2011 Point Perks

TheDevarious said:And people wonder why CP employees seem ticked & stressed constantly....Ugh they just don't get what we go through every day during the season...People seem to have some sense of entitlement when it comes to the way things HAVE to be with the park. We just do what we're told, hands down, that's it. It's not like we cause the ride to not open or whatever. We're just doing our job & doing it right because this is our source of income for the summer.

I just wanted to say a few things here. First, how much have you actually worked at the park? From what I can tell this is your first year and although you are very excited about working here, which is great, you can't really speak for those who have worked the rides before until you've worked them yourself. Yes, it is frustrating to hear people say that they don't think that we're doing a good enough job, when if I were to take them through what a full day at work is with us I think it would open their eyes as to how much we actually do. But you have to be able to understand where they are coming from and not bash them.

tcgolfer said:

TheDevarious said:And people wonder why CP employees seem ticked & stressed constantly....Ugh they just don't get what we go through every day during the season...People seem to have some sense of entitlement when it comes to the way things HAVE to be with the park. We just do what we're told, hands down, that's it. It's not like we cause the ride to not open or whatever. We're just doing our job & doing it right because this is our source of income for the summer.

I just wanted to say a few things here. First, how much have you actually worked at the park? From what I can tell this is your first year and although you are very excited about working here, which is great, you can't really speak for those who have worked the rides before until you've worked them yourself. Yes, it is frustrating to hear people say that they don't think that we're doing a good enough job, when if I were to take them through what a full day at work is with us I think it would open their eyes as to how much we actually do. But you have to be able to understand where they are coming from and not bash them.

I haven't worked there yet. I've had several friends who have worked there & whatnot. Plus I used to go to the park twice a week, if not more if I had time off of work. So I saw all of this. I've been in the QSR business for three years so it's pretty much practically the same experience. Low wages, heavy hours, tons of responsibilities, any setup or customer discrepancy means big problems, ect. In most situations I would just disregard most things as you really just have to, it's the whole point of being in the customers eye. You have to just put on the kind courteous show...But here, if people are complaining that a ride isn't open right at 9:00, even though they realize that things have to be done and prepared before even one person sets foot on the train, before the park even opens to the general public, and say it's a nuisance. If the ride isn't ready right at nine, it's not like it's a mile between rides, go find another ride that has early morning ERT. You have an extra hour ontop of a 10 hour day, sometimes more. That's just pathetic, and extremely annoying. Look at it this way. Would the guests rather ride it instead of letting us test it with the mannequins? Just saying...We do alot for our guests & make sure that they have a safe & enjoyable time in the park. If they can't understand that we have policies & procedures before our regular duties even start that's pretty pathetic.

You make a lot of good points. But you could have made those points the first time they way you did the second time instead of coming out and sounding like you're outraged that someone has the audacity to question us. You will learn pretty quickly how to talk to guests. Whether you realize it or not the people on this webiste that visit the park pay for us to be there so they have a right to question how well we are doing our jobs. Do we have to agree? No. To be honest we go through a lot more than most of them think we do. But we at least owe it to them and the rest of the guests that ask us questions to respond in a courteous manner and explain it in a way that they can understand. There is a reason why we have the Cedar Point Cornerstones.

Devarious, a word to the wise. Quoting the complete quote of the post directly above yours, especially when it's a lengthy one with its own nested quote, is not considered kosher here. All it does is create clutter.

In the above example, all you needed to do was begin typing your response straight out. People will get that you're addressing the post directly preceding yours.

Count me as one who feels the Platinum Pass is an excellent value in terms of getting me into parks and riding rides.

However, from a business perspective, I feel the provided Point Perks are a huge missed opportunity. What are they doing to get me to spend money while in the park?

Sure "people gotta eat," but they don't have to eat or drink at Cedar Point. If you think about it, the typical Platinum Pass holder is going to be an educated consumer that cares about value. I mean, if they didn't care about money, they'd be paying full gate price each visit, right?

