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8/24/2016

From the Mind of the Editor - Why So Serious?

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It's funny how these articles come about, considering we'd never actually wanted to do opinion pieces or editorials. But sometimes things just happen that are too much for 140 characters to explain, or even a Facebook post, because they simply lack explanation. 

And such is the case of today's story. 

Written by Gregg Condon
Anybody who follows the Universal Orlando Resort twitter account knows they like to have fun. They interact with the fans, are quick with fun responses and generally like to have fun with the online community, not just bloggers. 

They are also very informative to those that have legitimate questions which is what a lot of people think the sole purpose of their account should be. But when you are an account for an "amusement" or "theme" park, shouldn't the fun already be assumed? Shouldn't we be able to find amusement in their tweets? We sure do. Sadly, many do not. 

And this started with this tweet from yesterday: 
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We're sure that 95% of people saw the joke in this, it's funny, it has a hint of truth, is well thought out and again ... it's funny. There was no ill intent behind this, they didn't say Expedition Everest was a bad ride. Of course they were going to say Kong would win, but they did it in a clever and entertaining way? What's the problem with that? 

The problem is, so many take this hobby way too seriously. Why? Why So Serious? 

The proper response to this isn't to get all butthurt and yell, the proper response is for some slight ribbing back the other direction. But most of the responses we've seen were "Well this is broken at Universal" or "Yeah, well, they got screenz everywhere". That's neither funny or well thought out. 
Look, we get it, as we discussed in our "enthusiasts" article last year we know there are people who just go to Disney parks and will defend them against other parks on one hand while on the other totally bashing everything they do that they don't 100% agree with. 

It's like siblings who will torture each other (as siblings do) but the second somebody else does it the gloves come off. Why? It makes no sense at all. 
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Sadly, this wasn't the only incident of fans taking things too seriously this week. 

Kings Dominion announced an expansion to their Camp Snoopy the other day. Some fans because of some tweets sent out by the park (ALL which contained Snoopy in the pictures) felt slighted because they were expecting something else. So much so that some started a petition to boycott the park until they add a new coaster. We did get a tweet from the petition starter saying it was a "joke", but we don't really buy that. 

Even if it was a joke, it just goes to show that some fans think they own the park, or that parks do things just for enthusiasts. They don't. 

Never-mind that Kings Dominion has the coaster consistently ranked as the #1 coaster in the United States, that they have one of the best mixes of coasters and rides in the Cedar Fair chain and that there are half a dozen other parks in the chain who have gone longer without a major coaster addition. 
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As we approach September 1st, the day Six Flags will be announcing their 2017 additions it's important to keep the "enthusiast hyperbole" in check. 

Remember that this is all supposed to be fun, that at the end of the day it's the goal of all of these companies to make as much money as they can and it's up to us to have fun and not take our hobby so seriously. 

Related Updates: 
  • From the Mind of the Editor: Can't We All Just Ride Coasters?  
  • From the Mind of the Editor: Hey Traditional Media
  • From the Mind of the Editor: Enjoy All The Things
  • From the Mind of the Editor: The Disney Sky Is Not Falling
  • From the Mind of the Editor: Don't Limit Yourself


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