Saturday, August 09, 2003

Coaster Enthusiasts Lower Expectations, Find Love at IOA

In a daring move to perk up sluggish attendance, Universal Studios Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida has announced a new dating service targeted at coaster enthusiasts.

“The ‘Single Riders’ lines at our top attractions are primarily for anyone who wishes to ride alone,” said Herschel Goodbody, Director of Public Relations. “But, since the predominant number of people who visit our parks alone are lonely, Croakie-wearing enthusiasts, we thought we’d try to entice them with the idea that they could make new friends and even find love in the single riders line.”

To launch the new program, ACE and Coasterbuzz members were enticed with ERT on Dueling Dragons. The attendees were given brochures written by Dr. Dikembe Billy-Bob Rittenhouse Arjumand Ktulu-Lieberman Svenson III with tips on making a good first impression and how to not drool during a conversation. The 250 men and 5 women also filled out questionnaires rating their top 5 coasters (wooden and steel),which was provided to ride operators to facilitate matchmaking. Orlando dating service Lowered Expectations™ provided complimentary on-ride photos so that the attendees could prove to their friends they had ridden next to a member of the opposite sex.

Later that day, two coaster enthusiasts, Jeanne “CPGoddess3454” Strudelkopf and Marty “IOAlover546” Greenblatz, found each other in the Single Riders line for IOA’s Hulk roller coaster. “We immediately connected – Marty was wearing a shirt from my home park, Knoebels.” said Strudelkopf. “It turns out we live in the same state!” The two exchanged IM screen names and planned to continue seeing each other by connecting via the Coasterbuzz meetup calendar. What Jeanne doesn’t know is that there will be a surprise from Marty on their next visit to IOA. “I plan to propose to Jeanne, and want to do it at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. I’m not sure if I’ll pop the question on Fire or Ice, but wherever I decide, I hope she says yes!”

--MMS/CSB