ERT

The greatest moments of an Enthusiasts life are spent during limited-access exclusive coaster riding sessions known as "ERT" = Exclusive Ride Time. These are slots of time during coaster conventions and other special events (like Holiwood Nights) in which certain coaster are open only to Enthusiasts attending. Parks usually open their gates early or stay open a few hours late to allow Enthusiasts to get their fix by marathoning rides over and over again.

Enthusiasts attack ERT sessions like a pack of dogs on a three legged cat. Some take the time to set records for number of rides on a certain coaster. Others use the time to try try out all different seats on the train to analyze different air time moments. Others bring a stop watch to time and rate a park's crew on dispatch times.

Sometimes ERT backfires. If a park limits its ERT to only 1 or 2 coasters, the ERT-seeking enthusiasts fill up the queue, giving the rides hour+ waits. This entirely defeats the purpose of ERT, but they still love it! "Man, only an hour-and-a-half wait for Maggie...this ERT is a heck of a deal...much better than waiting only 25 minutes during operating hours!" At other times, a park will offer ERT before the gates open, but this requires Enthusiasts to wake up at 5:30 PM in order to guarantee a place in line. (For true Enthusiasts, this is no problem) However, just by labeling an event "ERT" Enthusiasts will flock to it. In fact, Cedar Point could offer ERT on Wildcat and Disaster Transport, and Enthusiasts would abandon all other coasters in the park just to take advantage of this ERT. "No, yall go ahead and hit up Maverick and Blue Streak, I can't miss this ERT opportunity! Just how many times can I handle DT in 2 hours!?!?!"