Best Amusement Park?

Cartwright said:

jimmyburke said:

Just speculation, but I imagine these decisions are mapped out in a manual that is strictly adhered to by Park Operations.

If it was consistent throughout the entire Cedar Fair chain I'd actually understand the Cedar Point policy. But the fact that it's exclusive to CP is just... strange.

The Operation Manual is likely unique to each park since they are indeed unique in many ways including geographically, climate, local & state requirements, etc.....It is likely a manual that can be revised on a regular basis. Many here have some good revision suggestions.

The current park operations division is a joke and has been since about 2014. Some of the rides managers need reconsidered (some of them Tony Clark has mentioned in some of his videos or social media). Not to mention, the current higher ups seem very out of touch with the happenings at CP these last few years. Lastly, my strong opinion that ever since E. Lapp left maintenance, rides seem to be down a lot more. Not saying there is a correlation, but it makes me question competence or experience in that department.

djDaemon said:

Winds on Friday were between 5-9 MPH in Mason, and between 13-24 MPH in Sandusky, so not a remotely reasonable comparison.

Wasn't it opening day where the weather was downright awful throughout the first 10 hours of the day, and the park still went through the trouble of opening several coasters in, quite literally, the eleventh hour? That, to me, indicates the park is making a concerted effort to keep rides open as much as possible.

I'm not sure why the discrepancy, but 5-9 mph is barely noticeable to a person on the ground and what I experienced that day at KI was noticeable winds. It was hot. Felt like being in a hairdryer at times. This site seems to indicate I am not crazy. Steady wind in the mid teens up to 21 a couple hours in the afternoon with gusts as high as 33. Probably pretty similar to speed/gusts at CP.

I've seen CP go to great lengths to satisfy guests in the past - things like walking them to alternate rides if one goes down at the end of the night, etc so I'm not saying everyone there is evil and is trying as hard as possible to screw guests over, but their weather policies at present time and for the past several years really suck. They're out of whack with the rest of the chain, the rest of the industry, and even Cedar Point itself on a different day. I'll defend the park as much as anyone if I think it's warranted. But I'll also call them out if I think they're screwing up. My concern is that their season pass mix is so high at this point and they know the average person comes 4-5 times so they literally have no financial incentive to make every day a Best Day Experience. I think it's short sighted and will cost them eventually, but what do I know? I was probably the one sending the trains with a handful of people in the rain with a 25 mph wind on Magnum. Turn off the trims. It'll bake it back. :-P

MDOmnis said:

This site seems to indicate I am not crazy. Steady wind in the mid teens up to 21 a couple hours in the afternoon with gusts as high as 33. Probably pretty similar to speed/gusts at CP.

That site is broken. If you start with Mason or Kings Mills, it shows you the current weather for that location. But once you go to the history, it bounces you to the weather history for Cincinnati, 40 miles away.

In any case, I agree that their operations are pretty bad, especially when it comes to weather. But this isn't exactly a new thing, it's been happening for a while now. And regular PB visitors should be aware enough of the issue that if the weather is bad, it's a fool's errand to spend all day waiting in lines for rides that we know are unlikely to open.

Of course, an unfamiliar guest wouldn't know this, nor should they have to, and I agree that in the long run it may catch up with the park. Anecdotally, many people I talk to already have a negative view of the park, based on their having spent hours waiting in lines, and these are folks who visited the park several years back, when operations were much better.

Took me forever to remember which thread we were talking about the weather.

Here is a positive note.

Yesterday at the park turned out to be an incredible day to be there. Beautiful weather and light crowds (Steel Vengeance had about a 30-35 minute wait all day). Until about 4:00. The skies looked really ominous, and the rain started. We were hunkered down in the Last Chance Saloon and I was expecting the end of the day.

But something magical happened. Nothing shut down. Even Maverick kept going (aside from a brief 5-10 delay). Steel Vengeance, Millennium, Skyhawk...no operations ceased.

The only ride I noticed not going was Gemini as we headed up the midway (and I honestly never looked at Magnum).

So while their wind policy might need some tweaking, things were goin' in the rain. At least they were yesterday. You can't see the light-steady rain (it was coming down harder when we were back in Frontier Town) too well at all in the pic, but Valravn was also going. Pics or it didn't happen.

I hope Cedar Point management is starting to see that how they treated employees in the past was not effective for employee retention. How much they need to advertise on social media to fill positions for certain departments just for the regular season is almost comical.

That is really good to hear regarding rides going in the rain. Gemini has been "no rain at all" longer than the current rain policy I believe, since it requires such a hard stop with little wiggle room with the old school Arrow fin brakes. I'm willing to forgive that one, especially if it means the others keep going now.