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Do You Ever Visit Theme Parks Alone?

Have you ever visited a theme park on your own?

  • No, never.

    Votes: 10 21.3%

  • Yes, on occasion.

    Votes: 33 70.2%

  • It's the only way!

    Votes: 4 8.5%
  • Total voters
    47
Howie

Howie

Donkey in a hat
This question should separate the casual enthusiasts from the hardcore, uber-goons.

You see for many people, going to a theme park by yourself would be unthinkable. It's a social thing, sumat to do with your family or your mates, the interaction, the sharing of experiences, the post-ride discussions etc..

And yet for others, it's all about the ride hardware itself, the nuts & bolts, the thrill of the ride, and bollox to whoever is sat next to them.

So which are you? Solo or groupie? And why?

Me? I think I'm a little bit of both. A few years back I had a Merlin annual pass, and being a self employed gardener meant that it was quite easy to bunk off work for the afternoon and sneak off to Alton for a couple of cheeky rides on Nemmie. Which I did... more than once, but to be honest I never really enjoyed myself when I got there. Felt a bit self-conscious, y'know? A bit ... what's the word?
Sad. That's it.
It's my local park, it's not like I'll never have the chance to come back. And I was constantly on the lookout in case I bumped into someone I know, and then having to explain to them why I'm such a saddo.

However, suppose you're 1000 miles away from home, you've got a spare day to yourself and there's a major theme park on your doorstep. Now that's different!
3 years ago I found myself in that predicament while visiting friends in Toronto. At the time, Leviathan had only been open for about 2 weeks. There was just no way I was gonna miss out on that, so off I toddled. And you know what? I had an absolute whale of a time! One of my best park days ever.
It was a Tuesday in May, lines were virtually non-existant, 16 coaster creds to collect and the freedom to ride what I liked, when I liked, as many times as I liked, with as many fag-breaks as I liked. Heaven! I was like a pig in ****, a kid in a candy store, a paedo in a paddling pool - you name it! And all without the worry of bumping into one of your neighbours. Bonus!

So that's my stance: Home park = group visits only.
Worldwide adventuring = solo is the way!

Discuss...
 
I visit alone regularly due to not having any fellow goons nearby. I just felt I would never get anywhere without visiting alone. The first few times I was a bit lonely, but I got used to it and now I enjoy it. I still highly prefer visiting with others (preferably goons) and I take any chance of visiting parks with company, but if there's nobody to join I wouldn't let that stop me.

That said, there are some advantages of visiting alone. More freedom, and you can pay more attention to the park and the rides without getting distracted. You can sometimes also have wonderfully random convos with strangers on rides.

Still, my preference is visiting with others, despite visiting parks alone more often. I only do day trips alone though, never done a big trip alone as I would get too lonely then. I need someone to goon out to about fab coasters :p
 
I visit them alone also because my friends don't like planning stuff last minute. I just end up driving to random parks alone. However if I go on a big road trip I usually go with friends.
 
Nobody can stand being around me, so it's solo baby! :p

On a more serious note - I enjoy going to parks with friends, but I also love going on my own. I like to "Do Work", as Snoo would say and while it's nice to have someone take photos while I film, I feel like I'm always holding them back from doing what they really want - namely re-riding coasters all day and night. For me it's just mostly one and done for a POV, with the rest of the day consumed by taking photos and filming off-ride videos. Doing just one of them can literally take a hour or more, so imagine a park full of thrill rides. Anyone hanging with me will get bored to death just waiting for that train to come around to get that shot from this angle and then again from that angle, repeated over and over again. I don't mind it because I love what I do, but for others it's just so damn tedious and I don't want to spoil their day.
I guess I've also gotten used to it because I will often spend 6-8 weeks throughout the summer on my own traveling from country to country or state to state, going where I want and doing what I want when I want. No fuss, no muss. I've always imagined Lord Morton is very much like me in this aspect.
Strangely enough, I also never get lonely. I know the wife, the kid and all my friends are waiting back home for me and I'm going to have a blast with them when I return. I also get to spend a great deal of time with friends in the "coaster scene" (for lack of a better term) at parks during the spring attending media days and after a few months of hanging out riding all the new rides with them, it's nice to be off on my own again.
Another thing that helps is that I'm often traveling to parks along side my job as a football/soccer reporter. I get to hang out with all of my colleague friends in fun/exotic cities and countries, while also slipping off on my own to nearby parks when there's no games, practices or press conferences I have to cover and then hooking up with everyone at a restaurant or bar that evening and talking about the parks and coasters I went to or on that day. They all have a genuine interest in what I do with CoasterForce and we talk about it almost as much as we do football, women, drinking, drugs, etc. I've also imagined Sue to be very much like me in this aspect, although I'm not sure how much she discusses football, women, drinking, drugs, etc. with her work colleagues after a solo day in a park. :wink:
So yeah, call me a uber-goon, as Howie put it, but I'll pretty much take solo over company every time. The only exception is Ian, who just gets me and what I'm about. I can spend weeks going to parks as easily and enjoyably with him as I can on my own.
 
