Zenechai

Maybe they should get back to work promoting people who don't deserve it. Their time would be better spent. Like you honestly believe it's THAT easy to get a job in this economy....believe me, if it WERE that easy, do you think I'd be wasting my time at Knott's, where the thing I've noticed most prevalent in managment is to ignore people who do their jobs well and promote those who kiss the most ass? Please. I make minimum wage....but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. ~Zen

Fine. It's no big deal, if you can answer me this: WHY DO YOU HAVE TO KNOW?! We are TOLD as ride operators, that there is NO REASON the general public needs to know why a ride is down, and that's one policy I agree with. As a guest, I don't need to know what went wrong. I (stupidly, apparently) believe that the park will do what's in the best interest of all the guests. If a ride will be down temporarily, that's all I need to know. I don't need a specific return time (a là Disneyland) because there is no guarantee that's when the ride will be fixed. For example, at Pony a few months ago, we had an issue where the launch trolley was not at the home position when the train went to the launch and the ride faulted. Generally, all maintenance would have to do would be to manually adjust the train's position on the launch block until the trolley has locked in place, and then send a few cycles, which would result in the trolley setting itself in the home position automatically. However, when maintenance showed up to FIX the issue, the guy (who will go unnamed except for his first initial...let's call hiim "G") screwed up royally. See, at Pony Express, we have a light on our panel called the Idiot Light. This light tells anyone in dispatch that ONLY AN IDIOT would try to move the train if the light was on. This light is attached to the sensor on our station's air puck, a small cylinder that releases pressure to the restraint system to open or close them, as needed. When the light is on, it means the puck is in the up position, and the restraints on the train in the station are open. The light comes on to tell the maintenence staff (the ONLY people who can move the train while the puck is up) that the restraints need to be locked, or the puck will be "sheared". So G completely ignores the unlocked restraints on the train in the station, and begins to back the train from the station to the brake block. A few seconds' worth of sickening grinding sound later, and we discover that G has sheared THE LAST PUCK WE HAVE ON PROPERTY. A 15-minute downtime (which DISNEYLAND would have given you) turns into a FOUR AND A HALF HOUR CLOSURE, RESULTING IN THE CREW GOING HOME EARLY BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE A REPLACEMENT PART. Giving you NO DETAILS WHATSOEVER saved our asses that day. Had we done what DISNEYLAND would have done, we would have had Signal 13 after Signal 13 about how guests were "quoted" a certain time, and not only was the ride not up at that time, it took HOURS to find out that the ride wouldn't be opening at all! Also, not to discredit your experience, but I know from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE how few female ride operators there are at Xcelerator (even from June), and ALL of them know their jobs well enough (since they got cross-trained to Xcel) to know better than to even THINK about responding to a guest question with, "How should I know?" So it's not that I don't believe you, but....I don't believe you. And I'm sorry if you're upset by what you're hearing and you think my frustration is unnecessary, but this is a part of my job I take very seriously, and I don't like "entitled guests" thinking they need to be involved in every aspect of my job. If you hate Knott's so much and are so against our policies and the way we do things, fine. Be an agent of change. Get hired, show everyone up with your superiority, get in with management, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Don't just piss and moan from the sidelines at those of us who aren't catering to your every whim just because you throw out a technical term or two, or think you can do our jobs better. Wanna show me up? Put on my suspenders and my hat. Wear my badge for a day. We'll see how you handle it when you're on my end. ~Zen And not telling you about these malfunctions is just part of our jobs as ride operators. No matter how you approach the situation, YOU ARE ASKING US TO RISK OUR JOBS FOR THE SATISFACTION OF YOUR CURIOSITY. That's the issue here. If you REALLY know about amusement parks, you know about non-disclosure agreements. You KNOW we can't give you details about what's going on with the ride, and you should respect the person you're addressing enough not to even put them in a potentially compromising situation. If you really respect the amusement park industry, then you'll let us do our jobs while we're there, and when you go home, you can Google "ride malfunctions" or "ride accidents" and read about them like everyone else does. You don't need to know why the ride went down while you were there. It's not essential to the theme park experience. ~Zen But I still don't understand something. You claim to know what you're talking about, but you still admit to blatantly disregarding what most coaster enthusiasts (at least the ones I speak to) know as fact: YOU NEVER TRY TO GET DETAILS REGARDING DOWNTIME. I don't care for your motivation. Curious or not, most people (even the GP...can you imagine?) understand that when they get the same answer to more than one question ("We're experiencing a temporary delay), they understand that's the only answer they're going to get/we're allowed to give, and THEY BACK OFF. NO ONE (except CalOSHA, maintenance, and Rides Supervision) needs to know the details about why a ride went down. As an operator, some times all I'll get is "we need a part, so don't load this seat until we clear you to" or something similar, with no details whatsoever. Ride ops get their directions from higher ups, and we pass on what we're allowed to to the general public. That should be enough. ~Zen

