Rude Enthusiasts

I love to get as many rides in as I can on ride nights but couldn't agree more, don't be rude to the employees especially when they are doing us a favor staying late and letting us have some fun.

I do wish however Cedar Point would do what Kings Island does on their ride nights and have it for 2 hours and not just 1. But still is awesome to have this feature.

We went to the Maverick ride night over the weekend. I wish that the image from earlier in the thread was still visible as I'm curious if I met some of the uber-enthusiasts. The man waiting in front of me had a "Ride 4000" shirt on and apparently rode his four thousandth ride on TTD earlier in the day. I know that ride counts have been discounted in this thread.. but sorry, that is impressive in my book.

^I honestly view it as a "I need justification for doing nothing" kind of shirt.

The guy pulled out a bunch of cards with hash marks on them..his way of keeping track. Just couldn't believe how dedicated he was to this venture of his. I mean, I thought I was a little over-devoted when I bought a sweatshirt with my favorite ride on it. Still impressed by the tally, tho.

^I'm very confident I know who that is, and based on how I've seen him treat people at Dragster, I'm not impressed in the least. I'm more cringing, wondering how many people were yelled at or pushed on his journey to that meaningless number.

4,000?! does the guy even work?

The only thing I really have to contribute to this, but I guess it wouldn't be labeled as "rude enthusiasts" more as something I just chuckle at. I always get a laugh out of how it seems everyone that is in line for a ride automatically turns into a ride expert and starts ramblings off "facts" to the group they are with or people they are around

that '4000' person,in high probability,was Ron.

Is that the guy who can't hear? I rode once with him on MF ert this weekend.

We were towards the back and he bolted out of his seat shoving people that were in his way. I found it amusing but also very rude. He's got a motor on him that's for sure.

I don't care for Ron. I was talking with some random guest early one morning while waiting for Dragster to open. The person asked me how many times I've been on the ride and I said "Somewhere around 600, but I've stopped counting." And even before the person could react to what I said, Ron interjected saying "I've been on it over 1200 times this year." I just stood silent for a second and said (not sarcastically) "Well, I would probably have a lot more if I didn't live 2 hours away in Michigan." He followed, in a very condescending tone, with "Yea, well I live in Michigan too and I still make it here everyday."

Again, I stared at him for a second trying to think of how to react the attitude I was getting from him. I simply said "Whatever man", then shrugged him off and changed the subject of the discussion I was having with the group of people I was talking to. It was experiences like that with people like him that made me stop wanting to marathon rides like I use to in my teens and early 20s. I refuse to allow myself to even be remotely associated with those groups.

Yep,Ron,the 'worst' of the 'group'. If/when I'm marathoning,I purposely avoid going in the ride entrance(when he's going in)to avoid being anywhere near him. If he tries to talk to me on the platform,I turn my head away and start a conversation with someone so that he might get the hint that I'm ignoring him.

The 'best' of the 'group' are Ralph and Henry.

Long story... but I had a run-in with Ron last Sunday night. I was on the next to last set of trains on TTD, and when I exited he was standing at the ramp at unload, yelling and waving to get the attention of the ride ops to see if there was an empty seat for him to sneak on the last train. This seems to be kind of a regular thing on TTD that they let a few people come through the exit to fill the last train to prevent a rollback, but this guy was treating it like the last ride of his life. He repeated to every guest exiting that he was in line for the last train, holding the exit gate open ready to sprint to an open seat. Unfortunately for him they told him there were none, and he sulked his way down the ramp. Then, he walks past the station and sees a single empty seat on one of the trains that has yet to launch and starts yelling at the operators on the platform from the midway, throwing a tantrum like a five year old. I walked over to him and told him to grow the hell up and he just kind of started stammering about them not counting the seats right or something, I just turned around and walked away. This must have been right before he went to the Maverick ERT on Sunday. It's very frustrating seeing employees treated like that by these kinds of guests.

