Do you listen to the hype?

[Snoo]

When you are going to a new park or riding a new ride, do you read the reviews, listen to the hype, and go in expecting a certain experience or do you go in with a blank slate with an impartial view ready to experience something new?

The biggest example I can think off the top of my head, of course, is Boulder Dash. Way back when in 2007/8, the ride was ridden by a number of people (myself included) who absolutely loved it, most of the time making it their favorite. Meanwhile, a few years later, other members visited and were underwhelmed (while a majority seemingly put it in their top 10). I've always felt a lot of people listened to the reviews, going in expecting their new #1, and came off disappointed.

Personally, for new coasters, I always try to be impartial. I hear good/bad about a ride, but never try to let perception cloud my judgement before I actually experience the place/ride myself. In fact, in a lot of cases, I try to downplay rides that may be good in an effort to truly enjoy the experience. A few coasters which surprised me come to mind, Boardwalk Bullet, Cornball Express, and more recently Wicked Cyclone come to mind. Other rides do have a reputation of being a pretty good ride as well, even if they are not brad new, but even then I try to pick out faults, avoid POV's, and just do what I can to let myself view the ride fresh.

Thoughts?

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

I think it's almost impossible to go into something without at least some expectation. I try my best to go on coasters with a blank slate mindstate, but obviously for things like Boulder Dash, Outlaw Run, etc... It's almost impossible to ignore the hype. I never expect too much though. Usually hype just gets me more excited, but I never really go on anything expecting it to be a number one or something. That's a good way to set yourself up for disappointment.

 

[caffeine_demon]

Its difficult not to. Although i do try and have an open mind..

I can sometimes be surprised by a ride others say is bad, disappointments are quite rare but the main ones I can think of are balder (fun but not a top cosster), egf (which does have its moments in the right seat and bouldet dash(ridden on two visits now and its ok but doesnt seem to give mr that mind blowing ride people say they get

 

[AirtimeFreak]

The thing is pretty much all of us on here will have been following it since day 1, (for a new coaster) viewing pictures of all angles and most probably watching a POV more than once. In a way I think that might detract from the first ride as you can kind of expect what's coming. If you turned up to a park and there was a new ride there which you didn't know about, that could turn out to be a much better experience do you not think?

Saying that I was all over the construction of Shambhala but nothing could have prepared me for what the ride was ACTUALLY like.

Think you have to take any reviews with a pinch of salt as everybody has different tastes, but you can over hype something by reading into it too much

 

[nadroJ]

I try to keep an open mind and there have been instances where people are like 'OMG THIS RIDE SUCKS' and I've been on it and it's been fine and other times where something has been so overhyped the ride has paled in comparison. It's al part of being a forum member surely, to get involved in the hype?

 

[Darren B]

-Boss is supposed to be one of the worst woodies on the planet, it's actually one of the best.

-Grand National is supposed to be amazing, it's actually the worst on the planet.

-Mr Freeze is apparently a fantastic coaster, it's far and away the most disgusting thing I've sat on since Ian's face.

These are of course opinions, however, it shows how drastically something can appeal to one but not to another.

Ultimately hype can go one of two ways and being a forum member, you'll never escape the hype. So embrace it and try and ride with an open mind as much as possible.

 

[Ben]

Boss is terrible, shut up.

I think it's impossible not to listen to hype, but, you just have to get past it and enjoy the ride that you get.

 

[Darren B]

Boss is terrible, shut up.

You're an absolute fanny who can't handle a ounce of pain, so I suggest that it's you who shuts up and stops being a little bitch!

 

[peep]

I try to keep an open mind but sometimes I find it impossible to do so depending on who is around. I also find watching povs before riding ruins the entire experience for me, it allows me to create an idea in my head of how it should ride and that sets it up to either fail or be epic. For example, Helix rode exactly how I thought it would which meant I found it hard to harp on about as it met my expectations and wasn't better or worse. Kinda ruins the initial ride experience for me. People telling me before about what to look out for etc before I've ridden has a similar impact at times.

There are definitely some rides I think back and go "did I hate that because it was hyped up or was it generally rubbish?". I'll never know, but it's also why I like to re-ride, allows me more time to form a better opinion.

 

[ThomVD]

I'm not sure if it's because I've ridden so few coasters, but videos or stories can never really prepare me for what a coaster is actually like. So as a result of that, nearly everything I ride is better than I thought it was going to be. I can't remember a single time I came off disappointed by a major coaster.

 

[Snoo]

I try to keep an open mind and there have been instances where people are like 'OMG THIS RIDE SUCKS' and I've been on it and it's been fine and other times where something has been so overhyped the ride has paled in comparison. It's al part of being a forum member surely, to get involved in the hype?

Of course, you're going to hear and see it, there is no way to avoid it. I guess I was meaning more along the lines of "How do you let hype affect your judgement?"