So, chances are that these Platinum Pass customers are familiar with the area and its many nearby restaurants, hotels, bars, and stores. Again, they're deal-oriented by nature. So what happens? Do you think they're going to have a full-course breakfast, lunch, and dinner at ridiculously-inflated prices in the park when there are better quality options nearby with much better prices?

Then, the park recognizes this. The pass holders tend to be the worst in-park spenders, harming the company's average sales figures per guest. Well, don't look at the pass holders as the enemy! Try to fix the situation.

Think of what Point Perks could have been... How about half off all fountain beverages? My free ice waters would be replaced throughout the day with that profitable alternative. How about substantial savings on food across the board? I'd happily give Cedar Fair parks my business throughout the day if I felt I was getting a good value.

Point Perks could have been the perfect fix for a known problem, and the customers that didn't care about prices could have continued to pay them.

TheDevarious said:
I haven't worked there yet.

We do alot for our guests & make sure that they have a safe & enjoyable time in the park.

Hearing whining from park employees - especially one that hasn't even worked at the park yet - about how no one appreciates them simply makes me appreciate them less. If you dislike or are annoyed by elements of your job so much that you need to complain before even working a single day at that job, perhaps you should look into a new line of work.

The BEST perk of a platinum pass is at King's Dominion and Dorney Park where you can buy Beagle Bucks for 10% off. Every year before we head to Cedar Point I purchase about $500 worth, asaving of $50. I look at as almost 2 free meals in the park, and the Beagle Bucks are good at all the parks. I use my platinum pass about 30 times a year, I've already used it 4 times this season at 2 different parks. I plan on visiting 3 more parks this season.

djDaemon said:

TheDevarious said:
I haven't worked there yet.

We do alot for our guests & make sure that they have a safe & enjoyable time in the park.

Hearing whining from park employees - especially one that hasn't even worked at the park yet - about how no one appreciates them simply makes me appreciate them less. If you dislike or are annoyed by elements of your job so much that you need to complain before even working a single day at that job, perhaps you should look into a new line of work.

Thank you!

Believe me most of us enjoy our job and love working there so much that we don't let stuff like this get to us.

9 hour ride to RIDE!! said:
The BEST perk of a platinum pass is at King's Dominion and Dorney Park where you can buy Beagle Bucks for 10% off. Every year before we head to Cedar Point I purchase about $500 worth, asaving of $50. I look at as almost 2 free meals in the park, and the Beagle Bucks are good at all the parks. I use my platinum pass about 30 times a year, I've already used it 4 times this season at 2 different parks. I plan on visiting 3 more parks this season.

I'm going down to KD myself, and I didn't realize this. So the Beagle Bucks are good at any park including CP? Do they expire at the end of the season?

I believe so. I've seen previous season's bux on eBay. I guess people collect it like they do with real curency.

They expire at the end of the season and are good at all the American Parks, I've never been to Canada's Wonderland. Bit even though CP doesn't sell them, the honor them. I also found out from Sally in Food Services that you can use any refillable "vessel" from any Cedar Fair property at CP but other parks do not have to honor CP's. I called because KD is doing what 6 Flags has been doing for years, You have to buy THIS year's bottle. I called CP to complain but they said I could use it there, so I didn`'t care. And people collect the beagle bucks, I know it's crazy. They pay big bucks for old ones.

^I wish the one guy quoted me fully....Reminds me of Faux news

I haven't worked there yet. I've had several friends who have worked there & whatnot. Plus I used to go to the park twice a week, if not more if I had time off of work. So I saw all of this.

I love my job I love what I do, and it's moreover about having fun this summer & using the perks we get as employees tbh

This doesn't mean that I have to like the people that complain that ride doesn't open right @ 9:00, or whine that their platinum pass doesn't give them something that's good enough

Also as for finding another line of work. Sorry that I'm in DEP for the USAF and I have yet to be called by them to let me know the job I selected is open and I'll ship out in X amount of time for basic. So sorry that this isn't what I really intended to do right about this time this year....But I need an income and I was at CP two times a week or more before hand, I figured lets see if I can be there for the whole season....So sorry that I'm waiting for my true calling...