The next time this happens, report that operator to their supervisor. WHETHER OR NOT you know anything about how rides operate or how maintenance is done, you NEVER need to know the reason a ride is down. I find it highly rude that you consider yourself above the rules we set for the general public, and would even DARE to "throw out a technical term or two", when a CONSIDERATE coaster enthusiast would simply nod and smile at the vague terms, respect the jobs the operators have to do, realize they don't need to add pressure to what we do by continually demanding an explanation or trying to weasel one out of us, and just check back later. A considerate enthusiast would recognize that we get about a bajillion people coming up and saying, "What's wrong? Is it broken? Why are people stuck?" and know that we can only answer them by saying, "All I can tell you right now is that we are currently experiencing a temporary delay in our ride operations. Feel free to check back with us later." They would not feel it necessary to their experience AS A GUEST to know every little detail about what happens with the ride, whether they "know what they're talking about" or not. [/rant] ~Zen

About as many we got at Xcelerator for giving the safety and delay spiel all in one breath. "Riders, heads back, feet flat hold on tight and enjoy your...(brake fins pop back up as RTL light comes on) ...and at this time Xcelerator is experiencing a temporary delay in operation..." I hear you. I hate running one train at Pony, and giving a delay spiel as the people in line watch the ride complete the cycle, the train pull into the station, and the restraints release without any issue. "There's nothing wrong with the ride! They're not stuck! Let us on!" Granted, most of the time it's an RTL that just needs a simple reset, but still.....we can't run the ride until the reset occurs. Or people who hear the delay spiel and are all, "Ok, what does that mean?" and then get all mad when I say, "It means we're experiencing a temporary delay in operations. Please check back later." They're mad that we don't give them details, but they don't take into consideration the fact that they wouldn't understand what was going on even if we DO tell them the nature of the problem. I LOVE the GP....guh.... ~Zen

It's highly possible that Train B was waiting on a part from maintenance before it could be cleared for service. The maintenance area is not usually visible to guests, and testing isn't always obvious. There may have been a malfunction of a specific restraint that was discovered at pre-opening testing, and was unable to be addressed until later in the day, or a prox switch on the train wasn't reading correctly. We'd rather be safe than sorry. LOL And to ^, I don't believe I have PMs disabled. And yeah, call me a Nazi for thinking people should have common sense when they still choose to engage in a habit that has been proven to have NOTHING but negative results. You're stressed? Listen to music. I promise, you won't get emphysema from your iPod. ~Zen

Wow! I've never really been impressed or disappointed with a coaster on my ABSOLUTE FIRST RIDE (Rider being the exception..guhhh), but then again, most of my early coaster experience was about 10 years ago, so I don't really remember much of it. Maybe my retentive memory is better now. ~Zen

If the park is in fact busy, absolultely! --Robb Do you recommend going with the Gold Pass? I couldn't get to see what my discount would be if I bought a 3-person pass, since 2009 isn't over yet. They're not showing dates past 12/31/2009. The regular Pass (from the screen I can see) is $92.99 for 3 people. The Gold Pass is listed at $160.99 for 3 people. Again, I don't know if this IS or WITHOUT my potential Xtreme Pass discount.....any help here? ~Zen

