Are Coaster Enthusiasts too critical?

[stricklandCC]

For starters, lets all realize that we are all COASTER ENTHUSIASTS. Why do many feel the need to bash coasers for their ride quality. Whether they be rough, or smooth, all of them receive critic. Let's assume that it is a ROLLER COASTER, they all ride differently, and such we love them. Everything I see or read, is either..."its too rough" or, "its too smooth", or, "its too forcefull", or, Its not "forcefull enough". lets just agree to love these rides regardeless. you're not on a "MAG-LEV" train, and such these rides succomb to physics and gravity. Even though a ride may be rough, or too smooth, can't we recognize them all for what they are, and not what our personal desires dictate?? Don't these contributing factors add to the over-all ride expirience?

 

Dan "lets not be so critical of the things[roller coasters] we love" Stricklnad

[slick]

For starters, lets all realize that we are all COASTER ENTHUSIASTS. Why do many feel the need to bash coasers for their ride quality. Whether they be rough, or smooth, all of them receive critic. Let's assume that it is a ROLLER COASTER, they all ride differently, and such we love them. Everything I see or read, is either..."its too rough" or, "its too smooth", or, "its too forcefull", or, Its not "forcefull enough". lets just agree to love these rides regardeless. you're not on a "MAG-LEV" train, and such these rides succomb to physics and gravity. Even though a ride may be rough, or too smooth, can't we recognize them all for what they are, and not what our personal desires dictate?? Don't these contributing factors add to the over-all ride expirience?

 

Dan "lets not be so critical of the things[roller coasters] we love" Stricklnad

 

Man, I swear I'll get banned for posting to what's ultimately spam, but hey, let's check this little bit of funk out, shall we?

 

I think firstly, we've all got an opinion on a coaster. Hell, i'm pretty sure freedom of speech is still applicable to the realms of rides, right? Although, I dunno, I suppose you'd complain because if we all thought a ride was tame, and you thought it was extremely intense.

 

A smell a sense of hypocracy afoot.

 

Mate, roller-coasters are a deeply "personal opinion" sort of thing in the first place. Different styles, elements and roughness level preferences are all unique for most members at this site, and so realistically if I was to hear from 95 percent of people from TPR saying that "Ride Crapalicious was the best coaster ever because it did everything I yearn for.... just like in the ads" I'd seriously suspect something suss. Not only that, but rides change as they age, and that ride experience changes again, so even more-so you'll get an even higher degree of varied opinions over time.

 

So there you go, hope I helped, if not, try elsehwere, I doubt you'll find a happier, more interesting and thought provoking member-base elsewhere though.

[FlyingScooter]

You say tomato and I'll say oranges.

 

Some coasters i like and i say why i like them.

 

Some coasters, IMO, suck and i say why i think that.

 

People are people.

[Erik Johnson]

No, this is a real thread, so do not worry about being banned for responding. I just changed the heading to make it more clear.

[ginzo]

I don't think that criticism is a bad thing, and I don't think enthusiasts are too critical. To me it's clear that all coasters are not created equal. Since this is a very expensive hobby that costs me thousands of dollars per year, I want to know I'm spending my money well. Credit whoring is fun, but ultimately I'm in this for the great rides. I use resources like Mitch's poll, themeparkcritic, this forum, and coaster videos to help me plan out my trips. This lets me know ahead of time what I'm probably getting myself into. If a ride is awful, I want to know about it ahead of time. Maybe I should skip a certain park and spend my money elsewhere. Sure we get snarky at times, and sure we overstate our opinions. But, ultimately I view this as a very positive thing. Until we get Consumer Reports to start covering coasters in-depth, I'll continue to rely on the opinions of other enthusiasts.

[Scaparri]

Yeah, we're enthusiasts. That's very similar to a connoisseur. Judging coasters is what we do. We love them, but we're critics. We're going to voice our opinion about this kind of thing. Sometimes it can come off overly harsh, but think about what this forum would be like if we didn't voice or opinions about this stuff? We simply be saying we like one ride more than another because it is better, with no justification.

