So I was thinking of a few things, and I was wondering as a sort of debate: Which group of people that attend parks appreas to be more of a pain for park employees/management, enthusiasts or the general public?

Before you answer, take into the following considerations.

Please note that I am using generalizations/stereotypes in this instance....sorry if it makes you upset.

Why the General Public may be more of a pain:
1. Uneducated about restraints and the way some coaster trains work: Ever see the one person who is the last in the train after everyone has exited, forgetting that in order to get out of some trains you need to push down...then pull up...not just...pull up.

2. Ignorant to Directions/Rules: I've seen people try to bring some rediculous things on board, and I can't even being to tell you some of the things. They just don't pay attention to the rules.

3. Rumors/Gossip: If something on the coaster goes wrong, the GP tends to immediatley jump to conclusions that are far worse than they actually appear. That not only sucks to hear the BS they spit out, but the crap they spread to their friends to dumb down the image of the park.

Why coaster enthusiasts might be a pain:

1. Know-it-alls: If something isn't right, and is said by a park operator about the persons operating ride, it is the coaster enthuiasts annoying duty to inform them of the right info. Should operators know their stuff? Only what they need for their job, not everyone that works on a ride does it out of sheer passion.

2. POV Stuff: If you have a POV shot on that one coaster thats hard to get a camera sneaked on, then you get bonus points on the internet. What does that lead to? Being just as weak as the GP, and ignoring the rules and sneaking your camera/camcorder on board. Its against the rules...no more better than say, the general public.

3. Demanding? I tossed this in as a sort of questionable item, because to me the GP tends to take things a lot easier if something doesn't go quite right, however, thats maybe because I don't hear about it if they went to CP and MF was down, or TTD was down. This is a iffy topic, so I might leave it alone. To me it seems like they "deserve" special treatment cause they are higher knowing than everyone else.

Again, I want to stress that I'm not targeting anyone specifically, and I know that I am using general stereotypes, I would however, just like to get a discussion going. If you really take a few moments to get your thoughts together, you'll really understand that this is quite a interesting debate.

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Kyle L - Thrillnetwork Speedzone Lead

I would have to say, in working on a ride, the GP is more annoying. You encounter GPs 99% of the time. The only time enthusiasts were really annoying was for enthusiast/ACE conventions. When traveling with a group of people with the same opinions, it makes it much easier and more tempting to speak your mind. Otherwise, its probably usually hard to tell who is an "enthusiast" and who is a "casual coaster rider", because the enthusiasts keep quiet amongst regulars.

So, since the "general public" (in terms of how much they know about coasters/parks) is like 99% of what you encounter in parks, they are definately more of a pain.

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I have to agree with Darren that I was always more frustrated with the General Public.

3. Coaster Enthusiasts- This is hard for me to judge because I'm both an employee and an enthusiasts, so my opinion could differ from most nonenthusiast employee way of thinking. Coaster enthusiasts that I see are usually welcomed. I always enjoyed seeing the different shirts, (especially Cedar Point shirts, which I loved mocking at Six Flags.) This in a way makes coaster enthusiasts easy to identify, whether shirts, cameras, or overheard conversations. This is much easier to handle because you can identify the potential threat and deal with it, while with the General Public, it could be anyone that's about to screw up or give you a hard time.
1. Know-it-alls: I found they weren't too bad with this one. Usually all I got was some trivia questions about the ride, which I more enjoyed. Sometimes they would comment on the cleaning needed, but it never bothered me because I knew it was true.
2. POVs: On Batman, a lot of them tried to pull it off. But like I said, I could easily identify them and have them remove their camera when I was checking their restraints. "Sir, unfortunately due to copyright laws, you are unable to have possession of your camera during your ride experience." Or something like that usually convienced them to cough it up. They always gave themselves away on Batman when you see a bright flash in the dark, dark station.
3. Demanding: Somewhat I suppose. There really is limits to what you can ask for. Maybe how tight you want your restraint or putting possessions on the side, but the GP was just as bad. They usually did carry themselves as VIPs, but I usually just played along hoping if they wrote a Trip Report, they give my ride or crew a good rating.

