Does your home park lose its luster?

[jamesdillaman]

So here's my question:

 

I went to Kings Island yesterday, and rode Diamondback 3 times, Beast twice, Vortex and Racer once, Jr. Vekoma, Adventure Express, Flight Deck, Invertigo, Stunt Track and the new Boo Blasters ride. Sounds like a good day, right? Especially for only 4 hours.

 

See, the thing is I had planned to stay the whole day at Kings Island. I purchased a ticket (almost $50 at the gate, with $10 parking) as I am no longer a season pass holder. I just wasn't having fun after only a few hours. Part of it I think was the lack of ANY shows going on (There's some rock band live thing starting later this week, and an ice show starting later this week, and some kareoke show at night on International Street, but that's it!), and part is I've already ridden everything so much that it just bores me more than anything. Even Diamondback's layout seemed boring and uneventful after riding it so much last year. Is this a problem any of you share? How do you deal with it? Am I the only one who lives within 20 minutes of a park that I don't have a season pass to because it's no longer fun for me?

[BeemerBoy]

At least you don't live near a park that sells t-shirts that misrepresent your new coaster's top speed. Consider yourself very lucky, James.

[YoshiFan]

I consider both Dorney and Great Adventure my home parks because they are both 45 minutes away from me. In 2006 and 2007 I just had a Dorney pass. Once I got the Great Adventure pass in 2008, Dorney didn't seem as fun to me. Maybe it is because they have fewer coasters so I rode the major 3 rides 100+ times and got bored of them or it is because the same type of coaster is better at Great Adventure. I prefer Bizarro to Hydra and Nitro to Steel Force.

 

I still have passes to both parks especially because I really like Wildwater Kingom at Dorney but I used to look forward to going to Dorney more than I do now. I also never spend a full day at either park anymore especially since I try to go on days when there are little to no lines.

Edited June 2, 2010 by YoshiFan

[Hydraglow]

Lagoon loses it's luster in about 5 minutes for me. Well actually, I've been to Lagoon quite a bit, and it DOES get really boring. I've also been to Disneyland quite a few times and it just isn't that great anymore. I still WANT to like it, but I just don't. After SFMM, both of those parks especially seem dull. I live about 3 miles from Lagoon, and I have only had a season pass once. Never want one again.

 

Eventually, time kills all parks.

 

Try and take someone the next time you go. It's always fun to take a friend that has never been there, or hasn't been on all the rides. I love taking someone that is terrified of specific rides, because then you almost have a goal to get them to ride with you. Once they get on, it's just so much more fun to ride with them, due to their reactions. Even if I've ridden a ride to death, I still get a kick out of their comments before and after the ride. It just makes it that much better.

 

Visiting other parks works really well too!

Edited June 2, 2010 by Hydraglow

[Emiroo]

It sounds like you needed to go with a friend. That probably would have pepped things up.

 

However, I get what you mean. I've been a season pass holder to Holiday World for the last several years. And while I am always happy to go and have a good time there, the rush of excitement about going/being there is gone. As well, I've ridden everything there so many times that it no longer bothers me if I don't get to ride something. However, on the flipside there is also something very freeing about that. The "pressure" to have fun and get credits is off and I can just relax and enjoy whatever my family decides to do that visit and not worry about what we didn't do.

[DBJ]

I think that is actually common. At this point, I doubt I could spend an entire day at SFMM. So when I go, I do the short burts, about 4 - 5 hours tops. Depending on what is being built, sometimes I skip a year. I do the same thing with Knott's (Haunt is the exception), Universal, DL, and DCA. I rotate which parks I have passes too. It is very easy to burn out on doing the same experiences over and over again for years on end. Especially in coaster centric parks that lack any other form of entertainment. Highly recommend skipping a local park and hitting up a park maybe a little further away. One of the ways to avoid local park burnout, is to bring guests and be the ultimate tour guide. One of the best times I had at Disney was being a tour guide to my nephews who had never seen it before.

