Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[rjr19]

Delete

Edited August 6, 2018 by rjr19

[rjr19]

Delete, sorry, computer is acting up

Edited August 6, 2018 by rjr19

[rjr19]

. Is it a perfect solution? No, because as others have said, they can still be taken out, but it would make everyone happy. And there really is no perfect solution, so might as well come as close as possible to one.

 

 

Actually there is one solution that is closer to perfect...BINS! You know, those things that worked just fine for loose articles for years and years now. I think anybody would take the bins over ever-so-slightly longer dispatches. Also, that slightly longer wait wouldn’t feel as bad because you would have your phone for entertainment. This would be the way to keep guests happy, the old-fashioned bin technique!

[coneyislandchris]

Sorry to veer the subject away from the fluffy, fluffy unicorns of death debate, but a quick question for y'all regarding early entry policies over there at the Point.

 

What is the current early entry policy for Platinum Pass holders who are utilizing a bring-a-friend ticket? Are they also allowed in during the 9:00 opening, or do they have to wait until the park opens proper at 10:00?

[CoasterInk]

Sorry to veer the subject away from the fluffy, fluffy unicorns of death debate, but a quick question for y'all regarding early entry policies over there at the Point.

 

What is the current early entry policy for Platinum Pass holders who are utilizing a bring-a-friend ticket? Are they also allowed in during the 9:00 opening, or do they have to wait until the park opens proper at 10:00?

Based on my experience this year, people with "bring a friend" tickets can take advantage of early entry if the passholder is with them.

[Sven20]

. Is it a perfect solution? No, because as others have said, they can still be taken out, but it would make everyone happy. And there really is no perfect solution, so might as well come as close as possible to one.

 

 

Actually there is one solution that is closer to perfect...BINS! You know, those things that worked just fine for loose articles for years and years now. I think anybody would take the bins over ever-so-slightly longer dispatches. Also, that slightly longer wait wouldn’t feel as bad because you would have your phone for entertainment. This would be the way to keep guests happy, the old-fashioned bin technique!

 

Cedar fair has eliminated bins on all their big coasters across the chain. I'm glad, thus their operations are not at the horrible SF level. Also, CF has a employees that act like they actually want to be there and have some initiative.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Sven20

[coasterbill]

Cedar fair has eliminated bins on all their bug coasters across the chain

 

So THAT'S why all of Cedar Point's major coasters removed their bins (and why Millennium Force was bin-less from the start).

[prozach626]

It's become pretty clear over the years that if you add bins people will bitch about capacity. If you improve capacity and rid guests of loose articles people will bitch about not having their belongings. It's reinventing the wheel over and over again.

[Airboss]

Why do some coasters still have bins then? According to their policies page, these rides have bins:

 

Blue Streak, Snoopy Bounce, Woodstock Express, Cedar Downs, Corkscrew, Gemini, Kite Eating Tree, Maverick, maXair, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Power Tower, Raptor, Prof. Delbert's Frontier Fling, Skyhawk, SlingShot, Super Himalaya, Wave Swinger, Wicked Twister, Witches' Wheel and Woodstock's Airmail

 

Most of those are flat rides, where bins make sense, but a few of them stand out: mainly Raptor, Maverick, and Wicked Twister. These are all high demand rides that all have decent lines throughout the day, and could benefit from removing bins.

 

I personally don't mind the bins, I'm fine waiting longer if it means I can bring my stuff. But the inconsistency seems strange. Of course rides with unloading stations have to be bin-less, but there seems to be inconsistency across rides without an unloading station.

[southpuddle]

I think Raptor, PT and WT have bins because riders will need somewhere to put flip flops anyway. Also, I’d much rather put my phone in a pouch that zips shut than a bin where it has the chance of getting stolen, smashed, etc.

[rjr19]

I think Raptor, PT and WT have bins because riders will need somewhere to put flip flops anyway. Also, I’d much rather put my phone in a pouch that zips shut than a bin where it has the chance of getting stolen, smashed, etc.

 

Rougarou riders need a place to put their flip flops, but there, the policy is “shoes only”.

[Sven20]

Why do some coasters still have bins then? According to their policies page, these rides have bins:

 

Blue Streak, Snoopy Bounce, Woodstock Express, Cedar Downs, Corkscrew, Gemini, Kite Eating Tree, Maverick, maXair, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Power Tower, Raptor, Prof. Delbert's Frontier Fling, Skyhawk, SlingShot, Super Himalaya, Wave Swinger, Wicked Twister, Witches' Wheel and Woodstock's Airmail

 

Most of those are flat rides, where bins make sense, but a few of them stand out: mainly Raptor, Maverick, and Wicked Twister. These are all high demand rides that all have decent lines throughout the day, and could benefit from removing bins.

