Great Park Operations

[Sunfire]

Actually, I do have to agree about Canyon Blaster. When I was there, they were dispatching very quickly.

[Voyage_luvr]

Some of the best operations I have seen were at Dollywood, but other than that Holiday World usually has really great timing and dispatching with their coasters. I'll even give Six Flags St. Louis a little credit for how fast they were loading and dispatching Batman The Ride when I was there in October. They would have a train ready and gone before the first one ever made it back to the station. I will say I was impressed and never had to wait more than five minutes (until the line built up like crazy at 8pm)

[Alpenguy]

And Gadgets Go Coaster shocked the hell out of me this last Sunday...Dispatches every 20 seconds. You can't really get any faster than that on that coaster!

It's quite fun to break 650/hr on an 8 row, 1 train Vekoma Rollerskater.

 

I do agree that Space is very impressive- their minimum interval is 20.8 seconds and they generally do very well on keeping up.

 

As for the "two-finger touch" thing, that's all it takes to tell if a lapbar is locked most of the time, if people are white-knuckling it down or not responding to the self-check it does get a full tug. I think the safety record speaks for itself on whether that is enough.

 

 

Outside of Disney or any parks mentioned here, the Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz tends to have fantastic operations, especially for the train/station setup they're stuck with. Of course the awesome sound it makes dropping into the tunnel is good incentive.

[Bucket]

Any Disney Park!

 

Also, Europa Park in Rust, as well as Holiday Park in Haßloch... both in Germany.

[SharkTums]

^I disagree with Holiday Park. On our last two visits they dispatch Ge Force VERY slowly, only run one train most of the time, and don't seem to care as much anymore.

[Dougerz]

Knoebel's in my opinion seems to have the best operation crew and staff thus far. Dollywood is a close second though...they have great crews there and definitely keep Mystery Mine moving very smoothly.

[Bucket]

^I disagree with Holiday Park. On our last two visits they dispatch Ge Force VERY slowly, only run one train most of the time, and don't seem to care as much anymore.

 

When did you last visit Holiday Park? My last visit was in 2007 and they seemed to be doing a great job! I'm actually going home to Germany in two weeks for a short vacation (also visiting Holiday Park as well!), so I'll be sure to post a TR and update you on how operations are!

[Ccron10]

^^I agree to that. Knoebels' staff is excellent and the queue time on all their rides are fast.

 

Hersheypark is also great. For how often I go to the park, I never had a visit I didn't like. All of the staff is kind and curtious and sometimes you could strike up a conversation with them.

A long time ago I was riding the Kissing Tower and the guy operating the ride quizzed me on the park and I asked him questions.

Even though dispatches can be a pain, the wait isn't that bad.

[bspellx5]

^I agree with you about Hertrsheypark, especially with the Sooperdooperlooper, it seems like a train goes out every 25-30 seconds or so [maybe not THAT quick, but it seems it]..The only coaster that doesnt have too good dispatch times IMO is the Comet, not only does the line get HUGE, it moves slow because of the dispatches. Although the buzz bars are a little more trobulesome than regular lap bars it seems, so maybe that has something to do with it.

[Angry_Gumball]

Let's see...I got a few to share. Last visit to CGA, riding Flight Deck. The ops would check our restraints in an efficient manner (being quick) and would tell us personally to enjoy our ride. Never really heard people tell us that directly before, so I thought it was nice of them to do that. The visit before (Opening Day) when we were stuck on Vortex, the attendant would keep coming back to check with us/see if everything's ok and to inform us that they are trying to get a mechanic...they could have just left us there and let us wonder...but they knew better than that.

[Sunfire]

^Yeah, at Flight Deck they were being very efficient. Me personally, when I'm checking restraints at Invertigo, I tell everyone to enjoy their ride and to have fun. I'm sure it adds to their day.

[the ghost]

i would have to say California Screramin at DCA, not only do they constantly have all 4 trains working but there is usuaully three on the track at a time.

 

Does anyone else think that Intamin wants to build a dueling coaster after riding this. There is at least one part of the ride where you usuauly meet another coaster car.

[Adriel]

Indiana Jones Adventure?

 

Fast-loading and fast-unloading.

Simple check yet safe.

What an enjoyable experience.

[mike541x]

Six Flags Great America: Over the summer I did not experience one bad operation or employee there. Normal operations on Demon and American Eagle.

 

Busch Gardens Euroburg: Great operations. They put three trains on BBW when the park started to fill. Friendly and very helpful employees.

[KGA29]

Another vote for CP here! I have never seen a non-Disney park move their lines so quickly. And the employees seemed to be having fun and asking incoming riders "How was your ride?" It was great.

 

And of course the Disney parks.

[tntornadox]

^^Yes, but that wasn't the only time I've been there...