2. General Public
Blah. So much frustration day-in and day-out. You would never know who was about to make your job a little harder for that day. Out of nowhere you would get, parents mad their child isn't tall enough, guests mad because they are too large to ride, guests that couldn't get refunds for their FlashPasses, guests who linejump, guests who complain about linejumpers, guests who would see 4 people in front of them put their stuff away and assume they just decided not to ride and take their seats creating chaos, guests who stole seats criss-crossing rows, guests who couldn't figure out why they had 6 people and they're only 4 seats; "Hey what's going on here?"~~~"Well Sir, the problem is that due to a law of mathematics, 6 is not equal to 4, you're going to have to wait.", guests who ruined your capacity because they can't decide if they want to ride or not, guests who puked, guests with items they couldn't ride with but insisted they could, guests who broke the on-ride rules like unbuckling the seatbelt, guests who had to wait for a train to let on handicapp people, guests who knew you were racist because you picked them over someone of your own race, guests that lost their articles and found you responsible, handicapp guests that had to wait their 30mins between rides, guests that marathoned, guests that wouldn't get out of the station, guests that wouldn't pick a row and block the station entrance, guests that complained about the heat, cold, or rain, guests that complain the ride was broke-down, guests that tried to get on the ride with gum, guest that drew graffiti, guests that littered, guests that sat on the silver handrails, guests that would run from the exit into the station when we had a train moving, guests that complained they wanted to get into empty seats after the load gates had been closed, and probably a bunch more I can't think of right now.
1. Uneducated: Very, but it pretty much is half your job to educate them. 60% of people can't unbuckle their seatbelt on an inverted B&M by the time their restraint pops up, and of those, only half can unbuckle it themselves with 10 seconds of the restraint popping. But Loading and Unloading are equally important to a ride op and that it's done safely, because we are to assume that all GP are idiots.
2. Ignorant to Directions/Rules: Happens. Once every 5 cycles on Whirligig my swing ride, I'd have to yell a guests to stop twisting in their swing or holding on to other people. Unbuckling seatbelts wasn't too bad, because most GP are truly afraid for their safety, unlike enthusiasts.
3. Rumors/Gossip: Haha, didn't bother me too much. If some GP said "This really bad thing happened on Superman." I'd ask them "What, tell me." just to hear their story. I usually didn't believe it though unless based on my employee knowledge it was something that I could see as plausible.

1. Other Employees
The WORST of the worst. Personnally nothing bothered me more than fellow employee riding your ride. You can't easily spot them until they speak to you. They know the rules and things they can do, that they can get away with. Such as this scenerio...
You're a ride op at front load and you clear the operator to dispatch the train. As the train is leaving that station, a small boy in an outside row smiles at you and sticks his hand out for a high-five. Not wanting to insult the small boy or ruin his ride, you innocently slap his hand as the train goes by. As the next train enters the station, a guy behind you in the gates taps your shoulder and says, "You know you shouldn't do that, it's a safety concern." You thinking it's just some smart-ass GP tell him, "Sir, it's are responsiblity to maintain a friendly atmosphere here at Six Flags." To which they respond, "Well it says in our park policies that it's not allowed." And you know it true so you can't argue back, so the guy struts around you like he's this know-it-all that's a better employee than you.
This situation and similar ones happened occasionally at our ride and it was by far the most aggravating. Also some employees would tell you how to run your ride. "Don't stack the trains.", "You guys need to pick up your pace.", "The girl in row 3 needs to be height checked.", "The employee at Enable needs to tuck his shirt in more.", "I know your supervisor!" And I could go on, and on. They were worst than the GP, atleast the GP's problems were unintention or understandable for the situation. But all other employees want to do is find flaws in your performance and criticize them.

Ah, I feel a little better after writing all that.

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'08, '07 Area Supervisor Merchandise, Cedar Point, "18/20 Go"
'08 Area Supervisor Merchandise, Six Flags Over Texas, "366 Go",
'06 Batman:TR Ride Op, SFGAm '05 Front Desk, Disney's BoardWalk Hotel,
'06,'05 TL, '04 Merchandise, CP, Coaster Count: 258

I'd say the General Public as well. Same reasons as posted above.

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2008 Carolina Panthers: 9-3 / Next Game: Vs. Tampa Bay (MNF)
Carolina Tarheels: 7-0 / Charlotte Bobcats: 5-11
New Orleans Hornets: 9-6

I am the same with this one Gp ticks me off sometimes but i would like to note on a few occurences i have had a few ace members be very demanding towards my then ride Top Gun. I remember it like it was yesterday Top Gun at Carowinds had ERT but it was too cold to run the ride an managers and i all decided it was just to cold for us to run (Top Gun doesnt like cold) anyways low and behold a ace member shows up ready to ride finding out we werent open he went off saying the rides at Kings Island run in the cold (I really dont care who runs in the cold but that ride wasnt going to) he started to demand my managers saying this is pathetic blah blah blah. A few weeks later he came back to ride it was a saturday and clay aiken was in concert so imagine the crowd it was busy, he came to ride he rode in the first row twice in the row the 2nd time only had 3 people now after that he demanded he got to ride as many times as he wanted because he was ace. Now i am an enthusiast and you tick me off i can either be your friend or enemy and at that time i became his enemy and said you dont get any special privelege (Now if he didnt tick me off i wouldnt have cared but after that its my control). But as i said before the gp can be more annoying but there are still some enthusiasts that will just take it to far.