Pink Panther said:
I don't have any friends so I always visit alone :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. Well, I have friends, but we're too nerdy to have group outings.

Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk
 
It depends, really. I prefer not to visit parks alone, but if there's a need to get new creds, I'm more than willing to get to a nearby new park by myself. That means, as Howie has said in his post, if I'm a thousand km from home and have time to visit a new park, I'd deffo do it, even if it has to be by myself (I did that, visiting Friheden and Prater during spare time on our school trips and Duinrell last year, when I was in Netherlands). But if there's an option, I'd always prefer to go with family/friends. I can't really comment on the home park thing, since I don't have any home parks to just go there and have fun, but I probably won't go back to a park that has added nothing since my previous visit on my personal initiation... :)
 
I did used to alot. mainly as most my friends never wanted to go. I enjoyed going alone as I could enjoy the rides and get the pics/vids I wanted. Plus i did enjoy finding new places near by. ie cafes and the odd cheep arcades
 
I do not. Even in the peak of my goon, I went alone only went once or twice. I've always felt this hobby should be experienced with your family and/or friends. Plus I'm a very interaction oriented person, so being alone while visiting anywhere is just not part of how I like to operate to be honest.

ECG said:
On a more serious note - I enjoy going to parks with friends, but I also love going on my own. I like to "Do Work", as Snoo would say and while it's nice to have someone take photos while I film, I feel like I'm always holding them back from doing what they really want - namely re-riding coasters all day and night.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with doing work. ;)
 
Local parks here in the UK I do on my tod quite a lot, I've happily popped into a few parks in the past year or so. Going abroad is generally the opposite though. I'd much rather experience a good new park with family or friends. I will do it if needs must (like holiday park last year) but I find a group abroad to be much more fun.
 
The BEST part of going to theme parks for me is doing it with friends. I have been to a few parks alone while traveling by myself, but on the whole do not look to visit without some compadres.
 
I've never been alone but that's not to say I never would. There was a time when I went to Phantasialand on a school trip and my group kept skipping all the good rides (wimps), so I escaped and did everything on my own. Totally broke the rule of sticking together but it was worth it for one the best parks in the world.

One of the best things about going to a park in a group is not having to hug someone you don't know in a log flume boat.
 
Only if it was between that and not going at all. I have never been alone I don't think but if I was in a location briefly and had the chance to go myself and no time to wait for someone to visit me then, yes I would. I visited Edinburgh zoo whilst on a placement in Scotland by myself.

I put no anyway as I haven't done it yet and would prefer not to have to. If I had an annual pass to somewhere maybe that would change.
 
No, I never have been and I doubt I will much in the future - I'm very much a casual enthusiast in that sense. For me a theme park isn't just about the coasters, it's about the overall experience and I don't think that would be as enjoyable if I was on my own.
 
I would much rather go to a theme park with friends and given that I have so many CFers living pretty locally it is pretty easy to find some pals to go off and find some theme parks to go to. I'm not against visiting theme parks alone though, I've been to Chessington alone before and I'll probably go to Parque de Attraciones de Madrid in a fortnight alone too, it's not my favourite way to do it, but if there is no other way, it'll do!
 
I've done it a few times when I've been travelling solo, or when I've been away with family and nobody else wants to bother. I'd never bother going to like, Alton or somewhere on my own as I'm not a massive fan, but I'd rather do it than not get the creds. I end up spending half the amount of time there and doing half as much as I would if I had company. I just find it dull.
 
Must say, I'm quite surprised by the responses so far. Clearly there's more uber-goons here than I thought.
I wonder if it's something that comes to us all? On a long enough timeline, do we all end up as uber-goons?
Those of you that said you've never visited a park alone, is it only a matter of time before you do?
The path to true goon-hood is a slippery slope. Counting up how many coasters you've ridden is just the start of it. Then you join a goon forum. Before you know it, you've turned into ECG and spend 90% of your free time gooning round theme parks on your own with a Go-pro in one hand and a Q-bot in the other. You've even grown a beard.

Think about it. Every new cred you collect makes you a little bit more of a goon.
Scary ****, man.
 
I couldn't guarantee it, as in if I found myself on a business trip alone and there were parks nearby I would obv go, but generally speaking it's not something I'd plan on.
 
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