The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[fatdaddy]

^^Yeah it is kind of annoying when they got you captive and want to include you in their nightclub act.

[RCFreak]

^No offense, but that is EXACTLY why I hate Cedar Fair ride operators having those wireless mics.

 

And having been on the other end and having to use those mics, AGREED! It's fine when you have tons of trains constantly moving through and say the same stuff over and over with some randomness thrown in every once in a while, but it is extremely difficult to kill time with a mic in the situations like the video.

[fatdaddy]

Yeah its cool when they get you hyped up for the ride, but they should have music or something when theres that kind of line.

[austinlee]

Yeah, this kind of stuff is annoying when it is overdone to that extent. A little bit of entertainment mixed in here and there is appreciated when it breaks up the monotony of standing in line but this is too much.

[gforce532]

Im perfectly okay with it and actually prefer it. As long as it doesn't get to annoying or completely random which it does alot.

[AnEscapeArtist]

^No offense, but that is EXACTLY why I hate Cedar Fair ride operators having those wireless mics.

 

I don't understand how management would condone it, either. How embarrassing for all parties involved. If I was standing there I'd have to get out of line and maybe come back later. If I can't take 15 seconds of it on video (I had to stop it before I threw my moniter out the window), there's no way i'd be able to last standing there for TWO MINUTES AND THIRTY SECONDS.

 

Dear Knott's operators with those stupid mics: Believe it or not, ITS OKAY FOR THE STATION TO BE QUIET FOR 2 MINUTES DURING A CYCLE!! You CAN shut off the mic! In fact, its nice to have some quiet time at a theme park! Please, for the love of God, stop.

[Jew]

^To be fair, I don't think there is anything wrong with a ride operator using the microphone in a more professional manner. I only posted my comment because that song was incredibly annoying. Something like "hows everyone doing today? In a few minutes you guys will be boarding the fastest ride in ghost town....place all your bags in the cubbies...blah blah blah...."

[robbalvey]

^ Yeah, I agree. I think it's even fine to say your speil in a humorous way, but keep it at least professional. I too had to turn off that video about 30 seconds into it. I'm not sure what is more embarrassing for that ride op, the fact that she was doing the song in the first place or the fact that the audience in the station seemed completely unimpressed with it.

 

--Robb

[AnEscapeArtist]

^^Oh yeah, I totally agree, I don't have a problem with informative or professional microphone handling either (though that seems to be far and few between). Talking about the ride, saying to get loose articles ready for cubbies (I actually like these kinds of comments from ride ops), maybe even talking to guests is fine with me. My issue is the 3 minute long, dabbling, unprofessional songs or inappropriate remarks through the speakers that are usually way too loud, as I've heard way too many of them while waiting in lines for rides at CF parks. But I do stand by my "silence is golden" statement. Seriously, usually theme parks are already loud as it is, it doesn't kill anyone if the station is quiet for a couple minutes! In fact, its actually nice sometimes!

[fpsphil]

The ride operators using their mics to entertain the people in line is completely un called for, especially on Silver Bullet where the speakers are so loud. When the ride operators actually do something funny and start playing pranks on each other during a cycle, that is what I find entertaining, not useless banter out of the mic.

[Reality15]

Using the microphones for anything other than giving instructions or hyping the crowd in a professional manner is against Cedar Fair policy, especially something like that video. Back when I started they were very strict with the policy and wrote up people quite frequently for violations. Nowadays, however, it seems like the policy is very lax and rarely enforced.

 

Personally, whenever I'm I have a ride on whatever crew I'm in charge of that involves some kind of a spiel, I usually check people about once a week to make sure their spiels are appropriate and professional, simply because I've been on both sides of the video here. There's no reason stuff like this should be happening, and I highly doubt it's being condoned by management when it does happen.

[SharkTums]

To me this is another example of trying to take an idea that works REALLY well at Cedar Point, and implementing it across the board without proper training or examples.

 

The way Cedar Point uses the mic's with information about the ride, information about other rides, communication between employees, etc works GREAT. I've seen sooo much goofing off, talking about what they did last night, who hooked up with who, etc. on the mic's at Knotts that it's just pathetic and they should be removed.

[robbalvey]

To be fair though, I've ONLY heard this problem at Silver Bullet. The Ghostrider and Xcel crews, at least from what I remember, actually do speil information about the ride.

