arrowfanman Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 ^ I agree. That was my least favorite position there. I have always thought that the Riddler's station was horribly designed from the viewpoint of a guest (and now) an employee. See, when you're in the main line, you're moving at theoretically 32 riders a dispatch. When the line splits in half, you move at 16 riders a dispatch. When you get in your individual row, your moving at 4 riders a dispatch. The way the station is designed, you will end up waiting 10 minutes for the back and 40 minutes for the front!! This problem has worsened now with the Flash Pass. They route the Flash Pass folks to the back of the station--most of which wait for the front. So if the line is only 30 minutes long, they still could end up waiting the 40-minutes for the front and THAT results in SO many complaints--which only further slows down operation. Also, in reality there was usually only a grouper during Summer-weekends. This was problematic in that it wasn't "the norm". Guests weren't expecting to be grouped, were too stupid to recognize the benefit of being grouped, and therefore were easily frustrated when they were told where to sit. I also know what "cluster" of people you are talking about--they're nearly impossibly for the employees to communicate with. Long story short, they need to get somebody up there with a cutting torch and redesign that queue in the station. -Jahan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 The problem with RRv is that they didn't put nearly enough queue in to begin with. Lots of wasted open space resulted in the need to design a station that could stuff a lot of people into a small space just to make it possible to hold 2 hours worth of queue (or whatever theoretical # they were shooting for). If they were serious about capacity, they'd add switchbacks to the outside queue so there is a place to put those people currently crammed into the station and then redesign the station to allow room to properly group. Hell, there's enough room to group two cars at a time (much like JP) and a single rider line if they really wanted too... The funny thing is you can't even blame this one of Six Flags. I believe that RRv was the last project under Time Warner, and by then they were in their "we don't care about the parks...we just want to sell them" phase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kraxleRIDAH Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 The way the station is designed, you will end up waiting 10 minutes for the back and 40 minutes for the front!! This problem has worsened now with the Flash Pass. They route the Flash Pass folks to the back of the station--most of which wait for the front. So if the line is only 30 minutes long, they still could end up waiting the 40-minutes for the front and THAT results in SO many complaints--which only further slows down operation. I know you worked at Riddler's, so what you have to say does seem valid, but from a logical perspective, I believe the station's row line-up setup is probably the best. It's undeniable that more people are inclined to wait for the very first car for a roller coaster than any other row and you can observe this ANY time you go to an amusement park. The way Riddler's station is set up is that the first row has the lengthiest waiting area to prevent a congestion in the flow of the queue, while all following rows decrease in waiting area length all the way to the last car. It makes perfect sense to do that. Otherwise, you'd have queue flow problems in the station like you do at Scream!, Goliath and Batman, where the huge amount of people waiting for the front row block the entry to the station while all other rows are close to being empty. However, I do agree with what you're saying about the Flashpass situation, although there's nothing that can be done about it because Riddler's queue and station wasn't built to accomodate a line bypass system back in 1998 -- so the current situation is the best fit the park can do with the ride at this point. The problem with RRv is that they didn't put nearly enough queue in to begin with. Lots of wasted open space resulted in the need to design a station that could stuff a lot of people into a small space just to make it possible to hold 2 hours worth of queue (or whatever theoretical # they were shooting for). I find that funny considering Riddler's Revenge, next to Goliath, has the LONGEST queue path than any other ride in the park (distance walked from queue entry to station). There IS an outdoor switchback queue area just right before you hit the stairs, though it's not big by any means. Most of the queue meanders underneath the coaster for a good quarter mile. The funny thing is you can't even blame this one of Six Flags. I believe that RRv was the last project under Time Warner, and by then they were in their "we don't care about the parks...we just want to sell them" phase. What's there to blame? If anything, I think Riddler's was one of the best executed rides at Magic Mountain in YEARS in terms of overall ride design, theming, queue setup, and just the overall picture. You can't possibly make the conclusion like you did that just because Time Warner was exploring to unload the Six Flags chain in 1997 that they half-assed the queue line on a new roller coaster they were building. If anything, that's miles ahead of anything Premier Parks did with Magic Mountain in the years to follow. You think Riddler's was a mess? Then what do you call Scream? Scream! has a queue line about as short as a driveway by comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 But Riddlers queue DOESN'T make sense! Sure it makes sense to have the longest queue for the front seat, but then going from longest to shortest for the very back, that doesn't make sense at all! Busch always seems to do an amazing job on its Queues. Think about Kumba and Montu. They each have the longest queues for the front, then 2nd longest for the back, then equal for everything else. That seems to make the most sense of anything I've ever seen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterjunkie91350 Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Well i understand what all of you are talking about the line flowwise doesnt work for the current crowds the ride gets now . Look at goliath they did a full mantis type queue flow system which there are more then 3 switchback locations in that queue one at the entry just as you pass the big I and 3 more at the bottom of the hill. But riddler has a outdated queue so bad they ran gueue extention holes all the way back toward center ring games area. I would know i was starting to work there when they were building it and belive me it was good in its time but they need to rip the outdoor queue out and rework it so the line flow is alot better. But i dont see that happening anytime soon. Till then i guess we"ll just have to deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMAN962 Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Perhaps they should set up a system similar to Space Mountain's in the sense that there's a bouncer. Once the queue for each car fills up, they don't let people in. When they empty out enough, they'd let some people in, once they fill, do the same thing over again. I don't know if that's what they do when there IS a person, but still. Maybe SFMM will work on that, with the way they're handling things right now. -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kraxleRIDAH Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 With the heavy and consistent rain today and tomorrow, I don't think Ninja's paintjob will be complete until next week. And with all the acid rain, I don't think Ninja will retain that glossy look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixflagsmagicmountain Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I hope it stays nice and glossy for a while, does anyone know if they're doing anything to the trains? