You're a Roller Coaster!

As a kid, Cedar Point is epic. I'm sure all amusement parks are the pinnacle of a lot of kids summer. Fun rides, greasy food, a time where your parents give you an allowance for the day which affords many games, snacks, drinks. And then you get the freedom. Freedom to roam around the park and do whatever seems fun. Rides are small and exciting, the matterhorn, pirate ship, swings, ect.

Then you  get older and the smaller rides aren't as fun. You join the big leagues by easing into the roller coasters. Older ones that don't have the speed the new ones have. The gemini was always a favorite of mine. kind of a dance between two rival trains twisting and dropping throughout the track.

Finally, when you are old enough to visit the park on your own, the excitement is still there, the drive to ride all of the rides, the biggest fastest rides they can put you on. If you want you can leave the park and visit alternative rides like the water park or the bunji drop. The main attraction, such as in life are the colorful, twisting, fast, and adventurous roller coasters that the masses try to ride. As a motivated young person you'll wait in the rain, cold, hot sun for hours just to get the ride that you think will give you the biggest thrill.

Visits to the park go by and your motivation slows a bit. You have a shorter list of rides that you like, a couple that you might love, some old "go to's" that you know will always be enjoyable. None of them are like when you were a kid though. Intimidated, unsure, a little scared at times. the nervous energy is no longer so strong.

Finally, as in life you choose your favorite ride. Every time you ride it, you get sastifactory results, and lets say you just choose that ride for good. That ride is your ride and you are that rides passenger. You like the slow uphill "clicking" that builds excitement before the drop. You love the drop, then the ride spins and twists and turns. You love the difference of sitting in the front car on the train, or the last. You like being able to control the speed or the length of the ride. Its your favorite ride. Its a great complement to your wants and needs.

The commitment you made to this ride reflects the love and loyaly you have to the things you love. But even though you love that ride and are loyalty, eventually you would like to evolve that ride. because its awesome, but maybe you want options on that ride. Not options on another ride, just an evolution to the current favorite. Maybe you want a bigger hill, or another hill on that track, maybe a loop/spin/upside down. Maybe you would like to add a second track and you can switch to once in a while. Nothing permanent, and nothing to change. That coaster knows its your coaster, and understands at first and agrees to give change a chance, but in reality, doesn't change a thing. Maybe some signage, maybe a new coat of paint/a referesher, but no additions. In fact, that ride while it was giving itself a new coat of paint removes the other cars in the train, so you no longer have a choice which car you sit in. It updates its controls to go one speed, and takes out a hill. some of the pre-ride attractions fade away, the music is old or softer, or something you don't want to hear, the pop/candy machines no longer work, the line isn't as long so the excitement of the wait is cut short, and  the picture booth after the ride is no longer in service. The coaster doesn't really care because it has its rider. But hey, its a new coat of paint, the maintenance is done, maybe some new wheels and it has new parts and a visual refresher all the way around. Its a nice looking coaster.

Now you have a "new" looking coaster that doesn't do for you what it used to. But the coaster is loyal to you and is built for you. Look at all this new signage and the coat of paint! But the ride isn't the same because its shorter, not as high, and has no opportunity for improvement. In fact, new suggestions for improvement aren't even welcome anymore. So now hope is diminished, but as you love that coaster you ride it regularly as part of your visit to the park.

After a while that coaster is still your favorite but other attractions look fun. Although you don't ride other coasters, you spend some more time in the game room playing arcade games, you might eat a little more at the concession with no fear that you'll have to ride any other coasters and not get sick, you don't have to be able to handle anything new. you might hang out with friends more at the bar and watch sports. you still visit your coaster, but rides are fewer and farther in between. You might even read about the other new coasters and see what dips, turns, and spins they have. But you love your coaster and know that its probably not going to change you stick with it. Accepting what it is for what it is. favorite coaster in the park regardless if there are other coaster options.

Your attention to the arcade and your intrests in the sports bar gets to the point where eventually the coaster you are loyal to starts to feel that you like the arcade or the bar more when you visit the park. The coaster wonders if its the signage or coats of paint, or maybe the ride thinks the other rides are more exhilarating or has loops and tricks and adventure that you previously requested in upgrades. But the coaster is proud, standing tall. Maybe the coaster knows that you picked that coaster because it loved the ride that the coaster, but that coaster sees signage and paint color. Other rides have attractions in line, music, videos, pop/candy machines, memorabilia while getting shown to all of the visitors and the "oohs and aahs" are present for the new ones.

Eventually that coaster thinks that you just want to ride other coasters. Why? How is it the rider's lusting for a fun and exciting ride when going to the amusement park different from when he was a kid? How has amusement parks stay in business for so many years?

If the rider was to expect to get less of an experience with putting in the same amount of time and effort (such as going to the park, waiting in line) why would the rider want a shorter, slower, and the same ride without the ammenities it used to have? As the cost of going to the park go up, and the evolution of every other ride, what is the attraction to the ride you love so much? A coat of paint? I doubt it.

In the next chapter, the rider and coaster no longer share the riding experience. The rider moves on to another coaster and tries to decide how to recapture the magic it had on the last coaster as the last coaster has a list of improvements to make in order to attract new riders.

The line gets updates with a DJ with new music, the line gets sprays and heat for hot and cold days, a concession opens in place where the vending machines were. The hill goes back to original size, clicks get put back in and the signage, paint gets updated. No doubt that during this process other upgrades are made, most likely things that were requested by the first passenger.

My question, is if we are all roller coasters in some way, why don't we consistantly evolve and upgrade as needed to maintain a healthy relationship with our passengers?