Dear Ride Ops

[Bansheeback]

I speak for MOST ride operators when I say that separator is our most hated position. We dislike assigning seats people don’t want just as much as we dislike telling kids they aren’t tall enough to ride. However usually when people ask for a specific row I’ll give it to them.


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[silver2005]

I have noticed that the separators have been asking me when I go as a single rider if I want to ride by myself or with someone.  I'm sure the same would apply if your group had an odd number and someone in the group didn't want to sit next to a stranger. 

[TheRickster]

10 hours ago, Bansheeback said:

I speak for MOST ride operators when I say that separator is our most hated position. We dislike assigning seats people don’t want just as much as we dislike telling kids they aren’t tall enough to ride. However usually when people ask for a specific row I’ll give it to them.


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It seems like perhaps there is a stronger focus on rider count per hour, vs cycles per hour as there has been in the past? Or it's something the rides are strong arming to try to get more cycles per hour because they don't have to put down empty seat rows. But that really doesn't make much sense on all of the rides. Like Beast where the belts aren't buckled on empty seats.

[diamonbackandbeastlover]

The goal is to fill the train. A full train means less wait times. Less wait times leads to customer satisfaction and more sales of future tickets or season passes. No one wants to go to a park and wait half an hour when trains are being sent with a bunch of empty seats because there’s a lot of single riders or 3 person groups. But if they’re forcing you to sit with someone and you don’t feel comfortable that’s an issue also. Can’t fault the ride operators unless they won’t accommodate as this has to be a cooperate move. 

[MarkB.]

I frequently go to the park solo and am a single rider and if paired up with someone I generally talk to the person I am paired with and their corresponding group to feel it out and at times I have let my paired rider ride solo on the same train with their group if I get a wierded out vibe from them and then I ride the next train. I am generally talkative and friendly in line and don't care about getting paired but sometimes solo is the right choice.  I know this sometimes throws people off that are counting pairs so that they can ride the same train as their group but what can you do?

What I really dislike is when I am at Cedar Point at a ride like Giant Wheel and am kinda "forced" on some couple/group because I want to ride a "no single riders/single riders will be paired" ride.

                           Later,

                               Mark

[TheRickster]

11 hours ago, diamonbackandbeastlover said:

The goal is to fill the train. A full train means less wait times. Less wait times leads to customer satisfaction and more sales of future tickets or season passes. No one wants to go to a park and wait half an hour when trains are being sent with a bunch of empty seats because there’s a lot of single riders or 3 person groups. But if they’re forcing you to sit with someone and you don’t feel comfortable that’s an issue also. Can’t fault the ride operators unless they won’t accommodate as this has to be a cooperate move. 

I think the problem comes more from when the ride is literally 20 guests short of a walk on and they are still pairing people up. Also as others have stated when they are putting kids and adults together.

While the goal is always to fill the train, in the past it wasn't pushed at all where cycles count was.

If it's a busy day I get it, but when lines are short anyway, it's just not worth the guest experience trade off. I rarely complain about what the park does because I understand their reasoning and often times associates don't feel empowered to make service vs capacity related decisions or just aren't in agreement with myself, but we really shouldn't be turning people away from the front row on Banshee when it's literally not even to the top stair from the station. Let alone having them ride with 3 girls who were all likely under 14. It also bugs me how when visiting KI vs. CP, CP seems to be better at customer service to an extent then KI and KI has now became the capacity over everything vibe. But I also frequent KI more and have a history with the park, so it's much easier for me to nitpick.

There just isn't a ton of consistency, and I think they are writing off a lot of the complaints as enthusiasts not getting their way, but a lot of families are going out of there way to have someone sit out or just stay home at the park if it's an odd number household. 

[TheRickster]

10 hours ago, MarkB. said:

I frequently go to the park solo and am a single rider and if paired up with someone I generally talk to the person I am paired with and their corresponding group to feel it out and at times I have let my paired rider ride solo on the same train with their group if I get a wierded out vibe from them and then I ride the next train. I am generally talkative and friendly in line and don't care about getting paired but sometimes solo is the right choice.  I know this sometimes throws people off that are counting pairs so that they can ride the same train as their group but what can you do?

What I really dislike is when I am at Cedar Point at a ride like Giant Wheel and am kinda "forced" on some couple/group because I want to ride a "no single riders/single riders will be paired" ride.

                           Later,

                               Mark

Some rides such as Ferris Wheels have to be balanced to operate as designed. I believe some chair lift rides like the one at CP are the same way as well.

[lifetimecoaster]

After hanging out all day Saturday, I can say I didn't meet a ride op that I wasn't impressed by. Those folks really do a great job. The guests on the other hand.... I was not impressed by the guests Saturday. My LROTN was Banshee, at about 9 I got in line and while I was standing there, I watched it stack 4 or 5 times. Once I got up to the loading station, I figured out why. The ops were working their butts off, but it doesn't do any good when you have to constantly upbar because people get on the ride, and then remember that there was something in their pocket, or that their wearing flip flops, etc. The fact that the ops stay calm and not lose their minds when this happens is highly impressive to me. Like, I get it, every once in a while you'll forget to zip your pockets or whatever, but when there are 5 people in the same train that they have to upbar for, it really starts the stacking, and it takes a lot of cycles to fix that. 

I will say though, that because of this thread, I learned about closing and buckling seats that weren't going to be used since I was riding alone a lot. I got thanked 3 or 4 times by ride ops for doing this. 

[Joshua]

18 hours ago, diamonbackandbeastlover said:

The goal is to fill the train. A full train means less wait times.

I don't think that is always true. In some cases, over-delegation seems to slow things down more. Holding people (and in some rare cases, trains) back to hunt down a single rider to fill one lousy spot doesn't help anybody and makes guests feel like they have to wait longer.

The best solution to just let it go. Things seem to go smoother when the concern is less about filling every seat on the train and more about just getting people on them and sending them out.