[gforce532]

I grew up going to Disneyland all the time with my parents. Normally you would think that the park you grow up going to never gets old for you. But no I have grown to get sick of the park. Just from hearing the same music over and over again, to riding the same mild trill rides over and over again, to finally dealing with the same disneyland crowds over and over again.

[freestylenut]

Living in Tampa, home park Busch Gardens...having worked there as a team {popcorn technician..lol), as well as during Howl-O-Scream the last few years, there is little "thrill" left whenever I visit...if it wasn't for my kids always wanting to go there, I'd probably cancel my Annual Pass.

 

it happens.

Edited June 4, 2010 by freestylenut

[jynx242]

The opposite is true for me. I love SFoG. It was my first job back in 1986 and loved it then as well. When I lived in Atlanta, I never got sick of visiting (sick of the crowds sometimes, but that wasn't the parks luster as much as its popularity.)

 

Now I live 4 hours away, but still go every year at least once. I've been going there since I was 4 years old and still love to go. My appreciation has changed, however as I've gotten older. I still ride the crap out of the Mindbender whenever I go, but these days are much more leisurely.

 

Now - if I were to go alone, all day would be too long. With friends, I can definitely hang for the whole day.

 

David

[FeelTheFORCE]

While I still have a great time each and every time I go, I get bored with Kennywood and Cedar Point, and am ready to go home around early evening...if not sooner. I agree that having someone with you who has never been there before does help with that a lot, however.

[BeemerBoy]

A bad day at the park is better than a great day at work. With that mindset, my home parks have never lost their luster.

[jmicha]

My home park used to be Geauga Lake (25 minutes away) and I used to visit it anywhere between 5-10 times a summer and never got bored of it. Not to mention that I'd give anything to have it back. I liked the direction it was going under Cedar Fair (yeah, I know, no need to tell me it wasn't that great) compared to Six Flags and was excited for its future...but nope. Gone.

 

So Cedar Point is now my home park and I love Cedar Point (not a fanboy mind you, Cedar Fair angers me all too often) and before going to college I used to visit it 5-8 times a summer. Now I can usually only get one visit in since I go to school all summer but it has never gotten boring to me. Occasionally when it's a little more crowded than I'd want I get worn out quicker than usual, but there's too much to do for me to get bored.

 

Living in Cincinnati for school, Kings Island is my home park, yet I've only ever had a few opportunities to take a day off on the weekend from studio work and visit. I like Kings Island and there are still a few rides I've yet to ride so I don't feel it will get boring anytime soon. And Diamondback and Beast are super fun to me, so regardless there will always be at least two fun rides for me to ride over and over if I get bored of everything else

[mwm1444]

My home park is Drayton Manor.

 

I mean, it's better than NOT having a home park, but still. I suppose if I lived actually in the village nearby, I'd probably have an AP..just so I could have popped in after school to see if Pirate Adventure was back to its former glory.

[cal1br3tto]

Home park (distance): Oaks Amusement Park

As far as going by myself, this was very much a one-and-done park. I appreciate the collection of flats in number, charm, and thrill level, and I actually enjoy both coasters. However, the only flat ride I would really go back for is the Rock-o-Plane, with an honorable mention to the KMG Afterburner (great program but still a very common ride) and the Spider (the best I've been on, but I'm sure good ones aren't that rare). The only non-kiddie flat I need is the new Tilt-a-Whirl, and I might try the Frog Hopper and Rockin' Tug, or ride the dark ride again.

I would only go with somebody, and only once a season. Although the price is very reasonable, it would add up for me.

 

Home park (lifetime visits): Enchanted Forest

I love this park. If you had to label them as being for one demographic, I would be easily outside of it because that demographic would be "young children". However, this really is to a large extent an all-ages park, as it is delightfully charming, creepy, and interesting. The last time I visited was only to check out the four major attractions, half of which were new to me. Of course I ended up sampling the entire park anyway!