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http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/9...ani20075cj.gif

Enthusiasts are only a pain in the ass in ride specific situations. For instance, working any reputable air-time delivering wood coaster with PTC's with ratcheting lap bars is just begging for trouble when a hardcore enthusiast rides. He will try to get away with a lot of room under the bar, he has a lot of good tricks (jamming the knee to the outside, phantom chairing), and unless you know all the tricks associated with a PTC ratcheting lap bar, you may not be doing your job.

The GP are just morons when they enter the gates. The effect on the brain when the majority of people come to a park is like they are slightly medicated. They do not throw caution to the wind, and they do not expect to have to do so. As a ride operator, YOU MUST BE A GUEST'S EYES, EARS, AND LOGIC. They do not see to place dangerous loose articles on the side before boarding, they do not hear the safety spiels, and they do not understand the inherent danger of retrieving a cell phone from a fenced off restricted area. Seeing to it that these tasks are fulfilled is the definition of the job.

I really wish guests would be more courteous to us as we do our jobs. I wish they would not trash our queue line. i wish they would respect the other guests in the park. Like i said, it's as if the guests are on some kind of drug. The job is frustrating because I must assume that each every person I interact with is the dumbest, common-sense-ridden fellow I've ever met; and I must treat him or her with the same respect I'd show toward my parents.

Kids are in fact the easiest to deal with. They are so happy to be at the park and they listen to what you say, as long as you're friendly. And if a little kid starts screaming and cryinf for no reason and the ride must be stopped, the parents take care of all that. Jackpot, the adults actually show responsibility when they have young kids. Well in most cases, they do, I very well could play the race card here and get away with it because i have solid objective evidence.

But in other cases the guests aren't the problem. Some employees just don't know how to be accountable, and that is the toughest thing to deal with when you are trying to make yourself and your ride look good.
And yet even in the most trying situations, some employees manage to rally a diverse crew into a record breaking ride team.

The worst guests overall:

1. Some parents, who have kids that are 47" tall or 53" tall
2. Guests that are very troubled by other guests who smoke in line

Sandusky public, I can tame you.
Chicago/Milwaukee folks, you nearly broke my will.

Oh dear, and that guy saying he has speicial privileges, wow that is a direct violation of ACE by laws. I would have asked to see his card, denied him the ride and then contacted his regional rep later that day. Really leaves a bad taste in your mouth when you get back from a coaster trip and find out you're not an ACE anymore.

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Thank you for riding Reaper! Drop Ride to Doom, and remember to desecrate a sanctuary today.

I have to be careful, else I be banned for life....

I cannot tolerate "gangs". Yes, those with the "we all wear the same color" and those with "matching t-shirts" that are loud, obnoxious, disrespectful, etc.

Of course, I am a bit older and that kind of stuff bothers me. Not that we have to wear a 3-piece suit to an amusement park!

Other than than, I enjoy watching all God's people - face it, they're interesting!

TA2kx I believe in most parks it is against the park rules to smoke in line and since we are hearded like cattle through most que's I prefer not to have to inhale someone elses smoke. Hank I agree, gang type people need to be kept out of the park as much as possible. When I was at Mt Olympus I actually saw one guy pull out a gun and point it at his friend. I don't know if it was real but it was realistic, I told the ride op after they left and he said "those people from Chicago bring them here all the time" I can't believe a park would allow that but I saw it for myself...

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CeDaRPoInTzTeR wins!

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I appreciate having GPs in line becasue without them i'd be bored. I love listening to their various funny unrealistic stories about the train stopping on inversions (on a non-inverting coaster), derailment, multiple ejections, etc, etc...

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SROS at SFNE puts me into this half-Zen, half-excitement mood that makes me close my eyes and smile at the top of every hill as if I were dreaming that I was in heaven. It's not heaven, but it's pretty close.

Which group of guests is more of a pain for parks?

Answering that question... I'd say park employees simply because they lose more money for the company than the guests ever will.

That doesnt make any sense... what do you mean by that?

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I think their trying to say that the parks have to pay the emplyees whereas the guests pay to get in. Which doesn't make sense, I understand it from a profit and business perspective, but I've never heard of a case where an employee ever sued the park. Which, unfortunately, happens quite often with guests who were on accidents and take quite a bit of money from the park.

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Simplicity Counts MacBook

No, I'm talking about losses from within. Be it stealing, accidents, whatever...

^^I agree with that! It is very entertaining, one time there was a long line in the Vortex at Carowinds and there were some teens, about 14 infront of us. They were saying that they heard the train stopped in the midloop (right after the drop hill), and was hanging there, that isn't even possible. Because it's right after the first high drop hill.

I also heard this about the "Demon" at Six Flags Great America. That is stopped in mid-loop and was hanging there. It is pretty funny to hear people actually believe this.

When we were in the line for "Space Mountain," there was a rumor going around in the line that someone's ear got chopped off, my friend and I were laughing so hard, because it wasn't true. Just people believe bizzar things while in que lines. It is funny.