5 Enthusiast Resolutions For 2020

Ah, that time of year again where your social feeds are flooded with the same old 'new year, new me' bullshit that we all realistically know nobody is going to stick to but still insist on discussing year after year anyway. Resolutions generally aren't my jam, I try to just not be a dick and make good choices because hey, nobody's perfect and I think life resolutions tend to not be that realistic. That said, last year I made myself some enthusiast resolutions and has ended up being something I've tried to stick to throughout the season and a tradition I'd quite like to continue to stick to. So before I dive in to my 2020 enthusiast resolutions I thought I'd take a look back at my 2019 list to see how I did.

Visit More Seaside Parks
I actually took a pretty good stab at this one! There was the south-coast cred-whoring weekend where we visited Adventure Island, Brighton Pier and Dreamland Margate along a handful of others and I actually ventured back to Dreamland Margate in October for their Halloween event. So I'm going to give this one a tick.

Ride More Flat Rides
Yh, I massively failed at this one. The reality is there's only ever going to be a finite amount of time I'm able to spend at parks and I would much rather spend that time riding things I know I'll enjoy as opposed to things that will likely make me sick. Just the way it is.

Try New Food Places
I mean...the American road trip lead to a lot of Panda Express and corndogs and stuff, Orlando I ate in the same places we always do and I'd be lying if I said I didn't find myself in more Pizza Pasta buffets than I'd care to mention this year. Oops.

Take More Photos
Aha, now this is one I absolutely made a conscious effort to stick to and I'm pleased to say that 2019 was FULL of photo-taking again. I spent a lot of the festive period sorting through my pics and I was very happy to see my albums full again. Definitely one I'll be continuing into 2020.

Buy More Souvenirs
Yh, not something I really stuck to. Thing is, I do tend to buy things if I really like them as opposed to buying something for the sake of it like I would if I collected anything so yh, in hindsight I'm kind of glad I didn't waste a lot of money on things I didn't really care about.

And now onto the 2020 list, here's how I'm planning to be a better enthusiast in 2020!

I've been doing this for a long time so suffice to say I've visited all the major UK parks multiple times, but there are more than a handful now that it's been aaaaages since I've visited. Obviously Flamingoland has a major new coaster so I'll be up there this summer but I'm going to try and tie in some visits to Lightwater Valley and Fantasy Island while I'm up there too. Also given that the opportunity for new creds this year is a little on the slim side I'm also looking to make a concerted effort to scoop up the remaining UK creds I need this year too. What can I say, I'm an addict.

Now that I've hit my milestone of 1000 coasters and have very few parks left in the Western world on my must-visit list, I want to take the opportunity to really take my time in parks I visit as opposed to running round getting as many creds as I can. Aside from the addictive nature of cred-counting, the thing I've realised I really love about theme parks is generally just mooching around in them and just soaking up the atmosphere of being in a theme park. It's something I'm really keen to do more of this season.

As an enthusiast I've never been hugely into the minutia of the hobby, but I have always prided myself on the fact that I do try my best to keep abreast of theme parks news globally. 2019 was a pretty hectic year for me both professionally and personally and as such I've found myself with less time to spend lurking around the internet hoovering up any crumb of theme park news I could get my hands on. It's a habit I'd like to get back on top of this year as personally I find a bit announcement at a new Chinese park just as exciting as one on my doorstep and it's something I've missed paying attention to.

This is a hard one for me, especially given my second resolution of wanting to take my time a little more and the fact that there are so many operating hours in the day, but I really want to shake this weird habit of one-and-done that I've developed. Don't get me wrong, if something sucks then obviously I'm not going to go back on it just for the sake of it, but I want to make a concerted effort to ride the more substantial coasters a bit more - especially if it's a new-for-me coaster that I'm forming an opinion on.

Considering this is how I got into this hobby in the first place it's a little sad for me that I haven't made it to as many meets as I would have liked in 2019. The CoasterForce meet to Thorpe at the start of the 2019 season was an absolute highlight for me and we had an absolute blast and that's something I'm looking to get back into in a bigger way in the 2020 season!

Do you have any theme park related new year's resolutions? What are your park visit goals for this year?

Talk later xoxo,

2 comments

  1. My 5:

    - Eat at a Coney Island place Beside Nathan's
    - Visit SFHH, Rockford
    - Visit SFGAm more than 2x a week during summers
    - Add a new state to my count
    - Go to FreeRT

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HM:

      Lose weight so I can ride Goliath and Mardi Gras Hangover More

      Delete