My Trip to CP - What PKI Needs!

[Tanner]

While I don't want it to, but it may turn into a CP vs. PKI thread one thing PKI needs that CP has is the great ride crews. Now I know the ops are going to take offense to this, but anyone who has been there has to agree.

They have the fastest crews probably anywhere. One reason may be is there are four people checking restraints, 2 on each side. Another reason may be that their ride ops run from seat to seat checking the restraints.

With single train coasters Face\Off takes about 5 minutes to get loaded and dispatched, Wicked Twister on the other hand took 2 minutes everytime I saw them. It was amazing, I was amazed. Their love for their jobs is unbelievable, their energy is unbeleivable. I have never seen a ride op (restraint checker) run to check the restraints, except The Beast crew.

It's no wonder why CP gets voted as the park with the best capacity as it is, and it's all because of their ride ops enthusiasm for their job. When I was sitting on TTD when it broke down right before we left the station, the woman checking restraints was so mad, she was being serious and it almost looked like she was going to cry.

[teenageninja]

I happen to think PKI's ride crews for the most part are awesome, sure there are some bad eggs, but honestly I would rather have my restraint checked properly than being just tapped on and ran to the next.

[fryler87]

I went to the Point last year, and they do run things very smoothly and quickly there. And no, they don't just tap on the restraints. They go through the proper restraint pull to make sure you're not going to fly out of your car mid-trip.

[PKI Homey]

I think what Tanner is trying to say is that PKI has good ride ops, while CP has great ride ops. I have noticed this too. There is much more enthusiasm from CP ride ops. The funniest op I ran into last year was the op doing the spiel for the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. He said very sarcastically, "Welcome to the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. We are going to take you up and drop you forty feet...not once, but twice." He was cracking me up.

[Tanner]

Not to mention for giving their spiels, a restraint checked his a microphone on talking when they arrive and depart and during. This frees up the guy in the booth to do what he needs to.

[CoastersNSich]

I think that had you posted this on some other boards, it would be ripped apart. and closed.. In my opinion, however, I definitely agree with you, Tanner.

One thing that CP does that puts just about everyone at ease is that they put a greeter in front of every roller coaster, as well as other major rides that are bound to have long lines. This is so they can check height at the beginning of the line, so the ride ops in the station don't have to, possibly wrecking the capacity. This is one reason why CP has been among the best in capacity.

This is one thing PKI needs to do, especially at The Racer. Almost every time I've been there, they've had to hold dispatch to check someone's height, when they could have done so at the entrance. This is also one of the reasons why it's been harder for the crews to race the trains.

When it comes to spiels, CP is definitely tops. They either have recorded spiels, or at some rides, like Magnum, Raptor, Gemini and Mantis, they put the headset mic on one of the floor ops. Back to the PKi thing, they could definitely go to recorded spiels that instruct people how to enter the ride, restrain themselves, rules to follow, and how to exit the ride.

I know how hiring more staff to place as greeters and improving the spiel communication system will cost PKI more money, but won't that help people feel more comfortable, and probably keep guests in the park, probably buying more stuff, and coming back?

[Xx2cansamxX]

I do think that CP has great ride ops. But KI does too. Every time I go to the park as a guest, I ride rides away from AZ (where I work) where I barely know anyone, and they are always asking me, "Is this your first time in the park," or "How is your day going?" or "Have you rode Delirium yet?" I mean CP does do good on GR but so does KI.

[Tanner]

In all my years of visiting the park, not a single person has asked me any of those questions or anything. Not even a hello.

[dxrunner]

Do you look like a socialable person tanner

[Xx2cansamxX]

Are you serious? A lot of associates only talk to adults, because teens and kids can be rude. Adults can be rude at times to, though. But if they see you laughing and having a good time (as I do) they will talk to you.

[Tanner]

Well I'm 16, but I've been mistaken for over 21 at several places, including restaurants when they ask me if I'd like something from a bar, or when you go to a huge birthday party and they give you the stamp for alcohol rather than the big black X stating you're underage. To tell you the truth, being friendly to someone should have absolutely nothing to do with the persons age.

