Park Pet Peeves

[gerstlaueringvar]

Playing anything about Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift makes me want too get out of the park! Also, Gangnum Style makes me want to put the whole park in Hades360!

[YoshiFan]

That reminds me of last season when I would hear One Direction multiple times per trip to Great Adventure. Then when it wasn't being played there were ride ops singing the song and other times while on coasters a group of girls would randomly start singing the same song. Although it wasn't just at parks, that song couldn't be avoided anywhere, even in the casino I would hear it being played where no one under 21 can even enter the building.

[djcoastermark]

On the issue of smoking areas at parks. I am very mindful of smoking areas as I do smoke. However, on a trip to Sea World last month, I was in a clearly marked smoking area that was down a dead ended path for smoking, when a grotesquelly oversized person in a motorized scooter, and friend in tow with funnel cakes, plopped down in the middle of the smoking area and complained loudly about all the horrible cig smoke the had to encounter while eating. (They never did smoke by the way) That to me is just as rude. I just shook my head.

[Woodie Warrior]

I have to agree with the music comments. It's not about how horrible the songs are, what makes me annoyed is how many times you have to listen to them in one day.

[Blue Turbo]

^They are probably just like radio stations where they have a list of songs that they are allowed to play and have to continually repeat that list

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

^That's almost guaranteed.

[King of Ka]

One which has been bugging me recently is people who don't understand that being closer to the coaster train doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get on the ride faster. This happens to me all the time in crowded stations: every row line is overflowing and running into each other and generally a mess, so I wait at the entrance of the station to let the ride to cycle once and clear things up. Inevitably though, at least one group of impatient people will push their way past me, so that they can go stand in a line that would have still been there if they had just waited 30 seconds.

 

Boulder Dash probably has this problem the worst: the queue gets split into front and back halves of the train a bit outside the station, and the front line almost always extends up to or past the merge point. Even if the back line is coming out of the station and is nearly as long as the front line, people seem to have no problem walking past four or five groups near the split to get into it. And for what? Genuinely nothing, there is no gain to be had by doing it.

 

It's like a double whammy of obnoxiousness: it's inconsiderate AND it's stupid. Gah!

[BlahBlahson]

My #1 pet peeve is people who cannot account for others in space around them. Reversing directions without looking, stopping in the middle of the walkways instead of the side, blocking the entrance to a ride with their greeter questions, swinging their backpacks wildly, taking up extra space on stadium bleachers, lengthening food lines because they can't anticipate the next step in the process, going through a walkthrough attraction at half-speed...the list goes on.

 

Hundreds of interactions per day with these people is why some parks feel so crowded, sometimes not for space or capacity. Just look at Japan.

[VF15]

-People that scream before the coaster even leaves the station. It means it's going be even worse when the ride starts.

-Rain/weather shutting down rides. Yeah, it's uncontrollable, but still frustrating.

-Ride ops stapling me. It's uncomfortable, and it kills airtime.

-Couples having PDAs in line. No one wants to look at that.

-One-train operation. That is all.

[BugEyed]

Being required to leave my driver's license at the Flash Pass booth and then having to walk across the park and waiting in line to "borrow" it back every time I want a beer.

[B.A.B]

A few of my pet peeves are people not paying attention to the line moving because they're to busy playing on there phone. Basketballs being bounced by people all over the park, line jumping, and ride ops who make there own rules. Last time I was at Kings Island I was with two other fellow coaster friends and we were in line for Invertigo. Well we got up to the ride op who was assigning people there seats and he told us to wait after we said we have a group of three. He was apparently playing a game where you make every seat on the train full, well he put all three of us as single riders. So afterwards we got off and rode it again, he did it to us again and other groups as well. It really ticked us off, so we told one of the ride ops he cheated and didn't fill up one seat and I guess they believed it. They announced he lost and they switch out positions afterwards. We didn't ride again after that though, anyway later on that day we went in line for The Bat and they were doing the same thing on The Bat as well. It was like putting the full load option on a ride in RCT2 with no one going in line and waiting forever for the train to dispatch. I don't know if it is a thing that ops do there now, but it was annoying.