 

I really see what your saying, but I disagree. However, if you want to talk about enthusiasts being spoiled, that's an entirely different story.

[crazyrider06]

For starters, lets all realize that we are all COASTER ENTHUSIASTS. Why do many feel the need to bash coasers for their ride quality. Whether they be rough, or smooth, all of them receive critic. Let's assume that it is a ROLLER COASTER, they all ride differently, and such we love them. Everything I see or read, is either..."its too rough" or, "its too smooth", or, "its too forcefull", or, Its not "forcefull enough". lets just agree to love these rides regardeless. you're not on a "MAG-LEV" train, and such these rides succomb to physics and gravity. Even though a ride may be rough, or too smooth, can't we recognize them all for what they are, and not what our personal desires dictate?? Don't these contributing factors add to the over-all ride expirience?

 

Dan "lets not be so critical of the things[roller coasters] we love" Stricklnad

 

I understand what you are saying but you have to understand something. Being an enthusiast means that we can judge the rides we have been on. It gives us the need to express ourselves and have other comment back on their opinions. It also gives us something to talk about with other ppl that share the same interests as us

[raptorcrew2002]

For starters, lets all realize that we are all COASTER ENTHUSIASTS. Why do many feel the need to bash coasers for their ride quality. Whether they be rough, or smooth, all of them receive critic. Let's assume that it is a ROLLER COASTER, they all ride differently, and such we love them. Everything I see or read, is either..."its too rough" or, "its too smooth", or, "its too forcefull", or, Its not "forcefull enough". lets just agree to love these rides regardeless. you're not on a "MAG-LEV" train, and such these rides succomb to physics and gravity. Even though a ride may be rough, or too smooth, can't we recognize them all for what they are, and not what our personal desires dictate?? Don't these contributing factors add to the over-all ride expirience?

 

I do not think some people are too critical beyond the point of personal view. Rather I do believe many are in the form of obsession with theme parks and rides.

 

Those people scare me. It’s like the ones who quote the ride specs for every roller coaster made and all I can do is offer to buy them a hooker or something to maybe get them out a little more.

 

As for personal judgments, hey some things suck, and some things don’t. Roller coasters, like sky diving, cars, etc. They are entertainment, and I guess can be called a hobby.

 

I think some people just really need to get out more is what it comes down too.

 

As for the;

**Even though a ride may be rough, or too smooth, can't we recognize them all for what they are, and not what our personal desires dictate??**

 

Ok say the same person has shot you 5 different times. Should you still look at the person with kindness and respect? I would say that person is an A-hole and stay away, and let everyone else know about it.

 

Know what I mean.

[AlmereStars]

why is it a bad thing to critisize a rollercoaster??? there are really bad coasters in the world, but being an optimistic, there's always a positive thing about a rollercoaster!...removing it...

no seriously, I think it's a good thing, cause this way the company making the coasters (vekoma/GCI etc) knows what's wrong with the coaster, and if a really bad coaster doesn't get any critics, then the coaster will pop-up everywhere cause the builders think it's good

[verticalzero]

Steel and Wooden Coasters are like human's, they all have their bad day's if the Park does not keep the maintance to a good level.

 

e.g. Megafobia at Oakwood Theme Park in Wales was born in 1996 and within the 10 years of service to us, it has had hardly any service.

 

I don't know if parts of Megafobia have been retracked, but just the min things have been done to it out of season.

 

If a coaster is built well in the 1st place it will run and run, just like our cars if we look after them.

 

My dream coaster is an 1930's / 1940's style out-n-back twister woodie with 8 camelbacks in a row, lots of direction changes near to the ground, lots of , fly-pasts, 90 degree banked cornes and going underground.

 

We should all be greatfull to the people (Harry Travier, Prior and Church and Mr Dinn etc) who created these steel or wood masterpieces, if they did not exsist, what would everyone do instead in their spare time..?

 

If you think the coaster is rough or is braked to hard, why not send a letter / email to the Park to say this, if the Park cares about Customer Service you will get a reply.

