Idiot Ride Ops.

[incredicoaster]

scream at sfmm has idiot ride ops.... everyone i work with would rather text message then send the train.

[Masked_Maverick]

I did have one bad experience at Cedar Point with a ride op. I rode Skyhawk had fun and everything the ride op had little problems with getitng my bar down. Later on I go back to re-ride it and the ride op (different one his time) decides to staple m in not only staple me in but jump up and use his full body wieght to jam the bar right into my gut. I couldn't breath the entire ride thankfully on my way out of the exit I ran into one of the rides managers and told him what happend.

[RideOpMarcus]

Ahh I see some garbage in this thread. I've seen enough to join these forums and clean some of it up.

 

 

At Cedar Point whilst crouching to lift up the lap bar to get on Gemini the ride op shut the air gates without warning and it caught my leg, trapping it. It took a lot of shouting to get any ride op to notice and release the air gates. No appology was made. I had some nasty bruising and couldn't put much weight on it. Even guest services made no apology. I'd expected more from Cedar Fair.

 

I forget if Gemini has automatic air gates or not. Either way, they must close very quickly to keep up with capacity. Especially on Gemini where if you don't load a train and dispatch it in a certain amount of time, you have to shutdown the ride. And come on, it's not like the gates shut instantly. It's extremely difficult to deal with brainless general public day in and day out.

Guest-"The gate started closing and I got stuck."

Me-"I'm terribly sorry, may I suggest getting out of the way next time."

 

Almost every Six Flags I've been to I see a ride op either talking on his/her cell phone and doing as little as possible.

 

Ehhh, we're working on it. I guarantee you it wasn't SFGAm though. We are sent through metal detectors to ensure no one has a cell phone.

 

A previous poster mentioned ops that made him go around through the queue again despite an empty train. And while he didn't mention any specific park, I can almost guarantee that the park is making the ops do that for safety reasons.

 

That is not for safety reasons. A park makes ride ops ensure you don't jump rails for safety reasons. A park makes ride ops send you around when the train is empty to up the capacity count for the ride.

 

we spoke to the ops and they said 'didn't you know? they were fired because some kids complained about their atrocious behaviour!' .

 

I believed your story up to here. Now unless things are done much differently in England, there's is no possible way a single guest complaint could fire an entire crew. Every other story on this topic I believe though, but this one...I just don't think people realize how many guest complaints a park gets everyday. I got guest complaints for not letting on kids too short, but the family would say I didn't let on the other taller sibling just to get me in trouble. The park understands this and it's very rare they fire one employee over a guest complaint.

 

5. Wizzer (SFGav)- Sent four completely empty trains around for no reason at all. They hadnt added a train, No one had gotten hurt, it was pointless.

 

This is probably the most garbage of comments on this topic. It's not like ride ops say, "Hey let's screw everyone over and not let everyone on." It was most likely they we're running a test to check for something dealing with the track, the train, or the computer system. We don't wait for someone to get hurt before we do the tests.

[vjgx]

Wow... It seems like some ride ops can be a real pain!

 

Fortunately, I have never encountered a ride op problem involving lack of attention or other such things... They're either enthusiastic or having fun running the ride, or just being quiet and doing their job well (yes, this includes Magic Mountain)... In fact, I've never been stapled... not even close. Even on Xcelerator (apparently notorious for stapling), the ride ops always gently lower my lap bar until there's about an inch of space between the thing and my legs... Sometimes I actually lower it more myself to feel safer!

 

But yeah... I guess I'm just lucky (another reason why I never complain about SFMM)!

[GMAN962]

I don't know if this can be considered unsafe, but to me it's stupid.

 

The last time I went to Knott's, Most of the ride ops for Xcelerator were fine. Like every other train, one of the ride ops would just sit on top of the front of the train. They'd stay there and talk to the people in the front seat, or possibly other ride ops for like 4-5 minutes! Then, they finally dispatch the train.

