Embarrassed of parks...

[outbackjack]

Great posts, I appreciate it....I guess I used the wrong term in "embarrassed"....should be I know it's not their hobby at all, and I wish it was a hobby of some of my friends.

 

That's why I'm sure the TPR trips are so much fun.

 

As a married, working father, I'll never attend a trip, and quite frankly I'm not very comfortable meeting new people.

 

So that's out for me.

 

I have lots of friends, and we have lots of similar interests, except parks/coasters.

 

I guess just like if a comic book fan started talking to me about the inner workings of the business (I'd just want him to stop but I'd politely nod along the way)....I don't want the reverse if I were to go into detail about Anton.

[djcyberlegend]

My wife razzes me sometimes about becoming a roller coaster junkie even though it was her idea to visit SFNE for the first time on the day before our 9th anniversary back in 2009, my first ever ride on Bizarro set the wheels in motion for that to happen...

 

I've since also made a lot of new friends through the SFNE Online fan site - which I discovered after getting home from our first SFNE visit - who are as gung-ho about coasters as I have become, some of them even more so than me...

[ParkTrips]

let's just say I wouldn't bring it up to a chick I'm trying to hook up with

[Audio111]

I don't mention it to people more than once because chances are they don't share the same interest for it as me. For example, imagine someone you know talking non-stop about LARPing with you. Wouldn't it get really boring? Every time I meet a new person, I usually just mention something about theme parks or roller coasters only once in order to see if it sparks any interest in them. If it does then I might mention it more in the future. That being said, I think it's fine to discuss it more frequently with the GP only in certain situations (i.e while in a theme park).

[Toro#1]

the way I look at it is...it's a hobby and a passion. Everyone has hobbies and passions, when I tell people one of my favorite things to do is go to parks throughout the country and eventually world to ride roller coasters they think that it's the greatest. Roller Coasters are loved by almost everyone, whether they understand them or not, Amusement Parks are one of the most popular destinations when the weather warms up. Mostly everyone I know knows about my passion, love and knowledge for them, just this week I took my cousin to Dorney who has never been on any big coasters yet. I told him everything he needed to know about every coaster (ie, the hold on the back spike of Possessed the 2nd time you go up it, the jojo roll on Hydra, the out of control, rough ride on Thunderhawk, to lean into turns and inversions so you don't feel the force on your neck so it's more enjoyable). At the end of the day he absolutely loved everything about coasters and wants to join me everywhere I go . If you tell people when you're there, they will appreciate it!

 

Speaking of, as I type this, one of my friends is at SFGAdv texting me asking which rides to go to that would have a decent wait, not a massive wait. See? It's good to have this passion and instead of sitting here telling her where to go, I'm going to get a bag, get in my car & join her today! Never be ashamed!

[The SETGO Guys]

My parents don't care for my love. Then again, I could care less for the things they like. My family is pretty strained as it is anyways though...

[phantomfan93]

I always talk to friends and family about my obsession with parks. They all enjoy the facts I provide they don't need to know but find it interesting. My parents enjoy it, they think its a great hobby and hopefully think I graduate to do something in the amusement business.

[* Misery]

I babble to everyone I know about my obsessions, mostly on social networking sites. Needless to say, I think quite a few people have managed to block me.

[CoasterRollin]

Haha, just today at work we had a lot of down time, so a group of my friends and I pulled up Wikipedia and started quizing each other on facts about our passions. They were quite impressed at how much of the "Rollercoaster" article I knew off the top of my head when I've never really given it a good look myself. They were also impressed that I have ridden 84 coasters. Imagine their surprise when I told them that was nothing and "this guy Robb Alvey who runs this website called Theme Park Review has ridden over 1000."

 

My family doesn't quite understand why I love amusement parks so much; we are a bunch of loners, so my family hates crowds of any kind, but the exception is me with amusement parks. But they accept it and never question it. My closest friends understand mostly, too-- while they are not "enthusiasts," they are definitely "thrillseekers" so I can always count on going to parks with them and having a great time.

