Your Biggest Coaster/Theme Park Related Geek Out Moments

[Sir Clinksalot]

I searched for a thread on this but didn't see one. I thought it might be cool to share some of our biggest coaster or theme park related geek-out moments.

 

Two of my biggest geek out moments happened last year.

 

The first one was getting the back-stage tour of the Carousel and Giant Dipper at SCBB (Thanks Robb and Elissa for that one!!) and getting to meet and take a picture with Imagineer Marty Sklar at D23 last year.

Under the Carousel at SCBB

Backstage tour of Giant Dipper

Me and Marty Sklar. Damn I was fat.

[PriestofSyrinx]

I think my favorite geek out moment came when I went on the Keys to the Kingdom tour at WDW.

 

Highlights:

Saw the elaborate set up for American Adventures at Epcot

Met a guy who has worked on ToT since it opened and told me how he keeps the vehicles in shape.

UTILIDOORS!

Backstage Machine Shop behind the Magic Kingdom!!!

 

 

I would have pictures, but the Mouse doe not want those floating arround the net.

[FeelTheFORCE]

Mine is definitely winning the naming contest for Aftershock at Silverwood. It's pretty cool knowing that I have left my mark in a park and have named a rollercoaster!

 

 

 

Also, this one probably isn't that big to some, but I was waiting to get seated at TGI Fridays in the Hotel Breakers at Cedar Point when Dick Kinzel himself just went strolling by. I thought it was pretty cool seeing someone that high up in the organization in person like that.

Edited March 18, 2010 by FeelTheFORCE

[SunsetKali]

My biggest geek out moment was my second day of training at Rock n' Roller coaster and I got to go inside the building and walk the track. This was the first time that I've been able to get this close to a roller coaster. As soon as I got to the top of the stairs at the first MCBR, I looked around and yelled, "HOLY CRAP THIS IS AWESOME!"

[Josh Linn]

Was at Cedar Point in '03 when a monsoon decided to hit...we could barely see in front of us, but we saw that employees were opening a building for people to take cover in. Turns out it was the "basement" of Iron Dragon's station, which was pretty cool to see.

[beyondthepalace]

One of the best moments was my first evac at a Disney attraction. POTC went down, had to drain the ride track and got directed through the dry dock and behind the scenes to get back to the front.

[Looty]

My biggest geek out moment was on Renegade's opening day at Valleyfair in 2007. I was walking through the park with my non-coaster nerd friends and all of a sudden I spotted Mike Boodley, Clair Hain, Jeff, & Chris from GCI. I instantly stopped in my tracks and shouted "Oh My God!" I explained to my friends who they were and they all started laughing at me. We went up to them and said hello and I was almost speechless. I look back now and laugh at how big of a dork I was in that moment and I really can't believe my reaction...it was like running into a big name celebrity

[jeronimon]

That would be meeting Werner Stengel in the waiting line for Matterhorn Blitz in Europapark. A very kind and quiet man with whom we spoke for about 45 minutes. Alas, the waiting line was not longer.

[itsasamccormick]

Mine is definitely winning the naming contest for Aftershock at Silverwood. It's pretty cool knowing that I have left my mark in a park and have named a rollercoaster!

 

 

 

That is so cool!

[GwaziBSRider1]

Well, I think the absolute best one I've had to date was Kennywood's Media Day in 2008. I got the first ride (to my knowledge) in the front seat on the Thunderbolt for the season!

 

However, I've got a few more I think one their way! Very excited to hear Walter Bolliger speak at CoasterMania and the behind-the-scenes tours of Millennium Force and Maverick going on as well. Working as a ride host for Mean Streak is also going to be exciting as well!

[themeparkologist]

Just yesterday was mine. I found out that our part-time secretary at my parent's business is Michael Eisner's personal assistant. Hence part time and she mostly travels to and from California and then flies with him wherever he needs her to go. I will release no details of my reaction. You cannot handle the truth.

[CreditCrazy]

I think I'm going to completely geek out at Knott's on Sunday during the Calico Mine Train Tour.

[J man]

^You won't be alone. I'll be geeking out aswell.

[Screamin_Eagle]

the first geek out moment I had, was during Holiwood nights at Holiday world, we were all on a walkback tour of the Legend, and I stopped to get "perfect shot", I was poised with my camera, looking up at the hill, waiting for the train to come careening down, it was taking a minute or so for the train to appear, so I put my camera down, as I looked around, I laughed.. there we were, about 30 of us all standing still with cameras in hand all looking at the same hill waiting for the coaster to drop. thought...this is truly a coaster geek moment!

 

 

however my biggest geek out moment came during a walkback tour of Wildfire in SDC, seeing the parts, and trains up close was like wow..and I geeked out big time.. knowing that the only folks that would see what I see in the photos I took were other coaster nuts...

Wheels of Wildfire at SDC

[Wumbology]

Can I bring in a Disney one?

