ajfelice

I love how Cedar Point does this for guest satisfaction too, BUT I do not think every park should adopt this policy. Cedar Point has more resources due to their sheer size to allow for them to keep rides going after the park's closing time. As myself and many others have explained, there is a cost to operating after closing for the smaller parks (even when it is only an hour or maybe less). Those minutes on payroll, wear and tear of long hours, and overhead costs add up considerably. I wouldn't be surprised as Holiday World continues to grow and expand if they were to eventually operate more like the larger Cedar Point kind of parks, but I can understand why they continue to operate as they do. If anything, the larger parks should visit Holiday World to adopt their polices of excellent guest service.

^The more positive reports say maybe 100 people attended Park After Dark. Take it for what you want to interpret regarding whether or not that is a good turnout.

The line closing policy debate is a double-edged sword in my opinion. I have experience working in two parks in which one closed lines (supposedly) 8 minutes after the posted closing time, and the other closes lines based on length. The argument for keeping the lines open is obviously guest satisfaction. People get to ride an extra ride or two, and the chances for the evening to end in unexpected disappointment are essentially eliminated. For park workers, they normally dread this time. Myself, an enthusiast, personally couldn't wait to see the end of the line make it into the station as I knew I was already going to only get 5 hours of sleep at best between two shifts over 12 hours. On the slower nights when the line was at walk-on this policy is not a big deal, on a busy Saturday night when the line is an hour at closing, that is a huge deal when you had to be at work again in less than 8 hours. However, there was no doubt that the riders near the end of the night were easily the most enthusiastic and happy group of the day. Closing Lines early works well for smaller parks on tighter budgets and with tighter staff. For example, my current place of employment has maintenance employees who arrive at 6am and must be at the park until all rides are done operating at 10:00pm. Should we hire more maintenance? Possibly. In this smaller park, at 10:00pm when the rides are closing, I and most other managers will be well into the 13th hour of work for the day. Most of the managers work 5 days at 13+ hours, with the sixth day being 8 hours. Hiring more staff would reduce the hour counts, but is the cost of doing this worth it for a smaller park? This isn't even factoring in other operating costs such as utility and other personnel needed in the park after closing besides Ride Operators and Maintenance. For smaller parks compared to the larger Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks, a policy of closing lines early can make a lot of sense. These parks are saving a lot in not only monetary capital but preserving the intangible aspects of human capital. On a personal note, when I close lines early I attempt to make it as fair as possible. I will not calculate a 23 minute line to close at 9:37. The line will close at 9:45. It does give a perception of wanting to run out of the door if at the stroke of ten each major ride is literally sending out the final train, or has already sent it. While closing lines early might disappoint a very select few, it is saving the park a lot in the long run.

Still pretty cheap to me, so the is hardly necessary in my opinion. Two hours down the road in a smaller park they sold them at $89.99 in 2015 and there were hardly any significant complaints. If my inside knowledge is correct, that price will increase in 2016 as well. Darien Lake has great value for an enthusiast with a Season Pass as I'm sure an enthusiast would use the pass 5+ times for a price less than two visits at full price.

Understandable since this park is fairly small and not frequented as often as other parks, but Silver Comet at Martin's Fantasy Island packs quite the punch, yet is rarely mentioned or discussed when it comes to wooden coaster conversations. This CCI sleeper hit has a great combination of airtime and laterals all while keeping smooth and maintaining speed throughout the ride. I love this coaster and the few reviews from others are very positive in general, but even I find myself forgetting about it despite being less than two hours away from me.

Waldameer's Ferris Wheel has a "No Single Riders" policy. If you have a riding partner, it is a must ride especially in the evening. I highly suggest the Night Rider pass at Waldameer for Saturday the 5th if you plan on arriving around 5pm. As the person making the ride operations schedule for that day, I can tell you that it is not projected to be as busy as Sunday (which has fireworks) but the tentative plan is to still operate rides such as Ravine Flyer II at full capacity. I doubt the line going over 15 minutes that evening, so multiple re-rides is definitely something you can achieve particularly after 9:00pm. You will easily get your money's worth buying this pass versus pay-per-ride using Wally Points.

It's not directly illegal in the state of Ohio. What that saying from the ride hosts comes from is the rider safety act which in paraphrased terms says riders my obey all posted and verbal policies of the park. So technically since it is a rule that is posted and verbally communicated to guests, you could twist an argument to say cell phone use is illegal. However, please don't think the authorities are out looking for all of the violators of a park policy. The law is in place for liability reasons. In the end, the ride hosts are being snarky when they say that.

Ride Hosts already watch for phones like hawks. Chances are the phone slipped from his pocket which happens way more often than losing a phone due to using it. Events like this will make people think and analyze details heavily, but caution should be taken before changing operations. I'd say lift stops will be at their normal frequency.

