Cedar Point 2010 Changes

[countess_of_tuscany]

Jeff (count_of_tuscany) and I went to Cedar Point for opening day (May 15^th) and stayed May 16^th also. We had an amazing time as usual! We noticed some changes around the park, so I listed a few here. I know that there are probably more that I am forgetting, but if I can remember any more I will edit this post and add them in. What did everyone else notice that was different this year? It's interesting to see all of the changes from year-to-year.

Here are a few of what we noticed (besides Shoot the Rapids, of course!):

· Bosco Sticks near Power Tower and Wave Swinger

· Funnel Cake Fries near Wave Swinger

· No more video cameras on Raptor – just doing still-pictures now

· Looks like Undertaker U will be getting a makeover – A teaser sign is on the building, hinting that the theme will be a haunted asylum for Halloweekends this year

· Churros stand near Magnum

· Go-Cookies at some food stands (mini cookies in a cup)

· Chuck Wagon Inn now sells Montgomery Inn Ribs and other bbq-type foods instead of pizza

· Perkin's restaurant in Hotel Breakers

· It appears that a new parking lot is being constructed near the CP Marina side - either that, or the parking lot was already there and I never noticed it and they are just doing construction on it

· New wait-time sign by Power Tower (now shows separate wait times for Space Shot and Turbo Drop)

· Bigger courtesy-water cups (hope this lasts!)

· Some of the coaster seatbelts seem new, but I can't tell for sure

· Some ride-ops were wearing new jumper-type outfits (like a short body-suit with a red tie)

· New paint on the metal handle on the end of Skyhawk (by seats 1 and 20 on both sides and swings)

· Prices for food has gone up it seems – no surprise there

· Cheese-on-a-sticks are about half the size that they used to be

· New smoking section with white outdoor chairs and an awning near the entrance of Paddlewheel Excursions (absolutely gross – you get blasted in the face with cigarette smoke as the Paddlewheel boat pulls into the station – a major turnoff for that ride, IMO)

· New set of lockers near Shoot the Rapids

· 2^nd family dryer by exit of Shoot the Rapids

· A few new areas of new concrete

· Some new wood on Meanstreak and Gemini

· New flags outside of the main entrance – they say The Fun and Only!

· A new store on the Frontier Trail selling Peanuts merchandise – I think it's called Charlie Brown's Corner Cabin or something like that? I don't remember the name of it - It may not be new, but I do not remember seeing it before.

While on Meanstreak, we noticed some Chaos cars laying on the ground in the middle of Meanstreak (you could only see them while on the ride) and we went to Chaos, and sure enough, all of the cars were missing. I know that it's for sale, but I wonder if it was purchased, or what's going on (hopefully it's just temporary!)

Also, did anyone else notice on Sunday (16^th) that one of the Mantis trains had valleyed near the crazy-twisting-end part, and was just stuck there? I wonder how they will get that going again - it sure looked strange!

Overall it seemed that the employees were super nice – the only downfall was that many of the rides were down for mechanical problems – but it was wonderful weather! It's great to be back, and I can't wait to go again! (May 27 – next trip!)

I love Cedar Point!

[KI Kevin]

· Chuck Wagon Inn now sells Montgomery Inn Ribs and other bbq-type foods instead of pizza

No more Chuckwagon Pizza?! NOOOOOO!

[Dbfan]

appears that a new parking lot is being constructed near the CP Marina side - either that, or the parking lot was already there and I never noticed it and they are just doing construction on it

New parking becuase part of the parking lot near DD's old spot will be lost due to a new ride?

[markr]

I missed the new menu at Chuck Wagon. Love Montgomery Inn Ribs-will have to have some at Coastermania.

[KI Kevin]

Did you ever have Chuck Wagon pizza? It was possibly the best pizza EVER

[countess_of_tuscany]

appears that a new parking lot is being constructed near the CP Marina side - either that, or the parking lot was already there and I never noticed it and they are just doing construction on it

New parking becuase part of the parking lot near DD's old spot will be lost due to a new ride?

That is exactly what I thought when I saw that last night! I hope!!

[The Interpreter]

Did you ever have Chuck Wagon pizza? It was possibly the best pizza EVER

Amen. And it's gone. I, for one, think the new pizza served elsewhere in the park is simply dreadful. Perhaps the worst theme park pizza I have ever had, bar none. Bland, nearly tasteless...not the zesty tomato sauce and wonderful cheese Chuck Wagon had had.

Yes, they make the crust now fresh daily. Yes, before the crust was frozen. But crust alone does not a good pizza make.

[Dvo]

I gotta disagree here. I had the new pizza and I enjoyed it very much. Although I like really greasy pizza.. so I dunno if others will agree with me.

Also, Power Tower has new restraints.