That's definitely not the first time he's acted that way. On a few occasions, my friends and I have watched him lose his mind over Dragster trains with empty seats leaving the station. Either the ops don't call for "single riders" or they do and he didn't get there in time. He'll yell and curse at them about their failure to get him in that seat. It's funny and sad, at the same time, to see someone get soooo upset about something so trivial.

Obsessions cause people to do rude things.

So why does CP put up with the crap from this "Ron" guy? I have no idea who you guys are talking about, but I don't see any reason why the park would continue to let this behavior go on, especially the part about verbally abusing their employees. Does he really "shove" other guests out of the way? How has he seriously not got knocked out yet?

Secondly, does anyone here happen to know someone who goes by "Roller Coaster Mike"? Older gentleman, walks with a pretty sweet walking stick? We ran into him on our trip early last month during early entry. He did the same loop we did, Valravn, Millennium Force and Maverick. He was able to get front seat on all of them, and the ride ops were all very very friendly and talkative with him which led me to believe he was an early morning regular here. We had a very short chat with him and he seemed like a really nice guy. Had a shirt on that said "Roller Coaster Mike" on the back and TTD on the front.

After reading the follow-up replies, I know it was Ron. And..I had no idea that was his general behavior.

Ron tried to sneak in front of my girlfriend and I when we were waiting for deadweight at Dragster last year. I put my arm in front of his chest and said "excuse me, but please don't push your way through. We were here first." I'm sure he's a nice guy deep down, but that instance irritated me

I don't know who Ron is either, but he obviously thinks he's above everyone else.

They weren't being rude by any means, but on the ERT night for Magnum this past weekend, there were two people lined up waiting on the side next to the Magnum entrance for the ERT to actually start. It was about 5 min until they cut off the normal line and started the ERT. The thing is though, they could have gotten on the ride twice if they would have just gone in then instead of waiting for ERT to start. I already rode Magnum three times that night and went in ahead of the two people waiting on the side trying to be "the first in line for ERT". Ten minutes after ERT started, the line was near 20 minutes long. Are people really that desperate to wave their season pass around to the point where they will make a longer wait for themselves?

I witnessed the same thing last year on Maverick. I wandered back a little before park close because I hadn't ridden it all day and thought ERT might be my chance to ride without the long lines. Saw maybe 4 or 6 people waiting by the entrance for ERT, and then I look and I can't see anyone on the steps up to the platform.

I walk thru the line queue, up the steps, hop on a train, ride it, get off and back down the steps and they are still waiting for ERT to begin. When it becomes more about saying you got ERT than it is about enjoying the laps you can get on the ride, something is off.

That makes me think of an ACE event years ago at Williams Grove near Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, SBNO since 2005. During ACE's morning ERT, the line was yooooge for the Cyclone.

Once the park opened to the public, there was no line and the ride ops had to wait for enough people to get on the train to safely run it.

For a few minutes, I was annoyed that I had to wait, and then I realized, how often will I get to sit in the front seat of a coaster with my feet up, watching people? I enjoyed myself, and hardly took any notice of the guy hammering nails into the structure as the train was going up the lift hill :-)

I've never had an experience with Ron, but I have worked in customer service for [redacted] decades. Sometimes you just have to put up with folks who have what seem to be unreasonable expectations.

^^ Not being a member of any enthusiast clubs and having only used my pass for ERT once (just this past Sunday on Maverick) I may be wrong, but I just assumed the draw to wait in the front of the ERT line rather than get into the end of the general public line was related to getting a front row or back row seat on the ride.

I may be wrong because I've never been on the last rides out at the end of the day either, but do they restrict the number of queue line riders in the station who can wait for front row when the line is dwindling near closing time? If so, the difference between waiting a few more minutes for the front of the ERT line and getting into the GP line could mean the difference between having a front row vs middle of the train seat.

For what it's worth, we were probably within the first 20-30 people in the Maverick ERT line and I think everyone in front of us went into the front row station queues once that line was opened up. (We did the same!)