People that don't understand

[CoasterCrazy]

Do you have any friends or family that don’t understand why you like roller coasters?

 

My brother is the only person that I know that hates theme parks and he makes fun of me for liking coasters. He doesn't understand why I want to travel and ride different coasters because he thinks ALL coasters are the same. He also complains that I travel too much and I am never happy with my coaster count. He also says that I need to act my age and find other hobbies because once you have been on one coaster you have been on them all.

[Sir Clinksalot]

Eh, become a druggie and see how much they won't care about coasters.

 

It's a hobby just like collecting models, playing video games, working on cars, etc.

[CoasterFanatic]

I always used to justify it by comparing it to golf. Tickets are like green fees, season passes are like club memberships, and the real die-hard take vacations to go play other courses

[Angry_Gumball]

My cousin says "Lemme guess: Another rollercoaster website?" and doesn't seem to understand why I'm addicted to coastering.

[Coasterbabe]

Yeah. I get that a lot... Why are you traveling that far for just one coaster? Why do you work where you work (IOA-Dragons) if you have a BS and could be making so much more? Why do you do a *roller coaster* dance? Yes, I do a dance when I am really excited and about to ride something I've been waiting to ride. I dont dance, so it's scarey. But, I get hassled a lot. Espcecially by my family. Since I am the one who started this *hobby* in my family. They think going to parks and riding rides are fun, but they don't have it running in their blood like I do... maybe I'm adopted.

[Shadowforce]

I see coaster fanatics being just like car fanatics or plane fanatics, every single little boy (and far more girls than they'd ever admit ) have his fair share of interest in mechanics, the working on it and every single thing related too it. We just specialise in huge tracks of steel and wood powered by gravitional forces.

 

My family was sad, maybe even ashamed, that I had a hobby like that once. It was never something they talked about, and only reluctantly gave me money every so often to go to amusement parks. Only recently I've showed them that I am not alone with this hobby, but that it might also help me correct my awful social life because i found someone that I can relate to and talk to. That helped. I reccomend it!

[coasters 4 me]

My parents didnt understand why i like coasters, but then they sort of realised that i was serious.

they think i wont like then when i am older, but they are wrong, i will always like coasters!

[Space Freak]

I like the golf analogy. Thats good. Props.

 

Rob

[downunder]

I was like at Cedar Point on the Raptor front row and this attractive Austrian girl came and sat next to me, and started talking to me, and the first she asked me was "are you a coaster freak?". she kept following me around so after the ride so that pretty much killed coasting for the day.

 

On an organised tour after I had been to CP, SFNE, Hershey, and GAdv, they just gave me heaps for being a coaster geek.

 

Yes, there is a definite stigma attached to being into coasters - lucky I'm real at sports and picking up too. At least they don't say "$2,000,000,000! that's more zeroes than a coaster convention". Sorry trek fans.

[Carnage]

I get that from just about everyone. Family, freinds, co-workers. They can't understand why I spend so much money and time on coasters.

 

But it's blown a bit more out of proportion considering that most Canadians know very little about coasters.

 

I'm sure there are some other enthusiests from countries that don't have much to do with coasters that would have a similar feeling.

[kenshinmac]

I think I probably belong to the least understood and most ostracized groups period...

 

I enjoy and collect:

Anime

Video Games (I'm pushing near 400 now...)

(I'm also here but I guess you figured that...)

 

So far I haven't really done a trip specifically for riding coasters but I have been the source of numerous detours to go to parks

[verticalzero]

Some of my friends can't understand why i want to punish my body on a coaster.

 

I say its a good form of getting rid of your excess energy and anger.

 

You feel much better after a couple of rides on "The Beast".

[Shockwave]

My mum didn't understand why I travel just for amusement parks.

 

She is a keen gardener, and I compared the two hobbies. They're both expensive, you have to travel a long way to get what you want, and too much of either and your back will start to hurt.

[Tömmioh]

My parents don't really understand why I like coasters and parks and traveling to other countries, because of them, so much, one of the reasons is that, they won't ride almost anything, except for some rapids, flumes and monorails.

They are still surprisingly supportive at my hobby though.

My mom still thinks it hurts or makes you sick 'to go upsidedown' ( or in other words to: invert), of course it can make you sick and hurt, but usually it doesn't on new looping coasters, and she won't believe me.

My sister does also think that I'm too interested in coasters, she likes coasters too, but simply not as much, which is fine.

[niiicolaaah]

My parents understand. Who do you think I got it from??? Their honeymoon was Disney and BGT! And THEY dragged ME to parks when I was a kid.

