Being a Teen Ride Enthusiast?

[TyRush]

Yes I have gotten emails back from Mr Bachman but he takes forever! Im sure he is a busy man

 

And the parks PR always usually emails back to get feedback on your visit

[the ghost]

I got occasionally(playfully) teased by my closer friends about my coaster(and Disney) obsessions. Honestly I feel like forums like these make things way better for enthusiasts cause I do like reading about and discussing rides and attractions or even the industry, although I am now a bit more of a Disney enthusiast than a coaster enthusiast, but that's not to say that I can't speak/don't love roller coasters! Honestly most people like roller coasters... just there are certain people(people like us) that like many aspects about roller coasters, or theme parks, or coaster history or things like that... no nerdier than computers or anything like that when you break it down, just a cool hobby.

[Jerrykoala2112]

I really haven't been outcast-ed as being the weird kid obsessed with rides, a lot of my friends actually think it's interesting that I like roller coasters so much. Being only 10 minutes away from Six Flags Great America, my friends always invite me to go with them and enjoy my presence. But everyone knows that they are GP, which is why joining TPR, I've met some great coaster friends to hang out with at the park.

 

The only downside of being a teen enthusiast is Facebook. Some people are afraid to show that they love coasters on Facebook,while other's won't stop posting about it and I can see why non-enthusiasts might find it annoying.

[ajfelice]

As a teenager, my coaster hobby was pretty covered up. I was already bullied quite a bit growing up, so I kept pretty much to myself throughout my teen years. I never really showed off much knowledge about coasters in social situations at all. There was the occasional paper or report that was related to the industry, but people didn't know me as the "coaster nerd" by any means. If coasters were brought up in social conversations with others, I mainly just kept the topic in "GP" terms, and never really interjected with statistics, details, or correcting others. Probably the only social hint that I was well rehearsed in my park knowledge came on my Senior Class Trip to Cedar Point. Everyone couldn't believe how my friend and I rode so many more coasters than everyone else.

 

Going through college, my true inner coaster nerd came to surface. When I spoke with peers and professors about my career plans, I wasn't afraid to say that I wanted to be in the amusement park industry. Most people I spoke to about this thought it was really interesting and really cool that I was following a personal hobby into a potential career. Seeing how many people were complementing and supporting a career goal like that, I started to be more open about my hobby in the past couple years. Nowadays I'm perfectly okay with embracing my inner enthusiast. Of course, I never push it onto someone else or flood people with knowledge unless they ask about something. I'm still typically a reserved person, as you wouldn't know I'm an enthusiast by my appearance or actions at parks unless you asked me something or started a conversation about coasters.

[I305]

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.

[I305]

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.

[I305]

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.

Same story man.. Have officially considered myself an enthusiast since grade 3. I even did the same as you, where I wrote all my business assignments related to rides/ the amusement industry... Mostly to b&m and Intamin. However, in recent years, I've seemed to tamer enthusiast spirit, like you to protect my social life. In fact, most of my friends don't even know I'm an enthusiast, unless we go to a park or fair, where it comes out (closest park is at least a few hours await, so it rarely happens$). When friends do find out, it's usually positive, and often we get perks because of it, such as free rides or the ops running a ride really intense (above 2 usually happen at the local fair, where the ops respect me for being an enthusiast .. Shout out to World's Finest Shows!.. Best show in Ontario & best ops in the biz!)

 

Actually, speaking of being socially out as, as I've mentioned above, I've wondered just how many of us on here have Aspergers, or some similar condition... It wouldn't surprise me, and with a lot of people I know being diagnosed as teens (and as this thread shows, having many teens on this board), I wouldn't be surprised. (No offense to anyone regarding my last comment... Just sayin)

[tge98]

I'm 14 and only A few people know about my knowledge on roller coasters. Only my close friends know about it because when I bring them to TGE or six flags parks with a bring a friend free ticket. I usually give them a background of the ride when we are in line. Other than that I keep it pretty much covered

[I305]

^Thts awesome that you can just go to avpark like that man... I envy you... Up here in Canada there aren't as many enthusiasts either.

 

& @TyRush, I'm 16yself, & would love to visit HP, as many of the rides there look m, as Alvey would say, "Kick@$$"... Also due to the fact that up here in Canada we mostly have B&M coasters (best intamin coaster would have to be an old Relocated standup in Montreal lol), and HP would be a great place to try out some nice Intamins.

 

PS: I'm terribly sorry for spamming the thread a few posts back... My computer is currently glitching out, and I can't seem to delete them... Mayvmb the mods could help?

[TyRush]

^Yes its awsome living 10mins from Hershey. The 1,2,3 Intamin punch is really awesome to the park. I loved I-305 and its sweet to have a little, but almost as powerful, brother right by me in Skyrush! Thats my go to ride every week.

 

The park still has room to grow as their plans for expansion are underway, and i cant wait to see what Kent has in store for the next coaster! (I think it will be a water coaster)

[I305]

^Yes its awsome living 10mins from Hershey. The 1,2,3 Intamin punch is really awesome to the park. I loved I-305 and its sweet to have a little, but almost as powerful, brother right by me in Skyrush! Thats my go to ride every week.

 

The park still has room to grow as their plans for expansion are underway, and i cant wait to see what Kent has in store for the next coaster! (I think it will be a water coaster)

Ya, that's just awesome living so close to a park man... The closest I can get to is when the carnival sets up behind my house (fairgrounds are like 5 mins away). When the carnival's in town, I'll ride the zipper every day, and usually get the perks mentioned in my previous post.

 

As for Hershey having room to expand, that's something all the big parks here in Canada don't have... Kinda ironic considering that we've got so much open space in this country lol hahaha... Butbya, either the parks are on islands, indoors, or surrounded by buildings in the city (at least our big parks have those problems).