 

My biggest advice for anyone on this site who feels any sort of embarrassment is this: GO TO A TPR EVENT! It's absolutely wonderful being around people that share your mindset. You can share and indulge in all those nerdy facts you've learned. And, best of all, the person you sit next to on that rollercoaster will have their hands as high as yours and scream with the same enthusiasm, if not even more so.

[bubala]

I'm not embarrassed by it at all. All of my friends and family know I'm a big roller coaster nerd! They don't really get it sometimes, but I don't care. I get that "eyes glazed over look" so many times when I am talking about roller coasters and amusement parks, but that never stops me. It's my obsession. Everyone has an obsession, and many obsessions are nowhere near as healthy as a harmless fascination with roller coasters and amusement parks.

 

Stand tall and be proud! You are not alone!

[Stitch_101]

I don't think I would say I'm embarrassed at all about being a theme park enthusiast... My family doesn't really mind it one way or another. My partner finds it funny and "cute" as he puts it, and occasional will tease me about it, but he secretly loves roller coasters more then me As for anyone else... well most of my friends are all enthusiasts as well... and when it comes to strangers, why should I go through life caring what they think of me? lol

[downunder]

I'll talk parks with anyone who is interested, but the people in my life have no interest in parks; luckily I have other interests and plenty of other things to talk about. I don't really go out of my way to talk about parks.

 

With the dearth of parks in Australia, it's not breeding ground for enthusiasts. People have very little to ride to develop an interest.

[doom1001]

I have no problem letting anyone know I'm heavily into theme parks,amusement parks,waterparks,rollercoasters,in fact if you just look at my car I have enough crud on it that would let anyone know what I'm into.My last piece of park stuff I had to buy cause it was perfect for my car ( a VW New Beetle) is a front plate which says "Doom Buggy" for the Haunted Mansion ride.Most people I know know I'm into parks and coasters n stuff,if it's nerdy to someone that's totally fine with me,I've been out of high school for a while now and can be as nerdy as I want.But in reality most people I know like friends,family and co-workers at a minimum at least like theme parks so most of them can understand me.

[Angry_Gumball]

This past weekend, I felt like I was able to let out my inner coaster nerd as I had people to talk to about such stuff. I'm sure the GP around us talking about Vekomas, Intamins, or Schwarzkopf's thought we were speaking some alien language.

[andre8]

I don't have a problem talking about parks with friends, though most of the people I know are GP. I'm kind of "training" one of my friends to be a coaster enthusiast.

[DCody]

I'm surprised some of you guys in your teens are embarrassed about this hobby. I'm a 33-year-old mom...you can imagine how weird my friends think I am. For some reason, nobody wants to talk about old vs. new style Intamin track.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I'm often surprised by the fact that most grown-ups aren't into parks. I know people who dread taking the "obligatory" Disney trip with their kids.

[ernierocker]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm often surprised by the fact that most grown-ups aren't into parks. I know people who dread taking the "obligatory" Disney trip with their kids.

 

I thought you were talking about my wife for a second...

[JJnCFL]

Thank God for TPR! Anyways, I used to be until I finally grew up and stopped caring what other people thought of me. We spend so much of our time worrying about what other people think of us, when the reality is, they're also worried about what we think of them! I say just let live! Life's too short, as long as it isn't hurting anyone else, enjoy! Though on a side note if someone mentions B&M or Hyper in the same sentence, they're automatically bumped up near the top of my list!