[Fingers]

One which has been bugging me recently is people who don't understand that being closer to the coaster train doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get on the ride faster. This happens to me all the time in crowded stations: every row line is overflowing and running into each other and generally a mess, so I wait at the entrance of the station to let the ride to cycle once and clear things up. Inevitably though, at least one group of impatient people will push their way past me, so that they can go stand in a line that would have still been there if they had just waited 30 seconds.

 

This happened to me at Hershey last week. We went to storm runner and the station was packed and being a group of three we wanted to be on the same train, so we waited. The people behind us asked where we were going to sit and we told them we were waiting for the station to clear out first. They continued to ask if they could cut in front of us and we told them no. So they ended up forcefully pushing us aside so they could get in line for the front seat. The next person was complaining too and threatened to call security because we wouldn't pack into the station when there was at least a three train wait per row. We couldn't help but laugh at him, but we got tired of dealing with stupid people so we finally herded into the cattle barn, oops in mean station. The employees were nice though when we told them about the first group that line jumped and forcefully moved us aside they went over and talked to them. Not sure what was the outcome, but it was nice seeing something being done about rude guests.

[TunaSled]

We actually saw a couple teens get ejected for line jumping at Volcano last summer. Oh, the sweet satisfaction. The "lifeguard chair" was manned at the time, and a second security worker extracted them.

 

At SFGAd three weeks ago, after being blatantly and forcefully pushed past many times, a couple clean looking kids earnestly asked to get by because their parents were "up there". I thought I'd be the good guy, since they asked so politely and seemed honest, so my group sidled to the rail to let them through. Once we got to the switchbacks where we could clearly see them ahead of us, how strange it was that their parents were their same ages. Frustrating. They had their game down pat.

 

My list of peeves must include people who use strollers like icebreaker barges to blast their way through crowds then look at you like you're the dick when they shove their baby into your ankles.

[IrishCasual]

When parents of a child that is not tall enough for a ride say that he will get on, and then be told by the ride operator that he can't ride, and then starts crying. This happened so much to me at Gardaland.

[Generic Name]

- People who cannot have a conversation. Are you really that antisocial? Thankfully this rarely happens to me.

 

- Ride Ops hamming it up when the train departs or arrives at the station. Look, I'm not saying that it should be like getting off an Amtrak train but I'd rather have "Ladies and Gentlemen please remember to stay seated until the restraints go up" (or similar to that) than "WA-HEEEY I HOPE Y'ALL ENJOYED THE RIDE ON (insert ride name here)." It's so fake and it's more annoying than anything.

 

- People saying wooden coasters aren't safe.

 

- Parents not controlling their kids.

 

- Line Jumpers.

 

- Disgusting, unmaintained restrooms.

 

- Not having storage bins at stations. I understand lockers; I'm fine with those, and for certain coasters I can see why bins would not be either necessary or possible. I can understand taking, say, my backpack on certain rides. Note how I say certain; I was shocked to find out that when I rode Rock 'N' Rollercoaster I had to take my backpack aboard. Now, my memory is a bit hazy - this was back in 2005, but I do not recall lockers outside the ride. If they were there, then disregard that (I still think bins should be at every station but that's just me).

[thewesker]

- People saying they'd ride Ride X if it had OTSR and not just the lapbar. If only they knew.

[WallyWorldOrBust]

--People who feel the need to bring huge, heavy luggage and tote it around with them at all times. I got my sandaled-foot ran over a couple of summers ago by some woman who decided to bring a giant rolling suitcase nearly as big as I am (and I'm 5'2") to SF Great America. Just bring the freaking bare essentials!!!!

 

--Rude kids who are old enough to know better. Especially when they jump in front of you to wash their hands in the restroom and then take their sweet time using the air dryers to dry them off.

 

--When you go on a water ride and you look into the water and see just how many expired student IDs or season passes are discarded in the water. Just, wow. You couldn't have chucked that into an actual trash can?

[WallyWorldOrBust]

-Waiting in line behind someone with unbearable B.O.

 

We were behind some frat boys in line on Goliath this year, and I swear one of them let off a silent-but-deadly fart. And it was BAD. It hit maybe a 15-foot radius.

