Lots of gum on hand rail's & walls

[TopThrill]

While I didn't ride The Racer or Beast opening weekend, I rode them both the second weekend. And its like both coasters were sitting there the hole winter, and no one cleaned off the gum. The worst is in the tunnel to The Racer on both sides, cat walk, hand rail, wall, all covered in gum and old spit that had turned black, I mean some of the gum on the cat walk's has turned the same color as the wood. I've even noticed what looks like colored markers, in waive lines almost as if while the train is moving they put there marker on the wall and draw all the way down. I would hate to be told the ride had broke, and were getting everybody off in groups of six, and having to walk though all that! Only place I've seen it on The Beast is on the first lift, a little bit on the second lift, and the final break run leading to the station.

Sorry if another post had been started about this, couldn't get the search to work.

[HTCO]

I completely agree. It's sick. My girl friend spit her gum out on The Beast and I yelled at her. haha.

HTCO, feels like its 'lets complain about KI week'

[flightoffear1996]

Nasty yes. Park fault not really. THe park spent 22 million on us this season and people are valdenlizing the Diamondback line. Its really not the parks fault since they cant really stop people from doing it.

[The Interpreter]

When such things are not quickly removed, they multiply. You get people to respect your stuff first of all by respecting it yourself...

[HTCO]

^ I like that saying. Thats signature worthy...

[SOB_TOM]

Thumb through all of Interp's 18,175 posts, and the 175 are probably the ones that are not signature worthy.

And I would think a parabolic hill would be much better than a right angled hill..

But of course I am right brained, which means that math for me was a horrible subject.

[TopThrill]

Yes I knew it's not the parks fault, but still The Racer tunnel has been like that for year's. Even during the off season's, no one cleans it (every off season). The very worst I've seen it was at SFSL, while waiting in line for BMTR, there was an entire round wall covered in gum. I almost lost my lunch when I saw that!

[The Interpreter]

And gum draws bees...which many are allergic to. Not a good situation. Not at all.

Terpy, who is repulsed by gum walls...and not thrilled by bees, either...

[BavarianBeatle]

I'm remembering the "good old days" when gum was stuck on certain trees at KI. But I agree that the tunnel at the end of The Racer is a disgrace!

[TopThrill]

Another thing I just love to see is juice stains on the pavement, left over by a ripped garbage bag. I know that when I putted trash at the park I never pulled a bag out that was dripping. Well I guess if no one is going to clean off the gum on The Racer tunnel, then it will be added to in the future then.

[Tomkatt7]

wonder who they would get to do that?

If I wasn't making 50 bucks an hour, they could try to hand me a putty knife, and I would laugh in their face.

No way I would get out there and clean that. It's disgusting.

Would you?

[MarketingExpress]

wonder who they would get to do that?

If I wasn't making 50 bucks an hour, they could try to hand me a putty knife, and I would laugh in their face.

No way I would get out there and clean that. It's disgusting.

Would you?

Been there....done that

[Oldiesmann]

Yes, it's a disgusting job, but someone has to do it, and there are products such as Goo Gone that will make the job easier.

[74Gibson]

It is disgusting and I hate it.

Is it the parks fault? No. Is it their responsibility? Unfortunately yes.

Someone coined the trem "broken glass theory of deviance." Basically, history and tons of research has shown that a single broken window, if not repaired encourages all types of crime. The basic idea is that soneone broke a window and nothing happened so people think they can get away with stuff. It's the same thing as grafiti, an art that I personally love but I detest tagging!

CF needs to act swiftly on vandalism or it will run rampant. Tomkatt I'm with you but someone will do the job... and there are far worse ones that get done.

[RailRider]

When such things are not quickly removed, they multiply. You get people to respect your stuff first of all by respecting it yourself...

Agreed, that is why there are no gum walls at Disney. Then again they take the time every night after the park closes to remove gum and clean the park before the next day. Unfortuantely parks like KI under CF or PP and Six Flags does not take the time or the attention to detail to do such things, also a money factor.

