SOB/Gun Steve-O

I remember when I went to the Metallica concert in 2003 up at the horseshoe. I was in the upper deck to the left of the stage, but when they shot up the flames during "Fuel," oh, man! We could feel them - very clearly - even up there! So it would not take much to feel the explosion, I think. If you don't know, the horseshoe is Ohio Stadium, where the Buckeye football team plays. It is shaped like a horseshoe.

What's wrong with Bogarts? I can't see them doing this. It would be way to easy for stuff to get out of hand, especially when you're dealing with rock bands and teenagers here. Not to mention that these bands tend to bring people that most folks at the park (employees and customers alike) probably don't want to see. Xtended Play clearly didn't work, what makes you think that this would?

Ha! I finally got to you, Ariel!! Muah-ha-ha-ha!! Anyway... For high schools, most go back within the next week. Cincy Public goes back the 24th. But a large part of the ride ops at PKI are in college. The two biggest colleges in Ohio (Ohio State and University of Cincy) don't start until Sept. 22. Ohio U starts right around Labor Day, I think. Miami U (where a LOT of PKI people go to) has already started, I think. It is ride ops policy to give priority to coasters and other huge rides (like Drop Zone, Tomb Raider, Delirium). The little flat rides and kiddie land are the main areas affected.

It tends to get rougher when it hasn't rained in a while. I know they were doing something to it most of the day on Monday - not sure what, though. And like Pat said, there are up-stop wheels, as well as wheels on the side to prevent the train form coming off the track.

Heck, I'll give you the secrets: Sit near the front of the train. You will notice that each car has 3 rows in it. Sit in the second one. That way, you're not on one of the wheels. Try to ride it after it rains. If you can't try to ride it in the morning (I know that this is when line is usually longest, but you gotta do what you gotta do), or when you can see that the ride has been closed for a while, or when the train is near-empty. Pull up on the lap bar a little when going up the larger hills to resist the g's that will push it down. Cross your legs at your ankles to put more room between you and the bar.

From what I have seen, the park generally changes the AT movie every two years. Spongebob has had its two years, I wouldn't be suprised if they changed that. (Usual employee disclaimer applies)

Any day except Saturday. They're all pretty much the same. Just watch out for special events on the website.

SOB had queues open? Thats kind of odd for a Friday - even at peek time when you guys were there.

I think he's talking about Doc John audits. I think anyway. In a nutshell: A couple times a year the park brings in this guy known only as "Doc John" to us regular employee folk to perform a saftey audit of all the ride crews. At the end of the audit, there is a big supervisor meeting in which the results of the audit are announced, along with a ranking of all the crews and a list of all the problems observed in the audit. I have never heard of Doc Frank. Note: I changed the title of the topic so it makes sence.

Concerts are always fishy. Sometimes the people just won't come until concert time, sometimes they will stay all day. It almost always gives the north end of the park larger crowds at night (SOB, Face/Off, Drop Zone, people ride Congo Falls to get a free look in, you get the idea). It depends on who is playing and what kind of a fan base they have. I hate to give out a non-answering answer like that, but there is just not much consistency with them. I have never heard of people parking on I-71 and the park telling people not to come for a concert at Timberwolf (though it honestly wouldn't suprise me that much). That honor is now reserved for weekend bring-a-friend free days - and as far as I know, they're done with those for this year.

Really? I honestly did not know that. The only time I can recall them putting a big sign out in front of the gate or toll booths was the first year SOB was open. Then again, I don't pay much attention to what's going on at the front gate, or during the end of May/August period where staffing is incredibly difficult. Is it in one of those boxes they put those movie posters in or something?

I believe that the "early admission" to BB is only to grab sunspots. Not too sure though. And very very few people go to the ERTs. I think most people don't even know they exist. They don't go in Action Zone, anyway. I'd say its no more than 200 people on an average Thursday morning - including the employees. To actually answer dude's question, any time during the week is good. Just look out for special events (concerts, bring-a-friend-free days, Xtended play) that draw lots of crowds. Middle of the week is usually pretty good. You usually won't run into much trouble on Sunday, either. Don't go on a Saturday if you can help it. One more piece of advice, start out in the Rivertown/HB area, and go counter-clockwise. AZ gets crowded really quickly, the crowds there start thinning out around 2:00 generally.

I'm just curious, how do they plan to enforce this rule? Have everyone clock out at the exit? I don't think I would care much if they did it at PKI, because I very rarely go to the park for fun - on an off day or after a shift.

I don't mean to bash my sups here. They're good guys. There are just some things I don't understand, thats all.

OK, I went a little too far on that. They care about capacity. But they are not emphasizing it nearly as much as they did last year, at least. I think that they are MUCH more concerned about "guest relations." A lot of you new folks don't understand this. Last year (for me at least), guest relating was something that was reserved for downtime, and it seemed that this was a rather universal feeling. As for your other point, that is a question that I have yet to have answered. It is not "fellow employees" that are telling me to shut up, they are people higher up in the hierarchy than I am. I have no idea why they find it unprofessional. I asked my sups about it, and one of them said "It just is." Maybe they are afraid that I will inadvertadly insult somebody - that's the only thing I can think of.