[the ghost]

I am in no way embarrassed AT ALL about my hobby. For one thing I have levels of "nerdiness" meaning it fluctuates depending on who I am with. Like at WCB I typically go with a group of an enthusiast or 2 and another group I don't consider enthusiasts per se, but they are relatively coaster savvy as long as I'm not too technical. With these people I tend to geek out a bit more... I yell things like airtime and yell "ZERO G ROLL" and things like that... depending on the ride. With my "gp" friends I mellow out a bit. There are some advantages of the hobby though... like before my friends met me they would sit in the middle of rides... but none of that anymore... if it is reasonable to request/take the front or back seat that is where to sit. Also there are other "advantages" like I know how to defensively ride an arrow coaster(viper) and essentially avoid headbanging as well as sit in a seat where the ride is smoother. In the long run don't get overly geeky with the wrong friends. I like talking "coaster" at events like WCB, but not all the time. NEVER EVER let this hobby from letting you enjoy parks... this is a hobby for those who love parks, and quite frankly if it prevents that... YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!!!!!

[VF15]

Most of my family and a few close friends know that I'm into coasters and parks, but for the most part, being a coaster enthusiast is sort of a secret identity. If I do talk about coasters with others, I won't go into too much detail. Even at a park, because of how I act, you probably wouldn't be able to tell that I'm a coaster nerd. Also, I don't wear my coaster shirts to parks, just around the house. I'm not embarrassed about being an enthusiast, I just don't want to commit social suicide.

[Woodie Warrior]

All of my family and close friends know about my obsession with coasters. It's not something I go bragging about and I don't go off spouting off random facts, but I don't hide it.

[XII]

There are many interests you can have that would cause embarrassment. Being a roller coaster enthusiast shouldn't be one of them. While I don't spout out random roller coaster or amusement park facts to family and friends, everybody I know knows that I am a roller coaster enthusiast and that I've travelled across North America and Europe riding roller coasters. My family may not "get" roller coasters, but there's plenty of stuff they like that I don't give a crap about and we all support each other's random hobbies. My friends for the most part have the same interests as me. So even if they're not roller coaster enthusiasts in the sense that they know the big manufactures like B&M and Intamin, and know about the top coasters in the world, they still know that I've been on a lot of coasters and I've even taken them to a couple faraway parks on a mini-roller coaster trip.

[Midgetman82]

All of my family and close friends know about my obsession with coasters. It's not something I go bragging about and I don't go off spouting off random facts, but I don't hide it.

This, word by word. People don't tend to learn about my interest in amusement parks until we're a bit closer as friends (or they decide to look me up almost anywhere online). The coaster community hasn't publicly embarrassed themselves and there's plenty of less-praised groups out there in the world, so I feel no shame in sharing what I know and gain from it with immediate friends (inviting them out to parks and events, etc.). None of my IRL friends love amusement parks as much as me, but my two best friends and I tend to still have a pretty good time whenever we're out at a park.

[WFChris]

TPR is taking the love of theme parks and roller coasters mainstream....so give it like a year and were all gonna be the cool kids. Just watch

[ajfelice]

I look at this issue from several angles.

 

Originally back in the traumatic days of social paranoia of high school I was very reserved about this hobby to everyone except my best friend who shared the same interest. Through college I became more open about the fact that my hobby is travelling to parks and reading up on attractions in my spare time instead of video games or drugs. While I might be open to most saying that my hobby is parks and roller coasters, I tone down the enthusiast part of my personality around others who aren't as interested unless I feel prompted to share information. I'm not going to constantly push the subject in which they have little interest into my interactions with them and bore them or annoy them. Basically, I'll acknowledge my hobby, but I will not dwell on it.

 

Through my work experiences and now career in this industry, I found that I have to keep the enthusiast side out of my business life. Quite frankly, there are several negative stereotypes about the enthusiast community out there. Not many managers or employees in a park are going to want to frequently hear input about the park from a self-described enthusiast due a history of a few people thinking their enthusiasm makes them experts on how to run a business. No doubt that I have used my travels to parks and experience with enthusiast events in shaping how I make decisions at work, but I refrain from openly attributing it to me being an "enthusiast."

 

I have evolved from hiding the hobby from almost everyone to acknowledging it when the time is appropriate. I have no shame in admitting that I am a park and roller coaster enthusiast, but make sure that it does not negatively affect my interactions with non-enthusiasts whether they are family, friends, or coworkers.