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Worst: Some employees at the Puyallup Fair. Some. Hybrid: Some people blatantly line jumping me at SCBB, and then talking amongst themselves and deciding not to! I didn't even do anything; I didn't even shift my position at all or send out angry vibes, and there were no parents or ops saying not to. They just decided to be polite after all. Best: Mini-marathoning Giant Dipper. Oh, and riding the ring carousel! Honorable mentions: Disneyland with exit access (too bad it was the slowest season anyway), or finding change on the ground anywhere (why don't people realize it will fall out?).

While I realize it has been quoted, I apologize for and have removed my original, insensitive and poorly informed post.

I rode California Screamin' in the rain and got pelted. That was actually the most epic ride of my life.

Name: Laura B. Age: 19 What is your roller coaster count? 55 What is your home park? Oaks Amusement Park What is the nearest big city? Portland, OR What is your occupation? none About how many times a year do you visit a park (including your home park)? I went to at least one park on about 13 separate days this year. The total number of visits to separate parks (including repeat visits) was 21. About how many times a year do you travel to a park that is not your home park? 20 (including repeat visits), since I only visited my home park once. And the number of separate days would apparently be 12. When you travel do you go primarily to amusement parks or do you also try to hit other sites? I travel for the purpose of visiting amusement parks. What is the farthest you’ve traveled to go to an amusement park? In a day, 7 or 8 hours from home to Silverwood (400+ miles). Total distance, SeaWorld San Diego (929 miles). Does roller coaster time get in the way of family time? (Do you choose to miss your children’s or family’s sporting events, holidays, birthdays, etc…) No. Do you have any other major hobbies? No. Do you get feelings of sadness in the offseason? Do you even have an offseason? Do you travel during the offseason? 1. Yes, very much so. 2. Yes. 3. I have, to parks open year-round. Do you consider yourself friends with someone you met who works at an amusement park? (Or reverse it, if you work or worked at an amusement park have you made friends with enthusiasts?) No. Would it bother you to go to an amusement park by yourself? Not at all. Have you gone to an amusement park by yourself? If so have you ever ran into another enthusiast and tagged along with them? 1. Yes. 2. No, but I’m not opposed to it. Do you find it easy to make friends with other enthusiasts? Up to this point, I haven’t done so, but I’m definitely not the “I’m only interested in talking to established friends” type. How do you get your coaster news? Theme Park Review and Google searches. How many different forum sites do you regularly post on? One. If there was a poll that asked a large pool of enthusiasts what their favorite roller coaster is, what do you think would be the top 3 responses be for wood? And for steel? Wood: 1) Balder 2) El Toro 3) Voyage Steel: 1) Expediton GeForce 2) Bizarro 3) Millennium Force I’m probably showing my lack of knowledge here! Same scenario but for amusement parks, what would be the top 3? 2-3 Disney parks and maybe Cedar Point for the third. Have you ever “stolen a kid” to get a credit on a kiddie coaster? No, but I am a credit whore. Do you cut other categories out of your budget to make trips to parks? (Entertainment, fast food, holidays, tobacco or alcohol, etc…) Yes. Before you visit a new park do you research the park finding the best way to navigate the park, get the best deals, or what days to go? 1. If I feel I’ll need to visit certain rides first (or quickly) in order to have an efficient experience, or if I have another concern about ride locations. 2. Yes, always. 3. If I have the ability to be flexible about dates. Do you feel the roller coaster enthusiast community is a warm and accepting community, or a negative and discouraging community? It strikes me as relatively warm and accepting, or at least not cold and unfriendly. However, I have been dismayed to hear about extremely immature, venomous drama that apparently is not overly uncommon. That really bothers me, and I hope I won’t ever experience it. Why should I have to? Do you like to talk about your hobby with people who are not roller coaster enthusiasts? I wouldn’t mind doing so, but I would not want to be the stereotypical “annoying” type.

SPAM. Corned beef. Hash. When I was little, I couldn't keep them straight.

The order is kind of random, but these are my home tabs: 1. CoasterCounter (don't know why, but I'm kind of creepily over-obsessed with it) 2. (My) Last.fm, my all-time favorite non-coaster site 3. Not gonna lie...Theme Park Review is one of them. I really have no reason to actually use any other coaster forum. 4. CoasterFanatics (see the reason CoasterCounter is a home page. Plus, I re-rate coasters not infrequently) 5. RCDB (Honestly, I never would've expected to, but I use this site all the time!) 6-12: Google So it looks like CoasterCounter | Last.fm | TPR | CF | RCDB | Google | Google | Google | Google | Google | Google | Google I know not everyone here is actually obsessed with coasters, but I certainly am!

Tomorrow is Chocolate Cream Pie Day! I can't wait!

For chickens, there is no sunrise. There is only perpetual light. Should I implement a zany personal brand?

I need to stop looking for the creepiness in everything.

It's where you attach the streamers that hang down from the handlebar.

I have been single for a long time...indeed, an embarrassingly long time. I haven't even "dated" since January. Wow. I used to despise being single, and pine for (a) relationship(s). Now, though, I find myself inexplicably uninterested. I have no idea how this indifference came about, but it's refreshing for a change. It's not bitterness, either--I don't have a strong feeling of "giving up" or anything like that. The last time I really cared about someone was well over a year ago. Let's just say that the entire situation was probably the most intense experience of my life. If not, then at least in the romantic realm. Anyway, that didn't end up working out in the end. I am definitely "over it" now, although I still wonder if/when I'll ever meet someone half as appealing. Tbh, I even still wonder "What if?" on occasion, although I'm no longer down about it like I was when it was more immediate. As far as why I'm single...it's all about how many people I'm around, and how I treat them. For some reason I have adopted a rather extreme vibe of distance and even brusqueness that, needless to say, is not attractive. I also believe I tend to come across as boring, partly because I have limited interests and knowledge and partly because I am very slow to successfully get into conversation. I think this post is a product of me being decidedly in the off-season, with not much coaster-related to say. I don't think I've rambled this much about romance and relationships since high school!

