Rude Enthusiasts

t2fastspin said:
If my math is correct, I believe the Ride Count is equivalent to Reddit Gold, which is equivalent to Schrute Bucks.

However, I am unsure of the conversion rate of Schrute Bucks to Stanley Nickels.

Yes yes yes, that's all dandy. But what is the conversion in bitcoin??

Also, I'm ashamed to admit that I almost down the path of Super Enthusiast with my early obsession with Dragster. I had conversations with a few of them that really made me rethink what my young mind thought was considered "being cool". So, after being exposed to some of the worst of the worst that flock to Cedar Point, I decided to just be a normal, everyday A-hole.

I have witnessed A LOT of entitlement mindset from enthusiasts. Especially when I worked at Millennium Force. There was a specific group that comes to mind in which I did not enjoy them coming up the exit expecting us employees to just let them on. It doesn't work that way, and they should know better.

Some times it just blows my mind how someone significantly older just can't accept rules and always thinks something is owed to them. But that's life I guess.

I haven't had any firsthand experience with overly-entitled coaster enthusiasts, but I've heard much about them and their deplorable behavior. It's because of them that I usually find the GP—as ignorant as they can be—to be much more agreeable than enthusiasts.

I've noticed that to a large extent, having special events that charge an extra fee has kept many of the "problem" enthusiasts away. Ride Warriors Club morning ERT events are always incident-free and CoasterMania these last few years has been as well. The extra cost seems to keep the "entitled" crowd from showing up in a way that Platinum Pass ride nights don't.

I remember a situation on magnum where the people in front of me arranged with the group of three next to us to allow one of their people to ride in our row ahead of us. No big deal if you're the only ones in the lane but I wasn't having any of that nonsense. Not all involved were enthusiasts but the group of three was trying to dictate the lines, as someone had stated earlier. I dont mind waiting in lines but when my wait gets longer because (bad words) people want to have the run of the place: no.

I've had the "dictating the lines" issue on TTD before on some nights when the park was dead. Some of the "problem" enthusiasts (some not surprisingly, pictured above, in line for TTD) were trying to get the train to roll back. So one of them would stand at the station entrance until the next cycle and tell everyone coming in to sit in the back half of the train. It was dead enough to the point that the front row had no wait, and there was no way they would stop me from taking the front row. Sure enough, they whined at me when I didn't play along, and again at unload when the train didn't even come close to a roll back, as if my hundred-sixty pound self was the deciding factor on a 10,000 pound train. If only they were so dedicated to personal hygiene.

Top_Thrill_Tyler said:

I've noticed that to a large extent, having special events that charge an extra fee has kept many of the "problem" enthusiasts away. Ride Warriors Club morning ERT events are always incident-free and CoasterMania these last few years has been as well. The extra cost seems to keep the "entitled" crowd from showing up in a way that Platinum Pass ride nights don't.

That is a good way to do it. But does the extra fee make they ticket holder feel entitled? Just wondering?

Wow...I'm glad I don't hang around that bunch. The one kid creeps me out, in a Steve Buschemi way but worse. My gf at the time got creepy crawlies the one time he was in line next to us, and I don't blame her lol.

I can't believe that Rollback story though..just wow. Like Rollbacks are sweet and it's pretty fun to get one and get two launches back to back, don't get me wrong. However trying to force a rollback which probably 99% of the time isn't going to work unless you get a Football team's defense line in the back half of the train, which honestly I'm sure the launch system is more than capable to compensate for.

However, to try and even attempt it is the issue here. Not only does it take awhile to get the train back to the transfer table to redo the launch, now you make the ops jog trains & reshuffle everything because you wanted a rollback if it actually happens. Getting one because it just happened, sure, **** happens. Towards the end of the night though, you're just going to make every kids' day longer now that has to close the ride.