 

Let's see. I have been known to be into:

 

- Rock/Metal/Goth/Industrial Music

- Coasters

- Science fiction

- Hockey

- Everything having to do with Halloween (the holiday, not the movies lol)

- Playing guitar and bass

- Being in a sorority

 

I'm pretty much the biggest bundle of weird interests EVER. lol. And I don't give a crap what anyone thinks about them, so yeah. My friends who are music majors make fun of me for liking coasters, my sorority sisters make fun of me for liking Harry Potter, I get teased for just about everything.

 

A very smart man once said: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." So go ride coasters, lol...

[s2pids2]

I used to be terrified of Rollercoasters, but yet I would still design them and make models. I have always been attracted to the elements that tie together a good ride, and I think from that and the whole design aspect I really held a strong appreciation.

 

My parents always supported my interests, and since I can remember my family has been visiting Theme Parks all over the globe. It's kind of our family tradiotion, as my sister and father love thrill rides too. I used to be like my Mom and hated coasters, but now she stands alone. poor mother.

 

During the Raging Bull construction at SFGaM, I kept bothering my friends about it and hyping it up and no-one would really understand why. To them it was just a ride, to me it was creativity in motion. I turned a few of my freinds into coaster geeks too, so much that we toured around the US a bit visiting a few parks. Great fun. Want to do it again.

[Carnage]

My family has always liked roller coasters, so that wasn't odd.

 

The thing that more confused them was the fact that I was travelling with people that I had met on the internet. They were kind of weirded out at first, even concerned. But they've just grown to accept it now.

[J man]

I'm kinda in the same boat as s2pids2. I used to be scared to death of roller coasters. Heck I wouldn't even go on the kiddie coasters. But One day my cousins invited me and my sister to go to the amusement park with them. My mom said that if we went we would have to ride the big roller coaster there. So we did and now I'm hooked and I'll go on anything. My sister is still afraid to go on certain rides. She is paranoid that she's going to fall out of the log flumes and stuff like that.

[Scaparri]

I find it really funny that it is acceptable in society to spend your time and money sitting silent in a tree for hours straight trying to kill an animal (often times not succeeding), or sit in a boat from sun up to sun down trying to catch fish (often times not catching much), but it's weird to spend your time and money riding thrill rides and going to amusements parks, something that most people generally think of as being fun.

[timetrial3141592]

I am the only coaster fanatic in my family. Don't know where I got it from, because my father gets motion sick on Ferris wheels. (I am not kidding.) The coaster that hooked me was probably the Yankee Cannonball.

[ParkTrips]

most of my friends are cool, and quite a few have actually gone out of town with me on trips. we love universal trips, and I only have one friend who just "doesn't get it". He'd rather sit naked in the dorm all night, get drunk and play video games. he's weird, an he says its not as expensive :'>

[TDMAMBA]

I find it really funny that it is acceptable in society to spend your time and money sitting silent in a tree for hours straight trying to kill an animal (often times not succeeding), or sit in a boat from sun up to sun down trying to catch fish (often times not catching much), but it's weird to spend your time and money riding thrill rides and going to amusements parks, something that most people generally think of as being fun.

 

No kidding, but you actually do alot of walking when visiting a park.

[coaster_maniac]

I've got a nice mix..

 

Some of my friends can see what it is about coasters that I love so much, and they can appreciate the obsession I have.. other people think I'm absolutely nuts and don't understand it whatsoever.. but overall, everyone can appreciate the obsession as a whole--they realize it's just like any other fascination or obsession. I've got friends who are obsessed with sharks, plants, bowling, things like that.. so everyone's got something they're fascinated with!

[USRoadTripper]

I've never really caught any flack for my love of coasters and theme parks. I got it a lot more when most of my vacations were to Disney! "You're going back to Disney *again*???" Seems like everyone has something...I like coasters, and maybe you like skiing, sky diving, golf, car racing (none of which I would ever be interested in doing!) so no one gives me a hard time. What people *have* given me a hard time about is following the construction of coasters not anywhere near me, like Tatsu and EE.

 

-Julie

[ShoubraStreet74]

I find it really funny that it is acceptable in society to spend your time and money sitting silent in a tree for hours straight trying to kill an animal (often times not succeeding), or sit in a boat from sun up to sun down trying to catch fish (often times not catching much), but it's weird to spend your time and money riding thrill rides and going to amusements parks, something that most people generally think of as being fun.

 

That is SO true! Sometimes society is very contradictory.

 

Anyways, on to me. Many of my friends don't really understand why I enjoy coasters and theme parks so much. But that's OK, I just don't talk to them much about it since I know they don't care about it at all. Then there's my semi-enthusiast friends who love coasters, but don't really care enough to make a big deal about it, join a website, make a trip, etc. I know about two that are like that. Generally though, it really doesn't bother me that many people don't quite understand the hobby, I mean, there's probably many other hobbies that I don't understand either. I have found that the best thing to do is not force things on people. I ocassionally talk to my semi-enthusiast friends about coasters/parks, but I almost never talk to my other friends about it.