[Jew]

The Screamin Swing people are also pretty AWFUL on the mic.

[austinlee]

^^ This is what I have experienced too. The ride ops on many of the other rides do things like talk to the people in line, tell a couple jokes or ask the people to cheer if they are excited to ride. I find things like that to be fun, but when it is overdone like the shark song and other things I have heard, like when a ride op hummed the Super Mario Bros. music every time the ride was running it gets very annoying very fast. I have only seen things like this happen on Silver Bullet.

[cal1br3tto]

I really didn't need to be reminded of the Shark Song...that should be reserved for grade schoolers.

Even if that kind of thing were considered acceptable, it definitely sounded unprofessional in that video. I agree that hearing a random children's song would be annoying and pointless to most people--even some children (I never really cared for "camp songs").

[kidcoaster 2]

If you saw the whole video you will see everyone was having a good time, and there is nothing wrong with Ride Operators having fun once in a while because if people at work are happy than they tend to work harder and are friendlier.

 

And my biggest problem with some parks is that it feels like I am in a prison with orders being thrown around Non-stop, so seeing things like this helps make my visit more enjoyable.

[Jew]

^What video were you looking at where everyone was having fun? The guests were clearly not into it.

 

Being a theme park employee is about doing your job properly AND having fun. I'm guess singing the shark song doesn't fall under the "doing your job properly" part of the equation.

Edited April 26, 2010 by Jew

[kidcoaster 2]

^What video were you looking at where everyone was having fun? The guests were clearly not into it.

 

 

Well yeah at first but as the crew was screwing it up people were starting to laugh. Especially the last park.

[robbalvey]

If you saw the whole video you will see everyone was having a good time, and there is nothing wrong with Ride Operators having fun once in a while because if people at work are happy than they tend to work harder and are friendlier.

 

And my biggest problem with some parks is that it feels like I am in a prison with orders being thrown around Non-stop, so seeing things like this helps make my visit more enjoyable.

Have you been to Knott's and experienced this first hand? No? Thought so.

[SharkTums]

kidcoaster2, I see your point about not being boring and locked into position and what you can say, but there is the right and wrong way of doing so. In regards to using the microphones, The Silver Bullet crew is doing it wrong, the Cedar Point crews do it right.

[fatdaddy]

Yeah, the crowd looks annoyed, and quite frankly when the ops are playing around trying to be cooler than the room, it makes me start to wonder if they are paying attention to safety. I don't want to suffer because they were having "fun". Bottom line is that its a job and requires some responsibility and attention to detail. I'm sure they didn't pull them aside and say "ok when things get slow do this shark song".

[Jew]

^What video were you looking at where everyone was having fun? The guests were clearly not into it.

 

 

Well yeah at first but as the crew was screwing it up people were starting to laugh. Especially the last park.

 

Uhm...They were laughing at their friend being singled out by the ride op over the mic for looking like the dude from Twilight. Also great guest service.

 

Oh, and the girl who was "having fun" singing the shark song can also clearly be seen leaning and looking bored as her co-worker is singling that guest out. Way to go Knott's!

[kidcoaster 2]

No, but I have experienced it at other parks (Exact same thing) and yes some are annoying and some are not. But it is pretty entertaining to see the Ops making fools of themselves and definatly helps pass the time.

Edited April 26, 2010 by kidcoaster 2

[robbalvey]

If you saw the whole video you will see everyone was having a good time, and there is nothing wrong with Ride Operators having fun once in a while because if people at work are happy than they tend to work harder and are friendlier.

 

And my biggest problem with some parks is that it feels like I am in a prison with orders being thrown around Non-stop, so seeing things like this helps make my visit more enjoyable.

Have you been to Knott's and experienced this first hand? No? Thought so.

 

No, but I have experienced it at other parks and yes some are annoying and some are not. But it is pretty entertaining to see the Ops making fools of themselves and definatly helps pass the time.

Ok, that's what I thought. I have respectfully ignored your comments on this subject then. I would recommend others to do the same, after all, this is the Knott's thread and if you haven't been to the park to experience this first hand, which is very different then what I've seen at any other park, I really see no reason to be commenting on something you don't have any experience with.

 

Thank you!

 

--Robb

Edited April 26, 2010 by robbalvey