Age didn't stop the people at CP from saying hi, has anyone mentioned how extremely clean that park is also?

[theultimatefan]

I have been to Cedar Point, and they are lightening quick, but they dont see people, you ask them a question and they dont take the time to answer. But @ Kings Island, when there are breakdowns or just standing there waiting for another train to come, they talk to you. They tell you about the park, about the rides. And always tell you their ride is the best. That just doesnt happen @ Cedar Point.

[Tanner]

Well I'm sure everyone's experiences are different. When we were on TTD when it broke down we talked to the ride-ops with no problems. All the talking stopped of course when a man went off on a ride op and about 6 security/police officers showed up. That's when they said screw it, we're closing for the night, which of course I don't blame them. They did give everyone a pass to skip a line to any ride later at night, and a pass to skip TTD's line anytime of the year. To be quite honest from my experiences this has never once happened at Kings Island with me, even being stuck on Tomb Raider for 30 mins+ along with being stuck on Beast because the speakers went out.

[StXBomber]

Funny, cause when I went there in 2000 the ride crews seemed to hate their job (with a few exceptions). Of course, alot can change in 4 years. PKI is getting better though, I mean alot better.

[StXBomber]

I think what Tanner is trying to say is that PKI has good ride ops, while CP has great ride ops. I have noticed this too. There is much more enthusiasm from CP ride ops. The funniest op I ran into last year was the op doing the spiel for the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. He said very sarcastically, "Welcome to the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. We are going to take you up and drop you forty feet...not once, but twice." He was cracking me up.

Look at my post above, this is one of those exceptions I mentioned. That ride must always have a great crew. I even use something I got from that ride at Beast now. At the end of my ride stats spiel, I go, "The Beast will also take you upside down not once, not twice, not four times, not even seven times, but an amazing zero times!" I first heard this at Cedar Creek Mine Ride. It was too good to pass up.

[bignathan4403]

Yeah KI's ride ops are alot better than the ones at SFWOA. A little kid got halfway into a locked restraint at the last minute on S:UE and everyone yelling at the op barely got through to them after they said "clear". I sure hope they get new staff with their changeover.

[ckimbro's little bodyguard]

Yeah, I was there with Nathan when that happened. The kid got pinned between the restraint and the seat. That had to be a scary experience for that kid....

[Tanner]

I must be doin somethin wrong, I'm always between the restraint and seat when I ride any ride.

[ckimbro's little bodyguard]

No, he got pinned between the FRONT of the seat and the restraint. He wasn't fully in the seat.

[SOB/Gun Steve-O]

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.

[BoddaH1994]

It's always good to hear you guys screw around a little on the microphone. I mean, there is a line, you just need to know where it is. Brad mentioned that he would say that The Beast goes upside down an amazing 0 times, which is totally appropriate. I once heard a ride op on Tomb Raider say something along the lines of "...and enjoy the rest of your day here at Paramount's Kings Island, home of Rugrats Runaway Reptar!" Now, was what he said untrue? No. Was it inappropriate? No. Was it ironic and worth a chuckle? Yes.

[PKI Homey]

Good point, Boddah.

[kyguy24]

I was at PKI July 5th & 6th and had great experiences with the ride ops. A chic on Vortex was going all the way up and down the lines giving everybody who was getting on next a high five, and you can't beat The Beast crew - especially at night! Long live PKI ride ops - you guys do a great job, and that keeps me coming back for a season pass every year!

[Tanner]

I find that hard to believe that people complain about your jokes, or they would complain that they're not doing their job, by checking restraints quickly. CP sees way more people than PKI does in a day and I doubt anyone ever complains. If it gets them on the ride quickly, what do they care? They do the same thing PKI does which is check the seatbelt with a tug, and pull on the lapbar, all done more quickly than PKI. Not to mention there is a seatbelt on every ride at CP, so the public would see it as being safer rather than unsafe.

The people at CP that gave us passed to skip the line were two supervisors I guess and they took two ride ops with them to help pass them out.

