A very scary thing at Cedar Point!

I was at Cedar Point on Saturday, August 18, and what I saw was a very horrific sight.  I was standing on the station platform of the Gemini and a father and his son boarded the red train of the Gemini.  The little boy was scared to death, I mean in tears, crying.  The father saying to the boy that the ride is going to o.k. and that he would be o.k., this kid wouldn't have any of that.  The Gemini ride ops, announced over the microphone, "Sir Sir, Please Do Not Force A Child To Ride", that is how scared this little kid was.  His father finally got the kid to calm down again and as soon as his lap bar locked down, the child went into this big terror again, crying and screaming.  I mean this little kid was petrified of this ride and the father was trying to make him ride.  Finally the father gave up and the ride ops released the lap bar and let the little kid and his father out of his seat. 

The terror that his father put his child in was 100% wrong.  If somehow the train would have left the station with that father and child aboard, something terrible would have happened, either the child would have gotten hurt trying to get out of the train or someone else.  If a little one is that scared to go on, then fine, maybe next year, just walk on through the train to the exit.  There was no way that little kid was going to like riding the Gemini, no way, no how.  He was begging the ride ops to let him out of the train, grabbing at them. 

Last year my little nephew and I were in line for the Iron Dragon, he was 6 years old at the time and just made the 46" height requirement.  After waiting in line the train came up, we boarded, he sat down and got right back up and out and down the exit we went.  I said fine, if you are not ready for this ride then that is O.K., there will always be next year.  I then asked him what he wanted to ride instead, he said the Matterhorn, and off we went. 

This year, we had a hard time getting him off of the Gemini!  Go figure.  My nephew last year wasn't ready for the ride, mentally, just like the little child sitting in the Gemini train terrified to death, sometimes they are just not ready.  That is O.K., there is always next year. 

Now I understand that almost everyone needs a little coaxing getting on a rollercoaster for the first time, even me.  What that man did to that child was pure horrific and the father should go to obedience school.

There is a moral to this story, if the kids are ready, they are ready, if not then they are not, so what!  So what if a child thinks he is the king conquering Jr Gemini or Woodstock Express.  Soon that little one will be wanting something more daring, all you have to do is give them time.

By the way, I felt so bad for the little boy, my heart went to him, he wants to do what his father wants him to do, but is completely terrified, he was willing to do the scariest thing to himself just to please his father.  That little boy should be pitied!  On one hand I almost shed a tear for the little boy and wanted to take a big swing at the father, of course the latter of the two is wrong!

That's just plain wrong.

Everyone has a different feeling about coasters. My 10 year old brother wouldn't get near a ride over 20 feet, but my 5 year old sister rode every coaster she was tall enough to ride!

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A lap bar is all you need!

Unfortunatally working in Camp Snoopy we had our share of parents that were forcing the kids into Woodstock, a scary thing for a little kid :)  But the ultimate choice was up to the child and NOT the adult.  If a child was crying in the seat we would walk up to the child and ask them if they wanted to ride.  If they said no then we had to let them out, no matter what the parents said.  This was a great system because the parents couldn't force them on.  Some kids were in tears and still wanted to ride, figure that one out :)  Overall though parents got mad at us if the child wanted off because we had to listen to the child and not their parent.

Shoewee/Goldberg

http://shoewee.tripod.com

Someone should smack some sense into that little brat...juuuuust kidding. :)

I forced a 12 year old on Magnum and MF. He ended up not liking Magnum, but he liked MF.

I doubt that the ops would have let the kid out at Six Flags Worlds of Attrocities...

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MF count: 20

I saw the same thing happen on the Mine Ride once. There was an upset child and two parents making her ride. The Ops did what they should and told the parents that nobody can force anyone to ride anything and the kid got off. A very good policy.

Last Wednesday while  I was waiting for Woodstock Express, a very scared child started to cry and scream. The ride op came by to let him out, then next thing there's 2 more kids that start crying. The ride ops kindly let them out of the train.

I think it's nice when the operators do this. I give even more credit to the generosity of the ride operators.

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-Eric
www.TheAmazementPark.com
"Would you like some mist?!"

Is it park policy throughout the park to leave the decision of whether or not to ride up to the rider themselves, no matter what the age?  If not it should be.  I can understand giving someone a push to ride, but I don't understand parents forcing kids on rides.  I would not ride any looping coaster until a friend forced me on (I was 13 at the time).  If I were a ride op and presented this situation, I would probably tell the kid that many, many kids their age ride this ride and enjoy it very much and then ask if they would like me to let them out. 

