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Do You Judge Your Home Park(s) Differently?

jayjay

Giga Poster
I was thinking earlier about how CF in general tends to be quite negative on the whole about British parks, and whether that's because of Merlin, the state of the UK industry, or because we take a different approach to thinking about our home parks.

So the question is, how do you think about home parks differently to other parks. Are we more forgiving since we have close emotional ties, or do we have a closer eye on problems?
 

Sandman

Giga Poster
Personally, yes I probably do.

But that doesn't mean I'm ignorant to issues that beset the place. My home park is Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and like many people within this community I was visiting the place from an early age with different family members and friends. Therefore, it's always sort of been a staple point of my life. I'd go as a child with my parents and grandparents, through to my angsty teenage years where me and a busload of friends would regularly visit the park and thoroughly enjoy riding and larking about, generally having a laugh. Nowadays I don't visit often but when I do, I still manage to have fun, but in a laid back manner. With home parks, it tends not to be about the quality of rides per se, but more about the people you go with and the fun you can have on even the ****tiest of rides.

And as much as I have fun at the place, I have plenty of criticisms at hand, too. I think generally that's the best way to see things. The nostalgia is nice and pleasant, but if you really care about a park (such as your home park) then you're also aware of what needs to be done to improve it. It sort of becomes a passion. Which confuses me when fanboys of certain parks get really irate and defensive over opinions and critiscism.
 

Ireeb

Mega Poster
My home parks are Europa-Park and Tripsdrill (living between two nice parks is cool :p), and I neither ignore nor invent issues about the parks. Since I know both parks so well, I can probably judge them better than other parks. It's much easier to evaluate the park as a whole when you've been to it 15 times* instead of once.
(I've got no idea how often I was at Europa Park because at the first time I was there I was 2 years old. We usually visited once per year, but I think we also skipped some years, and in the last few years I was there 1-2 times. Since I'm 19 it has to be something between 15 and 20 times I guess :D)
 

ATTACKHAMMER

Strata Poster
My main home park is Thorpe. I don't dislike Thorpe at all and it is an enjoyable day out. However I do not judge it differently to anywhere else. When Thorpe announced DBGT I was optimistic but having ridden it and feeling very disappointed by it I didn't let Thorpe off the hook, simply because it's my local park.
 

NeoXIII

Best Newcomer 2016
Now that you mention it, I used to rave all over Alton Towers back when my home park was still Movie Park Germany.
Now that AT is a town away, I still enjoy going there every now and then, but also more aware of problems and faults in the park.
Would still happily tag along to the park though with friends.
With Movie Park on the other hand, I always found it a bit trashy and run down, especially since I got insight from a friend working there. I got a free annual pass thanks to him, but I'd barely go to the park cause everything was just meh to me (I hope distance and the new cred will fix that a little bit though).
 

MadMilkshake

Roller Poster
My home park is Thorpe as well and I do criticize the place more than others but only because I visit the park more often. It's all based on experience and I don't have many bad words to say about the place, had the occasional times where I've had dire visits but most of the time I enjoy the place. It has a great selection of roller coasters and grateful to have it on my doorstep. So I say no I'm not more forgiving, it's just how well my visit goes at a park regardless if it's local.

I mean to go back on experience, Thorpe is criticized (or Merlin in general) for bad operations and downtime but after my 2 day visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain it makes Thorpe look like Europa. Maybe it's unfair to compare 2 days with many years at Thorpe however.
 

Benenen

Hyper Poster
I think a lot of it comes down to how much you compare things to those perfect visits you sometimes have. For example I've been on Duel at AT loads of times so if an effect isn't working I can't help but make a mental note of it. But if I go to a new park for the first time and ride a dark ride half the effects could not be working and I'll have no clue and assume it's in tip top condition which reflects on my view of the whole park.

I think this analogy holds up past just dark rides. Basically you just notice the faults at a home park more and even though they may exist at other parks you don't clock them as much.

Going the other way nostalgia definitely blinkers you into judging a home park more favourably. When I walk into AT my insides well up a bit looking at the frogs because I used to love watching them when I was tiny. Even though they're a bit tatty these days I still love them and think they're a great feature whereas someone visiting for the first time as an adult isn't going to have that emotional connection and won't use it to view the park in a more positive light.
 

jayjay

Giga Poster
For example I've been on Duel at AT loads of times so if an effect isn't working I can't help but make a mental note of it. But if I go to a new park for the first time and ride a dark ride half the effects could not be working and I'll have no clue and assume it's in tip top condition which reflects on my view of the whole park.
Yeah, I've definitely noticed this with Hex. I'll be thinking "aww, no smoke and flashy lights today," rather than the usual "ah, this is amazing <3"

One thing I noticed is that familiarity can hinder my opinion. I remember walking to uni lectures past some very impressive historic architecture, and by the end of the term, they just became "those buildings on the right... ugh still ages till I'm there." From park scenery to ride layouts, there's often a feeling of shrugging off anything I've been used to. But also, like Benenen said, something that's resonated with me in the past (usually music) can trigger that magic sense of nostalgia. It's most of the reason I don't like that (Galactic-)Air's music is gone.
 

