Do you talk to strangers in line with you?

[ECZenith]

I usually end up talking to people who are talking about rides, or maybe wearing a tshirt from another park. Then there's always the people you want to kill while waiting in line... smoking, cutting, making a scene. I usually end up talking to them too, just not very nicely.

[Darien Laker]

When i'm with other coaster people, like that I met up with from a forum, i'll usually just talk to them and we'll just go on and on about coasters....

 

When i'm with non-coaster people, usually I will talk to other people in line, and I learned the hard way to NOT make myself sound like an enthusiast.

 

Basically, I'll never use words like "Vekoma" or "MCBR" while in line with someone I don't know.

[coastakid]

I talk to everyone! I made a few friends from medusa's line at GADV. I even saw them another day, but if they are screaming BE EMO!!!, don't becuase my friend said to him "your mother" and he chased us to kingda ka and sat behind us on opening day 06' and kept spitting on us and it was nasty. But usually, I socialize with park go'ers and usually get hugs..becuase im just so cute (I love being 12)...

[map2]

I'm pretty much always with my friends when I go to theme parks. I talk to the people within my group, and sometimes one of my friends will strike up a conversation with someone else in line and sometimes I'll end up talking to them. We usually talk to people who are a little older than us or a little younger than us, if we do talk to others in line. Usually people 13-18. I have, however, a few times been on rides by myself. Then I do not talk to others, unless they say someting to me, then I'll respond. One time me and my friend thats a girl (not girlfriend) were talking, and these two kids say that we are a cute couple. We ignored them, but they kept annoying us the whole way to the station. One time during a 5th grade science trip to SFOG, we met this kid at SPUF, and he pulled my friend's hair and called us rich stupid brats because we went to a private school (even though he threatened to beat us up if we didn't tell where we went to school). That was the longest 1hr wait ever.

[Gnome]

People usually start talking to me, instead of the other way around. I guess I'm that cool.

[Penguin]

I hardly ever start a conversation with someone. I will respond to people when they talk to me and for some reason people love to talk to me at parks Personally I like to just listen to other people making fools of themselves because they think they know what they're talking about when they have absolutely no clue.

[Meteornotes]

I never speak to anyone I don't know if I can avoid it, as I've found that entering into conversations with strangers results in hearing things like how demons live in their neighborhood, or how someone would like to box Bill Clinton, with complete round-by-round strategies (both of these are actual conversations that I got sucked into while riding the BART). I rarely go to parks by myself. About the only place I do occasionally visit solo is Knoebel's, and you rarely have to wait in any sort of line there on a weekday.

 

And I'm with Joe on the whole coaster tool thing. Extra annoying. How the hell can you talk about coasters all day and ignore everything else in life?!? How dull...

 

dt

[bgwfreak]

I normally only talk to people if they ask me a question like "how big is this Borg coaster thingy" or whatever. Then I'll strike up a conversation.

 

But if I'm with friends I normally don't talk to other people. What! You can't see that I'm with people! Leave me alone!

[TheArchfiend]

Well I go to SF Great Adventure 50 times a year and I try not to talk to anyone in line, but someone in line always ends up talking to me. And rightfully so. Who wouldn't want to talk to me?

 

I never go alone but the times I do try to talk to people is when it looks like the person came to the park alone. Such as a early teen person in line that looks relatively frightened in the line of a coaster. I'll just say stuff like; "Is this your first time here? Ever rode coasters before? Don't worry about being scared, it's fun...bla bla bla...etc". Of course, I try not to strike up conversations with the early teen girls cause that is just creepy for a 28 year old man to do so.

 

But most of the time more than half the people waiting in line at a Great Adventure are teenage punks (not all teenagers) that have IQ's that match their age and jersey attitudes as well. So I try not to make eye contact or conversation with most people in line. I dont ever remember any of my friends acting the way we see some teenagers act these days. Great Adventure just isn't the same and we dont nearly have as much fun there as when we were 13 years old. Hell, there were only 3 coasters in the park back then and we had a blast. Ahhh.... good times.

[obeygiant]

I never really talk to anyone in line because most likely they'll be a tourist and I wouldn't want to talk to a tourist. I usually listen to conversations because they are always ridiculous (in a funny way)...and if not, then I usually just look around because there's always someone that's doing something funny.

[coasterguy618]

I constanly correct people if there wrong about a coaster. And yea I do talk to people in line all the time. (if they talk to me first )

[Imhotep]

Im shy as hell, so I rarely ever strike up conversations with people in line.. If someone wants to have a conversation with me Im all for it, it passes the time in lines and you do end up meeting cool people that way.

 

I definately dont talk like an enthusiast and usually if someone says something I know is incorrect (like Apollos Chariot's loop is intense) I usually nod my head or say something like "Ill have to check out that ride, sounds awesome." I dont want to sound like an annoying know it all or anything.

[BarryH]

I don't talk to people in line unless spoken to first. I can hear them in the background. I'm wearing a Florida Coaster Club t-shirt and they say stuff like, "Ohhh! He must like coasters" or "He must be a professional roller coaster rider!"

