Cpt. Bridget from Paddlewheel Excursions- BRAVO & KUDOS!!

I was at Cedar Point this past Sunday (May 24th) and of course....witnessed an idiotic guest and his family. **GASP!!**.

My friend and I entered "Paddlewheel Excursions", hosted by Captain Bridget who was warm, welcoming and made the years old spiel funny yet again with her unique spin.

Meanwhile, a young family with two kids were being rude and unruly to say the least. The children (kindergarten/1st grade age?) were "STANDING" up and walking back and forth while no one in the family paid attention to the ride. They were asked to sit down and to be careful. Of course they ignored the warning.

As Cpt. Bridget pulled into dock- she warned of the big bump. Naturally, the boat bumped the dock which shocked the young boy who began to scream. The Dad then started in with, "Are you F*&^%'in kiddin' me? You did that on purpose!!". She apologized profusely as the Dad told her "Shut your mouth and just let us off the F*&%$'in boat".

Everyone on the boat had steam coming out of their ears. My friend leaned back and said "Hey buddy...ease off!". Cpt. Bridget continued to apologize as her co worker on land witnessed the situation and told the Father and children to sit down for safety reasons. The family refused and he approached her and literally got "nose to nose" with her and screamed. The co worker stepped in and tried to help. Nothing would help.

I MUST applaud Bridget for being completely empathetic and professional throughout the entire situation. She remained calm, she smiled and gently explained to him the standard safety procedures, while assuring him that she would document the situation for him if he wanted to. She is the true model of an ideal employee and she deserves a LOT of credit for dealing with this!!

I e-mailed Park Operations yesterday to also notify them of her excellent behavior in dealing with this idiot.

I saw alot of families like that over Memorial Day Weekend. I don't get why it is so hard to listen & follow the rules. I think that kid deserved to be bumped. If i were in cptn. Bridgets position, i would have started yelling at the family & keep buming the boat! ;)

She should have stopped the boat and asked them to exit to the left.

Sadly, most employees will deal with guests like that rather the nice ones you hope for.

She probably got yelled at by her supervisor for hitting the boat into the dock too hard.

I feel bad for Bridget but it sounds like she handled it really well. I hope she was able to laugh about it with her co-workers later on. Unfortunately, it seemed like there was an abnormally large number of guests behaving similarly to this idiot over the past weekend. When adults refuse to follow instructions for no reason other than their own stubbornness, it's no wonder their evil little spawns are as bad or worse. Unfortunately it seems these kind of people are becoming more common in our society.

"Unfortunately, it seemed like there was an abnormally large number of guests behaving similarly to this idiot over the past weekend."

Do you know that I have heard the EXACT same sentiment from at least a dozen or so friends who also went to the park over this past holiday weekend from Thursday through yesterday?? They said that guests were not only unruly and disrespectful, but physically threatening to many of the employees. Everyone agreed that the employees all maintained a warm, professional demeanor throughout.

This past Sunday, a friend told me that Security had to be called to a retail location within the park because a guest was physically threatening an employee. She said that the employee remained calm, polite and professional throughout.

I have many varying viewpoints on this as I work in the guest service management industry. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for any of this behavior, but I believe that unfortunately several factors come into play including the economy, people assuming they'll get something for free (Free park passes, etc.). The list goes on.

While you always want to give guests a one of a kind, memorable guest experience and go to any length to do so- there should also be a zero tolerance policy for inappropriate language, physical/verbal threats, disobeying ride rules, etc.

So even though there was a bump in the front, and probably a tug in the back, apparently there was no big jerk behind the wheel!

Top Thrill Dragster said:
So even though there was a bump in the front, and probably a tug in the back, apparently there was no big jerk behind the wheel!

ya just had to do it didnt ya? haha nice

Ryan Mahaffey said:

While you always want to give guests a one of a kind, memorable guest experience and go to any length to do so- there should also be a zero tolerance policy for inappropriate language, physical/verbal threats, disobeying ride rules, etc.

I agree 100% with that statement. Nobody in any line of work should have to put up with that kind of treatment, and the people who are so quick to dish out that kind of treatment deserve to be punished.

Of course the downside for the parks is that if they do kick these people out, they are generally pretty quick to run to the media and play the victim card in an attempt to make the park look bad. However, it's definitely possible for the parks to use the media exposure for their own gain. Just look at how some of the Six Flags parks responded when people ran to the media after getting kicked out due to the zero tolerance smoking policy. The parks made it very clear what the guests did to get kicked out, and as a result, I'd be willing to bet they rarely have trouble with people not following the smoking rules.

I'm curious as to why this past weekend specifically was especially concentrated with guest complaints, security calls, etc.

Blame it on the holiday weekend?

I just got my platinum pass for my birthday (Happy Birthday to Me today!!) and will be "certain" to go directly to Park Op., etc to commend all of those excellent employees who go unnoticed.

Ralph Wiggum said:

However, it's definitely possible for the parks to use the media exposure for their own gain. Just look at how some of the Six Flags parks responded when people ran to the media after getting kicked out due to the zero tolerance smoking policy. The parks made it very clear what the guests did to get kicked out, and as a result, I'd be willing to bet they rarely have trouble with people not following the smoking rules.

It also probably resulted in some new or past customers coming out to the park once they realized Six Flags had taken a Zero tolerance on smoking, something of which some people might have stayed away from the park because of it. If I see security and management keeping a clean, friendly environment, I'm more willing to enjoy my time in the park. Anytime some idiot gets kicked out of the park for line jumping or for being abusive to an employee, it makes me feel safer and happier to be there.

Yeah, I'm definitely "not" the person to stand up and speak out to said idiot...but I will damn well go to the Park Op office and commend the employee for a job well done. Too often the employee is overlooked during a guest issue, when they should be applauded.