I respect your opinion, but respectfully disagree. I'm pretty sure Universal's controversial decision to actively search for potential loose articles on riders' beings was not to prevent guests from entering restricted areas. The birdie in my ear said it had to do more with sharp/hard articles falling onto guests in the midways below. It's such a shame that this incident is so tragic to so many people, but completely avoidable.

Millennium Force is a great ride, but Maverick is just more of a Holy S#@T kind of ride. Maverick all the way.

Modifying a brake run and adding a transfer track is not rocket science or impossible, but it is very expensive. I have seen some incredibly short brake runs on wooden coasters where the train essentially flies into the brakes that allow for two train operation (cough Ravine Flyer II cough). I'm sure Kentucky Kingdom would enjoy having two trains for Thunder Run, but as others have mentioned it is just not the right time at this moment. Storm Chaser will probably cap off the major coaster expansions for a short time as they now have a very good offering of attractions. Once the park has most of the revitalization growing pains addressed, I would say improving capacity on a major coaster like Thunder Run becomes more of a necessary project. But at this time, KK is doing the right thing in building new attractions that will build their market base so they can have a strong foundation for the future. Two trains is icing on the cake.

A breath of fresh air for this thread. Might I add: You know when you are at a Six Flags park when an enthusiast in a queue line nitpicks and complains the entire wait about every small detail they find wrong with the park that they chose to visit.

I'd say the Potato Patch at Kennywood is definitely a guilty pleasure, but it is far from an OMFG experience. It's one of those things you just do at Kennywood for some reason. Yes they have other decent options, but sometimes it's just fun to go to a traditional park and dig into some simple, messy, and greasy fries because you are there to have fun and not worry about fancy or creative food.

Many of the Ride Operators that I manage have really taken funny guest interactions to a new level this year. One of my favorites is my one coaster operator will ask riders instead of, "I just have one question for you.........Who's ready to ride!?" he will ask questions like "I have just one question for you..........Edward or Jacob?!" or "Bacon or Sausage?" As long as no one's safety is compromised, I encourage funny and entertaining ride operators as guests are more likely to listen to someone who is happy and inviting as opposed to monotone and boring.

Very interesting the amount of care that Kings Island is putting into their Eyerly Monster ride considering how many parks have steadily removed them over the past two decades. From insight gathered through working very close with maintenance people who maintain a "Spider" they aren't terribly hard to maintain, but they are surely not the most user-friendly or capacity machines when it comes to operations. They can be very touchy when it comes to balancing to ensure proper operation and ease of aligning when stopping the ride in the proper position. As for the light bulbs and their popping during operation, I can say through operating experience that a heavily loaded arm and a small raise in the pavement/platform surface under the ride will scrape and pop off the lowest light bulb on the respective arm if the arm lowers at just the right moment. Not a safety issue, but something that can happen on an older ride that has more "play" in how it moves/shifts and carries the weight of riders.

Reading through the articles and complaints, I think back to Ravine Flyer II. That ride got caught up in the court system and in the public eye for almost ten years with similar objections. I'm willing to bet the people in power at Kolmarden have done their homework, and while this prolonged process is not ideal, I'm sure they are ready for the battle. You simply don't get as far along in the planning and early construction phases for a signature attraction without covering your bases as much as you can. I have faith in the project. Maybe not for 2016, but I have not found myself in the group seriously doubting the project for the future. Hopefully this process can resolve itself faster than a decade. And last time I checked, Gravity Group did just fine not having this particular coaster built in the years between 2005 and 2008.

^In reference to the comparison of a retailer exchanging discounts to a local competitor. Amusement parks are exchanging a service between employees, not profits from goods being purchased. Free admission exchanges aren't really hurting either side. So a few bucks will be spent on food, merchandise, and games, but the little spending by park employees isn't enough to create any competitive advantages to either park when employees visit outside parks. The benefits of having a happy workforce far outweighs the benefits of a few employees pumping a few bucks into a regional competitor. And the family description of the industry does hold true for the most part. Competition is alive and well, but industry gatherings are far from hostile or severely divided. Almost everyone can shake hands and be cordial.

Yep. This happens quite frequently. The wood basically turns somewhat mushy and "potholes" develop. Treated wood obviously is less suseptible to rotting, but it is far from immune so this is a problem parks are always dealing with. Not necessarily a problem caused by a manufacturer, but it does affect how smooth a coaster runs.

^Bee-line it for whatever you are most desperate to ride before the rain hits, and the moment rides re-open after precipitation. Cedar Point does not take rain lightly at all. Their website states how different conditions will affect certain rides making it seem like a good amount of rain is needed to close rides, but the reality is that a light drizzle will affect most major attractions even if they say they operate in light or steady rain.