Yeah, I've witnessed some crazy rude behavior from that group. You'd think that since they've been on those coasters thousands of times, they wouldn't care too much if they didn't get that "one more ride." Or maybe I'm just not a true enthusiast. :)

I've never had a problem with Dave or Ralph (right most in the pic) in three years of working at the park. They played by the rules, walked around each time, didn't look for favors, etc. Heck, we even invited them to come to Chet and Matts with our crew after park closing one time. Kenny used to be obnoxious to listen to, but I honestly don't know him, CoasterBob, or the last guy enough to pass any judgement. I have witnessed some bad behavior out of others though who shall remain nameless.

This reminds me of what I see in a bar sometimes. A regular gets accustomed to getting his pop for free and then yells at a new bartender that charges him. It's a character flaw that evolves from an entitlement culture. Service will not always be the same. That is not a reason to be rude. In fact, even if you happen to receive really poor service it is still not a good reason to be rude.

t2fastspin said:

If my math is correct, I believe the Ride Count is equivalent to Reddit Gold, which is equivalent to Schrute Bucks.

However, I am unsure of the conversion rate of Schrute Bucks to Stanley Nickels.

I only just began binge watching this show on Netflix this summer - never saw it on first run broadcasts. This post definitely made me laugh out loud!

There was a group during the late ERT at CoasterMania! that were squeezing through gates and pushing past people to get into empty single seats on TTD. One young lady (I use that term loosely) was shouting/talking the whole time in the station or on the train but not really saying anything. Kinda irritating.

Meanwhile at the Maverick ERT, the operator was making Brew&BBQ train jokes all night, it was completely empty and rerides are plentiful. Plus there were no rude enthusiasts, so it was great

I think rushing to get a ride in is OK as long as you aren't trying to physically push around people. I did see one of those (possibly in the group that you mentioned, IDK) almost ran over a Valravn attendant on Valravn ride night while trying to compete for ride numbers. That is just wrong.

The problem with the whole entitlement thing in my opinion is that it turns into anybody that thinks the park should do more for passholders and/or regulars (e.g., the meal plan) is labeled as "entitled" even if their point makes sense. It's why I refrain from posting here more often about me thinking the park should allow re-rides in empty rows like most Six Flags, independent, and some other CF parks. (I'd be glad to talk about that sometime else though... :P)

Finally, one of the reasons there was so much anger at the MF/Rougarou ERT is because the unload platform ride operators kept closing MF's shortcut/handicap entrance gate even as the line got shorter. It happened at least twice, and because MF ERTs with a similar crowd size almost always keep the gate open, people were annoyed. I did see some people arguing with the attendant at the entrance (near the ride sign) and that was excessive - they weren't even trying to be polite in asking about the gate issue and the person at the front entrance has nothing to do with what goes on on the platform!

That's the thing though - it's probably technically against their policies to open the gate, to give re-rides, to turn off the trims, etc. So rather than complaining and being an asshat when you don't get these things all the time, just be grateful on the occasions you do get them (for whatever reason) and if not, just walk around. It won't kill you. I've had re-rides on things this season. I'm not going to brag about when and where because I don't know what the official stance on it is and I don't want to get anyone in trouble. By the same token if they make me walk around the next time I go, you won't hear me complaining either at the park or on here about

I believe "the gate" is allowed. It's been done at every MF ERT ride night I can remember.

The reason CP prohibits rerides unlike most other parks, from what I've heard, is partly to make sure the person isn't unconscious (why they can't just make the person stand up and sit down is beyond me.) Using the gate to reride requires one to be physically able to do so.

When I worked in the Rides department at Cedar Point the explanation for the rule was simply wanting every guest to walk through the turnstile to get that "click" on the counter. Unless its changed most of the rides had the turnstile right before you entered the platform so in order for that to happen you had to exit and enter again. The park wanted this instead of having an Operator walk over to the turnstile every time a train was dispatched to spin the turnstile.

Not saying whether it's condoned or not, but I've seen them handle the "counting" with a hand clicker - the same way they handle special access and parent swaps. It's probably not perfectly accurate, but I'm sure it's pretty close.

Perfect accuracy is impossible with the turnstiles, I myself and many people have spun those turnstiles more than just the one click that's supposed to count you.
I can't see why this would be such a strong case against rerides when it's so easily estimable.