[trustkill22]

^^^ Thats must feel good. Your in the league of Professional Roller Coaster Riders.

[rollermonkey]

I'm often solo at parks, so yes. I will often strike up a conversation with guests around me, but not always about rides. Now when I'm outside the US, that's a bit harder, but here in Japan, people will often speak to me just because I am foreign. Those conversations can get really fun!

I walked around Nagashima Spaland all day with people actually calling me 'Yon-hyaku" because I had a sign with me for my 400th roller coaster. That started a LOT of conversations that day!

 

(White Canyon, photo available at www.rcdb.com for only $5.00!)

[robbalvey]

I try never to talk to people I don't know. I'm with Dave on this one. Talking to strangers just usually frustrates me most of the time to the point where I end up thinking "please kill me...."

 

If anyone remembers back to my "trip around the world" I had to take last year, you'll remember I don't do so well "solo!"

 

Here's the shortcut if you want to relive that hell!

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=37613

 

--Robb "Everything you need to know can be found on the moon!" Alvey

[slick]

While Robb might indeed have the "shy nerd" appeal, I think that there is some circumstances where it's actually a good idea to be open with "certain" people in queue lines (good give-aways to the people you shouldn't talk to are typically biker tattoos and people with more metal-percentages in their face then actual muscle.)

 

My case in point? Recently I came across this group of people waiting to ride the Cyclone down at Dreamworld, and anyway, after a minute or two it turned out most of them were gold, olympic swimmers and marathon runners. Cool stuff I reckon, and I saw them again later that afternoon and hung out with them for a few hours. Definitely made my day a bucketload more interesting, especially to be hanging out with people off TV.

[IwantRevenge]

I my talk to people but I let them start it. Usuallky it starts withthe Reading of the shirt Cerimony, then goes to talking about the rides in the park, and pissing people off with my "technical Terms"

[neovortex2k]

I Never ever talk to people in the queuecause I think its a bit rude just cause your in a close confined space. Would you do it in an airport or bank??I wouldn't.

 

But I hate it more when they start talkin to you. No offence to anyone here but i just got back from my trip to Italy and we went to Gaardaland and in the queue for magic mountain these american backpackers start talkin to us and when we said we were from Ireland they went mad and start goin on about priest and religion and the green hills!!The fact that i'm an Atheist never came into it I just wanted to hit them and tell them to feck off.

 

In saying that one year we were queing for X and i noticed my best friend from primary school that I hadn't spoke to in 8 years ahead of us.Small world.

[Director_Guy]

I met some of my best friends by meeting them in the line for Demon at Six Flags Great America. They were singin' songs 'n' what not and we decided they were cool enough to walk aorund the park with. Now we go to SF together all the time.

[bigjohnson51]

i went to worlds of fun yesterday and i had a nice conversation with a guy when i was in line for spinning dragons who was in afghanastan, and had to go back in 2 weeks. so i guess you can try to talk to people in line, but i've tried it before and gotten the crazy look...

[shesaidboom]

If I'm by myself I wont talk to anyone, but I have started up a conversation a couple times while I was with someone else. Once at Holiday World with someone on this board actually, after I heard them talking about their trip. Many people have started conversations with my boyfriend and I, a lot starting with "did those hurt?" in reference to his lip rings Mostly I just listen to conversations around me and laugh to myself when people say things like "I heard the Raven is nine feet tall, and the Legend is ten feet." [said by girl who was standing right beside Raven].

[niiicolaaah]

I chat with ride ops sometimes. Never with the other idiots around me in line. I'm not very friendly, can you tell? hehe

 

Do you at least have intelligent conversations with them? It drives me crazy when people are all - "So, do you get to ride everything for free here?" as if they had to pay some kind of fee when they got in line or something.

 

I rarely talk to other people while waiting - but I have.

 

Yes. I am perfectly capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation with someone. Thanks for your concern.

[methylene]

I'm not one to turn down a deep conversation, but it seems no one wishes to wax philosophical while waiting in lines these days.

 

I find, however, that I can engage in reasonably time-killing conversation with random line weirdos if I lower my standards to that of a monkey's.

 

Matt

[TheKlockster]

Yes. I am perfectly capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation with someone. Thanks for your concern.

 

I wasn't saying you don't - just saying that at least 90 percent of the people who try to start up conversations with ride operators are pretty dumb... Like not everybody that goes to parks is an enthusiast. So sorry if I came across like that.

 

Things people typically talk about to ride operators:

 

"Do you get to ride the rides for free?"

 

"How much do you get paid?"

 

"So... What are they getting here next year?"

 

"Does this ride go upside down???????????"

 

"Have you ever been on this ride? Is it scary?"

 

"Is it pretty gross when someone throws up on the ride?"

 

"Has anybody ever died on this ride?"

 

"If I pay you 5 bucks, will you let my daughter (who is too short) ride?"

 

"Will you ride with me?"

 

 

Actually - for some reason - I only seem to encounter these types of questions at Vortex and Racer. Having conversations is actually alot easier and more fun at Son of Beast, Face/Off, Delirium and Tomb Raider.