[sheikra_rocks]

They opened Mantis at the end of the day on Sunday.

We noticed new SHORTER BELTS had been added to MF. Thus one member of our group took their first walk of shame, came back later and got a train that still had the older belts. That would be the yellow train.

Park Operations did not want to do anything about our inconvenience. Finally a higher up was called and rectified the situation.

[The Interpreter]

And after sitting on the brake run for Maverick for nearly 30 minutes, the ride ops wordlessly got us out...and sent us on our way...just as wordlessly. Not once during our wait was any explanation offered...nor did anyone even come out on the run to say what was going on.

Customer service.

Something Cedar Fair used to excel at, pre-2006...

[Dvo]

^^Your inconvenience?? How inconvenient it must be that the park didn't take the time to accommodate solely to your group. Did your friend try the test seat? In my mind it's not exactly the park's responsibility to say "Hey, we have shorter seat belts!" If there's any question at all about whether or not you'll fit, it seems like the test seat is a good idea. Sorry if I'm coming off as an arse.

[PhantomTheater]

Some ride-ops were wearing new jumper-type outfits (like a short body-suit with a red tie)[/color]

While technicaly new, those god awful things are replicas of the ones used in the 70' and 80's I belive. They should have been locked in a vault below lake erie, not to see the light of day again. Numerous ride ops were grumbling about it on saturday.

Also new this year, is cooler inspection at the main pavilion.

[sheikra_rocks]

He did try the test seat, which clearly had the old belt on it. He sat in the test seat and had a half inch of slack.

We mentioned that to them at Park Operations that the test seat belt should have been changed to match the new seat belts on the train.

Not to mention the ride attendant flat out said, "You might not fit" as he got into the train. YOU DON'T SAY THAT TO A CUSTOMER! It would have been different if he was already in the train and she said "I can't get it to buckle, you aren't going to be able to ride."

You know, Dvo, you weren't there, so you won't really understand our frustration with this whole situation. There were other groups in Park Operations complaining about general park problems as well, It wasn't just us having problems.

[Dvo]

Well, you're perfectly correct in saying that I don't understand your frustration. And while saying that isn't the perfect way to go about it, it's likely that it was the ride op's first day on the job.

[The Interpreter]

Once upon a time, Paramount Parks had dry run days...so the public almost never saw a ride op's first day on a job. They were among the first things Mr. Kinzel and Co. got rid of. You see, Cedar Fair KNOWS it and it alone runs the best parks in the business, and that there is very little they could learn from others.

[sheikra_rocks]

First day, second day, whatever..... YOU DO NOT SAY THAT!

[The Interpreter]

You do if you work for Cedar Fair. Customer service is not priority one, two or even three. Safety is one. Capacity is two. Per caps are three. That's pretty apparent. And it won't change unless and until top management changes. When? That's the primary Q at the moment.

[Dvo]

^Exactly. The parks will say all they want about maintaining friendly staff, but the attitudes just say one thing.. the ultimate goal is numbers. Getting the most riders while maintaining safety.

[sheikra_rocks]

Customer Service is definitely NOT a priority. Don't be surprised when you visit.

[The Interpreter]

It's a priority, just nowhere near a top one. The Cedar Point of today bears little to no resemblance, customer service wise, to that of five years ago...much less ten.

[RecaraceR]

Actually Dvo my friend had a similar problem back in..... I wanna say it was '03 or maybe '04. He's not much bigger than me (he's 5'11" and about 170 lbs.) and he couldn't ride Millennium Force. To make matters worse there were people bigger than him that were on the ride (at 5'11", 170 lbs., he's pretty skinny). We thought maybe he'd just been given a seat with a shorter seatbelt than normal. He probably was. He had to leave the line anyway apparently, wasting four hours' worth of waiting for nothing.

[count_of_tuscany]

And after sitting on the brake run for Maverick for nearly 30 minutes, the ride ops wordlessly got us out...and sent us on our way...just as wordlessly. Not once during our wait was any explanation offered...nor did anyone even come out on the run to say what was going on.<br /><br />Customer service.<br /><br />Something Cedar Fair used to excel at, pre-2006...<br />

Leah and I were getting on the back train in the station when the "problem" occurred. Apparently one of the sensors on the train to indicate that the lap bar was down far enough wasn't working and it wouldn't allow them to dispatch the train. To try fixing the problem, they had every guy get off the train, one by one, to see if they were the problem. I was the first one up (don't know if you saw me, Terpy), but I indicated that I didn't think I was that large. They finally called maintenance, who had then operated the trains in "manual" mode in order to take that train off the main track so they could work on it. Sorry you were stuck there so long.

[Pillsberry123]

While the topic of customer service is up, I might as well add my two cents.

