Bolliger&Mabillard Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 This was a visit to DK I took on Sunday. The worst part of the day was how slow the Medusa crew was. Every single load cycle, the gates were not open until the cycling train hit main brake. I didn't think pictures would describe it so I took video, and am unfamiliar with the YouTube link so forgive me for that. The last video however is how the crew seemed to "step it up" and not stack once the park closed. All of a sudden they start hauling a$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Yup..that's how they were at SFOG when I went...I just had to suck it up and wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheStig Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hey how about a little more description next time? I mean, nobody knows what this is about, your three links don't work, and if they did it would just be a blank topic with three videos in it. Why don't you tell us what each one is about, then post a link/the video instead of just....nothing! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 To be fair, we seem to be having issues with links and quotes today. But otherwise. What Colin said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.C. Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Yeah, I had the same thing happen to me on Medusa, except I was already sitting in the back row once the dispute started. The guy sitting next to me would leave his Army hat on the ground. He wanted to put the seat belt through the back of his hat. The crew politely asked him to leave it and they explained to him that he could not have it on the coaster. He was willing to leave it in the operator's booth, but they explained that he couldn't do that either. After about five minutes of arguing, he got ticked off and left the station. Thankfully I was sitting down and not stuck waiting at the air gates. It's the new loose articles policy. It helps speed up load/unload times, but it hurts them once these kinds of things happen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 TIP: If you use the youtube tags, you don't need the entire URL, only the part after the = sign. Just helpin' ya... Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolliger&Mabillard Posted September 2, 2008 Author Share Posted September 2, 2008 Sorry for the lack of literature...I pre-typed it and it didn't copy over...This was a visit to DK I took on Sunday. The worst part of the day was how slow the Medusa crew was. Every single load cycle, the gates were not open until the cycling train hit main brake. I didn't think pictures would describe it so I took video, and am unfamiliar with the YouTube link so forgive me for that. The last video however is how the crew seemed to "step it up" and not stack once the park closed. All of a sudden they start hauling ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haiderodes Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I've only been to SFDK twice, but I have noticed that Medusa's operational policy seems to work against the crew making interval. On a typical dispatch with one person at load and one at unload the loader brings the train in, then before opening the gates goes up toward the front to let in FPs checking heights on the way up and back. Then he/she opens gates from the back of the station, gates close and then proceed to check their 16 (out of the 32) harnesses front to back. Add a few loose articles and larger proportioned guests and you have a back up situation. The fact that all over the park, they let FPs go directly onto the trains, instead of merging them with the station crowd (ala SFMM), also slows things down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpengeist04 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 All of a sudden they start hauling a$$. Of course they did. They wanted to get their a$$es out of there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbadboy Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I know of no other business/company in the world that invests between 4 and 20 million dollars in a single piece of equipment and then hires less-than-motivated workers at a reduced wage to operate it. Without supervision. And the result of this 'business plan' leads to unhappy guests. Nice. Does that make sense to anyone? That's not to say that the coaster community probably expects a little more than your average guest, but still... Also, I think there's a fine line between venting and whining. A different day might lead to different results... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haux Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I know of no other business/company in the world that invests between 4 and 20 million dollars in a single piece of equipment and then hires less-than-motivated workers at a reduced wage to operate it. Without supervision. And the result of this 'business plan' leads to unhappy guests. Nice. Does that make sense to anyone? Have you ever been to an airport? The people behind most of the ticket counters seem none too happy to be there. But that's not what this is about. Three-minute dispatch times? Give me a break. Why would they leave the gates closed while that entire train is just sitting in the station with the restraints up and totally ready to load? Did you complain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Wow...that's pretty inefficient. This is probably the complete opposite of what I see at CGA. Usually, once the station is cleared of people, the airgates open. I usually have maybe 30 seconds of waiting in the brake run before pulling into the station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpxtreme Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 ^And most of the time at CGA, as soon as the train parks, the air-gates open to let guests on without letting everyone exit first. It definitely speeds up loading times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxman47 Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 ^And most of the time at CGA, as soon as the train parks, the air-gates open to let guests on without letting everyone exit first. It definitely speeds up loading times. This does help tremendously. The oncoming guests kind of push the exiting riders off the platform instead of them taking their sweet time. Also, another thing that makes a huge difference is having the load attendant block off necessary rows when people are boarding from the exit rather than holding all of the airgates. Just say you have flashpass/exit pass/handicap riders boarding rows 2 and 3, the loader can just kindly block off those rows and everyone else can board the train even before the exit riders have taken their seats. This way there is basically never a delay in the boarding process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunfire Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 ^You know, your idea sounds pretty good. Too bad we have to stick with holding the airgates until management comes up with a better idea. But on topic, I don't understand why the crew members are being so slow. If someone has a big problem with it, they should talk to guest relations. Also, at CGA, we are usually told by our supervisors to move faster if we slack off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolliger&Mabillard Posted September 3, 2008 Author Share Posted September 3, 2008 I commented about it to a supervisor upon leaving the park. I mean I know from being a former ride op and an enthusiast what GP would not, but letting a 3 minute ride cycle before you even open the gates is just bad. As for HC/ADA loading. What we did at Knott's (at least on Xcel) is to inform a row that we'd be using their row on the next train, so when we open the gates they dont board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdillaman Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 ^ That was also standard at KI back in the Paramount days, and I think it still is, now. -James "It just makes more sense" Dillaman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 ^You know, your idea sounds pretty good. Too bad we have to stick with holding the airgates until management comes up with a better idea. But on topic, I don't understand why the crew members are being so slow. If someone has a big problem with it, they should talk to guest relations. Also, at CGA, we are usually told by our supervisors to move faster if we slack off. Don't you guys earn your "Cedar Fair Crew of Excellence" flags based on performance? I always see 'em around all of the rides...and my bro wanted one for the heck of it as he's weird like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunfire Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 ^Yeah, right now I believe Vortex has the most flags. It looks like they're pwning everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Six Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 What we did at Knott's (at least on Xcel) is to inform a row that we'd be using their row on the next train, so when we open the gates they dont board That's part of SF's "Load and Go" procedure too. Though, it was hardly ever enforced. -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownStreak Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I had the same problem with both NoCal Parks when I was there a few years back- on many of the rides the ops were VERY slow and often engaged in conversations amongst themselves instead of hustling to get the queues moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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