The 7 Deadly Sins of Theme Park Enthusiasts

As theme park enthusiasts, we know that this crazy hobby and passion of ours can make us do and say some pretty insane things at times. We’ve all caught ourselves obsessing over one particular ride so much that we’ve had to reign it in and have a quiet word with ourselves. Or allowed ourselves to book that extra leg on our road-trip just to grab a few more coaster credits even though they are completely off-route. There’s nothing we can do about it, sometimes the enthusiast passion just takes over.

Most of you will have heard of the seven deadly sins. There’s lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride - all qualities they say we should avoid if we want to be a ‘good person’. We’ve noticed that applying the idea of the seven deadly sins to theme park enthusiasts is very interesting - turns out even enthusiasts sin occasionally it seems. That’s why in this article we’re taking you through our list of the seven deadly sins of theme park enthusiasts. Which one (or ones) are you?

Lust | Completely Obsessed

Full-on, intense longing for one particular ride or park.

We all know an enthusiast who’s completely obsessed with one roller coaster or theme park and it’s all they can talk about. It might be all nostalgia, or they were recently blown away by this ride/park - whatever the reason behind their obsession, it’s very annoying to those on the outside. They won’t let anyone say a bad word about their ride/park and refuse to let people tell them their opinion is wrong, they are just too in lust to listen to reason.

Gluttony | Credit Collectors

Over-consumption of roller coasters.

There’s a certain type of enthusiast that we’re all well aware of, who have made it their mission in life to ride every single roller coaster in the world. They will stop at nothing to grab a coaster credit wherever they can (and we mean wherever), prioritising this over everything else. They are obsessed with their coaster count and how they can increase it. No kiddie coaster is too small and no thrill coaster is too big for the credit collector.

Greed | Excessive Desire for Merch

Deep, uncontrollable desire for theme park merch.

Don’t get us wrong, merch is great (we love merch so much we even sell our own) but there are some enthusiasts that take their love of merch to a whole new level. It’s truly an obsession. They have so much merch they don’t know what to do with it - lanyards, pin badges, mugs, t-shirts, you name it! Their desire for merch is so strong that they’re constantly browsing the gift shops when on-park, searching for any new pieces they haven’t noticed before.

Sloth | Unadventurous

Too lazy to travel to new parks.

Some enthusiasts are very happy to stick to their home park and keep riding the same roller coasters they know. They aren’t interested in travelling across the world in search of a new favourite coaster, or to experience new, exciting theme parks. They are content just visiting the closest park to their home and riding the same 5 coasters over and over again. After all, their home park is great so why bother travelling anywhere else, right?

Wrath | Angry Opinions

Uncontrollable anger at those with a different opinion.

Occasionally, you come across an enthusiast with such passion for roller coasters that they get very angry as soon as someone presents an opinion that is different to their own. To them, this is absolutely unacceptable. They feel it is their duty to convince that person to change their mind, even if that means entering into a long, heated argument. They will stop at nothing to ensure everyone has the same opinions as them (because their opinions are correct, of course)!

Envy | Completely Jealous

Jealously towards other enthusiasts.

Extreme jealousy is very hard to hide. You can always tell if another enthusiast is jealous of you. It might be because you’ve recently been to a foreign park and ridden a coaster there that they really want to ride but haven’t had the chance yet, or it might simply be because you have a higher coaster count than them. Whatever it is, you can tell they’re jealous and there’s not much you can do about it!

Pride | Self-Proclaimed VIPs

Belief that they are better than other enthusiasts.

We’ve saved the worst till last. There are some theme park enthusiasts out there who believe they are better than other enthusiasts; they have ‘correct’ opinions, huge coaster counts, the funniest coaster tweets and are generally superior in every way. It’s a classic combination of over-confidence and pride. And who knows, maybe they are better than everyone else, but we don’t need to be reminded of that thanks…

Which one or ones are you?

- Zoe

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