 

I personally don't mind the bins, I'm fine waiting longer if it means I can bring my stuff. But the inconsistency seems strange. Of course rides with unloading stations have to be bin-less, but there seems to be inconsistency across rides without an unloading station.

 

Wocked Twister bins don't make a difference b/c it doesn't effect dispatch times b/c of the interval for the LSM. Maverick is a similar situation with 2 load stations you're often waiting for the previous dispatch to clear the block.

[Stealth1]

I an fine with the bins considering my home park which is Wonderland uses them for everything. My only question is so many people feel the need to bring their whole house with them.

 

I just bring a waist pack with my keys, pass and money. Reall what else do you need with you.

[robbalvey]

It's become pretty clear over the years that if you add bins people will bitch about capacity. If you improve capacity and rid guests of loose articles people will bitch about not having their belongings. It's reinventing the wheel over and over again.

They only bitch about capacity because the parks do a poor job of moving people through the process.

 

At pretty much EVERY park in Japan, in between ride cycles one or two employees will come through the station telling everyone at the airgates who is about to board the next train coming in to take off their bags, pull cell phones out of pockets, and they "prepare" everyone for putting their stuff in the bins.

 

Here in the US, no park that I've ever seen does this so you have people at the very last minute getting their crap together after the air gates have already opened.

 

I will never understand why more parks don't go through this simple process especially when most of the time I just see park employees sitting there bored while waiting for the next train to come in.

 

EDIT: I was just reminded that Holiday World not only does this, but the employees will actually TAKE YOUR BAGS and offer to put them off to the side in between trains.

 

Again, the process only works as fast or as slow as the park makes it happen. Guests are not there to think about the daily operations of the roller coasters, they are just there to ride.

 

So if a park offers bins for people to put their stuff, but they see that it is slowing down capacity, IT IS THE PARKS RESPONSIBILITY to speed that up or come up with a solution that does not impact guest satisfaction.

 

And I will say it once again that I have seen examples at parks all over the world that work, and I only blame the park for their laziness if they cannot come up with a solution.

[rjr19]

I an fine with the bins considering my home park which is Wonderland uses them for everything. My only question is so many people feel the need to bring their whole house with them.

 

I just bring a waist pack with my keys, pass and money. Reall what else do you need with you.

 

 

My home park, Darien Lake only runs one train on everything including Ride of Steel, and yet they can still keep the line moving decently well with people putting their stuff on the other side of the station. If Darien keeps it moving with one train, CP’s better ride ops and two to three train ops can get it done with bins just fine, and it will boost guest satisfaction.

[DirkFunk]

EDIT: I was just reminded that Holiday World not only does this, but the employees will actually TAKE YOUR BAGS and offer to put them off to the side in between trains.

 

You and I both know why this is. Holiday World will pay for extra staff. These parks are cutting their staff wherever possible to try and reduce operational costs and increase profit margin.

[SharkTums]

Changing direction for a minute...what's going on with the bugs at Cedar Point!!??!

 

I thought in the past the muffleheads were gone by June?? This trip the first week of August had the WORST case of bugs I've ever dealt with at the park. Is this a global warming thing or what? It's one thing hitting them at 70-100mph on various rides, but there were also normal guests complaining about their $400+/night hotel room balconies being unusable due to so many bugs on everything that they couldn't even see through the screen.

[Sven20]

It's become pretty clear over the years that if you add bins people will bitch about capacity. If you improve capacity and rid guests of loose articles people will bitch about not having their belongings. It's reinventing the wheel over and over again.

They only bitch about capacity because the parks do a poor job of moving people through the process.

 

At pretty much EVERY park in Japan, in between ride cycles one or two employees will come through the station telling everyone at the airgates who is about to board the next train coming in to take off their bags, pull cell phones out of pockets, and they "prepare" everyone for putting their stuff in the bins.

 

Here in the US, no park that I've ever seen does this so you have people at the very last minute getting their crap together after the air gates have already opened.

 

I will never understand why more parks don't go through this simple process especially when most of the time I just see park employees sitting there bored while waiting for the next train to come in.

 

EDIT: I was just reminded that Holiday World not only does this, but the employees will actually TAKE YOUR BAGS and offer to put them off to the side in between trains.

 

Again, the process only works as fast or as slow as the park makes it happen. Guests are not there to think about the daily operations of the roller coasters, they are just there to ride.

 

So if a park offers bins for people to put their stuff, but they see that it is slowing down capacity, IT IS THE PARKS RESPONSIBILITY to speed that up or come up with a solution that does not impact guest satisfaction.

 

And I will say it once again that I have seen examples at parks all over the world that work, and I only blame the park for their laziness if they cannot come up with a solution.

