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Coaster Count / Credits

Dressinggown

Roller Poster
I'm in my 50's and my coaster count is very low and, therefore, I have no real interest in gaining 'Creds'.

My question is whether it is worth riding the same kiddie coasters in every park just to get another +1 ?

If there is no queue for a ride of this type (Wacky Worm etc.) and the ride operator allows you on then fair enough, I suppose. However, as a grandparent I would be a little concerned if a load of strange old blokes got on a ride with unattended children on board. In addition, if there are adults without children in the queue, I'd be a bit cheesed off if it meant that children would have to wait longer to go on the ride.

Then there's the embarrassment factor...…….?
 

GregBoxall

Roller Poster
Like most things it's down to your personal opinion, its only embarrassing if you find it embarrassing. More often than not the people who operate these smaller coasters are understanding of enthusiasts and their love of a Wacky Worm. I've ridden 116 coaster in the UK (most of which could be classed as family/kiddie coasters) and can honestly say they've been some of my favourite cred hunting trips.

I definitely wouldn't categorise people who enjoy these kind of credits as "strange old blokes". And I can assure you your unattended children are perfectly safe.
 

zazobo

Hyper Poster
I definitely wouldn't categorise people who enjoy these kind of credits as "strange old blokes". And I can assure you your unattended children are perfectly safe.

This entirely... and besides, I guess I'd be a 'strange old lady'.
 

Christian

Hyper Poster
How do you even have time to ride those kiddie coasters? Let's say you are at Energylandia. Would you rather ride Zadra (one of the best coasters in the world!) again or ride a SBF kiddie just for the credit?
 

Dan Nguyen

Roller Poster
How do you even have time to ride those kiddie coasters? Let's say you are at Energylandia. Would you rather ride Zadra (one of the best coasters in the world!) again or ride a SBF kiddie just for the credit?

Its really not that hard. When you're walking by the kiddie coaster on the way to the bigger ones and you've got time to ride, hop on the kiddie ride and get a quick one out of the way as long as the line is short.

Of course the world class stuff has the higher priority and will pretty much get multiple rides but if I have time for kiddie creds too, I'll hit them.
 

gavin

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Its really not that hard. When you're walking by the kiddie coaster on the way to the bigger ones and you've got time to ride, hop on the kiddie ride and get a quick one out of the way as long as the line is short.

Of course the world class stuff has the higher priority and will pretty much get multiple rides but if I have time for kiddie creds too, I'll hit them.
Exactly this. Nobody is sacrificing rerides on the major coasters to get the kiddy coasters, and that's because they don't have anywhere near the queues.

I have waited in some semi-substantial queues for some +1s (still never more than about 20 minutes), but that's usually at smaller parks without a huge amount of other stuff, still leaving plenty of time, so it hasn't impacted my day at all.

The arguments that you "could be getting rerides on blah blah blah" are bollocks. It's not an either/or situation.

Sent from my Redmi Note 7 using Tapatalk
 

Trax

Hyper Poster
When visiting a park, I try to experience multiple rides anyway, and not just the 2 or 3 biggest. By doing this I naturally would go on most roller coasters, and only need to do 1 or 2 really small ones for my coaster count.
The rerides will come down to the best few rides in the park, but this way I get to experience the parks offering as a whole and get my credits up in the same turn. Only issue are busy parks, because then it is really up to you to decide: Will you sacrifice rerides on great rides to wait 30+ minutes for a kiddie coaster?

You can count your coasters, even if you don't want to ride every tiny rollercoaster. I know some people who drove 2+ hours (one way) for a worm. I'd never do this, I might grab those credits while I am passing by, but would not make a trip for one tiny coaster.
 

JJLehto

Hyper Poster
Ah this the classic debate of course!
Well nah actually it does seem most enthusiasts will ride a kiddie just to get the cred.
I personally do not feel its worth it.
Quality > Quantity.

Its fun to keep track of b/c IDK I'm a nerd and I guess it's a way we show our enthusiasm? But its the quality not number. Is 200 vs 180 that big a deal if 20 are kiddie rides? I never do em just for the sake of getting the cred, nor will I do a Vekoma SLC or Boomerang (unless ya know there's reallllly nothing else but even then I tend to skip em). I'd rather re-ride something else I enjoy lol OK I admit this isn't usually an issue, there's always time and yeah its easy to hop on something once and not have it detract. I guess I take a moral stance ha
Plus what you say, I WOULD feel a little silly. Others don't and that's fine! You do you, but I would be. It would detract from my experience.