I would only go with somebody, and might consider only buying admission and ride tickets if the person wasn't interested in riding. (Do I even know anyone who isn't?) The only attractions really drawing me back are my beloved Ice Mountain Bobsleds, my first coaster; and Challenge of Mondor because shooting dark ride=automatically a good thing.

 

In the end, in my case it's more about the parks inherently holding less interest for someone my age, due to number of attractions and overall thrill factor.

[Jmac]

My home park being Elitch Gardens, lost its luster pretty quickly. Lakeside was in the area but never really considered it my 'home' park. Elitchs definitely got old but Im not sure if that was me or just the lack of size, Lakeside was definitely smaller but I loved it so much more. Working at Elitchs probably made a considerable difference as well, but even on the off days it wasn't really worth driving out to. Even if they weren't as fun as going to a bigger park, Id still rather visit than sit at home

[jray21]

My home park is CGA, and is definitely has lost it's luster. The big, new rides growing up are now pretty small and crappy (Demon, and Grizzly). Top Gun, Flight Deck, whatever is still very good, and so is drop zone, but it's just not the same. And, they got rid of the world's best pizza a while ago.

[AndCamSS]

A bad day at the park is better than a great day at work. With that mindset, my home parks have never lost their luster.

 

 

Amen to that! Sure SFGAm isnt as good to me as before but if you live in an area like this where there is a cold winter and a whole big chunk out of the year that everything is closed, you cant take for granted the time you do have to go. Of course, you can go down to Florida in the winter when you live here but that is more difficult than basically driving up the road to the local park.

[Invertalon]

My homepark was GL/SFO/SFwoA/GL 2.0 in which I went almost every single week (live 20mins away)... However, since the closure my new homepark has been CP. We usually end up going about every weekend, but do little riding. We may ride in the morning for platinum entry and on non-busy days, but we will go see the shows... take photos... go to the beach... people watch... all that type of stuff. We will enjoy starlight and especially halloweekends when it begins.

 

At times, it does get boring... However, by staying shorter periods of time and doing other things then just riding coasters really keep it interesting.

 

It sucks the drive is an hour for me now, versus 20mins, but it is better than nothing!

[themeparkman25]

Deleted by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25

[braztaz]

Eh. It does. A little.

 

I got a season pass to Kings Dominion this year after not going for five years. I was extremely excited and could barely sleep, and by the time I left I was satisfied completely. Then I got the desire to go about a month later. It's kind of on/off for me.

[Meteornotes]

The closest park to me is SFA. The last time I was there was in 2003, and it was a corporate buy out day (which obviously featured less stabbing). I can't imagine I'll ever go back there, unless they build something amazing.

 

I don't like a lot of US parks. I'd rather spend the money to go to Europe or Japan, as I seem to have a much better time at those parks. Plus I'm not someone that MUST go to parks all the time. Outside of the Mid-America trip, I doubt I'll go to any other park besides perhaps Hersheypark this year. Going to parks constantly will burn you out on them, just like any other activity. That's how I look at it, anyway.

 

dt

[jynx242]

^ Unless you are hanging out at a park with Dave Thomas. Then it NEVER gets old. Theme parks bring out so much....material? Fodder? Stupidity? The commentaries that we have are worth the admission alone! Can't wait to mock people with you this summer Dave!

[Meteornotes]

^You are awesome.

 

And if people are smart, they will make it a point to spend as much time around the "Two Evil Daves" as possible, as we are damn entertaining. And of course, Ice Bat!

 

dt

[coasterbilly]

luckily for me I can call 3 parks home: SFGAdv, HP, and DP. Great Adventure and Hershey haven't lost anything since I started going to them, but honestly Dorney has started to fade, with the amount of rides and coasters SF and HP have, going to DP and knocking out everything in 2-3 hours gets old pretty quick, probably will only visit 1-2 times this year and in the future so I can continue to enjoy it instead of getting tired of it

[Capitalize]

The only local park I visit enough for it to really ever lose its luster is SFA, I'll buy a pass and go out there for brief (2-4 hours normally) visits every couple weeks. It doesn't really get too old to me... But I love Wild One.