 

The attendants/ride ops can tell people 5 times between each dispatch not to touch their lap bars for RMC's and literally every train and if you're fortunate every other train somebody pulls down their lap bar. It was ridiculous at places like SFOG and KD. By the time you're in the station people have heard it 50+ times and they still do it. Then you have the people where the attendant has to say 10 times to stop sitting on the hand rails and they sit their oblivious.

 

The simple fact is people don't listen, they are self absorbed. This is not Japan or some European country where the majority of the people aren't like this. In the US people just stroll to put things in bins slowly, they often decide to have a conversation with their buddy and goof off in the process. Then when the ride is over there is a traffic jam with people getting stuff from bins as they get their stuff they have to relive the ride. Bins are in no way efficient and definitively slow operations. Let's not even get to the point of do all these people need bags? If they want to bring extra junk pay for it, get a locker. Don't slow operations and lower the satisfaction of the guests who don't bring all this stuff to the park.

[robbalvey]

LOL..The attendants can tell people 5 times bewteen each dispatch not to touch their lapbarso RMC's and literally every train somebody pulls down their lapbar. It was ridiculous at places like SFOG and KD.

OK, hold on there for a second. This is a completely stupid example. I honestly don't blame your average guest for accidentally pulling down their lap bar out of habit because EVERY SINGLE ROLLER COASTER SINCE THE EXISTENCE OF ROLLER COASTERS you would get in and then pull down your lap bar.

 

So don't give me some bullshit about how people don't listen because for decades and decades people were wired to get in and pull down their lap bar.

 

if the park wants to have some out-of-the-ordinary rule where guests don't pull down their lap bars then have trains where the lap bars are locked in the up position until they are unlocked. Doesn't the GCI Millennium Flyer trains do this?

 

The simple fact is people don't listen.

So why does it work perfectly fine at a park like Holiday World then?

 

Then when the ride is over there is a traffic jam with people getting stuff from bins. Bins are in no way efficient and definitively slow operations.

 

Really? Because I could sit here and site many many many examples to you of where it works perfectly fine. Would you like me to do that?

 

It's clear to me you don't know much about theme park operations so I'd suggest you stop talking out of your rectum.

Edited August 6, 2018 by robbalvey

[southpuddle]

Just because 5% of guests will never pay attention, doesn’t mean you don’t do your best to tell every guest what’s expected of them. It’s a statistics game - tell everyone in hopes that half of them will follow directions perfectly. Better than not telling anyone and only having 10% of them do it right just by chance. There’s also a difference between what Robb was saying, which was a ride op going down the line and addressing each group individually, and talking to guests over the PA system, which a lot people tune out.

[chickenbowl]

I've seen station cubbies (or general loose article policies) work flawlessly at multiple different parks all over the world. Every Disney park, Dollywood, USJ's B&Ms, Holiday World, Europa Park, Liseberg, even SWSD nails it (Electric Eel has a extremely simple/fast basket system where you must leave your phone/wallet). It's really not that hard - any idiot can and does figure it out.

 

I personally think the Disney-like system of having a pouch in front of you to put your smaller loose articles (phone, keys, wallet) would be PERFECT on a high intensity ride like Steel Vengeance. Forcing people to be without their phone throughout an entire queue is simply a bad solution

[Phant0mF1re]

Changing direction for a minute...what's going on with the bugs at Cedar Point!!??!

 

I thought in the past the muffleheads were gone by June?? This trip the first week of August had the WORST case of bugs I've ever dealt with at the park. Is this a global warming thing or what? It's one thing hitting them at 70-100mph on various rides, but there were also normal guests complaining about their $400+/night hotel room balconies being unusable due to so many bugs on everything that they couldn't even see through the screen.

 

The bugs were absolutely insane for us this trip as well. We just got back yesterday. We've been going to CP during late July / early August for a 4 night stay for 4 years now, and this was by far the worst we've experienced. Made the mistake of hitting MF at night in the front (we've done it before with only a few splats here and there) and it was torture. Had to squint and keep mouth pressed tight, and had to change clothes back at Breakers. Even just walking through certain sections of the park we had to look out for swarms of those things.

[Sven20]

LOL..The attendants can tell people 5 times bewteen each dispatch not to touch their lapbarso RMC's and literally every train somebody pulls down their lapbar. It was ridiculous at places like SFOG and KD.

OK, hold on there for a second. This is a completely stupid example. I honestly don't blame your average guest for accidentally pulling down their lap bar out of habit because EVERY SINGLE ROLLER COASTER SINCE THE EXISTENCE OF ROLLER COASTERS you would get in and then pull down your lap bar.

 

So don't give me some bullshit about how people don't listen because for decades and decades people were wired to get in and pull down their lap bar.