If the whole point of a single rider line is to fill seats that would have been otherwise left empty, how is there potential for abuse? Sure a ride operator could group members of the same group together in the same rows, which is an intentional violation of policy, but that is probably a very rare case that might only happen when a ride operator knows the guests. If a group of four decides they do not have to sit together or have a preferred row and they get into the single rider line and are assigned to unoccupied seats, where is the abuse? If groups choosing the single rider line create a long line for single riders and the line becomes longer than standby, quite frankly that is the guests' own fault. However, a park should be very keen on when opening a single rider line is most adventageous to avoid this issue. Most groups are also not even going to think of doing this as the general thought is, "OMFG if our group of 12 doesn't all ride at the same time we are going to die." Groups I have been with at busy parks on limited time have used the single rider lines as a group. It cut down waits substantially, and we were just fine not all riding together since we all got to experience the attractions we wanted to in our very limited time. Since we were willing to ride not all together, I would define us as a group of single riders.

That sign is hilarious, but spot on. Perhaps the person tasked with making that sign was creating it in rage of a selfie-stick incident that they missed their spelling/gramatical errors? Good Move Knoebels!

I have ridden Mean Streak in the back, trimless and trimmed. It does have some personality that is not glass smooth, but not bad enough that I wouldn't do a re-ride if someone offered it. However, with that being said, the non-enthusiast GP typically do not like a bumpy ride, even if it isn't painful. I can totally understand the hate for this ride even though I am not one who hates it. As a business-minded thinker, eventually I would be in full support of the decision to convert or completely do away with Mean Streak. All a matter of opinion, but the general opinion is that the ride is not very comfortable, and provides a hilariously uneventful ride experience like mentioned previously.

If it's a day trip, the radar becomes my dearest friend. 100% chance of rain could just be a thin line that passes through for less than an hour and the rest of the day is fine. If the radar looks like a colorful pile of vomit all around the region, I will skip the day trip because I simply rather not be soaked even if the park keeps rides open. As for the longer trips planned well in advance, you just have to roll with it. The summer months of July and August are typically easier to predict especially when you get further northeast or along the Great Lakes. May and June are hit or miss, and they change so fast that you simply have to roll the dice on the day you choose. At least if you do go up north, the days it in July or August it does rain are typically not insanely cold compared to May/June and September/October when a rainy day could keep temperatures in the 50 degree range. Also, if anyone is planning Kennywood, good freaking luck with the weather. Even if the rain has passed and the day is beautiful, they will close the park insanely early if their attendance is not where they think it should be. So that builds to my final point, always good to know each park's respective weather policy when planning trips that might be affected by rain.

I now know where to send the bill for replacement parts and daily preparation labor costs. Oh and I know who I would like to promote to operations manager. Training efficiency is difficult. You really need to your staff to buy into the philosophy as to why efficiency is important. Even more difficult is convincing teens and young adults who are there simply for a paycheck to work efficiently when there is no direct benefit for them. There is the correct Human Resource way of doing it, and there is the Cedar Point way of doing it. One of them involves positive reinforcement, the other involves fear for losing a job or making a work experience a living hell. I imagine Darien Lake's location prevents them from having a large base to build a staff from, so threatening job security or making a hostile environment that causes employees to quit is not the way to develop efficient operations. Inspiring and motivating efficiency, the correct HR way, is not an easy feat. Hopefully, Darien Lake can work to improve efficiency and friendliness of their staff.

Opening Day is always a treat for almost any park. Some go well, most have their series of bumps. Maintenance likely had to work against the lengthy winter in addition to a probably already very tight schedule that certain rides were not quite ready. Nothing new here. If you haven't spent much time living near a Great Lake, it should be known that a winter on the lake shore versus a few hours inland in southern Ohio is literally two different climates, so the Kings Island comparison lacks merit in my opinion. There are many tasks that are significantly delayed or simply can't be done when temperatures are stuck near freezing. You can't fire up a coaster on a cold day when it hasn't operated since Fall without first warming the train and lubricating the hell out of it. You can't set the taller or larger flats with cranes or JLG lifts when the winds are pounding the peninsula. So in the end, weather weeks before Opening Day can set the pace for what is and isn't available on Opening Day. As for operations such as one side Gemini, staffing rides in May can be hit or miss. In my park of work, I literally opened today with a the smallest skeleton crew possible due to things such as colleges ending, graduations, proms, sports commitments from high-school kids, etc. Cedar Point is far from immune from this problem as well. As for ride downtime like CP dealt with, our signature ride went down for over an hour due to a rare mechanical issue. Cedar Point isn't slacking or disorganized, but likely up against the wall with the usual Opening Day headaches. Ever since I started working in the industry, I have learned to keep Opening Day expectations in check, because the fact of the matter is that there are many variables that are likely to take away from the "perfect day."