[violakat03]

When someone asked during the Q&A session at RWCW if they were ever going to clean up the walls on The Racer brake shed because they were so disgusting, the entire room erupted in applause.

So it's not like it hasn't been mentioned to the park and it's not like a ton of people haven't noticed and been disgusted by it.

[Gabe]

I for one am sick of the excuse that because the park built DB, they can ignore the rest of the park. Kat and I have had conversations where we talk about the fact that it seems to be the prevailing theory this everything else is secondary to DB this season. Ive been a gold passholder for years and I've never once in all my years of going seen the park attempt to clean The Racer brake shed. They could easily have done it last year while retracking the ride. As mentioned earlier, some industrial solvents, a little elbow greese and a coat or 2 of white paint would go a long way towards freshening up the end of the ride and maing it a more pleasant experience for everyone.

[MarketingExpress]

Ive been a gold passholder for years and I've never once in all my years of going seen the park attempt to clean The Racer brake shed. They could easily have done it last year while retracking the ride. As mentioned earlier, some industrial solvents, a little elbow greese and a coat or 2 of white paint would go a long way towards freshening up the end of the ride and maing it a more pleasant experience for everyone.

In defense of the park, it's not like they can just wander out there whenever they want throughout the day and start pulling gum off the wall. To even get out there involves cutting all power to the ride so the trains have no chance of moving while you are out there. As I said, I have been a part of the clean up crew that has gotten the privelage to pull the gum off the walls of The Racer and recaR brakeshed. It's not an easy or fun task and can easily take over 4 hours to complete for just one brakeshed, and that's not even including painting the walls.

[TOPGUN1993]

Why don't they just remove the tunnel portion where the train fully stops?

[CedarPointer]

I have heard that it is there so people can't spit at the train from the lift hill, but The Beast doesn't have a wall, so I'm not sure what the difference is...

[Guest TombraiderTy]

Racer's brake-run was not originally covered on the sides (I'm not even sure if it was covered from above...). The walls do protect a stopped train from the elements, and they also block the view of backstage areas. However, the ride looks a bit nicer without them.

[standbyme]

Why don't they just remove the tunnel portion where the train fully stops?

I hope they NEVER do that...I love those tunnels.

I also miss the gum tree that was in the WWC line years (and years) ago. I never added to it...but I always got a kick out of seeing it. My theory is that if you let the public have a certain area to "express themselves" they will hopefully leave the rest of it alone.

[gigacoaster2k]

I for one am sick of the excuse that because the park built DB, they can ignore the rest of the park. Kat and I have had conversations where we talk about the fact that it seems to be the prevailing theory this everything else is secondary to DB this season.

I couldn't agree more. I noticed nothing of the sort at Holiday World. Even when there was trash on the ground momentarily, it was swiftly picked up.. and by both park guests and park employees. I saw no gum, no vandalism, nothing like that anywhere in the park. It is really not that hard to teach people to pick up trash, and it certainly isn't hard to throw trash in a trash can where it belongs.. not on the midways, in the queues or in the loading stations.

Angie, whose #1 peeve is trash on the ground, no matter where she may be

[violakat03]

Ive been a gold passholder for years and I've never once in all my years of going seen the park attempt to clean The Racer brake shed. They could easily have done it last year while retracking the ride. As mentioned earlier, some industrial solvents, a little elbow greese and a coat or 2 of white paint would go a long way towards freshening up the end of the ride and maing it a more pleasant experience for everyone.

In defense of the park, it's not like they can just wander out there whenever they want throughout the day and start pulling gum off the wall. To even get out there involves cutting all power to the ride so the trains have no chance of moving while you are out there. As I said, I have been a part of the clean up crew that has gotten the privelage to pull the gum off the walls of The Racer and recaR brakeshed. It's not an easy or fun task and can easily take over 4 hours to complete for just one brakeshed, and that's not even including painting the walls.

I don't understand why they can't do it in the offseason. They cut the power then, because there is a large amount of maintenance that is done in the off season. Heck, the trains aren't even on the track during most of the offseason! They could easily make it part of the annual maintenance of the coaster. Especially if it only takes 4 hours to do each tunnel. It takes weeks, even months, to do the rest of the maintenance, so there is really no excuse. Heck, they spend more than four hours each week of operation on maintenance, when you include walking the tracks each day and any other work that they put into it!