 

if the park wants to have some out-of-the-ordinary rule where guests don't pull down their lap bars then have trains where the lap bars are locked in the up position until they are unlocked. Doesn't the GCI Millennium Flyer trains do this?

 

The simple fact is people don't listen.

So why does it work perfectly fine at a park like Holiday World then?

 

Then when the ride is over there is a traffic jam with people getting stuff from bins. Bins are in no way efficient and definitively slow operations.

 

Really? Because I could sit here and site many many many examples to you of where it works perfectly fine. Would you like me to do that?

 

It's clear to me you don't know much about theme park operations so I'd suggest you stop talking out of your rectum.

 

Actually, it's a perfect example b/c your entire stick is if you tell them they will do it. I can tell you as somebody that goes to 20+ parks per year, the majority don't listen or pay attention to anything around them. They are self absorbed. You can cite an anomaly all you want and pretend it's the norm, it's not. If you want to bring extra junk to the park, pay for it, buy a locker. Pretending bins are somehow efficient is talking out of your "rectum", to use your own terms. It's in no way efficient, as people have to cross the ride and then come back. It adds 15-20 seconds if people move with initiative, more with the sloth like culture of America. Then there is the. lets have a mini convo instead of getting are junk people. I've seen it a million times.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Sven20

[robbalvey]

This right here is a GREAT post...

 

Just because 5% of guests will never pay attention, doesn’t mean you don’t do your best to tell every guest what’s expected of them. It’s a statistics game - tell everyone in hopes that half of them will follow directions perfectly. Better than not telling anyone and only having 10% of them do it right just by chance. There’s also a difference between what Robb was saying, which was a ride op going down the line and addressing each group individually, and talking to guests over the PA system, which a lot people tune out.

 

Just because 5% of guests will never pay attention, doesn’t mean you don’t do your best to tell every guest what’s expected of them.

100% agreed! You may never be able to keep all cell phones off a ride (yes, people HAVE somehow gotten them past the metal detectors at Universal) and you may never be able to get everyone to pull down their lap bar. But COMMUNICATION IS KEY here, folks! If you don't tell people directly and in the moment, then sure, most people it will go in one ear and out the other.

 

There’s also a difference between what Robb was saying, which was a ride op going down the line and addressing each group individually, and talking to guests over the PA system, which a lot people tune out.

IMO, those "ride rules" you hear over the PA system is like the airplane safety videos where most people don't watch them because you've heard it a million times before. But if you have a ride where something out of the ordinary is expected of the guests, it is the parks responsibility to COMMUNICATE that to the guest.

 

I absoultely refuse to believe that if they can get people to put away their phones when they get in line, they can also get people to put away their phones when they board a ride. I saw no fewer than three attendants at the front of Steel Vengeance every time I was at the ride.

 

Take one or two of those staff and have them scan the air gates area for phones in pockets. Have the grouper right before you get into the station tell people directly "All phones need to be placed on the other side of the station."

 

I saw small cubbies for shoes at Valravn, why can't they have these for phones also? (And I actually DID see some phones in those cubbies.)

 

It makes my brain hurt knowing there are so many examples of solutions that work, and yet we still have one of the largest most respectable parks in the world with one of the worst guest policies I've ever seen. (And I'm also looking at you Great Adventure if you are doing this as well. Personally, I've never seen it.)

 

Don't let Universal be the park that others follow in their bad example, be the park that comes up with a BETTER SOLUTION!

[robbalvey]

Actually, it's a perfect exampe b/cyou're entie stick is if you tell them they wil ldo it. I can tell you as somebody that goes to 20+ parks per year, the majority don't listen or pay attention to anything around them. They are self absorbed. You can site an anomaly all you want and pretend it's the norm, it's not. If you want to bring extra junk to the park, pay for it, buy a fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo. Pretending bins are somehow efficient is talking out of your "rectum", to use your own terms. It's in no way, as people have to cross the ride and then come back. It adds 15-20 seconds is people move with initiative, more with the sloth like culture of America. Then there is the lets have a mini convo instead of getting are junk. I've seen it a million times.

OK, well... you're wrong. Totally and completely wrong in every way with everything you just said. And the fact that you think you are right just shows me you have no clue at all what you're talking about.

EDIT: Side note - I don't disagree that if you want to bring your crap to a park, get a locker, but that's not really what I'm talking about. The fact that bins or other type of storage areas DO WORK on the platform, especially for small items such as phones or shoes, is what I am mostly talking about here. But that being said, I have seen plenty of examples where bags, hats, wallets, phones, keys, drink cups, etc, can be placed on the other side of a platform without impacting operations at all.

Edited August 6, 2018 by robbalvey