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I find that funny considering Riddler's Revenge, next to Goliath, has the LONGEST queue path than any other ride in the park (distance walked from queue entry to station). There IS an outdoor switchback queue area just right before you hit the stairs, though it's not big by any means. Most of the queue meanders underneath the coaster for a good quarter mile. It might be long a long walk, but that doesn't mean it holds more people... You can't possibly make the conclusion like you did that just because Time Warner was exploring to unload the Six Flags chain in 1997 that they half-assed the queue line on a new roller coaster they were building Why not? It's not like I didn't used to work with the operations managers who had to deal with an upper management team at Time Warner who didn't support them... Riddler's queue is a mess. It's great that there is a longer line for the front row, but what about the rest of the people? The rows shrink in size, so there's nowhere for anyone else to go except to get logjammed at the top of the stairs looking for an open row (or having to cut through another rows line to get to the row they want). It allows more people to fit (since it leaves some open space), but it's a mess. All it does is hurt the capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterjunkie91350 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I really think the trains will get a touch up too and the parts replaced. I hope they repaint the station too the color is really faded in there. As far as the overall paint work that needs to be done why dont parks try out powdercoat the color lasts much longer then paint and is practically bulletproof . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixflagsmagicmountain Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 That's what I was hoping for, and yes, powdercoat would be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapseofreason Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 My husband and I were thinking about going this Saturday, but I went to the website and... oh, God no, it says it's the cheerleading championships... Does this event usually jam the park beyond the normal weekend crowds? And if so, is it like the choir days or whatever where they're stuck in the Golden Bear Theatre for long periods of time? (I think we managed to skip this day last year). thanks in advance. -Amanda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Menefee Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 If it's anything like SFDK's yearly JAM cheer event, stay as far away from the park as possible. Do your nerves and noggin a favor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gborish Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I went on key club day in the fall... it was a disaster. They were all over every line singing a tune that someone taught them before hand. (and the lines were long - batman and riddlers were half hour waits twenty minutes after opening). And in high school, the cheerleaders were a lot more annoying than the keyclubbers, in general. On the other hand, I went last sunday during purim fest and the park was empty until 1pm (other than the X and tatsu lines, predictably). But I would guess there are a lot more cheerleaders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kraxleRIDAH Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I've visited Magic Mountain once or twice while they were hosting a cheer competition. If you enjoy groups of adolescent girls yabbering away loudly in front and from behind you in line and then releasing high-decibel drawn-out screams from the row behind you on Viper and Colossus. Otherwise, I suggest visiting some other time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixflagsmagicmountain Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 The cheer competitions are horrible. I can't stand being there on those days. Last time I was there on a cheer competition day, it was just packed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrs28330 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 What is even worse is when you have the youngest cheerleaders. I mean the 12 to 4 year old girls. Not only do the kids think they are the best thing on earth, the parents tell the girls they are the best things on earth. Pick a different weekend to come. There are cheer events both this Saturday and Sunday. Hey, try March 11th! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenA07 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 When I was working at the park I would always hate when cheer weekends would come around. Since I often ran the sound for them I got to deal with all of those teams first hand. The best people were the cheerleaders or coachs that stood there and watched, the worst ones tended to be parents of young kids who told me their entire life history. While running cheer however I do have some of my most unique memories from the park, including two job offers and occasionally flirting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freefallbestrideever Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Cheerleader Competitions= Avoid like the plague. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike robinson Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Agreed!!! My last visit had either a Key Club or Cheerfest event at the park. I think I lasted about 2 hours before I bailed. I think Ninja looks great with the new paint. Ninja is one of my favorite suspended coasters and one that I do not miss if it is open. I think Ninja was my second Suspended coaster after XLR8 so I was just blown away at what tricks that coaster could do with the terrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 This is weird hearing all of this, I've never had a horrible experience at SFMM during a Cheer Day. It might be a bit more annoying walking around, but generally I've found that most of the cheerleaders and their families aren't there to ride so lines are short. In fact, some friends went yesterday and did all the coasters (that were open) pretty fast! Now, Cheerleader days at Paramount parks...that's a whole nother story!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenA07 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Key club days I remember kids running around the park much more, during Cheer days most of the girls (this is, of course, depending on the event) end up staying near Golden Bear. Those events last basically all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iZak Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 They also seem to think that the B:TR queue is another venue for competition. Man, that summer sucked... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Six Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 For some reason I've always found them to be a lot more annoying if its at Knotts rather than at Magic. Not sure why, maybe because Knotts is a smaller park so it feels like there's more of them. But like Elissa said, most of them had their familes with them. And I'll take working with families over gangsters any day. There was only one girl yesterday who I wanted to staple, but overall not bad. _six Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Back in the days we had to kick out a cheerleading team who threw stuff at the team that beat them while on the bridge @ Jet Stream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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