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violakat03

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Everything posted by violakat03

  1. If you are coming from the north, you will go PAST the park and turn left on Western Row Rd. If you are coming from the south, you will turn right on Western Row Rd which is the traffic light at the end of the exit ramp from 71N. Once on Western Row, its the first light. Turn left on to One Team Way and follow that road (and all the cars) to security post 2. Tell the guard there you are here for an interview and he will point you in to the associate lot. Associate Services and HR are both outside of the employee entrance at security post 3.
  2. Buckle your seatbelt! It causes you to lose your rhythm to stop and buckle someone's belt. Also, don't take it personally if I pull the belt out of your hands and buckle it for you. I do it all day long and can do it much faster than you can. If you are the parent of a small child, do not insist on putting your child's restraint down before sitting down. It is literally our job to ensure they are safely restrained so just let us do it. I can't count the number of times I have had to stand there and wait because a parent insists that THEY are the only ones that can make sure their kid is in right... and I promptly have to open the restraint to fix whatever they messed up because they put their kid in the restraint wrong. Please just let us do what we have been thoroughly trained to do. Be ready to ride before you walk through the gate to board. Tie your shoes, put your phone in your pocket, fix your hair, whatever it is you need to do. You can't even imagine the amount of time that is wasted on loading platforms each day waiting for people to finish tying their shoes or putting their hair in a ponytail. Also, please pull down your own restraint. I pull down empty ones all day, you can pull yours down instead of just staring at me like it will magically lower. If you are sitting next to an empty seat, go ahead and open that restraint when you are getting off the ride. Banshee's seats have to all open before we can lock them and it's a huge help when guests open our empty restraints for us. Also if you see someone struggling to get out, unbuckle their belt or push down on their restraint for them - again, huge time saver. Most importantly- remember we are all human beings too and work a lot of long, hot hours each week. Listen to our directions, whether it's over a microphone or direct. A smile or a thank you goes a LONG way. We all wear nametags so please call us by name. And a written compliment left at Guest Services is a HUGE deal in all departments.
  3. Robbie's in here trying to steal all the referral bonuses. In all seriousness, Coney is an awesome place to work. The end of the season is even more fun as the weather gets cooler and the entire feel of the park is a little bit more relaxed as a result. It's an awesome crew with lots of fun people, and some really great classic rides (one of very few places left in the country with a Tempest, for example).
  4. Yes, we absolutely are allowed to tell them to show us their camera roll and tell them to delete any on ride videos or photos they have. Unfortunately most people who video now a days do it via snapchat, so there is no deleting it to enforce a consequence of breaking the rules. But I definitely made a preteen delete not only 3 videos taken on our ride, but also videos taken on two other coasters earlier in the day once.
  5. After discussing with the parks today, we are pleased to announce that we are able to have on-site registration for any last minute attendees. So if you still would like to come, you can just show up at either park! Please let me know in this thread if you are planning to register on-site so I know to expect you. If you will be LATE (arriving after check in ends), you need to let me know so I can make arrangements to meet you with your registration materials but that is perfectly fine! For Coney: Enter through Gate 1 and tell the parking attendants you are a last minute add for the ACE group. They will provide you with wristbands for your group and you will not have to pay for parking. You will then park and come to the ACE table set up next to the Coney Island sign, where you will tell me you're on site registering as a KIC member, pay (cash or check only), and pick up your registration packet. For Stricker's Grove: There will be a table set up near the entrance for ACE. Come tell me you are on site registering as a KIC member, pay (cash or check only), and you will get your registration packet. Reminder for prices: Entire event: $65 Coney only: $42 Stricker's only: $30
  6. You can arrive late! That's just the times that one of us will be out at the front gate. We will leave registration materials at the front gate with a Stricker's worker after the event check-in window.
  7. EXCUSE ME HIS AIRPLANE WAS BROKEN. IT DIDN'T GO UP. No, your kid is like 8 months old and can't pull back on a lever.
  8. One of the favorite stories that goes around Coney about me was last year when I was working the kiddie airplanes (a ride I wasn't even assigned to work, I'd just hopped in to help out the overwhelmed op) and got cussed out THREE TIMES over the course of an hour because the mini golf course was closed. Twice by the same person! My favorite was when I informed her it was due to low staffing (this was our last week of weekday operations and most of our rides kids were back in school), she told me I should have planned better. Yes, because clearly the person operating the kiddie airplanes is fully in control of staffing levels. As someone who has worked in rides at several parks over the last 7 years, you eventually learn to just let it roll off of you. I no longer get upset when a guest yells or swears at me because it happens so often. I have stepped in between guests and newer ride ops because I can take the abuse and still look you straight in the face and tell you no without hesitation. Long time ride ops also develop a very strong sarcasm response.