 

What I think could be potentially unsafe is that, what if the ride op slipped off of the front of the train and onto the tracks in front of them? What if something happens to the train? I don't know, it just doesn't seem safe to me.

 

~Mike

[Alpenguy]

What really gets to me after experience working at a fairly crappy seasonal park and now just starting on a handpicked world-recognized-attraction crew, is that it really doesn't take any more actual effort from any ride ops to have things run quickly and smoothly. It also makes the day pass MUCH faster.

 

I think most parks just miserably fail at offering incentive to get good counts and be SAFE, (hard not to do on a modern coaster anyways) cause once some competitive spirit is there it stays and makes things fun. It probably just comes down to the general decline of work ethic and HR departments though. And of course the "I make minimum wage so I should have no pride in my job and do it crappily" attitude which will probably make that wage follow them for a while...

[Satoshi]

I got said something nasty when I was going to ride on Big Thunder at TDL since somebody found I was retarded people who talks in strange voice and he said " This ride is not for retarded ones and they are really going to make us sick. We want you to get outta here 'cause they have no rights to enjoy. Get away, you too. " The ride ops even pertended to be strangers about it and did not seem to care at all. I then realized it was going to against human rights and I wondered why do special people such like myself need to get treated as the craps of Japan?

 

Hopefully lots of people including TDL working Guys such as ride's ops would understand these people for all goodness and the park would be always fun place with no discriminations..... if not, it is not real Disney's Magical Fun.

 

I am a retarded people who has slight autism in fact.

[IceDragon]

we spoke to the ops and they said 'didn't you know? they were fired because some kids complained about their atrocious behaviour!' .

 

I believed your story up to here. Now unless things are done much differently in England, there's is no possible way a single guest complaint could fire an entire crew.

 

it sound fake, i know, i thought they were joking at first, but the guy operating the ride was kicked out due to unsafe supervision.

 

i lol'd so much

[GURZU]

Last summer, I went to Parque Warner whit a other fan-coasters friends, when, in the Coaster Express entrance, a friend said... ¡WELL, Right entrance is the blue train, and the left entrance is the red train.!!

 

In CE only have a 1 train, and the left entrance is for quickly pass... The CM´s angryly with us lol

[sixflagsguy5]

I remember in SFOG I was getting ready to ride Georgia Scorcher. My really short friend was trying to strap in, but the ride's banana straps wouldn't lock. We yelled and screamed for a ride op, for they were about to blatently just start the ride. Finally this guy that looked like he was 80 came over and locked him in.

 

Otherwise, I've had no problems

 

That's kind of funny that the old guy locked him in, because even though Six Flags Over Georgia isn't my homepark (I live in IL), both times that i've gone there (both trips a year apart) the old guy has been working on Georgia Scorcher.

[jamesdillaman]

RideOpMarcus said:

 

Ehhh, we're working on it. I guarantee you it wasn't SFGAm though. We are sent through metal detectors to ensure no one has a cell phone.

 

They have metal detectors at PKI, too, and I don't have to take my cell phone or keys out of my pocket, as they don't set them off. I gurantee you the metal detectors are there to keep weapons out of the park. I was a ride op, and know how annoying the GP and some ACErs can be, but there's no excuse to shortcutting and just being plain lazy, which a lot of ride ops are. Almost every park has different problems with their operations that I've noticed.

 

For instance, PKI has problems with policies. An example is IJ:ST. Sometimes they'll let you wait for whatever seat you want, and sometimes they assign seats to you. I thought it was tied in to how many guests were in line, but it isn't, as we had assigned seats on a 5-minute wait, also.

 

Cedar Point's ride ops can be very rude, and don't tell you ANYTHING. I've been in line when a ride breaks down, and they don't even tell you the ride is broken down. You have to be sherlock holmes and try and figure out if it's just a station delay or what the heck's going on. I can understand not telling people what's wrong, but it won't hurt to say "We are experiencing a minor mechanical difficulty, if you choose to leave the line you forfeit your place, blah blah blah."