 

Oh, and as for i305, it is my username, but sadly I haven't been able to ride it... I REALLY want to though, and judging by how awesome the Intamin free fall tower we have in Canada is (best Intamin we've got lol). I can only imagine what the good intamin coasters like I305 and sky rush hav in store. I have, however, rode L306 (Levuathan), and can say that was great. You been up to Canada to ride anything?

[TyRush]

Sadly no coasters in Canada but i have been to Niagara Falls in like 07 for hockey and i rode the little S&S "power tower" that was by the big ferris wheel! Hoping to get to Wonderland one day!

[I305]

^That actually wasn't an S&S tower.. It was a Zamperla Z force I believe.

 

But ya, if you wanna talk more, feel free to PM me.

[I305KD]

I'm actually going into 9th grade and I don't really talk about coasters at school that much. Although, there is another person in my school that is into roller coasters like I am. We've talked about coasters but he's really the only person I talk to about them. I usually talk about sports with my friends at school. So, it hasn't been bad for me.

[I305]

^ Hey, one other enthusiast is GREAT! . Most of us aren't rven lucky enough to have anybody to talk to in school about rides, at least to my knowledge. Like I asked TyRush before, has anybody been, or is anyone planning to, come to Canada to ride anything?

[I305KD]

^ I've actually been trying to convince my parents to drive up to Canada's Wonderland. They don't really like the idea though. Also, I went on a trip to Montreal and Quebec in April and of course, La Ronde was closed.

[I305]

Well, I'm trying to get to la ronde very soon, and will make sure to go to La Rinde, and if I get there, I will make sure to post a TR plus reviews of motive rides.

 

As for Wonderland, tell your parents we've got the

*ONLY B&M GIGA IN THE WORLD!*

 

L306 Canada's I305

 

if u wanna talk some more, just PM me.

[cmullin]

I'm a 13 year old enthusiast and it sucks because none of my friends like roller coasters. It is always just me and my mom at the parks together. We actually just finished a trip to KI, Cedar Point, and Canada's Wonderland. All of the parks rocked! I loved them all. I feel pretty lucky because my mom and I try to go to a new amusement park every year, so my count is up to 155, and I'll have 160 at the end of the summer. I305 if you want to talk Canada's Wonderland with me feel free.

[I305]

^Hey, even tho u go with your mom now, I'm sure you'll find someone who likes rides to go with, and it's still awesome how many parks you've been to by 12.. Give it some time man, you've got a long way to go.

 

Now, I had to ask, how was Canada's Wonderland.. U like L306?

[cmullin]

I loved it! Although it was a bit painful because it was rainy and cold the second day we were there, and the first was Coasting for Kids, so I was riding Behemoth all day, I was awesome! Especially because the fog was so low it covered the bottom of the first drop. I also loved the first speed hill. We only stayed a few hours that day, but we rode it 15 times cause every single ride in the park was a walk-on except Thunder Run.

[I305]

^ that sounds awesome... But normally it's not that dead.. On nice days, everyone goes there, and it gets SUPER crowded. Probably because unlike in the states, parks are more spread out, and people just go to the closest one.

 

Anyway, if you wanna talk more, just PM me

[edh]

When I was in HS I always liked going on roller coasters and visiting new parks, but never spend long huge conversations about it. I love riding coasters, and going to parks but if I ever wanted to have conversations about it I would go on a message board. I've never felt the need talk about it with friends unless I am trying to convince them to go with me to a park for a road trip. Today I have a full time job and have made other priorities over amusement parks. Although now I found a way to collect frequent flyer miles, so my new hobby has been that so I can travel to new places and go to parks on other countries. Already have 300K Skymiles.

[Midgetman82]

Getting to visit amusement parks that interest me is a bit of a difficult part when your dad wants to save money, and your mom isn't always physically capable of helping take you there; as badly as she might want to. Driving to places like Holiday World an hour away for me is also a bit difficult since my parents won't let me go alone, and I can't find anyone I know who's willing to travel with me there.

 

I also know nobody else who's into roller coasters in the slightest bit because some friends think most wooden roller coasters "don't have under-wheels to keep the coaster from flying off the track", they think amusement parks are for kids only, or they just don't care. So I usually just sit around and wait until I can gather the courage to ask my dad if he can take me to a park (or, like recently, an event), and see if he can or can't/will or won't.

 

Someday, I hope to do what ^"edh" is doing, and be able to travel while collecting skymiles.

[dropzonefan]

Well, it was never an issue for me.. Actually, a lot of my friends think it's cool, & some of them who are into photography & making vids have offered tohelp me with some montages/filming in the future when the fair comes to our town or if we go to a park soon.

[SoCalCoasters]

I've never really had an issues with being a teenager and enjoying theme parks. In fact, most of the time I usually end up helping people plan trips and telling them about all the new and upcoming attractions.

 

Since I've entered high school I've gone away from most of the "enthusiast" components and instead focused on making my passion for theme parks into a viable career.

 

This may seem a bit odd, but throughout most of these enthusiast communities I haven't found much in the way of "here's some viable ways for you to land a job in your field of interest". In fact, even on this site, the few times I remember asking for advice on the subject I was treated to some rather unbecoming, crass, and rude responses, dismissing my genuine curiosity entirely.

 

My advice for anyone who's looking to turn their passion for theme parks into a career is to briefly step back from it all and ask yourself what you want to do, and how you could possibly pursue a career in it. Look outside the enthusiast realm/scope and you'll be surprised how many doors are open for anyone!

 

This isn't to say that the communities are bad, and on the contrary they fill a very much needed niche, but for younger enthusiasts like those in this thread who may want to pursue careers in the field, stuff like this is very good to know.