 

The following Season the coaster may be running better because someone took their time to write a letter/email and said something.

 

Sit back enjoy the rough/smooth track with it's / full force lateral/ vertical G's ride.

[bgwfreak]

So why is it you feel we can't have opinions about coasters?

 

If you don't want enthusiasts to be critical then stop surfing the coaster internet sites.

 

You're not going to stop people from spouting their opinion.

 

This is not Iran where you have to do what you are told or else. It's a free country and people are entitled to their opinion.

 

And overall I'd say most enthusiasts are not overly critical, it's just some(not all) of the ones that post on the internet.

 

Since you've not responded yet I suspect this thread was started just to annoy us, but I guess I'll have to wait and see if you're serious or not.

[Jive]

Yes

 

Next question.

[TheArchfiend]

I kinda like hearing/reading the differing views views of similar coasters here and from any other enthusiasts. I think it has only ENHANCED my total coaster expeirence by reading a forum such as this one.

 

Think of it this way... If you had a favorite actor; lets use Arnold Schwarzenegger, and you really enjoyed his films. Would you just willing always go to pay and see his movies everytime one came out? I know I'd like to atleast hear from some people/critics who like his kind of films and say, "that was good" or "it didnt have eough explosions" or "he didn't kill anyone"... etc. Thats why I like to hear people say a coaster wasn't fast enough, or the air time sucked, or the theming blew... etc. Criticism and/or praise is a necessity of life my friend.

 

And there is only one real good coaster on the planet that deserves no criticism. And it goes by the name of Atlantis Adventure. Which now has a onride video on YouTube.

[fergusonat]

Sometimes I think coaster enthusiasts are a little harsh, myself included, but we are entitled to our opinion. Sometimes bashing a coaster to death while riding it can be just as fun as praising it. My friends and I have a blast completely tearing apart Kings Dominion, and personally I'd rather recognize how crappy of a park it is rather than be ignorant and pretend it is something that it's not.

 

[Meteornotes]

Sorry, if I'm paying money for anything, I am going to comment on it. And I'm also sorry, but some rides are just brutally bad, and need to be pointed out.

 

It costs a lot of money to go to parks, especially for a family. I think people posting their opinions about rides and parks is a good thing, especially if things are looked at with a fair and critical eye. Sure, someone complaining that WDW doesn't have any wood or hyper coasters, and therefore sucks, is not an opinion that anyone should take seriously. But someone posting about the trips they take, and offering up honest opinions about the rides and parks is a good thing.

 

Just my dumb opinion, of course...

 

dt

[BeemerBoy]

Are enthusiasts too critical? Sure. Sometimes.

 

In general though, think about what the coaster world would be like if the 10,000 online coaster sites didn't exist. It's a fact that many of the industry's top players peruse the boards from time to time. While we (enthusiasts) aren't directly responsible for every new installation out there, our opinions are somewhat valuble as a barometer for what's hot and what's not.

 

If companies like GCI, Gravity Group, etc. didn't ever have any true feedback, we may have seen TOGO take over the world. Okay, sure, that's an exageration, but the point still stands. The more reputable and experienced posters out there are able to give true and accurate accounts for everyone alike. Whether it's a family of four debating on how to spend their Orlando vacation, or a park's PR person stopping by to check our reactions to their newest coaster, our critical opinions are invaluble to everyone's decision making in some sense.

[stricklandCC]

Simply put, I'm all about opinions, however, it doesent seem that many costers are good enough for us. Keep in mind though, even though any given coaster may be inferior in some aspects, it also has its strentghs, thats all i'm saying. to be critical is fine, i agree into picking apart a coaster until we are left only with the cons And pros.

Did i start this thread to be controversal? absolutely, after all, doesent'controversy lead to the better conversations? I just think that instead of hating, or bashing a coaster because of a single attribute, lets also realize that it may have something to offer that others don't. Honestly if you think a coaster truley sucks, state it, but if its only a single characteristic that we may not like, lets not hate the ENTIRE coaster for it. IE: Rattler, SFFT, rough? sure, does the helix suck? yup!, has it been seriouly butcherd? indeed but is it a descent ride, if not a great one?? I think so...