I'm just saying that you do an awful lot of complaining for someone who hasn't even put on the uniform yet.

TheDevarious said:

But here, if people are complaining that a ride isn't open right at 9:00, even though they realize that things have to be done and prepared before even one person sets foot on the train, before the park even opens to the general public, and say it's a nuisance. If the ride isn't ready right at nine, it's not like it's a mile between rides, go find another ride that has early morning ERT. You have an extra hour ontop of a 10 hour day, sometimes more. That's just pathetic, and extremely annoying.

I thnk you are missing the point. If the park advertises early morning ride time to platinum passholders and resort guests starting at 9:00am, then the ride MUST start accepting guests at 9:00am, anything less is a fail. If the ride is not ready at 9:00am, I can think of two things that may cause this. First, if management isn't scheduling the ride crew start time early enough to allow them to get the ride ready on time, management is at fault and needs to schedule an earlier crew start time. If the ride operators themselves are late getting to work and causing a late ride opening, management must be made aware of that and take suitable action.

If a resort guests spends a summer vacation at CP, paying $300 plus per night for the hotel room, and gets their butt out of bed early enough to be at Millenium Force or Maverick at 9:00am, they better be on the ride at 9:00am to recieve the advertised value of staying at CP Resorts. The exception is the occasional maintenance problem. But if guests are consistantly not allowed on the ride until 9:15 or 9:20 that is a violation of one of CP's cornerstones of integrity in supplying what is advertised. If some employees think what I'm saying is whining, so be it, but if I were the ride supervisor a late start time would be totally unacceptable.

Now here's the thing though. Even if we're there on time & working, ect. We have to do alot before the ride lets one person, even one of our own sit down & ride. Plus we can't really speed it up along the track. It's ganna take two minutes or so for the train to make it's run. That doesn't count putting in and taking out mannequins either, restraint checks every time, ect. Plus they have to clean everything & whatnot as well. Sorry it may not be open on time. If Millenium isn't you have Windseeker, Raptor, Maverick, & Iron Dragon. It's not like you have to go far for any of these. Besides, you have at least 11 hours in the park being a platinum passholder, I'm sure you'll be on Millennium more than once through the day. I just don't like seeing someone complain even though they have a great bargain for their money and almost every time it's out of a ride ops hands on whether it's ganna open early. It's not like we aren't doing our job xD...

Listen, I don't think anyone here who is complaining about the late start time is in any way, shape, or form, trying to blame the ride operators (from what I can tell). All they're saying is, if 9:15am is the earliest time, every time, that pass holders are able to ride, then either move the time up a bit or don't advertise it at all. Nobody is claiming that the ride ops aren't trying their best. But clearly, your best isn't living up to what management is promising. It's not your fault if you are giving it your all.

TheDevarious said:
Now here's the thing though. Even if we're there on time & working, ect. We have to do alot before the ride lets one person, even one of our own sit down & ride.

The solution is remarkably simple: start earlier. As Pete pointed out, none of the reasons you give are relevant to the family paying a premium price for an advertised value. The park needs to either meet their advertised obligations by whatever means necessary, or alter the product accordingly. You don't get to decide what is or is not "good enough" when it comes to what someone else is paying for.

You're preaching to the converted here. You're not likely to find another group of people who are more understanding of the amount of work it takes to get these rides ready each day, and how many hours the employees work. But again, none of that matters to the guests - they want what they paid for (ERT on MF, in this case), and that's completely reasonable.

And everything you listed, TheDevarious, goes back to starting early enough. It's very, very simple.

For example:

1) Let's say on the crew's worst day, it takes an hour to do everything you need to do. And I mean everything. 60 minutes to have the ride ready for a butt in the seat. And let's say on a "perfect day" it takes you 30 minutes.

2) You should be required to arrive at 7:45, which budgets in 15 extra minutes to be prepared, even on the "worst day.

There. Problem solved. Again, this is not an individual employee issue, it is a management issue. You are incorrect, however, in stating that a patron should "just get over it" and "move along".