 

[CookieCoasters]

I take note of hype, but I've learned to trust my own predictions based on what I know of my personal preferences more. I tend to find the initial judgements I make before reading too much into the opinions of others (even if they've actually ridden the ride) are closer to my opinion of the ride once I've been on it. There have been cases where I have let hype cloud my judgement too much and its ended in disappoint, when I should have just 'ignored' it and stuck to my instincts.

The first example of this that comes to mind for me is Skyrush vs. Storm Runner. Before Skyrush was even built, the coaster I found most attractive at Hershey Park was Storm Runner. Even when Skyrush first opened, I still thought Storm Runner would be the better coaster. However, after Skyrush quickly developed a strong reputation, I started to get sucked in by the hype and started to believe Storm Runner was simply part of supporting cast to Skyrush. When I finally got Hershey Park last year, Skyrush disappointed slightly, but Storm Runner went on to exceed even the expectations that I used to have, making it my favourite coaster at the park, as I predicted before listening to the hype of Skyrush a little too much. This and a few other similar occasions, mean I value the knowledge I have of my coaster preferences much more than overall hype. I'm not saying that I always get it spot on. There are many coasters that I like a lot more than I expected to and several that I didn't like as much as I expected.

Obviously though, hype is often justified and no matter how hard I try to keep a completely open mind, I know it will at least have some effect on my expectations.

In fact, in a lot of cases, I try to downplay rides that may be good in an effort to truly enjoy the experience.

I do this as well, often out of fear of being disappointed. I'll often try and pick out all the potential negatives and make sure I am aware of them before I ride a major coaster. Not because I am being pessimistic, but because I'd much rather be pleasantly surprised than anything else.

 

[Hyde]

The best way I cut through the hype is to simply focus on a simple objective - the ride experience is in the eye of the beholder. And even then, one rider to the next will give different reviews on ride design (Thanks for the Boss example guys ).

All of which is to say, everyone can speculate, postulate, commiserate, collaborate, and guesstimate - but it is all sheer and utter conjecture at the end of the day, with no real teeth. Only through riding the ride can a real experience be had, and up until that point, it is all a matter of who has the best guess.

By holding onto this one notion, I feel I can wade through pages and pages of anticipation and speculation of a ride, knowing that real judgement will come once I actually board it. Passing judgement before this simply leads to a world of disappointment.

 

[Jordanovichy]

I like to hear other people's opinions of a ride and of a park but no matter what they say I will always go into riding it or visiting it with as much of an open mind as possible. No matter the **** I get for liking Air I'll always stick to my opinion unless it genuinely changes for example. My opinions are my own, nobody will change that!

 

[Jarrett]

I've always been 100% my own person and my opinions on coasters follow this trend. You can tell just by looking at my top ten that I find some opinions credible, some not. My favorite steel is one that gets a ton of hate for being "lame" (though I've actually met a lot more American enthusiasts lately that have it really high in their top tens as well), I have two wing coasters in there, and some coasters that I believe deserve the hype they get. My preferences are 100% my opinions on the matter and while I'll listen to opinions to get information when discussing coasters I haven't ridden, I won't genuinely form an opinion on a ride until I've ridden it. And then it becomes all what I think.

 

[tomahawk]

I listen, but I don't let it have an effect. I knew halfway through Voyage it was my 1, and then when I rode NTG, I had trouble justifying it as 1 simply because I had hyped Voyage for so long.

My problem is even if something is better, I won't move it due to legacy. Or I wait to ride my original 1 again and compare. X2 has always been the standard I compare everything to. Hell, I had Prowler as my one for a while because it simply blew me away on my first ride, I was shocked. Then I rode X2 again and it fell back, but NTG is holding another RMC'S place I think. Twisted Colossus and Outlaw Run may be in line this season, so I guess you can say I am listening to the hype on those.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

^ I hated taking Voyage from my number one. It was painful and it was my number one for soo long!

I think the hype leads me to actually seek out or go out of my way for those creds that are held highly, but it doesn't effect my ranking of it.

 

[Hyde]

^ Is that why it's still listed as your #1 in your sig? :wink:

I give kudos to Ben as a side note for the notion of doing top steel and top wood - wanted to copy it as well!

The biggest hype letdown I ever had was with Dueling Dragons. I was headed into the ride with very large expectations of force and layout, but was overall underwhelmed by the shortness of the ride. That was a definite learning moment to take the hype, but then tone it down so as to not create unachievable expectations. I think Rougarou suffered this to an extent with some riders for instance, who expected it to be a complete departure from how Mantis rode.

 

[njn63]

I have been super busy the last couple months and had no time to research the rides at BGW. I think I enjoyed the park/rides a lot more going in with almost 0 expectations and not seeing the POVs beforehand.

It's easy to say you're your own person and other's opinions do not influence you but that is pretty much impossible.

 

[toofpikk]

Personally I talk to a lot of enthusiasts and I find it hard to escape hype about rides. What I do try and avoid is POV's, facts about it and general ride statistics and elements, so the whole thing is a new experience. I like to listen to peoples opinions about rides so I can compare mine to them, however I don't like it (in most circumstances) when the ride is spoilt.
(although I don't mind telling others what happens in rides ^_^)