 

Okay. Well, my family was visiting Epcot last August, and we were getting off the bus right as the rope dropped. As we walked through the entrance plaza, I talked about some of the meanings of the architecture and how walking under Spaceship Earth was supposed to make us feel small, like we're just a part of something bigger, and such. You know, Imagineering concepts.

 

We went on Test Track and Mission: SPACE first thing, and then as we were crossing Innoventions Plaza to get a Soarin' Fastpass, my parents were saying things like, "Oh, isn't this interesting? Look at the concrete! How it has different colors, and the shapes..." For he rest of the morning, they kept pointing out silly things and mimicking my interest.

 

Meh.

[thrillgeek]

^You won't be alone. I'll be geeking out aswell.

 

I think we all will. Even though I dont really know the history behind it It's going to be really cool to see something behind the scenes very few people have ever seen.

[Steelinwood]

Here's mine... A box of vekoma parts...

 

[the ghost]

Disney Geek Here! Anyway, I was in line for California Screamin and a ride op said something like "now launching at 50 miles per hour" so I said "you mean 55" and he said "sure" cause I was in the front car by the mike. I then said the ride was awesome cause it was built by Intamin and he asked how I knew so much and I told him to check out TPR. Dont know what happened to him since. Also, I constantly prove people wrong that think "rides like Superman are the fastest ride in the world."

[austinlee]

I always get a laugh when somebody in line asks a ride op how tall or fast a coaster is or what year it opened and the ride op doesn't know the answer but I do. Sometimes if I get a chance I tell the guest the answer too.

[Pingu1651]

Whenever my mom asks me a question. That's when I geek out. If she asks me who made a ride, I answer and precede to name all similar coasters, new coasters, and other coasters in the park made by them.

 

I also stole a washer that I found on Cedar Creek Mine Ride. GEEK OUT!

[Emiroo]

I have three way tie:

 

Probably my most impressive one (to you guys) comes from my home park of Holiday World. I was at an ERT event there with a non-enthusiast friend of mine. We were eating at the event dinner and sitting by ourselves. Pat Koch sat down next to us for dinner. We were talking about our day and for some reason started asking her about Holidog; specifically how many they have. It was kind of funny, because you could tell she really didn’t want to answer the question. But she then explained that they have two costumes and then she really started opening up about it and told us that they had a third but it was stolen. She got pretty excited about it and said, “I guarantee that it’s on a college campus somewhere!” After some more chit chat with her, Will came over and sat next to us as well. He told Pat that the park was almost cleared for ERT and then talked with us for a minute. I was surprised when he told us he was always nervous about speaking to crowds because he never knew if what he was going to say might disappoint. My friend suggested ending all his speeches with “free fudge for everybody!” He laughed and then he went and gave his speech. It's wasn't a "totally geeky" moment to me because you almost can't go to HW without seeing at least Pat (if not both of them). However, it was definitely more geeky/personal than the usual greeting/dialog you get from her.

 

Number two was repeatedly riding the font seat of Mamba at Worlds of Fun trying to get a good On-Ride photo of me with my TPR shirt on. After an hour and a half, I still couldn't get one I thought was worth $10 so I gave up.

 

And finally for number three: A Big Mike meetup in 2009

 

[Crazy_Behemoth_Lady_Jess]

It's either going to be starting a "Theme Park Enthusiasts Club" at my school, drawing coaster trains on my graphs in math class (as seen in my avatar), or asking the maintainence workers at Playland for parts from Coaster (I got a track bolt and a sign).

[triggernel]

Mine was definitely at CP last summer. While queuing in the station for MF, a nice guy in the row in front of us turned around and struck up a conversation. He was wearing a SFStL Tony Hawk Big Spin T-Shirt, and went on to tell us about how he was on a coaster trip that started at their, and included Holiday World, SFKK, KI, and was ending at CP. We told him we (my mom and I) were on a similar trip that included Indiana Beach, KI, and CP. As we were on the train waiting for our lap bars to be checked, he started to ask us how many rides we had been on and then started to explain the differences between the different coasters at the park. When he got to what he called the big three (MXL-200, MF, and TTD), he went on to tell us that they were a mega, giga, and hyper, respectively. I then felt the need to correct him and tell him that no Magnum is considered a hyper, and that B&M are the ones that use the term mega to define their hypers, MF is indeed a giga, but TTD is what they call a strata. I couldn't tell if he believed me or not, but he did turn back around in his seat and that was the end of that slightly awkward conversation .

 

Edit: Oops, was watching something else while I typed this.

Edited March 20, 2010 by triggernel

[atem122]

TTD is what they call a terra

WRONG! (It's called a strata)

 

My nerdiest moment?...Trying to get pictures of companies' names on their wheels (I.E Arrow, Intamin, Vekoma). I also film a lot, that's pretty geeky. I'll have to see what happens at WCB on Sunday.

[ParkTrips]

Pretty much a continuation of this thread

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=53179

 

and my answer is still this:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=28508