  9. Friendly reminder that online registration ends in less than 24 hours!
  10. Hey KIC members! If you are interested in attending Southern Ohio Summerfest next weekend (July 28 and 29) at Coney Island and Stricker's Grove, you are invited to attend as a guest! You will not need a "sponsor" ACE member, just select "guest" for your registration type and enter your KIC username where it asks for your sponsoring member information. This is a rare chance to experience Stricker's Grove on a non-public day and there are LOTS of goodies (such as free soft drinks and snacks all day at Stricker's!) and a meal at each park included in your registration. You can register for just one day of the event, or both days of the event at a discount. To view the itinerary and what is included with your registration, check out the event flier at http://www.aceonline.org/fliers/ConeyIsland2018.pdf Online registration is open through Thursday, July 26 at midnight. Sign up now at https://ace-soar.ticketleap.com/southern-ohio-summerfest/ and I look forward to seeing you there!
  11. Busy because of the event? No. Busy because it's a Saturday in October? Probably. But it's also very weather dependent. I've seen dead Saturdays because of cold rainy weather.
  12. Our schedule is as follows: 10:30-11:00 am ERT on Banshee and Delirium 2:00 pm Lights on walkthrough tour of Blackout and Wolf Pack 3:30 pm Walkback tour of The Beast 5:30-7:00 pm Buffet dinner in the picnic grove featuring Montgomery Inn BBQ 7:00 pm Halloween Haunt begins 12:00 am Reserved seating for Hot Blooded Also, good news! Registration has been extended until TOMORROW at midnight!!!
  13. Hi everyone! If you're on the fence (or haven't seen anything about it yet), registration ends tomorrow at midnight for the first ACE regional event at Kings Island in 6 years. We will be enjoying morning ERT on Banshee, lights on walk throughs of Wolf Pack and Blackout, a walk back tour of The Beast, priority seating at Hot Blooded, and a buffet meal featuring Montgomery Inn BBQ. To register online, please visit: https://ace-soar.ticketleap.com/wits-kings-island Not an ACE member? Not a problem! You can join ACE at http://www.aceonline.org/JoinACE/ (a trial membership is available also if you just want to try it out) or you can register as a guest. The event will be on Saturday, October 15th. There is also an event the next day at Coney Island that we'd love to have you at as well!
  14. The event is in danger of being cancelled due to attendance. If you're on the fence, sign up now!
  15. I'm too stubborn for that. lol. That was my husband's solution too and my response was "they need to learn their ride."
  16. I saw the maintenance short for the first time this week, actually. Speaking of eye-roll inducing, I saw it for the first time while standing in line for Dragster during a downtime. Someone loudly complained "yeah, they maintain it so well, that's why it's broken." Because daily maintenance totally prevents minor issues through the day...especially when they're showing a video of wood coaster maintenance at a completely different park. Idiots. That being said, I believe the helix lights are now on a timer so they can't be accidentally left on. There was at least one season where they were on almost every time I rode it and it was a bit on the ridiculous side for a coaster that is famous for it's night rides. I think the light switch is inside the lock-out area so they can't just be turned off mid-day if forgotten, but if they had to turn them on after the timer turned them off, they'd probably stay on.
  17. Guests fitting in rides is a sensitive enough issue that parks usually do everything they can to bring very little attention to it. As a paying guest of the park, I feel like the ride operators should know their restraints better than I do, and they don't. Period. As I said, I am not *that* big, and I do fit without any issue on all of the rides in the park. So why is Racer the only one that I have to have this argument with every time I ride it? I honestly don't like riding Racer anymore because I know they're going to either tell me it has to go down one more click when it doesn't, or they're going to make a scene by releasing and re-locking the restraints. I do NOT like being the center of attention due to my weight, especially when it's completely unnecessary. Every ride has some "trick" to being able to visually confirm if a restraint is down. It may be a sensor that trips a light (WindSeeker), a mark on the restraint (Backlot), or just knowing what part of the train it should be even with (Beast & Racer - btw, it should be roughly even with the grab bar). This is normally included in training and becomes second nature in a very short period of time. The fact that is consistently questioned and that they can't just visually confirm it while walking past makes me believe that they do not train this "trick" when training their operators, and therefore, are causing guest issues that shouldn't exist. How many people have had to take a walk of shame off that ride because the operator thought it was only down one click and it was actually correctly locked? I almost have. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that don't know the 2-click rule, or count the clicks as they lower their bar, that had no clue that the operator was wrong. And trust me, taking a walk of shame can and will ruin a guest's entire day.
