Could Steel Vengeance have a media event?

coast said:

And if enough of us “meaningless” enthusiasts ban together and expect to be treated well as their biggest fans, we will win all sorts of perks.

This is exactly the problem. You're expecting to be invited to something that you shouldn't. But for some reason you want to round up the villagers and storm the park with pitchforks & torches. Let me know how that goes for you.

coast said:

We deserve to be invited as well given our passion for the park. Plus, it is indeed good business for them. Why offend your biggest fans?

Again, you shouldn't be offended. At all. It's a day intended for the media to ride the roller coaster, and show it on their outlets. It's a big benefit for the park. Inviting hundreds of foamy-mouthed enthusiasts doesn't benefit the park much. And there's already several things the park already does for enthusiasts. Coastermania being a prime example. But that's still not enough, apparently. If you want to ride it early, shell out some money for the auction. Otherwise, as the park's biggest fans, I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities to ride it this year.

And, as the "parks biggest fans", you shouldn't have any problem shelling out money for the first riders auction. Put your money where your mouth is.

Naw, these are the guys that sneak in snacks and expect everything to be free. I wouldn’t want fans like those.

I think you guys are entertaining a troll. I just really hope enthusiasts don’t expect things like that. However, I have worked Millennium Force for a whole season before, and the amount of entitlement from a specific group makes me second guess myself.

Those kinds of attitudes are not exclusive to coaster enthusiasts, a small but vocal minority like that can be found everywhere. We see them a lot in radio, they win an opportunity for a meet and greet with an artist and becuase they don’t get an autograph or photo are disappointed and expect you to make it up to them with some free stuff. They win a fly away to see a concert with a hotel stay and then are upset they had to pay their mini-bar bill themselves. The vast majority of people are polite and gracious, the few that are not can make your day miserable.

XS NightClub said:

coast said:
Enthusiasts will be invited to media day, 100% guaranteed. The likes of Adam, Jeff, Walt, etc. so why not us? - You are not Media

Why not the other enthusiasts who aren’t close friends of Tony? - You are not Media

We deserve to be invited as well given our passion for the park. - How so? You are not Media

Plus, it is indeed good business for them. - See Above

Why offend your biggest fans? - You are not Media

Have you tried clicking your heels together three times?

He did, but when he woke woke up it was all a dream. Maybe the customer powers will work?

It just seems that from what I've heard, enthusiasts had more privileges and influence in the past across the industry, and the reason I'm so forceful about my opinions sometimes is because I don't want that downward slide away from enthusiast/passholder events to continue.

(On a similar note, recall how that "enthusiast morality" article compares how enthusiasts were involved with the preservation of coasters in the 70s-90s and how they were treated when they tried to save Dipper and you'll see what I mean, how enthusiasts have been reduced from having some influence to having little influence in the industry in the name of business.)

I do think Coast is a bit harsh, some of his points make sense, but he goes slightly overboard sometimes

Things have changed for parks. Back in the day the parks used enthusiasts to assist with marketing themselves or their new rides. The parks now use social media to assist with promotion and reach a wider audience.

Things change, we have to manage change from the old situation to the current environment.

I don't think enthusiasts ever had that much influence, it was all fake news.

^Is that a joke?

I do think some enthusiasts were involved with the Giant Dipper (SAN Diego) in the 70s.

Either way, it doesn't excuse the active hostility towards those enthusiasts who wanted to try to save Big Dipper (even if the plans were quite rudimentary)... there was a concerted effort to sabotage them. And it was a quite obvious show of "online enthusiast morality" being used against enthusiasts who wanted to make a difference or be outspoken rather than just blend in.

You keep saying "online enthusiast morality" but what exactly is that...where do you get that from?

A link GigaG posted a few pages back. I can’t seem to link to the post but here is the link to the essay.

http://www.rollercoasterphilosophy.com/2011/geauga-lake/

^That's it! The section of interest is "On the Genealogy of Online Enthusiast Morals."

GigaG said:

It just seems that from what I've heard, enthusiasts had more privileges and influence in the past across the industry...

Maybe influence when parks starting realizing they had a fanbase but I don't think I would say the same for privileges. My early years of owning season passes didn't get me anything other then admission for the length of the season. Nobody got discounts, ride nights, early entry, or anything like that. If you were a true enthusiast and were in a club (not many to pick from back in the day) you might have been lucky that your local park had one event each year otherwise you'd have to fly to a large park that hosted an ACE event. Perks for clubs and season pass holders have definitely improved over the years across all parks but I do believe at times the parks take notice how enthusiasts treat those perks.

I'm still in shock that I was not invited to the early press screenings of The Last Jedi. I've been a huge fan of Star Wars my whole life! We were even "born" in the same year. Why do they treat me like this? After all I have done for them, and all I could do.

J.J., remember me when Episode 9 comes out...

I'm your number one fan....

Your number one fan...

Such a great movie!

RCMAC said:

Naw, these are the guys that sneak in snacks and expect everything to be free. I wouldn’t want fans like those.

Full Disclosure....My family happens to be long time Happy Pointer People, ...to be honest, I have been known to 'sneak in snacks' on occasion. Generally only when we have a little one with us. I'm not meaning a full meal, just Gummy Bears or Gold Fish Crackers, something to hold a five year old until lunch time.

But, I don't ever expect anything for free :)

Oh my. I’ve eaten at the employee cafeteria and employee stockade before. It’s surprisingly simple when they don’t check employee IDs.

So when you don't get free food at media day you make up for it by getting discount food in employee only areas? Even if they don't check for an employee id, how do you justify that this is ok? You don't respect the park yet you still feel entitled to a media day invite?

I am all out of troll food for the week.