Yeah, but after that whole "let's demote as many supervisors and alphas as possible" stint he just went on, do you think he'd listen well to operator suggestions?Then again, I've never met Jack.....I've just heard he's a bit of a hard-ass...but when you're hired to run an entire company, I guess you have an excuse. OT: BTW, C is the new Rides 12!!! I've heard people are SOOOO excited! There goes MY wanting to get cross-trained.... "We own a park in Michigan?" -CF ROFL. Too true! True story. Do you know HOW MANY Signal 13s we would get from guests getting all mad that we were telling them where to direct the line? Guest: "But I'm IN LINE, STUPID!!" Me: "Sir, I don't know if it's escaped your notice, but there's a very large steam train on your right.....it's much larger than you are." (The part I don't say, "Because it's required by my management, I'm doing what I can to ensure you don't get run over. If I were left to my own devices, however, I'd let Darwinism decide what to do with you." Guest: "Oh......." *grudgingly moves* And THEN we'd get guest complaints about us NOT HAVING SIGNS telling people where to go if the line overflowed the queue area (which, given Swing's queue size, it would), rather than the guests FIGURING OUT FOR THEMSELVES (can you imagine it?) that we do NOT want them standing on the railroad tracks. ~Zen

Again, thank you so much!!!! I really appreciate the detailed suggestions!!! Yeah, wasn't X2 billed as a "four-dimensional" roller coaster? And thanks for the suggestions on coasters for Mommy, she'll be grateful to know that I at least TRIED to plan out our day in advance!! Mommy and Daddy already have (I think) Standard SPs, so I'd probably go for the X pass....as for the Flash Pass....if it's going to be as crowded as everyone says, should I opt to pay just this once for a 3-person pass? I mean, we can always come back in the off-season, since we'll all have season passes, but I want my first visit to be really special. Has anyone here gotten the Flash Passes before? Have you found that they're worth the investment? ~Zen

But not 70 years, right? I mean, we're TOTALLY lying about being "America's First Theme Park", but we DO have the longest-continually-running Halloween Haunt event, right? Right? ~Zen As far as I know, yes. But not even Knott's has been doing a Huant" for "70 years. " I meant SINCE the 70s...ROFL....WOW, surprised you were the first to catch my typo....LOL. Yeah....this year was the 37th Annual Halloween Haunt...YAY for ACTUALLY BEING RIGHT!!!!! And technically, Disneyland was the first theme park (well, at least, the first that I'M aware of). A park where all the areas/rides/workers worked as part of a specific storyline. People claim that because Knott opened "Ghost Town" that it was a theme park, but collaborative theming wasn't introduced until (again, at my first recollection) 1983, when the Peanuts Gang joined the Knott's family.... But again, ANY corrections would be welcomed!! ^_^ ~Zen

Space is Vekoma? GET OUT!!!! It makes me sad to read stuff like this, but then, that IS my ride. Maybe when I get cross-trained and spend time away from it (maybe at Bullet or (God forbid) Rider), I'll be able to see it from a less defensive standpoint. But for now...STOP MAKING FUN OF MY BABY!!!!! Nah, it comes with the job....I've learned to accept it. ~Zen

But not 70 years, right? I mean, we're TOTALLY lying about being "America's First Theme Park", but we DO have the longest-continually-running Halloween Haunt event, right? Right? ~Zen

