Do they ever clean the coaster seats?

So, I am not the only deprived weird child that cleans out the seats. Lol.

I know that I am careful about keeping clean, but you know if you want to have fun you dig in and get dirty. I mean I am sure many of us as kids at a ton of dirt! And we are still going strong today! I am not saying to go lick the seats, that would be gross, but just make sure you get youself cleaned up after a day on the point!

Touchdown said:
You cannot get Hep C from a contact such as we are talking about, nice try. Next your going to tell us you can get HIV too.

Yes you are correct, I meant Hepatitis "A" - which is shed in stool.

I would not begin to tell you how you can catch HIV - because if you don't know by now, your more a part of the problem than the solution.

^I added the HIV comment because you get it the same way you get Hep C. As for Hep A, its pretty darn rare in this country and odds are if you have Hep A, you are going to be in no physical condition to go to the park. The main way Hep A is spread in the world is via contaminated water, not touch to touch Hep A is also a disease you "get over" unlike Hep B or C which usually causes life time problems too.

Also Ill again say, you are far, far, far more likely to get fecal flora on your hands in a common restroom then you are from a coaster seat

Touchdown, while I appreciate your comments, I think it is important to put somethings in perspective here.

I have been working in the health care arena for 23 years. Here are a few FACTS and reference to set our fellow pointbuzzers clear on the issue.

People who have been infected with HAV carry it for LIFE - they can be in perfect health and certainly can be riding rollercoasters. It is a virus - viruses mutate, adapt and survive.

Straight from the www.emedicinehealth.com web site "If you are not infected with HAV, you can protect yourself from becoming infected"

• Wash your hands carefully with soap and warm water several times a day, including every time you use the bathroom, every time you change a diaper, and before preparing food.

I think that sums it up. Just because you can "get over" Hep A - does not justify the risk of catching it in the first place. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

My point is not "where" you are likely to get fecal flora on your hands...

My point is you CAN get ANYTHING on your hands from ANYWHERE. Sometimes those things are benign... and as stated above sometimes those things are HARMFUL. Do you want to take a risk?

Wash your hands before you eat and if not a possibility, use utensils.

Its true that if you think about it, we are surrounded by germs! So just be safe and have fun! You only live once!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqSKqS91UdA

*not a Rickroll.

Jay, CDC says Hepititis A does not cause chronic disease I think you are mixing up Hep A with Hep B, C or D. And Hep A is very rare in the United States, and there is a vaccine against it as well, its not the boggieman you make it out to be.

And again, I will add that the basic premise initially stated in this thread was that the seats and handles not being washed can give you diseases, if you happen to get sick at Cedar Point, I am willing to bet that you got sick from touching a surface in the bathroom and not a coaster seat.

Also, Im not against washing hands, its just I think you are blowing up the risks associated with a trip to a park. Also the fact of the matter is that if you go into a bathroom simply to wash your hands and then use those same hands to touch the facuet to turn it off and then touch the door on the way out you might as well have not washed your hands, because your hands are as dirty if not more so then they were when your first went in.

^^ Just as bad as one. ;)

What, you don't like Weird Al's impression of NIN? (And I'm not talking about the kid doing the video, it's just there is no 'official' video of Germs that I've seen.) :)

I for one find this most disgusting that there isn't regular and irregular cleaning of many surfaces at Cedar Point.

I used...to hang out on the hand rails and "touch things". Now I do not because I find that I've gotten sick after going to the Point, and I feel, no science here really, I feel I get sick less if I do not touch too many crap.

That being said I think the stench of seats especially during the summer is awful, and if the last thing on someones mind when they get on the coaster is...man this is awesome and...what the hell is that smell? Oh that's the quarry..or wait no that's the headrest...

If you are going to do something, you mys well do it right, and if you are only going to do one thing better than most parks than you better do it damn well.

Given how long the wait is, and how us as humans think...If we wait 33 minutes vs 37 minutes for a ride I do not think we will notice it. We will still say "we waited a long flippin time". I work in a call center people over exaggerate numbers like you cannot imagine. 5 minutes on hold is 10 minutes, 15 minutes is a half an hour.....but a long time...is still a long time. If the ride has over a 10-15 minute wait...you notice it. And you call it a long time. No one that I know that truly values their time does not find waiting in lines for roller coasters to be at all, a good way to spend their day.

Most people find it insane to ride 15-20 things in one day in 84 degree weather, and spend a cumulative time of 10 hours and 21 minutes standing in line. Unless they love roller coasters....

If I was Cedar Point I would clean the seats regularly during the warmer months, and irregularly during the colder ones.

And by regularly I mean daily....multiple times.

Stop the ride, all the ride ops grab your disinfectant spray and shamwow and at least do a quick wipe on the portion the head will rest in, and the hands will touch.

We know that certain coasters do get cleaned of bugs at least, and when someone pukes.

I can only assume if ride op's do not clean them that someone else does. Because really, they can't let them sit and absorb sweat all day.

People in here have already voiced concerns over smelly people in the park...what do you think they are doing in a amusement park? Walking it for exercise? Maybe, but they are riding the same things you are, and stanking it up.

I think the head rests really are starting to look disgusting .. Especially at Millenium. Does it really cost that much to replace them in the off season? It's those little things that make a difference.

I think what I meant to say last night is, working in customer service, you can never satisfy the customer in terms of wait time unless the wait time is next to nothing. Anything else and they will say they waited an exaggerated amount of time

factory81 said:

Stop the ride, all the ride ops grab your disinfectant spray and shamwow and at least do a quick wipe on the portion the head will rest in, and the hands will touch.

We know that certain coasters do get cleaned of bugs at least, and when someone pukes.

I can only assume if ride op's do not clean them that someone else does. Because really, they can't let them sit and absorb sweat all day.

Thats not how it works. We don't just stop the ride to clean our trains. Unless, it's for vomit, pee, poop, blood or something mechanical. We don't just stop to wipe down the train. If for any reason we stop cycling we do clean our trains with disinfecting spray, this includes the seats, headrests, and the train.

In addition to sometimes cleaning the seats at Skyscraper when we were bored (one guy cleaned them every day until we ran out of Forrest 5) I occasionally wiped down the hand rails at the ride too. Some of the flight suits at Ripcord were fairly gross. With the exception of the suits that got thrown up or bleed on, they only get cleaned every winter when they are sent in for their annual inspection.

How often do they clean snoopy bounce?

Oh I bet the Snoopy Bounce is just FESTERING with nasty things.... I can just see and hear the parents yelling now... "Stop licking the floor Bobby!"

The seats on the rides at Cedar Point are no worse than any other surface in a public place that you could come in contact with. Ever go bowling? Do you know what kind of vile nastiness is inside the finger holes of a bowling ball?

I have my own bowling ball and it gets sanitized!

I suppose that same argument can be made of the following items however:

ATM Buttons (Germaphobe tip: Use a fingernail to press , less contact, less germ transfer)

Elevator Buttons. ( Germaphobe tip: I always use my house key when possible)

Escalator handrails. (Germaphobe tip: "Go out Learn balance Daniel-son!")

^^^Ok, ew. All I know is, I feel very bad for that kid that would lick snoopy bounce! That kid will have a bad taste in his/her mouth for days! Oh wait....that's already been done.