ultradude306 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 It's never been too bad for me, in terms of getting teased or anything for it... although I had to put up with countless stupid GP comments and bite my tongue for it to stay that way lol So, if any of you are teens or in HS how's being an enthusiast gone for you?... or how was it if you've graduated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenA07 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I never let it be all consuming for me so it was never that big of a deal. I always had other interests and things that I could talk about, coasters was just something that people thought I knew more about. In terms of people saying crazy things, I never really bothered to correct them. I figure that it doesn't really matter that the guy sitting across from me thinks Goliath at SFMM goes just 10mph below the speed of light, he enjoys roller coasters enough, and likely doesn't much care that he is wrong. I can't really comment on it since graduating, after high school I really lost much of my interest in it. I for the most part just hang out around here now to see the major developments in the industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultradude306 Posted May 16, 2013 Author Share Posted May 16, 2013 I never let it be all consuming for me so it was never that big of a deal. I always had other interests and things that I could talk about, coasters was just something that people thought I knew more about. In terms of people saying crazy things, I never really bothered to correct them. I figure that it doesn't really matter that the guy sitting across from me thinks Goliath at SFMM goes just 10mph below the speed of light, he enjoys roller coasters enough, and likely doesn't much care that he is wrong. I can't really comment on it since graduating, after high school I really lost much of my interest in it. I for the most part just hang out around here now to see the major developments in the industry. Ya, same here, always had other interests, and barely eveer talked about rides w/ friends... Only time I ever really said anything to correct people or really said anything somewhat nerdy had to be when at parks with friends, or whenever we wen to stuff like the carnival... and usually, that was a good thing, as some of the ops were impressed with my knowledge, and would give my friends and I extra long rides/ extra cycles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
154bmag Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 It's never been in issue for me. Most people i know don't seem to understand anything I know/say about rollercoasters, but they don't make fun of me or anything. Rollercoasters aren't my only interest, therefore, it's not really a problem for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I haven't been a teen in 20 years (wow!!!) but if anything, being a coaster nerd as a teen was an asset. People thought it was very cool, if I remember correctly. Lot's of other aspects of my life seemed very uncool at the time, but coasters was a great thing for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I think it comes down to how much of a die hard coaster nerd you are. I really like them parks but I wouldn't go on my own or marathon ride things so in my teenage years it was good for a couple of jokes with my non-theme park friends but it wasn't something all consuming for me. Theme parks are just another way that I socialise with people. For instance I'm not a gamer at all but I have friends who are really into them and play online/with each other or just talk about the game industry together and I view that in the same way as my theme park hobby; it's just another way that people socialise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalmTree55 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 I am 15 and a Coaster Enthusiast. At my Highschool, I am not made fun of or anything like that, but I am the only enthusiast out of around 500 kids. Me and my best friend went to Carowinds though last week (my home park) and I tought him all about ride makers and the stats of the rides. It went well and I think he is becoming an enthusiast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultradude306 Posted May 21, 2013 Author Share Posted May 21, 2013 I am 15 and a Coaster Enthusiast. At my Highschool, I am not made fun of or anything like that, but I am the only enthusiast out of around 500 kids. Me and my best friend went to Carowinds though last week (my home park) and I tought him all about ride makers and the stats of the rides. It went well and I think he is becoming an enthusiast! Ya, showing off to GP friends is always cool, and it's nice if they convert... however, I've never had any of my friends convert myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalmTree55 Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Yeah it was pretty cool. That fact that he showed interest was great. He so far is my only convert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yay101 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 I spent a lot of time on roller coasters. I wasn't made fun of or anything, but I really was and still am the only roller coaster enthusiast in my grade school and now in high school, so I couldn't really talk roller coaster stuff with anyone. I spent a lot of time on Roller Coaster Tycoon (2 in particular, but I love the other ones, one of these days I'll post my parks that I still have on TPR). I spent so much time on stuff that while people were playing Xbox and watching NBA, I was designing my own parks on RCT and on paper. The only real issue is that I missed out on doing other things that people normally do, which made me get a lot of enemies and people who thought I was weird, plus I wasn't really taken seriously, nor am I still today. However, it did help for science fair cuz both of my projects were roller coaster based. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArundelHigh Coasters Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 (edited) I am also a teen enthusiast. I actually found a lot of teen enthusiasts on here, and I've met a few at school (one of which is on this site). It is kind of awkward for us whenever we hear the GP at school making up silly rumors about amusement parks, lol. Pretty much everyone I know from school (teachers and students) know about me and coasters. They sometimes joke around about it, and I often get told I am "obsessed," lol. Everyone always likes to talk with me about coasters. Kids from school are always interested to hear about my trips to parks, facts about coasters, and my opinions on coasters they ride. Edited June 11, 2013 by ArundelHigh Coasters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yay101 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 An awkward thing about it was how seriously I took it. In Computer Ed. class in grade school, we sometimes were allowed to play PC games. Whenever people played RCT, they just wanted to build roller coasters or Space Shot towers and crash them. I was like the only one who would build somewhat lifelike rides that were safe for the guests to ride, plus I was adding other flatrides and building an actual park. People were like, "Are you actually taking that seriously? You know it's just a game right?" And I was like, "Yeah this is what I want to do." It was a little awkward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Clinksalot Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 My son doesn't really flaunt it by wearing shirts nor does he sit online for hours watching videos, etc. He's more into video games anyway. He just likes to go to parks and ride rides, that's about it. Being an enthusiast for anything can bring ridicule if you take it too far. I don't think any of his friends know that he's ridden 164 coasters. