2007 New Employees

It's nice to see everyone all excited again! Congrats to everyone who got hired so far. Has anyone else been contracted for MF yet?

I jost found out that I have Raptor for 07, one of my favorites.

Raptor is my FAVORITE ride to work!

And, you already have the start of a great crew!

Just be ready for early mornings, long hours, quick intervals and guests who can't put their loose articles in the bins!

My advice for Raptor: be ready to spiel. No one likes to spiel for longer than their rotation so it is optimal if you are ready to begin spieling on your first day. Work platform for a few days until you feel comfortable, and then take your visuals within a week or so. There's really no reason to wait longer than that. Also: Check every kid that walks through entrance. There's nothing worse than a short kid getting through the entrance and then having to kick them out when they get to the platform. Move quickly but carefully, and don't get so caught up in the quick pace that you give a false clear or leave a seatbelt undone. Also, and most importantly... LOOK before you press any button! On the dispatch panel, gates open/close, and dispatch are pretty close to lift stop... so don't hit the wrong one!

Oh, and have FUN! It'll be a blast.
*** Edited 1/25/2007 6:06:03 PM UTC by twisted sister***

Hey I got Raptor too. It's going to be a great Summer!

Well then, in that case - Welcome to Raptor!

Im Michael, I'll be your ATL.

what is involved when taking your visuals

Well, the visual test is mostly emphatic on blocks, and standard rules for operating the ride. Blocks - not sure of your fully aware of how they function - is simply based on one principle: No two trains can occupy one block(or section of track) at once.

Its mostly composed of given senerios for the rides blocks, what to do in a specific situation with guests and various rules for the ride. The rules though are things that are covered in the training as a load/unload host. So its somewhat a recap of the attendant position plus some new things you need to know as an operator. You will first learn each attendant position to understand whats happening on the platform - which is important for the operator to understand. From there once you have worked and fully understand whats happening in each position, you will be trained to operate the controls for the ride. Its like statics & dynamics - youve got to learn to get the train loaded and settled before you can make it move.

When you take your visuals - take your time. Quite honestly its nothing uber complex, more common sense. Just pay close attention to each question.

Once you arrive, you'll learn alot. And if coasters are your thing...its going to be a blast!

So far the crew is shaping out pretty well, Im extremely excited to see all the new faces on Raptor.
*** Edited 1/25/2007 8:58:38 PM UTC by FreezeCoaster***

I know about coasters and blocks and the way everything works, Im acctually majoring in civil engineering so Im pretty sure Ill be ok. Thanks for the info.

Ah awesome. Something we already have in common! Im majoring in Mechanical & Aerospace engineering.

If you know your stuff, your good. B&Ms are pretty easy for the most part.

Hey everyone, I'm on the Raptor crew! I can't wait. Who's our team leader? *** Edited 1/26/2007 12:04:25 AM UTC by skifan23***

Hey there, Our Team Leader this season is Dave Hale. He has alot of experience under his belt at CP - so he knows his stuff and hes a pretty good guy.

If you want(and havent done so yet) you can add yourself to the assigments page. Its listed for everyride in the park:

http://www.cpstaff.kg631.com/assignments.php

Dave is on that fourm as well as I. If you have any questions feel free to IM either one of us at any time.

Welcome, to the crew!

Thanks Mike!

I filled out the form on that site to be added. I can't wait for this summer but unfortunately I'm a senior in high school and I have a late graduation so I won't be starting until June 27th. I look forward to meeting you and hopefully talking via AIM before this summer.

Can't wait, my time has finally come to work at CP.

Oh definantly on AIM. I was in your shoes last season. I graduated May 26th, and was able to process in May 31st, and the anticipation was a killer! Especially from January to May...sooo slow, lol. And your's isnt until June, wow. But It'll be here before you know it! Your going to Love Raptor and Cedar Point. If Roller coasters are your thing - you're set and will learn some really cool new stuff.

Congrats on getting Raptor, Im looking forward to working with you this season!
*** Edited 1/26/2007 1:39:45 AM UTC by FreezeCoaster***

Definately. I can't wait, I just hope they don't move me when I get there (...fingers crossed...)

you should have seen the look on my face when I found out I was going to be on Raptor :) . It's going to be awesome, and we WILL hit interval everytime.

Congrats to everyone....I am still waiting patiently

skifan23 said:

we WILL hit interval everytime.

Thats very hard to do a lot of the time. You have so many variables to deal with that are outside your control....good luck with that

Though it's a better attitude than "Why does it matter anyway?" lol. But yeah... sometimes you'll have a difficult guest and you will spend MORE than interval just dealing with that ONE person haha... guests...

wickeddragster88 said:

skifan23 said:

we WILL hit interval everytime.

Thats very hard to do a lot of the time. You have so many variables to deal with that are outside your control....good luck with that

I should have added a ;) after that.

Thats like me saying that we will go one day without setting up on Iron Dragon lol.

hah, nice Nick!

Interval isnt totally impossible. Its important, but it doesnt happen every cycle of course. Its feasible for any ride to hit interval - its just a matter of having a crew thats enthused enough to push it and stay on top of thier position. A problem I saw in a lot of crews was that everyone was always tired and lagged - especially in the morning, which I mean come-on your tired, but who isnt? Although the crew is of course waiting on the guests. An empty train can be closed up in about 15 seconds. But when it comes to the intertwine of loading/unloading guests - it gets hecktic as hell since everyone wants to put thier stuff and get thier stuff out of the bins at once. When your working unload 2, its a small factor, but important that the bin corresponding to the train number is the only one open. Otherwise you get guests throwing thier crap in the closest bin to their seat which causes a panic & chaos for the next guest who has to dig for what ever item they left - assuming its been stolen.

What would be productive against that is an electromagnet operated by a switch on the side of the box such that only one bin could open at a time. Its always cheaper to just use words by instructing guests - but its not always as effective as one thinks!

Once you warm up though and get in motion, its easy to push interval on Raptor. Just a matter of staying on top of those guests and your position. Ive seen interval happen numerous times. Its never impossible. So if you like multi-tasking, you'll Love Raptor:)!

*** Edited 1/26/2007 6:58:48 PM UTC by FreezeCoaster***