[WallyWorldOrBust]

Gum Walls, those places where people start to put there gum and it snow balls and the park never cleans it off.

OH YEAH, EW. People have been doing that for ages on the rocks on the Demon at SF Great America and IT. IS. GROSS.

[TunaSled]

--Rude kids who are old enough to know better. Especially when they jump in front of you to wash their hands in the restroom and then take their sweet time using the air dryers to dry them off.

 

They may have jumped in front of you but these aren't the rude kids, they washed their grubby paws. Watch how many bypass the sinks entirely, then touch your lap bar, seat belt, hand rail, counter at every food window, change that you'll be given at those windows, every souvenir you've bought... these are the rude ones Please jump in front of me to wash your hands!

[Ape]

My biggest pet peeve involving amusement parks is when the company that owns them will use a commercial featuring others parks coasters. When i see an add for Kings Island and I305 is in it to me that's false advertising and it drives me crazy. I have had this pet peeve since i was young. I would see and advertisement then could not find the ride anywhere at the park leaving me confused and frustrated ( this was when i was like ten years old). A company like Cedar Fair makes enough money they can make individual commercials for each park.

 

My other big pet peeve is when you stay at a hotel near an amusement park (especially the ones owned by the park) and the damn pool closes at ten when the park closes. Leave it open a couple of hours after the park closes so people can actually use it as most of your clientele is coming for the park and from the park.

[alilstronger]

^ I agree with the use of rides in commercials for parks they are not even in.

 

I do not like when parks have dirty ponds or bodies of water. It really does not take much to clean it up.

[DarienLaker]

My park pet peeves are

 

. Lines for rides that last an hour or more

. Wanting to ride a ride and found out that it's gone!

. Litter and overflowing trash cans

. ABC gum walls

. Faded paint on ride exposing rust spots

. Smokers smoking in non designated smoking areas

. Seeing a large empty plot of land in front of the park with nothing

. Overpriced food and drinks

. The money eating claw machine that gives you nothing but an empty wallet

. Broken rides

[A.J.]

Note how I say certain; I was shocked to find out that when I rode Rock 'N' Rollercoaster I had to take my backpack aboard. Now, my memory is a bit hazy - this was back in 2005, but I do not recall fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo outside the ride. If they were there, then disregard that (I still think bins should be at every station but that's just me).

I've come to understand that Disney rarely (if ever) makes an attraction where you CAN'T take your bag along with you. I've never had any problems with that, I've taken my big hulking backpack on Space Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Kali River Rapids and even Expedition Everest, being able to jam it in between my feet each time, and with no discernible damage to anything inside afterward.

 

I can't speak for Rock n' Roller Coaster's policies but remember that part of the ride's story is that there are separate stations for boarding and exiting (the back alley for loading, and then disembarking at the Aerosmith concert), so there's no way to put storage bins on the platform without "breaking character".

 

My biggest pet peeve involving amusement parks is when the company that owns them will use a commercial featuring others parks coasters. When i see an add for Kings Island and I305 is in it to me that's false advertising and it drives me crazy. I have had this pet peeve since i was young. I would see and advertisement then could not find the ride anywhere at the park leaving me confused and frustrated ( this was when i was like ten years old). A company like Cedar Fair makes enough money they can make individual commercials for each park.

Like a lot of things concerning big corporate park, we're really the only ones who will notice. Cedar Fair likes to use generic roller coaster imagery alongside cloned rides in the beginning of the commercial, followed by an abstract representation of the specific park's rides when they show the logo. I personally think that that's a pretty good way to save time when creating and editing the commercials, especially when they likely want to debut them all at once across the chain.

 

But, yes, as a theme park person, that drives me nuts as well.

[viking86]

I can't speak for Rock n' Roller Coaster's policies but remember that part of the ride's story is that there are separate stations for boarding and exiting (the back alley for loading, and then disembarking at the Aerosmith concert), so there's no way to put storage bins on the platform without "breaking character".

 

Yes, you still take everything with you. The seats have pockets in front of them for smaller objects, larger objects like backpacks you put by your feet. The ride doesn't have any negative G-forces, so the risk of anything flying out of the train is extremely small.

 

I cannot recall any rides at WDW where you don't take your belongings with you.