I can understand that it is not an easy or fun task. There are a LOT of jobs that are not easy nor are they fun. Have you ever seen the TV show Dirty Jobs? There are a lot worse jobs out there than cleaning gum off of walls, and there are people that do them every day.

[pilotank]

When such things are not quickly removed, they multiply. You get people to respect your stuff first of all by respecting it yourself...

I agree totally!

This manner of behavior is similar to The Broken Window Theory:

Although we are talking gum and graffiti, it still fits.

Graffiti study bolsters 'broken windows' theory

Dutch researchers find that in the presence of graffiti and litter, people are more likely to commit small crimes.

By Karen Kaplan

November 21, 2008

In a series of real-world experiments, people exposed to graffiti, litter and other cues of lawlessness were more likely to commit small crimes, according to a study published today that bolsters the controversial "broken windows" theory of policing.

The idea is that low-level offenses like vandalism and panhandling create an environment that breeds bigger crimes.

Dutch researchers tested the psychological underpinnings of the theory and found that signs of social disorder damped people's impulse to act for the good of the community, allowing selfish and greedy instincts to take over. The results appear in the journal Science.

Community policing strategies based on the "broken windows" theory have taken root in cities across the U.S. and around the world since it was proposed in 1982.

Kees Keizer, a graduate student in the department of behavioral and social sciences at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, thought psychology and sociology could add to the debate.

Human behavior is influenced by three competing instincts: to act in a socially appropriate manner, to do what feels good in the moment and to maximize one's resources. Keizer predicted that when there's less motivation to be socially appropriate, the other two impulses would take over.

To test this, he attached fliers for a fake sportswear store to the handlebars of bicycles parked in a shopping area. With no trash can nearby, shoppers returning to their bikes could either take the fliers with them or litter.

A wall near the bicycles had a sign indicating that graffiti was forbidden. When the wall was indeed graffiti-free, 33% of people left the fliers on the ground or attached them to other bikes. After Keizer painted graffiti on the wall, the percentage of people who littered rose to 69%.

pilotank

[Radar]

It is disgusting and I hate it.

Is it the parks fault? No. Is it their responsibility? Unfortunately yes.

Someone coined the trem "broken glass theory of deviance." Basically, history and tons of research has shown that a single broken window, if not repaired encourages all types of crime. The basic idea is that soneone broke a window and nothing happened so people think they can get away with stuff. It's the same thing as grafiti, an art that I personally love but I detest tagging!

The term is "Broken Windows", not glass, although the pretense is the same. It was a term and idea coined by Jack Maple, for whom the tv show "the District" was based off of.

I agree, the more the park makes a valiant effort to clean up blight, the more it discourages new blight. If they actually made the effort, although admittedly a tough one, to put a stop to vandalism in the park, through at minimum a three pronged effort -educate, enforce, expurgate

Educate - inform visitors (more so than currently) that vandalism, littering, and offensive behavior are cause for any of the following: ejection from the park, prosecution, barring permanently from the park, or a combination of the measures. Most people are not aware, or don't care, of the consequences... Largely because they are a threat of action without the teeth to enforce.

Enforcement - I don't see very much enforcement going on at the park. When I have observed security officers themselves observing people line jumping, cussing, or other objectionable behavior, often the guards scold them, kick them to the back of the line, or don't say anything to them. I once watched a guy line jump DB, the guard saw him and kicked him out of line, the guard switched with another guard, the guy line jumped again and the second guard kicked him off the ride at the station, but that was it. There needs to be a level of enforcement on the level with say, some six flags parks. Kick them out of the park. You want to give them a warning? get their ID, write it down, radio it in, warn him, and walk off. If another guard starts to warn him later, and dispatch radios that is his/her second offense that day, eject them from the park. They tell you "cause for removal from the park" but they try very hard not to enforce anything. Maybe they should try enforcing something, anything, for a better park experience for everyone.