 

Plus, it took forever to put on the second train. Sure, the employees were nice and friendly, but that doesn't excuse the fact that they were incredibly slow...

 

And of course the wait is going to be only 5 minutes if there is hardly anyone else waiting, but like I said, they wouldn't let me re-ride even if the rest of the rows were completely empty!

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Dollywood, I really do! Their operations just don't impress me...at all.

 

Hello everyone, this is my first post on this site, I have posted at TN for years now, but felt the need to chime in here.

 

I work on the Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood and as a matter of fact was on the dock the day this young man visited us back in April..

 

As a general rule at Dollywood, safety surpasses everything- including guest satisfaction. It takes us five minutes to open a second train due to our performing block tests EVERY time the second train is added to ensure no incidental collisions can possibly occur... as maintenance likes to say: 'We would rather they collide empty'...

 

And since we are talking about two train operations, allow me to say this- as a guest, I would become impatient that it took a large line to add a second train on TT. The fact is, with two trains running on that particular coaster (it being as short as it is), we only have 20 seconds to check restraints and gather loose articles (takes a long time) before the ride stacks.

 

I am happy to report that given the new connector path to the Timber Canyon area of Dollywood, the Tennessee Tornado has seen a significant rise in guests this season so far. This means we usually have to add the second train now on a daily basis (even through the week), so if you've never seen TT with two train ops, this is the year to see it.

 

Lastly, Dollywood adopted the 'no re-rides' policy based off an IAAPA directive that was sent to its member corporations not long after the string of incidents on rides all around the country. I too hated this policy as a guest, but the official reasoning is this: when you ride a thrill ride, a coaster in particular, your heart pumps faster. If you get off and walk around, your body has the opportunity to gets its bearings before you ride again, if you re-ride 4-5 times and unbeknownst to you, you just so happen to have a heart ailment, it could cause you to have a heart attack, which sadly, has been happening more and more in frequency in recent years. In the end, I support this policy, given the above information- safety is more important than guest satisfaction at times, even at parks that are world renowned for their friendly and efficient service.

 

And to DBru, please don't take this post as me harping on you, that is not my intention. I feel that a legitimate argument is best when both sides of the coin is heard with the appropriate facts to back it up.

[DBru]

^No offense taken.

 

I'm glad you chimed in and gave explanations, some interesting info there that slightly lightened my opinion.

 

And I'm glad to here that TT will start using both trains more often!

[larrygator]

tntornadox - thank you for taking the time to explain the situation to TPR. Your dedication to your park and ride are a credit to you.

 

People on TPR are at various stages of this hobby and it is always good to hear the justification behind park/industry practices. All enthusiasts need to understand that safety must always be the primary concern in the US. Otherwise the industry, as it exists in the US, is going to continue to be strangled by over-regulation.

[Jim1013]

One more vote for Disney!

 

Recent trip to Knotts had some surprises, the ride ops were friendly and trains dispatched as quickly as possible - except for Jaguar which was running only one train. Thumbs up for Knott's ride ops and maintenance crews, the bathrooms in the park were clean.

[rgb60]

For individual rides, I'll go with Phoenix and add Twister. Those are the only two coasters I've been on where you're ready to dispatch and are only waiting for the train ahead of you to clear the block.

 

Another thing I'll give Knoebels credit for is long cycles on flats. None of this three times around and the ride's over like you get at so many other parks.

[sam06pr]

Just got back from BGE and boy were they very good dispatchers! Alp. ops were just racing!

[signal]

Here is a new one for me. I lost my Season's Pass while at Cedar Point, I think it fell out of my pocket (we were leaving the park) while I was sitting on the wood fence in the parking lot, waiting for pickup. I wasn't able to find it, so the next day, the great guy at Group sales gives me a free ticket, and later that day, he reprinted my pass for free! It's been about a week and a half since then, and today I got a letter from Cedar Point! In it was the Season's Pass that I had lost and had been replaced! I thought that they would have dismissed it now that they have reprinted it, but I guess not. Great job Cedar Point!

[handy-andy]

Disney in Paris had very good park operations which made a real busy day really fun. They let us in early on our fast passes twice and were very quick at loading on Space Mountain.

[BigThunderMtn]

On my recent trip to Kings Dominion, I found the operations to be efficient and the staff friendly and helpful etc. But the team of girls running Shockwave (the stand-up coaster) obviously loved working together and were having a good time, joking and laughing, but not to a degree that the guests were being ignored or the ops of the ride were being neglected. Though it doesn't seem like a real part of 'operations,' it makes the whole park seem happier when the cast is having fun. Thanks to those girls, despite the rainy weather outside, the Shockwave Roller Coaster station was a sunny place to be. Kudos!

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

Viper at SFMM. Having a train in the Butterfly loop and one appoaching lift gets a thumbs up from me any day.