 

Holiday World is hit or miss. I've had some great ride ops there, and I've been stapled to death. It depends on who you get. Some who worked on Raven at SRM2003 it's understandable that they're shaken up and would encourage tight lap bars, but don't be ridiculus.

 

Indiana Beach my girlfriend and I rode Galaxi with the restraints OPEN. This would be grounds for shutdown if it happened during an inspection, or at the very least a crew being fired. I shouted at him, saying our lapbars were up, and we can't reach the pedal BEHIND the car to unlock them to go down, and the idiot said "It'll probably go down" It didn't throughout the whole ride. We just had to hold on, as there are some decent pops of air, and some "headchoppers". We probably weren't in any real danger, but if either one of us had been drunk, we could've jumped out anytime.

 

-James Dillaman

[Calvin]

Probably the woman checking lap bars on Goliath at SFMM. This was last year so I doubt she's there anymore, but my cousin and I were waiting for dispatch. The woman comes by, puts her foot on the lapbars, and pushes them down like that, pretty hard. She moves to the people behind us, a woman and her kid. She staples the woman, and then practically throws all of her weight onto the kid, who screams, "OW!", cries, and throws up.

 

So yeah, I doubt she's there anymore.

[mike541x]

Probably at SFA is when I was on the Wild One all the ops where to busy talking then rather check our restrains. They finally decided to check them after talk for about almost 5 minutes.

[coasterjoe1233]

i the only problem i have ever had with a ride op was when i was 6 or 7 and we took my babysitter to canadas wonderland. i went on vortex with my babysitter earlier that day and was told to do a height check. i did and i passed, the ride op told me to have a great ride and i did. heres the part i don't get...

later that day i went onto vortex before we left the park and the same ride op asked me to do a hight check. then procided to tell me that i was to short. my babysitter told him that we had already been checked and approved by him earlier and he denied it with cursing and yelling at me. i was all like, what did i do to you? i of course started to cry and my mom gave him the finger wheil we left the staion. we went to guset survices and reported the incident. and i think he was fired as he was not there antime for the rest of the year? severs him right but i have never had anybody step on my lap bar on MCMB.

[kidcoaster]

The problem with some Ops. is Doing there jobs to fast. They should go slower so everyone can be safe. Because when me and my family went to kennywood last year my mom went on the phantom revenge and as it was going up the lift she noticed her lap bar was open and she pulled it down. She could have been hurt if she did not notice before they got to the top.

[easytoremember]

RideOpMarcus said:

 

Ehhh, we're working on it. I guarantee you it wasn't SFGAm though. We are sent through metal detectors to ensure no one has a cell phone.

 

They have metal detectors at PKI, too, and I don't have to take my cell phone or keys out of my pocket, as they don't set them off. I gurantee you the metal detectors are there to keep weapons out of the park. I was a ride op, and know how annoying the GP and some ACErs can be, but there's no excuse to shortcutting and just being plain lazy, which a lot of ride ops are. Almost every park has different problems with their operations that I've noticed.

 

For instance, PKI has problems with policies. An example is IJ:ST. Sometimes they'll let you wait for whatever seat you want, and sometimes they assign seats to you. I thought it was tied in to how many guests were in line, but it isn't, as we had assigned seats on a 5-minute wait, also.

 

Cedar Point's ride ops can be very rude, and don't tell you ANYTHING. I've been in line when a ride breaks down, and they don't even tell you the ride is broken down. You have to be sherlock holmes and try and figure out if it's just a station delay or what the heck's going on. I can understand not telling people what's wrong, but it won't hurt to say "We are experiencing a minor mechanical difficulty, if you choose to leave the line you forfeit your place, blah blah blah."

 

Holiday World is hit or miss. I've had some great ride ops there, and I've been stapled to death. It depends on who you get. Some who worked on Raven at SRM2003 it's understandable that they're shaken up and would encourage tight lap bars, but don't be ridiculus.

