Childrens rides -

Hello CP employess - specifically those who work on children's rides. I searched and didn't see a thread and was just curious...

I haven't seen this as CP; yet I really haven't spent much time in Camp Snoopy or on the main midway childrens rides in a few years- however at PKI this past weekend I noticed MANY parents who just decide that their child is done with a particular ride and just...walk in and take them out. If I were the ride operator I'd knock them out. Safety issue - one parent almost got run over by a jimmy neutron car. Crazy.

Has this or does this happen at CP?

I assume that they did this while the ride was running? Well the only way to do that at the point is if they jump the fence, I beileve that there are magnetic locks on the exit gates. Im not sure if they did this for the kid rides or not, but they just put these in on the other rides. But the gates are locked and no one can get in before it stops. Other then that I have never ever seen anyone do that at cp.

Speaking as a father who takes his kid to a lot of parks (she's 4 1/2 and she has 24 coaster credits already):

Amusement parks are kind of crap-shoot when it comes to kids' rides and the level of service and safety the ride ops provide. Some places -- and I rank CP among them -- do an excellent job of taking care of their littlest guest, helping them in and out of rides as necessary, locking and unlocking seat belts, etc. Other parks, the ride ops will unlock the seat belts and let the kids manage on their own, even when they clearly have difficulty clambering out of those high seats. This is where the 'rushing parent' syndrome comes in. In order to avoid a significant fall and a ruined day (or worse), mom and dad jump through the exit gate as soon as the ride is stopped to make sure Junior gets out okay. Since you never know where the ride op is going to start with these rounds, nervous parents will often try to get in when the ride is still slowing down, but not fully stopped.

Where it gets especially scary is at some of the oldest, tiny parks that don't even provide seat belts for kids. As soon as the ride starts to slow, the older and more adventurous kids will start to get out of their seats, which automatically compels their younger peers to try the same -- even if it's beyond their capabilities to attempt it. So mom and dad now have to anticipate when they think the ride is going to start slowing, and beat the kid to the punch. This puts them in the operational zone of a moving ride, which even on a children's ride can be unexpectedly perilous. That's when injuries occur. They're pretty rare, but they do happen.

All that being said, I want to reiterate that CP ranks among the best for their attention to kids' safety. I've never had an issue with a ride op. I do sometimes enter the ride after it's completely stopped and the ride op is letting kids out. Lots of other parents do this, and it's a gently tolerated behavior. CP knows that the cognitive and gross motor skills of its tiny guests run the gamut, and that mom and dad know their kids best.

A lot of children's rides at CP do not have magnetic locking entry/exit gates, so it is certainly possible to do what olesko2 is talking about. But I have not seen it actually take place at the Point.

Whew. That turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would.

Thank you Mike :) Like I said - I haven't really seen this at CP - but I have noticed that other park operators aren't very attentive (in general)

You're welcome! :) I know what you mean. Some parks seem to think that just because it's a kids' ride they can be lax with their safety standards. Of course, the parks that do that are usually pretty lax with their standards in general.