Let me be brief:

It's simply unacceptable that it would be acceptable for an employee to believe that it is NOT unacceptable for every ride to be open when it says they will be open. EVERY employee, down to the sweeper, should have the attitude that anything less than perfection is unacceptable. If you don't have that attitude, you should find another park to work at.

Sorry DJ to echo you partially; we were apparently typing at the same time.

Well, we work by our schedule. To be honest if a crew decided amongst themselves to go in earlier & get it ready, they'd probably be yelled at or scolded, even for good intentions. I'm sure there is a reason that the schedule is set the way it is for Millie. Here's a post from another topic that just briefly goes over it:

Let's say for example you work an O-C (open to close shift) on a Saturday in May.That's a twelve hour shift (10am-10pm).
Assuming you aren't on a ride with early entry,you'll get to your ride at 9:30am.
You'll do opening duties like cleaning your ride platform,sweeping ques,de-cobwebbing,and getting ice and water for your ride's water jug.
After that you'll take positions and run whatever safety checks your ride has (light curtain,ride stop,gate checks,open restraints,etc;),then you test ride!

Millie has alot to do. Alright it may not open on time every day but there are days it does open on time as confirmed earlier, it it was consistent every day there would be a problem, but it clearly isn't every day at 9:15-30.

As for my beliefs, no I understand completely why a ride can't open on time. Yet again, there are so many other rides to choose from for early morning ERT. If you can't walk over to another ride & ride it while they finish up within that hour before the park opens, that's sad. Plus it's not like you haven't ridden Millie before. You know the drill, you know the ride. Just because you didn't get to experience a great ride right at 9:00, whatever. There were a few times that me & my friend saw this too, but you know, we just said whatever & went over to Maverick or something else, or just decided to wait in the queue before riders swarmed at it around 10:00. Here's the thing I think that seperates me from most of you. I'm not a huge coaster enthusiast that has a sense of entitlement. I'm lenient with stuff because I'm understanding. I would love to see it open tbh at 8:55 ready to go, but I can understand why it's not, and I deal with it. Like I said, you have 11 hours a day to do it, that's quite alot of time to get in on Millie. Even if the ride opens at 9:30 you can probably get one ride in, then get in the short queue right before it opens at 10 or right around it. I waited 15 for maverick, got in the queue right when the anthem played, and had another go at it. because that was usually our game plan. Last point with my attitude, read why I'm here in the first place for clarification. Besides mate, this is just a job, and only a job, and a summer job at best. It's an exciting one, but it's still a job. Noone cares to that level of perfection, especially outside of their boundary, and for the money we're paid at. Sweeps for instance, lmao. They might not even be in the same area as the ride, it's not even close to their dept. I'm sure they don't even care if the ride is open on time or not, it has no affect on them. Just look at it my way, who cares, omg the ride didn't open right on time, even though the line is probably not huge at all, and it usually never is, and the ride is 2 min long, and I can get right back in line again. Even though you've probably ridden this over 20 times (using a light amount), and I'm paying for a cheap pass & I'm probably ganna go here more than the 4 times for the pass to pay for itself lols...It's not that big of a deal to begin with, if you have a problem, then go complain to park ops, ect. But oh wait, that's ganna waste a bit of your precious 1 hour ERT, oh noes! Lol, just relax & calm down...it's just a bit of a wait, that's all.

TheDevarious said:
If you can't walk over to another ride & ride it while they finish up within that hour before the park opens, that's sad.

And you're planning on working at the park? I can already tell you're going to be great with guests.

Plus it's not like you haven't ridden Millie before. You know the drill, you know the ride. Just because you didn't get to experience a great ride right at 9:00, whatever.

What about the family that visits every few years, and pays top-dollar to stay at the resorts, specifically so they can have ERT on the park's most sought-after attractions? You're solution is to tell them "too bad, so sad"? You sound like an absolutely horrible employee.

...this is just a job, and only a job, and a summer job at best.

Noone cares to that level of perfection...

...and for the money we're paid at.

Seriously? You're going to have an amazing, lifelong career at various fast food establishments with that sort of attitude. If you're lucky.