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 (edited) I actually dreamed to be a roller coaster designer since 6. I spend most of the time on Nolimits and really I feel there is a gap between me and all the GP around me that I really have less in common with them. Luckily, some of my friends started to know about coasters since I talk about coasters all the time. They started to enjoy the airtime instead of holding tight on the restraint. That make me feel so great that I made a huge difference to probably everyone around me that their attitude towards coasters started to change and nobody had ever think I am a wired person. I will keep going and try to turn more GP into enthusiants. Edited June 4, 2013 by gerstlaueringvar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenFreeze Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 I've had friends poke fun at the fact that I'm a coaster enthusiast, maybe calling me a "nerd," but what's funny about it is that the people who have said that are the ones who are obsessed with comics, video games, and play D&D. I guess everyone has their own definition of "nerd." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simaticable Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 All I really do is watch Robb's YouTube videos and play RCT, unfortunately. I can't afford a trip outside a yearly visit to SFOG. I'm still surprised I somehow got my dad to take me to BGT. Anyways, my friends don't really care, but my sister says I get annoying when I can shoot off random coaster facts whenever I'm at a park. Once I go off to college and get a job, I'll hopefully be able to ride more coasters and travel more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yay101 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 ^I spent a lot of time as a kid on RCT (in particular, RCT2, although I love all of them). Like I said earlier, I wasn't really made fun of, but people didn't really take me seriously because I was different from the GP. That was the only major public, plus it's at times hard to talk to people about things since I lived in different worlds from every one at my school. My friends didn't really care about the fact that I loved roller coaster, and they were surprised at how much I knew about X-Flight when I went to SFGAm last year with a few non-enthusiast friends (esp. how X-Flight wasn't the first wing coaster like everyone thought ). It's also fun to talk about a ride that will come out at a park, no one believes you, then they find out you're right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imawesome1124 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I've been an enthusiast since kindergarten I think. I remember in 5th grade one of our assignments was to write a business letter and actually send it to the company. I wrote mine to Premier because 5th grade was when I first rode FoF at KD and it was my favorite coaster at the time. I try not to tell anyone that I'm an enthusiast though because I don't want to ruin my social life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yay101 Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Did Premier Rides respond? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imawesome1124 Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 No, sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyRush Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 I am one hell of a teen enthusiast(so i think!) I find no problem with being 15 and posting here, all people respect one another(except when stupid people argue with Robb, those are classic) and it seems TPR is a big family. I have loved coasters since i first rode the Comet in 2001, which was the first time i knew about coasters. And i have also loved seeing Hersheypark grow to be one of the best in the park world so to speak. I have sent many emails as well to Hershey's director of engineering Mr. Bachman on future references, and various parks such as KD, BGW, CP about my experiences there. I love knowing everything about coasters, i can probably name every single one at every major US park by now for sure. I am so smart in school and am definitely will do Mechanical Engineering in college. I am actually very good at hockey and i'm moving up to Boston next year for the school year, so hopefully i can hit up SFNE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalmTree55 Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 I am one hell of a teen enthusiast(so i think!)I find no problem with being 15 and posting here, all people respect one another(except when stupid people argue with Robb, those are classic) and it seems TPR is a big family. I have loved coasters since i first rode the Comet in 2001, which was the first time i knew about coasters. And i have also loved seeing Hersheypark grow to be one of the best in the park world so to speak. I have sent many emails as well to Hershey's director of engineering Mr. Bachman on future references, and various parks such as KD, BGW, CP about my experiences there. I love knowing everything about coasters, i can probably name every single one at every major US park by now for sure. I am so smart in school and am definitely will do Mechanical Engineering in college. I am actually very good at hockey and i'm moving up to Boston next year for the school year, so hopefully i can hit up SFNE! I love HP, and I am planning to visit there this year! It's great to find another teen enthusiast on TPR, and I am 15 as well. My home park is Carowinds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 I don't think it is a big deal. You'll only get teased if you are a hardcore nerd about it. In fact, I met Robb & Elissa as a teen, which turned out real well as they are awesome friends and exposed me to the rest of the world outside of Southern California! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyRush Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Nice to meet you PalmTree55! Hershey is a great park indeed! All we need is for them to start building across the street now! Make sure you tell me when your going! Im getting closer to my 75th ride on Skyrush! Im currently at 64! Am i a nerd Jew? Haha i know i am... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yay101 Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 I have sent many emails as well to Hershey's director of engineering Mr. Bachman on future references, and various parks such as KD, BGW, CP about my experiences there. Did you have any luck with those? Every time I sent an email to a park or ride company, they never respond. Only Bolliger and Mabillard have ever responded to an email. And am I the only person who went up as a child in my bedroom and voluntarily memorized the names of amusement parks and their coasters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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