It is sad that the rides department doesn't care about capacity. The public does and that should be one of their cares also. Gemini is a racing coaster, they raced everytime I saw them this year and they ran two trains instead of their 3 so don't tell me there's a higher capacity. We say Racer can't be raced due to capacity, that is bull because if the ops were efficient they could get the trains in and out before the next train pulled into the brakes or just as they are, even right when they stop. I know each ride takes time with riders, but seriously it can't be too hard to get a seatbelt on and pull the lapbar down. I'm sure Racer isn't one of the problem rides with guests in the park.

Racer = 3415 feet - 2 minutes 30 seconds

Gemini = 3935 feet - 2 minutes 20 seconds

Now on to the next point. You're fellow employees say it is unprofessional. How is having fun on yur job being unprofessional. Police have fun, firefighters have fun, pilots have fun. Tell them to lighten up and have fun. If work wasn't fun, no one would work. Give me a break.

[PKI_Diana]

It depends on what it is.... a judgement call.

Some things really ARE unappropriate.

However, having a little fun is a good thing.

[Kat Mari]

Although I do agree with what you are saying about having fun, there are some times that it isnt appropriate or evenpossible. Like with Delirium, it isnt always possible to make fun spiels, but we try to do it anyway. Whenever I have been sent to Viking ship, its lots of fun to interact with the guests, because you can, and its appropriate with that kind of ride.

But, I have to disagree with the capacity thing. To me, Its quality, not quantity.

After all, these are large machines, and anything can happen. (if that made any sense) If you blow guests off just to get one extra cycle in, to me that's not right. It has happened to me before, and sometimes extreme cycling speed= angry (even very angry) guests.

Im not saying all CP crews are bad, in fact there are a few good ones, but I have had bad experiences there in the past, and to many people even one bad experience with a ride op during the day ruins the whole day for them and puts them in a bad mood.

But im gonna stop here before i dig myself into a hole. So... In closing, its nice to have fun and be fast, but isnt always possible.

lol

[Tanner]

What does cycle time have to do with quality? You're saying people wouldn't be happy with shorter and faster lines.

Cedar Point's rides aren't big machines?

[fryler87]

Well, I must say one thing; at the park today, I took note of how effecient the ride ops were. Delirium probably has the most effecient crew in the entire park - even my MOM commented on it, and she said she hated the ride! Flight of Fear and Beast were running very quickly today, also.

Scooters were slow as HELL, but then again, it's not your newer flat with locking restraints that are a quick check, and it can become slow, especially when you've only got two people working a ride. Oh man....on an off note, I snapped twice today!! My girlfriend was freaking out and after a while, grabbed the handle and held it stiff...my fun was over...

[Brandon S]

I think the PKI staff are top notch. Ive never had a bad experience at Kings Island. Cedar Point is shutting down their Dragster ride because of some injuries.

Accident on Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster injures riders

(Monday, July 14, 2004) - At Cedar Point park in Sandusky Ohio, four people were struck by flying debris while riding the Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster. Reports indicate that the ride's metal cable frayed as the train was being launched. Shards of metal then sheered off the cable and struck the riders as the train reached speeds of up to 120 miles per hour.

The injured were left with cuts and minor injuries. Some riders also complained of minor burns caused by an oily substance.

The injured riders were treated at the park's first aid station, and two of them sought further medical attention at a hospital.

The ride has been shut down indefinitely.

Top Thrill Dragster is the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster. It was designed and manufactured by Intamin of Switzerland.

[Koaster King]

Gemini doesn't "race" all the time. Last time I was there, they weren't racing and one visit last year, one side wasn't even operating. Cedar Point isn't perfect. Dragster (numerous times including earlier this week), Wicked Twister (beginning of 2002 plus CoasterMania '02 I believe), and Millennium Force (Millennium Mania, er Magnum Mania) have all been down for days at a time before. Even Magnum and Mantis have had their "off" days in the last couple years. Of course, PKI has had their share of downtime with rides as well. No park is perfect.

As far as capacity at PKI, the only crews that I've encountered this year that could have been going a little faster were at Face/Off and Vortex. I think the SOB crew sent out a record number of trains lately in an hour. Good for them!

+Danny