustrating. ESPECIALLY with all the amazing things they did for us. My frustration was soo deep, that it was then and there that I really had to stop and think about just how I want to define myself amongst the people I call "fellow enthusiasts".
The saying goes "A few bad apples spoil the bunch" and that couldn't be more true with these events. It happened with the media events and it's going to start showing up in the enthusiast events. Bad things happen and there will be some poor choices made......that's an almost given. But don't use that as a spring board to complain about, what was, perfectly fine food and free items. None of this was forced on you.......WHY are you complaining?!

One concerning note I do have to add though and not sure if I should state it here or under another topic but while riding CCMR Sunday my uncle and his girlfriend rode in the last cart of the train and after the first lift all the lap bars on the last cart popped open and the whole last car was freaking out! Thank god they had seat belts. Pulled back into the station and told the operater and he looked like he didn't even know what to do about. As I was walking down the ramp he was letting people board into that same car!!! I'm like what the heck!!!????. Has anyone seen this happen before? I was shocked!

When I was there today, the entire last car of CCMR was chained off.

Ok good to know, they must of had them get in another car. Not gonna lie it was kinda terrifying cause I've never seen restraints pop open like that while riding before, I wonder what cause that to happen.....?

They should just bring back Millennium Mania. :)

This was my first CoasterMania event so I don't have anything to compare it to but I had a great time and I thought it was a great day. I had no problem with lunch as was what I was expecting for such a large group. Anytime you bring that many people together, you will always have some bad apples in the group.

The only issue was the check it process which Tony said needed work. Thats where I saw the worst of people. Lots of line cutting. It really get me when I see parents line cutting with their kids. Now thats a great role model for sure.

Registration was slow because of several reasons, some the parks fault but mostly because of people not being prepared to check in. Like many have said, how do you not know pre-registration was required and you needed a photo id to check in? What also slowed the check in process was people buying their entry tickets and drink wristbands. Not sure if they can separate this next year.

Last year check in was at a table to the right of the ticket booths. To buy tickets or drink wristbands, you went to the ticket booth and showed your lanyard to get the discounts.

Next year I hope they enforce the preregistration requirement. And no photo ID, then no admission. Some people have to learn the hard way.

I really hope they go for allowing people to pick up their credentials the day before like they do for races. That would be huge!

I think if they would send out the credentials prior to the even that would be huge. Even if that meant charging a fee for the event. Would get rid of the hassle in the morning. That was my only complaint, but again, a free event kind of hard to complain. Just being a huge coaster nut that I am and knowing how precious ERT is on rides such as Millennium, I was biting at the bit to get in there!!

Millennium Force to me is like a fine wine, it;s getting better with age! And I keep wanting more and having it all to ourselves in the morning was awesome!

Can't wait till next years event. Lakeside pavilion was really nice. Hotel Breakers was really nice as well. They have done such a nice job keeping up with the park up there. We really don't realize how spoiled we are to have a class park like CP right in our back yards.

I'm sure registration will be better next year, they realized the issue, unlike some that would "sweep it under the rug" they acknowledged it and I'm certain they will do whatever it takes to correct it or try to improve it next year.

Till next time, Ride On!!

My brother and I attended CoasterMania for the first time this year. Our only "complaint" has to do with the registration process. We arrived at 6:25am thinking that by then most people would already be checked in an the lines would be a little shorter. That wasn't the case. When we finally made it up the front of the line at 7:30am (which took some slick maneuvering since it was hard to see which line(s) really went to which window) we should our GOCC cards and photo ids and realized at this point they weren't even checking our names off of a list or anything, just keeping track of how many lanyards were being handed out. So, I wouldn't be surprised if there were way more people at CoasterMania than had actually pre-registered for the event.

We had a GREAT time and loved the swag we got. We also thought the lunch (we had 12-1) was GREAT and loved the free beverages. We enjoyed the early ERT - got 2 rides on Gatekeeper, 2 on Rougeau and then we headed to Maverick and snagged 2 rides before the park opened at 10, and then just hit random rides throughout the rest of the day.