3rd weekend as a Raptor Crew Member

Not going to go into long and boring details here!
High Points this weekend:
Meeting 3 more GTTP members!! (its so cool they knew who I was!!!)
Seeing Dave again
Seeing Tyler again
Seeing Dan again
Seeing some '99 Raptor crew members
(who all remember me!)
The blackout Saturday night
A.M. test rides
Finally buying the nylon pants (WARM!!)
Walking lift hill (I have a pic to prove this!)
My roommate still MIA-dorm room all to myself!

Low Points:
Again the long haul there and home
The 15 hour day Saturday
Waiting 6 hours til my 1st break Saturday
Black and blue thumbs from trying to squeeze larger people into the seats for them not to
fit anyway
Still missin someone REAL bad
Puke clean up Sunday night (UGH)
People who think hygiene (oral and otherwise)
is an option
All the rain
Sore shins from guests swinging their legs while checking their seat belts
35 hours work in 3 days

Working at CP has made me appreciate my "real" job a whole lot more!!

CU@CP
Jo
2000 Raptor Crew
(until she comes to her senses or til contract expires-which ever comes first!!)






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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight?? *** This post was edited by LuvRaptor on 9/25/2000. ***

Perhaps instead of saying that large guests have NO right to be in those seats.. we should take a look at making our rides more accessible to everyone. When I worked on the coasters I always felt bad for the guests who tried to ride, but couldn't. I remember guests wanting to ride so badly that they would do anything to get into those seats. Having to tell someone "No" made me so upset that I would do ANYTHING to get them into the seat! Instead of thinking they have no right to try.. why not think about how they must feel wanting to ride and having so much trouble ( Or not being able to ride at all).. or how they would feel if they read that post

The rides are set to accomadate what is considered to be just a little larger than average people.

Being 6'5".. I have a problem on Corkscrew and Iron Dragon and sometimes Raptor annoys my shoulders, but not often..

Two words people... TEST SEAT

Learn it.. use it.. love it..

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Looking for me?? Take a guess where you'll find me...

At the old Geauga Lake, they used to have maximum dimensions on some rides -- like you have to be at least x" to ride, but no more than y" -- otherwise you would be too tall. Might be a help sometimes.

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***************
Disaster Transport '97 Crew
Iron Dragon '98 Crew

I got to see two "heavy wieght" guys (17-19age wise) get kicked out of Mine Ride cuz they couldnt get the lapbar down on them. They wernt mad, infact, they were laughing, they were all "Fat people rule!" I thought it was funny.

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Magnum-Just Ride It!!!

When I am working entrance I will ask people if they would please try the test seat-it is NOT to be cruel to them-it is to avoid them waiting for NOTHING. The problem w/this test seat is the people will try it-assume since the harness comes down they fit,when we all know the capability of the seatbelt fastening is the issue. On more than 1 occasion Ive had people tell me they have ridden Raptor before at the entrance-by the time they rode I was on the platform and they did NOT fit.
The test seat is there to keep someone from being embarrased or again waiting for nothing.
If you look at the harnesses you can see they are getting ruined by fastening the seat belts too tightly, caused by said issue. The main thing to me is when we take the extra time it takes to TRY to get someone to fit into these seats and despite all our shoving and pushing they still do not fit-
1- it delays the train departure
2- causes the trains to stack
3- delaying the passengers in the following 2 trains
4- makes people on the platform bitty
5- ruins the intervals

I make it an issue to have people try that test seat (as I was told CP didnt spend the extra $$ on that seat for NOTHING) when I am at entrance.
This is a job requirement that is expected of me.
Period.
I also do not hesitate to ask the assistance of a male crew member if I think they can do the belt.
Again I wasnt being cruel---
but I could definitely do without the black and blue thumbs.






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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight??

I just have to say thanks to the 2000 Raptor crew who helped me with the 2 bloody inches I needed to get my belt in place. In fact, I think it may have been less than 2 inches. Regardless, I was a little bit embarassed by it though it didn't take much effort by the op who had much better leverage than I to get it to snap in place. I am bound and determined to *not* need that extra assistance next year. :-)

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-JJ

When I took my brother on his first visit to Cedar Point, the first thing we rode on was Raptor, like I always do. Anyway, when he sat in the seat, he couldn't fit the seatbelt in but on of the ride ops managed to squeeze it in. He really loved the coaster and said he likes it better than Millennium Force after riding it. Wanting to ride Raptor again, we got in line, waited about 45 mintues and when he waited in the seat for assistance, they couldn't get the seatbelt in and he couldn't ride. We went back together again on the last friday of Millennium Mania and decided to try the back seats because sometimes the seatbelts are longer in the back but he had no luck. Being discouraged he says he hates Raptor and all B & M coasters. Well that was until we went to Six Flags Ohio on the next Saturday where we got on Batman Knight Flight, a floorless by B & M. He couldn't fit into the normal seat, but one of the ride ops made him switch seats to a spot where they had 2 seat belts that we longer attach to the OTSR. They have this on 2 spots on each train. Now why can't Raptor have this done? It would save a lot of hassle from the ride ops and trains wouldn't stack because larger people could go into that seat and be able to fit. The OTSR locked everytime my brother was in it, it was just the seatbelt that was too short. I really think Cedar Point should have the 2 seatbelt design on at least 2 seats in each train like Batman Knight Flight has, that way my brother can enjoy Raptor again.

Cedar Point does not want to spend the money for this. It is not very much but they are cheap. I have seen these seats at a lot of parks and it is a good idea since management does not permit more than 1 person pushing on the harness. I always tried my hardest to get them in to Raptor and if I could not, I would get someone else. The test seat was kinda usless at the begining of the year because the harnesses on the train were brand new but they did not replace the test seat harness. This made things difficult cuz the test seat harness had been broke in when the new harnesses where pretty hard. So even if the seat fit at entrance it sometimes did not on the train. Toward the end of the season I noticed that harnesses 83 and 84 on one particular train were a lot softer than most. Check it out and try getting a person in that seat and you will notice it is a lot easier. Have fun. Tell the crew I said hi!!!

Unfortunately, just the newer B & M's have the special seats. If you go to IOA, Hulk and Dueling Dragons have the special seats :)

It still would be easy to change some seats for the 2 seat belt design, It wouldn't cost that much either, at least I don't think so. They could change it, I mean afterall, B&M had to recall their stand-up trains and add a seat belt to it, like they did with Mantis. *** This post was edited by Cornbread on 9/28/2000. ***

Why did they have to recall them?