OK, here is my response. 1. If we ran to check bars, we would get in a lot of trouble because people would think that we weren't checking them correctly. 2. Rides dept management doesn't seem to care too much about capacity this year, and I don't really know why. 3. There are only a very few select people who have the authority to allow people to skip the line to ride something. To my knoweledge (which isn't much about this, granted), they only do this when they have to literally pull people out of a ride that breaks down and cannot be quickly repaired. I have never heard of them doing this with people in line. 4. When I try to be funny over the mic or something, I have 10 people (I'm talking employees here, not guests) screaming at me telling me not to because it looks "unprofessional." 5. I have always thought that the ride ops first duty was to run the ride safely and effeciently.

OK, now I've never been to Sandusky (or any other major amusement park for that matter) so I don't know how folks there deal with it, but if we kept people from leaving anything in the station, man would the crap hit the fan. Cedar Point is not particularly close to any large city, so I'm guessing that they don't have too many regular visitors (and this is just speculation mind you). PKI is within 20 minutes of Downtown Cincy, is located within one of the biggest suburban-sprawl areas in Ohio, and is less than an hour from Dayton. There are no shortage of people who visit PKI very regularly. They come just because its close. They are very used to our policies. If they changed, they would riot. Seriously. They would.

About 20 minutes down I-71 in Oakley.

I know that most of the people who post here are either ACErs or similar and probably know this, but I think its worth mentioning. PKI and the ride ops are not responsible for stuff you leave with us when you ride. It is impossible for us to keep track of who owns what with the other stuff happening on the ride. SOB has had a LOT of theft reports the last few days. Most of the lost items are purses, backpacks, those bag things that girls wear on their back a lot (I don't know what they are called), even eyeglasses seem to have gone missing a lot lately. In light of this, I would recommend first of all that you not bring valuables to the park with you. Now I realize that this is impossible in some cases. If at all possible, take it on the ride with you, especially at coasters, where someone on another train could quite easily swipe your stuff. If you put the stuff on the floor of the car and wrap the strap(s) around your legs, that will be more than enough security for just about everything. At rides like Face/Off, AT, or other "flat" rides that don't cycle more than one at the same time and when you can put your stuff right next to your seat, this may not entirely be neccessary. But personally, I think that it's still a good idea. In the event you do lose something, inform the ride op immediately so we can call security and file a report if possible. In the event that you forget to take something with you when you leave a ride and come back to get it, be prepared to identify it very clearly. One of the most common ways stuff gets stolen is when people come back and say that something in the station is theirs. If you run into me especially, I'll probably ask you whats in it, and then make you show it to me. I have noticed that theft is a lot more prevalent on crowded days, since you're less likely to be caught and/or found, I guess. Seeing as how Nights of Fire is this weekend, Spirit Song the next, and then Timberwolf firing up, I just thought this would be good to mention it. Just like the saftey stuff many online ride ops (myself included) shove down people's throats here, I think this is basically a case of "DON'T CHECK YOUR BRAIN AT THE GATE!"

OK, its 1:30 AM, and the picture is of a fully loaded Delirium starting or ending a cycle in broad daylight. Granted I know that probably nobody visits pki.com overnight, but for pete's sake, that image has to be at least 7 hours old.

I think we get more wallets than car keys, but we do get a fair amount of car keys, yeah.

Uh...no. If you find it on a ride, give it to the person checking bars or whatever. The person will more than likely come back rather quickly when they realize that it is lost. If you lose something, go to the ride you think you lost it on. If they can't find it there, we can call other rides to see if they have it. If they don't, we'll have you fill out a lost article card, and WE will take it to GR that night. And I think the 3 most lost items on SOB are: 1) cigarette lighters 2) cell phones and 3) wallets. Oh, and I forgot to say that we have seen many a tampon, sweatshirt, games prizes, and of course, wet socks.

If you're coming in from the enterance, its just to the right of the tower, you'd see it if you were going into HB land. It doesn't say "Guest Relations" on it. I think it says that it is a message center or something. There is an electronic message sign on the top of it facing towards HB. Thats where they mean, I think.

According to Ohio law (ORC section 1711.551 to be exact), it is illegal to disobey a posted saftey warning on a ride. On just about every ride, there is a posted saftey warning saying not to take pictures on it. The saftey warnings are on the "Fun and Saftey Guidelines" posted at the enteraces and exits to the rides, as is the law stating that it is a crime to violate them. And even if it wasn't, I'm not a lawyer, but I could see someone being charged with some sort of negligent injury crime if a person with a camera dropped it and it hit someone.

Stash of marajuana, condoms, clothing, the list goes on.