I finally tracked down the yellow submarines!

If only I could!!! Are we not men?

Voted! I fear I'm a bit too late for the prize, but my hope overpowered my apprehension!

Kong (SFDK), Pole Position (Butler Amusements), Boomerang Coast to Coaster (SFDK), Demon (CGA), Wildcat (Puyallup Fair), Grizzly (CGA), Corkscrew (Silverwood), Klondike Gold Rusher (Wild Waves). Reasons? Basically: minimal to no thrills, minimal to no airtime, or simply being a letdown compared to what it could've/should've been for its size and type. Not that it matters, but the least impressive kiddie coasters I've been on are Roller Coaster (Funtown), a couple Wacky Worms, Orient Express (Butler Amusements), Rainbow Chaser (Fun Forest), and Mine Twister (Remlinger Farms). I continue to hate Cobra at SFDK as well, no matter how many times I ride it.

Current obsessions: 1. The Velvet Underground 2. Cotton Mather Honorable mentions: Sublime, The Doors.

"I Can't Stand It" by The Velvet Underground

No idea why I didn't post this on the day of, but it suddenly jumped into my mind. (Lack of happiness is only a setup for what is to come.) I was quite, er, displeased that Wild Waves provided links to purchase discounted tickets online that would be valid on the day I was planning to use them, but would not actually allow me to buy them. So I desperately typed in "Wild Waves discounts" to Google, even though I didn't really want to go to a Federal Way grocery store or anything. Well, all the stores (or "community centers") seemed to be in Seattle. Then I clicked on one link half by accident. Guess what it was! A coupon, for anyone, that you print at home, that was only valid the very day I was going! Then I was happy again. And I was completely happy when it worked perfectly. And then I had a perfect 45 minutes at Wild Waves. The end.

1. "Classic" wooden coasters 2. All the great wooden coasters 3. All the great steel coasters Jack Rabbit Phoenix Boulder Dash Ravine Flyer II Cornball Express Raven Legend Voyage Coaster (Playland) Coney Island Cyclone Leap-the-Dips Wild Mouse (BPB) El Toro X2 TTD Millennium Force ACE Coaster Classics Dive Machine Flying Coaster

Hardest class I ever took was Physics. Obviously some coaster fans are going to be the physics type, but I'm definitely not one of them! I failed the course. Fortunately it wasn't required overall--I was just forced to take it one year for some reason. Of the truly required classes, the worst for me has always been algebra. I think I've taken it 3 or 4 times, but not because of failing, just because more than one school has required me to take it at that school. Now to college...I think I've only taken 2 core classes as of now, Writing 121 and Math 65 (not sure if the numbers are standardized or unique to my school, but I guess it gives you an idea of the "level"). Thankfully, I only need Math 65 for my degree--too bad I would need much more for a transfer degree! Math was the hardest for me. I have always found math to be just slightly fun though, so that made it a little more tolerable. Reason for the above? I'm pretty sure in the end it just comes down to brain type. I'm not the math/science brain type. I'm the language arts type. Just curious. Do/did you go to a religious school? Why didn't you do the work--were you forced to write from a perspective of believing in God?

Could it be Ice Mountain Bobsled? It's at Enchanted Forest (Turner, Oregon, USA). (edit) Glad you got your answer. I know I hate the false hope of seeing a new response and then learning that it doesn't help.

The Monster Mouse at Puyallup Fair is held together by safety pins! I thought that was hilarious. (Note: I am easily entertained.)

One of my instructors just sent us an email basically telling us NOT to take his class, because we won't learn very much! That's a first.

I'm having way too much trouble deciding. I've been on coasters by both companies that were unsurprisingly rough (but none were too bad, not even stereotypically rough ones like Kong), and ones that were surprisingly smooth (Wild Waves' Wild Thing--supposedly extremely rough, but actually very smooth, with only a painless hint of banging near the end). However, I prefer Vekoma. I don't care for any of the Arrows I've ridden, but GIBs and Invertigos are great in my book.

--Guests who don't listen to loud, simple, obvious, and completely clear instructions, particularly when those instructions are repeated dozens of times in a row and clearly targeted at them. This is much more common than it should be. If it's not a safety concern, maybe ops should just give up and not say anything, so at least when guests don't do what they should they just seem confused, not rude and stupid! --Straight from the Puyallup Fair (so is the above, but not exclusively): Ride employees who have an attitude problem and act like control freaks. I'm not talking about situations where safety or obvious rules are involved (in which case I will tolerate basically anything, even if it's presented annoyingly). I'm talking about those who go out their way to lie to or demean people, or make people "play" what is apparently some kind of "game" in their head based around them controlling you. I'm talking about people who react inappropriately when you don't acknowledge or respond to them in the way they want, even if that is unreasonable or unclear. Also, in a perfect world, I would wish for the following on park websites: Everything you might need to know, about the park as a whole and every ride. I'm tired of omissions that could affect my experience or even somebody else's. I realize my wish is 100% unrealistic, but it certainly doesn't seem like something that would hinder parks (as long as all information is provided in as positive a tone as possible, of course). I would also want the information to be detailed so it doesn't give the wrong impression due to incompleteness. Furthermore, at the park, signs should be clear and not leave out details that could affect the experience of an average guest (or really, any guest who does not have unusually extreme needs or demands). [/rants]!