Coastering during the eclipse?

I'm glad someone got something out of it, because I saw it and thought it was about as spectacular as a McDonald's milk shake.

I think the event in itself was fine. But the amount of crazy over-hype people and the media made out of it was insane. But then again, this is what Millennials are all about. Taking something that really has nothing to do with them and making it "ALL ABOUT MEEEEEEEE!!!!" Why do you think "Dear Evan Hansen" won the Tony? That show is everything I can't stand about Millennials. Bragging rights is everything these days. It's a shame really, because something that is a pretty cool, however *fairly* common natural occurrence (although yes I get it not often through the USA) was blown out into the "event of the century" and I feel like people who went out of their way and spent a considerable amount of money to see it, were justifying how amazing it was to those who didn't. Pretty much this scenario...

Again, I'm not saying it wasn't "cool" it just wasn't the event of the century people were hyping it up to be.

My own experience was at Canada's Wonderland which was at just above 75%. It barely seemed any darker out but you could feel that the sun was less intense.

This was maybe 10 minutes post peak

This was the peak photo I got with my phone camera

I basically rode Behemoth during the peak and there was nothing special.

We were in a 99% area. It was about as dark as it is during an incoming storm. The crickets got a little louder, but it wasn't even dark enough for the street lights to come on.

Rob nailed it with the new age tendency to over hype everything. It's hard for me to understand this point of view, since I'm very cynical and a bit of a pessimist. I look forward to many things, but I rarely ever find myself in any kind of an excited state. I also have a tendency to automatically dislike anything hyped by others.

It's hard for me to understand this point of view, since I'm very cynical and a bit of a pessimist. I look forward to many things, but I rarely ever find myself in any kind of an excited state.

This right here. I'm the same way. Don't get me wrong, I was out looking through my eclipse glasses yesterday too and thought it was "neat" but that's about where it ended. There are many things i really enjoy doing and being part of. "Enjoy" being the key word here. Meaning that on a personal level, I was satisfied with being part of whatever it is I happen to be doing at the time and even reporting on it to "share" with others. But I don't agree with over-hyping things for the sake of bragging rights to the point of being obnoxious. Which is exactly what I felt most of social media was doing yesterday.

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EDIT: Nevermind, for a moment I had forgotten I really don't fucking care. Ignoring the hype and the stupid people hyping it from now on....

Dan, I know myself well enough to know the end result would have been the same for me, even if we had been in the area for a complete eclipse. 99% was enough for me. I could have driven a couple hours south, but I chose not to. Especially since I worked a 36 hour weekend on nights and didn't get home until 7am. However, even if my working circumstances had been different I still would have likely stayed put.

I'm definitely no snob to nature and I enjoy seeing new things and being outdoors. I'm sure some people will assume I'm an unappreciative asshole by not jumping out of my shoes for the eclipse, but I still enjoyed looking at it. However, the level of enjoyment was similar to seeing a shooting star, looking at a large and very bright moon, staring at a picture perfect sky, or watching an incoming storm.

Dan, I know myself well enough to know the end result would have been the same for me

No, no. You were not in 100% totality so what do you know??? You weren't as cool as the Sneeches that were there...

Disclosure as well, I was in the totality at work. At home I would have been just outside of it. If I didn't have to work and wasn't already going to be in the totality, I would have driven the 15 minutes to be at least in the edge of it. I was nowhere near the center. Next time it happens, it would be worth it to me to take a day off work and drive to the totality, but only because it's within a couple hours again next time (which is awesome).

Otherwise, there's no way I'd be driving 10 hours or something and staying overnight just to watch the eclipse. However, I would maybe do it in conjunction with going to a park or a concert. Some people like roller coasters and are willing to drive hours and spend hundreds or thousands to enjoy them. Same with science/astronomy.

Like most other things nowadays though, it was pretty hyped to the max...

I didn't even know about this until Saturday when I was driving back from my Cedar Point / kings island / dollywood trip and the local expressways here had the message of "keep lights on during eclipse" lol

The eclipse was the new #whatsintheshed!!

I thought it was cool to experience, but I agree that it got way overhyped (isn't that what social media does these days?). I was in the 96% zone, and the best way for me to describe it was as if I was looking through a pair of sunglasses. It was darker and a little cooler, but nothing SPECTACULAR.

Although I did hear that there was quite a difference between 99% and 100%, because the sun has THAT much power, but either way, it just became so overrated that people were setting their expectations ridiculously high.

Assuming the same interval, I'll see it again when I'm 56, and maybe even again at 94. Good enough for me.

We spent the last three days visiting family in Charleston, SC, with the intention of timing the trip to see the eclipse in 100% totality. Rikki is a middle school science teacher and has an after-school astronomy club, so seeing the eclipse in full was pretty important to her. The level of darkness between the split seconds before and after totality and during it was pretty significant. It was definitely pretty cool to experience.

Mind you, we didn't schedule this trip SOLELY to see the eclipse, nor would I have. We also visited family in Charleston and Charlotte, are about to head to Carowinds in the morning, and are going to spend three days at BGW afterwards. The eclipse was just a pretty cool thing to build a vacation around, especially since it was so significant to Rikki.

^ That's awesome! Glad you got to see it. Traveling a good distance to do something you find fun is always a good thing. I can think of far worse excuses for a vacation.

I enjoy amateur astronomy myself and am a bit of a NASA junkie, so this was a pretty cool event for me personally. I guess anyone who was expecting the best orgasm you can have with your clothes on might have been a bit disappointed, but for those of us who just enjoy seeing stars do cool sh*t, it was fun. Isn't that why we do stuff anyway?

Although I did hear that there was quite a difference between 99% and 100%, because the sun has THAT much power, but either way, it just became so overrated that people were setting their expectations ridiculously high.

From my POV I think the media did a piss poor job of describing the difference between 95% eclipse and totality. I was told by a science teacher friend that I needed to make the journey into totality. I was about 3.5 hours from totality and decided to make a trip out of it with friends and felt it was well worth my time. After going I can say that they were 100% right. The best way I can describe the experience using a coaster analogy is this:

-Five minutes before totality when the sun is almost fully covered is like watching a POV of MF on a cell phone

-When the earth gets plunged into darkness during totality is like actually being on MF at night in the front row

The two experiences don't compare. That being said I love physics, so I'm the type to naturally geek out about such an event. I'll be making plans for 2024, but in a way that I make a vacation out of it. I'm just a little sad that Cedar Point will likely not be open during the time in April...

-When the earth gets plunged into darkness during totality

The earth wasn't "plunged into darkness" during totality!!!! You know when the earth gets "plunged into darkness?" At night. EVERY NIGHT! When the sun goes down!!!

I'm so fucking sick of hearing people over-hype this!!! Yes it was cool. Yes I'm also a NASA nerd and was psyched about it. But the way that people have totally over-hyped "totality" like it's seriously the next coming of some fictional religious figurehead that I don't believe in is really disgusting to me.

I'm happy for the people who experienced it. Stop acting like you should be getting infinite blowjobs constantly because of it.