  18. As a former ride op, I feel like they should know their ride. It's not hard. It doesn't take a whole lot of time working on a ride to get to the point where you can immediately tell if it's down the correct amount or not. When your guests have to correct you on your own ride, you aren't doing your job. Like I said, Beast's crew, never an issue. Racer's crew, an issue every time. I was there on Friday and had to argue with a ride op, as I do EVERY TIME, that yes, it was down two. This far into the season, it should not continue to be a problem.
  19. I feel like The Racer ops really have no clue where two clicks is. Almost every single time I've ridden it, they have to double check it and convince themselves it's two clicks. I've even had a supervisor (who should know!!) release my restraint, ignoring me completely when I told him it was definitely two clicks, and put it back down. I got a bit of satisfaction out of my "I told you it was two" afterwards. I've also had them tell me it had to go down another, and I told them no, it was already two, then have to go through the whole release restraint, put it back down and prove that it was two. I don't understand why Beast's crew has zero issue with recognizing immediately if it's down two or not when Racer's crew has managed to be oblivious the entire season. Also, Racer's bars are consistently tighter than Beast's. Consistently. I don't have to cram into Beast. Some seats are slightly more snug than others but I never have to put any effort into getting it down. Racer, I have to force it down the second click, and there have even been times that my seat mate has had to help. And I'm not *that* big.
  20. I've had enough people ask me if I've seen this article that it inspired my latest blog post. Also, in reference to the fact no Six Flags parks were included - Six Flags is a quickly recognizable brand. I think most of the GP does not connect Cedar Fair with it's parks as the parks themselves do not carry the brand's name. That's what caused them to be included. But other than that, I felt this was basically a list of "popular amusement parks that aren't owned by Disney, Universal or Six Flags." Anyway, if you're interested in reading my rebuttal and my personal top 10 underrated parks (based on my experiences, this is not intended to be a comprehensive list) please go check it out: http://chasingthrills.com/10-truly-underrated-amusement-parks/
  21. I am terrified of swinging ships because of an incident on one as a child. I totally understand irrational childhood ride fears. I somehow got talked into riding Mayflower at Holiday World last weekend. It was the first swinging ship I'd ridden in about 5 years. We sat in the middle row and I was legitimately in tears by the end of the ride cycle and had marks in my hands from grabbing the bar so hard. We got off and immediately rode Voyage twice, because irrational phobias make no sense.
  22. None of the parks I have ever worked at will allow a child to ride when they are crying/screaming and obviously want off. It's been the policy at all of them that we had to get a confirmation from the child that they wanted to ride. The parent insisting that they're riding just ****ed most of us off. I've removed many a child from a ride that was screaming to be let off after a parent shoved their restraints down on them. And if the parents were jerks, I made them get off with the kid too. If they were understanding and didn't make an issue of the child wanting off, I'd let the kid wait at the exit while the parent rode, but if they were jerks and screaming at the kid to shut up because they were making a scene/had waited in line/some other excuse, I was like "sorry, they can't wait by themselves if they're under 14." Most of my coworkers had the same response. One of the earliest replies outlined exactly why: You don't want a kid suddenly freaking out and trying to bail mid-lift or trying to escape their restraints (which, honestly, can be done with enough determination on many rides). Or if the ride stops and has to be evacuated, can you imagine trying to safely unload a kid that is already so scared they are screaming when the ride hasn't started yet? It can create incredibly dangerous situations. Unloading a train that has stopped on a lift or brake run can be dangerous enough as it is, you don't want to add in an extra complication of a kid that has become so frightened that they are completely unreasonable and have essentially shut down. Funny side story: I had a kid board Mystery Mine one time screaming and crying. He was not much over the height requirement, so he was maybe 7 years old? I asked if he was ok and if he wanted to ride and he nodded his head. I looked at his mom who had this mortified look on her face and said "he's crying because his brother just hit him." I couldn't not laugh.
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