Cops don't really run radar on the side of the road for revenue purposes, if saying that is why they are there makes you feel better, so be it, but they are really there to get you to slow down. Think about it. If everyone were driving legally they wouldn't need to be there. Maybe if security enforced more, we would have less problems.

That was the theory behind Broken Windows. Enforce everything for a time. Everything. Someone spits chew on the ground, cite them for littering and kick them out for the day. Someone parks in Handicapped without a placard? ticket and tow. Be a hardass for a few weeks, a month, and then slowly relax, but never to this "don't care" attitude employed now. People will take notice, and if they don't like it, and don't come back because they know they can't line jump, cuss, spit, write on walls, etc., are you really losing a customer you wanted in the first place? Make a family friendly environment, enforce it as such, and you'll end up with only the crowds you actually want in your park.

Expurgate - clean up every form of vandalism or littering, as soon as it is observed, or every night, which ever is most reasonably possible.

Have stain and paint on stand by. Have a couple of Maintenance guys that just do Expurgate duties. Have enough fencing boards to replace almost all of the fencing against the line of Diamondback on standby. Have them stained to match, and laying out somewhere so they fade to match what is currently out there. At the very least, go out and flip the boards around when vandalism is observed. At the end of the night, sand and re-stain the offending sections. Have white paint, and even a few painted plywood sheets on standby for The Racer tunnels. Have an employee check them once an hour, or once every half hour. I doubt you'll have a hard time convincing an employee to get paid to go ride the ride. Treat it the same as a bathroom, have the employee sign off on a clean or damaged sheet. If something extremely morally offensive is carved in a fence on DB, or wrote on a wall in The Racer, or anywhere, what do you think should be done? Wait til next year and maybe take care of it? I saw the F word carved in the DB fence, I mentioned it to a ride op, and a week later it was still there, although I can say it is gone now. Clean it immediately, every night after close check it, every morning before park open check it again, don't wait til off season to fix problems.

I've been in Law Enforcement for 6 years. I love, and highly respect the Broken Windows Theory. It is some of the best advice and plans out there for ridding your city, community, even amusement park of crime. Provided it is followed strictly with the goal of making things better in your sights. I encourage anyone interested to read Jack Maple's book The Crime Fighter: How You Can Make Your Community Crime Free

Who knows, maybe some of the higher up Cedar Fair and Kings Island Official Lurkers on here will pick up a copy. And maybe order a copy for the Park Police and security supervisors.

[74Gibson]

^ Broken glass That's so stupid it's funny. I've (properly) used that saying for a good 10 yrs.

[RailRider]

I can understand that it is not an easy or fun task. There are a LOT of jobs that are not easy nor are they fun. Have you ever seen the TV show Dirty Jobs? There are a lot worse jobs out there than cleaning gum off of walls, and there are people that do them every day.

I think you are on to something here, how about Mike Rowe comes in and helps clean the park during the offseasson. Especially the gum wall, I think that would be an awesome episode of Dirty Jobs. I think Don needs to email the Dirty Jobs website with this idea, maybe do it during Haunt so Mike can help set it up and then take a spin on DB at the end of the day. Great publicity for the park.

[Zorba]

My brother worked the night shift at a nice gas station for years. Every single night he went out and cleaned the gum up in the parking lot. Since he did it every night, there would only be a couple of pieces and wouldn't take more than 5 or 10 minutes. If you let it sit there for a year before you do something about, it would take a full shift. If they cleaned The Racer tunnel every night or morning it would take less than 5 minutes once they got it cleaned off for the first time. Cleaning gum off walls is not that bad of a job in the grand scheme of things, a lot better than digging ditched or cleaning porta-potties.

I am also sick of hearing the "$22 Million blah blah blah," maintenance of existing equipment should always come before additions, if they park spent their maintenance money on a new ride that is just very poor management.

[TopThrill]

Yep it wouldn't be a problem if they clean it every night, before the gum has a chance to really stick and bond to the wood. But that's Kings Island, if they can't do anything about the wood surrounding the bottom of the lift at DB, then cleaning that gum won't happen any time soon.