[Airtime&Gravity]

Coaster enthusiasts are sometimes critical(RCPro, ACE, etc.), but other times they are not.(TPR...sometimes) It seems that if a B&M is even slightly rough then it sucks or if an Intamin is rough, then it sucks, but those seem to stay away from this site. While there are some bad coasters out there, there are several good ones, and while they aren't a 250ft Intamin, they are still great rides. I don't care how rough coasters are, I have a SLC, Boomerang, and Iron Wolf in my top 10, and all I look for after I ride a coaster is if I had fun. I could ride a downright painful coaster, but if I had fun, I'll still re ride it.(just once the pain goes away) While I'll cringe when someone says Raging Bull goes 100mph or something like that, I understand that they are not into coasters like me, and I'll move on. While I respect the opinions of enthusiasts who are critical, I understand that they want the best, and I move on.

 

 

Airtime-Just because I respect them doesn't mean I agree with them-&Gravity

[Shavethewhales]

I respect the opinions of others, and I do agree that of course there are great coasters and sucky coasters, but I too get annoyed at those who pass off many fine rides because they aren't the biggest and baddest out there. Take Zingo at Bell's for an example: it's a very fun ride, with some nice air and good over-all smoothness, but many bash it due to the small bit of roughness at the end and the fact that it has less air than other woodies.

I also get a little peeved when people start screaming to tear a ride down because it gets a little rough or isn't exactly what they want. I'll have many disagree with me I'm sure, but I don't like it when rides are perfect, to me, a small amount of roughness and shakiness keeps it real.

 

I'm perfectly fine with differing opinions, but I'm sure most everyone agrees that its annoying for someone to pass off a fun ride just because they've ridden better.

[stricklandCC]

^ thats what i'm talkin' about...

[GMAN962]

You left out a few things, such as theming. However, this is my opinion on this matter you brought up:

 

We have freedom of speech and opinion, we can think what we want about coasters. Whether we love them or not.

 

While we do love coasters, and it's the things we love, WE DON'T HAVE TO LIKE ALL of them.

 

Not all of them are critical. I love most of the coasters I've been on. The only coasters I really don't like are really painful ones. Not many of the ones I've been on.

 

I do, however think that people think rides aren't good, even when they are good because they are TOO critical.

 

-Mike "Agrees that some are TOO critical, but should be critical to a degree" J

[Angry_Gumball]

I don't find myself too critical when it comes to coasters...I mean, if I actually enjoy riding Boomerang & Kong (SLC)...(though I do poke fun at Vekoma) On the other hand, I did claim that Psyclone (RIP) and P/CF GA's Grizzly sucks...Well, I did give Psy a second try in a different seat to give it a second chance, hoping that maybe I'd like it, it just didn't do it.

[Canobie Fan]

Ahahaha.. I <3 this topic...

 

 

I hate every coaster... Just go to a park with me and watch how much I bitch about how every ride sucks in every way it can suck

[VF15]

Sorry about bringing such an old thread back to life, but I wanted to share my opinion here.

 

I have no problem with having an honest opinion and being reasonably critical about roller coasters and thrill rides because these opinions generally give me an idea of if it's a ride that I really want to experience in the future, and I'd rather be told the truth than be lied to. Although, I can get annoyed with enthusiasts that get so overly critical that they don't enjoy the ride at all. Coaster enthusiasts will naturally be more critical of coasters than the GP, but if you're going to take coaster riding so seriously that it isn't at least a little fun, then why bother being an enthusiast? Fortunately, most enthusiasts I know of don't act like that.

[Nrthwnd]

Of course we/they are!

 

We know so much information about coasters, it's hard to separate

all that info from the actual enjoyment of a coaster ride.

Some times....

 

Hey - I know musical theatre and all it's background, And it still

manages to mesmorize me in the most perfect way possible.