As for parents being cheesed that happened to me, and I felt awful.

Was at Knoebels, I was at an event and the group said lets do Kozmo's Kurves! So this fairly large group of adults went over and filled up the line. Turns out the ride does 3 laps, so this ended up taking like 30 mins for the whole group to be done. There was a man and his little girl behind them all. His face was one of clear displeasure. I felt bad and didn't go on, even said hey man yeah sorry....its a group thing ya know and he was cool, said hey its fine, but his tone, body language etc he was clearly piiiiised that this ride went from no wait to 30 mins in a blink b/c of bunch of grown men piled on. As you said, if there's no line and you jump on, that's A OK. But I did think what happened in this case was pretty uncool.
 

HakeJunter

Roller Poster
Hey guys, coaster enthusiast and credit counter from Australia here. Thought I'd weigh in with a different perspective, since Aus is rather different when it comes to coasters.

Here, our parks are few and far between. For me personally, it's a 5-6 hour drive to my nearest major park - a 6 hour flight to one particular park on the other side of the mainland - and there are less than 30 coasters in total in the entire country. While my focus is always on quality over quantity, this means my entire credit count relies on overseas trips, which are rare occasions normally and even more so under the current circumstances.

So, I can unashamedly say that I have done very long road trips to get a few kiddie credits. But this is the way I think of it:

1) If it's a kiddie credit, or even just a boring/unappealing/bad quality credit, then I'll ride it once. Credit and forget it. It's more about appealing to my fascination and love for coasters in general by ticking the box, admiring the coaster for what qualities it does have, and then moving on unless it has any re-riding appeal.

2) Generally if I'm making a long trip to get to the park, it's a park that has more to offer than just that coaster. We have a number of parks in Aus that have only one kiddie/small coaster credit, but a number of decent flat rides, waterslides, toboggans, water rides or other attractions. I'll always make a day of it, even if I was only there to tick off a wacky worm or an SBF spinning coaster.

3) That being said, if there is a park that doesn't have anything else worth spending time on, then I'll generally make the park a side-trip while I'm going to do something else that I enjoy. That way, I don't feel like I've totally wasted my time and I don't feel embarrassed for driving long distances, buying park tickets and lining up for a kiddie coaster. I feel no shame in taking a break on my road trip to grab a theme park coffee, ride a wacky worm and then get back on the road.

As someone who has walked up as a single 20-something-year-old male into the lines of quite a few kiddie coasters now, I definitely don't feel embarrassed by it anymore, because I always make sure I'm there for something else as well. Not to mention I've had a few conversations with ride operators who turned out to be enthusiasts as well, discussing our favourite coasters and our dream coaster vacations.

As for the making kids or parents uncomfortable factor, I think that just comes down to being considerate. Stand in the line politely, following operators' instructions and not making a nuisance of yourself. Occasionally if you feel like you're getting "looks", doing something to make people feel comfortable with your presence, such as letting people go ahead in the line or starting a friendly conversation with a parent, can put everyone at ease. Also, a lot of kids have no filter, and it is a guarantee that they will start conversations with you if they're next to you in line or sitting next to you on the coaster. If that happens, just respond like you would to a friend or family member's son or daughter of the same age. Chat with them if they chat to you, be polite without overstepping any bounds, and if a parent sees their child is OK, that can help too.

So in short, no, I'm not embarrassed about it. Credits are credits, and some of my favourite theme park trips ever have been for only a handful of credits, or even just the one kiddie coaster!
 

HakeJunter

Roller Poster
'Credit and forget it'. Genius. How close are you to riding all of Australia's coasters?
Pretty close! In fact, I should be done by the start of next year if my travel plans don't get cancelled or changed.

We have a few really exciting coasters opening here this year, all of which I plan to travel to ride when they open.

There are only 3 that were already operational that I haven't ridden yet, and I plan to tick them all off in the Australian summer at the end of the year :)
 
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