Here's hoping that if it does, they will TEAR DOWN THE CASH OFFICE AND STOP UPCHARGING!!! Yes, Swing was the prototype. Yes, we've seen success with the ride model...WITHOUT PEOPLE PAYING EXTRA FOR IT. There are VERY few reviews on Swing, simply for the fact that people would NOT PAY $5 to ride it! (That's about 10% of a full-price ticket...on top of paying $6 for a hot dog and paying $8 to add a small order of French Fries and a Coke...I'm sorry..."American Fries"....and I'm not kidding.) I'm tired of taking crap as an employee when I have to give people BS reasons why, FIVE YEARS LATER, we're STILL "leasing the ride from the manufacturer", when ANYONE can go on Wikipedia and see how old the Swing is. And then when people ask, "Will they ever stop charging for it?" We answer, "Probably, once it's paid for." People are FIGURING IT OUT, SUPERVISION!!!! They KNOW how long the ride has been here....PLEASE stop acting like they're idiots!!! Though the vast majority......... ~Zen

And this is where Zen regrets drinking milk while reading topic replies. ROFLSNORT. SERIOUSLY!!!! It's like, WTF? Parents have YELLED at me for yelling at their kids not to run. I'm nice and joking with the kids most of the time, where I'll be all, "It's OK, guys, we won't leave without you, I promise!" But when our ride opens (we open an hour after the rest of the park, at 11 AM) and the rope separating our section of the park drops, parents are all (I'm not kidding), "RUN, GUYS, RUN!!!! GET THERE FIRST!!" And they wonder why we've created sites like this and stupidguesttricks.com......morons. Meant to respond to this a while ago....I recall in the news, people are praising the "Battle of the Hybrids", as it's been nicknamed. You know, the "competition" carmakers are in to build the most environmentally friendly, affordable, clean-air vehicles? You know, where people recognize that driving the cars they're driving is having a negative impact on other people and the environment, and the carmakers responded by creating a better vehicle? I don't recall Marlboro and Camel duking it out to see who could make the least-cancerous cigarette. But maybe I missed that.....could you point out to me where the manufacturers of cigarettes (who are first to blame nonsmokers for being critical of smokers while they breathe car fumes) recognize the adverse effect they're having on our population and our environment, and take steps to change it? ........ ......................... .......I thought not. And a ROFL at the title under your username...again, more milk has ended up OUTSIDE my body...lame. I'm all for smokers being more respectful to nonsmokers. My sister (a smoker for years who has TWO KIDS) is appalled at the behaviour she hears me getting from smoking guests who are angry about me asking them to extinguish their cigarettes when they're in a nonsmoking area. Her response? "Smoking was my choice, and I do not want to be responsible for my children or anyone else going to a hospital with lung cancer as a result of my choice. Maybe I'm an above-average human being, but I couldn't live with that on my conscience. If people want those things done to them, they'll take up smoking on their own. Don't force your choice on people who didn't choose it for themselves." I wish more smokers were like her.... ~Zen

I'm a girl, but thanks. <3 Where was I? ....oh, yes. These are a couple added today: 6) Vets who claim you're not respecting the fact that they fought for your country. Thankfully enough, we didn't get many this year. Now, yes, I KNOW you've gone through a lot, most of the men in my family ARE or WERE active duty military personnel, but that does NOT exempt you from the rules, including safety or health rules. *A vet tried to complain that Knott's didn't respect him because they asked him not to smoke in the Perilous Plunge queue. (OT sick question: Don't you think we should have renamed the ride? Now it's kind of literal.....) 7) People who bitch at you because of an upcharge ride. Got a LOT of this today, having been pulled to Screamin' Swing for the last 3 hours of my shift. I'm like, "Dude, it's five bucks. I work here and I make that in half an hour. I see the stamp on your hand. You at LEAST got a huge discount on your ticket, so we've already saved you at LEAST those five bucks. Whether or not you spend it on my ride, makes no difference to me. I'm sure there are parts of your job that you don't like. Well, telling kids they can't ride a ride because they're too small and watching them cry (or as parents say, "making them cry"), and hocking for a ride I really don't care for are two parts of my job I don't like. However, while I'm here, I pretend this ride is the greatest thing in the world and the best thing you can buy with five dollars. I don't see anyone complaining when they waste $10 playing a game to win their kid a stuffed Elmo that they don't end up getting, when they could have paid that $10 and ridden my ride and gotten some amusement out of it." And again, my brain farted....more will come as needed. ~Zen