I've been visiting Cedar Point since 2004, making one to three trips every year. When I started visiting, I remember the customer service being mediocre (I was a little young), but by 2008 the service had become absolutely awful. The employees were poor at their job, unenthusiastic, or just plain rude. It was bad to the point that we considered never going back.

With that being said, I thought that my visit last year was the best visit to the park I've ever had. ALL of the ride-ops were friendly and happy, and I can still remember the great waiter we had at TGI Friday's. I only recall one or two terrible employees, and you'll find employees that bad no matter where you go.

Employees seem a little off because they are pressured earlier in the season, and this can be applied to the park atmosphere in general.

[CoastersRZ]

What are the four corner stones that Cedar Fair wants to instill in its employees? Isn`t customer service one of them? It sure sounds like it is not a top priority.

I know at Coney the last few years, they have been really big on customer service. This year, the push is again on customer service, but also keeping the park clean. After all, good customer service will keep the paying customers coming back again and again. And once you loose a paying customer to a bad experience it is incredibly hard, if not impossible, to get them back as a paying customer in the future.

Having been a temporary rides manager at the end of last season, I was often called to guest relations or to certain rides to deal with guest complaints. Often these focused on height checking issues, but sometimes these involved rude employees. One particular instance stood out to me. I was able to use the customer service training that Coney had given me (the "LAST" technique of Listen, Apologize, Solution, Thank). The particular customer complaint I fielded was upset about some rude employees working the Ferris Wheel. I listened, apologized and offered him a solution. All he wanted me to do was for me to talk with the employees, and make sure that I was aware of the situation. He was very courteous about it. And I did speak with the employees about the situation. But as is often the case, there are often two sides of the story.

Unfortunately, I am not a rides manager again this year (at least not yet). But I am running the rides (particularly the Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel) again at Coney on weekends only.

Well, I certainly went off on a wild tangent there. Sorry for straying off topic!

[CedarPointer]

What are the four corner stones that Cedar Fair wants to instill in its employees? Isn`t customer service one of them? It sure sounds like it is not a top priority.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080705152427/www.visitkingsisland.com/jobs/jobs_benefits.cfm?et_id=1

It is important that Kings Island hires employees with specific character traits that mirror our operating philosophy of the four cornerstones of Safety, Courtesy, Service and Cleanliness, all bound by INTEGRITY.

[AdventureExpresser]

I was there also for opening weekend, I thought in the parking lot it looked like they were just building up to make some new landscaping along the main rideaway. I too agree there was alot of downtime on the rides especially for Top Thrill and Maverick. There seemed to be many rollbacks on the dragster. I went in early each day and got in line for Maverick and waited over an hour each day due to mechanical difficulty. I too noticed the train on the Mantis, but they had it up and running about fifteen minutes before close on Sunday. I had a rollback on dragster around 7 pm and loved it but I thought the girl next to me was going to need medical attention. I LOVED IT. Saturday was busy must have been something going on for High school bands. Then was looking forward to Monday but was Physics Day and they were only running one train on the rollercoasters making the waits longer than they were on the weekend.

[The Interpreter]

What are the four corner stones that Cedar Fair wants to instill in its employees? Isn`t customer service one of them? It sure sounds like it is not a top priority.

http://web.archive.o...its.cfm?et_id=1

It is important that Kings Island hires employees with specific character traits that mirror our operating philosophy of the four cornerstones of Safety, Courtesy, Service and Cleanliness, all bound by INTEGRITY.

The kind of integrity that would sell out unit holders for $11.50 per unit while collecting multi-millions for oneself? Or the kind of integrity that cuts out benefit after benefit for lower paid employees while enhancing one's own golden parachute? Or the type of integrity that claims food prices went up by a nickel or so, when reality was more like 7 percent or more? Or the type of integrity that, with a straight face, claims the best qualified candidate to be the general manager of Carowinds is the CEO's son?

Is that what we are talking about? I, for one, think those are darn good Q's.

[Tom76257]

Not only were the belts shortened on Millennium Force, they were also shortened on Top Thrill Dragster. I'm 6 feet 3 inches tall and weigh 160 pounds, so I'm not what most people would consider a big person. When I got on Dragster I had my hoodie tied around my waist. I had a tough time getting the seat belt to click when it was over my hoodie. That should tell you how short the belts are this season. I repositioned the belt around my waist and didn't have a problem, but I can only imagine how tight of a fit Dragster and Millie will be for some people this season.

[CoastersRZ]

I know that I`ve had snug fitting seat belts on Dragster before last season. And those of you who have met me know that I am not above average in height or weight. I shudder to think how much shorter the belts have gotten. And I have to wonder why they continually want to decrease the size of the belts?

[BavarianBeatle]

The question is not 2010 changes, but 2011 changes. Demon Drop is gone and Chaos is being removed.... This could be HUGE!