Snoo

The Legend
Definitely. Cedar Point has always been my home park and will always hold a spot in my heart. While the shine had faded since my early days in enthusiasm, I'll always enjoy a day out at the park.
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Nostalgia is everything for Cedar Point to me. And in turn, I am most drawn to other amusement parks out of major attractions, since I do not have emotional ties back to them.

That being said, I always try to look for those smaller sentiments at parks that are not obvious to the typical park goer. Roller coasters with unique designers, attractions built for a specific purpose, etc. - anything that can give greater dimension to my visit.
 

GuyWithAStick

Captain Basic
When you have a park that you can access more than others, you're able to nitpick negatives and highlight positives nobody really notices. For example, with me and SFGAm, most people see Viper as an old, rough, Cyclone clone. I see it as having some of the best airtime in the park. Some see Buccaneer Battle as a fun little family water ride. I see it as a waste of space, money, and water. We all judge our home parks differently to some extent, be it saying it's worse than others make it out to be, or better than any other park on the planet. You have more time to properly formulate a full opinion and judge it on every aspect.
 

Howie

Donkey in a hat
My home park is Alton Towers. Since the early 80's I reckon I've been there over 50 times, probably closer to 100. My opinion of the park hasn't changed because of over-familiarity, it's changed because over the last decade and a half the park has gone down the toilet.
If I turned up tomorrow for the first time, I'd still think it was an overpriced turd with 2 good coasters and some gardens.
 

gavin

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
I definitely do with HK Disney, but in two ways.

I find myself being very defensive about the place, especially with people here who have either never been, or haven't been for years, and insist that "Ocean Park is much better." No.

But then I'll also be maybe overly critical with decisions I think are bollocks. I was there yesterday and was pretty pissy that overnight, during the low season, they've started closing Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point an hour before park closing. It makes business sense, and the casual visitor wouldn't care, but it annoyed the f**k out of me.
 

TLARides

Hyper Poster
My home park is Kings Island. I've been there so many times, I know the park like the back of my hand. I don't notice much besides the rides (because that's what I'm here to do).

When I visited Cedar Point, their theming, their rides, and how popular the park was compared to KI, I said "Wow. I just realized Kings Island isn't as good as I thought it was..."

Compared to other parks I've seen, the park's theming could use some work. The rides are fine. I could do without Adventure Express and definitely Vortex. They also have tons of land to use that they haven't used yet or is wasted. They aren't doing anything with the old theater near Racer's turnaround, tear it down and build a new area. New rides, maybe even a neat Intamin Accelerator going through the woods. But I don't see any of that happening soon with the big investment in Mystic Timbers.
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
I think I judge TusenFryd more harshly than I do other parks. Sitting here among the mountains looking out at the wide world, it seems like the rest of the world keeps churning out new coasters and other interesting rides all the time, while TusenFryd stays the same old place, only occasionally adding something new or replacing old crappy rides.

That being said, the rest of the world is a big place, with many parks contributing to the image of a constantly evolving coaster world. Although "the world at large" sees exciting new additions all the time, each individual park contributes little. And the ones that consistently build huge and exciting rides are giant parks drawing guests from several megameters around them, you can't really expect a regional park in a mid-size city to compete with those. Heck, even Liseberg is a big park compared to TusenFryd, with secure funding and thousands of guests drawing from the huge internal market of Sweden, as well as tourists from the neighbouring countries. Liseberg is a centrepiece of Gothenburg, TusenFryd is something you drive past halfway between Oslo and the Swedish border.

The cost level is also something to be considered. Norway is expensive in general, meaning that new rides will cost a lot more than something equivalent in, say, Poland or even Germany. No wonder the park seldom builds anything bigger than it needs to be, it's simply all that the budget can afford. Likewise, the labour costs drive park prices up sky-high, not helped by the short theme park season (late April to early October) - the company has to make up for a whole year of expenses with half a year's worth of income. I tend to scoff at TusenFryd for charging a lot for what they offer, but I guess that's just the realities of business.

So in the grand scheme of things, I guess my criticism of TusenFryd isn't always warranted, or it has perfectly good reasons beyond "the management is lazy and greedy". Insisting on that stance would actually amount to wishful thinking, since it implies that if the management just straightened up and did their job, the park would instantly be world-class and full of new rides. But alas, most of my judgement is unfair, and when I think it through, the reality is that the park is as good as the realities of business allow.

Then again, this is awfully hard to remember when you look at the parks managed by Parques Reunidos, and the handful of coasters they have built in total after the acquisition of the respective parks within the last decade. With a second-hand family coaster in 2012, TusenFryd can actually count itself among the luckier parks in the chain in that department. Realities of business or not, something about Parques Reunidos smells awfully of mis-management. So even with all this in mind, please allow me to rant further about the state of my home park in the future.
 

Zek_Teh_Kek

Hyper Poster
Sometimes I get tired of my Home Park (Cedar Point) And sometimes when I go to Kings Island, It just seems so much more fun, but when I go back to Cedar Point, it is far superior to me. It's just weird.
 
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