 

Indiana Beach my girlfriend and I rode Galaxi with the restraints OPEN. This would be grounds for shutdown if it happened during an inspection, or at the very least a crew being fired. I shouted at him, saying our lapbars were up, and we can't reach the pedal BEHIND the car to unlock them to go down, and the idiot said "It'll probably go down" It didn't throughout the whole ride. We just had to hold on, as there are some decent pops of air, and some "headchoppers". We probably weren't in any real danger, but if either one of us had been drunk, we could've jumped out anytime.

 

-James Dillaman

What exactly happened at SRM2003 that would make ride ops extra careful? When I went to Holiday World I noticed that I was stapled on all of my four rides on Raven, but not once on Legend or Voyage.

[spaceace12]

I rode all three a bunch of times this year, and while they weren't stapling in me, the lap bar was down as much as I could get it. Which Usually went away after a descent air and the insueing hitting the seat as hard as possible.

[Fallen Heretic]

What exactly happened at SRM2003 that would make ride ops extra careful?

 

A women fell out of Raven and was killed. I think she was trying to one-click it but Im not sure. She did have her seatbaelt unbuckled though.

[spaceace12]

It was reported that she tried to stand up on one of hte hills, also.

[easytoremember]

wow, I had not heard that. That is very unfortunate.

[jALIg]

ive never seen that many bad inccidents but the worst i have seen was i in liseberg.

 

this is only for the rideops none of the other staff at the parks was like this.

 

but they were rude and ineffective and didnt seem to bother about using the capacity only exception was balder(kanonen closed) but they didnt hit intervall there either and they didnt do any effort to do so either.

[FlippyTrick09]

Here is something that I don't know if it was stupid or good:

 

 

One night during Phobia at Wild Adventures, my friends and I passed one of the "scarers". In doing so the scarer scared (of course) 2 of my friends. Said friends got so scared that they began to run. Now this is were I'm confused. The scarer in turn ran after them (either to keep on scaring them, or to tell them to stop). While he was running, a park official stopped him and took him to the office. The scarer was promptly fired (I think, we never saw him again).

 

 

See, I think this was a good thing. He was meerly bringing better scares to the public. Most of the other scares just walked around, and got way to close to your face. I would rather have someone chase me, then someone in pitch black hold a chainsaw right up to me face (which they did). I don't think he should have been fired, but I just don't know

 

 

(I know its not a ride op, sorry )

[Fallen Heretic]

Personaly I quite like the chase as well, or at least following the guests, like scraping something on a floor or wall, thats scary.

 

I guess its against health and saftey rules or something. Alot of jumpwalks or haunted houses dont like punters to run, as they could trip and fall. Some places to their best to keep the groups moving though, sometimes pretty damn quick. Ive never been so frightened by a midget with a shovel before. lol.

 

The only proper idiot thing Ive seen was when i was a kid at Southport Pleasureland. My parents went off for a trip on the skyride leaving me with my sister. While they were up on it, the two ride ops, obviously bored, decided to mess around a bit. They jumped on one of the cars in the station, and started swinging in side to side. They swung so much that the gondola was actualy bashing into the pole supporting the wire. This ofcourse shook the wire and made all the cars on the ride sorta bounce and swing. To say my parents were paniking was a slight understatememnt. Depsite being only 9 years old, I swore loudly at them. Alot. And so did alot of people. Official complaints were made but I dont know if anything happened to them.

[coastervekoma]

well I have had a rather idiot of a ride op. well we were at the county fair and we wanted to get a credit on this zamperla mini-coaster. But I couldnt find any kids to steel

anyway this thug gangsta ride op flips me and my friend off while saying, No..To..Tall!! (I think He only spoke spanish). If thats not rude than what is?

[mike541x]

Oh yeah I almost forgot the time when this ride operater was playing "Chicken" with the Mind Eraser in the station. When it pulled into the station he jumps out of the way at the last 2 seconds.