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Banshee Construction Progress


IndyGuy4KI

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^^^ Totally agree. Spieling, in my opinion is almost as a part of the experience of a ride as theming. Not quite as important as general thrill and rider safety but spieling adds the humanity element into the park experience. If a ride-op is good enough they can think of many creative things to say to entertain and inform guests in line.

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Vinnie got into trouble, but he didn't partake in anything at all, someone took that image and ran with it. It wasn't even someone on our crew actually..He got hit for other people's work, not even himself..

They got upset because there were a few that were made, nothing crazy or anything, just demotivationals..then it went crazy when the bad eggs and other departments got ahold of it and decided to trash it..Was a shame really, there were some clever ones in there, and very true ones..The 17 hour shift deal..TRUTH

Anyways I enjoy a good spiel if the ride op can do it, and I hate to toot my own horn but like how I would do it..If you can't spiel, that's fine, just don't do it. There were people on my crew who knew they weren't good or didn't enjoy it, and they didn't get the mic, all good. When you give it to those people it gets dull, people don't listen to the important bits, and then stupid stuff happens on platform and the good mood amongst employees gets sucked away.

Take Beast for instance this year..I say the, you say Beast crap..just disappointing. There was only one good spiel during halloweekend of the guy doing 300, very impressive, it was different and people were paying attention to him. Best spiel this year had to be Zephyr, very engaging and interactive but still to the point, or Eiffel Tower, no bias honestly. They're job is talking, that aside from safety is practically in their job. They stand around on either platform or elevator and spiel/answer questions.

But again, if you can do it and it's effective, use the mic and have fun while keeping the guests safe. If you can't, pass the mic to someone who can, or just leave it quiet. Don't try and just cause people to not listen or complain because you are talking.

Last note, I agree with AZ. Controls should be watching the ride cycle, the panel, and the platform at all times, nothing else. While a train was moving through the track especially the lift hill or block transitions, my eyes were on it, before dispatches checking pedals and all clears, and an occasional glance at the panel to make sure nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

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On several occasions, I have considered giving a lengthy explanation of my ride experience after hearing, "Welcome back riders! How was your ride?"

Personally, I would rather just have the Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure round of applause afterwards and that be that.

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Take Beast for instance this year..I say the, you say Beast crap..just disappointing. There was only one good spiel during halloweekend of the guy doing 300, very impressive, it was different and people were paying attention to him. Best spiel this year had to be Zephyr, very engaging and interactive but still to the point, or Eiffel Tower, no bias honestly. They're job is talking, that aside from safety is practically in their job. They stand around on either platform or elevator and spiel/answer questions.

Totally agree on this. I loved the Zephyr and Eiffel Tower spiels. The Eiffel Tower one is actually really informative and in my opinion is THE most important spiel in the park. In fact, without a spiel going up the tower, it would be a very awkward silence. For this ride and only this ride, I would have substantially less fun without a spiel. Zephyr spiels are always great too, I especially like the park trivia. I try to let others get a chance to get the questions right, but I find that I know more Kings Island history than the general public, so it is often difficult to keep quiet.

The WORST spiel is "If you wanna ride Diamondback clap your hands!". I really hate when they get to the end and they're like "If you wanna ride Diamondback, stomp your feet... Oh, wait...". Since I am vertically gifted, I always stomp my feet obnoxiously loudly when they say that to make them realize how dumb that spiel is. There ARE people whose feet can reach the platform on Diamondback.

I personally want a prerecorded spiel by Sammy Hagar to go with the Van Halen on Drop Tower. THAT would cement Kings Island in the annals of Theme Park history as the greatest park ever.

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The problem I had with Mr 300 for The Beast spiel-er was on a few nights, the crew would have all 3 trains stacked, which, on Beast, you almost have to try to get that to occur.

I would say that most of the Coney Mall flats have pretty good spiel-ers.

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All too often: A very annoying chant, story or sing-song bunch of talking by an employee whose job it is to ensure safe operation of a ride.

In the rest of the world: a sales talk, a pitch--often regarded with contempt by those who hear it. Think of a carnival barker, an infomercial (but wait, there's more). or a child selling magazine subscriptions door to door.

Ironic, eh?

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Maybe Im the minority here or just a bit different but.... I always enjoy hearing "Enjoy your ride on ____." Just something about that sentence, then hearing the brakes release.

Same with "Welcome back riders, how was your ride? Enjoy your day at ___" then hearing the electrical click of the restraints releasing. Just something about those sounds brings me back...

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^^ I totally agree with you. I'm not sure where this hatred of Ride Op spiels comes from. I think it totally adds to the experience and something I come to expect when coming to the park. I think it creates a more personal, and relatable experience. If they are having fun, it seems guests are happy.

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Because Terp is like me, ride ops should be focused on nothing but checking restraints and getting the ride in and out safetly. That is always number one (which btw, safety is still #1 over capacity Rollernut..CP just works well at efficiency).

I didn't even spiel at the start of the season, I was too busy helping guests, learning this and that, and watching the ride. I actually couldn't multitask it well, it's harder than you think like the first week of work with live guests.

After awhile some movements become fine tuned muscle memory and your ride visuals adding just talking became easy. You were able to tell if a seatbelt was buckled and engaged, restraint down far enough, etc. people are very predictable and so is the ride after a few hundred cycles everyday.

Like I said, if you can do it, do it, if you can't keep quiet.

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Saw bright lights on early and thought it was around Banshee but it is over by Delirium. What is up there?

Maybe they're about to paint Delirium. That could explain why they have lights pointed at it.

I thought it was re-painted about 1-2 years ago.

EDIT: Also, They may just be putting the seats back on for testing.

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Wait they remove their seats from Delirium? I thought they always just shrink wrapped them like other places do. No access to a webcam atm.

Yeah, They remove them. Cause it only looks like the row of seats that are connected to the thing that holds them up are there still. I think at Some points, They do need a little cleaning.

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Maybe Im the minority here or just a bit different but.... I always enjoy hearing "Enjoy your ride on ____." Just something about that sentence, then hearing the brakes release.

Same with "Welcome back riders, how was your ride? Enjoy your day at ___" then hearing the electrical click of the restraints releasing. Just something about those sounds brings me back...

I agree with you. I mentioned this in a TR a couple of years back for Busch Gardens Tampa. It felt weird and awkwardly quiet when you got off an awesome ride like Montu or Kumba and you heard nothing but people getting off the ride. Even if they aren't sincere and/or just required to ask "How was your ride" its nice to get the routine "Wooooo" from everyone on the ride. It makes the ride seems more fun/memorable to me. I think as long as the spiel is done AND the ride op can ensure the safety of the passengers then I'm all for it.

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Wait they remove their seats from Delirium? I thought they always just shrink wrapped them like other places do. No access to a webcam atm.

I thought that any ride that involved a restraint system had to be disassembled, inspected, any warn parts replaced, and then reassembled, before it can function for a season? I thought this and other maintenance and upkeep is what off seasons were for, at the parks that are seasonal?

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