I think age is a big factor here, also.  I went to the Point for Honda day a couple years ago with my cousin, and his 9 year old son did not want to ride any of the coasters.  My cousin hadn't gotten to ride all day.  We went to ride DT, at which my little cousin did NOT want to ride.  He knew his dad would be upset if he didn't ride, as did I.  He also knew that I had ridden the thing a lot more than anyone else with us.  I told him he could ride in the seat with me, I'd hold his hand during the ride, and if he didn't like the ride once we got off, I would stay on the ground with him while his dad and the rest of the family rode everything else.  He agreed, and he was scared to death getting into the train, but he was willing to try.  I realize we kind-of forced him on, but he more than met the height requirement, and he was old enough to realize that we thought he would like it.  When we got off, he wanted to keep riding over and over.  The rest of us wanted to ride other rides, which upset him.  We walked over past Wildcat, and everyone but him wanted to ride.  I gave him the same deal, to which he half-heartedly agreed.  After getting off, he was ready to ride again.  Now, this all happened near the end of the day, and we weren't able to ride anything else, but by reassuring him I was able to convince him to ride, and he has never looked back... :)
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UCSigEp

Isn't Disney World a people trap run by a mouse?

MF 2K1: 4
MF life: 12

Heres another...."I can't understand why you want to ride Raptor and not Corkscrew! What is up with that? LOOK AT ME! I don't wanna ride corkscrew, but I'll ride Raptor! Raptor is twice the size of Corkscrew and goes upside down more! Why me?!"

---note: this is a true conversation overheard this year at CP, by me, I felt really sorry for the kid, kids like some rides, but maybe not others....-----

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2001: Sweep Zone 5
2002: Sweep Zone ?

2002..2 coasters..one park..
just a dumb rumor..

When I was 6, and just over the 48" stick,  I would go on everything but Mine Ride...go figure. Granted, Raptor, MF, Mantis and PT wern't there yet, but i did need someone to trick me into getting on Magnum. I was told we were in-line for Gemini, i was a dumb kid. I didn't realize otherwise until we had just left the station. I was more worried about getting that belt buckled and lap bar down than I was about what coaster we were on...I cried all the way up the lift, but after I was glad that I was tricked.
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DT80: 30 and proud of it!
Proud member of the O.C.

I myself was terrified of coasters totally until i was quite old-ish (17-18 i think) then i was convinced by my brother to ride an old 1932 wooden coaster which i liked , but was still terrified of anything "that goes upside-down".Until again i was once tempted to go on a Swartzkoff Looping Star, And boy did my brother have a job getting me off that after my first ride. From there on in i rode more and more coasters, Bigger and better and got so hooked i think i am making up for lost time when young and unsure. I now belong to 3 roller coaster clubs, go coaster riding 1-2 a month and just live for adrenaline and coasters.

So much so, only 8 days now till i fly over to see ya all at CP. My first ever trip to USA and cant wait to be hooked into some more coasters.

Only 8 days and 4500 miles to wait....lol :-)

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**NEMESIS** UK'S No.1 Coaster..B+M Masterpiece.

Heh heh... Lee said "ya all".

He must be from the Southern UK! ;)

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Duane Cahill
Coasterbuzz Track Record - 58
CP Track Record - 13 (too tall for Jr. Gemini)

I saw something similar to the Gemini incident a few years ago. It was a little girl and her mother on Magnum. The girl was so scared, crying and screaming. I was next in that same seat and could hear her mother (if it was her mother) telling her we are going home if you don't ride. Good thing the Magnum crew got her off and let her wait on the platform until her mean mother got back.

Working on Magnum this year, we saw our share of these situations.  The way I handled it usually was ask the child directly if they wanted to ride.  A "yes" nod meant they went, a "no" nod meant they were let off.  Many times the parents got upset, but we they just had to deal with it.  One time, a parent was standing on the unload side of the platform cursing out one of our workers for letting their child off.  Not exactly a great example for your child if you ask me.

Something to keep in mind is that on rides that have to be dispatched within a certain amount of time to avoid a setup, there is not a lot of time in these situations.  If the child says they want off, we usually just let them off regardless of what the parent says.  There really isn't time for a discussion.  In a few cases, it led to chaos, but its better that way then having a child squirm his way out of the train on the way up the lift. 

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-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew