[swampfox43]

I'm compelled to give my 2¢ on this topic. When I joined ACE in 1989, it was the only club in existence that I knew of where bunches of people had the same interest I had. I attended many events, volunteered to write for ACE NEWS and RollerCoaster Magazine and made many friends in the process.

Flash forward 20 years. I did not renew my ACE membership in 2009. Although I miss the top-notch publications, the club became way too political for me. Yes, the club has grown quite a bit over the years and things get out of hand from time to time, but there is also a negative side to that. I won't go in to all that, but I (and many others) had inside knowledge of many unfair and just plain wrong decisions made by ACE "superiors". More than likely, the average ACE member will not encounter these situations (unless you run for office or certain rep jobs), but I saw the light and decided it was time to quit supporting the club based on what I knew was going on.

I had many, many good years in ACE that I do not regret. I recommend it for the publications alone. But there is a dark side. Besides, you really don't need to be an ACE member to get ERT. There are so many clubs out there to choose from and they all get pretty much the same treatment as ACE does at parks. I have been an ECC member for over 10 years and go to many of there USA events, including the one at Carowinds they had on June 6.

Bottom line is this. Join ACE, meet new friends and have a great time. It is a club mainly run by volunteers that are dedicated to bringing excitement to the members. You can even be a member of as many clubs as you want if you have the time and money to travel all over. It's a great way to see the US and the world. I've just had this little itch about some of the unfair practices I witnessed within ACE and thought this would be a good time to "scratch it".

[arby]

A continued thanks for everybody's input...

I had looked at club TPR but didn't see any real benefits for the yearly membership (all the amusement park discounts are the same or not as good as what I can get by spending a few minutes with some good Internet searches) so I had pretty much decided on ACE when I started up this thread.

I hear you @swampfox43. Unfortunately there are inherent flaws to the human race which causes most things run by humans to have flaws of one sort or another. So we can choose to not support any organizations, or support those we feel would do the most good based on our beliefs and what we enjoy.

As Abraham Lincoln said, "Nearly all men can accept adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." I think he hit the nail on the head. Most people's character starts to go away when they have power.